Good to Know About the Paranormal — Quora Answers Book 1

iii Answers About the Cover Tree Lake Reflection Artist: Bessi. pixabay.com/photos/tree-lake-reflection-water-calm-838667/ I wanted the book cover to convey a sense of mystery and spirituality. To me, a lone tree evokes both. In Nature, a solitary tree is often growing where others have not been able to grow. They are colonizers of difficult terrain. The tree’s reflection enhances the mystery. In the Hermetica, “As above, so below” comes from the Emerald Tablet which is thought to be a 6,000-year-old text attributed to Hermes. It is so named because of stories about green clay it was written on. The green was probably because of the presence of copper oxide. Considering the content of the tablet, it was probably titled something like The Truly Great Work. From Line 1: It is true and no lie, certain and to be depended upon, that which is above is as that which is below; and that which is below is as that which is above, for the performance of the one truly great work. Line one of the Emerald Tablet About which I say in The Hermes Concepts Discourse: (1) iv Answers This principle signifies that everything existing in the physical aspect of reality has its correspondence in the greater reality. Perhaps a clearer explanation of this principle is that everything in the physical (below) has been expressed from the etheric (above). In turn, that which has been expressed has an influence on the expresser (and other personalities). The lone tree is found in many ancient

cultures as the Tree of Life. It generally represents the people’s relationship with Nature. The Tree of Life is often depicted as a tree (above) and the roots (below). The Hermetic Tarot includes a Tree of Life which represents the seeker’s progression toward spiritual maturity. It is seen as a roadmap for how to apply the 22 Major Arcana of the Hermetic Tarot to disclose the way to transform the coarse personality driven by human instincts (lead) to the finer form of spiritual maturity (gold). The Axis Mundi is described as a spiritual pillar connecting the earth to the heavens. It was often represented by the ancients as a tree with branches extending to heaven and roots extending to the center of earth. In the cosmological model I use, each of us is our own Axis Mundi. So, the lone tree is my imagined place of quiet from which I contemplate our spiritual nature and seek ways to convey what I learn to you. Thus, the two figures under the tree are you and me as we teach each other about our actual nature. v Answers Back Cover Progression When we begin our transition out of this lifetime, we will not wonder if we had been a good person or if we learned anything. We will wonder if we have gained understanding about our nature and the nature of the reality we inhabit. A student’s progress in ancient wisdom schools is typically measured with an initiation. Initiations involve a test,

often posed as a challenge which must be answered before the student is allowed to pass through a passage to the next level. It may go like this: “You have been taught about the relationship between meaningful and pleasureful ways. You have been given the opportunity to contemplate these and examine their implication. Now I ask you to compare discriminating intelligence to morality.” You see, the test is not about the lessons. It is about understanding gained by examining the implications of the lessons. In the end, understanding is that part of awareness that informs our next act. The questions posed in this book are from Quora.com. They are not necessarily wise, but they offer opportunities to test understanding. I have included answers based on my understanding of our nature and the nature of the reality we inhabit. It is my intention that you might read them and gain a degree of understand that can inform your next decision. vi Answers We Do Not Work Alone Admittedly, this book is all about reality according to Tom Butler. Should you disagree with what I have said, your disagreement is with me. Much of what I think is true is anchored on what I have learned in the study of transcommunication with Lisa, so if you like the book, thank her. This book is different for me in that its content has been guided by people asking questions on Quroa.com. While I have been selective about which questions I have answered, those

