Hood, Bruce - Supersense

HOW DO YOU MEASURE UP ON THE SUPERSENSE?

HOW DO YOU SCORE ON PARANORMAL BELIEF?

In chapter 2, I described the results of Gallup polls surveying the general public in their supernatural beliefs. There are several scales that have been used in research to measure how much belief people have in supernatural phenomena. Listed below are thirteen statements containing opinions designed to quickly measure paranormal beliefs. Following each opinion please indicate how strongly you agree or disagree with the statement, with (1) = Strong Disagreement, (2) = Moderate Disagreement, (3) = Mild Disagreement, (4) = Mild Agreement, (5) = Moderate Agreement and (6) = Strong Agreement. Read the statements carefully as the wording is important.

a)

It is probably true that certain people can predict the future quite accurately.

b)

For the most part, people who claim to be psychics are in reality just very good actors.

c)

It is quite possible for planetary forces to control personality traits.

d)

Contrary to scientific opinion, there is some validity to fortune telling.

e)

In spite of the laws of science, some people can use their psychic powers to make objects move.

f)

As a general rule, any fortune-teller’s predictions which come true are just a result of coincidence.

g)

Regardless of what you might read in the magazines, people who actually believe in ‘magic’ rituals are just wasting their time.

h)

For the most part, most fortune-tellers’ predictions are general and vague. It is just the situation that them believable.

i)

In spite of what people think, card readings, for example tarot cards, can reveal a lot about a person and their future.

j)

Cosmic forces (astrology) can still influence peoples’ lives even thought they don’t believe in it. k) Although some people still believe there are people who can actually put a hex on or cast a love spell on some, such belief is only superstition. l) Contrary to scientific belief, some people can make contact with the dead.

Take your score for items b), e), f ), g), and j) then reverse the value so that 1=6, 2=5, 3=4, 4=3, 5=2 and 6=1. Now add all your scores together. What was your total?

Research with this scale has shown that the average adult score is 38 in the US and 32 in the UK.

DISCUSSION TOPICS

HAVE YOU HAD ANY SUPERSENSE BELIEFS OR MOMENTS?

If the supersense is within all of us, there should be no embarrassment in talking about our individual supernatural beliefs and behaviours. Why not ask colleagues and friends if they have any interesting super-sense moments and how they came about? Start with the personal sentimental objects, as many of us are happy to describe what they mean to us. If not an object, then it may be a certain place or an event where one experiences a sense of the profound. Our lives are full of such moments of significance though we use different ways to interpret them.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAVE FROM A BURNING HOUSE?

In chapter 8, I described how personal possessions become very precious to the individual. Imagine that your house caught fire and you had to save just one item. What would it be and why would you risk your life to save it?

My student Katy Donnelly posed this question to 180 people in an online survey. The top three household items in order were: 1) photographs, 2) jewellery and, 3), their childhood toy. Women rated items they had been given by someone else as more valuable than did men, who valued objects that they had bought themselves as most important. Why do you think that might be the case?

HOW MUCH IS YOUR SUPERSENSE WORTH?

Consider the following tasks and answer honestly if you could do any of them and, if so, for how much: £1; £100; £1000; £100,000; £1,000,000; or never? You have to fully imagine doing it to get a true insight into your own supersense.

1)

Could you drop your most cherished sentimental object into the toilet bowl?

2)

Could you wear a murderer’s cardigan?

3)

Could you stab a copy of a photograph of a loved one through the eyes?

Now consider all three. What order would you rank them in from the least to the worst act? Try this list out with others (maybe as an after-dinner conversation) and see if you all agree. I bet you will not.

IS YOUR SUPERSENSE STRONG?

The ‘magical ideation’ scale that I talked about in chapter 9 is a measure of one’s tendency to the supersense. It was devised by Mark Eckblad and Loren Chapman from the University of Wisonsin-Madison in 1983 and has been used to look at magical (supernatural) thinking in the general public. How do you score on this? Read each item and tick the true or false box.

1

Some people can make me aware of them just by thinking about me.

False

True

2

I have had the momentary feeling that I might not be human.

False

True

3

I have sometimes been fearful of stepping on pavement cracks.

False

True

4

I think I could learn to read other peoples’ minds if I wanted to.

False

True

5

Horoscopes are right too often for it to be a coincidence.

False

True

6

Things sometimes seem to be in different places when I get home, even though no one has been there.

False

True

7

Numbers like 13 and 7 have no special power.

True

False

8

I have occasionally had the silly feeling that a TV or radio broadcaster knew I was listening to them.

False

True

9

I have worried that other people on other planets may be influencing what is happening on earth

False

True

10

The government refuses to tell the truth about flying saucers.

False

True

11

I have felt that there were messages for me in the way things are arranged, like in a store window.

False

True

12

I have never doubted that my dreams are the products of my own mind.

True

False

13

Good luck charms don’t work.

True

False

14

I have noticed sounds on my records that are not there at other times.

False

True

15

The hand motions that strangers make seem to influence me at times.

False

True

16

I almost never dream about things before they happen.

True

False

17

I have had the momentary feeling that someone’s place has been taken by a look-alike.

False

True

18

It is not possible to harm others merely by thinking bad thoughts about them.

True

False

19

I have sometimes sensed an evil presence around me, although I could not see it.

False

True

20

I sometimes have a feeling of gaining or losing energy when certain people look at me or touch me.

False

True

21

I have sometimes had the passing thought that strangers are in love with me.

False

True

22

I have never had the feeling that certain thoughts of mine really belonged to someone else.

True

False

23

When introduced to strangers, I rarely wonder whether I have known them before.

True

False

24

If reincarnation were true, it would explain some unusual experiences I have had.

False

True

25

People often behave so strangely that one wonders if they are part of an experiment.

False

True

26

At times I perform certain little rituals to ward off negative influences.

False

True

27

I have felt that I might cause something to happen just by thinking about it.

False

True

28

I have wondered whether the spirits of the dead can influence the living.