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Facts Are Stubborn Things

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2015

Scott Highhouse
Scott Highhouse*
Affiliation:
Bowling Green State University
*
E-mail: shighho@bgsu.edu, Address: Department of Psychology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403
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Extract

In 1985, the U.S. Army commissioned prominent psychologists to investigate the possibility of extending human capabilities using parapsychological techniques (Swets & Bjork, 1990). Influential members of the army were frustrated by the slow pace of advancements in human performance and believed that large gains could be made using methods outside of the mainstream. They believed that things like mental concentration and guided imagery could allow soldiers to walk through walls, view things remotely, and even kill adversaries by staring at them (Ronson, 2005). Not surprisingly, the panel of psychologists concluded that these ideas were without merit. In reviewing the psychologists’ work, Morrison (1988) observed, “Among the most difficult lessons in science is how not to deceive yourself” (p. 109).

Type
Response
Information
Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Volume 1 , Issue 3 , September 2008 , pp. 373 - 376
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2008 

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Footnotes

*

Bowling Green State University

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