Michael Grosso

{{paranormal}}
{{pseudosciencenav}}
{{cquote|For the last four hundred years, scientific [[materialism]] has in effect repressed and sought to invalidate the reality of [[soul]], [[spirit]], and [[consciousness]]. There are signs everywhere of revolt against this subtle form of cultural terrorism.|||Michael Grosso<ref>[http://consciousnessunbound.blogspot.com/p/fuq-frequently-unasked-questions-what.html "Frequently Unasked Questions"]. [http://archive.is/8KvcU Archived].</ref>}}

'''Michael Grosso''' {{lived|1937}} is an [[United States|American]] [[parapsychologist]], [[psychic]] and [[pseudoscience]] promoter, best known for his belief that humans can [[levitate]]. 

==Background==
Grosso claims he was once "physically attacked by [[ghost]]s" and on another occasion [[Precognition|foretold]] in public (from [[dream]]s) the near-assassination of [[Ronald Reagan]].<ref name="Interview">[https://carlossalvarado.wordpress.com/2016/01/02/author-interview-vii-the-man-who-could-fly-st-joseph-of-copertino-and-the-mystery-of-levitation-by-michael-grosso/ "Author Interview VII: The Man Who Could Fly: St Joseph of Copertino and the Mystery of Levitation, by Michael Grosso"]. [http://archive.is/RssS6 Archived].</ref> {{lie}} 

Grosso has a Ph.D. in [[philosophy]] and describes himself as an "independent scholar and part of an ever-growing group of scholars and thinkers critical of the prevailing materialistic view of the world."<ref>[http://consciousnessunbound.blogspot.com/p/about-author.html "About The Author"]. [http://archive.is/tuFyo Archived].</ref>

==Levitation==
{{main|Levitation}}
Grosso is the author of ''The Man Who Could Fly'', a [[credulous]] biography of St. {{wpl|Joseph of Cupertino}} (1603-1663). Grosso argues that St. Joseph's levitations were real:

{{cquote|All in all, the friar's tale is a whopping body-blow to materialism, for it appears that a peculiar mental state can under rare circumstances attenuate the common effects of [[gravity]]. This kind of fact, I think it can be shown, has implications for the theory of [[religion]].<ref name="Interview"/>}}

Grosso seems to ignore the fact that [[anecdotal evidence]] is not [[scientific]] and eyewitness testimony in relation to paranormal claims is often unreliable.<ref name="Radford">[https://www.csicop.org/sb/show/bringing_levitation_down_to_earth "Bringing Levitation Down to Earth"]. Skeptical Inquirer.</ref><ref>See for example, [https://www.csicop.org/si/show/eyewitness_testimony_and_the_paranormal "Eyewitness Testimony and the Paranormal"]. Skeptical Inquirer.</ref> [[Skeptical]] investigator [[Joe Nickell]] who has evaluated the reports and Grosso's book noted that his most used source for the levitations was Domenico Bernini's 1722 biography but this was unreliable and open to gross exaggeration as it was published nearly six decades after St. Joseph’s death.<ref>[https://www.csicop.org/si/show/secrets_of_the_flying_friar_did_st._joseph_of_copertino_really_levitate "Secrets of ‘The Flying Friar’: Did St. Joseph of Copertino Really Levitate?"]. Skeptical Inquirer.</ref>

Grosso also endorses a lot of other nonsense and paranormal [[woo]] in the book. According to Ben Radford:

{{quotebox|Though Grosso's book is indexed and contains hundreds of references, skeptics are conspicuously absent, a predictable but unfortunate omission that might have better grounded his discussion of levitation. The book is also undermined by its endorsement of a hodgepodge of dubious and discredited phenomena ranging from [[Ted Serios]] (ably debunked decades ago by [[James Randi]] and others) to [[inedia]] (claims that people can live without eating through [[meditation]] and focus) to [[reincarnation]]. Though Grosso avoids the common [[New Age]] trap of [[Crank magnetism|throwing everything in but the kitchen sink]], he comes close, with discussions of [[near-death experience]]s, ghosts, [[demonic possession]], [[out-of-body experience]]s or astral travel, [[ESP]], [[consciousness]], and so on, most of which have only the most tenuous connection to levitation.<ref name="Radford"/>}}

==Quantum woo==
Grosso (not surprisingly) is an advocate of [[quantum woo]]. He claims that quantum physics may explain levitation and other paranormal phenomena. In an interview, when he was asked the question, "If you actually look at quantum physics, it only operates on the quantum scale. Do you have some reason to think that quantum physics applies on a human scale?", he replied:

{{cquote|Well yes, the quantum physicists themselves. It's a very controversial subject, as I'm sure you know. It might very well serve to explain the phenomenon. So I don't think that this point you make is agreed upon by all physicists. I got an email from Hal Puthoff, another very serious physicist, who said, "You're on the right track with all this speculation, even though they are still speculation, it's certainly worth talking about."<ref name="Radford"/>}}

Speculation is not evidence and Hal Puthoff is not a "very serious [[physicist]]". He is a discredited [[engineer]] and parapsychologist, famous for his endorsement of [[Uri Geller]].<ref>Hines, Terence. (2003). ''Pseudoscience and the Paranormal''. Prometheus Books. p. 126. ISBN 1-57392-979-4</ref>

==Publications==
*''The Man Who Could Fly: St. Joseph of Copertino and the Mystery of Levitation'' (2015)
*''Frontiers of the Soul: Exploring Psychic Evolution'' (1992)

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grosso, Michael}}
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Parapsychology]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]
[[Category:Psychics]]

Categories: Authors, Living people, Parapsychology, Pseudoscience promoters, Psychics