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Ouija Board Helps Psychologists Probe the Subconscious
New Scientist ^ | 7/5/12 | Clare Wilson

Posted on 07/09/2012 7:05:14 AM PDT by marshmallow

Beloved of spiritualists and bored teenagers on a dare, the Ouija board has long been a source of entertainment, mystery and sometimes downright spookiness. Now it could shine a light on the secrets of the unconscious mind.

The Ouija, also known as a talking board, is a wooden plaque marked with the words, "yes", "no" and the letters of the alphabet. Typically a group of users place their hands on a movable pointer , or "planchette", and ask questions out loud. Sometimes the planchette signals an answer, even when no one admits to moving it deliberately.

Believers think the answer comes through from the spirit world. In fact, all the evidence points to the real cause being the ideomotor effect, small muscle movements we generate unconsciously.

That's why the Ouija board has attracted the attention of psychologists at the University of British Columbia in Canada. Growing evidence suggests the unconscious plays a role in cognitive functions we usually consider the preserve of the conscious mind,.

Take driving your car along a familiar route while planning your day. On arrival, you realise you were not in conscious control of the car, it was your "inner zombie", said Hélène Gauchou at the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness conference in Brighton, UK, this week. "How can we communicate with that unconscious intelligence?"

Gauchou's approach is to turn to the Ouija board. To keep things simple her team has just one person with their finger on the planchette at a time. But the ideomotor effect is maximised if you believe you are not responsible for any movements - that's why Ouija board sessions are most successful when used by a group. So the subject is told they will be using the board with a partner. The subject is blindfolded......

(Excerpt) Read more at newscientist.com ...


TOPICS: Other non-Christian; Religion & Culture
KEYWORDS: christian; christianity; darkside; demons; ouija; ouijaboard; psychologists; religion; spiritual; supernatural; worldisgoingbonkers
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1 posted on 07/09/2012 7:05:18 AM PDT by marshmallow
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To: marshmallow
More likely demonic spirits lie to gullible doctors though Ouiji boards.
2 posted on 07/09/2012 7:11:05 AM PDT by mountainlion (I am voting for Sarah after getting screwed again by the DC Thugs.)
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To: marshmallow

Yup. A WIDE open door to the demonic realm......


3 posted on 07/09/2012 7:14:04 AM PDT by Arlis (.)
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To: marshmallow
The only thing the Ouija board helps with is the separation between man and God.
4 posted on 07/09/2012 7:20:11 AM PDT by NoGrayZone (For evil to triumph it is only necessary for good men to do nothing.)
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To: marshmallow

The very practice seeking Godless solutions to spiritual problems, is now enlisting the support of Satan.

Whatta surprise......


5 posted on 07/09/2012 7:21:36 AM PDT by G Larry (I'm under no obligation to be a passive victim!)
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To: marshmallow

Hey, it predicts the future, too!


6 posted on 07/09/2012 7:22:45 AM PDT by bigbob
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To: marshmallow

“That’s why the Ouija board has attracted the attention of psychologists at the University of British Columbia in Canada.”

My half alma mater before I transferred to a real university in America. The profs there are crazier than your typical liberal and prime candidates for free lobotomies.


7 posted on 07/09/2012 7:23:15 AM PDT by max americana (Make the world a better place by punching a liberal in the face)
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To: mountainlion

I know for a fact that the Ouija board IS demonic.


8 posted on 07/09/2012 7:25:53 AM PDT by tractorman (I never miss a chance to tweak a liberal.)
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To: marshmallow

Do not mess with these boards..Sounds to me like some demon is trying to get more of the evil things loose on the earth..I am serious keep away from these and by all means do not let your children go near one..

http://www.squidoo.com/freakiest-ouijastories-ever


9 posted on 07/09/2012 7:26:52 AM PDT by PLD
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To: marshmallow

Perfect association, psychologists and a Ouija board. Both frauds one hiding behind fake unprovable science and the other hiding behind mysticism and stupidity.

In fact, the government should issue Ouija boards to be hung on the walls in psychologists offices for licensing purposes.


10 posted on 07/09/2012 7:31:52 AM PDT by Wurlitzer (Nothing says "ignorance" like Islam!)
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To: Wurlitzer
What next?

Magic 8 Ball Helps Psychologists Probe the Subconscious

11 posted on 07/09/2012 7:34:32 AM PDT by catman67
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To: marshmallow
Take driving your car along a familiar route while planning your day. On arrival, you realise you were not in conscious control of the car, it was your "inner zombie", said Hélène Gauchou at the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness conference in Brighton, UK, this week. "How can we communicate with that unconscious intelligence?"

You know, it's not only the (at best) dodgy recommendation of the Ouija board as a means for "exploring the unconscious," but psychologists' insistence in using language like the above to describe mentative processes that send me running for the Crucifix and the holy water. Psychology has always seemed to me like (sincere apologies to any actual psychologists here) the unknowable researching the unknowable--or, in the words of a psychologist in Shafer's Equus, like performing brain surgery using an ice pick in total darkness: what seems to me (not, after all, a trained psychologist) as a distinct scarcity of verifiable objective truth in the field must lead some of the wackier practitioners to think, "Hey, it's all a crap shoot anyway--let's just make [stuff] up!"

12 posted on 07/09/2012 7:35:47 AM PDT by Dunstan McShane
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To: tractorman
I know for a fact that the Ouija board IS demonic.

Uh huh. Ouija boards can conjure up demons, just as well as psychics can conjure up tomorrow's lottery number.
13 posted on 07/09/2012 7:36:34 AM PDT by ZX12R (FUBO GTFO 2012 !)
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To: mountainlion

95% of “psychologists” I have met are themselves troubled or just not right in the head.


14 posted on 07/09/2012 7:37:59 AM PDT by PGR88
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To: marshmallow

Late of the Biblical Urim and Thummim, and still idolotry.


15 posted on 07/09/2012 7:45:34 AM PDT by onedoug
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To: marshmallow

Not believing in something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Seems like some psychologists might be learning that lesson, dragging their victims along with them.


16 posted on 07/09/2012 7:50:13 AM PDT by pallis
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To: NoGrayZone

How would that actually happen?


17 posted on 07/09/2012 7:50:54 AM PDT by stuartcr ("When silence speaks, it speaks only to those that have already decided what they want to hear.")
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To: mountainlion

You really believe in ouiji boards?


18 posted on 07/09/2012 7:51:56 AM PDT by stuartcr ("When silence speaks, it speaks only to those that have already decided what they want to hear.")
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To: tractorman

Seriously? How?


19 posted on 07/09/2012 7:53:16 AM PDT by stuartcr ("When silence speaks, it speaks only to those that have already decided what they want to hear.")
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To: pallis

Does believing in something mean it does exist?


20 posted on 07/09/2012 7:54:53 AM PDT by stuartcr ("When silence speaks, it speaks only to those that have already decided what they want to hear.")
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