Name Terence Hines | Role Writer | |
Full Name Terence Michael Hines Born 22 March 1951 Hanover, New Hampshire, USA Books Pseudoscience and the Paranormal: A Critical Examination of the Evidence | ||
Occupation Professor of Neurology | ||
Terence Hines (born 22 March 1951) is professor of neurology at Pace University and adjunct professor at the New York Medical College and a science writer. Hines has a BA from Duke University, and an MS and PhD from the University of Oregon.
Contents
Hines, a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, is the author of Pseudoscience and the Paranormal which focuses on Pseudoscience and the Paranormal within the United States. Hines also, controversially, authored papers expressing scepticism about the existence of the G-Spot.
Pseudoscience and the Paranormal
Hines is the author of the book Pseudoscience and the Paranormal, which mostly focuses on pseudoscience and the paranormal within the United States. Hines distinguishes pseudoscience from science by describing it as a hypothesis inconsistent with the known laws of physics but which can not be falsified. Hines argues that pseudoscience tends not to be updated in the face of newly obtained evidence, and in the book, Hines highlights the difficulty in clearly demarcating pseudoscience from the paranormal. Hines also writes that if paranormal abilities such as clairvoyance or precognition were possible, then surely one would expect casino and lottery incomes to be affected, although no such effect is observed.
Hines is also a fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
G-Spot
In a 2001 comprehensive review article Hines claimed that the evidence for the existence of the Gräfenberg spot (G-Spot), a spot which 84% of women believe exists, was too weak, and that claims of its existence were based on small sample sizes and are not supported by biochemistry or anatomy (particularly the lack of extra nerve endings in the region). Most of the studies at that time had also been conducted by a single team. Hines asserted that if such a spot exists, it is not particular to the Skene's glands. Hines described the G-Spot as a "sort of gynecologic UFO: much sought for, much discussed, but unverified by objective means". The initial review resulted in a large controversy with three publications quickly defending its existence.