INVESTIGATIVE FILES

Intuition: The Case of the Unknown Daughter

n the fall of 2003, my life Much effort has been was transformed by the news expended in the search for that I was the father of a extrasensory phenomena, in- I cluding the pioneering work of beautiful, thirry-six-year-old daughter. She had confronted Britain's Society for Psychical her mother on the basis of "intu- Research (SPR), founded in ition" that told her the man who 1882, and the scientific helped raise her was not her research of Dr. J.B. Rhine at actual father. Instead, as soon Duke University in the 1930s. proved by DNA testing, we dis- Rhine was a sincere and dedi- covered that she was my child. cated, but credulous, para- As one who had long been skep- psychologist. His first pub- tical of much that is labeled lished report on the subject, co- intuition, I had to admit that authored with his wife Louisa, The author and his daughter, who sensed her father through intuition. something had just happened— was "An investigation of a something both wonderful and mysteri- that people have auras (or energy fields) 'Mind-Reading' Horse," ap- ous. With the approval and assistance of that stem from a larger "universal energy pearing in 1929. They believed the my daughter, Cherette, I decided to inves- flow" which the ancient Chinese termed mare. Lady Wonder, was telepathic. tigate. As I learned, understanding intu- chi. "Connecting with your intuition," However, magician and ition depends in part on how it is defined. she declares, "is the act of tuning in to investigator the never-ending flow of universal (1970, 39-54) visited Lady undercover Sixth Sense? energy." Intuition has frequencies, she and determined that she simply To New Age writers like Patricia explains, and so, "In a sense, tuning in to tesponded to subde cues used by her Einstein, author of Intuition: The Path of intuition is like tuning in to a radio sta- owner to telay information that had Inner Wisdom (2003), intuition is an tion" (Einstein 2002, 1-2, 40-41, 105). been gleaned from the subjects. "inner awareness" that functions as a Actually, Patricia Einstein is no Rhine's later card tests engendered "sixth sense"—that is, a form of extrasen- Einstein. Although she insists that considerable controversy, but proof of sory perception that includes psychome- "Instances of healing and psy- ESP did not materialize (Christopher try (an alleged psychic skill in which chokinesis (telepathic movement of 1970, 19-37). Despite the work of oth- information is gleaned about people, or objects) have been well documented" ers who have followed in Rhine's foot- even places or events, by touching (Einstein 2002, 37), she herself provides steps, ESP remains unproved, and its objects that are associated with them). no documentation. In fact, such claims existence has not been accepted by main- Like other New Agers, she maintains have been repeatedly discredited. For stream science. (See for example, Kurtz instance, many ballyhooed psycho- 1985; Hansel 1989; Stenger 1990.) Joe Nickell is CSICOP's Senior Research kinetic marvels have been exposed as the Nevertheless, the belief that intuition Fellow. More of his "Investigative Files" product of deceivers using tricks is a psychic process persists. It ranges columns appear in Skeptical Briefs. (Randi 1982; Korem 1988). from the relatively harmless, such as

