The Avid Reader Show

Episode 764: Chris French - The Science Of Weird Shit: Why Our Minds Conjure The Paranormal


Listen Later

An accessible and gratifying introduction to the world of paranormal beliefs and bizarre experiences.

Ghostly encounters, alien abduction, reincarnation, talking to the dead, UFO sightings, inexplicable coincidences, out-of-body and near-death experiences. Are these legitimate phenomena? If not, then how should we go about understanding them? In this fascinating book, Chris French investigates paranormal claims to discover what lurks behind this “weird shit.” French provides authoritative evidence-based explanations for a wide range of superficially mysterious phenomena, and then goes further to draw out lessons with wider applications to many other aspects of modern society where critical thinking is urgently needed.

Using academic, comprehensive, logical, and, at times, mathematical approaches, The Science of Weird Shit convincingly debunks ESP, communicating with the dead, and alien abduction claims, among other phenomena. All the while, however, French maintains that our belief in such phenomena is neither ridiculous nor trivial; if anything, such claims can tell us a great deal about the human mind if we pay them the attention they are due. Filled with light-bulb moments and a healthy dose of levity, The Science of Weird Shit is a clever, memorable, and gratifying read you won’t soon forget.

Chris French is Emeritus Professor and Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and a Patron of Humanists UK. He is the coauthor of Anomalistic Psychology: Exploring Paranormal Belief and Experience.

Buy the book from Wellington Square Bookshop - ​
https://www.wellingtonsquarebooks.com/book/9780262048361

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The Avid Reader ShowBy Samuel Hankin

  • 3.6
  • 3.6
  • 3.6
  • 3.6
  • 3.6

3.6

43 ratings


More shows like The Avid Reader Show

View all
Stuff You Should Know by iHeartPodcasts

Stuff You Should Know

78,307 Listeners

Talk Bookish To Me by Talk Bookish To Me

Talk Bookish To Me

62 Listeners

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing by Bianca Marais, Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra

The Shit No One Tells You About Writing

779 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,966 Listeners

We Can Do Hard Things by Treat Media and Glennon Doyle

We Can Do Hard Things

41,476 Listeners

The Town with Matthew Belloni by The Ringer

The Town with Matthew Belloni

1,066 Listeners

Good Hang with Amy Poehler by The Ringer

Good Hang with Amy Poehler

9,945 Listeners

Welcome to the Party by Treat Media

Welcome to the Party

677 Listeners