Bigelow and the Afterlife

 

Robert T Bigelow is our George Soros, a wealthy philanthropist who is as passionate about UFO's and the paranormal as any of us; and because he has the financial resources, he has contributed in numerous productive ways that have benefited us all, such as funding the Skinwalker Ranch research project, see: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-secret-of-skinwalker-ranch-review.html. Now he has headed off into a new branch of study: consciousness and the possibility of life after death. He has founded an organization to achieve this, the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies. His motivation is to help people who are bereaved. He understands, correctly, that most people would find the prospect of an afterlife very positive. Not only would it ease a person's individual fear of death; it would make grief easier to cope with because the death of a loved one would only represent a temporary separation that will inevitably end with a happy reunion. There is a large overlap between those interested in UFO's and those interested in spirituality, and it includes me. Leslie Kean is another UFOlogist who has moved out into this subject. Both issues are part of what the skeptic Michael Barkun calls "the cultic milieu". Bob Bigelow is an enthusiast for the "golden age" of psychical research, about 1850 to 1930; when serious scientists and celebrities could be seen doing experiments in every spiritualist church, a rare occurrence these days. Bigelow hopes to kick-start a renaissance of such spooky good times. The fundraising method he has decided on is to offer prizes as an incentive for scientists and other experts to join his quest. Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/bigelow-essay-competition-afterlife-death-b1790932.html. I wish him luck, but there will be many problems Bigelow has to face if his objective is to provide "proof" in the sense that it is a discovery that nobody will be willing or able to contradict. The skeptics have so far shown themselves to extraordinarily resourceful and adaptable in preserving their worldview when confronted with evidence that threatens it. See here for details: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2019/04/ben-emlyn-jones-live-at-truth-seekers.html. It could well be that there are also political reasons for placing obstacles in his path which are too complex to detail here. In fact this is a new idea for me, but I will be returning to that question soon.
See here for background: https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2020/10/james-randi-dies.html.
And: https://hpanwo-tv.blogspot.com/2020/03/jayson-harrington-live-event.html.
And: https://hpanwo.blogspot.com/2020/02/helen-duncan-portal.html.