Fringe-ology

by Steve Volk

  I’d add to this that such an approach is only possible if the materialists among us let go of their own dogma, too, and stop snickering at the paranormal, stop snickering at the possibility that God, or something like Him, might crop up in this search. I realize how difficult it is to make these kinds of shifts—for Pat Robertson to start thinking of his Bible as a collection of books in need of further editing. Or for Richard Dawkins to act on his intellectual understanding—that science might one day yield up evidence of all he can’t believe. For some, these shifts may prove too great. But the opportunity lies before us just the same. The war is over, if we want it, and what we get in return is each other. What we get in return is the thrill of a “free and rigorous” inquiry into the true nature of reality—and what it means to be human.

  When my time in Hawaii was over, and LaBerge’s final lecture ended, the devil mask lay out in full view, for everyone to see—and a party started. The workshop participants slowly passed around beer and wine. And I ultimately joined them. But before I did, I walked outside, over the grass and into the dark.

  The night sky at Kalani was forever painted with stars—magisterial and immense—and I lingered there for a time. And, I must confess, I thought about the Family Ghost.

  That strange family story, which had come to be a mark of embarrassment for me in some circles, had set me on this search. But standing there, seeing every distant point of light look so incredibly near, I realized that I no longer cared if I had been set on this course by a fateful spirit—or faulty plumbing. Because down through the millennia, from the first time one of our ancestors started looking for answers in the movement of the stars, or the cracks in a turtle’s shell, whatever it is that we call paranormal, whatever it is that so confounds us—real or imagined, measurable or not—isn’t banging on the roof and walls, trying to get in. Whatever has been making all this noise, is already here. And as I’d learned from my own search, there are ways we can access all this for ourselves—to uncover whatever truths we might find, to enjoy whatever peace we can attain.

  I sat in the grass for a while, watching the stars, and enjoyed my own private celebration. Then I went upstairs, to the party that had been going on without me.

  Notes and Sources

  A note from the author: Sources are listed in order of appearance within each chapter. In instances where the source is found online, I listed the most recent date that I accessed the site in question. Personal interviews conducted by the author are simply listed as “interview.”

  INTRODUCTION

  Richard Dawkins, “Time to Stand Up,” A Devil’s Chaplain, (Mariner Books, 2003): 156–161.

  Interview, Christopher Hitchens, Martin Amis, with Jeffrey Goldberg, accessed October 24, 2010, http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/08/hitchens-talks-to-goldberg-about-cancer-and-god/61072/

  Rodney King, May 1, 1992, accessed October 24, 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgiR04ey7-M

  Author’s note: The Lou Gentile material comes from reporting I did in June–July 2006.

  “Ghost Sightings Highest in 25 years,” no author given, Telegraph, April 26, 2010, accessed October 25, 2010, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7631387/Ghost-sightings-highest-in-25-years.html

  Michael Sheridan, “Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower Covered Up UFO Sighting in England, Letter Claims,” New York Daily News, August 5, 2010, accessed October 25, 2010, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/08/05/2010–08–05_winston_churchill_dwight_d_eisenhower_covered_up_ufo_sighting_in_england_letter_.html

  Nigel Watson, “ ‘UFO Hacker’ Tells What He Found,” Wired, June 21, 2006, accessed August 6, 2010, http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2006/06/71182

  Joy Basi, “Taxi Drivers and Ghost,” Solomon Times, October 14, 2008.

  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/supernatural

  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/paranormal

  http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/paranormal

  http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged?va=paranormal&x=15&y=4

  Irving Kirsch, “Specifying Nonspecifics: Psychological Mechanisms of Placebo Effects,” in The Placebo Effect: An Interdisciplinary Exploration (Harvard Univ. Press, 1997): 166–80.

  Margaret Kemeny et al., “Placebo Response in Asthma: A Robust and Objective Phenomenon,” Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 119, no. 6 (June 2007): 1375–81.

  Steve Silberman, “Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why,” Wired, August 24, 2009, accessed October 25, 2010, http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/magazine/17–09/ff_placebo_effect

  Robert Carroll, “hypnosis,” The Skeptic’s Dictionary, accessed October 25, 2010, http://www.skepdic.com/hypnosis.html

  Laurence Armand French, “The False Memory Syndrome: Clinical/Legal Issues for the Prosecution,” Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology 11, no. 2 (1996): 38–41. (For anyone who is interested, this French article is a brief, solid, and far more balanced primer than The Skeptic’s Dictionary on the difficulties in assessing recovered memories.)

