Paranormal Science. A contradiction?

Today, I posted a question on Facebook for my scientifically minded friends: Is there any science to be done in the paranormal? The responses ranged from a comment about how some science is perceived to be nearly paranormal itself to a hesitant yes with the qualifier that the scientific work needs to be done with extreme detail and care. No one held the strong opinion that science and the paranormal are immiscible, which I thought was interesting. 

What is the definition of Paranormal? A new book called Paranormal America answers that question. Professors Christopher Bader, F. Mencken and Joseph Baker, sociologists from Baylor University, gave a definition for the Paranormal on the most recent Mysterious Universe podcast. Paranormal is loosely defined as unexplained phenomena that is not accepted by science or religion. By definition then, anything that is agreed upon as the Paranormal is, a priori, outside the realm of valid scientific investigation. 

In the interview, the two authors gave an overview of their Gallup pole results and field work investigating the paranormal. The reason their work is impressive is because it uses science to study the only part of the paranormal that can be scientifically analyzed – the sociological aspect of the paranormal. Why do people believe? How many people have paranormal beliefs? Are there distinct populations of paranormal believers?

The interview was incredibly interesting, I highly recommend taking a listen.  http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2010/12/episode-425-mysterious-universe/#more-3796

There were a few highlights from the interview that I thought were worth mentioning:

• After a Gallup poll that was crafted to minimize bias from either paranormal believers or those who reject the paranormal, a significant population (about 2/3^rd) of Americans would admit to believing in some aspect of the paranormal.   
• There are two populations of paranormal believers: The type that want to take an active roll in discovering things like UFOs or Bigfoot or ghosts in the external world versus the type that are concerned with the self, or the interior world with an interest in astrology, self healing, and the like.
• Men and women have a similar predilection toward paranormal belief, but men tend to have more of an external focus when women are more concerned with the internal.
• In a scale ranging from atheist to orthodox religion, both endmembers had the lowest potential to believe in the paranormal. The somewhat religious people who were open to other answers about religion were the most likely to believe in the paranormal. Atheists did not believe in the paranormal because they felt it was too similar to religion. The orthodox did not accept the paranormal because it interfered with their own beliefs, which often had strong paranormal aspects.  

The discussion continued with a look at how wealth and education influenced paranormal beliefs and how the beliefs of the nation may change over time. Another interesting question they raise is what the results of a similar survey would be in a country without the same deep-seated religious beliefs of the United States. The takeaway for me was that a huge percentage of the population believes in some form of woo. 

If the definition of paranormal means that it is a subject that is outside of science, then sociology is the only science that can study the paranormal by investigating the motivations of the people who believe in it. Another key point to remember is that studying the people who believe in the paranormal says absolutely nothing about the validity of the paranormal itself. If all the people in the world believe it is flat, does that make it true? Clearly not. The real question, then, is what happens when a non-scientific, paranormal idea grows to be so widespread in a population that it becomes the norm? What influence does that have on scientific thinking when an idea is so ingrained that it is not challenged? Is this the point where we need to have faith in the scientific process to break through a sociological barrier?

Here is a link to the book with the Mysterious Universe affiliate code. I am thinking strongly about making this my next read. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0814791352?ie=UTF8&tag=mysteruniver-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=0814791352