Lawyer rebuts professor’s
attack on EVP
I was referred to CSICOP’s website and the attack
on Electronic Voice Phenomena by Psychology Professor E.
Alcock (5th September 05). I state that he is absolutely
wrong in his conclusions: he deletes critical relevant information,
tries to rationalize his own negative prejudices and gives
the impression he is omniscient and infallible about a paranormal
activity he shows he did not fully investigate and he does
not understand.
I do not accept his description of himself as a ‘skeptic.’
A genuine skeptic doubts but always allows for subsequent
acceptance of any given consideration or conceptualization.
All members and fellows of CSICOP necessarily are debunkers.
Because their minds are already made up before they investigate,
they do not doubt. Instead they condemn and denounce anything
that is fundamentally inconsistent with their own cherished
personal beliefs.
Initially, who are we dealing with then? (The italics are
his own words taken from his article see below)
1. # Prof Alcock is a fellow of CSICOP and
a regular contributor towards a skeptical journal. He is
also on the faculty of the annual Skeptic’s Toolbox.
(CSICOP’s website)
We are dealing with someone who, as a fellow of
CSICOP, has implicitly confessed that he is really a debunker.
He is deeply involved with CSICOP which has a fundamental
negative presumption that the paranormal does not exist
and cannot exist. Inevitably, this negatively entrenched
professor cannot be in a position to perceive psi results
with true empirical equanimity. That is a huge problem when
he tries to assess ANY paranormal activity. We know that
his conclusions will inexorably be negative before he even
considers them. This means he has no credibility regarding
psi assessment.
2. # (re spirits) You have no voice box therefore
you cannot speak. You have no arms or legs or any means
of moving objects …
Here Prof Alcock starts to show his limited knowledge
about afterlife matters. Those who empirically researched
the afterlife and accept the empirical evidence for it will
tell you that when we cross over – we do still have
a body – arms legs, etc.. but that it is vibrating
faster than the vibration of earth level. Because the voice
box is operating at higher atomic speeds, any sound (energy)
articulated by a spirit inevitably will be different to
earth’s vocal sound. However the elements of white
noise can be taken and reconstituted to make a few sharp
and short words audible.
3. # Pattern detection would be the ability
to discriminate signal from noise.
Here this materialist professor introduces the
term ‘discriminate.’ But one problem with this
and other these debunkers is that their particular discriminating
power is apriori intrinsically against any validation of
the paranormal. This discriminating against psi is deeply
drummed into this debunker’s head and accordingly,
he will inevitably always opt his discrimination in favor
of his own deeply entrenched beliefs and negative prejudices
4. # Of course, to the skeptic, these characteristics
are what one might expect if indeed the ‘voices’
are simply misinterpretations of random, “white noise.”
Again, here we have a technical problem of the
relationship between apperception and perception –
our past determines how we interpret information. A deeply
entrenched closed minded debunking skeptic is not going
to interpret any voices from white noise as legitimate paranormal
voices. Procedurally, any interpretation has to be empirically
objective. But before one interprets anything, one has to
have expertise and experience in discriminating between
random white noise and legitimate human spirit voices. The
encumbered debunker’s perception will not allow for
any objectivity at all.
5. # Serious parapsychologists today show virtually
no interest in EVP, and modern reports in the parapsychological
literature find no evidence of anything paranormal in such
recordings.
This is blatantly untrue. Again this closed minded
skeptic has omitted to mention the critical work which is
obtaining brilliant positive results. Alexander MacRae has
received two grants for EVP research from the SPA and Bial
and has demonstrated conclusively at the Intitute of Noetic
Sciences that EVP is not stray radio. His recent article
was published by Mensa Magazine (July 2005). Other work
on voice analysis has been done by Professor David Fontana,
Dr Anabella Cardoso and other scientists and professionals.
Further, parapsychologists and others experimenting with
EVP are to be found in many countries including, the U.S.,
England., Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Spain, France, Italy,
Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Russia, Australia - just to
name a few countries.
6. # As yet another example of the unbridled
enthusiasm and creativity associated with the finding voices,
consider the American Association of EVP (gives a few lines
of the AAEVP’s statement on EVP.) …And if one
surfs the web, sooner or later, one finds sites that offer
to sell devices to help you obtain better recordings.
