Ask A Scientist General Science Archive

Question:
Does science think that ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) is real?
 jon j walton

Answer 1:
No one person can speak for "science." So I only speak
for myself as  a scientist. I have seen no controlled studies
which have shown definite proof of its existence. However,
I cannot discount the possibility that the very act of trying
to measure these phenomena (psychic phenomena) may interfere
with their operation in some way. So I guess I'd have to say
that I don't believe in it, but I don't disbelieve in it either.
Just as there is no hard evidence to prove such things as ESP,
there is no hard evidence to disprove it either. But if you
adopt the traditional "minimalist modedl" of scientific
thought, you typically do not accept the possibility of things which
are not proven or demonstrated to be real.

Hope this answered your question!
-dr topper

(PS: I'm a chemist, not a psychologist or neurobiologist
so I am grossly underqualified to answer this question....
but I did anyway).

Answer 2:  A very good answer to a very difficult question...
Not unlike: do you believe in UFOs? (Your answer should be YES,
do you know why?)
--- Jade

Answer 3:  I get you jade; my answer is yes, too, by definition.
-dr topper