No possible counterexample can ever refute pseudoscience, because pseudoscience always has a way of accommodating via ad hoc hypothesis.
Every time he was presented with evidence that seemed to refute his hypothesis, he would just move to another case. Stevenson was apparently apt at verifying his hypothesis hence his massive data , but not at confronting evidence contrary to his theories. In his research, unlike true scientific research, there was no possible counterexample that he would be willing to take as a refutation of his claims.
Another important criterion in the philosophy of science is predictability. As opposed to pseudoscientific theories, scientific theories can make predictions. Science assumes regularity in nature. Thus, if science pretends to know the laws of nature, it should have the capacity to elaborate predictions on the basis of its knowledge of nature. For example, if, as Stevenson claims, a violent death will lead to a reincarnation in which the child will have birthmarks, then, we should at least expect some predictions about particular birthmarks in future incarnations.
Yet, Stevenson did not provide any clue on future specific birthmarks. It is true that Stevenson never claimed that his data is definitive, and it is also true that science requires an open mind to consider possible cases. Stevenson did not speak the languages of the societies in which he carried out his studies.
He relied on local interpreters, and this allowed for various cases of corruption. In many of the countries where Stevenson did his research, there is considerable cultural expectation when it comes to cases of reincarnation.
There are other graver problems. Furthermore, the interviewing time was extremely short, which again, seems to suggest that Stevenson was more interested in getting the information that fit his preconceived ideas, and after he got that, he would not investigate further. In most cases, adults would favor the reincarnation hypothesis, so their biases were incorporated into the data.
In fact, Stevenson rarely spoke to the children, in part because the children were too shy to talk to a Western researcher. Some parents even knew the relatives of the person whose life the child allegedly remembered; hence, the probability of the child getting information from them was increased. Generally, Stevenson received the news that in some village, a child claimed to remember past lives, and then, he went to investigate the case.
Between the time that he received the news and he finally reached the village, a lengthy time three weeks to two years passed. Furthermore, the fact that the majority of cases investigated by Stevenson were violent deaths also raises some suspicions.
Violent deaths are much more publicized than nonviolent ones. The fact that most of these cases take place in countries where reincarnation is a mainstream religious belief also raises suspicions. For example, in cultures where it is not accepted that someone may reincarnate in the opposite sex, no child would remember a previous life in the opposite sex. In matrilineal cultures, children mostly remembered the lives of matrilineal relatives, whereas in patrilineal cultures, children remembered the lives of patrilineal relatives This raises the suspicion that some children may claim to remember the lives of people from upper castes as a way to scale upwards in the caste system.
Anecdotal evidence may be useful at first, but it is not enough to build a strong case for a hypothesis. Furthermore, as Carl Sagan famously claimed, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. As for the extraordinary talents developed by children, reincarnation is not the only possible explanation. Talents artistic, academic, and etc. Some defenders of reincarnation claim that some children with extraordinary talents come from families without those talents.
However, that is not a good enough argument, for it ignores a basic law in Mendelian genetics: a given trait may disappear in one generation and reappear in another. The parents may carry the dominant unexpressed variety of a gene for a specific talent.
It has been frequently claimed that Mozart must have been the reincarnation of a great musician, for, how can someone at such a young age develop those musical skills? Again, there is no need to appeal to reincarnation: it is quite possible that Mozart may have had an acute auditory cortex, which allowed him to develop his impressive musical talents at an early age But again, all this evidence is just anecdotal. Stevenson only relied on testimonies and photographs; both types of evidence are highly susceptible to fraud.
Moreover, once again, in these cases, Stevenson arrived too late. The families may have established contact, and the child may have been provided with information about the deceased person.
Furthermore, if reincarnation is just about the transmigration of souls, how exactly do marks appear on the body? Neither Stevenson nor any other defender of the reincarnation hypothesis has ever given a satisfactory response to this important question.
Once again, we face the problem of interaction between material and nonmaterial substances. Despite the fact that, as I have argued, the reincarnation hypothesis faces some tough conceptual problems and the empirical evidence in its favor is very weak, some psychiatrists do insist on using past life regression therapy to treat some mental disorders, specially specific phobias The movement to use past life regression as therapy in psychiatry began with a famous case, that of Bridey Murphy, in the s Under hypnosis, Tighe assumed the personality of one Bridey Murphy, allegedly an Irish woman from the 19 th Century.
