≤Exercise B


Play Part 1 once through without allowing students time to focus on the questions.


Put students in pairs to answer the questions by referring to their notes. Feed back with the whole class, building a set of notes on the board if you wish. Note that 4 is a general knowledge question – which students should be able to answer from their (background) general knowledge.


Add the examples to your spidergram from Lesson 11.1 if you have not already done so.


Ask students which method they are going to use to make notes, now that they have listened to the introduction. They should make any adjustments necessary to the page they have prepared in their notebooks.


Answers


Model answers: 1 the existence of paranormal phenomena 2 spiritualist, paranormal, sceptic, materialist


3 ghosts and spirits exist; clairvoyance is only for certain individuals; out-of-body experiences impossible to prove or disprove; all experiences are neurological processes


Transcript≤2.16 Part 1


Good morning. It’s a pleasure to be here today. My name is Dr Elizabeth MacDonald and I’ve been researching parapsychology for over 20 years. Today, I am going to present some of the main arguments for and against the existence of paranormal phenomena, that is to say, events and experiences that seem to have no scientific explanation, like seeing ghosts or being able to predict the future.


Don’t misunderstand me; I’m not going to try to convince you that either of these actually happens. No … I’ll be looking at a few contrasting beliefs and presenting a reasoned argument, which should help you decide for yourselves.


All the views I’m going to discuss are part of a long-standing debate about dualism and materialism. Just to remind you … dualism is the belief that the mind and the body exist separately. Materialism, on the other hand, maintains that there can be no division between body and spirit; not only that, but only the physical exists.


First of all, I think it’s fair to say that there are four


main views on the existence of paranormal events. At one end of the scale, we have the spiritualists, who believe in the supernatural, and are convinced that ghosts and spirits exist. The next group, which


188


includes parapsychologists, holds the view that the paranormal or psi (that’s spelt P-S-I) may exist, but can only be perceived by certain individuals, as in the case of clairvoyance. The third group, sceptics, take the view that, because out-of-body experiences, for instance, are subjective, it is to some degree impossible to prove or disprove their existence. Turning to the other end of the scale, the fourth group – the scientists – we find the most radical, materialist view that, for example, all experiences are no more than the result of neurological processes. In an attempt to present a balanced view, I’m going to summarize each of these views in turn.


≤Exercise C


Play the whole of the rest of lecture through once without stopping. Students should make notes as they listen.


Answers


See Notes section of the table in the Answers section for Exercise E. Transcript


≤2.17 Part 2


Let’s start with spiritualism. Spiritualism is based on the belief that there are superior forces we don’t understand. So spiritualists believe in the existence of the supernatural and events that are beyond our control. They also claim that communication between the supernatural and the physical world is made possible by the intervention of sensitive individuals. Like in the film The Sixth Sense with Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment, the little boy who said, ‘I see dead people’… Have any of you seen it? Well, in the spiritualist community, there are quite a few mediums, that is, people with psychic powers, who claim to communicate with the dead during meetings known as seances. A phenomenon associated with seances is the production of ectoplasm, a slimy substance which is said to be the physical manifestation of spirits. If you saw the film Ghostbusters, you might remember it. And one more example of inexplicable events … Has anyone heard of poltergeists? Poltergeists are invisible forces that some people believe can move objects around the room.


Of course, the question arises … what proof do we have of psychic events? Well, as I’ve just mentioned, because they’re so subjective, it’s very difficult to establish their authenticity. With respect to ectoplasm, it must be said that scientific experiments have not supported its existence.


Now let’s turn to parapsychology … the scientific study of paranormal experiences. Since its


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