Paranormality: Why We See What Isn't There (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
In haste because of my continued epic battle with the Deadline of Doom . . .This is an excellent book which has unfortunately been published by idiots: I cannot begin to enumerate the straightforward production errors, up to and including the obvious misspelling in the chapter title "Prophesy" (and repeated throughout the chapter). I gather the book appeared in a UK edition a year later from a "proper" publisher, Pan Macmillan, and I do wish I'd had access to that version instead.Even with all the blunders, I do heartily recommend this book to anyone who might be interested in a highly entertaining, often very witty demolition of the pretensions of the psychic crowd. What marks it out from other books of its kind is that Wisemen is well up on the most recent psychological theories and research, and so can offer some fascinating explanations of events that might at first flush seem inexplicable. And he made me giggle quite often. I felt the first couple of chapters or so weren't well written and came off as a bit arrogant. However, as I read on, I really came to enjoy Paranormality.I can see how this book may rub some people the wrong way and I wouldn't expect this book to change the views of a believer in paranormal activity. I did find, however, that Prof. Wiseman gave intelligent and evidence-based explanations for why human testimonies are fundamentally biased and are untrustworthy sources without proper controls. Essentially, he demonstrates that what people perceive isn't necessarily what they receive.I would recommend this book for anyone who is on the fence or isn't convinced in paranormal activity but also wants to understand the psychology behind why people believe in ghosts, premonitions from dreams, psychics or other superstitious prospects.
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