that I did answer have inspired me to find new ways to examine old issues. I often argue that active participation in a community is the golden way to understanding. Thus, I must thank the questioners of Quora for being part of my cooperative community. vii Answers Content Use License ............................................................................................................. ii About the Cover .................................................................................................... iii Back Cover.............................................................................................................. v Progression ..................................................................................................v We Do Not Work Alone ......................................................................................... vi Content ................................................................................................................ vii Introduction to This Book ..................................................................................... 23 Section 1 Theories and Concepts .......................................................................... 29 Introduction .................................................................................................... 29 Question 1 ....................................................................................................... 30 What are some generally accepted concepts in the paranormal community? For instance, children are thought of as more susceptible to seeing spirits? 30 Question 2 ....................................................................................................... 32 Should we believe in spirits? ...................................................................... 32 Question 3 ....................................................................................................... 33 What is your personal opinion on the possibility of the existence of ghosts/aliens etc? ..................................................................................... 33 Question 4 ....................................................................................................... 35 Do you think our thoughts are a means to the soul? .................................. 35 Question 5 ....................................................................................................... 36 What is an example of philosophy in life? .................................................. 36 Question 6 ....................................................................................................... 38 How does philosophy relate to creative and critical thinking?..................... 38 Question 7 ....................................................................................................... 39 How do you define supernatural? What is considered supernatural? .......... 39 Question 8 ....................................................................................................... 40 What are the types of morality? ................................................................ 40 Question 9 ....................................................................................................... 41 What is your favorite definition of a soul? .................................................. 41 Question 10 ..................................................................................................... 42 How can we understand "The production of knowledge is always a collaborative task and

never solely a product of the individual"? ................ 42 Question 11 ..................................................................................................... 43 viii Answers As an atheist, what is the purpose behind souls, having feelings, and abilities (like speaking, running, decision making, etc.) if there’s no place to go after the body stops functioning? When the body stops working and we pass away, where do we go? ..............................................................................43 What are professional ethics? ....................................................................46 Question 13 ......................................................................................................48 What are the base legal and ethical consideration of online publishing? .....48 Question 14 ......................................................................................................48 What are the best arguments against individual difference? .......................48 Question 15 ......................................................................................................50 How many types of ethics are there? ..........................................................50 Question 16 ......................................................................................................51 How can philosophical thinking benefit one in life? .....................................51 Question 17 ......................................................................................................52 Are most major philosophers now irrelevant? .............................................52 Question 18 ......................................................................................................53 How is morality possible without the existence of a higher being? ..............53 Question 19 ......................................................................................................54 What do you consider integrity? How would one acquire such? ..................54 Question 20 ......................................................................................................56 According to Descartes’ definition of a soul, can robots have soul if they get to a point where they are conscience and can ‘think’? ................................56 Question 21 ......................................................................................................56 What is the most mind-blowing philosophical idea/theory you know of?.....56 Question 22 ......................................................................................................58 Should we care about morality or should we care about cause-effect? ........58 Question 23 ......................................................................................................60 Is morality social rules to constrain people? ................................................60 Question 24 ......................................................................................................61 What is the difference between paranormal and supernatural? ..................61 Question 25 ......................................................................................................62 When dealing with paranormal experiences, how do you explain that which cannot be explained? .................................................................................62

Question 26 ......................................................................................................63 What is the Secret Doctrine? ......................................................................63 Question 27 ......................................................................................................64 Could we have evidence for objective moral facts? What would it be? ........64 Question 28 ......................................................................................................65 What is the current theory on the purpose of humans? ...............................65 Question 29 ......................................................................................................67 What are the 7 densities of consciousness? ................................................67 Question 30 ......................................................................................................69 ix Answers Isn't even the idea of thoughtlessness a thought? Can we ever be thoughtless? ............................................................................................. 69 Question 31 ..................................................................................................... 70 What is the difference between the spirit world and the astral plane?........ 70 Question 32 ..................................................................................................... 73 Could an uploaded consciousness be considered a living entity? ................. 73 Question 33 ..................................................................................................... 74 If universes are by-products of supreme consciousness, where does this consciousness originate? ........................................................................... 74 Question 34 ..................................................................................................... 77 Do you believe in collective consciousness? If so, do you believe one individual can lift/lower the collective consciousness?................................ 77 Question 35 ..................................................................................................... 78 How does one's mind and one's body be entangled with energy through one's organic system/medium? ................................................................. 78 Question 36 ..................................................................................................... 81 Can you measure awareness?.................................................................... 81 Question 37 ..................................................................................................... 83 Is your future self watching you right now through memory? ..................... 83 Section 2 Science .................................................................................................. 85 Introduction .................................................................................................... 85 Question 38 ..................................................................................................... 86 Is there a single paranormal case that has been agreed by scientists to actually be supernatural? .......................................................................... 86 Question 39 ..................................................................................................... 87 What is the best reason for writing an argumentative essay about believing in ghosts?.................................................................................................. 87 Question 40 ..................................................................................................... 89 Does research support ESP? What are your thoughts

