Edgar miracle

Edgar Wunder (born October 31, 1969 in Nuremberg ) is a German social scientist , geographer , anomalist and politician ( Die Linke ).

Life

Wunder studied sociology, political science, psychology, geography and geology at the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg and graduated in 1999 with a master’s thesis on a family and religious sociological topic. In 2004 he received his doctorate with “Religion in the post-denominational society”, a study on secularization processes and religious change in the modern age . Until 2010 he was a research assistant in the Department of Economic and Social Geography and has been a lecturer at the Geography Institute at Heidelberg University since then. Since 2015 he has also been a research assistant at the Geographical Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum .

Edgar Wunder lives in Edingen-Neckarhausen near Mannheim , is married and has two children.

research

Wunder's work as a social scientist focuses on three areas:

• Conflicts between orthodox and heterodox systems of knowledge in science and religion (cf. book "Clashes of Knowledge"). As a sociological study of non-institutionalized or weakly institutionalized social forms of religion, he has published books on astrology and UFO belief, among other things . He is the spokesman for the religious geography working group of the German Society for Geography .
• The spatial distribution and dynamics of social inequality, especially within cities, in the context of studies on urban and regional development.
• Quality of democracy and citizen participation with special consideration of direct democratic instruments.

Anomalous

In 1987, Wunder was one of the founders of the Society for the Scientific Investigation of Parasciences (GWUP) and was editor-in-chief of the GWUP magazine Der Skeptiker until 1998 . In it he published, among other things, from 1992 an annual evaluation of predictions by fortune tellers and astrologers, which received a wide response in the media. In 1999, he stepped out due to increasing differences from the GWUP and founded with other former members of the GWUP and representatives of various Parawissenschaften the Forum Parawissenschaften that later in Society anomalistics was renamed (GFA) and whose board he still belongs. In the following years he emerged as a critic of the GWUP and the skeptic movement .

Also with his study on the alleged unlucky day of Friday the 13th , Wunder received greater media attention. He is a sought-after expert on the subject of superstition and astrology.

politics

Wunder joined the WASG in 2005 and has been a district councilor in the Rhein-Neckar district since 2009 and chairman of the Left Party in the district council. From 2009 to 2015 he was a member of the state executive committee of the party Die Linke Baden-Württemberg and was elected to the presidium of the federal party conference of the left from 2010 to 2013.

He coordinated the first referendum in Heidelberg , which prevented the planned privatization of social housing in the city in 2008 . For this he was awarded the Democracy Rose 2009 , a prize for exemplary civic engagement. In the referendum on Stuttgart 21 in 2011, he was one of the leading organizers of the state campaign for a yes to the exit from Stuttgart 21 . Since the beginning of 2011 Edgar Wunder has been a member of the state board of Mehr Demokratie eV in Baden-Württemberg.

Publications

• Obstetrician moon? To the paranormal belief system of lunatism and its empirical verification. In: Skeptics. 8, 1995, pp. 7-14 and 51-57.
• with T. Klein: Regional disparities and denominational changes as the cause of denominational homogamy. In: Cologne journal for sociology and social psychology . 48, 1996, p. 96.
• with T. Klein: Nursing home residents in Germany: social structural characteristics and the choice of the home. In: Journal of Gerontology and Geriatrics. 30, 1997, pp. 54-67.
• with Dieter B. Herrmann : Astronomical knowledge and astrological belief - are there connections? In: Stars and Space . 37, 1998, pp. 732-735.
• On the relationship between urbanization and the spread of popular belief systems. In: Correlation. 20 (1), 2001, p. 37.
• Perception of the structure of the German-speaking UFO scene: a multidimensional scaling of expert judgments. In: Journal of Anomalies . 1, 2001, p. 75.
• with Michael Schardtmüller: Does the moon modulate the perioperative risk of bleeding and other complication risks in the context of surgical interventions? In: Journal of Anomalies. 2, 2002, pp. 91-108.
• Experience, knowledge, belief - your web of relationships with astrology. In: Journal of Anomalies. 2, 2002, pp. 275-287.
• Self-attribution, sun-sign traits, and the alleged role of favorableness as a moderator variable: Long-term effect or artefact? In: Personality and Individual Differences. 35, 2003, p. 1783.
• The consequences of “Friday the 13th” on accidents in Germany. In: Journal of Anomalies. 3, 2003, pp. 47-55.
• Hans von Zeppelin's dowsing rod experiment. An evaluation report. In: Journal of Anomalies. 3, 2003, pp. 231-250.
• What is happening to religion in Germany? In: Reports on German regional studies. 78, 2004, p. 167.
• UFO sighting experiences as potential encounters with maximally strangers. Some sociological considerations. In: M. Schetsche (Ed.): The maximum stranger. Encounters with the non-human and the limits of understanding. Ergon-Verlag , Würzburg 2004, pp. 57-74.
• Religion in the post-denominational society . Franz Steiner Verlag , Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-515-08772-9 .
• The world of the astrologers. In: Astronomy Today June. 2005, pp. 22-29.
• with Haiko Lietz, Matteo Leone and Jochen Ickinger: The discussion about UFOs from a natural and social science perspective . Society for Anomalies , Heidelberg 2006, ISBN 3-937361-07-3 .
• Religions - lubricating oil in the clash of civilizations? In: Geography and School. 28, 2006, pp. 15-19.
• Theses and arguments on astrology . Society for Anomalies, 2007.
• Crossing the border between secular and religious worlds: extraterrestrials as rationalized angels. In: M. Ebertz (Ed.): Engel unter uns. Sociological and theological miniatures. Verlag Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2008, pp. 179–187.

