Rating: 
Summary: Critical Thinking Book Review
Review: In The Afterlife Experiments, Dr. Gary Schwartz attempts to prove the existence of life after death. The main premise of his argument is that there is life after death. Dr. Schwartz attempts to prove this by designing several elaborate, scientific experiments using mediums to communicate with the dead. This book explains the experiments he conducted and the seemingly conclusive evidence of life after death. Just by telling us about these experiments, Dr. Schwartz gives us some very good and convincing arguments of life after death. Even though you can tell that he is fully convinced of the power of mediums Dr. Schwartz never tells you what to believe. He just presents the information and lets you decide what to think. As he states in Chapter One, "Let the data speak for itself." As we all know, it is hard to ague against statistical data.
The first experiment Dr. Schwartz and his college, Linda Russek designed was called the HBO experiment and was going to be broadcast on that network. This experiment was much more elaborate than what you would see on Crossing Over with John Edward. You can tell that Schwartz has taken a lot of time and effort into eliminating all the pathways that potential frauds could take. The fact that the mediums could not see the sitter and could only ask yes or no questions left little room for phonies and skeptics, therefore enhancing his argument. Making his argument even stronger were the specific facts that all five mediums picked up on. The best example being that all five mediums talked about the sitter having a dead son with a name beginning with the letter M without even asking the sitter anything. Schwartz did the math and figured out that the probably of this is 1 in 4 million. This is a strong argument based on the nature of the experiment and the answers of the mediums, statistical data just makes it stronger. Schwartz's main argument after the HBO experiment is that this isn't conclusive proof of life after death, just that something extraordinary is going on.
Schwartz wasn't happy with the results of the HBO experiment, so he designed a different, better experiment that would make his argument stronger. By adding the ten-minute silent sitter experiment to the Miraval Silent-Sitter experiment Schwartz accomplishes his goal of strengthening his argument. In this experiment Schwartz writes that during the ten-minute silent sitter period the mediums guessed correctly 77% of the time while the control group (his students) when given specific questions to guess an answer only had 34%. Using this and other facts and statistics, Schwartz reels you into his argument. How else could the mediums have guessed correctly 77% of the time without seeing or hearing the sitter? Logically, the mediums must have some time of communication with the dead.
Gary Schwartz being a somewhat skeptical scientist; still wasn't happy with the results of the Miraval Silent-Sitter experiments. So he created a new experiment that would add even more strength and legitimacy to his arguments. The Canyon Ranch experiment forced the mediums to communicate with the dead without hearing or seeing the sitter for the entire session. The strange occurrences during this experiment really made me believe in his argument. There seems to be no other explanation for John Edward getting signals from the author's mom other than he was really communicating with her. Dr. Schwartz wasn't even the sitter, but unknown to Edward; he was behind the screen with the sitter. After reading that passage all I could think was wow, Schwartz really has made a good argument for the survival of conscious.
The Campbell White Crow readings went one step further than all of the previous experiments. Seemingly, the experiment seems like it would make his argument stronger, but all it did was make it weaker. The idea that one person could meditate, talk on the phone to the sitter, and get that accurate of answers was a bit hard to swallow. I had an easier time believing the previous experiments because they weren't as abstract and seemed more scientific. I'm not saying I completely disagree with the results; I just have a little harder time believing them.
I'm glad Schwartz shared his experiments and arguments with the public by writing this book. He knew full well that most people would not agree with his arguments, but he wrote the book anyway. This book really enlightened me to the art of mediumship and to the survival of the conscious after death. Before reading this book, I thought all mediums were fakes. Now after reading this book, I don't think I could say that. Schwartz did a wonderful job of posing one of our greatest existential questions and scientifically trying to answer it.
Rating: 
Summary: The Unimaginable Becomes Imaginable
Review: This book discusses the possibility of the "survival of consciousness after physical death." The writer/scientist, Gary Schwartz, tries to prove and disprove this hypothesis by testing mediums that can communicate with the dead. The argument was strong though unimaginable at first, but convincing as the book progressed. The writer's experiment and conclusions were concrete and infallible although, there were times when the writer himself noted his own biases towards the experiment.
The argument is that the consciousness survives after physical death. The author provides scientific evidence that the hypothesis is physically possible. He uses the example of a star's light still being visible years after the star itself has vanished. He raises the question whether humans souls or spirits are still in existence after our death.
There is good reason to believe that this argument is deductively valid assuming that the premise is true. The writer uses scientists and other specialists in the fields of fraud and magic to deduce that his findings are valid.
