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miistermagico Regular user 154 Posts |
Gary E. Schwartz, PhD, is a professor of Psychology who teaches courses in psychology in the departments of Medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry, and Surgery at the University of Arizona.[1] He received his PhD from Harvard University, and was a professor of psychiatry and psychology at Yale University and Director of the Yale Psychophysiology Center and co-director of the Yale Behavioral Medicine Clinic from 1976-1988.[2][3][verification needed] He is the Director of The VERITAS Research Program of the Human Energy Systems Laboratory in the Department of Psychology at the University of Arizona.[4] Schwartz is the co-author of The Living Energy Universe, and is the author of The Afterlife Experiments: Breakthrough Scientific Evidence of Life After Death and The Truth About Medium and has published scientific papers and edited academic books.
Contents [hide] 1 Work 2 Allison DuBois and Catherine Yunt reading 3 Deepak Chopra experiment 4 Schwartz's opinions 5 Criticism of medium research experiments Schwartz's major research focus has been in the field of parapsychology. The stated goal of The VERITAS Research Program is to test the hypothesis, not a scientific theory, that the consciousness (or personality or identity) of a person survives physical death. Individual mediums have been tested by Schwartz through planned experiments, which Schwartz claims have been controlled, using scientific methodology and protocols to measure the results in an attempt to discover if they can communicate with the deceased. Other experiments were informal, unplanned and even spontaneous and conducted in resorts and restaurants.[5]:12 According to Schwartz when a scientist sees a medium doing extraordinary things not only in a laboratory but in the everyday setting of a restaurant, it's hard to deny something very real is happening.[5]:47 Schwartz praises an unplanned experiment that took place in a public restaurant in the summer of 2001, though he did not record the incident until later and he admits he remembers the details differently than that of Allison DuBois and Catherine Yunt who gave spontaneous readings. They informed him that research medium Laurie Campbell's daughter was seeing the deceased Suzy Smith. When DuBois gives the first name of the daughter he was impressed and then later stunned when the daughter's name is verified by Campbell, who had informed Schwartz about the Suzy Smith sighting months earlier in the spring of 2001, by phone. Schwartz claims: "It is highly implausible that fraud could have been involved." Schwartz rules out any type of communication between Allison DuBois and Laurie Campbell during the past proceeding months as an ordinary explanation. He concludes this is very strong evidence that Allison DuBois and Laurie Campbell's daughter, Amanda are both psychic.[5]:41-47 Subject mediums have included John Edward,[6] Allison DuBois,[7] Catherine Yunt and Laurie Campbell. Laurie Campbell claims she receives regular information from Sir James Clerk Maxwell and Freddie Mercury.[5]:114 About three quarters of the at least 20 mediums studied were females.[5]:25-26[8] Schwartz was "brought up to speed" concerning the history of medium research in the 20th century by Suzy Smith. Suzy Smith was the author of 30 books in the field of parapsychology, medium ship and survival of consciousness after death[5]:2,14 and, according to Schwartz, a well-trained medium. The death of his friend Suzy Smith convinced him that he should no longer be an observer of mediums but instead a "research sitter." Schwartz accuses James Randi of foolishly assuming all mediums are cheats, however Schwartz agrees that some mediums are cheats, but that many mediums are devoted to the truth.[5]:14-15 Both Schwartz and Deepak Chopra agree that science is a way of knowing and understanding the mind of God.[5] Schwartz claims his consciousness theory, even with its spiritual theme, is based on logic and physics: "All light, the electromagnetic waves above and below what we can see is coming (into our pupils) all the time - it doesn't show the second law of thermodynamics in that it doesn't just wash away, because if it washed away we would have no astronomy, we are made of electromagnetic signals. That is what contemporary physics tells us. According to Schwartz, "All the findings of contemporary neuroscience are actually consistent with the hypothesis that the brain serves as an "antenna-receiver" for consciousness rather than being the "creator" of consciousness." [5]:116 He continues: "We are organized energy, and we are emitting this energy into space. We are as persistent as the light from those distant stars. The probability that our light and information continues is the same probability that the light from distant stars continues." Schwartz is optimistic that just as people discarded the idea that the world was flat, people will soon discard the idea that the conscious dies with the body.