Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Formative causation
A theory concerning the origin and growth of forms and characteristics in nature that was originally proposed by biochemist Rupert Sheldrake. Generally, biologists speak of what is termed “morphogenetic fields” to indicate the as-yet poorly understood factors that influence the development of growth in plants and animals. These factors are assumed to operate through the…
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Crashed flying saucers
Spacecraft that are thought to have been operated by extraterrestrials and to have crashed into Earth. There have been many reports of crashed flying saucers worldwide, particularly in the last half of the 20th century but few of these alleged extrater restrial craft have left any solid evidence behind them. Some have subsequently been identified…
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Theodore Flournoy
Professor of psychology. Born in Geneva, Switzerland, Dr. Flournoy taught at the University of Geneva from 1891 until 1919. In 1901 he founded the journal Archives de Psychology and wrote numerous medical and psychological works. Interested in mediumship, Flournoy became well known for his studies of Helene Smith, who while in trance narrated three distinct…
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Wilhelm Fliess
A Berlin surgeon and an early associate of Sigmund FREUD who believed that there are two cycles that govern the behavior of living organisms: the 28-day female cycle and the 23-day male cycle. Some organisms, including humans, followed one or other of these cycles or some multiple of them: 46, 69 . . . or…
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Horace fletcher
Businessman, author, and traveler who advocated a dietary regimen that stressed careful and prolonged mastication and reduced food intake. Born and raised in Massachusetts, at age 15 Fletcher embarked upon a life of travel and adventure that included whaling, extensive tours of the Orient, and even some time on a pirate ship. Later he received…
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Flat earth society
An organization that promotes the belief that the Earth is flat and pancake-shaped and not an oblate sphere the orthodox view for many hundreds of years. The society describes itself on its Internet site as a nonpartisan, nonprofit, and nondenominational membership organization that is dedicated to improving understanding of the nature of reality through paraphysical…
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Morris Fishbein
An Illinois physician who attacked naturopathy and other forms of alternative medicine. He authored Fads and Quackery in Healing (1932). The case of American Socialist Party leader and presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs concerned Fishbein greatly. In poor health after completing a prison sentence, Debs went to the Lindlahr Naturopathic Sanatorium in Elmhurst, Illinois, for…
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Firewalking
The act of walking barefoot through fire, or, more commonly, over a bed of hot coals, without being burned, an act often associated with religious rites. Fire walking has been a traditional practice in many societies around the world, notably in India, Polynesia, Japan, and New Zealand. Usually, it is either part of a ritual…
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Fatima
A small village in central Portugal where there was a supposed apparition of the Virgin Mary, the first occurrence happening in 1917 making the small village one of the most famous Marian shrines in Europe. The event was so special that it became the only one of its kind that has been authenticated by the…
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Fate magazine
Longest-lived, broad-based popular magazine of the paranormal. Launched in 1948 in Chicago by Ray Palmer and Curtis and Mary Fuller, Fate came into being during the golden era of pulp magazines. But while many of the other pulps of the time Amazing Stories, for example have ceased publication, Fate has managed to weather the storms…
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