on ESP? .................... 89 Question 41 ..................................................................................................... 90 What is the true meaning of an essay? ...................................................... 90 Question 42 ..................................................................................................... 91 What is dualism? Write an essay on dualistic philosophy. .......................... 91 Question 43 ..................................................................................................... 92 What are the paranormal theories? ........................................................... 92 Question 44 ..................................................................................................... 93 Is Parapsychology a legitimate science?..................................................... 93 Question 45 ..................................................................................................... 94 Is dualism a convincing way to explain the identity of a human being? ....... 94 Question 46 ..................................................................................................... 96 x Answers Which phenomena cannot be explained using scientific reasoning? ............96 Question 47 ......................................................................................................98 What supports morality scientifically? ........................................................98 Question 48 ......................................................................................................99 What is metaphysical dualism? ..................................................................99 Question 49 .................................................................................................... 103 What are some good criticisms of scientism? ............................................ 103 Question 50 .................................................................................................... 105 Is it true that "church ladies" now form the major obstacle to progress in science? ................................................................................................... 105 Question 51 .................................................................................................... 106 Is Metaphysics a science? ......................................................................... 106 Question 52 .................................................................................................... 107 How do you define metaphysics, and is it just another word for "supernatural"? ....................................................................................... 107 Question 53 .................................................................................................... 109 Why do scientific observations often reflect philosophical observations?... 109 Question 54 .................................................................................................... 110 What do you think about parapsychology? ............................................... 110 Question 55 .................................................................................................... 111 What is a priori skepticism? ...................................................................... 111 Question 56 .................................................................................................... 112 Is morality a byproduct of our biological reward system? .......................... 112 Question 57 .................................................................................................... 113 What will it take for Americans who are opposed to science to change their attitudes towards it? ................................................................................ 113 Question 58 .................................................................................................... 115 Is parapsychology related to physics?

....................................................... 115 Question 59 .................................................................................................... 116 Does precognition by itself account for all the various findings in parapsychology? ...................................................................................... 116 Question 60 .................................................................................................... 117 What is the difference between dualism and non-dualism? ....................... 117 Question 61 .................................................................................................... 118 What are the differences between metaphysics and parapsychology? ...... 118 Question 62 .................................................................................................... 119 What is the point of metaphysics to the average person? ......................... 119 Question 63 .................................................................................................... 123 What is the simplest definition of metaphysics? ........................................ 123 Question 64 .................................................................................................... 123 Has science ruled out or disproven psychic abilities? ................................. 123 Question 65 .................................................................................................... 125 Will there ever be a science of morality? ................................................... 125 xi Answers Question 66 ....................................................................................................126 What's the correct word to refer to a believer of scientism? ......................126 Question 67 ....................................................................................................126 Is application of the principle of parsimony to scientific research rooted more in logic or pragmatism? ............................................................................126 Question 68 ....................................................................................................128 Is philosophy a mystic science? .................................................................128 Question 69 ....................................................................................................129 To what extent is the belief in progress based on wishful thinking? ...........129 Question 70 ....................................................................................................131 What is the scope of practice for a metaphysics doctorate? ......................131 Question 71 ....................................................................................................132 Is panpsychism a form of property dualism? .............................................132 Question 72 ....................................................................................................133 Parapsychology has studies that have been replicated and are known to be solid. Are you convinced? .........................................................................133 Question 73 ....................................................................................................135 What are the fundamental differences between modern science and scientism? ................................................................................................135 Question 74 ....................................................................................................137 How is psychokinesis related to quantum connection? ..............................137 Question 75 ....................................................................................................138 What are the metaphysical presuppositions of science? ............................138 Question 76

