8.1.2 SEE-I Model

State

A correlation can be drawn between the common presentation of extrasensory perception in the media and the increase in individuals who perceive this practice as a real or attainable power when it is in fact a pseudoscience.

Elaborate:

The top-grossing box office movie genre in the US and Canada is Adventure (Navarro, 2022). Highly popular movie series and TV shows such as Marvel, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, and Stranger Things all share one thing in common: extrasensory perception. Many of these films contain elements of magic, supernatural powers, and ESP that are portrayed with such high-quality animation that it almost seems realistic. These supernatural visuals created by production companies could be part of the reason that so many viewers today are more inclined to believe in things like telekinesis, talking to spirits, telepathy, etc. Even when an audience knows it is fiction, ESP’s repeated appearance in movies across time and genres may contribute to people viewing it as a desirable phenomenon.

Exemplify:

• Film Studies Lens: Statista.com created a list of the top 20 most successful movies of all time, as of June 2022. Within this list, 13/20 (65%) of these movies contained elements of extrasensory perception in their plots. Three out of the thirteen movies were marketed towards children. Movies containing extrasensory perception generate more revenue than movies that do not. For example, this can be seen in films like Harry Potter and Star Wars with the common plot structure of a “Hero’s Journey.” This structure consists of elements like “supernatural aid”, “abyss”, “call to adventure” and “atonement”. These common thematic aspects of the plot structure (can’t have ‘supernatural’ aid without the ‘supernatural!’) lend themselves to the use and addition of ESP.

• Psychological Lens: Psychologists at Harvard University have developed a new experiment involving brain scanning in an attempt to prove if a person can truly have extrasensory perception. Participants were presented with ESP and non-ESP stimuli, with the only difference being that ESP stimuli were presented telepathically, clairvoyantly, and pre-cognitively, while non-ESP stimuli were presented only visually. The results showed no difference in the brain when presented with the two different stimuli, giving evidence that ESP does not exist in a way that can be proven by science (Lavoie, 2008).

• Theological Lens: Using the data that was gathered in the Orenstein article, it was claimed that “paranormal beliefs are profoundly religious in nature”. The difference between paranormal beliefs and most forms of religion is insignificant. There were no findings that those who practiced a religion were less likely to believe in ESP. The study also mentioned the prevalence of paranormal beliefs, such as ESP, being used as a substitute for mainstream religion (Orenstein, 2002). This indicates an increase in the popularity of this pseudoscience.

Illustrate:

Imagine a child going to see a movie at the theater with their parents. The movie is fictional but features depictions of ESP such as precognition, and is very engaging. The child goes home wishing that they had such powers and thinking how cool it would be to show it off to their friends. One day soon after, the child is thinking about calling one of their friends when the phone rings. It is the same friend they had been thinking of contacting! The child wonders if this is possibly an example of precognition. Had they actually somehow predicted the future? They begin trying to predict other small, daily occurrences. The phone ringing, the mailman, the exact moment the light turned green at a stoplight. Every time they would predict something incorrectly, they thought to themselves “Ah well. I got it wrong that time but maybe I just need improvement.” On the other hand, when they predict something correctly they become exhilarated with the idea that they might actually possess the ability to see the future! The truth is, if the child kept track of how often they were correct in their ‘predictions’ they would see that the percentage was very close to, if not exactly that of chance. This is obviously a fictional example, but one that many people have likely experienced to some degree. It is common for humans to fall prey to confirmation bias in even the smallest areas of life, and in this case, visual media can sometimes contribute to such beliefs.