Note the denigrating tone of this materialist in
the words ‘unbridled enthusiasm and creativity’
- and the quite untrue imputation that people are going
to be ripped off when they buy devices for better recordings.
The whole paragraph is an example of the unbridled enthusiasm
shown by all debunkers against the paranormal to be found
in CSICOP anytime and in the Skeptical Inquirer all the
time.
7. # If the voices aren’t spirits, what
are they? Possible Explanations: Cross modulation: This
is a common phenomenon … my record player clearly
picked up a local radio station, which one could hear between
cuts.
Again this materialist professor is sloppy and
has not researched the very best EVP experiments. For example,
in the highly successful EVP experiments made at PYE RECORDS
( see Chapter 2 A LAWYER PRESENTS THE EVIDENCE FOR THE AFTERLIFE)
highly qualified scientists and sound engineers participated
to
control every possible of intervening and extraneous variable.
It was a controlled experiment in which it was impossible
for any stray noises to penetrate the studio.
8. # Second possible explanation: Apophenia
… This refers to a common perceptual phenomenon whereby
we spontaneously perceive connections and find meaningfulness
in unrelated things. In other words, it involves seeing
or hearing patterns where in reality, none exist.
While this argument may be raised about some of
the weak EVP voices (and it is constantly raised by people
within EVP circles themselves) there are many EVP’ers
whose empirical objectivity transcends the trap of apperception-
pattern perception. This professor states and imputes that
only debunkers escape apophenia - pattern-perception and
that debunkers have a monopoly on objective knowledge and
objective perception. In other words, “apophenia does
not happen to us – only to those we oppose!”
And as AAEVP observed, "wasn't it
a SCICOP who invented the term 'apophenia'? It seems that
they are trying to beat us over the head with a word (concept)
that is, itself, something of an anecdotal observation without
experimental support."
9. # Given that we can routinely demonstrate this effect,
it is only parsimonious to suggest that what people hear
with EVP is also the product of their own brains, and their
expectations, rather than the voices of the dearly departed.
Another colossal omission by this materialist professor
Alcock is that he conveniently deletes the best EVP experiments.
This closed minded professor is implying that the scientists
and professionals – some of who were skeptics - who
participated in the Pye experiments are stupid – allowing
themselves to hear voices that did not exist – and
these participants in the Pye experiment included:
Ken Attwood, Chief Engineer of Pye who stated:
“I have done everything in my power to break the mystery
of the voices without success; the same applies to other
experts. I suppose we must learn to accept them.”
Dr Brendan McGann, Director of the Institute of Psychology,
Dublin said:
“I have apparently succeeded in reproducing the phenomena.
Voices have appeared on a tape which did not come from any
known source.” (Bander 1973:132).
A.P. Hale, Physicist and Electronics Engineer stated:
“In view of the tests carried out in a screened laboratory
at my firm, I can not explain what happened in normal physical
terms.” (Bander 1973:132).
Sir Robert Mayer, LL.D., D.Sc., Mus.D. concluded:
“If the experts are baffled, I consider this is a
good enough reason for presenting the Voice Phenomena to
the general public.” (Bander 1973:132).
Ted Bonner of Decca and RTE said:
“This is no trick. This is no gimmickry; this is something
we have never dreamed of before.” (Bander 1973:106).
Is the dismissal of EVP therefore an example of the debunkers’
own negative pattern-perception and serious brain deletions?
Do their minds delete, not wanting to hear or register EVP
voices that more objective people with different beliefs
accept?
A real problem for the materialists, the CSICOP
debunkers, is that consistent with Psychology’s principle
of COGNITIVE DISSONANCE and NLP principle of deletion–
these materialists’ brains may not be allowing them
to hear EVP voices.
Why? Because the EVP voices would give these materialists
enormous anxiety; their ego self-esteem and reality structure
would be threatened and their nervous systems go into panic
and even collapse.
10. # Remember, we process information in two
different ways through two more or less separate parts of
our brain and nervous system … these two systems often
produce contrary results … The “believer”
removes the contradiction by bringing the intellect into
line with the intuitive interpretation …by coming
to accept the paranormal – the EVP voices –
as reality and thereby reshaping the intellectual understanding
of the world so that belief in such phenomena appears to
be rational.
