Probably Much as You and I Do

If you are skeptical of divining water, healing with crystals, and acupuncture, don't feel ignorant or alone. So are most scientists. Reporting in the International Journal of Science Education, British researchers Richard Coll, Ph.D., and Neil Taylor, Ph.D., found that these supposed skeptics aren't so skeptical after all, at least with regard to unexplained phenomena, spirituality, and the supernatural.

The researchers at the University of Leicester "found scientists to be much more open-minded about 'New Age' beliefs than might have been expected." The survey was "spread across main science disciplines -- chemistry, physics, biology, and earth sciences," Coll told Spirituality & Health. "Some of the study participants were religious and some were not. Only one reported being an atheist."

The scientists surveyed perceived "a potential underlying theoretical basis to many of these beliefs," for instance, "that water divining might be possible because there is a physical difference between dry, waterless land and land which has water flowing underneath it. The very possibility of such a link meant that the scientists were prepared to keep an open mind."

Two findings stimulated the research: a study of schoolchildren in the United Kingdom that showed that despite years of science education, many students were highly superstitious; and the researchers' observation that many reports in the science education literature assume that scientists work and think in certain ways -- specifically, that they are totally objective.

"We were suspicious of this rather simplistic stance and we decided it warranted investigation," said one of the researchers. "Many of the scientists were much more open-minded than suggested in the literature."

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