Paranormal Beliefs: A Sociological Introduction

Rating:
Summary: Original, Compelling and Entertaining
Review: Goode has done a remarkable job assembling information from a wide range of sources and developing a unique and convincing analysis of the relationship between mainstream science and paranormal beliefs. The author takes a comprehensive look at the interplay between scientists, who set the standards for evidence and proof, and paranormalists, who constitute the "deviants" by breaking the scientists rules. I particularly enjoyed his framework for organizing popular beliefs about the weakness of science; his willingness to treat astrology, UFOs, parapsychology and creation "science" as different rather than identical; and his explanation of why simple admonitions to increase scientific literacy through improved science education are unlikely to change anyone's beliefs. "True believers" and "skeptics" will benefit from this book, as will fence-sitters and social scientists who are interested in philosophy of science, collective behavior, deviance, and popular culture, but nobody will find everything to their taste. There is a tremendous amount of worthwhile information in this amazing inexpensive volume and despite high interest value I spent a long time reading it because the material provoked so much thought.

Rating:
Summary: Insights for people interested in culture
Review: This book is not for everyone, but I liked it very much. It points out that 72% of Americans believe in angels, nearly half believe that the world was created by god in its present form 6000 years ago. Since I am trained as a scientist, read Science each week and other similar periodicals I feel a compelling need to believe in evolution to make sense of the world I live in. I am guessing that people who believe in angels may not like the book.

Hopefully, I am wrong about that. Mr. Goode makes a scrupulous effort to not be judgemental. He carefully tracks the kind of reasoning that it takes to reach various conclusions and points out that many scientific conclustions are remote from human experience. A scientist might immediately tend to discount the claim that "UFO's must be real because I met someone who was actaully kidnapped by one and they told me their story." The scientist might be weighing in his or her mind the likelyhood that modern physics is totally incorrect vs. the likelyhood that the victim of the kidnapping might have been dreaming and mentally vote that it was a dream, while someone else might think of all the times scientists have been wrong and prefer the eyewitness account.

The book delves into the philosophy of science, various studies that have been done and other methods of showing the way various ways of thinking can lead to different conclusions. It is not a fluffy book and demands thought. I found myself reading it and thinking about it all day at work just waiting to get home to finish it.