User:Thomas Butler/Tom Butler's paranormal sandbox

Welcome to the Paranormal Workgroup A collaborative effort to develop well-sourced articles about all things paranormal. About This Project Objective The objective of this project is to develop a set of articles that will help the reader understand the nature of related subject as a good study guide for further study. The articles should be reasonably free of statements based on belief, as everything substantive should have an easily accessible reference. it is sometimes necessary to provide commentary about the subject in the nature of an overview or abstract, but that verbiage should be clearly identified as opinion. Concepts related to paranormal Of course, "paranormal" means "not normal," but in the context of frontier thought, "paranormal" refers to all things that are outside of the mainstream of thought. The three main aspects of the subject are: Physical: This is the mainstream scientific view of what reality is like. As a general rule, the term "paranormal" doe snot apply to physical phenomena such as most of the subjects discussed in the forteantimes This would include UFOs, aliens and strange weather. Psi phenomena: the field of parapsychology addresses a class of phenomena generally described as "psi functioning." This study is based on the existence of a hypothetical subtle energy which is not addressed in mainstream science. Such subjects as ExtraSensory Perception (ESP), Psychokinesis (PK), Remote Viewing and precognition (Presentiment) and intentionality. The Super-psi Hypothesis is an important part of this study. Survival of personality:The concept that mins is independent of brain, and continues to exist beyond physical death is generally address in the Survival Hypothesis. This study extends physical and psi research to address to hypothetical existence of a greater, nonphysical reality. Related subjects include transcommunication, Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC), Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP), hauntings phenomena and mediumship. Please help develop this project Participate Your experience and understanding in this area is needed to develop develop a useful set of articles. Please explain your edits on the talk page. There are a lot of different views of these subjects and it is important that editors make an effort to develop a consensus view that is supported by evidence. What's New Draft List Plenums These are only proposed article titles. Please do not begin one without discussion. Parapsychology Survival research Psi phenomena Transcommunication Subarticles Parapsychology ExtraSensory Perception Psychokinesis [[Remote Viewing Precognition Presentiment Intentionality Super-psi Hypothesis Survival research After death communication (This is the spontaneous form transcommunication. Near-death experience Out of body experiences Transcommunication Instrumental transcommunication This includes both visual and audio; EVP is a subset. Electronic Voice Phenomena Hauntings phenomena Mental mediumship This includes channeling. Physical mediumship Article Indexes Paranormal community index CZ:Paranormal Subgroup Background Paranormal community History of Parapsychology Parapsychological educational Parapsychology research organizations Peer-reviewed parapsychological journals Parapsychologists Citizen scientist organizations Supporting articles Paranormal community/Glossary CZ:Paranormal Subgroup/References Researcher biographies Dean Radin Rupert Sheldrake Sarah Estep George Meek Ernst Senkowski Bruce Greyson Raymond Moody Pim van Lommel Edit Template:Paranormal community index Survival research index CZ:Paranormal Subgroup Historical name Phenomena primarily studied by parapsychologists After death communication Mediumship Near-death experience Out of body experiences Psi functioning ExtraSensory Perception Psychokinesis Remote Viewing Precognition Presentiment Intentionality Hypotheses Super-psi Hypothesis Survival Hypothesis Hypothesis of Formative Causation Morphic fields, morphic resonance should be redirected to this. Edit Template:Survival research index Psi phenomena index CZ:Paranormal Subgroup Historical name Psi phenomena ExtraSensory Perception Psychokinesis Remote Viewing Precognition Presentiment Intentionality Super-psi Hypothesis Edit Template:Psi phenomena index Template:Telecommunication Index Useful References Morphic Resonance and Morphic Fields: An Introduction by Dr. Rupert Sheldrake Editors User:Thomas Butler

Templates

These indexes might help navigation through the category. Editors would need to update the template with new article names. The {{Template:Paranormal}} would be added in the article to include the index. It should collaps with a "Hide" button, but that is not working now.

Template:Parapsychology index

This needs to be able to be collapsed by default. It does with the same code in my application. I think it also complies with MediaWiki instructions.

Parapsychology index
Background
History of Parapsychology parapsychological educational Parapsychology research organizations Peer-reviewed parapsychological journals Parapsychologists
Psi functioning
ExtraSensory Perception Psychokinesis Remote Viewing Precognition Presentiment Intentionality
Hypotheses
Super-psi Hypothesis Hypothesis of Formative Causation Articles related to this should be redirected to this as it is the proper title (morphic fields, morphic resonance)
Parapsychologist biographies
Dean Radin Rupert Sheldrake
Edit Template:Parapsychology index

Article template

Of course the writer's guide provided for this wiki should be followed. It seems easier and will produce more consistent articles if a template is used. This is one possible format:

Notes:

• "name" in {{Template:''name''}} needs to be changed for the subject area. At this time, I imagine there will be four: Template:Parapsychology index, Template:Survival research index, Template:Psi phenomena index and Template:Transcommunication index.
• Begin by following the starting an article instructions.
• At the top of the edit field for the new article, type {{subst:''name''}}, where "name" is the name of the template. At this time, I imagine there will be four: Template:Parapsychology, Template:Survival research, Template:Psi phenomena and Template:Transcommunication.
• Some of this will belong in supages, but I am not up to speed on them.
• Most of these articles are going to be rather technical. Just saying that the subject is this or that quickly turns into a belief-based, rather than objective article. Try to imagine a technically astute reader who doubts you know what you are talking about. Just say what is known. If it is necessary to describe the subject from a "this is what is believed" point of view, then be very clear that the point is not objective.
• All of this i sup for discussion.

The template:

{{Template:''name''}}

===Abstract=== This should provide an introductory overview of the subject. References for important points would be in the rest of the article.

===Introduction===

Make sure there is enough background information here so that the reader can have a sense of what the subject is about. A brief history will be provided next, so this is mostly "what it is." The introduction would be an expansion of the abstract but containing references for important points. This section should work with the current understanding section to provide a full picture of the subject.

====History====

The subject is more than its history. This section should provide a sense of how and when it came about, but an exhaustive history should be reserved for another article.

====Theory====

Things paranormal are not supposed to exist. If people think they do, then there should be some objective reason other than personal experience. It is okay to say there are no working theories, but this section should not be omitted. This section should treat opposing views (skeptical) as just another theory. The subject just is, probably because people experience it. What it is should be open for discussion. Unless there broad consensus--and there is not--any theory remains only a theory and its pros and cons should be addressed in a level-headed manner.

====Dependencies====

An important point to remember is that the subject depends on certain things to be true. For instance, most all of them depends on the existence of subtle energy. Some depend on mind-brain duality and survival of mind. If an article does not already exist for these dependencies, one needs to be written, but in the meantime, a brief "snaps" of what the article should contian can be included here as a place holder. Please include [[name of article about dependency]] somewhere in this section.

====Research====

Has there been any formal studies conducted to determine the objectivity of the subject? Since there are so few scientists working in this field, here, "research" may mean the work of a citizen scientist reported on a personal website and not in a peer-reviewed journal.

===Current understanding===

Thi is a compliment to the introduction. It is the part of the article that should give the reader a good sense of the state of the art for the subject. After explaining what it is (Introduction), how it might be possible (Theory) and the basis for that theory (Research). Be sure to address contrary opinions. The most important thing here is that "understanding" should be clearly identified as opinion based on.... Be sensitive to the difference between belief and objective understanding.

===End notes=== This is not a list of references (us them below). This is a place to include substantiating evidence not identified by the references. It is also a good place to include a bibliography.

===references===

Be sure to include the <references /> that should be in the template. Also include any additional categories.

Ideas?,