Can you have out of body experiences?

number of time psychics have been right borders on 0.
If psychics were real and available, why don't the police use them on missing persons cases and other times when they are stumped for evidence? Oh yeah, they tried. Every time it turned out to be a waste of time.
If psychics are real, why don't they win lotteries?
Number of times Nostradamus was correct with his predictions? 0. And he was one of the most famous of all times.

If I claim my last bowel movement produced a black hole, and display as evidence a shattered commode, is that proof that a black hole emerged from my colon? I said it. I have my evidence to prove it. Isn't that enough? No. Because it is an extraordinary claim, and it needs some seriously major evidence to back it up. So, maybe it wasn't a black hole, but a really potent fart. strong enough to shatter porcelain. would you believe that? No?

Like the light at the end of the tunnel effect (which can be simulated by putting people into a blackout from blood loss to the brain via g-force testing), psychics and out-of-body experiences just can't be successfully proven.

As for documentation, I'd be interested in seeing that. And seeing the results of clinical trials and demonstrations under laboratory conditions.
Otherwise, what you have is mysticism, rumor, fairy tale, and possibly religion. Now I think it's time to watch Men Who Stare At Goats again.

I listen to dozens of science podcasts, watch loads of science broadcasting on TV, read tons of popular science books. I'm not a scientist, but man am I the target audience which receives the bulk of mass-media science-based messaging.

Not once have I ever, ever, read, heard, or seen a scientist encourage people to not think critically or look at the evidence themselves. Never. In fact, the opposite is true - they encourage folks to do it to the point of nausea.

The first step in trying to get yourself taken seriously: stop lying about what those with contrary viewpoints are saying. Because that just makes you dishonest, and nobody wants to listen to what a liar has to say.

Morrus said:

The first step in trying to get yourself taken seriously: stop lying about what those with contrary viewpoints are saying. Because that just makes you dishonest, and nobody wants to listen to what a liar has to say.

Click to expand...

You do not believe some people actually believe what they say about conspiracy and stuff?

goldomark said:

You do not believe some people actually believe what they say about conspiracy and stuff?

Click to expand...

I know that nobody* has heard an "establishment" tell them not to think critically, or told them not to look at evidence, and that any claims that such statements are being made are factually incorrect. And given the two reasons why somebody might make such an evidently false factual claim, I'm very cautious about suggesting one of them.

That said, I'll gladly recant if the poster in question provides the slightest bit of... ermmm.... evidence.... that the scientific "establishment" is, indeed, somehow uniting in some as-yet unspecified anti-knowledge agenda and spreading such a viewpoint, and that I have somehow, despite avid exposure to media-based science, managed to entirely miss it. Everything's possible, I guess.

*Some obvious countries excepted, but that's not what we're talking about here.

Morrus said:

I know that nobody* has heard an "establishment" tell them not to think critically, or told them not to look at evidence, and that any claims that such statements are being made are factually incorrect. And given the two reasons why somebody might make such an evidently false factual claim, I'm very cautious about suggesting one of them.

That said, I'll gladly recant if the poster in question provides the slightest bit of... ermmm.... evidence.... that the scientific "establishment" is, indeed, somehow uniting in some as-yet unspecified anti-knowledge agenda and spreading such a viewpoint, and that I have somehow, despite avid exposure to media-based science, managed to entirely miss it. Everything's possible, I guess.

*Some obvious countries excepted, but that's not what we're talking about here.

Click to expand...

Some people might be exposed to all you mentioned, but they still can believe there is more to it all.

From what I read, conspiracists have trouble understand what is explained to them, so they need to come up with their own explainations to rationalize certain events and phenomenons.

goldomark said:

Some people might be exposed to all you mentioned, but they still can believe there is more to it all.

Click to expand...

Well, like I said, I can only think of two reasons someone would listen to science based media and subsequently claim they hear people telling them not to think critically. One's a choice, the other isn't. I feel it's more polite to assume the former given no information otherwise.

Olgar Shiverstone said:

Curious, because I know nothing about it: has anyone done any controlled experimentation on this topic? You know, put someone to sleep, rolled them into a room where something is placed (or not) where they can't see it if they inadvertently wake up, then roll them out some time later, wake them up, and ask them to describe what they saw?

This seems like a very simple concept to test under blind, controlled laboratory conditions.

Click to expand...

There's one experiment I recall being talked about on QI, in which a British researcher placed unusual and eye-catching objects on top of the shelves and cupboards in hospital operating theatres, where they'd be out of view from ground level. The theory was that, since out-of-body experiences typically involve seeming to float up at ceiling level, anyone who'd genuinely experienced one should be able to accurately describe the objects in question.

As of the time of recording, the experiment had not yet reached the point of yielding data.

Morrus said:

The first step in trying to get yourself taken seriously: stop lying about what those with contrary viewpoints are saying.

Click to expand...

To quote Professor Richard Feynman:

"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool."

sabrinathecat said:

number of time psychics have been right borders on 0.
If psychics were real and available, why don't the police use them on missing persons cases and other times when they are stumped for evidence?

Click to expand...

They do. So does the FBI.

Arduin's said:

They do. So does the FBI.

Click to expand...

Hiring is not helping. A quick Google search turned up a significant amount of debunking of psychic "assistance" to police (and no credible evidence of hiring by the FBI despite some pretty widely publicized claims). Do your own research, but here's an example of what I found searching for "Does the FBI hire psychics?"

The fact here is that no psychic has ever been shown to have helped the police. They do a lot of claiming after the fact, but it's never been backed up with evidence. In fact, when an independent experiment was done some years back to determine if psychics could help, the psychics actually did worse than the control group of students!

So why do the police continue to use psychics? Some don't know better--even police officers can be fooled. Some are hesitant to refuse any aid, no matter how little they think it will actually help. (Imagine if they didn't accept a psychic's help on a high-profile case and the psychic went to the press complaining that she has knowledge that could help but the police won't listen.) Sometimes they are pressured by families who believe the psychics.

Click to expand...

From: http://www.straightdope.com/columns...rauds-why-do-police-keep-asking-them-for-help

Also (admittedly older sources):

No psychic detective has ever been praised or given official recognition by the FBI or US national news for solving a crime, preventing a crime, or finding a kidnap victim or corpse.

So say Arthur Lyons in his book The Blue Sense: Psychic Detectives and Crime, (Mysterious Press, 1991) and again by Joe Nickell in his book Psychic Sleuths: ESP and Sensational Cases, (Prometheus Press, 1994)

Click to expand...

Of course, this is all just the internet ...