The writer clearly states and defines all of his findings which turn out to be very consistent in all his tests. He also provides all information from all experiments being performed. All the data he has collected is available in the back of his book. He includes all outcomes of his experiments, even the ones that disprove his theory. He sets up his experiments and takes all possibilities into account. He has scientists and magicians take part in the set up of his experiments to see that no fallacy has occurred during the readings from the mediums. The view of the writer is extraordinarily scientific. He provides scientific evidence to support his findings.
The author gives good evidence to believe that there is survival of the consciousness after death. With the help of other scientists and mediums he is able to make a breakthrough in the thought of life after death. His highly educated background and valid evidence shows that his experiments should be taken seriously for further research.
Rating: 
Summary: No Science in These Experiments
Review: The book is not evidence of an afterlife nor of telepathy. Those two phenomena may well exist, but this book does nothing to evince it.For detailed reviews, I suggest the Skeptical Inquirer (sorry, I don't know which volume off the top of my head), skepticreport.com, or the Forum at randi.org. For a quick list of flaws, though, I'll give it a shot: -There is no hypothesis put forth which the experiment attempts to demonstrate or falsify. -The protocols are ludicrously porous; Schwartz claims that cheating is not possible but a reading of the book reveals myriad opportunities for cheating by the medium and for cold reading (for instance, and this is not the worst of it: Schwartz says the sitters give no feedback, but they consistently do -Schwartz's statistical analysis contains sophomoric errors, particularly where he averages "accuracy" -The "control" survey done is not a control at all and is instituted after and differently than the actual experiments -Schwartz refuses to say how he turns a subjective sitter determination of accuracy (on a scale of -3 to +3) into a percentage accuracy; he just does it -Only one complete transcript is shown (and that's not really complete in that it leaves out the "mood setting" introduction by medium George Anderson); only snippets of some others are shown; the vast majority are not referenced at all -One John Edward is missing with the sitter, Schwartz takes the sitter's place and counts the information as hits for him There's plenty more, but the holes in this book are huge. It is not remotely science. You can determine that by noting that Schwartz does not publish it in scientific journals; he publishes it in the media. He then refuses to share the actual data with anyone. The experiments are worthless. Schwartz demonstrates nothing. Buy the book if you are interested in how people deceive themselves and others by donning the trappings of science while avoiding its rigors, but do not buy it if you want actual science demonstrated. And, yes, I have communicated my thoughts to Schwartz.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Book on Psychic Mediums
Review: The Afterlife Experiments is a fabulous and very well written book. I have probably read hundreds of books on the subject. This unique book is by far my favorite (I have read it twice already!). Pay no mind to the negative reviews as I cannot fathom how one can rate this fascinating book poorly. As you read the book you get the feeling that the author has tremendous integrity. Gary Schwartz goes to great lengths to eliminate any possibility of fraud in testing the mediums under very controlled conditions in a laboratory setting. In my opinion this book provides very compelling evidence for the legitimacy of psychic mediumship. Some of the information the mediums bring forward is truly mind-boggling! Does this prove definitively that there is an afterlife? Probably not - but the "living soul hypothesis" as discussed by the author seems to be the best explanation. I have absolutely no doubt that the famous mediums tested by Gary Schwartz are the real deal. The greatest tricksters or magicians in the world clearly cannot do what these mediums have done. Read this wonderful book and decide for yourself.
Rating:
Summary: The Soul Hypothesis
Review: The Afterlife Experiments is an interesting depiction of scientific data collected from various experiments involving the life after death hypothesis.
Schwartz presents the reader with a baffling premise; Is there a survival of consciousness after the deterioration of our physical bodies? He dared strive beyond public humiliation to investigate this hypothesis. However, can this evidence be completely plausible?
Schwartz begins his acclaimed soul studies by examining the existence of well-known mediums. Experiments are carefully documented; the first requiring the presence of unknown sitters. In this first experiment, mediums were allowed yes and no answers. Of Course, this process seems very skeptical. Mediums could easily read information that the sitter subconsciously conveys by answering a simple "yes" or "no". Realizing this could be possible, Schwartz turned to more complex methods of experiments, in which mediums did not see the sitter and the sitter remained silent for a certain period as well. Interestingly enough, mediums received less correct information during silent period.
