Abstract

Discusses the articles in this special issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies. The author has a the personal desire to find out if there is any new and compelling evidence that might nudge me away from my strong skepticism about the existence of paranormal phenomena. It is noted that there are a number of reasons to be doubtful about the existence of paranormal phenomena, and some of the more important ones are discussed. Each article is perused against the backdrop of those concerns, and considered whether its conclusions supported the Psi hypothesis (that psychic, or 'psi', phenomena exist), or were they more in line with the Null hypothesis (that is, that the observed results came about naturally, and had nothing to do with psi). The author advocates that the reader take a similar approach, keeping in mind not just the Psi-hypothesis, but the Null hypothesis as well.