Tag Archives: ghosts

Spectres of Reality or the Reality of Spectres?

Shane McCorristine’s new book on ghosts titled Spectres of the Self: Thinking about Ghosts and Ghost-Seeing in England, 1750-1920  (Cambridge 2010) receives a good review from Jonathan Barnes in The Times of London: What interests McCorristine about these alleged outbreaks of the paranormal is … Continue reading

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Fyodor Dostoevsky foresaw how God would die

Not by closing the gaps in our knowledge of heaven and earth—in which God is increasingly found to have nothing to do—but via the progress of neuroscience, in which spirit is progressively vanquished from the skull. On page 41 of Steven Pinker’s … Continue reading

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Atheism and the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California

The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose has a staircase that famously ends at a ceiling. A friend and I were talking about the Winchester Mystery House and then abruptly shifted to a different subject: an acquaintance engaged in an ambitious and … Continue reading

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Teaser for the Pilot TV Show “The Skeptologists”

Michael Shermer and his gang of skeptical inquirers look like they’re channeling the Sopranos. And in the word “skeptologist” I feel a vague association with “exorcist.” I don’t know if this show is ever going beyond the pilot stage—or if any … Continue reading

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Are There Angels in the Architecture of the Universe?

There appear to be ghostly minds in the architecture of the universe (that is, us). So why can’t there be angels? Just asking.

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Is Neuroscience Closing in on the Soul—Literally?

See here and here for reflections on whether or not there is still room for a ghost in the machine. Money quote from neuroscientist Martha Farah: Brain imaging indicates that all of these traits have physical correlates in brain function. Furthermore, … Continue reading

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Ghosts

Andrew Sullivan directs us to this stunning juxaposition of a corner in Leningrad, during WWII, and that same corner, in what is now St. Petersburg, today.

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“FAMILIES in crisis that are preyed upon by charlatans with faith magic and false solutions”: A Scary Scene from the Film “Poltergeist”—with an Ironic Admonition to Use CRITICAL THINKING

As we head into a recession (or worse) a lot of religious charlatans will be out preying upon people who are hitting bottom—and bamboozling them with thought magic, simplistic reasoning, and threats of hell. This scene (from the movie Poltergeist) has long … Continue reading

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