From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!npoiv!npois!cbosgd!cbosg!dir
Newsgroups: net.misc
Title: too smart for ESP
Article-I.D.: cbosg.2788
Posted: Mon Feb 14 23:49:36 1983
Received: Fri Feb 18 07:44:56 1983

"I really find it hard to accept that ANYONE who is competent enough to
 use a computer system really believes in parapsychology." ... eagle!karn

Karn's statement implies
a. that people who use computers are competent (presumably intelligent, 
   well-read, open-minded, etc.),
b. that competent people would not believe in parapsychology
   because they are too smart, and
c. that parapsychology is something that one believes in.

Implication (a) is false: anyone can use a 
	computer with sufficient instruction.
Implication (b) is false: there is always someone smarter 
	than you or I who will believe that some 
	parapsychological phenomena are real.
Implication (c) is false: parapsychology is a method of study, not
	a belief system.

I wonder how many net readers would change their mind about
ESP if 80% of the Nobel Prize winners expressed belief in ESP.
We are swayed by scientific peer pressure to an amazing degree. 

D. Radin - Bell Labs Columbus