....................................................................................................139 What energy does paranormal phenomena use or contain? ......................139 Question 77 ....................................................................................................141 What are some good resources for learning about metaphysics? ..............141 Question 78 ....................................................................................................142 Why are there skeptic organizations? Do people need help to disbelieve things? .....................................................................................................142 Question 79 ....................................................................................................143 Is the study of metaphysics futile and overly vague? .................................143 Question 80 ....................................................................................................144 What is psi energy? ..................................................................................144 Question 81 ....................................................................................................145 Are skeptical standards for parapsychology unrealistic? ...........................145 Question 82 ....................................................................................................146 J. B. Rhine application of scientific methods enabled him to produce credible evidence that extrasensory perception and psychokinesis phenomenon exist. Where are those results? ..........................................................................146 Question 83 ....................................................................................................147 What are the laws of metaphysics? ..........................................................147 Question 84 ....................................................................................................148 xii Answers What are reasonable alternative explanations to genuine paranormal evidence recorded on video? .................................................................... 148 Question 85 .................................................................................................... 149 What do you think about my first thesis on science and its relationship to the metaphysical world? ................................................................................ 149 Question 86 .................................................................................................... 151 Scientifically is it possible some supernatural entity created the dense atom that created our universe? ....................................................................... 151 Question 87 .................................................................................................... 152 Why is scientism considered a bad thing? ................................................. 152 Question 88 .................................................................................................... 153 Why does mainstream science brush off any seemingly reliable scientific evidence of paranormal phenomena such as psi phenomena that seems to be proven to some degree to occur? .............................................................. 153 Question 89 .................................................................................................... 155 What is the difference between science and scientism? ............................ 155 Question 90 .................................................................................................... 156 Has telepathy been either refuted or proven scientifically? ....................... 156 Question 91 .................................................................................................... 157

Is the study of supernatural phenomena considered an actual field of science? ................................................................................................... 157 Question 92 .................................................................................................... 158 How can one differentiate between normal accidental/coincidental activity and a paranormal activity? ...................................................................... 158 Question 93 .................................................................................................... 160 What are the best discoveries in parapsychology? .................................... 160 Question 94 .................................................................................................... 162 Why do some people so readily latch onto junk science when so much of it is easily dispelled? ....................................................................................... 162 Question 95 .................................................................................................... 163 Is parapsychology ever associated with paganism, Satanism, vampires, alchemy, or witchcraft? If so how ............................................................. 163 Question 96 .................................................................................................... 164 What is a parapsychological (PSI) phenomena? ........................................ 164 Question 97 .................................................................................................... 164 What is the dualistic theory? .................................................................... 164 Question 98 .................................................................................................... 166 Is anything in parapsychology useful?....................................................... 166 Question 99 .................................................................................................... 167 Is there such a thing as dogmatic scientism?............................................. 167 Question 100 .................................................................................................. 169 Why do scientists turn their head away from findings in the paranormal field?........................................................................................................ 169 xiii Answers Question 101 ..................................................................................................170 How common is scientific fraud? ..............................................................170 Question 102 ..................................................................................................172 What is the theory of a bunch of thought? ................................................172 Question 103 ..................................................................................................174 What is the middle way between dualism and physicalism? ......................174 Question 104 ..................................................................................................175 How scientific is psychology? ....................................................................175 Question 105 ..................................................................................................176 Has a general theory of thought ever been developed? .............................176 Question 106 ..................................................................................................177 What are the paradigms of parapsychology? ............................................177 Question 107 ..................................................................................................178 Was the inclusion of metaphysical elements in Alchemy and other sciences an early gesture towards a unified theory of everything? ..........................178 Question 108 ..................................................................................................179 How would

