InPresence host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in “parapsychology” ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). For many years he served as president of the non-profit Intuition Network, an organization dedicated to creating a world in which all people were supported and encouraged in developing inner intuitive abilities.

Here he notes that, in many academic circles, the idea of forming religious (or other) beliefs — in the absence of evidence — is considered a grave intellectual sin. William James challenged this position in his essay, “The Will To Believe”. Simultaneously, James also challenged Blaise Pascal’s famous argument (Pascal’s Wager) in favor of religious belief. Parapsychologists typically eschew belief, in favor of hypothesis testing. However, they also acknowledge that those who believe they can experience ESP perform better in laboratory tests.

(Recorded on June 28, 2018)

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To view the video, “Meditation With a Spiritual Friend”, as described in InPresence 0115, see: https://youtu.be/qxU0okUlIiw