  A. M. Cyna, “Hypnosis for Pain Relief in Labour and Childbirth: A Systematic Review,” British Journal of Anaesthesia 93, no. 4 (2004): 505–11.

  Steven Gurgevich, “Clinical Hypnosis and Surgery,” Alternative Medicine Alert 6, no. 10 (October 2003): 109–20.

  Guy H. Montgomery et al., “The Effectiveness of Adjunctive Hypnosis with Surgical Patients: A Meta-Analysis,” Anesthesia and Analgesia 94, no. 6 (June 2002): 1639–45.

  Jeff Hughes, “Occultism and the Atom: The Curious Story of Isotopes,” Physics World (September 2003): 31–35.

  David Millett, “Hans Berger: From Psychic Energy to the EEG,” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 44, no. 4 (Fall 2001): 522–42.

  I recommend a couple of articles I found on the incredible skepticism leveled at the inventions of the lightbulb and the airplane—both of which in their day were treated almost as harshly as paranormal claims.

  A. Gelyi, “A Short History of Incandescence Lamps,” Telegraphic Journal and Electrical Review (February 14, 1885): 139–40.

  Simon Newcomb, “Is the Airship Coming?” McClure’s 17, no. 5 (September 1901): 432–35.

  Plato, The Republic, ed. C. D. C. Reeve (Hackett, 2005): 297–326.

  Ward Hill Lamon, Recollections of Abraham Lincoln, 1847–1865, ed. Dorothy Lamon Teillard (Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1911): 114–18.

  Author’s note: For a skeptical take on Lincoln’s seeing it coming, see Joe Nickell, “Paranormal Lincoln,” Skeptical Inquirer 23, no. 3 (May/June 1999), accessed August 7, 2010, http://www.csicop.org/si/show/paranormal_lincoln/

  Colin Ross et al., “Paranormal Experiences in the General Population,” Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 180, no. 11 (1992): 357–61.

  Angela Joiner, “Possible UFO Sighting,” Stephenville EmpireTribune, January 10, 2008, p. 1.

  Skip Hollandsworth, “The Searcher,” Texas Monthly (April 2008), accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.texasmonthly.com/preview/2008–04–01/letterfromstephenville

  John Horgan, The End of Science: Facing the Limits of Knowledge in the Twilight of the Scientific Age (Broadway Books, 1997).

  “What Is the Universe Made Of?” Universe 101, Our Universe, NASA web site, accessed October 26, 2010, http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/uni_matter.html

  Avshalom Elitzur, ed., Quo Vadis Quantum Mechanics (Springer, 2005): 73–82.

  Karl Pribram, Languages of the Brain (Brooks/Cole, 1977).

  Author’s note: Pribram has focused on the hologram as an explanation for human consciousness, particularly memory storage.

  David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order (Routledge Classics, 1980).

  Albert Einstein, personal letter, quoted by Freeman Dyson in Disturbing the Universe (Basic Books, 1981), 187–93.

  Brian Greene, Fabric of the Cosmos (Vintage, 2004), 127–42.

  Zeeya Merali, “Back from the Future,” Discover, access
ed October 26, 2010, http://discovermagazine.com/2010/apr/01-back-from-the-future

  For further reading: A full selection of Tollaksen’s work is available online, accessed September 1, 2010, http://arxiv.org/find/all/1/all:+tollaksen/0/1/0/all/0/1

  Author’s note: The following selection of articles and book references is intended to provide readers with a fairly comprehensive overview of the roles the amygdala and other brain structures play in the automatic processing of information and also in the construction and defense of our beliefs. I incorporated interview material with Dr. Andrew Newberg (covered in chapter 7).

  M. P. Ewbank, “The Interaction Between Gaze and Facial Expression in the Amygdala and Extended Amygdala Is Modulated by Anxiety,” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (July 7, 2010), accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P.M.C2906373/

  H. J. van Marle et al., “Enhanced Resting-State Connectivity of Amygdala in the Immediate Aftermath of Acute Psychological Stress,” Neuroimage 53, no. 1 (October 2010): 348–54.

  L. M. Shin, “The Neurocircuitry of Fear, Stress, and Anxiety Disorders,” Neuropsychopharmacology 35, no. 1 (January 2010): 169–91.