[9][10] Schwartz believes the future of advanced science is in the hands of a transforming subset of paranormal children; the children of mediums and possibly the Indigo children.[5]:117 Allison DuBois and Catherine Yunt reading In February 2001, Schwartz was visited by medium-in-training, Allison DuBois and her then medium mentor Catherine Yunt. He did not know them. Both were interested in being a part of Schwartz's medium research on the survival of energy after death. Dr. Schwartz had tested John Edward earlier. Dubois did not know if she could do the same as this famed medium. [5]:1-3 The following is the very first reading from Allison DuBois for Schwartz. He has supplied two bits of information before the reading begins to both DuBois and Yunt. There was a person close to me that recently died. He has also asked them if they had read this morning's Tucson, Arizona newspaper. DuBois' reading is: "There was a deceased grandmother. The woman was short. The woman is surrounded by flowers, especially roses. She died quickly of some cause associated with the chest area. This woman cared about Schwartz, but used to tease him. The grandmother was in the presence of a young deceased child. She is showing me a newspaper. That's very strange." Schwartz was impressed enough by Allison DuBois' reading to record it in his 2005 book, The Truth about Medium. In Schwartz's mind these were 100% "hits" for Susy Smith. Suzy Smith had called herself Schwartz's "adopted grandmother." There were only 2 "hits" for his own true grandmothers, Esther and Gussie.[5]:4-7 After Dubois, Catherine Yunt, who has heard all the preceding, began her reading: "In the newspaper was an obituary that was significant to you. The deceased grandmother had an unpublished manuscript, completely written, that you are aware of. The deceased wanted this manuscript to be published in her honor. My guides are telling me that Allison has one more piece of information to share." DuBois immediately says,"The deceased is telling me, over and over that I must share: "I don't walk alone." Again Schwartz claims 100% hits for Susy Smith, but nothing for his true grandmothers.[5]:7-9 If there was any dialogue or a response to a "hit" or "miss" from Schwartz during, between, or after each of these readings is unknown, and there is no mention of using any recording device. "Since I had carefully taken notes of the Allison-Catherine reading I knew most of what I recorded was accurate."[5]:10 This was the same method used at the close of the 19th century by Stanley Hall and Amy Tanner for their investigation of Leonora Piper.[11][12] James H. Hyslop of the American Society for Psychical Research found the method lacking and unsatisfactory.[13][14] Schwartz wanted to be sure that he was not deluding himself about whether Allison DuBois and Catherine Yunt were genuine and in contact with the deceased Suzy Smith. So three other mediums are tested over the phone by his administrative assistant, Sabrina Geoffrion. This information is in some way given second hand to Schwartz. Schwartz writes,"One of my favorite pieces from Mary Ann (Morgan) was her statement she saw the deceased dancing with a man, and she heard the name "William James". "I was shocked." Suzy had told Schwartz that she wanted to spend the first year after her passing dancing with William James. Schwartz is silent about the other material collected from the three mediums in their readings and any information his assistant may have offered. Again there is no mention of using any recording device.[5]:10 Deepak Chopra experiment In April 2001, Deepak Chopra's father died in India. In July 2002, Deepak Chopra phoned his friend Schwartz to set up a secret reading with a research medium. Schwartz decided to use three mediums: Mary Occhino, Laurie Campbell, and Allsion DuBois. These mediums were to remain at their residences across the United States and write down their own readings. Schwartz says it is a fact that talented mediums can accomplish this task. These were e-mailed to Schwartz a day or two before a second scheduled 20 min reading with each medium was given over the phone. They were told the reading involved a "high profile" person, nothing else. In many of the experiments detailed in Schwartz's book The Truth About Medium (TTAM) only the first name is given to the medium. The last name is never given as the single cue. The last name is never offered or received at all. Deepak father's name was Krishan Chopra. He had been held as a prisoner of war, by the Japanese, during World War Two. [7] This historical fact did not appear in the following (Schwartz's terminology) representative readings. The facts that Krishan Chopra was a world renowned Indian cardiologist, author and father to Deepak Chopra are also missing.