you scientifically describe or define the existence of a soul or spirit?.......................................................................................................179 Question 109 ..................................................................................................183 If scientists are able to create artificial consciousness using future quantum computers or upload our own consciousness into a machine, would spirituality and nonduality therefore become obsolete/unnecessary under this new materialist paradigm? ................................................................183 Question 110 ..................................................................................................185 Why can't science explain supernatural things like magic or ghosts? .........185 Question 111 ..................................................................................................188 Is pseudoscience a pejorative term? .........................................................188 Question 112 ..................................................................................................190 Is there any science data and research supporting psychic phenomena? ...190 Question 113 ..................................................................................................193 How does science explain paranormal phenomena? .................................193 Question 114 ..................................................................................................195 How do we define what a science is? To my understanding anything can be a science as long as there is an ambition for objective truth and the ability to falsify. ......................................................................................................195 Question 115 ..................................................................................................196 How do metaphysics and epistemology connect?......................................196 Question 116 ..................................................................................................198 Why do you think that ESP and other elements of parapsychology are controversial with many researchers? .......................................................198 Question 117 ..................................................................................................199 Why is paranormal science not developed like other science? ...................199 Question 118 ..................................................................................................201 xiv Answers Should non-experts be allowed to criticize experts? .................................. 201 Question 119 .................................................................................................. 204 Why are there still many profoundly metaphysical questions that remain unanswered by science? ........................................................................... 204 Section 3 Psi Functioning .................................................................................... 207 Introduction ................................................................................................... 207 Question 120 .................................................................................................. 208 Do you believe that ESP exists? ................................................................. 208 Question 121 .................................................................................................. 208 Is telekinesis scientifically true? ................................................................ 208 Question 122 .................................................................................................. 210 How did you get involved with the paranormal? ....................................... 210

Question 123 .................................................................................................. 211 How can I learn telepathy, telekinesis, and to understand auras? .............. 211 Question 124 .................................................................................................. 213 How much of YouTube's paranormal aired material possibly real? ............ 213 Question 125 .................................................................................................. 215 Why do some people attract a lot of paranormal activity, others a bit and most none? Are there characteristics in people that dictates that?............ 215 Question 126 .................................................................................................. 216 Is telekinesis scientifically possible within the realm of how little we understand of existence or would something totally new have to be discovered for it to become plausible? ...................................................... 216 Question 127 .................................................................................................. 218 I’m fairly sure I’m Clairaudient. I acknowledge presence of spirit but don’t know how best to hone or use it, any guidance you can offer? .................. 218 Question 128 .................................................................................................. 220 How does spiritual communication work?................................................. 220 Question 129 .................................................................................................. 222 Does E.S.P. exist? ..................................................................................... 222 Question 130 .................................................................................................. 223 Is the human mind actually powerful enough to use telekinesis? ............... 223 Question 131 .................................................................................................. 224 Can you obtain psychic powers through training? ..................................... 224 Question 132 .................................................................................................. 226 Scientists theorize that psychic ability comes from the subconscious. What do you think? ................................................................................................ 226 Question 133 .................................................................................................. 227 Are there any scientifically proven psychics? If so who are they? ............... 227 Question 134 .................................................................................................. 229 xv Answers Why, since the dawn of time, have many people perceived reflecting surfaces as portals towards other worlds?..............................................................229 Question 135 ..................................................................................................230 How do you turn off telepathy or disconnect a psychic connection? ..........230 Question 136 ..................................................................................................231

How do you stop viewing the world in dualistic terms? .............................231 Question 137 ..................................................................................................233 What are examples of paranormal documentaries? ..................................233 Question 138 ..................................................................................................234 How does knowledge affect your emotions? .............................................234 Question 139 ..................................................................................................235 What are the downsides to a person having a lot of skepticism? ...............235 Question 140 ..................................................................................................236 What is the best website for someone that loves the paranormal? ............236 Question 141 ..................................................................................................238 How do you distinguish credible psychics from frauds and charlatans?......238 Question 142 ..................................................................................................240 Is there a connection between the paranormal and UFO phenomena? ......240 Question 143 ..................................................................................................242 What paranormal experiences have been proven to be misperceptions based on logical explanations? For example, orbs in photographs are caused by dust, moisture and reflection. ...................................................................242 Question 144 ..................................................................................................244 Why is there no idea of a telepathy device? ..............................................244 Question 145 ..................................................................................................245 Is there any evidence of the scientific measurement of the speed of mind in telepathy? ................................................................................................245 Question 146 ..................................................................................................247 Is there a difference between psychics, clairvoyants, and mediums? .........247 Question 147 ..................................................................................................250 Do dreams represent archetypal realities obscured during waking consciousness? .........................................................................................250 Question 148 ..................................................................................................251 Why do psychics misinterpret questions? ..................................................251 Question 149 ..................................................................................................253 As a psychic, where can I speak with other psychics? ................................253 Question 150 ..................................................................................................254 How do you tell the difference between connecting with the spirit world and a hallucination? .......................................................................................254 Question 151 ..................................................................................................257 What is the most compelling, unexplainable piece of paranormal footage (or photographs, recordings, etc.) out there? .................................................257 Question 152 ..................................................................................................258 xvi Answers Do you believe psychics are really or