  M. Browning et al., “The Modification of Attentional Bias to Emotional Information: A Review of the Techniques, Mechanisms, and Relevance to Emotional Disorders,” Cognitive Affective Behavioral Neuroscience 10, no. 1 (2010): 8–20.

  T. Lidaka, “Forming a Negative Impression of Another Person Correlates with Activation in Medial Prefrontal Cortex and Amygdala,” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (August. 6, 2010): DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsq0722010.

  S. Wiethoff, “Response and Habituation of the Amygdala During Processing of Emotional Prosody,” Neuroreport 20, no. 15 (October 7, 2009): 1356–60.

  D. Wildgruber et al., “Cerebral Processing of Linguistic and Emotional Prosody: fMRI Studies,” Progress in Brain Research 156 (2006): 249–68.

  A. Marchewka et al., “Grey-Matter Differences Related to True and False Recognition of Emotionally Charged Stimuli—A Voxel Based Morphometry Study,” Neurobiology of Learning and Memory 92, no. 1 (July 2009): 99–105.

  A. J. Calder et al., “Neuropsychology of Fear and Loathing,” Nature Reviews Neuroscience 2 (May 2001): 352–63.

  N. O. Rule et al., “Voting Behavior Is Reflected in Amygdala Response Across Cultures,” Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience 5, nos. 2–3 (June 2010): 349–55.

  J. B. Freeman et al., “The Neural Origins of Superficial and Individuated Judgments About Ingroup and Outgroup Members,” Human Brain Mapping 31, no. 1 (January 2010): 150–59.

  M. Deppe et al., “Evidence for a Neural Correlate of a Framing Effect: Bias-Specific Activity in the Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex During Credibility Judgments,” Brain Research Bulletin 67, no. 5 (November 15, 2005): 413–21.

  C. M. Funk et al., “The Functional Brain Architecture of Human Morality,” Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 19, no. 6 (2009): 678–81.

  H. Takahashi et al., “Neural Correlates of Human Virtue Judgment,” Cerebral Cortex 18, no. 8 (August 2008): 1886–91.

  L. Young et al., “Investigating Emotion in Moral Cognition: A Review of Evidence from Functional Neuroimaging and Neuropsychology,” British Medical Bulletin 84 (2007): 69–79.

  J. B. Peterson et al., “Complexity Management Theory: Motivation for Ideological Rigidity and Social Conflict,” Cortex 38, no. 3 (June 2002): 429–58.

  C. K. De Dreu et al., “Mental Set and Creative Thought in Social Conflict: Threat Rigidity Versus Motivated Focus,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 95, no. 3 (September 2008): 648–61.

  T. A. Hare et al., “Contributions of Amygdala and Striatal Activity in Emotion Regulation,” Biological Psychiatry 57, no. 6 (March 15, 2005): 624–32.

  David H. Zald et al., “The Human Amygdala and the Emotional Evaluation of Sensory Stimuli,” Brain Research Reviews 41, no. 1 (January 2003): 88–123.

  W. C. Drevets, “Reciprocal Suppression of Regional Cerebral Blood Flow During Emotional Versus Higher Cognitive Processes: Implications for Interactions Between Emotion and Cognition,” Cognition and Emotion 12 (1998): 353–85.

  Alok Jha, “Where Belief Is Born,” Guardian, June 30, 2005, accessed http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2005/jun/30/psychology.neuroscience

  Kathleen Taylor, The Science of Thought Control (Oxford Univ. Press, 1996), 127–45.

  These last two books are excellent primers:

  Milton Rokeach, The Open and Closed Mind (Basic Books, 1960).

  Charles Hampden-Turner, Maps of the Mind (Collier, 1982).

  The Impact of Emotion in the American Public’s Assessments of and Reactions to Terrorism, research brief published by the Institute for Homeland Security Solutions, June 2010, accessed October 26, 2010, https://www.ihssnc.org/portals/0/ … /IHSS_Research%20Brief_Singer.pdf

  Ara Norenzayan et al., “Mortality Salience and Religion: Divergent Effects on the Defense of Cultural Worldviews for the Religious and the NonReligious,” European Journal of Social Psychology 39 (2009): 101–13.

