Editing Susan Blackmore (section)

==Career==
In 1973, Susan Blackmore graduated from [[St Hilda's College, Oxford]], with a BA (Hons) degree in [[psychology]] and [[physiology]]. She received an [[MSc]] in [[environmental psychology]] in 1974 from the [[University of Surrey]]. In 1980, she earned a PhD in [[parapsychology]] from the same university; her doctoral thesis was titled "Extrasensory Perception as a Cognitive Process."<ref name="bha"/> In the 1980s, Blackmore conducted psychokinesis experiments to see if her baby daughter, Emily, could influence a [[random number generator]]. The experiments were mentioned in the book to accompany the TV series ''[[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s World of Strange Powers''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=John Fairley|author2=Simon Welfare|title=Arthur C. Clarke's world of strange powers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RgwvAAAAYAAJ|year=1984|publisher=Putnam|isbn=978-0-399-13066-3|page=91}}</ref> Blackmore taught at the [[University of the West of England]] in Bristol until 2001.<ref name= "skeptical investigations"/> After spending time in research on [[parapsychology]] and the [[paranormal]],{{sfn|Blackmore|1986|p=163}} her attitude towards the field moved from belief to scepticism.<ref name="Berger1989">{{cite journal |title= A Critical Examination of the Blackmore Psi Experiments |url= http://archived.parapsych.org/psiexplorer/blackmore_critique.htm |last= Berger |first= R.E. |date= April 1989 |journal = [[Parapsychological Association|The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research]] |volume= 83 |pages= 123–144}}</ref>{{sfn|Blackmore|1986|p=249}} In 1987, Blackmore wrote that she had an [[out-of-body experience]] shortly after she began running the Oxford University Society for Psychical Research (OUSPR):<ref>{{cite journal |last= Blackmore |first= S. |title = The Elusive Open Mind |url=http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/Articles/si87.html |journal= [[Skeptical Inquirer]] |volume= 11 |year= 1987 |pages= 125–135 |issue=3}}</ref><ref name="Carroll2011">{{cite book|first=R. |last= Carroll|title=The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions |chapter= out-of-body experience (OBE) <nowiki>[online]</nowiki> |chapter-url= http://www.skepdic.com/obe.html |date=11 January 2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9781118045633|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=6FPqDFx40vYC&pg=PA270 270–271 (print)]}}</ref>

<blockquote>Within a few weeks I had not only learned a lot about the occult and the paranormal, but I had an experience that was to have a lasting effect on me—an out-of-body experience (OBE). It happened while I was wide awake, sitting talking to friends. It lasted about three hours and included everything from a typical "astral projection," complete with a silver cord and duplicate body, to free-floating flying, and finally to a mystical experience.
It was clear to me that the doctrine of astral projection, with its astral bodies floating about on astral planes, was intellectually unsatisfactory. But to dismiss the experience as "just imagination" would be impossible without being dishonest about how it had felt at the time. It had felt quite real. Everything looked clear and vivid, and I was able to think and speak quite clearly.</blockquote>

In a ''[[New Scientist]]'' article in 2000, she again wrote of this:

<blockquote>It was just over thirty years ago that I had the dramatic out-of-body experience that convinced me of the reality of psychic phenomena and launched me on a crusade to show those closed-minded scientists that consciousness could reach beyond the body and that death was not the end. Just a few years of careful experiments changed all that. I found no psychic phenomena—only wishful thinking, self-deception, experimental error and, occasionally, fraud. I became a sceptic.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Blackmore, S. |year=2000 |title=First person—into the unknown |journal=New Scientist |volume=4 |page=55}}</ref><ref name="Lamont2007">{{cite journal |title= Paranormal belief and the avowal of prior scepticism |last= Lamont |first= P. |journal= [[Theory & Psychology]] |date= October 2007 |volume= 17 |issue= 5 |pages= 681–96 |doi= 10.1177/0959354307081624|s2cid= 21749711 }}</ref></blockquote>

She is a Fellow of the [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] (formerly CSICOP)<ref>{{cite web |title= CSI Fellows and Staff |url= http://www.csicop.org/about/csi_fellows_and_staff/ |work= [[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] website |access-date= 19 July 2013 |publisher= <!-- Committee for Skeptical Inquiry -->}}</ref> and in 1991, was awarded the CSICOP Distinguished Skeptic Award.<ref name= "skeptical investigations">{{Cite web |title= A Who's Who of Media Skeptics: Skeptics or Dogmatists? |url= http://www.skepticalinvestigations.org/whoswho/index.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080417064537/http://www.skepticalinvestigations.org/whoswho/index.htm |archive-date= 17 April 2008 |work= Skeptical Investigations website |publisher= Association for Skeptical Investigations}}</ref>