These experiments seemed legitimate enough but there seems to be a few flaws. First of all, how exactly does the existence of mediums prove the soul or life after death hypothesis? I realize that mediums supposedly talk to dead people, but I find this hard to swallow. In the various experiments, Schwartz claims that data revealed proved telepathy and other methods such as cold reading false. But in order to rule out these possibilities, shouldn't these methods be thoroughly examined as well? The sitters in the experiment honestly reported the results of correct or incorrect information. But how do we know if these sitters are entirely truthful? It almost seems as if the author commits a certain fallacy; appeal to authority. How do we know these personal experiences are truthful and legitimate? Is the author clouded by belief, and because of this is willing to let this belief guide his thinking? The development of a scientific hypothesis requires looking for evidence that disproves the theory as well. However, it appears that the evidence proving the hypothesis was taken in more consideration that the evidence disproving the theory.
Throughout the whole novel, my interest level was high, for the mediums did reveal some compelling information, and I am in awe on how. Did Gary Schwartz really satisfy the scientific audience with his compelling evidence? You be the judge, but for now we can dream.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read for the Truly Objective
Review: Gary Schwartz' After Life Experiments may not be the best book I've ever read, but it certainly may be one of the most important. Schwartz' willingness to stake his professional career and academic credentials in pursuit of the question of whether human consciousness survives death is nothing if not courageous, and his book echoes that daring approach to a subject "real" science has chosen to consistently ignore. This book, I believe, will be remembered as the forerunner of a host of similar works in the future, and may be looked upon by future generations as a watershed work in the field of parapsychology. That being said, I will not do another chapter by chapter critique of the book, for the contents have been well covered by other reviewers. What I do want to discuss is how it is being reviewed. I find it most curious that it either consistently receives five stars and high praise (often by apparently cogent, intelligent reviewers) or one star and some turgid two sentence review to the effect "this is all nonsense." There's almost nothing in between these two extremes. Obviously, it has hit a few raw nerves and is being set up as the biggest challenge for the skeptical community to date. It's fascinating to observe to what extent debunkers will go in their efforts to silence an author's work, and wonder if that's a sign of their intellectual superiority or evidence of some deep seated fear. I really don't know, but I find it an interesting phenomenon in any case. As for the book, I strongly advise anyone with even a modicum of objectivity to read it. It may not change your life, but it's certain to change a few minds or, at very least, get you thinking. A nice read.
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Summary: Undeniable evidence of telepathy, but not of afterlife
Review: This book is well written and seems to have good intentions, but fails in its main purpose. Its method of research proves only the existence of telepathy, not life after death.
Rating:
Summary: debunk the debunkers...
Review: So, I'm supposed to believe this book is bunk and is not objective based upon an article that appeared in a publication "objectively" entitled Skeptical Inquirer? I'll pass on that one. I do think this study's methodology is not perfect, but I don't think you're going to find perfect methodology to study life after death phenomena. It comes down to faith in the long run. I think this book is an interesting study of mediumship. One of those read it and decide for yourself books.I wouldn't take it as proof, but it is encouraging. I'm just weary of holier-than-thou skeptics and their arrogant, flawed methods of "debunking" and review. They are no more scientific or objective than anyone else.
Rating:
Summary: Flawed, but magnificent
Review: First and foremost, to address some 'ugly' things:
1. The vast majority of criticism of this book seems to be the ever so popular a priori criticism: please read the book, then question.
2. The research is not 'soft' on evidence; the quantative data is there, albeit abhoringly incomplete: this is to be expected, this book is one of the first of the kind.
3. CSICOP 'rebuttal' of this book is awfully weak, I expected more. The part that would be most devastating, aligations of cold reading, is also the weakest because the people sampled in the Afterlife Experiments do a beginning session without gathering any information. Schwartz has a reason to be righteously indignant on this point: if it is cold readings, PROVE it. It is easy to be an armchair critic, but doing one's own experiments is considerably harder. Now, having cleared this, although the research is flawed, particularily the sample size, this is to be expected. However, regardless of this, the qualitative side is so thorough that it makes the sample almost irrelevant. I do not think this book 'proves' consciousness survives: no experiment in my mind can completely prove it. However, we may now perhaps begin formulating the afterlife THEORY, which is downright exciting. I am not sure if research like this will ever hit mainstream, however. Materialism is still much too popular to allow for extensive research, which would make the sample size stronger.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating Indeed
Review: "The Afterlife Experiments: Breakthrough Scientific
Experiments Of Life After Death", is a compelling
and Fascinating book. A very interesting subject
to ponder on, that requires an open mind. The survival of consciousness and messages from
loved ones presented beyond death, is a very
fascinating concept indeed. If assumed true,
this could bring comfort to many. Diana: Author of: "Inpirational Wisdom For Love,
Beauty, And Richness"; "You Hold The Key To Riches
And Happiness"; (and) Sure Fire Ways To Make More
Money And Get A Better Job".
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