scam artists? .................................... 258 Section 4 Ghosts ................................................................................................. 261 Introduction ................................................................................................... 261 Question 153 .................................................................................................. 262 In horror movies, ghosts/demons can create very strong physical movements on things like throwing a chair and pulling hair. Are these realistic? Can real life demons/ghosts do that? ..................................................................... 262 Question 154 .................................................................................................. 263 Is it possible to contact a deceased family member without the aid of a psychic or using anything dangerous like a Ouija board?........................... 263 Question 155 .................................................................................................. 265 What are some paranormal activity detection machines used by people investigating haunted houses? ................................................................. 265 Question 156 .................................................................................................. 266 Can you give me a good example of detecting paranormal activity using an EMF detector?.......................................................................................... 266 Question 157 .................................................................................................. 268 What is the best reason for writing an argumentative essay about believing in ghosts? ................................................................................................ 268 Question 158 .................................................................................................. 270 If you died and came back as a ghost, who would you want to haunt and how?........................................................................................................ 270 Question 159 .................................................................................................. 271 Paranormal: do cats have their own spirits/entities that attach to them and haunt them? ............................................................................................ 271 Question 160 .................................................................................................. 271 Have you seen your cat witness a ghost/spirit? ......................................... 271 Question 161 .................................................................................................. 273 Why do we not see the good spirits trying to help the bad spirits? Does this even happen, why not? ............................................................................ 273 Question 162 .................................................................................................. 274 Honestly, do you believe in ghosts, spirits or angels? ................................ 274 Question 163 .................................................................................................. 276 Do spirits group with the spirits of their own religion when they fly off to the

universe (per scientists) after death? ........................................................ 276 Question 164 .................................................................................................. 277 Is it scientifically proven that ghosts exist? ............................................... 277 Question 165 .................................................................................................. 279 Are ghost detectors just detecting electromagnetic fields? ........................ 279 Question 166 .................................................................................................. 280 xvii Answers Among all the cryptids (kraken, megalodon, Bigfoot, etc.) or the legendary or supernatural beings (ghosts, for instance), which is the most believable and could really exist according to you? ..........................................................280 Question 167 ..................................................................................................283 What would be a logical explanation of ghosts? One that correlated with science and what we know about the universe? ........................................283 Question 168 ..................................................................................................287 Why aren’t things like hunting for ghosts/paranormal experiences treated more seriously in science? ........................................................................287 Question 169 ..................................................................................................288 What are other theoretical explanations of ghosts, assuming: a) they are not imagination and b) not spirits of the dead? ...............................................288 Question 170 ..................................................................................................289 Why do people feel that ghost hunters are scam artist? ............................289 Question 171 ..................................................................................................290 Are ghosts tied to a specific location or can they wander? If so, how far? ..290 Question 172 ..................................................................................................291 Are ghost hunting devices sold on the internet fraudulent? .......................291 Question 173 ..................................................................................................293 Do ghosts keep up with technology? .........................................................293 Question 174 ..................................................................................................294 What does a black orb mean? ..................................................................294 Question 175 ..................................................................................................296 If a ghost is no longer a living person, why are they caught on EVP with breathing sounds? ....................................................................................296 Question 176 ..................................................................................................298 How can I start a paranormal investigation team, with little equipment? ..298 Question 177 ..................................................................................................300 Would it be reasonable to state that “ghosts” or “spirits”