In an article in ''[[The Observer]]'' on [[sleep paralysis]] Barbara Rowland wrote that Blackmore, "carried out a large study between 1996 and 1999 of 'paranormal' experiences, most of which clearly fell within the definition of sleep paralysis."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2001/nov/18/life1.lifemagazine7 |newspaper=[[The Observer]] |title=In the dead of the night |date=17 November 2001 |last=Rowlands |first=B. |access-date=24 July 2013}}</ref>

[[File:Susan Blackmore asks a question.JPG|left|thumbnail|Blackmore at [[The Amaz!ng Meeting]] workshop in 2013]]

Blackmore has done research on [[meme]]s (which she wrote about in her popular book ''The Meme Machine'') and [[Evolution|evolutionary theory]]. Her book ''Consciousness: An Introduction'' (2004), is a textbook that broadly covers the field of [[consciousness]] studies.<ref name= "Saunders2003">{{cite web |title= Is Consciousness Insoluble? |url= http://www.skepticalinvestigations.org/whoswho/Blackmore_review.htm |format= book review of Consciousness: An Introduction |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080501153504/http://www.skepticalinvestigations.org/whoswho/Blackmore_review.htm |archive-date= 1 May 2008 |date=December 2003 |work= Scientific and Medical Review |publisher= The Scientific and Medical Network |last= Saunders |first= G.}}</ref> She was on the editorial board for the ''Journal of Memetics'' (an [[electronic journal]]) from 1997 to 2001, and has been a consulting editor of the ''[[Skeptical Inquirer]]'' since 1998.<ref name="CV">{{cite web| title = Curriculum Vitae| work = Susan Blackmore official website | date = 15 January 2013| url = http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/curricul.htm| access-date = 19 July 2013 }}</ref>

She acted as one of the [[psychologist]]s who was featured on the British version of the television show ''[[Big Brother (franchise)|Big Brother]]'',<ref name="IMDb">{{IMDb name|1830341|Susan Blackmore}}</ref> speaking about the psychological state of the contestants. She is a Patron of [[Humanists UK]].<ref name="bha">{{cite web |title= Distinguished Supporters: Dr Susan Blackmore |url= http://humanism.org.uk/about/our-people/distinguished-supporters/dr-susan-blackmore/ |work= [[British Humanist Association]] website |access-date= 19 July 2013 |publisher= <!-- British Humanist Association -->}}</ref>

Blackmore debated [[Christian apologist]] [[Alister McGrath]] in 2007, on the [[existence of God]]. In 2018 she debated [[Jordan Peterson]] on whether God is needed to make sense of life.<ref name="PCR_Blackmore_v_Peterson">{{cite web |title=Unbelievable? Jordan Peterson vs Susan Blackmore: Do we need God to make sense of life? |url=https://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable/Episodes/Unbelievable-Jordan-Peterson-vs-Susan-Blackmore-Do-we-need-God-to-make-sense-of-life |website=premierchristianradio.com |publisher=Premier Christian Radio |access-date=29 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029134542/https://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable/Episodes/Unbelievable-Jordan-Peterson-vs-Susan-Blackmore-Do-we-need-God-to-make-sense-of-life |archive-date=29 October 2018 |date=9 June 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2017, Blackmore appeared at the 17th [[European Skeptics Congress]] (ESC) in Old Town Wrocław, Poland. This congress was organised by the [[Klub Sceptyków Polskich]] (Polish Skeptics Club) and [[Český klub skeptiků Sisyfos]] (Czech Skeptic's Club). At the congress she joined [[Scott Lilienfeld]], Zbyněk Vybíral and [[Tomasz Witkowski]] on a panel on skeptical psychology which was chaired by Michael Heap.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gerbic|first1=Susan|author-link=Susan Gerbic|title=Skeptical Adventures in Europe, Part 2|url=https://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/skeptical_adventures_in_europe_part_2|website=www.csicop.org|date=9 February 2018 |publisher=Committee for skeptical inquiry|access-date=29 April 2018}}</ref>