Answers to these questions are central to the dogmas of many religions. These same issues are amongst the most refractory when addressed using the techniques of scientific inquiry: data gathering, hypothesis formulation and testing, logical analyses. Indeed, such topics are generally viewed as outside the scope of scientific inquiry, not worth serious thought. As Bertrand Russell commented, “most people would die sooner than think – in fact, they do so.”
Serious study of psychical and paranormal phenomena dates back to at least 1882, the year when the Society for Psychical Research was founded. At that time, and right up to the present day, some psychical researchers have interpreted some of the phenomena they study as being communications from deceased persons or discarnate (non-bodily) entities. Indeed, among many people the prime interest in psychical studies is to establish the possibility of an afterlife.
To give a classic example, let us suppose you attend a
séance. The medium goes into trance and begins to speak in a different
voice. The voice claims to have a message from the beyond, a message
from your departed grandmother. Through the medium, you are told that
your deceased grandmother still cherishes those moments you had with
her, and a very private story is related, a story that you are certain
you never shared with another person and only you and your grandmother
knew about....<<<Read More>>>...