Tighe had never travelled to Ireland, but in the hypnosis sessions, she spoke with a British accent, and surprisingly, she gave precise details about Irish life in the 19 th Century. Bernstein wrote a book about this case 17 , and the details provided in the book made some scientists think that, indeed, Tighe was the reincarnation of Murphy.
The registry details of the town where Murphy had allegedly been born did not match the local records. Tighe claimed that in her previous life she lived in a wooden house, but in fact, in her alleged hometown there were no wooden houses. It turned out that one Bridie Murphy Corwell had been a neighbor to Tighe during her childhood.
It was highly probable that she heard stories about Ireland from this neighbor, and this information came out during her hypnosis sessions, although she believed them to be part of a past life. The case of Bridey Murphy is very illustrative of what really goes on during past life regressions. During these procedures, cryptomnesia is very significant. For the most part, memory is a selective process; we daily apprehend an enormous amount of sensory data, and we must discriminate on the basis of relevance.
We normally choose what we desire to remember. Some data is then deleted, but some unwanted data nevertheless is retained. In the case of hypnosis and past life regression, the fact that the hypnotized subject is in a state of suggestibility increases the probability of the occurrence of cryptomnesia. Thus, in hypnosis, the hypnotist may easily induce the subject to assume the role of some character in a previous life.
The hypnotist may even do this unconsciously, by asking leading questions that, under a state of suggestibility, the hypnotized subject follows and complies with the initial request. The hypnotist may be excited by this response, he may ask even more leading questions, and ultimately, the hypnotized subject may provide some apparently vivid details of some battle, again on the basis of some previous educational experience reading a book, watching a movie, and etc.
Past life regression, as with most psychotherapies, can provide some good results. Thus, even if reincarnation is not real and past life regression is just a role-playing game in which the patient follows the suggestions of the hypnotist, is it not ethically acceptable?
If the bottom line is helping patients, why should there be any moral objections to this procedure? Let us consider the three important principles of medical ethics beneficence, autonomy, and non-malfeasance in order to answer this question. It is undoubtedly true that past life regressions are performed with the intention of helping patients, and indeed, many patients do find some relief undergoing these therapies.
In such a manner, the principle of beneficence the promotion of the wellbeing of others is honored. Past life regressions are not forced on patients. They are always done with the consent of the patients. Therefore, apparently, the principle of autonomy is also honored. Yet, there is concern as to how informed patients are when it comes to these procedures.
In order for the principle of autonomy to be truly honored, there must be informed consent. When doctors do not explain to patients that there is no scientific evidence for reincarnation and that reincarnation even faces some difficult conceptual problems , patients are not fully informed. With such a lack of information, there can be no true consent, and hence, the principle of autonomy is compromised. Most ethicists agree that the most important principle of medical ethics is actually non-malfeasance First, do no harm Even if a patient asks for a procedure, if that procedure is likely to cause harm, the physician should abstain from performing it.
Past life regressions can have good outcomes, but they also carry some significant risks. Those risks far outweigh the possible beneficial consequences of this type of therapy. The greatest risk in past life regressions is that the hypnotist may implant false memories in the subject, and due to suggestibility, the subject may come to feel them as quite real.
This implantation of false memories need not even be intentional. If the hypnotist asks a leading question that may suggest a traumatic experience to the subject, even if that traumatic experience never actually happened, it may actually become quite real for the hypnotized person. Every session is unique. Does my session have to be face to face, or can it be online? Zoom allows us to meet face to face online for as long as we need to. I will send you a link to access our meeting some time beforehand.
Please note: you do not need to sign up to any subscription with Zoom to gain access to our online session I take care of that part. If holding your session on Zoom, you will need to ensure that all notifications are silent throughout the session.
How much does a session cost? You can pay by bank transfer or we can forward you an invoice via Stripe similar to PayPal which allows you to pay quickly and safely online using a credit card. Please note though that I can only book individual sessions on a flexible basis. So if a tour booking came in for that same day, then the tour booking would take precedence and we would need to move your session to another day. This is the only basis on which I can offer individual sessions unfortunately, or they would block off too much of our touring diary.
