744 Premonitions in Health and Illness

Fascinating program. Thanks for so many informative and thought-provoking programs.

I was appalled at your interview with Larry Dossey, MD, and 'allowing' him to share his views on premonition, among other things. He claims to be a sceptic, but everything he says about premonition is contrary to a sceptic's view.

He was raised in fundamental religion that obviously carries over to his current views. Absolutely bogus information. This raises questions about the legitimacy of your other programs. I will listen much more carefully as I wait for Weekend Edition to begin.

Please do not this drivel on the airwaves unless it's balanced with a REAL sceptic.

I agree with Robert M entirely. I am astounded that you'd have this fellow on your program. What rubbish! Lucy

I thought that today's show was a wonderful contribution to the body of knowledge that the two of you have offered to your listeners over the years.

I suspect that many folks have had experiences where they were alerted by a subtle prompt of some kind, which helped them to avoid a negative outcome.

For one thing, we seem to sense when someone is watching us. When you feel it and you turn and look, it's confirmed. What's that?

I found this program very interesting, especially the explanation of which dreams Doctor R considers to be premonitions. In my case, this was extremely accurate. When I have a dream that actually happens, there is such clarity, not the usual jumble of things which indicate the brain is just getting rid of some of its overload.

And for the skeptics out there, I've only had this kind of dream about three times, although I dream almost every night and remember a great many of the jumbled ones.

Thanks for the chance to hear Dr. R.

I thoroughly enjoyed the program today! As a veterinarian who is practicing alternative medicine, it was fascinating and refreshing to find a physician that had been trained in allopathic medicine that decided to expand his knowledge in directions not well traveled. There is SO much that we don't know.

For all the skeptics, please keep an open mind. I was one of the biggest skeptics ever created. However, when some life-changing things happened to me, I decided to listen - and learn. It has been a fantastic journey - and will never end. Thanks again for the program!

Wow! What an incredibly bad show. I am astounded anybody would let this guy present his supposedly scientific view. Pseudoscience at its most dangerous. I will really think hard about the "experts" allowed to speak on this show. I almost laughed at the end when he said, (I paraphrase) "I'm not evangelizing this... I think this is proof that there is some part of the human mind that is not bound to the body..."

Disapointing.

I listened to your program and was so pleased to hear your guest Dr. Dossey talk about his studies / research. It was enlightening and I'm sure frightful for some of your audience. However, we use so little of our brain power that I'm sure there is so much more to explore in terms of our psychic abilities.

In my personal experience, I too had found some of this unbelievable, however once it happens to you one questions and begins to change their view. We all need to be open to new ideas and opinions ....... that's the basis of learning and growth.

Dr. Mark D.

I am simply appalled that you two would air such blatant pseudoscience. It is especially disconcerting to hear such drivel on the heels of all the good work you have done recently in bringing to light evidence-based findings on alternative medical therapies.

I thought I was listening to Coast to Coast with George Noory!

Thank you for airing this interview.
I've suffered with this 'GIFT' since early childhood and it's been a heavy burden.

Imagine you have a 'dream' in-which you are riding in a sleeping car of an Amtrak train - and suddenly a mass of steel comes barreling through the center of the car towards you - and you awake in a cold sweat in your own bed - safe at home.

Imagine you have another 'dream' in-which the train you're riding on falls into a swamp, at night with aligators and snakes all around and you and some other people are desperately climbing some large metal object (sticking out of the water) to escape these predators - and you awake in a cold sweat in your own bed - safe at home.

Imagine you have another 'dream' in-which you're riding in a helicopter high over a major city and off in the distance (amongst the skyscrapers) you see what looks like a cross between a tidal wave and a cloud washing over and through the buildings as it passes before your eyes - and you awake in a cold sweat in your own bed - safe at home.

Now imagine you have another 'dream' in-which you see your own Mother's death - and you awake in a cold sweat in your own bed - safe at home.

These are but a few of the experiences I've had - where I was totally helpless to change the outcome of the events I saw in some 'dreams'. The first 2 foretold Amtrak train crashes in-which I was on-board - only in the dreams. The 3rd was a premonition of the collapse of the World Trade Towers and the 4th foretold my Mother's death.

Each of these dreams occurred within 6 months of the actual events.

