In the Light of Occam's Razor: A Critical Analysis of Parapsychology

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activity fall to mere supposition when viewed through the lens of Occam’s razor. The largest of these assumptions was that made by J. B. Rhine in his study of extrasensory perception (ESP). To examine the existence of what he believed to be psi phenomena, Rhine conducted tests in which subjects attempted to guess the order of cards in a set on which was inscribed one of five symbols. Over 90,000 of these tests were completed, and from the gathered data, this investigator asserted that ESP is a real and quantifiable happening (Rhine, 1973). This conclusion was based upon a small number of test subjects who were able to guess a larger percentage of the cards correctly than statistical chance predicted. Such data does not tend to show the absolute truth of the hypothesized occurrence, as it is not a preponderance of the evidence and makes unjustifiable leaps to outlandish explanations. Adhering to the law of parsimony, there are various potential explanations for these statistical anomalies with the first being simple chance. With such a large number of tests performed, it is likely that some data points will lie outside of the predicted average. Furthermore, dishonesty in experimental procedure could very likely account for these outliers in the data. Greater than ten individuals who assisted Rhine were found to be involved in fraudulent activities, yet their names were never released and data gathered with their involvement was used to arrive at the final, bold statement. Such simple interpretations of the data place the idea of metaphysical happenings far beyond the scope of veritable science. A second tenet in the field of parapsychology is the belief in the supernatural importance of near-death experiences. By definition, a so-called near-death experience occurs when an individual comes close to death or experiences clinical death and is revived; many of those who have been in such a state report feeling elation and seeing the image of a light forming at the end of a tunnel (“Near-Death Experiences”, n.d.). Men and women of the pseudoscientific world have attributed these feelings to a variety of phenomena including the journey to a realm of life after death and have offered these qualitative observations as evidence of the professed afterlife. These individuals have strived to make scientific claims based solely upon the vague accounts of those who underwent such trauma, and thus base what they believe to be rational conclusions upon questionable, second-hand observations. In addition to this fundamental error in the scientific reasoning behind parapsychologists’ explanation for these visions, the religious and paranormal associations of near-death experiences are inane when viewed in the light of Occam’s razor. A plethora of simple, scientifically accepted causes for these commonly reported sensations exist. The first of these elucidations is that humans close to death often enter a state of shock, in which they may experience delirium and impaired sensory perception, hence the sight of a small amount of light and feeling of euphoria. Another logical cause of contentment and unusual visions during a near-death experience are the potential physical ailments that caused a person to enter an infirm state. Two common conditions that cause death or near-death are brain trauma and severe blood loss, both of which can cause impaired mental abilities and altered visual perspective. These explanations for the sensations of near-death experiences are significantly more parsimonious to the conventions of science, and thus must be considered before the miraculous contrivances of parapsychologists.
The study of parapsychology, while intriguing, cannot stand to meet the demands of Occam’s razor. When the conclusions and core beliefs of its various branches are viewed through the enlightening perspective of this law of logic, they are found to be illogical and beyond the scope of a legitimate science. Due to grossly erroneous scientific procedure and leaps to conclusions that ignore the most basic explanations, the field of psi cannot be regarded in the body of well-founded scientific knowledge and must be removed from all empirical thought. The law of parsimony requires all who seek to pursue sensible science to regard parapsychology as a pseudoscience. Literature Cited About Near-Death Experiences. (n.d.) Retreived on December 11, 2012 from http://iands.org Joseph Banks Rhine. (n.d.) Retrieved on December 11, 2012 from http://wikipedia.org Parasychology. (n.d.) Retrieved on December 10, 2012 from http://wikipedia.org Rhine, J.B. (1973). Extra-Sensory Perception. Boston: Braden Publishing Company. Shermer, M. (2010, May 23). Hermits and Cranks: Lessons from Martin Gardner on Recognizing Pseudoscientists [electronic version]. Scientific American, Retrieved December 11, 2012 from http://scientificamerican.com
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In the Light of Occam's Razor: A Critical Analysis of Parapsychology

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