Observations placeholder
Sun spot activity and hallucinations
Identifier
000787
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
W. and S. Randall, the authors of this abstract, are in the Department of Psychology at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.
This then begs the question, where could they have found reliable data on hallucinatory events between 1868 and 1889? Their source is the book Phantasms of the Living, by E. Gurney, F. Myers, and E. Podmore. Their research is thus somewhat questionable, though interesting, as firstly they assume that the reports in this book are reliable, and I have concluded that many are not. Secondly they attribute all the hallucinations or experiences to the one cause and it is clear from the book that numerous causes are in evidence. Finally, their sample turns out to be tiny – not statistically relevant in the larger scheme of things "Within these pages, every visual hallucination with the month of occurrence was used in the correlational analysis (a total of 49)...."
Nevertheless, the chart they produced is interesting……….
A description of the experience
Walter Randall and Steffani Randall – The Solar Wind and Hallucinations – A Possible Relation due to Magnetic disturbances – Bioelectromagnetics 12 1991
Data from the 19th century on hallucinations and magnetic disturbances were found to exhibit a direct and statistically significant correlation. The aa magnetic index over the period 1868-89 and concurrent visual hallucinatory activity were found to covary...
 |
But then you can prove anything you want with statistics…. |