people witness can be interpreted to extraterrestrial more so or just as likely as they can be interpreted to the “supernatural”? ...........................................................300 Question 178 ..................................................................................................301 Why can ghosts and spirits manipulate electricity and electrical devices so easily?......................................................................................................301 Question 179 ..................................................................................................303 Can animals other than humans become ghosts? .....................................303 Question 180 ..................................................................................................305 How do I write from a ghost's POV? ..........................................................305 Question 181 ..................................................................................................306 Since ghosts from ancient times are seldom, if ever, seen, do ghosts have a "shelf life"? ..............................................................................................306 Question 182 ..................................................................................................307 If ghosts exist, how can they walk through walls and touch people too?....307 xviii Answers Section 5 Demons and Evil ................................................................................. 311 Introduction ................................................................................................... 311 Question 183 .................................................................................................. 313 Why do people insist demons are not real? Are they? ............................... 313 Question 184 .................................................................................................. 315 Can your spirit guide be lost using an Ouija board? ................................... 315 Question 185 .................................................................................................. 315 Have you ever used a Ouija Board? What happened? ............................... 315 Question 186 .................................................................................................. 316 Are there any real Ouija experiences that are comforting? ........................ 316 Question 187 .................................................................................................. 317 What if you hear an EVP say a demon’s name? ......................................... 317 Question 188 .................................................................................................. 318 Where can I buy a Ouija board in Johannesburg, South Africa? ................. 318 Section 6 Spiritualism and Mediumship ............................................................. 321 Introduction ................................................................................................... 321 Question 189 .................................................................................................. 321 Who is a spiritualist? ................................................................................ 321 Question 190 .................................................................................................. 322 What is a mental medium?....................................................................... 322 Question 191 .................................................................................................. 323 Can you truly believe in a Higher Power without a supernatural experience? ................................................................................................................

323 Question 192 .................................................................................................. 325 What happen to Silva mind control? ......................................................... 325 Question 193 .................................................................................................. 325 What are the roles of religion to ethics? ................................................... 325 Question 194 .................................................................................................. 326 Why is integrity so important?.................................................................. 326 Question 195 .................................................................................................. 328 How genuine are psychics, mediums, etc.? Houdini was exposing mediums in his time, so do today's mediums (and similar) use different tactics to fool the public? Or are they actually genuine? ....................................................... 328 Question 196 .................................................................................................. 329 What are the most basic principles of being a spiritualist? ........................ 329 Question 197 .................................................................................................. 331 Why are some people so interested in and believe in the paranormal? ...... 331 Question 198 .................................................................................................. 332 xix Answers Is there a difference between psychics and spiritualists? ...........................332 Question 199 ..................................................................................................334 What is an unpopular belief you have regarding the paranormal? ............334 Question 200 ..................................................................................................334 Why are people skeptic of psychic mediumship? .......................................334 Question 201 ..................................................................................................335 Why is spirituality called spirituality if it doesn't have anything to do with spirits? .....................................................................................................335 Question 202 ..................................................................................................337 Is it better to live a lie in luxury or live in the truth penniless? ....................337 Question 203 ..................................................................................................340 What made you interested in metaphysics? ..............................................340 Question 204 ..................................................................................................341 Are the parapsychological phenomena produced by the materialization medium Mychael Shane real or faked? .....................................................341 Question 205 ..................................................................................................342 Is Marcello Bacci a fraud?.........................................................................342 Question 206 ..................................................................................................343 Does the 'SOUL' concept have any philosophical value? ............................343 Question 207 ..................................................................................................346 Where does the study of philosophy fit in the study of spiritualism? Are these