as editor:

• Theses and arguments on astrology . Society for Anomalies, Heidelberg 2007, ISBN 978-3-937361-08-6 .
• with Peter Meusburger , Michael Welker and others: Clashes of Knowledge. Orthodoxies and Heterodoxies in Science and Religion. Springer , Dordrecht 2008, ISBN 978-1-4020-5554-6 .
• with Peter Meusburger, Joachim Funke and others: Milieus of Creativity. An Interdisciplinary Approach to Spatiality of Creativity . Springer, Dordrecht 2009, ISBN 978-1-4020-9876-5 .
• with Peter Meusburger, Michael Heffernan and others: Cultural Memories . Springer, Dordrecht 2011, ISBN 978-90-481-8944-1 .

Web links

• Website run by Edgar Wunder that takes a critical look at the skeptics movement
• Edgar wonders in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Edgar Wunder: Religion in the post-denominational society. Stuttgart 2005.
2. ^ Department of Economic and Social Geography, Geographical Institute of Heidelberg University
3. ↑ Dr. Edgar Wunder, Geographical Institute of Heidelberg University
4. ↑ Homepage at the Geographical Institute of the Ruhr University Bochum
5. ↑ Religious Geography Working Group
6. ^ Ruhr University Bochum: KomMonitor .
7. ↑ Edgar Wunder: The Skeptic Syndrome.
8. ↑ On the 'expulsion' of Edgar Wunder from the GWUP statement of the GWUP
9. ^ Society for Anomalistics
10. ↑ Edgar Wunder: The 'Skeptic' Movement in Critical Discussion. 2000. (PDF file; 246 kB)
11. ^ Christoph Drösser: Trench warfare. The skeptics act like a political sect. In: The time . 05/1999.
12. ↑ Edgar Wunder: The consequences of “Friday the 13th” on the accident situation in Germany. (PDF file; 154 kB). In: Journal of Anomalies. Volume 3, 2003.
13. ↑ Modern myths: But today is ... In: Die Zeit . April 13, 2007.
14. ↑ Three unlucky days in one year. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . January 13, 2012.
15. ↑ Von Mondholz und Vollmondbier ( Memento from February 1, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Bavaria 2 Radio Knowledge from February 14, 2008.
16. ↑ Myth 3sat Nano moon from July 9, 2009.
17. ↑ The triumphant advance of the lunar calendar. In: The time . November 15, 2010.
18. ↑ Edgar Wunder: The Art of the Magi. (PDF) In: Brain and Spirit, March 2008. Accessed December 30, 2013 . 
19. ↑ District Councilor Dr. Edgar Wunder, DIE LINKE
20. ↑ The first Heidelberg referendum - a short summary
21. ↑ "Demokratie-Rose" 2009 goes to Heidelberg. ( Memento from February 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Press release from the City of Heidelberg from May 19, 2009.
22. ↑ YES to the exit from Stuttgart 21 ( Memento from March 13, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Website of the state alliance "Yes to the exit"
23. ↑ Referendum: Stuttgart 21 opponents do not want to accept quorum. In: Badische Zeitung. 19th September 2012.
24. ↑ Mehr Demokratie eV, Baden-Württemberg regional association
25. ↑ Mayor: Only six years in office? In: Stuttgarter Zeitung. July 22, 2012.
26. ↑  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Association presents draft laws for more citizen participation. In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung. May 23, 2012.
27. ↑ Citizen lobby drives government. In: Badische Zeitung. May 22, 2012.