Jan 11 2013: Thanks Peter, I know about and have read sections of the book, and it's worth me finishing. However, it is hardly of the scientific sort of publication, merely supplemental material.
"If you want to use prayer as evidence for a spritual world, you must conduct experiments with a large group of test subjects and control groups." This is not a bad idea entirely. Do you know of any experiments of this nature that have been conducted already?
Yes, I agree, data needs to be used. How to define the data content would be difficult, and hard to prove credible.
Jan 11 2013: Although your retort has a few biased holes also, I do appreciate your honesty is wanted to make sure credible sources are known, and incredible sources thwarted. Thank you.
Jan 11 2013: First, I never said anything about measuring it. Second, I disagree with your definition of physical being only tied to what is measurable and immeasurable. Thirdly, I'll humor you for a moment and propose a fictional circumstance - a substance that is so potent that it can have effects, while at the same time is immeasurable. I'll admit that to ponder this takes some imagination and creativity.
I just read the "Dragon in the garage" excerpt from Carl Sagan's book "The Demon-Haunted World." Interesting indeed. However, the neither the dragon keeper or the dragon keeper's friend can prove or disprove that the dragon doesn't exist, since the knowledge about the dragon's characteristics continues to expand as the questions do. Related to your example on telepathy, physical experiments have not always been the standardized method of testing to define reality, who says they always will be. And, if they haven't always been, therefore they perhaps won't always will be. If they won't always will be, whose to say that it isn't worth pursuing other methods and standards of discovering reality.
Scot, thank you for weighing in. Agreed, that blanket statement regarding scientists and believers in spirituality was outlandish.
Fritzie, thank you for those comments. I would like to follow up on those researches. Could you post those sources. And, that might be great supplemental material, but its not as specific as I was looking for.
Jan 11 2013: Yes, unfortunately there is a lot of pseudoscience out there. I was hoping that posting this would help me in avoiding the necessity to wade through a lot of it on this particular issue. I meant research in the scientific sense, not based only on individual satisfaction. However, tangentially, I do find it interesting that we try to define such hard lines between scientific and non-scientific based on methodology, intent, and opinions. The language we have created doesn't quite match our modern day meanings. Often times what we really mean when we say "scientific" is that "this study has been standardized and is protected against the misleadings of only one person's observations and conclusions. This (whatever the conclusion or proof may be) can be generally accepted, or not accepted as truth and what will happen the majority of repeated occurrences undergone in similar situations."
Thank you for your references, I'll look into them in the hopes that they will be helpful.
I am aware and have read a few articles regarding the benefits of spiritual practices on a human beings life and well-being. Those sorts of articles could prove supportive evidence, but I don't think can be the foundational basis for my particular question. It is starting to appear that people have not targeted this sort of research from the angles I have proposed. It also appears that most people don't think it is feasible or conclusive to approach it from that angle.
Jan 11 2013: Thank you for your response. It was interesting to read your definitive criteria for categorizing and organizing what is scientific and spiritual, and was insightful on what they are, and whether they can or cannot overlap.
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A reply on Conversation: What research has been done to inspect whether there are connections between the spiritual and the physical?
A reply on Conversation: What research has been done to inspect whether there are connections between the spiritual and the physical?
A comment on Conversation: What research has been done to inspect whether there are connections between the spiritual and the physical?
A comment on Conversation: What research has been done to inspect whether there are connections between the spiritual and the physical?
"If you want to use prayer as evidence for a spritual world, you must conduct experiments with a large group of test subjects and control groups." This is not a bad idea entirely. Do you know of any experiments of this nature that have been conducted already?
Yes, I agree, data needs to be used. How to define the data content would be difficult, and hard to prove credible.
A reply on Conversation: What research has been done to inspect whether there are connections between the spiritual and the physical?
A reply on Conversation: What research has been done to inspect whether there are connections between the spiritual and the physical?
A reply on Conversation: What research has been done to inspect whether there are connections between the spiritual and the physical?
I just read the "Dragon in the garage" excerpt from Carl Sagan's book "The Demon-Haunted World." Interesting indeed. However, the neither the dragon keeper or the dragon keeper's friend can prove or disprove that the dragon doesn't exist, since the knowledge about the dragon's characteristics continues to expand as the questions do. Related to your example on telepathy, physical experiments have not always been the standardized method of testing to define reality, who says they always will be. And, if they haven't always been, therefore they perhaps won't always will be. If they won't always will be, whose to say that it isn't worth pursuing other methods and standards of discovering reality.
Scot, thank you for weighing in. Agreed, that blanket statement regarding scientists and believers in spirituality was outlandish.
Fritzie, thank you for those comments. I would like to follow up on those researches. Could you post those sources. And, that might be great supplemental material, but its not as specific as I was looking for.
A reply on Conversation: What research has been done to inspect whether there are connections between the spiritual and the physical?
Thank you for your references, I'll look into them in the hopes that they will be helpful.
I am aware and have read a few articles regarding the benefits of spiritual practices on a human beings life and well-being. Those sorts of articles could prove supportive evidence, but I don't think can be the foundational basis for my particular question. It is starting to appear that people have not targeted this sort of research from the angles I have proposed. It also appears that most people don't think it is feasible or conclusive to approach it from that angle.
A reply on Conversation: What research has been done to inspect whether there are connections between the spiritual and the physical?
A reply on Conversation: What research has been done to inspect whether there are connections between the spiritual and the physical?