Perceptions of Anomalous Cognition :: Biology Essays Research Papers

Why Psi: Perceptions of Anomalous Cognition Why would I risk the ridicule of my peers to explore a topic as controversial and inflammatory as that which is known as "psi" phenomenon? And more importantly how and why is it relevant to the study of neurobiology? Given the nature of the topic, it may not always be easy to discuss such scientifically or diplomatically. It is my contention; however, that serious review of the scientific evidence, legitimate scientific discourse and funding for research has been seriously impeded because of its controversial nature. And, furthermore, that it is as relevant a topic for investigation as are other methods by which information is perceived by humans. There are some valid reasons for the prejudice that surrounds this topic. Often when one thinks of psi phenomenon some strange themes come to mind such as UFO's and Alien Abductions, ESP, crop circles, Astrology, Ghosts, Mediums, Channeling and Angles. Most of these come under the heading of "paranormal" and are decidedly difficult to examine scientifically. The plethora of information on such subjects that floods the internet is more likely to reference mysticism, faith and spiritually than offer scientific theory or experimental outcomes and I will leave such to those realms. I, therefore, in this paper will not be referring to alien astrologers channeling their horoscopes through mediums who have been abducted. Only the concepts that comprise that which is known as "anomalous cognition will be discussed." Its components are telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition (1). My first exposure to the term "anomalous cognition" came as a result of my research for this paper. I just had always called it "knowing." Ever since I was a little girl, however, I have been repeatedly told that my experiences were "all in my head." That had been exactly my position also. But what my critics, who included my family members, friends and my husband, really meant was that my experiences existed only in my imagination. They argued, as is commonly believed and sometimes verified, that experiences like mine could be caused by selective or faulty memory, wishful thinking or subliminal clues (2). And for many years, I tried to believe that one of those explanations applied to me. My husband the scientist, engineer and amateur magician has been telling me for years what he believed to be the prevailing opinion about psi within much of the scientific community. The picture was not very flattering.

Are you ready boots

You Ready Boots is a short story about an English girl called Lulu and her black leather boots. The story begins in New York where Lulu, her good pal Spencer and another freind are on a four day trip. On a shoe sale she finds these marvellous boots that makes her feel fantastic, and she buys them. When shes back in England she can't bear to wear them bacause they were so expensive. Until one night six month later when she's going out with Spencer and he encourages her to wear them.She does, and that night she meets a very handsome man called Charlie. After a while she walks straight to him (in her boots), talks with him, and she ends up with dating him. They become lovers and he seems to be the â€Å"perfect† man. Only Spencer disapproves their relationship. After a while Charlie proposes and she accepts. The same night she decides to wear the same dress, including the boots, as the day the met. But then Charlie says that he hates the boots and he asks her to take them off. Th en she looks at her great boots, makes a decision and leaves†¦The main character is a woman called Lulu. I think she might be in the twenties because she's old enough to gets married and young enough to go out and get drunk with her freinds. She lives in England, and she seems to be like a typical city girl who likes shopping, going out with freinds and so on. She may be a little upper class for example bacause she drinks champagne when she's going out, but still she's not like a real richie, because of the way she's ashamed of the price of the boots and how she's very impressed of Charlie's Porsche.It also confirms my feeling of Lulu as a girl ho likes the â€Å"wealthy feeling† and that is also the reason that she in the beginning buys the boots even though they are too expensive. This leads to another of Lulu's traits; that she's pretty conscious about the way she looks, and others looks. When she finally takes courage to talk with Charlie for the first time, she's su re that it's because of the boots – she finds self-confidence in material things like the expensive boots. It's also notable how much of the text that the description of the boots and her thoughts about them fills.As well as the descriptions of Charlie's handsome look s described a lot of times. I think she's typical young and modern woman who likes a lot of â€Å"normal† things. The way she doesn't sees â€Å"the real† Charlie for such a long time, do I interpret as some kind of desperation sign. If she's in the late twenties many of her freinds may have really had a boyfreind†). Nobody wants to be the lonely old maid, when their freinds become parents and so on†¦ Two men have important roles in the story: Lulu's good pal Spencer and Charlie who becomes her boyfreind.Spencer is like a real freind who takes her out for fun, who orries about her and I think that he knows her very well. He is with her in New York when she buys the boots and he is the on e who tells her his actual opinion about Lulu and Charlie's releationship. At first she doesn't wants to listen to him, but she can't Just forgets what he said which shows us that she normally listens to Spencer's opinions. And in the end it's also like his the one who's proved right. Charlie is a totally different kind of man. He is not spontaneous funny like Spencer is – in fact I dont think he's spontaneous at all (or funny).But he walks straight in to Lulu's life, at a point when I think she needs a man. He's very good looking, seems to be the perfect man and Lulu is flattered because of the way he for example always remembers to call her. Her love for this man is not described anywhere in the text and it's tempting to doubt that she actually never loved him.. Fundamentally I dont think that you should Judge people's choices of clothes because you should be allowed to wear what ever you want to. But it is not always possible to escape if people ask you directly what you t hink of this and that- which girl freinds often do.And in such a situation I think that the only right thing to do is to tell the truth. But I still think that the whole truth may be a little too hard sometimes. And then it's okay to tell a tiny little lie. But there are cases where it's the best to tell the hard truth to kind of prepare the person you are talking with, bacause you can see that if you dont say anything other people, and maybe strangers, will do and that's a lot worse. So to what extent it is okay to Judge depends on the situation, how close you are to the person you are Judging and how â€Å"necessary' the Judgement is.