In my latest such 'dream' I was watching a TV newscast in-which the reporter announced the US ARMY's Ft. Dietrich was struck by a 'killer tornado' which demolished the Administration buildings and MAY'VE compromised the integrity of the Bio-Warfare labs.

I telephoned my Congressman's office to check on this and was assured nothing had happened - yet. Odd that as that was the assurance I received from a city official in July of 2001.

I kept a sharp eye out for any of the signs I saw in the dream prior to my Mother's death and DID in-fact spot them but I still couldn't prevent it.

Funny that when I was a child these dreams helped save my life - warning of events with signs which I spotted in-time to avoid danger - kind of like 'Deja Vue'.

That's why I found so ironic the Nicholes Cage film 'Next'.

Still, it WOULD be nice to know the winning Powerball numbers as early - but that never happens.

One advantage though is finding a parking space at the mall: I can usually just turn into an aisle without any searching - just as someone else is backing out of thir space.

I'm also able to spot opportunities for developing new technologies before most people. In 1989 I originated designs for 2 new technologies which are now industry standards - but I never made a penny off them (employer contract).

Could diet be a factor - altering chemicals in the brain?

Is there any help for people like me?

This was a very interesting program. I am a research scientist and study animal behavior and comparative ecology. Adaptive communication for survival appears to utilize energy fields for which we know very little. Physics is coming up with some interesting observations as well. I think the detractors from the presentation made in this particular program should attempt to educate themselves before making their blatant criticism public.

As a listener to your radio program for many years, I have to admit that not every program is of interest to me, and when it isn't, I listen to something else, which is why I'm troubled by the negative remarks posted thus far about today's show. Just because one doesn't agree with this guest's views shouldn't keep one from listening to the show in the future!

I find I am capable of being skeptical without labeling myself as a skeptic. If one not only automatically rules out everything that can't yet be scientifically proven but condemns those who are interested in exploring, I don't find his opinion any more valuable than that of one who believes everything he hears. Like that our President is a communist or a socialist or a fascist or a Marxist or a Nazi or a...

Patricia Bee
Gainesville, FL

Thank you for having Larry Dossey on your show.
Three of his books have influenced my thinking
due to his straightforward, clear writings which were
supported by extensive research
documentation. They have deepened my thinking
and augmented my training as a therapist.

His remarks about the value of individual stories to
elucidate an illness or a given healing approach -
can't be underestimated.

I was quite disappointed in this show, although Joe & Terry did play the skeptic a little.

I think Dr. Dossey has hit upon a great money-making scheme with his book and "hypothesis" about precognition, but as far as actual science is concerned I just didn't hear any of that going on in the interview. My conclusions are that he is only interested in making a buck from the books he sells, that he knows that real science rejects his claims, but that the only thing that matters is convincing the incurious and gullible and unscientific consumer to buy his pseudoscience with the faint hope that it will affect their lives in some way.

It will affect their lives: it will reduce their bank account and consume some time to read his nonsense.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Believing that people have a sixth sense is a very extraordinary claim. If Dossey actually HAD extraordinary evidence, do you really think we'd hear about it on The People's Pharmacy first? I mean, TPP is a great show, but I would expect something far more sensational for actual scientific evidence of this sort. It would be explosive.

Since Dr. Dossey's claims are not scientifically explainable they qualify as supernatural and paranormal. Which is exactly why Dossey shouldn't have been on the show.

No matter what the science, art, religion that exists in our present day knowledge, I don't really need to look at any of it to know this thing I have called "consciousness," which apparently emerged from the universe, is fairly inexplicably wondrous. So is my body.

I suppose I can spew out the dogma of the day as good as any person who reads a lot. What I like doing is checking things out whenever possible. For example, I like to hear what people do to check things out who believe or don't believe this sort of claim. Dr. Dossey mentioned the computer test as empirical. Who has repeated it? He was asked twice where these results could be found.

First, I don't think he said anything. Then later he mentioned something else published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Was it the cat? When asked again at the end, he said there is over 100 places this sort of research has been published. But it bothered me that he didn't just toss out the top three that came to his mind. I kept waiting for him to do it, but he didn't. Still, I do believe in checking things out however fantastic (I certainly don't want to be the scientific equivalent to those church fathers in Galileo's day).

I hope somewhere in the lit a practical and valuable way of investigating this phenomenon exists.