Here, the professor again fundamentally ignores
the fact that the above principle can equally be applied
to himself, to CSICOP’s debunkers and to other closed
minded skeptics. By rejecting the evidence in relation to
the paranormal the debunker thereby maintains intellectual
understanding of the world so that disbelief in such a phenomena
appears to be rational.
Just a quick note on ‘believers’: this
materialist professor is ‘projecting’ his own
beliefs on to others when he calls psi empiricists ‘believers.’
I and other psi empiricists do not have the luxury of ‘beliefs’
and unless a phenomenon has passed stringent empirical tests
we cannot and do not accept it.
The classic empirical EVP Pye tests are strictly
scientific. Professor Alcock does NOT have science on his
side. Technically, his beliefs against the paranormal cannot
be independently substantiated. He believes he is right.
He believes his anti-paranormal negative prejudices are
right. He believes closed minded skepticism is empirical
– it is NOT! This professor is the real believer because
there has been strict scientific testing done on EVP –
even just recently in Rome by some of the most intelligent
scientists and professionals on earth to-day.
11. # It is very difficult to change such deeply
held beliefs, especially if they include a significant emotional
component.
That goes for the professor and his colleagues
in CSICOP and for all the hard-core materialists around
the world. They have deeply held beliefs which are at the
basis of their social and professional lives and their sense
of identity. We know from experience they are very emotional
about their beliefs. Beliefs of this kind are hard wired
into our nervous system and are very hard to shift.
12. # How easy would it be for me to persuade
you that voices on a tape really are spirits of the dead?
Well, that is probably just how easy it would be to persuade
devoted believers that their beliefs about the voices is
wrong.
Again, this professor is neglecting the general
principle that any principle he uses to negate the EVP’ers
can equally be applied to the debunkers themselves. How
easy would it be to persuade this debunking professor –
or his CSICOP debunking buddies that their negative beliefs
about their voices can’t be right?
13. # There may be a lesson in this for all
of us (CSICOP’s members and other materialists) for
we just as surely may be mistaken in some of our own deeply
held convictions. This is why we must rely on science …
ABSOLUTELY AGREE professor! Here I totally agree
that not only you may be wrong, I state with absolute certainty,
that you, CSICOP, their debunkers and other materialists
are fundamentally mistaken in your deeply held atheistic,
nihilistic and anti-afterlife convictions. No one, not one
scientist has ever been able to show in a credible book
that the afterlife does not exist or that the paranormal
does not exist. On the other hand if you bother to do proper
research – there is a plethora of hard core objective
evidence for the afterlife and the paranormal accumulated
by hard core scientists and empiricists that has never been
rebutted. I am offering one million dollars for you, CSICOP
or anybody else to show that the evidence for the afterlife
is not correct or not valid. You either have to put up or
just go away. Or if you can be objective, you may even join
us one day – as inevitably all people will, sooner
or later.
14. # The Electronic Voice Phenomena are the
products of hope and expectation; the claims wither away
under the light of scientific scrutiny.
Again, this professor is indulging in wishful thinking.
Why doesn’t he try to rebut the classical EVP tests
– starting with the Pye Records scientific EVP testing?
This hard core materialist professor thinks that
EVP is the only evidence presented for the afterlife. Wrong!
The EVP is also substantiated by some twenty other areas
of empirical evidence (see www.victorzammit.com ) that shows
that we humans survive physical death.
As to the application of science to afterlife matters,
including EVP one has only to read who will be some of those
participating in April next year’s Afterlife International
Conference - Dr Anabella Cordoso, Prof David Fontana, Dr
S Darnell, Prof Sylvia Hart, Dr Mario Varvoglis, Prof Mario
Festa, Dr E Marabini, Dr Felice Masi, Prof E Senkowski,
Dr A Trifimov, Dr Peter Fenwick, Dr W von Lucidou.
Highly intelligent empiricists and giants of science
of the past and present have conceded the validity of the
afterlife evidence and the paranormal. The evidence for
the afterlife is the greatest discovery in human history
and the consequences of the afterlife are enormous.
Victor Zammit, September 2005
Professor E Alcock article http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/evp.html
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