Will parapsychology eventually become more accepted?

Well, I was going to write about some age-old paranormal topics featuring telekinesis and/or psychokinesis today, but decided to do a quick post about parapsychology, instead. Most people classify parapsychology as a pseudoscience, since it involves the study of paranormal and psychic phenomena. On the other hand, the followers of this level of education would rather call it "science of the paranormal." With that being said, it was interesting to search for real schools that actually consider this to be worthy of study. I couldn't find very many universities (I seen 3 listed) in the U.S. that offer paranormal studies, and there are no degrees in the United States available in parapsychology, going by what I read albeit I didn't look or search very hard.

If for some bizarre reason you are seeking such things, just perform an online search using some keywords similar to "What Schools Offer a Degree in Parapsychology?" or "Who Teaches Parapsychology?" and so on. There is an online course (it isn't free) for the paranormal fanatics out there, located here: theschoolofparapsychology.org [So much for that; the link is no longer active]

Anyway, after reading more about this anomalous topic, it makes me wonder if it will slowly start becoming more accepted as time marches on. Think about it... A booming population equals more people and anytime you have more humans involved, there is bound to be additional paranormal - whether it's actually real or mostly make-believe baloney, it doesn't matter. Many of the subjects that parapsychology delves into is quite interesting, to say the least. Stuff like psychokinesis, telepathy, remote viewing, clairvoyance, near-death experiences (NDEs), out-of-body experiences, ESP, reincarnation and loads of other paranormal and supernatural subjects. Hey, they may also use Ghost Meters as well... Boo!

Update: Well, it has been nearly 7 years since I originally posted this, so it is time to revisit this subject. Earlier in this post, I mentioned that I seen 3 universities (not counting private institutions, etc.) in the past that offered paranormal studies. Well, I checked online tonight and, per Wikipedia, 2 universities in the United States currently have academic parapsychology laboratories. Yeah, how is that for eventually being more accepted? Anyway, there wasn't much info on Wikipedia about those two, but a quick excerpt to nip some of the verbiage is as follows: "The Division of Perceptual Studies, a unit at the University of Virginia's Department of Psychiatric Medicine, which studies the possibility of survival of consciousness after bodily death, near-death experiences, and out-of-body experiences. Gary Schwartz at the University of Arizona's Veritas Laboratory conducted laboratory investigations of mediums, criticized by scientific skeptics. Several private institutions, including the Institute of Noetic Sciences, conduct and promote parapsychological research."

I must say, this particular field of study is definitely not very accepted in the United States. However, when it comes to Europe, it is a different story. New sources of funding for parapsychology in Europe over the last couple of decades have seen a considerable growth in European parapsychological research, which has totally tilted this field of study, that some people refer to as pseudoscience, from the United States to Europe. Here is another quote from Wikipedia, then followed by a link to further your reading: "Of all nations the United Kingdom has the largest number of active parapsychologists. In the UK, researchers work in conventional psychology departments, and also do studies in mainstream psychology to "boost their credibility and show that their methods are sound." It is thought that this approach could account for the relative strength of parapsychology in Britain." Read more, here: Parapsychology - Wikipedia

Well, I suppose that this update only goes to show that, in some areas of the world, parapsychology has become more accepted; just not in the United States; ha! But really, that is not necessarily true. That assumption is just based on universities that are openly researching such things. Private institutions and independent fields of study in the U.S. could actually be growing, albeit I can understand the need to keep a low profile in this case. Unless you are simply writing blogs or books about this subject or filming a show involving paranormal for entertainment, it doesn't seem like it has much financial support. Parapsychology, at least in America, is obviously not backed by very much scientific support and/or government funding, to say the least. 

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Image Credit: It is in the Public Domain and is not under copyright.

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