FARMS, Science, and the Afterlife

The latest Journal of Book of Mormon Studies has an article by Robert Rees titled, "The Book of Mormon and Automatic Writing."

I was surprised to see a little discussion about prominent skeptical investigator James Randi, then I understood why. Rees discusses scientific studies that purport to support the existence of an afterlife. He specifically references Gary Schwartz and his book, The Afterlife Experiments, which describes studies that provide evidence that mediums can receive messages from the dead, and he (Rees) finds Schwartz's studies convincing.

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I believe that the evidence suggested by some automatic writing, as well as the intuition studies of the Institute of HeartMath and the afterlife experiments of Gary Schwartz and Linda Russek, presents a compelling argument for the possibility of communication from the immortal to the mortal world.

I hadn't heard of Schwartz until I read the article, so I haven't read his book, but you can bet that his claims have not gone unnoticed by skeptics. Rees provides a few references that are mostly a he-said-she-said spat between Schwartz and Randi. Although in a footnote he mentions that the Skeptical Inquirer has covered Schwartz, Rees doesn't provide any links (I wonder why). So here you are:

A Critique of Schwartz et al.'s After-Death Communication Studies

How Not to Test Mediums: Critiquing the Afterlife Experiments

How Not To Review Mediumship Research

Hyman’s Reply to Schwartz’s 'How Not To Review Mediumship Research’

My thoughts:

1. Claims of scientific evidence of the paranormal are like claims that the head cheerleader likes you. You want to believe it, but you better make sure it is reliable information. Skepticism is warranted to prevent you from falling hard, looking like a fool, or both. If there is reliable evidence that the afterlife exists and that mediums can contact the dead, then further and better studies done by other people will confirm it. Otherwise something else is going on.

2. Do we need to appeal to others' claims of paranormal activity to make Joseph Smith seem more authentic? I have some doubts about whether that is a good idea, particularly at the flagship of LDS apologetics.