Editing Afterlife (section)

==Parapsychology==
{{Main|Parapsychology}}

The [[Society for Psychical Research]] was founded in 1882 with the express intention of investigating phenomena relating to Spiritualism and the afterlife. Its members continue to conduct scientific research on the paranormal to this day. Some of the earliest attempts to apply [[scientific method]]s to the study of phenomena relating to an afterlife were conducted by this organization. Its earliest members included noted scientists like [[William Crookes]], and philosophers such as [[Henry Sidgwick]] and [[William James]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Resende |first=Pedro Henrique Costa de |last2=Moreira-Almeida |first2=Alexander |last3=Schubert Coelho |first3=Humberto |date=September 2023 |title=The epistemologies of research on the survival of consciousness after death in the golden era of the Society for Psychical Research (1882–1930) |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0957154X231175575 |journal=History of Psychiatry |language=en |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=287–304 |doi=10.1177/0957154X231175575 |issn=0957-154X}}</ref>

Parapsychological investigation of the afterlife includes the study of [[haunting]], [[apparitional experience|apparitions]] of the deceased, instrumental trans-communication, [[electronic voice phenomenon|electronic voice phenomena]], and [[mediumship]].<ref>David Fontana (2005): Is there an afterlife. A comprehensive overview of the evidence.</ref>

A [[21 grams experiment|study]] conducted in 1901 by physician [[Duncan MacDougall (doctor)|Duncan MacDougall]] sought to measure the weight lost by a human when the [[soul]] "departed the body" upon death.<ref>{{cite book | last = Roach | first = Mary | title = Spook – Science Tackles the Afterlife | publisher = W. W. Norton & Co. | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-0-393-05962-5}}</ref> MacDougall weighed dying patients in an attempt to prove that the soul was material, tangible and thus measurable. Although MacDougall's results varied considerably from "21 grams", for some people this figure has become synonymous with the measure of a soul's mass.<ref>[http://www.snopes.com/religion/soulweight.asp Urban Legends] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20140630064537/http://www.snopes.com/religion/soulweight.asp |date=30 June 2014 }} – Reference Page (Soul man).</ref> The title of the 2003 movie ''[[21 Grams]]'' is a reference to MacDougall's findings. His results have never been reproduced, and are generally regarded either as meaningless or considered to have had little if any scientific merit.<ref>{{cite book|last=Park|first=Robert Ezra|title=Superstition: Belief in the Age of Science|page=90|year=2010|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, NJ|isbn=978-0-691-14597-6}}</ref>

[[Frank Tipler]] has argued that physics can explain immortality, although such arguments are not [[Falsifiability|falsifiable]] and, in [[Karl Popper]]'s views, they do not qualify as science.<ref>{{cite book | last = Tipler | first = Franl J. | title = The Physics of Immortality – Modern Cosmology, God and the Resurrection of the Dead | publisher = Anchor | year = 1997 | isbn = 978-0-385-46799-5}}</ref>

After 25 years of parapsychological research [[Susan Blackmore]] came to the conclusion that, according to her experiences, there is not enough [[empirical evidence]] for many of these cases.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/Chapters/Kurtz.htm |title=Skeptical Odysseys: Personal Accounts by the World's Leading Paranormal Inquirers pp. 85–94 |publisher=Susanblackmore.co.uk |date=25 March 2002 |access-date=8 March 2014 |archive-date=6 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140406225824/http://www.susanblackmore.co.uk/Chapters/Kurtz.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Kurtz | first = Paul | title = Skeptical Odysseys: Personal Accounts by the World's Leading Paranormal Inquirers | publisher = Prometheus Books | year = 2001 | isbn = 978-1-57392-884-7}}</ref>

