Aya

[Dildo Argentino]

I would have to say that it's not so much that he "was shunned" as that he chose to marginalize himself by relentlessly promoting pseudoscience as science. Many scientists have wacky personal views with no harm done to their careers, but insisting that they're science is usually not well-received.

This brings me back to the question Holist refuses to answer; if he wants to be religious, why doesn't he just go ahead and be religious? Why must he insist on distorting science to accommodate his religious views?

But I am religious. Discordian.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I would have to say that it's not so much that he "was shunned" as that he chose to marginalize himself by relentlessly promoting pseudoscience as science. Many scientists have wacky personal views with no harm done to their careers, but insisting that they're science is usually not well-received.

This brings me back to the question Holist refuses to answer; if he wants to be religious, why doesn't he just go ahead and be religious? Why must he insist on distorting science to accommodate his religious views?

But I am religious. Discordian.

Uh oh. Willing sacrifice to the crazy lady.

[Dildo Argentino]

Yeah, Morphic Resonance.

And by the way, in case you didn't feel like reading that SA article (because you apparently shun source material),

Third, in 2000 John Colwell of Middlesex University in London conducted a formal test using Sheldrake's experimental protocol. Twelve volunteers participated in 12 sequences of 20 stare or no-stare trials each and received accuracy feedback for the final nine sessions. Results: subjects could detect being stared at only when accuracy feedback was provided, which Colwell attributed to the subjects learning what was, in fact, a nonrandom presentation of the trials. When University of Hertfordshire psychologist Richard Wiseman also attempted to replicate Sheldrake's research, he found that subjects detected stares at rates no better than chance.

So, again, he designed a test, and a scientist conducted it, and found no evidence for morphic fields.

Unlike what you said.

That tested the "people can telepathically detect being stared at hypothesis", though, which is distinct from the morphic resonance one. Thanks for the links.

[P3nT4gR4m]

Sheldrake's response that "skeptics dampen the morphic resonance field" is priceless. OMG.

What if... skepticism killed off the unicorns 

[LMNO]

The telepathy described is supposedly a DIRECT RESULT of the morphic fields, though.  Since it didn't work, then IF the morphic fields existed, they'd have to work in a different way.

The fact that Sheldrake didn't bother updating his hypothesis in light of this says volumes.


Incidentally, my autocorrect keeps trying to change "morphic" to "moronic".  Correlation?

[P3nT4gR4m]

Causation. Definitely causation

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Causation. Definitely causation

[Chelagoras The Boulder]

To be honest, i thought morphogenic fields were something Terry Pratchett made up for Discworld, so the last few pages have been quite whimsical for me 

it's like coming across someone who thinks Tolkien was European history.

[LMNO]

MIDDLE EARTH IS REAL!
     /

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

To be honest, i thought morphogenic fields were something Terry Pratchett made up for Discworld, so the last few pages have been quite whimsical for me 

it's like coming across someone who thinks Tolkien was European history.

YOU BOUGHT INTO THE CONSPIRACY, MAN. ALL OF THIS IS JUST THE ESTABLISHMENT TRYING TO SUPPRESS THE TRUTH.