I was more than a bit disappointed with this guest and your not challenging his claims. I hope you vetted some of his claims before deciding to have him on the show. He mentioned some scientist going on Science Friday and I think retracting something he said about Dr. Dossey or some research. I need to go back and listen and then check out this person on Science Friday. If this turns out to be true maybe I will have to eat some humble pie.

I relistened to the broadcast and the Dr. Kary Mullis on Science Friday is a nobel prize winning chemist and that field has little to do with study of premonitions. I note even SCIFRI described him as the famous and infamous Dr. Mullis. Another quote said Dr. Kary Mullis is "open to supernatural events" so you have one science gadfly quoting another science gadfly. I agree with another poster that he should have been placed on the show with a real skeptic of premonition, but I doubt if he even would agree to that format.

I also know you have to fill quite a few shows with guests so some will be on fringe. Of course, many doctors thought the Dr. who thought H. Pylori caused ulcers was thought to be on the fringe by his fellow doctors, but his eventual proof was irrefutable. From what I have read and heard, much of what Dr. Dossey claims is no where near refutable.

Take the case of the exploding church. Just because it is a million to one odds, does not mean it will happen. How many buildings blow up and kill someone? How many buildings blow up and do not kill someone? With billions of people in the world there are millions of buildings heated with gas and some will eventually blow up.

As to the case of the crib and chandelier, why was the crib placed under such a heavy fixture in the first place? Lights are in the center of the room generally and cribs generally against the wall. I suspect the mother had concerns about this light, plus we don't know the overall condition of the house. Many people improperly mount fans and light fixtures and they fall. This mother was lucky. The message is that it is stupid to improperly install such heavy objects on ceilings.

His stories were anecdotal and offered little in alternate explanations. I agree that highly trained people may appear to have "premonitions" but I attribute them to subconscious processing of cues based on a life time of experience that make them make on a successful analysis. I believe I read (maybe here) that most people when encountering a problem often fall back on recent successful analysis of prior problems, but that may not be the best analysis.

At any rate I am very skeptical of Dr. Dossey. My wife has lots of dreams - or at least she remembers more than I do - and she frets that they might come true. Almost every time I ask her, "How many of your previous dreams have come true?", and her answer is none. Believing in premonitions is a bit like believing you can pick the lucky lottery number. A thousand wrong choices don't deter, but one $100 win fuels the addiction.

I will keep listening to your show (and reading your N&O column) because I get a lot of good information from it, but this was not one of the most objective or factual you have ever broadcast.

Joe and Terry,
Could you provide links to his scientific sources??? You want me to buy his book to check his claims? Please provide them here. I would love to take a look at them.

Absolutely absurd. The major problem with this guy is he keeps professing how much "empirical data" exists for this fluff he calls premonitions and doesn't provide solid details. Nor does he present (or acknowledge) data that is contrary to his ideas. He says he is not selling this...ummm 11 books? Wow, this guy is little more than a talking head. Even worse, are Joe and Terry for indulging this quack without appropriate criticism, or at least fact-checking his claims.

As for this comment, "If one not only automatically rules out everything that can't yet be scientifically proven but condemns those who are interested in exploring, I don't find his opinion any more valuable than that of one who believes everything he hears. Like that our President is a communist or a socialist or a fascist or a Marxist or a Nazi or"

Dossey is not merely "interested in exploring" this phenomena, he is absolutely and undeniably attempting to pawn it off as truth. This reveals a major flaw in both logic and character. He states that it is scientifically proven, and this is just plain wrong.

It is interesting to explore the ideas presented in this episode of PP, but present all sides of the argument.

Very poor. Cult-ish even.

-Classical Newtonian

This is a fascinating and controversial area. Many of the people who espouse ideas about extrasensory perception and mind-matter connections are surely deserving of the doubt others cast upon them. But there's a legitimate debate about the hard science behind these things; it's especially illuminating to read about the research that went on the the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Laboratory and to see some of the results from experiments with random event generators at Princeton and elsewhere. There are some wild implications for science, spirituality, and health.

As former Associate Professor of Radiology and Director of Education at the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine, I am quite familiar with the arguments of the so-called "skeptics" who have posted their opinions above. Their comments amount to scientism which means taking a dogmatic opinion based on preconceived notions without bothering to evaluate the data. That position is essentially anti-science.