===Mediumship===
Mediums purportedly act as a vessel for communications from spirits in other realms. [[Mediumship]] is not specific to one culture or religion; it can be identified in several belief systems, most notably [[Spiritualism (movement)|Spiritualism]]. While the practice gained popularity in Europe and North America in the 19th century, evidence of mediumship dates back thousands of years in Asia.<ref>[[David Marks (psychologist)|David Marks]]. (2000). ''The Psychology of the Psychic''. Prometheus Books. {{ISBN|978-1-57392-798-7}}</ref><ref>Nicola Holt, Christine Simmonds-Moore, David Luke, [[Chris French|Christopher French]]. (2012). ''Anomalistic Psychology (Palgrave Insights in Psychology)''. Palgrave Macmillan. {{ISBN|978-0-230-30150-4}}</ref><ref>[[Millais Culpin]]. (1920). ''Spiritualism and the New Psychology, an Explanation of Spiritualist Phenomena and Beliefs in Terms of Modern Knowledge''. Kennelly Press. {{ISBN|978-1-4460-5651-6}}</ref> Mediums who claim to have contact with deceased people include [[Tyler Henry]] and [[Pascal Voggenhuber]].

===Near death research===
{{See also|Near-death studies|Near death experience|Deathbed phenomena}}

Research also includes the study of the near death experience. Scientists who have worked in this area include [[Elisabeth Kübler-Ross]], [[Raymond Moody]], [[Sam Parnia]], [[Michael Sabom]], [[Bruce Greyson]], [[Peter Fenwick (neuropsychologist)|Peter Fenwick]], [[Jeffrey Long]], [[Susan Blackmore]], [[Charles Tart]], [[William James]], [[Ian Stevenson]], [[Michael Persinger]], [[Pim van Lommel]], [[Penny Sartori]], [[Walter van Laack]] among others.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://profezie3m.altervista.org/archivio/TheLancet_NDE.htm |title=Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands |publisher=Profezie3m.altervista.org |access-date=8 March 2014 |archive-date=13 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713092829/http://profezie3m.altervista.org/archivio/TheLancet_NDE.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7463606.stm | access-date = 6 August 2008 | work = BBC News | title = Nurse writes book on near-death | date = 19 June 2008 | archive-date = 31 March 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090331144411/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7463606.stm | url-status = live }}</ref>

=== Past life regression ===
{{Main|Past life regression}}

'''Past life regression''' is a method that uses [[hypnosis]] to recover what practitioners believe are [[Past life memory|memories of past lives]] or [[reincarnation|incarnations]]. The technique used during past-life regression involves the subject answering a series of questions while hypnotized to reveal identity and events of alleged past lives, a method similar to that used in [[recovered memory therapy]] and one that, similarly, often misrepresents memory as a faithful recording of previous events rather than a constructed set of recollections.

However, medical experts and practitioners do not agree that the past life memories gained from past life regressions are truly from past lives; experts generally regard claims of recovered memories of past lives as fantasies or delusions or a type of [[confabulation]], because the use of hypnosis and [[suggestive question]]s can tend to leave the subject particularly likely to hold distorted or false memories.<ref name = Skepdic>{{cite book |author=Carroll RT | author-link = Robert Todd Carroll |title=The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions | title-link = The Skeptic's Dictionary |publisher=Wiley |location=New York |year=2003 |pages= [https://books.google.com/books?id=6FPqDFx40vYC&pg=PA276 276–7] |isbn=978-0-471-27242-7}}</ref><ref name = Cordon>{{cite book |author=Cordón LA |title=Popular Psychology: An Encyclopedia |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group|Greenwood Press]] |location=Westport, Conn. |year=2005 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/popularpsycholog0000cord/page/183 183–5] |isbn=978-0-313-32457-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/popularpsycholog0000cord/page/183 }}</ref><ref name = encyclopedia>{{cite book |vauthors=Linse P, Shermer M |title=The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |year=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Gr4snwg7iaEC&pg=PA206 |pages=206–7 |isbn=978-1-57607-653-8 |access-date=15 November 2022 |archive-date=30 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230123318/https://books.google.com/books?id=Gr4snwg7iaEC&pg=PA206 |url-status=live }}</ref>