Paranormal
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[edit] Definition
Paranormal events, by definition, are supposedly psychic events or phenomena that are outside the scope of the known and the normal. They supposedly transcend the normal laws of nature and science as it is currently understood. Examples of such phenomena would include divination, ESP, telepathy, telekinesis, precognition, and magic. As a noun, the paranormal refers to paranormal events in generally, as in "He is researching the paranormal," or "She believes in the paranormal."
To date, no generally accepted demonstration of the paranormal has ever been performed. The James Randi Educational Foundation has a standing prize of one million dollars (US) for "anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event." This prize, although often attempted, has never been claimed.
[edit] Discussion
An exact definition of "paranormal" is difficult to offer, in part because "science as it is currently understood" is a moving target, and many things that would have seemed to be paranormal in centuries past are now a routine part of science. (For example, transmutation of elements, the alchemist's dream, can be performed in atomic reactors, while divination through solid objects can be performed with X-rays machines at the dentist's office.) It has been spuriously argued that the Randi prize is on this basis unwinnable -- that as soon as someone can conclusively demonstrate the existence of the paranormal, it will become part of the "normal" and the Randi Foundation will refuse to pay. (This argument is incorrect, as the Randi Foundation and the claimant agree before the test under exactly what will constitute a successful demonstration, and the Foundation agrees to pay if the demonstration is successful as agreed.)
There is also some disagreement among proponents of various aspects of the paranormal about the correctness of this term. Some believers claim that the paranormal is genuinely beyond reach of science and will always be unexplainable. Others claim that there is in fact an underlying scientific reality to their claims, but that science has not yet discovered this reality. Such proponents often deny that they believe in the "paranormal," just in the yet-undiscovered normal, and will often point to areas of science they understand poorly but that they believe offer support for their theories -- such areas include quantum mechanics, relativity theory, and chaos theory. This almost always degenerates into pseudoscience.
Other proponents, notably those working in the field of parapsychology, are keen to emphasize the difference between their attempts to detect subtle but statistically significant 'psi anomalies' and what they see as the less reliable evidence of the paranormal.
