I believe that physicist Victor Stenger of UC-Boulder has written about such issues. See:
http://www.amazon.com/Unconscious-Quantum-Victor-J-Stenger/dp/1573920223 ...Scott ________________________________ From: Jeffry Ricker [jeff.ric...@sccmail.maricopa.edu] Sent: Saturday, June 09, 2012 12:56 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] The Psi-chology of Darryl Bem On Sat, Jun 9, 2012 at 8:20 AM, Paul Brandon <pkbra...@hickorytech.net<mailto:pkbra...@hickorytech.net>> wrote: contemporary physics (quantum theory -> string theory) seems to be in an 'anything is possible' mode, so I'm not sure that a working physicist would make an a priori judgement on precognition. I tried to see if an actual working physicist had written something showing that quantum field theory was agnostic with respect to psi phenomena. When I entered the following keywords "quantum physics psi" into Google, I hit an unexpected roadblock--psi is a term used in quantum mechanics: "The wavefunction which describes the state of a particle is often denoted by the letter Y (spelled 'psi' and pronounced 'sigh'). It is a complex function which is defined everywhere in space..." (Felder & Felder, 2003; http://snipurl.com/23ve8x2). Anyways, I recall reading critiques written by physicists showing why quantum field theory cannot be used to explain at least some of the specific claims that have been made about psi. I also wonder if there are any physicists prepared to claim that quantum field theory contravenes the laws of thermodynamics. If not, then I'm not certain that "spooky action at a distance" or other quantum phenomena are relevant. On Sat, Jun 9, 2012 at 5:14 AM, Lilienfeld, Scott O <slil...@emory.edu<mailto:slil...@emory.edu>> wrote: Daryl Bem was my undergraduate advisor at Cornell from 1978 to 1982. He .... spoke quite favorably about the possibiilty of paranormal phenomena in his courses.... The article's implication that data "changed his mind" following many years of skepticsm of psi strikes me as exceedingly dubious. That's why I posted the link to the article. When the JPSP article was first published, I read in several places that he had been studying paranormal phenomena for years. It sounded to me a bit like the claims made by Freud's followers that he had to be 'pulled kicking and screaming' to the conclusions that led to the development of the psychoanalytic approach. Best, Jeff -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeffry Ricker, Ph.D. SCC: Professor of Psychology MCCCD: General Studies Faculty Representative PSY 101 Website: http://sccpsy101.wordpress.com/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scottsdale Community College 9000 E. Chaparral Road Scottsdale, AZ 85256-2626 Office: SB-123 Phone: (480) 423-6213 Fax: (480) 423-6298 --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: slil...@emory.edu<mailto:slil...@emory.edu>. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13509.d0999cebc8f4ed4eb54d5317367e9b2f&n=T&l=tips&o=18288 (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) or send a blank email to leave-18288-13509.d0999cebc8f4ed4eb54d5317367e9...@fsulist.frostburg.edu<mailto:leave-18288-13509.d0999cebc8f4ed4eb54d5317367e9...@fsulist.frostburg.edu> ________________________________ This e-mail message (including any attachments) is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message (including any attachments) is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender by reply e-mail message and destroy all copies of the original message (including attachments). --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=18290 or send a blank email to leave-18290-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
