A new TV series is to be launched in Sweden this fall - Bevis från andra sidan (Proof From the Other Side). Greenworks Television in cooperation with Egmont and the Nära magazine is producing the show that is aimed at finding solid proof from "the other side", proof that shows on film, sound or photography. It will feature the psychics Benny Rosenqvist, Erika Andersson and also a representative of "open minded skepticism" - parapsychologist Adrian Parker. If you have followed my blog, you may get a notion of what is coming. Rosenqvist and Andersson are the standard kind of psychic frauds and Adrian Parker is so open minded that anything that flies into his mind turns into proof, or at least evidence of paranormal phenomena.
This is of course just yet another in a string of woo-woo-oriented productions flooding mainly commercial channels in Sweden. One positive effect might be that Swedish skeptics may take the time to look into the works of crackpot Parker, who for too long has been allowed to pose as a representative of science, a field of human endeavour he is extremely unfamiliar with. The time is ripe for a reality check, and perhaps some notes of concern addressed to the psychology department of Gothenburg University who gave Parker a professor's chair not long ago. A disgrace to higher education in Sweden.
The process of normalizing superstition in Sweden is ongoing. It should be a matter of concern for those who champion ideas of reason and rationality. And it should be noted that a TV series is shouting it out loud, so those who profess to be in opposition of it better not whisper...
Posts
Amazing. Efter you was accused for writing your own comments, there are almost no comments made here (again). Even if you ws supported in podradio and all...
ReplyDeleteDeal with it: Swedish sceptics now understand that you are disastrous. You have no real friends. And that is a good thing ;-)
Listened to you on the Swedish Podcast with John Houdi.
ReplyDeleteDont mind the idiots, keep up the good work.
To adress the comment with several misspellings: Reason is not a populartiy contest. What Garvarn writes might be correct without anyone patting him on the back for it. I've been thinking of commenting on Garvarn's highly stimulating blog entries several times now, but I simply haven't been arsed. That makes me think if there are others like me, or is it simply much more common to brown-nose psuedo scientific authors when they present their intellectual vomits? Also, in the good spirit of woo-wooistic irrelevance, I advice you to brush up on your english.
ReplyDeleteDear Marcus,
ReplyDeleteThe fact is (and scientific minded people can see a fact like this) that very few people write here, even though Garvarn is well-known in sceptic circles in Sweden. But he have also a bad reputation... and that is the whole explanation.
Dear Anonymous.
ReplyDeleteRepeating your first argument clearly makes you right. Allow me to repeat something too; reason is not a populartiy contest.
Hey Garvarn,
ReplyDeleteHow do you explain NDE's? Many people have reported that they float above their body when they suffer great pain or are about to die.
For example here I've written about it:
http://hubbardianen.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/en-till-vittnesskildring/
/ Hubbardianen
Garvarn,
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear (and curious). Do you believe in any of the following or is it 100 % out of the question or haven't you made up your mind for some of them?
Past lives, man as a spiritual being, telepathy, psychokinesis, clairvoyance (remote viewing).
/ Hubbardianen
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
Amazing. Efter you was accused for writing your own comments, there are almost no comments made here (again). Even if you ws supported in podradio and all...
Deal with it: Swedish sceptics now understand that you are disastrous. You have no real friends. And that is a good thing ;-)
June 28, 2010 7:45 AM
Totally untrue.
Garvarn has a lot of friends, and probably more fans than you can imagine. Ever.
You have the nerve to act like your own personal opinions are eqal with all the swedish sceptics. That, my friende is called Hybris.
Dear anonymous with a criminally tenacious grasp of English:
ReplyDeleteAre you able to comprehend the many levels of fallacies you commit?
If yes - please elaborate.
If no - well, we're not surprised.
Yours curiously,
Jessica
"Odlaren" and "Jessica" (probably also pseudonyms for Garvarn himself):
ReplyDelete"Totally untrue."
Nope.
"Garvarn has a lot of friends, and probably more fans than you can imagine. Ever."
Oh, really? Then it is not easy at all to understand why so very few of them are here...