The Polite Skeptic Interview:  Dean Radin

Dean Radin is a big name in parapsychology.  He’s been Senior Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences for almost a decade, where subjects ranging from physics to meditation to subtle energy are studied. 

Originally following his ambitions into being a concert violinist, he later placed his focus on science, earning a BSEE in electrical engineering, a master’s degree in electrical engineering, and a doctorate degree in educational psychology.  To read a his scholarly papers, check out Google Scholar.

Radin has also written two books for lay audiences: The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena, and Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality, with 4.3 and 4.2 out of 5 stars at Amazon.com, respectively.

If you’re looking for an educated, intelligent and experienced voice on the side of paranormal belief, look no further. I emailed him a couple of weeks ago, requesting an interview.  His reply was so brief, and so simple, I didn’t immediately realize he had said anything at all.

“Ok.”

——
The Polite Skeptic: As I understand, you believe that the mainstream scientific acceptance of certain paranormal abilities/systems is inevitable.  What’s your estimation of how long we would have to wait for that, and how much progress have you seen?

Dean Radin: Between 10 and 50 years. In the 30 or so years I’ve been involved in the field I’ve seen the state of the art in scientific terms steadily (and slowly) increasing, but the state of skepticism is essentially static.  In addition, we now have some skeptics admitting that if this were any other area of research, the phenomena would have already been accepted. (see this link). This is a major shift because past “professional” skeptics were loath to admit any progress at all.  Read Interview

By Cal Booker