1 2 March/April 2005 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER New Age shops touting gemstones like at die realization of some larger concept. sion on her mother's face that Cherette hematite and tiger's eye as having the No single piece of information may be then read, unconsciously. At least it sub- power to enhance intuition, to the dan- sufficient, but, taken together, the clues tly presented, however obliquely, die gerous, such as "medical intuitives" who may produce something greater than the issue of genetics. claim to diagnose illness by reading a sum of its parts. In June 2003, while she was talking person's (Nickell 2001). In using intuition, because we are on the phone with her mother, die fact not consciously (i.e., deliberately and diat she was conceived before her par- Dual Processing analytically) processing data, the result ents were married again came up. She Bui if intuition is not a sixth sense, what can be quite startling—bordering on said she did not care about that, so long is it? Does it exist at all? Do people revelation and seeming quite mysteri- as her father was indeed her father. Her merely make guesses, then count the ous. When my daughter's mother, mother assured her that that was so and hits and disregard the misses? Certainly, Diana, asked her why she thought her that he had raised her. In a way that our hunches are not always accurate. father was not really hers, she replied, "I would be appreciated by fortunetellers Elizabeth Loftus, past president of the don't know. It just came into my mind." using "" (an artful method American Psychological Society, cau- of fishing for information), Cherette tions: "Intuition is hot. But often it is Identifying the Clues thought she detected some possible equivocation and challenged: "What perilously wrong." She recommends the In the case of my daughter's intuition, I else haven't you told me?" and "Mom, book Intuition by David Myers who, she sought to identify the clues that might who is my daddy?" states, "marshals classic and contempo- have led to her sense of "knowing" that rary science and masterfully shows us she had a different father. Soon, Diana conceded there was a why." And skeptic Michael Shermer Diana describes her in growing up, as chance it was someone else, but that wrote for the Los Angeles Times Book not having much of a "whimsical there were only "two possibilities": If her Review, "Myers' book brilliantly estab- mode," but instead being typically seri- father was not her actual father, she said, lishes intuition as a legitimate subject of ous and inquisitive. Among the things then it was a young poet she had been scientific inquiry." she wondered about were her eyes, with for a short time before resuming As Myers relates, many studies show which matched neither her father's nor her relationship with her old boyfriend, that quick, impressionistic judge- her mother's. (See photo. They resemble Cherette's supposed father. At this, ments—while often mistaken—can my ancestors' even more than mine.) Cherette says, she felt that she probably nevertheless predict some behaviors Although many people remarked that did have a different father, and by the time her mother had tracked me down more successfully than rationally ana- she and her sister did not look like sis- both were convinced I was indeed lyzed ones. Myers (2002, 4) observes ters, she knew she resembled her mother Cherette's "Daddy" (as she now calls that we have two quite different ways of and did not become suspicious of her me)—a fact we confirmed by DNA test- knowing things. He explains: parentage—at least not consciously. ing.' (Not entirely lost on me during our Nevertheless, her younger brother was ... [RJecent cognitive science reveals Thanksgiving 2003 first meeting was a fascinating unconscious mind— adopted, so at some point die idea that die irony that as a paranormal investiga- another mind backstage—that Freud she could have been adopted too would tor I was myself being investigated—the never told us about. More than we have presented itself. (In fact, her sister realized over a decade ago, thinking result of intuition, no less!) occurs not on stage, but offstage, out once thought all three were adopted.) of sight. . . . [Sjtudies of "automatic There were other clues. At Cherette's priming," "implicit memory," "heuris- wedding, when she was twenty-six, a Assessment tics," "spontaneous trait inference," friend of her mother's inadvertently Although not arrived at consciously, right-brain processing, instant emo- tions, nonverbal communication, and revealed a family secret: that her parents nevertheless my daughter's sense that creativity unveil our intuitive capaci- had not been married when she was she might have had a different father ties. Thinking, memory, and attitudes conceived. Again, that bit of informa- could logically be inferred from the data: all operate on two levels (conscious tion was not in itself very revealing, but That her brothet was adopted raised the and deliberate, and unconscious and automatic)—dual processing, today's it can now be seen as potentially sugges- question of her own parentage; since she researchers call it. We know more than tive, another piece of the puzzle. resembled her mother but not her we know we know. Following some medical tests, in father, and especially since her eyes were March 2001, she announced to her not similar to either's, she could expect As noted psychologist Robert A. mother diat she had learned her blood that she might have a different father; Baker told me—with specific reference type. Aldiough she did not then ask her that possibility was enhanced by her to my daughter's intuitive revelation— parents' blood type—so she did not yet parents not having been married when we humans are constantly responding to know hers was different from each of theirs and incompatible with her subtle cues. Unconsciously, we collect INTUITION.- CASE OF THE and assemble bits of data—much like father's—nevertheless the announce- UNKNOWN DAUGHTER pieces of a jigsaw puzzle—often arriving ment may have put a thoughtful expres- Continued on page 33

