Not all human experience can be examined through scientific methods
Almost every person I talked to around Mt. Shasta encountered, or knew someone who encountered, the paranormal. Anthropologist Margaret Mead argued that the words extrasensory and paranormal should be avoided in psychic research because they suggest that it is beyond the study of science. Mead also comments that different cultures produce psychics and treat them differently. Those who have true abilities may be obscured in a less accepting environment and might be more authentic.
The methods of science call for control studies to account for any phenomena. Psychic research will always be denied unless it can be conducted within the confines of scientific experiments. Control groups allow for comparing experimental groups so that measurable outcomes can be concluded. They are also a self-correcting process. Scientific evidence changes over time as experiments produce different outcomes.
For those in occult groups who support alternative belief systems, science cannot validate claims because it is not considered actual knowledge but belief. The scientific method is restricted to evidence found using the five senses: taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound. Thus, the knowledge that science produces will never exceed the tools used to make the observations. Therefore, there are tremendous shortcomings in using the scientific method to investigate paranormal phenomena.
Author: mountshastamyths
Lurking around here with more questions than answers