"Edges of Science" by Thom Powell (an excerpt)

In Thom Powell's new book, Edges of Science, he makes the case for the paranormal and unexplained to be validated by comparing it to other sciences that were once laughed at. Like Astrophysics or Sociology for example.

The following excerpt is from the book  "Edges of Science" by Thom Powell. you can buy it here.

Introduction: The Big Tent

This book is about the edges of science, those enigmatic mysteries that cannot be unequivocally proven, but really do happen. These topics fall into the category of 'paranormal.' They defy scientific understanding; that is, they are outside the boundaries of science.

However, the strict rules of science can and do change. Historically, at least a few topics that were once dismissed as 'paranormal' were eventually invited into The Big Tent of mainstream science. Astrophysics, for example, was the original paranormal pseudo-science. As recently as the mid-1800's astrophysics, then known as astronomy, was said to be utterly unverifiable, owing to the inaccessibility of the phenomena being studied. Without doubt, that thinking has changed. Astrophysics is now seen as one of the purest of the 'hard sciences.'

More recently, psychology and sociology were dismissed as 'soft sciences.' Reductionist thinkers in 'The Big Tent' dismissed these unverifiable areas of study as pseudo-science. With the explosion of applied statistics, psychological and sociological experiments could finally be verified. Reductionist thinking was replaced with holism, also known as 'emergent' thinking. Equipped with the new shield of holistic thinking and statistical analysis, the social sciences muscled their way into 'The Big Tent.' 

The topics that are now excluded from The Big Tent are the ones that are still stigmatized with the scarlet letter `P' for paranormal: Mima mounds, alien abductions, crop circles, vanished peoples, worm holes and portals, UFOs, and of course, Bigfoot. Without doubt, these topics baffle all attempts to reduce them to physical and mathematical definition. Yet, as with astronomy and psychology, this will someday change. It has to. Within the realm of the paranormal exists some enormously unanswered questions that people ally want answered. 

Even while public interest in these topics is steadily increasing, acknowledging the reality of paranormal events is still taboo for the mainstream scientist. This conflict creates the oxymoron of 'paranormal science.' It may be impossible to scientifically investigate paranormal events, but that does not mean paranormal events cannot or should not be scientifically investigated. 

Science vs. Intel 

Paranormal events occur too randomly to study, even in places where they are known to occur. Scientific investigation, on the other hand, requires not only a controlled experiment, but one that can be replicated by other scientists in similarly controlled circumstances. Thus, scientific investigation of paranormal phenomena is almost a contradiction. To the mainstream scientist, `paranormal' is anti-science. 

If paranormal events cannot be scientifically verified, how can paranormal mysteries be better understood? The answer is a process that is a lot closer to intelligence-gathering than science, so we might look to the CIA for an answer. As it turns out, CIA doesn't really do science most of the time, but the
information they gather is hardly worthless. The difference is that almost nothing in the intelligence gathering arena is utterly verifiable. Controlled experiments cannot be performed upon rogue entities that are being intelligently directed. This statement is the crux of this book, so it bears repetition: controlled experiments cannot be performed upon rogue entities that are intelligently directed. 

Paranormal researchers can do much of what spies do: gather and evaluate data from admittedly uncertain sources. Much of this data is anecdotal. It's stories, really. However uncertain, anecdotal data can be analyzed by keen minds to suggest patterns that have definite predictive value. 

In the initial stages, intel may not rise to the level of a scientific inquiry, but it can also lead to verifiable scientific testing at a later date. But, in the prescience stages, intel is about the best we can do with the mysterious category of events that are currently dismissed as 'paranormal.' 

This idea renders those who study the paranormal as essentially pioneers. They are modern-day explorers. They are probing the scientific frontiers that will someday be mapped, like shorelines of a newly discovered continent. This book is an early map; a map without all the shorelines drawn in; a map that presents paranormal origins, threads, and possible connections to other mysterious events. 

Alfred Wegener was the pioneer in probing the once-baffling mystery of drifting continents. In his fifty-year lifetime, he never could resolve the question of how and why continents move. He did accurately describe the means by which the mystery would eventually be resolved. His words about the earth sciences ring equally true when trying to understand paranormal mysteries: 

"Scientists still do not appear to understand sufficiently that all earth sciences must contribute evidence toward unveiling the state of our planet in earlier times, and that the truth of the matter can only be reached by combing all this evidence. It is only by combing the information furnished by all the earth sciences that we can hope to determine 'truth' here, that is to say, to find the picture that sets out all the known facts in the best arrangement and that therefore has the highest degree of probability. Further, we have to be prepared always for the possibility that each new discovery, no matter what science furnishes it, may modify the conclusions we draw." Alfred Wegener, 1880-1930.

In his day, Wegener endured perpetual indignities in response to his efforts to verify his theory of continental drift. Wegener postulated that the surface of the Earth was in slow but constant motion, but he could not prove it. His fellow scientists reacted with derision to his bold suggestion that huge landmasses were somehow on the move. Wegener was admirably undaunted, but he died an accidental death in Greenland before the definitive evidence he sought was ever accumulated. 

Hopefully Wegener's example inspires paranormal researchers to be similarly undaunted by the dismissiveness of mainstream scientists. It was no consolation for Wegener, but it is worth noting that Wegener's once-radical ideas were verified fifty years after his death. 

The People Factor

Science is neutral and indifferent, but scientists are not. Science, as an institution, is devoid of personality or prejudice. Scientists, (the people) do have personalities that often display prejudice and ego. Properly done science is never wrong, but scientists are often wrong. 

Science is indifferent to media attention. But, scientists sometimes succumb to ego-gratification born of media attention. Media attention, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. It becomes unproductive when scientists are invited to make publicized pronouncements that they are not qualified to make, or when they are qualified, and just happen to be wrong. There is an utterly human tendency to hold strong opinions on matters that are outside one's area of expertise. That tendency is alive and well under The Big Tent of science. 

Perhaps the most important point here is that, even though paranormal research is not a truly scientific endeavor, it has validity, and it is certain to gain greater traction in the future. With each new generation of scientific progress, the frontier of knowledge moves further and further out. We are now in an age in which the frontier of science lies at the very edge of what science is even capable of verifying. 

Paranormal research represents a valid set of questions that can only be resolved with some new kind of science. Instead of reductionist scientific thinking, which breaks every problem down until it is ultimately expressed by mathematical formula, we need a type of science that is expansionist, holistic, and big-picture oriented. We also need a kind of science which shares

information and makes connections between disparate fields; one that somehow incorporates information from science, history, and even religion, spirituality, and metaphysics. Empowering science to investigate paranormal matters may even provide a more precise definition of the entity or entities that we now know only as 'God.' 

Whether paranormal research will ever uncover better answers to such profound mysteries is still uncertain. What seems much more certain, when one looks over the horizon of present human knowledge, is that the paranormal topics of today will not remain paranormal forever. History certainly tells us that one day, at least some of the stuff that is now dismissed as 'paranormal' will reside inside The Big Tent. 

To read more, please purchase the book "Edges of Science" by Thom Powell here.

Thom Powell made every mistake possible in his journey through paranormal investigation except one: he did remember to write it all down. Eventually, he figures it out. What began as a clumsy two-step became a graceful ballet. Read his thoughts and experiences along the way. Benefit from the years he invested in revealing the truths at the Edges of Science.