The paranormal has been a subject of controversy. The evidence is often problematic. Take, for instance, psychics. Scientists have investigated their abilities. In experiments, psychics fail to do better than guessing. Scientists isolate a psychic so others cannot supply this person with information. Sometimes, psychics make stunning guesses, but not in these experiments. That may often be due to fraud or manipulation, but perhaps not in every case. The same is true for the paranormal in general. Many paranormal incidents could be natural phenomena or the result of fraud or delusion.

Still, a large number of paranormal incidents remain without explanation. Scientists dare not to investigate them as it could make them a laughing stock for their peers. And what can be worse than getting zero publications in respectable scientific magazines because you take reincarnation stories seriously? That is groupthink and intellectual cowardice on a grandiose scale. Albert Einstein once noted, ‘Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; And I’m not sure about the universe.’ He had spent much of his life among scientists.

Thinking science will one day give all the answers is also a belief. It can become like a religion once you discard evidence to the contrary. Evidence for the paranormal does not meet scientific criteria. Science requires that we use a theory like the existence of psychic abilities to make predictions that we can subsequently check. If a psychic does not do better than mere guessing during an experiment, he has no psychic abilities from a scientific perspective. But there is more to the world than science can prove.

Countless times, witnesses have seen things happening that science cannot explain. The total number of these incidents is impossible to guess. It could be billions. In the early twentieth century, Charles Fort collected 40,000 notes on paranormal experiences. They were about strange events reported in magazines and newspapers such as The Times and scientific journals such as Scientific American, Nature and Science. Millions more might exist in other journals and diaries.

So, did my wife’s father make himself noticed from the other side? Or were the wind gust and the clocks being back just bizarre coincidences caused by natural phenomena? Or did my wife make it up to have a good story to tell at birthday parties? I know her better than you do, and I do not think she did. There were many strange incidents in my life. And so I also don’t think she was mistaken. She could only have noticed that these clocks were back by looking at other timepieces. Even if she had been wrong and did not find out about it, it still would have been a remarkable coincidence.

In virtual reality, the laws of nature do not have to apply. So clocks can stop for an hour, and elephants can fly. So far, we haven’t seen elephants fly, but it is possible in virtual reality. Psychic abilities may exist, even when the scientific method cannot certify them. Jesus could have walked over water and revived dead people, even though there is no proof he did. Alternatively, the laws of nature could apply in a way suggesting someone is pulling the strings. The wind gust was already peculiar. The incident with the clocks made it even more mysterious.

Latest revision: 23 March 2024

Featured image: Psychic reading room