SKEPTICAL INQUIRER March/April 2005 13 (The absence of a flash was later confirmed when data were an asteroid is on a collision course with Earth, but a few para- released from sensitive surveillance satellites that constandy graphs later it is revealed the the probability of the impact is scan Earth from above.) They also evidently did not make only one in 100,000. My impression is that the British read- craters when they struck the Moon. Finally, the amount of ing public does not take this very seriously, and that their news water vapor they would dump in the upper atmosphere was reporting in general is intended to be more entertaining. A inconsistent with the known dry conditions in the stratosphere. problem can occur, however, when such stories are picked up Although many scientists assumed that the dark spots were in other countries, where this tongue-in-cheek tone might be just noise in the spacecraft detector, they were unable to work taken seriously. Let the reader beware. with the raw data to verify this speculation. The media story Space science research dealing with impacts often makes a persisted, aided by NASA news releases supporting the mini- good story, especially when it is controversial. The public is comets. While they shook their heads in wonderment, few of likely to find science more interesting if they realize that Frank's colleagues wanted to challenge him personally. His research is carried out by real people working in a competitive advocacy of mini-comets became an obsession—he even wrote environment. The controversy is very real in some cases, such a book called The Big Splash to market his ideas directly to the as finding the cause (or causes) of the great PT mass extinc- public. There seemed to be no polite way to make the story go tion. In other cases, such as the KT mass extinction and the away. One scientist tried, however, to counter with humor, contemporary rate of impacts on Earth, a consensus exists when he proposed that die mini-comets be called Louis A. based on multiple lines of evidence. While there are still many Frank Objects, or LAFOs. media-worthy stories, we should be skeptical of reports that the consensus has been overthrown by a single new result. Impact News in Great Britain As Carl Sagan often said, "extraordinary claims require Based on the large sampling of press reports from both sides of extraordinary evidence." A similar admonition might be that the Atlantic collected by anthropologist Benny Peiser of before revolutionary theories are widely publicized, they need Liverpool John Moores University, there seem to be significant to be given a reality check. This is best done by the scientists differences in the press treatment of impact science stories deciding whether to issue a news release. But if the scientists between the United States and the United Kingdom. Many are not self-policing, the burden falls upon the journalists to British science reporters like to play such stories for their filter the signal from the noise, or upon the skeptical attitude humorous possibilities, as opposed to die straight science of the reader. reporting that is standard in America. Ridiculing the "boffins" seems to be a popular way to treat scientific controversy. Note Another approach is to start off a story in a hyperbolic vein, 1. This quote is from a perceptive article ("In Extinction Debate, Dinosaurs and Science Writers are the Losers") by Rob Britt at Spacc.com, 14 only tempering the initial overstatements several paragraphs October 2004; sec www.space.com/scienceastronomy/dinosaur_debate_ down. For example, an opening assertion might be made that 04I014.html. •

INTUITION: CASE OF THE perils of intuitive thinking, including Note UNKNOWN DAUGHTER "powerfully flawed intuitions about 1. For a follow-up, see my poem, "The Continued from page 13 gambling" (Myers 2004, 225). He warns Discovered Daughter" (widi a brief commentary), in Family Mattm. The Newsletter of the Secular she was conceived; and, I believe there of the following: "Memory construction— Family Netwoj*7:3 (Fall 2004), p. 7. were other, more subtle clues. influenced by our present moods and by If my assessment is correct, it further misinformation, we may form false References demonstrates that clues can indeed be memories and other dubious testimoni- Christopher, Milbourne. 1970. ESP Seers & rationally assembled unconsciously to als": "misreading our own minds—often . New York: Thomas Y. Crowell. uncover a mystery. Myers (2004, 128) we don't know why we do what we do"; Einstein. Patricia. 2002. Intuition: The Path of Inner Wisdom. London: Vega. observes "that, more than we've realized, "hindsight bias—looking back on events, Hansel. C.E.M. 1989. The Search for Psychic our lives are guided by subterranean intu- we falsely surmise that we knew it all Power: ESP & Revisited, itive thinking." Giving "evidence of intu- along"; "overconfidence—our intuitive Buffalo, New York: Prometheus Books. Keren). Dan. 1988. Powers: Testing the Psychic & ition's powers," he says, are "right-brain assessments of our own knowledge are Downers Grove, Illinois: thinking—split-brain persons displaying routinely more confident than correct"; InterVarsity Press. knowledge they cannot verbalize"; thin "illusory correlation—intuitively perceiv- Kurtz, Paul. 1985. A Skeptics Handbook of Parapsychology. Buffalo. New York: Pro- slices—detecting traits from mere seconds ing relationships where none exist"; and metheus Books. of behavior"; "intuitive expertise— others (Myers 2004, 128). Myers. David G. 2004. Intuition: Its Powers and Perils. phenomena of nonconscious learning, Cautions notwithstanding, I must New Haven. Connecticut: Yale University Press. Nickell. Joe. 2004. The Mystery Chronicals. expert learning, genius"; and, among admit to a new appreciation of intu- Lexington. Kentucky: University Press of many others, "creativity—the sometimes ition, without which I would not have Kentucky. 207-217. spontaneous appearance of novel and known of my wonderful daughter—and Randi. James. 1982. Flim-Flam! Buffalo. New York: Promethecus Books. valuable ideas" (Myers 2004, 127). two grandsons! It is enough to warm an Stenger, Victor J. 1990. Physics and Psychics. However, he also cautions against the old skeptic's heart. Buffalo. New York: Prometheus Books. •

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