Robert McLuhan

{{Paranormal}} '''Robert McLuhan''' {{lived|1951}} is a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[author]], [[pseudoscience]] promoter and [[spiritualist]].

He has no formal training as a [[science|scientist]], but he promotes his beliefs as being grounded in scientific ideas. He is a council member of the [[Society for Psychical Research]].<ref>[http://www.spr.ac.uk/news/interview-robert-mcluhan-michael-tymn Interview with Robert McLuhan by Michael Tymn]</ref>

==Background==
McLuhan studied English Literature at [[Oxford]]. He has worked as a freelance [[journalist]] and has been a member of the [[Society for Psychical Research]] since 1993.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140319142457/http://www.spr.ac.uk/page/trustees-and-officers-psychical-research Trustees and Officers]</ref>

==Paranormalia==
McLuhan runs a blog called "Paranormalia" where he posts tirades against [[atheism]] and rants against scientists and [[skeptic]]s for dismissing his beliefs in [[parapsychology]] and [[woo]]. Popular threads on his blog include "Fuck-off Atheism"<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130210040729/http://monkeywah.typepad.com/paranormalia/2013/02/fuCk-off-atheism.html Fuck off Atheism]</ref> "Russell Targ's The Reality of ESP"<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130410044426/http://monkeywah.typepad.com/paranormalia/2013/03/russell-targs-the-reality-of-esp.html Russell Targ's The Reality of ESP]</ref> and "Michael Tymn on Leonora Piper".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130515040543/http://monkeywah.typepad.com/paranormalia/2013/01/michael-tymn-on-leonora-piper.html McLuhan supporting Michael Tymns spiritualist beliefs]</ref> McLuhan believes that fraudulent [[medium]]s such as [[Leonora Piper]], [[Eusapia Palladino]], [[Eileen Garrett]] and [[Gladys Osborne Leonard]] were genuine. On the topic of physical [[mediumship]], he has written "I think physical mediumship is a genuine phenomenon, but one that can easily be faked."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090505111944/http://monkeywah.typepad.com/paranormalia/mediums/ Getting to Grips With Physical Phenomena]</ref>

In opposition to the [[psychologist]] [[Richard Wiseman]]; McLuhan has stated that he believes it was unlikely that the [[séances]] involved in the [[scole experiment]] were fraudulent.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110211105519/http://monkeywah.typepad.com/paranormalia/2011/02/book-review-witnessing-the-impossible-by-robin-foy-.html Book Review: Witnessing the Impossible by Robin Foy]</ref> McLuhan has written on his blog that everything from [[reincarnation]] and [[spiritualism]] to [[psychokinesis]] has been scientifically demonstrated.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080321075315/http://monkeywah.typepad.com/paranormalia/archives.html Archives for his site go back to 2006, read over the threads to see his paranormal beliefs.]</ref> 

He has stated that some cases of [[poltergeist]]s are real.<ref>McLuhan is the author of the book [https://web.archive.org/web/20150911210724/http://www.spr.ac.uk/publication/poltergeist-people-paranormal-casebook ''Poltergeist People: A Paranormal Casebook''] (2012).</ref> In many cases, he has rejected psychological factors as an explanation for claims of the paranormal.

==''Randi's Prize''==
He is the author of ''Randi's Prize'' (2010), in which he claims to debunk the skeptics on the topic of the paranormal; however, McLuhan misses many important works from the skeptical literature.<ref>[http://www.skeptic.com/downloads/Why-Is-There-a-Skeptical-Movement.pdf Why Is There a Skeptical Movement? by Daniel Loxton]. Loxton lists many important skeptical works, most of these are missing from McLuhan's bibliography.</ref> The book title is a reference to [[James Randi]]'s [[Million-dollar challenge]].

McLuhan dedicates over 40 pages to the medium Eusapia Palladino and admits she cheated on occasion, but concluded she had genuine paranormal abilities of [[levitation]]; this is in opposition to [[magician]]s and [[scientist]]s who discovered the trick she used to "levitate" the table. 

In 2011, McLuhan debated Wiseman on the paranormal.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9410000/9410492.stm The paranormal: Just an illusion?]</ref>

==Wikipedia==
{{main|Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia#Conspiracy theory|Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia}}

In 2013, McLuhan wrote on his blog ''Paranormalia'' that the members of a group called Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW)‎ were coordinating to label paranormal subjects as pseudoscience, destroy [[Rupert Sheldrake]]'s Wikipedia article, and promote a skeptical point of view about psychic phenomena. In 2014, McLuhan argued that skeptics had ruined articles on the paranormal on [[Wikipedia]], and announced his intent to create a paranormal encyclopedia.

Strangely, no such [[conspiracy]] of truth-denying, Wikipedia-controlling skeptics appears to exist.

In 2014, McLuhan was interviewed on a paranormal podcast where he expressed his opinion that [[Ian Stevenson]] had proven reincarnation. He also criticized Wikipedia for allegedly claiming "paranormal effects" do not exist and promoted a conspiracy theory that skeptics have ruined paranormal articles on online encyclopedias. McLuhan claimed he was in the process of creating a paranormal encyclopedia for the Society for Psychical Research in opposition to wikipedia.<ref>[http://jimharold.com/the-paranormal-podcast/randis-prize-with-robert-mcluhan-paranormal-podcast-333/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=randis-prize-with-robert-mcluhan-paranormal-podcast-333 Randi’s Prize with Robert McLuhan &mdash; Paranormal Podcast 333]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20141216040155/http://whitecrowbooks.com/michaeltymn/entry/the_society_for_psychical_research_tackles_internet_encyclopedia_project The Society for Psychical Research Tackles Internet Encyclopedia Project]</ref>

==Publications==
*''Randi's Prize: What Sceptics Say About the Paranormal, Why They Are Wrong, and Why It Matters'' (2010). ISBN 1848764944.
*''Poltergeist People: A Paranormal Casebook'' (2012)

==See also==
*[[Chris Carter]]
*[[Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia]]

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090522230302/http://monkeywah.typepad.com/ Paranormalia blog]

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

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[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:British people]]
[[Category:Creationists]]
[[Category:Internet kooks]]
[[Category:Paranormal]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]

Categories: Living people, Authors, British people, Creationists, Internet kooks, Paranormal, Pseudoscience promoters