Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Studievereniging voor psychical research
Dutch association of parapsychologists. The Studievereniging Voor Psychical Research (Society for Psychical Research) was founded in 1920 and launched its formal program with systematic research on telepathy and clairvoyance. Its journal, Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie, was founded in 1928 by a young college student, Wilhelm Heinrich Carl Tenhaelf, who would go on to write the first…
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William Stukeley (1687-1765)
English physician and archaeologist who made careful surveys of the Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles in Wiltshire. Having mapped these huge prehistoric monuments, he then speculated as to their purpose. He suggested that, by analogy with the nearest equivalents of medieval times, the European cathedrals, they must have had a religious function. They must have…
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Structural patterning
A form of bodywork/ massage developed by Judith Aston out of her critique of Rolfing. Rolfing was a popular massage technique developed by Ida Rolf that emphasized the manipulation of deep connective tissues (fascia) between the bone joints. Aston had been introduced to Rolfing during her recovery from the effects of an automobile accident. When…
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Julius Streicher (1885-1946)
An ardent exponent of Nazi Racism, claiming scientific grounds for his beliefs and actions: “The blood particles of Jews are completely different from those of a Nordic man. Hitherto one has prevented this fact being proved by microscopic investigation” (from an address in 1935). Although similar xenophobic ideas resurface from time to time, the overwhelming…
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Tom Stonier (1927-1999)
Scientist who posited that information is a fundamental component of the universe. A university professor, biologist, researcher, teacher, and from 1975 until his retirement in 1990, the first head of the Science and Society Department in the University of Bradford, United Kingdom. His family having emigrated from Germany to the United States in the 1930s,…
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Stonehenge
The most famous of Europe’s prehistoric monuments, after which a whole class of megaliths is named. Stonehenge lies on Salisbury Plain in southern England. Although the site itself is fairly small not more than a few hundred square yards it has won respect not only for its relative completeness but for the complexity of its…
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Stigmata
Spontaneous development of bruises and wounds, usually bleeding, in places corresponding to the wounds of the crucified Christ, and usually viewed as a sign of saintliness. Some stigmata are, of course, fraudulent. The first officially recognized stigmatic was the 13th- century saint, Francis of Assisi, who was noted for his simple life of material deprivation…
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Sthenometer
An early apparatus developed to detect the existence of an external psychokinetic energy generated by animals, primarily humans. The sthenometer was created by 19th-century psychical researcher Paul Joire, a professor at the Psycho-Physiological Institute in Paris, France. Joire believed that the energy he was attempting to measure was produced by the human nervous system. The…
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Ian Stevenson (1918- )
Professor of psychiatry and parapsychologist known primarily for his research on the evidence of survival after death through the examination of memories of past lives. Stevenson was born on October 31, 1918, in Montreal, Quebec, and received his medical degree from McGill University in 1944. He held various teaching positions prior to his becoming chairman…
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Joanna Stephens
Known for her treatment of kidney stones in the 1730s. She claimed to have infallible treatments and in 1738 advertised in The Gentleman’s Magazine that she would reveal her secret if she were to receive £5000 in recompense. Five thousand pounds (roughly the equivalent of 7-8 million dollars today) was a sum beyond the means…
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