Saint Augustine Of Hippo Once Stated - 1247 Words

Saint Augustine of Hippo once stated, â€Å"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.† It was after stumbling across this statement that I was influenced to call up my friend and suggest a road trip. When we started off, it was a beautiful day. The bright morning sun peeked over the Appalachian mountains to bid us farewell as we packed our belongings into the 2011 Chevy Cruze. Dew still perched on the delicate leaves of various summer flowers while we rode down the road towards Tennessee. My friend Sarah drove. Her fingers tapped the steering wheel in rhythm to the Carrie Underwood song blaring from the radio. It was the radio’s job to keep us awake since we had left so early in the morning; however, it was not doing a good job as I fell asleep only twenty minutes into the ride. Sarah had to wake me up at the rest stop just outside of Roanoke, Virginia. â€Å"Hey, Allyson,† she called as she shook my shoulders, â€Å"it would be nice if you woke up, so I could take a nap.† I just mumbled an incoherent string of words in response. â€Å"I can just drive right back to Pennsylvania. We don’t have to take a road trip.† That got me up. I had so much invested into this trip like money and time. I sat in the driver’s seat and watched the road continuously channel under the car sort of like a conveyor belt. It was hypnotizing, just keeping my eye on the road. Before either Sarah or I knew it, we were already parked in front of our hotel in Gatlinburg,Show MoreRelatedSt. Augustine, The City Of God1236 Words   |  5 PagesReport on St. Augustine, The City of God Saint Augustine, The City of God,tr. J.W. Leedom; reprinted in C. Warren Hollister et al., eds, Medieval Europe: A Short Source Book (New york, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1982; 4th ed.2002), 17-19. The City of God is written by Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo, in the early fifth century of the current era. The writings of Augustine deal with the intellectual problems Christians faced. Augustine lived in a time where the Roman Empire was in decline. King Alaric sackedRead MoreTheological Understandings of Mediated Grace2903 Words   |  12 Pages[4] Julian of Norwich, a fourteenth century anchoress, stated a similar belief in her work Showings, saying that â€Å"the soul may be always like God in nature and in substance.†[5] This makes sense considering that analogies compare otherwise different things by examining the similarities of particular qualities that they share. In this theory of imago dei, Julian believed that grace restored us to our original state of purity - thus grace once again acts as a bridge between the human and the supernaturalRead MoreEssay about Religious Challenges to Constructing a Democratic Iraq3427 Words   |  14 Pagesrequirement is that every scholar interpret the Quran in accordance with his or her historical background. This will lead to a practical understanding of the religion. One important observation about the religion and its relationship with government is stated by the leading scholar, Ãâ€"mer (2003), Islamic theology does not contain a comprehensive list of injunctions about the theory of political governance. The Quran only mentions a number of moral principles, which are relevant to political governance