EXPLAINING THE UNEXPLAINED, MYSTERIES OF THE PARANORMAL

 Hans J. Eysenck and Carl Sargent, BCA 1993.

In this superbly illustrated book a psychologist and a parapsychologist join forces to present the best and strongest evidence for the existence of ‘psi’ (human psychic abilities). Parapsychology uses the experimental and statistical methods used by other social sciences and in the space of 60 years has become a robust and broadly based edifice of knowledge. The parapsychologist is the true sceptic – he does not assume that anomalous events are hocus pocus , he looks at the strongest evidence, forms theories about it, then invents experiments to test the validity of his theories. At the base of the edifice which is modern parapsychology are thousands of experiments concerning ESP and PK (extrasensory perception – telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition – and psychokinesis). Personality, scepticism, mental and physical stress, drugs, and altered states of consciousness all influence these elusive abilities.

Also embedded in the edifice re large bodies of anecdotal evidence that cannot be dismissed on the grounds of fraud or reporting errors – the case for mental mediumship and reincarnation, for example, is particularly persuasive. The book provides a lucid and often entertaining overview of all of this material, some of it very recent. Parapsychology has come of age, and no amount of a priori judgements on the part of sceptics and committees of ‘ghostbusters’ (vivid samples of irrational criticism are given throughout the book) can topple its achievements.

Both the book and its dust jacket are in excellent condition