Many followers of the Thunderbolts project are familiar with the revolutionary research of biologist Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, author of more than 75 scientific papers and ten books, including the internationally acclaimed "Dogs that Know When Their Owners are Coming Home." In controlled double-blind experiments, Sheldrake has found compelling evidence of "interspecies telepathy," including the uncanny (yet familiar to many pet owners) ability of dogs to anticipate when their owners are returning home.

Like many other scientists and academicians who have presented "positive" evidence of ESP and other "paranormal" abilities, Sheldrake has been severely targeted by self-described "skeptics," including such usual suspects as retired magician James "The Amazing" Randi. Indeed, Randi's history of public comments on Sheldrake's work bares special mention in the above video. In a 2000 interview in Dog World magazine, Randi specifically claimed to have debunked Sheldrake's findings on canine ESP. But when pressed to provide evidence of the purported debunking, he could not do so.

Sheldrake elaborates in his own synopsis of the controversy: "Randi also claimed to have debunked one of my experiments with the dog Jaytee, a part of which was shown on television. Jaytee went to the window to wait for his owner when she set off to come home, but did not do so before she set off. In Dog World, Randi stated: 'Viewing the entire tape, we see that the dog responded to every car that drove by, and to every person who walked by.' This is simply not true, and Randi now admits that he has never seen the tape."

While the issue of telepathy may not directly relate to the Electric Universe, the issue of "skeptical" misconduct certainly does. It is the height of disingenuousness for anyone to call himself a "skeptic" who consistently behaves like an ideologue/dogmatist. The literal definition of a skeptic is one who habitually and thoughtfully questions widely accepted beliefs. People who call themselves "skeptics" do this rarely or never -- in fact, most spend all of their time defending widely accepted beliefs (as long as such beliefs are endorsed by scientific or governmental officialdom), while attacking those who genuinely seek out alternative perspectives.

I hope that this video helps to illustrate the enormity of the stakes in these intellectual battles. Historically, life in its every form has suffered terribly as the result of scientific myopia and "skeptical" misconduct. With the world's attention focused on some truly life changing controversies -- from "global warming," to alternative energy, to an escalating global food crisis -- the need for each individual to practice vigilant discernment, i.e. true skepticism, has never been higher.

Michael Goodspeed