James E. Alcock, PhD, is professor emeritus of psychology at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is a fellow and member of the executive council of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is author of Parapsychology: Science or Magic, Science and Supernature: A Critical Appraisal of Parapsychology, and Belief: What It Means To Believe and Why Our Convictions Are So Compelling. He is also coauthor of An Introduction to Social Psychology.

In this interview, rebooted from 2018, he points out that belief systems can and do result in both murders and suicides. We may pay a very high price for our beliefs; so making sure that they accurately reflect factual circumstances can be a matter of life and death. We rarely have the opportunity to conduct original research to support any of our beliefs. So, generally, we form our belief systems based on trust of various sources. Furthermore, we are all vulnerable to holding ungrounded and irrational beliefs. Periodically, it is very useful to question our beliefs.

(Recorded on December 17, 2018)

For a short video on How to Get the Most From New Thinking Allowed, go to https://youtu.be/aVbfPFGxv9o

To buy a high-quality, printed version of the New Thinking Allowed Magazine, go to nta-magazine.magcloud.com.

Download and read Jeffrey Mishlove’s Grand Prize essay in the Bigelow Institute competition, Beyond the Brain: The Survival of Human Consciousness After Permanent Bodily Death. https://www.bigelowinstitute.org/docs/1st.pdf

To order a copy of New Thinking Allowed Dialogues: Is There Life After Death? click on https://amzn.to/3LzLA7Y (As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.)

To order the second book in the New Thinking Allowed Dialogues series, Russell Targ: Ninety Years of ESP, Remote Viewing, and Timeless Awareness, go to https://amzn.to/4aw2iyr

To order a copy of New Thinking Allowed Dialogues: UFOs and UAP – Are We Really Alone?, go to https://amzn.to/3Y0VOVh

To order Belief: What It Means to Believe and Why Our Convictions Are So Compelling by James Alcock, go to https://amzn.to/4avqUbO

Published on February 11, 2025