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Callum E. Cooper
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Callum E. Cooper (best known as Cal Cooper) is a British parapsychologist, psychologist, and pseudoscientist best known for his research into telephone calls and their supposed relationship with the paranormal.[1][2]
Cooper takes issue with his views on the paranormal being categorized as pseudoscience, despite being precisely that, and describes himself as a "science promoter" similar to how creationists label themselves "creation scientists".[3] After RationalWiki exposed Cooper's pseudoscientific views, he changed his Twitter profile to "Sceptic Activist and Science Promoter".[4] As of 2023, Cooper is doing pseudoscientific research on the "prevalence of psychic experiences in the funeral industry", for the Society for Psychical Research.[5]
Background[edit]
Cooper has a BSc in psychology from the University of Northampton and an MRes from Sheffield Hallam University.[6] He works as a lecturer in psychology at the University of Northampton within its Centre for the Study of Anomalous Psychological Processes.[7][8]
He has lectured on woo topics such as "spiritual and psychic connections with water".[8]
He is a member of the Society for Psychical Research.[9]
Telephone Calls from the Dead[edit]
Cooper is the author of Telephone Calls from the Dead (2012) and takes influence from the work of parapsychologist D. Scott Rogo.
[10] Cooper believes that psychokinesis (PK) is real. He speculates that some people may unconsciously phone themselves by PK.[11] He has also explored "infrasound and the parapsychological effects it can have on the human mind and body."[12]
Alex Tanous[edit]
Cooper has embraced Alex Tanous as a genuine psychic.[13] He wrote the introduction to Tanous's book Conversations with Ghosts (2013).
Tanous is best known for having performed an out-of-body experience (OBE) experiment with parapsychologist Karlis Osis in 1980. According to Cooper:
"Tanous produce[d] on average, a ninety per cent hit rate through perceiving a target image four rooms away".[14]
However, Susan Blackmore noted that the overall hit rate had never been reported by Osis and that Tanous "made no more hits than would be expected by chance." This implies that any hits made were likely to have been due to chance and not an OBE."[15]
J. B. Rhine[edit]
Cooper has defended and promoted the research of parapsychologist J. B. Rhine. He says that Rhine's test subjects scored above chance level in ESP experiments and the results cannot be explained by fraud or sensory leakage.[3] He does not mention that the experiments contained serious methodological flaws. For example, Professors Charles M. Wynn and Arthur W. Wiggins have written:
"Tests often took place with minimal or no screening between the subject and the person administering the test. Subjects could see the backs of cards that were later discovered to be so cheaply printed that a faint outline of the symbol could be seen. Furthermore, in face-to-face tests, subjects could see card faces reflected in the tester’s eyeglasses or cornea. They were even able to (consciously or unconsciously) pick up clues from the tester’s facial expression and voice inflection. In addition, an observant subject could identify the cards by certain irregularities like warped edges, spots on the backs, or design imperfections."[16]
Criticism of skepticism and Wikipedia[edit]
Cooper has criticized skeptics for not being open-minded about paranormal research. He claims skeptics are actually "cynics" who do not investigate the claims they criticize.
Cooper has complained that Wikipedia is biased against paranormal topics and negative towards the field of parapsychology (hmmmm, one wonders why). He argues that a group of skeptical editors (who he describes as "cynics") control Wikipedia biographies of parapsychologists and that they are "idiots paid to sit there".[3] He is a proponent of the Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia conspiracy theory.[3] (for which no evidence exists).
Cooper has criticized atheism and described it as a "belief system" and "religion in itself".[17] He has argued that Richard Dawkins is biased against the paranormal and "made his mind up" before looking at the evidence.[17]
Publications[edit]
- Telephone Calls from the Dead (2012) Tricorn Books. ISBN 0957107412.
- Conversations with Ghosts (2013) [with Alex Tanous] White Crow Books. ISBN 1908733551.
- Paracoustics: Sound and the Paranormal (2015) [with Steven T. Parsons] White Crow Books. ISBN 1910121320.
- Death, Dying, and Mysticism: The Ecstasy of the End (2015) Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 1349501107.
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Phone calls from the dead?. Paranormal Review.
- ↑ Telephone Calls from the Dead. College of Psychic Studies.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Episode 5 - Dr Callum E Cooper. (40-50 minutes in the interview).
- ↑ https://twitter.com/callumecooper?lang=en
- ↑ Current Research Projects
- ↑ Callum Cooper. Archive.
- ↑ Callum Cooper. University of Northampton.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Dr Cal Cooper – Spiritual and Psychic Connections with Water. Arthur Conan Doyle Centre.
- ↑ Cal Cooper. Parapsychological Association.
- ↑ Telephone Calls from the Dead. The Big Séance.
- ↑ Mission 99 — Phone Calls from the Dead with Cal Cooper See 12-13 minutes in.
- ↑ New book published for parapsychologist Cal Cooper. University of Northampton.
- ↑ Cal Cooper Interview.
- ↑ Conversations with Ghosts, p. xvi
- ↑ Blackmore, Susan. (1983). Beyond the Body: An Investigation of Out-of-the-Body Experiences. Granada Publishing Limited. p. 223
- ↑ Wynn, Charles M; Wiggins, Arthur W. (2001). Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction: Where Real Science Ends...and Pseudoscience Begins. Joseph Henry Press. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-309-07309-7
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Episode 5 - Dr Callum E Cooper. (108-112 minutes in the interview).