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As much as I find these conversations interesting, I think it's important to remember that most journalists are not well versed in philosophy, and they probably don't spend that much time worrying about the weight of words like belief. They aren't writing for scientists. philosophers, or skeptics... they are writing for the average person who probably hasn't even heard of most of what gets talked about in this forum.
Many people have psi experiences. They don't admit to them very often because they think the default position science takes is that there is something pathological about psi experiences. But with the increased visibility of books like Pearson's, as well as the many NDE stories out there, more people are going to know it's OK to come forward and admit to having these perfectly normal human experiences. It won't be about the science, or the skeptics, it will be about regular people figuring out that there is nothing wrong with having such experiences because their neighbor had one, and so did a brain surgeon, and so did a president or famous actor. And those people won't be having these great debates about philosophy or language. They will just be relieved that they can finally talk about these enormously important experiences openly.
Many people have psi experiences. They don't admit to them very often because they think the default position science takes is that there is something pathological about psi experiences. But with the increased visibility of books like Pearson's, as well as the many NDE stories out there, more people are going to know it's OK to come forward and admit to having these perfectly normal human experiences. It won't be about the science, or the skeptics, it will be about regular people figuring out that there is nothing wrong with having such experiences because their neighbor had one, and so did a brain surgeon, and so did a president or famous actor. And those people won't be having these great debates about philosophy or language. They will just be relieved that they can finally talk about these enormously important experiences openly.