If Past Life Regression is part of your tour, then remember that the session is entirely optional, so you can decide at the time whether you would like to go ahead with it or not. If not, we will spend additional time at the other tour locations.
It will be accompanied with gentle hypnosis music in the background, unless of course, you prefer to hear just my voice. Yes, absolutely, please let us know when booking the tour that you would like this included as part of the experience. This allows us to write it into the itinerary for you. If I come with my partner or as part of a group, do we take the Past Life Regression session together?
As there is only one slot scheduled into the itinerary for past life regression, we do this as a group regression. Can I book Past Life Regression without the tour? Meantime, if you would like to explore the possibility further before deciding on a session, you are welcome to download by Past Lives Clues Workbook which will help you begin to join the dots.
The idea of reincarnation is that after death — an individual may be reborn into another body. This idea has existed in various religions for at least 3, years and in many ancient cultures for much longer — such as Shamanism, Druidism, Native American tribes and Norse mythology.
There is a widely held spiritual belief that each of us goes through a series of lifetimes for the purpose of spiritual growth and soul development. Reincarnation is closely linked to the concept of Karma — a Sanskrit term relating to cause and effect. It is said that more people on the planet believe in reincarnation, so by implication are open to past life regression, than do not. The major religions that hold a belief in reincarnation are Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism — all of Indian origin.
Although other major religions do not centrally believe in re-incarnation, particular groups within these religions, such as Kabbalah do. A proportion of people from all religions believe in reincarnation irrespective of the teachings of their faiths.
One of the best-known studies into Past Life Experience is by Dr. Ian Stevenson. Barham, once again, directed me to move forward in Jasmine's life to the age of 70, then prompted me to recall Jasmine's dying day. How exactly is a memory of death going to help me retrieve a happy memory from this therapy session? I wondered silently in my head. Still, I trusted Barham to lead me to the answer.
I immediately saw Jasmine in a hospital bed, joking around with the nurses. I noticed she didn't seem sad, weak, or feeble. Perhaps her pleasant demeanor with the hospital staff, even on her deathbed, is attributed to all the times I spent in real life with my mom at the nursing home where she worked for 21 years.
Or it could signal that I might one day pass away while telling jokes, in the—hopefully distant—future. Either way, the vision felt warm and welcoming, not sad. As Jasmine took her last breath, I saw the snapshots playing in her head, from the young girl in the library to the images of a mother who looked like mine—and the book covers. What would you say are the important lessons in that life experience? In response, I began to rattle off an incoherent list of themes based on Jasmine's life: spending time with the people you love; doing what you love; appreciating the small, everyday things; perseverance and persistence; being in a relaxed state near the end of life.
Ultimately, though, looking back on the experience, even though I couldn't draw parallels to everything in my conscious, real life, I think I figured it out. Seeing Jasmine surrounded by books and possibly writing in her spare time outside of the office reminded me to make more time for the things I used to enjoy, like reading.
It encouraged me to perhaps even revisit my childhood goal of writing a book or pursuing a career as a book publisher. Near the end of the session, just before Barham brought me back to consciousness, she asked me to think of a figure or concept that I think of as a higher power, like God, the universe, or an angel. She requested that I ask this spiritual guide a question based on what I saw and experienced.
And with that, Barham lured me out of my hypnotic state, directing me to allow my prior personality to fade to black and to bring attention to my breathing. As Barham counted up to 10, I returned to my physical body—restored, alert, and energized with a sense of focus and intention. I removed the eye mask, allowing my eyes to adjust to the fluorescent light emitted from my kitchen stove.
I could only describe the feeling at that moment as relief. I felt lighter or perhaps enlightened. Everything made sense. I was pleased to know that after seeing Jasmine travel through many decades, from age 14 to 70, that a woman who looked exactly like my mother was a permanent fixture.
I instantly was reminded that with every milestone and moment of significance, my real-life mother has always been there to support me. I guess me and this Jasmine woman have a lot more in common than books, writing, and stress. Barham acknowledged this as a common thought that comes up in her book. I understand I have the power to go backwards.
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The Past Life Perspective.
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