Content area
Full Text
Some skeptics have embraced Michael A. Persinger's studies which supposedly demonstrate that electromagnetic stimulation of the brain can produce religious or paranormal experiences. Persinger's findings received extensive media attention, including television coverage by the BBC, CNN, and the Discovery Channel, in addition to numerous citations in print, especially in popular science magazines. Recent experimental results, however, cast doubt on Persinger's claims.
Persinger-a professor of psychology and biology at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada-has claimed that a majority of test subjects (up to 80 percent) sense an unexplained presence when their temporal lobes are targeted by weak magnetic fields. Skeptics have been tempted to argue from Persinger's work that certain paranormal experiences may merely be due to brain stimulation. Supposedly, sightings of ghosts, angels, and aliens, as well as out-of-body experiences might all be caused by exposure to electromagnetic fields (as from electronic equipment or power lines) or Earth's geomagnetic fields (Roll and Persinger 2001; Shermer 2003; Granqvist et al. 2004).
Others (including myself) were troubled by some of Persinger's writings, such as "Investigations of Poltergeists and Haunts: A Review and Interpretation," co-authored with parapsychologist William G. Roll (Roll and Persinger...