[8] Schwartz arranged to be with Deepak Chopra in his office at Chopra's resort in Carlsbad, California. During the first part of the readings the mediums spoke only with Schwartz. After one had given their complete readings to Schwartz the medium was then allowed to speak with Deepak Chopra. To begin each medium announced the deceased was still unknown. The readings were recorded for historical purposes with two Sony digital cameras - one trained on Dr. Schwartz and the other trained on Deepak Chopra. There was also a high-quality Sony micro-cassette machine to record the audio. First the pre-reading that had been E-mailed to Schwartz was read over the phone. Then followed the new 20 minute reading. Schwartz reminded each medium the sitter would hear their readings as they took place, but would not speak with the sitter until their readings ended. On pages 32–34 TTAM 5are three representative readings containing 23 different items. 78% of the items were correct for Deepak's deceased father. 17% of the items were correct for Schwartz's father. On pages 34 & 35 TTAM are charts displaying the 23 items from the three representative readings and their hits and misses with Chopra's and Schwartz's fathers. On pages 36–38 TTAM appear more items that were not counted and are not present on the charts, explaining the term representative as meaning selective material. According to Dr. Schwartz tests like these identify genuine mediums. They do not tell us, scientifically, the origin of this information. Deepak Chopra was convinced these particular mediums were genuine and could get detailed information about his father and other relatives through "psychic means." But he still wondered whether they could really be talking with his deceased father. [15] Mary Occhino spoke of "a male who's passed from throat cancer. A man who's actually holding his throat, is making me feel he has not--has no more vocal chords, or they removed his vocal chords before his passing." Schwartz called this a "dazzle shot." This was not correct for Deepak's father, but was correct for an uncle of Deepak Chopra in India. Being expectant, Dr. Schwartz was very impressed. Prior to this experiment, he had never heard a medium make a statement about someone's vocal chords being removed.[16] Schwartz's opinions Schwartz is convinced the available evidence provided by research mediums is consistent with the survival of consciousness after death, and the survival of consciousness is the most promising explanation for the largest amount of the data.[citation needed] When a medium is close but incorrect, Schwartz suggests the error was not the information given by the "deceased," but that the information was misinterpreted by the medium.[17] Still, he notes that current experiments do not provide definite proof of survival.[18] The problem of whether mediums are psychic and able to read the minds of their sitters has yet to be resolved. In 2005, Schwartz believed that in time it will be shown that experimenters can not be in control of medium research; it is, he claims, the "deceased" that are in control of the evidence.[19] He adds that if survival of the consciousness exists, it will prove itself.[20] When Schwartz asks what will be the implications if medium ship is real, he does not address the psychiatric problems of the sitter letting go of the deceased and moving on with their life in the real world, the possibility of medium addiction and the loss of rationality. He predicts scientific, social and religious benefits and warns about the danger of crossed over psychopaths such as Adolf Hitler and Jack the Ripper.[21] Schwartz states, that he is open to future experiments that may disclose the survival of consciousness hypothesis is mistaken.[22] There is no record of Schwartz working in cooperation with his critics. Criticism of medium research experiments Schwartz has been criticized by psychics for his opportunism and by skeptics for the reliability of his testing methodology. The skeptics include James Randi,[23] Robert Todd Carroll,[24] Paul Kurtz, and psychologist Ray Hyman.[25] Schwartz wrote a response to Hyman in May 2003[26] to which Hyman wrote a rebuttal to in the same May issue. Psychic critics include Laurie Campbell and Allison DuBois; who criticized Schwartz for cashing in on her publicity.[27][28][29] |
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