Cambridge scientist and scholar Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, did a survey of scientists and found that only 15% of medical scientists (which you usually cite on your show) use rigorous double blind trials. 0% of physicists use such methodology, while 85% of parapsychologists do, www.sheldrake.org. Statistical significance of p

For more detailed information on the data see www.rhine.org and www.ions.org.

Listen to all the "intellectuals" complaining bitterly about something they are incapable of understanding. Namely the power of intuition.

This is the plight of the intellectual. They are very good at seeing and analyzing what is right under there nose but if it's not under there nose and they don't see it, then as far as they are concerned it doesn't exist.

Today's show would have been more valuable if it had been accompanied by a commentary on how the illusion of premonition arises from the interaction of chance, the law of large numbers, and selective memory that remembers coincidences and subconsciously tweaks them to make them seem even more extreme while forgetting unsurprising and more random-seeming events.

This additional commentary would have helped some of the less scientifically-inclined listeners to understand how they can be so easily led astray or even believe that they have ever experienced precognition. Instead the credibility that People's Pharmacy has lent to Larry Dossey will no doubt worsen their beliefs, making them even more vulnerable to this type of pseudoscience.

I can't believe you would let him get away with citing the 9/11 premonitions. Considering that the WTC was already bombed about a decade earlier, I would be surprised if no one who worked there didn't have thoughts of the building being attacked on a regular basis, so that whenever the building did get attacked, many of the thousands of occupants would have been worrying about an attack just before the actual attack.

As for the cat, aren't there simpler explanations than some kind of unexplainable precognition? How about, as Wikipedia suggests, the cat sensed subtle biochemical, behavioral, or vital sign changes. Or even simpler, the cat often spent time with every patient over the course of a few hours, and the workers just happened to notice the cat's presence when it coincided with a death (this is how selective memory works, you remember mundane events that are associated with major events -- remember what you did on 9/11?).

As for the church, it could be explained as follows:
1) simple coincidence: one in a million events actually do happen by chance occasionally.
2) if someone had arrived earlier, they may have sensed a gas leak or whatever caused the explosion and prevented an explosion in the first place. Therefore, according to Bayesian analysis, given that the explosion occurred, it is much more likely that everyone was late because if even one person had arrived early, they would have fixed the cause of the explosion.
3) the story was exaggerated, even subconsciously, to sound much more unlikely than it actually was. Imagine if most choir members actually usually showed up a couple of minutes late on average, and the explosion actually occurred just a little bit earlier than reported. These two slight exaggerations, which may not have even been deliberate, could have improved the odds of the church being vacant during the explosion from one in a million, to perhaps less.

I suspect (hope) that Joe and Terry were restraining themselves from a full assault on Dossey's points out of politeness, but I would encourage them to consider that they may have done their listeners a disservice with such politeness. A better course of action would have been not to have Dossey on the show in the first place if they were not prepared to dissect his claims and put him on the spot with objections other than the occasional use of hypothetical third party skeptics.

If intuition had power then it could be measured, defined and understood. The haphazardness of intuition, just encourages "snake oil salesmen."

This program was bound to be controversial, but I wish to thank you for airing it. Of course there is no way with current information to prove any of this but I suspect many of us have had experiences of this type which are difficult to explain any other way.

As a physician, I strongly believe in scientific evidence for the actions I take and generally avoid "alternative" treatment methods. But how would one explain incidents like this:
20 years ago I was hit by a car near my home and sustained a tibial plateau fracture. My wife was notified and accompanied me to the hospital. When we later returned home, there was a message on the answering machine from my mother who lived 150 miles away wanting to know if something had happened to me.
I don't know of any way to scientifically assess such an incident, but I know that it really happened - for whatever reason.

I found the show interesting, but with little practical application. Fortunately this is not true of the other 99% of your presentations. My wife and I (a nursing professor at a major university) listen to your show nearly every week and I have recommended it to a number of people.

A fascinating show that spoke strongly to me. Have had limited and random ESP / premonition abilities all my life. Have saved me from serious injury or death at least one time that I am 100 percent sure of. Events usually not that dramatic, sometimes amusing, occasionally profitable. Also fascinating was the close-mindedness of many of the people posting comments. A thousand years ago, if you stated that men would fly to the moon, you would have been burned at the stake. In a thousand years premonition will be fully understood.