 |
|
During the 1860s, George Leclanche developed the dry-cell battery, the basis for modern batteries. |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Edinburgh's answer to Mulder and Scully
Posted on Thursday, May 15, 2008 (CDT) by Isis
 The sound of footsteps echo in the darkness when you know you’re supposed to be alone and you just can’t shake that uncomfortable feeling that someone – or something – is watching. Suddenly there’s an unexplained draft and the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. Just as it is for detective Fox Mulder, from the hit television show The X Files, it is incidents like these that Edinburgh University scientist Dr Caroline Watt finds irresistible.
As a parapsychologist – the profession that gained worldwide attention in the 1984 movie hit Ghostbusters – Caroline has the somewhat unusual vocation of being an investigator of paranormal belief and psychic ability. But from her ordinary-looking office in George Square Caroline is quick to point out that she doesn’t have a Ghostbusting backpack to help her with her studies.
“Don’t believe what you see in the movies because nobody has ever invented a ghost detector,” laughs the cheerful 45-year-old. “If there was such a thing then we could go round and say ‘there’s a ghost’ and we can’t do that. “But what we can do is look at some of the factors that influence people’s experiences, so things like temperature, drafts, lighting levels, the area of the room and electromagnetic activity.”
Together
with MSc student Brandon Masullo, the mother-of-two will today embark
upon an experiment at the supposedly haunted Mary King’s Close.
As part of Ghostfest – the
annual Edinburgh celebration of all things spooky – over the next week
the researchers hope to study the reactions of more than 700 people as
they tour the creepy underground lane.
Prior to the public visit,
Caroline, of Haymarket, and Brandon will take electromagnetic readings
to determine how charged the environment is in each room.
They are keen to see if more people report “picking up on something” when they are in a highly charged room.
“It’s a psychology experiment in a realistic and fantastic location,” explains Caroline.
“Psychologists normally do
research in a sterile lab but we are conducting a study in a real world
setting, looking at a psychology of ghost experiences.”
During her 20-year career
as a parapsychologist, Caroline has developed a particular interest in
Extrasensory Perception (ESP), otherwise known as telepathy.
The world-renowned
scientist has conducted experiments which indicate that people can pick
up on the thoughts of others when they are being “sent” mental images
by someone in another room.
Caroline, who has had more
than 50 research papers published, has also conducted research studies
into psychokinesis and discovered that a subject’s reactions may be
linked to someone else thinking good thoughts about them.
It is arthritis sufferers who may benefit from Caroline’s latest study to determine how effective remote healing is.
Healers claim they can
alleviate or cure ailments simply by touching a photo of the patient
and Caroline and her team hope they can establish evidence of
paranormal activity.
But while Caroline is
fearless about discovering more about the paranormal, the Ghostbusters
motto “I ain’t afraid of no ghost” certainly didn’t apply when she was
faced with what might have been the real thing.
While alone at Mary King’s
Close, prior to a reconstruction of a Victorian séance at the Science
Festival, Caroline heard footsteps.
When no one materialised,
and she established she was definitely alone, Caroline – who admits to
watching horror films from behind a cushion – was more than a little
rattled.
“It just made the hairs
stand up on the back of my neck,” she recalls. “In terms of unexplained
experiences that would be right up there.”
So is she a believer then?
“I believe in science,” she laughs. “I would say I have probably become
more sceptical over time but I am still on the fence. What I have
learned is that the quality of the research is very good, probably
better than mainstream psychology because you’ve got to bend over
backwards to think of normal explanations and rule them out.
Resources are, of course,
the big stumbling block, with parapsychology departments reliant on
private finance. This means that Caroline and her colleagues are just
scratching the surface and far from any meaningful explanations for
paranormal experiences.
It was in 1986 that
Caroline joined the Koestler Parapsychology Unit at Edinburgh
University and, given that there’s rarely a dull moment and such a lot
of ground still to cover, Caroline is happy to keep looking for answers.
The department was also the place where she fell in love with Richard Wiseman, the renowned psychology professor and TV host.
Although he is also a
parapsychologist, Caroline admits that Richard is much more sceptical
than she is and describes him as Dana Scully to her Fox Mulder.
“We have lots of conversations where he tells me what I’m saying is rubbish and I have to defend it.
“It’s interesting because
some parapsychologists are quite hostile towards my partner. People are
quite defensive, probably because they feel under threat.”
But while Caroline is generally open about her work, the paranormal is not a subject she enjoys discussing at dinner parties.
Once people know what she
does, the evening becomes dominated by ghost stories and guests don’t
take too kindly to Caroline’s reasoned explanations.
Not even her two children,
Douglas, 14, and Cameron, 12 are tuned into what Caroline’s work
involves. “They just think it’s cool that mummy’s a scientist and I
don’t give them all the details. In a lot of ways I’m just like any
other person marking exam papers – it’s not exciting from their point
of view.”
Despite the slow progress of the work, Caroline believes it’s a field she’ll continue to be fascinated by for years to come.
“It’s such an interesting
area to work in,” she says. “There’s so much psychology involved in
paranormal experiences. If you do a poll, you would find about 50 per
cent of people believe in some form of paranormal phenomena and half of
these had some kind of experience. It’s not rare so therefore it’s fair
game and interesting to psychologists.
“While some psychologists
had an experience that’s provoked their curiosity, it was more my
background in psychology that provoked an interest. I thought it would
be fun – and it has been.”
For more information about Ghostfest or to take part in the Mary King’s Close experiment visit www.marykingsghostfest.com.
Department's Controversial Benefactor
The parapsychology
department at Edinburgh University was established in 1985 after the
controversial writer Arthur Koestler and his wife Cynthia bequeathed
their entire estate to establish a chair of parapsychology at a British
university.
Arthur, suffering from
Parkinson’s disease and leukaemia, and Cynthia, his apparently healthy
third wife, both committed suicide in 1983.
The chair came to Edinburgh
and Koestler’s bequest of around £1 million was invested by Edinburgh
University and continues to assure the future of the parapsychology
unit.
Dr Caroline Watt was one of the founding members of the department.
In his biography of
Koestler David Cesarani claimed Koestler had beaten and raped several
women, including film director Jill Craigie.
Craigie backed up the
claims and the resulting protests led to the removal of a bronze bust
of Koestler from public display at the university.
Copyright: Edinburgh Evening News
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
