Death-warning - Skepticism

Skepticism

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Death-warning&action=edit&section=1 Although the Society for Psychical Research has found many incidences of people experiencing death-warnings the existence of such a phenomenon is still questionable. Through evaluation with Michael Shermer's Baloney Detection Kit it appears that there remains several criteria that must be addressed by death-warning believers before it can be accepted as a valid idea. For instance, a valid source who empirically evaluates the claim must stand behind the belief. The Society for Psychical Research is interested in finding proof of a variety of pseudoscientific events and thus searches for confirmatory evidence of such events. In the present case, the Society for Psychical Research solely uses testimonials as evidence for their claims. Testimonials are not valid pieces of information as they are not empirically tested and almost any event can find at least one testimonial to support it.By using testimonials as evidence the Society for Psychical Research are failing to respect the rules of reasoning and good science in the case of death-warnings.

Also, the Society for Psychical Research fails to mention any evidence that disproves the claim and does not address any of these studies. Skeptics of claims involving ghosts and near-death experiences, such as Mobb and Watt (2011) have found evidence from MRI studies that experience of other-worldly substances may be due to neurotransmitter levels in the brain. Using neuro-imaging techniques, Mobb and Watt (2011) have found that near-death experiences may be located in the locus coeruleus, the system responsible for the regulation of norepinephrine, otherwise known as noradrenaline. This neurotransmitter is important in the sleep-wake cycle and may account for sensations associated with near-death experiences such as seeing a bright light, seeing apparitions of other people, and tunnel vision. Similarly, other researchers have found similar evidence using neuro-imaging in cases where people claim to have seen a ghost. That is, researchers boil these experiences down to the firing of neurotransmitters in the brain.

In addition, the Society for Psychical Research fail to mention one other important fact - how many people actually die after experiencing these death-warnings. This is an important piece of information in evaluating the validity of this claim. Lastly, the claims involving death-warnings go against the world as we know it. Everyone knows that at some point in their life they will die but, for the most part, no one knows exactly when that time will be. If people saw an apparition warning them of their death then one would think this phenomenon would be more widely known and believed.

Thus, a few questions need to be critically addressed by supporters before death-warnings can be accepted as a true phenomenon. First, a valid source using empirical evidence needs to assess the claim. Second, supporters need to evaluate evidence that disproves the claim. More importantly, how many people die after seeing these apparitions needs to be taken into account and last supporters must discuss how this claim fits with the world as we know it today. Until such questions are addressed by supporters, claims of death-warnings should be analysed with a critical mind by the public.