  Jean Faber, “Information Processing in Brain Microtubules,” presented at Quantum Mind Conference (2003), accessed October 26, 2010, qubit.lncc.br/files/jfaber_InfProc.MT.pdf

  Shi Chunhua, “Quantum Information Processing in the Wall of Cytoskeletal Microtubules,” Journal of Biological Physics 32, no. 5 (November 2006): 413–20.

  T. J. Craddock, “Information Processing Mechanisms in Microtubules at Physiological Temperature: Model Predictions for Experimental Tests,” Biosystems 97, no. 1 (July 2009): 28–34.

  Karl Pribram, Rethinking Neural Networks (Lawrence Erlbaum, 1993): 216, 324–26.

  T. J. Kaptchuk et al., “Components of Placebo Effect: Randomized Controlled Trial in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome,” British Medical Journal 336 (2008): 999–1003.

  Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, 3rd ed. (Univ. of Chicago Press, 1996). Author’s note: Seminal and eminently readable.

  Tener Edis, “Quantum Magic,” Secular Outpost, accessed October 26, 2010, http://secularoutpost.infidels.org/2007/11/quantum-magic.html

  Michel Shermer, “Quantum Quackery,” Scientific American (January 2005), accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=quantum-quackery

  Mark Buchanan, “Do Birds See with Quantum Eyes?” New Scientist (May 2008), accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19826544.000-do-birds-see-with-quantum-eyes.html

  “Quantum Biology Has Come In from the Cold,” editorial, New Scientist (February 2010), accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20527462.500-quantum-biology-has-come-in-from-the-cold.html

  Gregory S. Engel et al., “Evidence for Wavelike Energy Transfer Through Quantum Coherence in Photosynthetic Systems,” Nature 446 (April 12, 2007): 782–86.

  A. Zeilinger et al., “Quantum Interference Experiments with Large Molecules,” American Journal of Physics 71, no. 4 (2003): 319–25.

  Blake Wilson, “Stray Questions for David Eagleman,” Paper Cuts, New York Times blog, July 10, 2009, accessed October 26, 2010, http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/stray-questions-for-david-eagleman/

  Hal Arkowitz, “Why Science Tells Us Not to Rely on Eyewitness Accounts,” Scientific American (January 2010), accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=do-the-eyes-have-it

  The following sources provide a good overview of some of the more contentious, even strident claims of the New Atheists, including Dawkins’s support of the idea that atheists be dubbed “brights.” This list, however, is not even close to comprehensive. The Eagleman lecture is provided for contrast.

  Richard Dawkins, Atheism and Faith, http://videosift.com/video/RichardDawkins-Atheism-and-Faith and http://wn.com/I%27m_an_atheist,_BUT____by_Richard_Dawkins_1_of_6

  “Richard Holloway in Conversation with Richard Dawkins” accessed October 26, 2010 (April 2008) http://www.stcuthbertscolinton.org.uk/wordweb/conversati
on.htm

  David Eagleman, “On Uncertainty,” accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.vimeo.com/12543623

  Richard Dawkins, “The Future Looks Bright,” Guardian, June 21, 2003, accessed October 26, 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/jun/21/society.richarddawkins. Author’s note: The New Atheists do not all agree with Dawkins’s endorsement of the “brights” idea. Christopher Hitchens has taken very public exception to it.

  Christopher Hitchens, Letters to a Young Contrarian (Basic Books, 2001): 55.

  Sam Harris, “Is Religion Built Upon Lies?” online dialogue between Harris and Andrew Sullivan, accessed October 21, 2010, http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Secular-Philosophies/Is-Religion-Built-Upon-Lies.aspx?p=3

  Author’s note: These books provide a firm grounding in attempts to integrate science and spirituality.

  Jean Gebser, The Ever-Present Origin (Ohio State Univ. Press, 1986).

  Ken Wilber, Up from Eden (Quest Books, 1996).

  Ken Wilber, A Brief History of Everything (Shambhala, 2001).

  CHAPTER 1: ON DEATH AND NOT DYING

  Ernest Hemingway, “A Clean Well-Lighted Place,” The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway: The Finca Vigia Edition (Scribner, 1998), 288–91.

  Nick Cave, “Dig, Lazarus, Dig!” CD (Mute, 2009).

  Fern Welch, Interview, March 2009.

  Christopher Reed, “Psychiatrist Who Identified Five Stages of Dying—Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance,” Guardian, August 31, 2004.