two areas compatible? .............................................................................346 Question 208 ..................................................................................................348 What are the pros and cons of getting indulged in paranormal stuff either directly or indirectly? ................................................................................348 Question 209 ..................................................................................................349 What is your attitude to paranormal and scientifically unexplained activities? ................................................................................................................349 Question 210 ..................................................................................................350 What are some secret symbols hidden in plain sight?................................350 Question 211 ..................................................................................................352 Do you believe in collective consciousness? If so, do you believe one individual can lift/lower the collective consciousness?...............................352 Question 212 ..................................................................................................353 What do you call someone who guards the doorway between the spirit world and the Earth? .........................................................................................353 Question 213 ..................................................................................................355 When a spirit is 'moved on' what happens to them? .................................355 Question 214 ..................................................................................................356 How do I see the physical world for the illusion that it is? ..........................356 Question 215 ..................................................................................................357 How can you tell if another thing is conscious? .........................................357 Question 216 ..................................................................................................358 xx Answers Does the universe have a consciousness? .................................................. 358 Question 217 .................................................................................................. 360 What do spiritualist churches do? ............................................................. 360 Question 218 .................................................................................................. 363 Who started the path of Spiritualism? ...................................................... 363 Question 219 .................................................................................................. 366 How do I become a good rationalist, humanist and spiritualist? ................ 366 Question 220 .................................................................................................. 369 How do I deal with paranormal beliefs without looking like a crazy person? ................................................................................................................ 369 Question 221 .................................................................................................. 371 What is the value of metaphysics within contemporary society? ............... 371 Question 222 .................................................................................................. 373 How do you know that we are spiritual beings having human experiences rather than human beings having spiritual experiences? ........................... 373 Section 7 ITC .......................................................................................................

379 Introduction ................................................................................................... 379 Question 223 .................................................................................................. 380 How accurate is EVP recordings? .............................................................. 380 Question 224 .................................................................................................. 382 What age should I be to try to capture an EVP? ........................................ 382 Question 225 .................................................................................................. 383 Is EVP a real phenomenon? ...................................................................... 383 Question 226 .................................................................................................. 385 Is EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) accepted in the world of science? ... 385 Question 227 .................................................................................................. 387 What is one time you have seen a supernatural entity that has made you believe in the paranormal? ....................................................................... 387 Question 228 .................................................................................................. 388 What is EVP in the world of the paranormal? ............................................ 388 Question 229 .................................................................................................. 390 What’s the best app for communicating with ghosts on iPhone? ............... 390 Question 230 .................................................................................................. 391 What is the difference between dust orbs and spirit orbs, and how can you tell? ......................................................................................................... 391 Question 231 .................................................................................................. 394 Is it really possible to hear the voices of the dead? .................................... 394 Question 232 .................................................................................................. 395 Is there any science behind “spirit boxes” or any tools for paranormal investigations or is it all entertainment? ................................................... 395 xxi Answers Question 233 ..................................................................................................397 What is EVP in parapsychology? ...............................................................397 Question 234 ..................................................................................................399 Which devices record the paranormal activities and how far they are accurate? .................................................................................................399 Question 235 ..................................................................................................401 Everything can be faked with special effects these days. So hypothetically how would one prove the existence of the paranormal even with undoctored ultra high def footage? .............................................................................401 Question 236 ..................................................................................................402 What do you think the orbs are that appear in photos? Do

you believe these are supernatural in nature, and do you have any orb photos to share with us? ...........................................................................................................402 Question 237 ..................................................................................................405 Is the electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) just nothing more than the snippets of random radio stations? ...........................................................405 Question 238 ..................................................................................................407 How accurate do you think a spirit box is communicating with the dead versus an Ouija board? .............................................................................407 Question 239 ..................................................................................................411 Can animals other than humans become ghosts? .....................................411 Question 240 ..................................................................................................413 If spirits don’t exist, how do you explain “electronic voice phenomena” or EVP’s for short? ........................................................................................413 Question 241 ..................................................................................................415 Where can I have ghost audio (EVP) analyzed? .........................................415 Question 242 ..................................................................................................416 Has anyone, or even you, ever used a spirit box before, and what stories can be shared using it? ...................................................................................416 My Qualifications ............................................................................................... 421 Index .................................................................................................................. 425 References ......................................................................................................... 429 Introduction to This Book This book consists of my answers to 242 questions posed by apparently average citizens on the website named Quora. (2) Anyone can answer Quora questions. Just go to Quora.com and sign up. You can select the categories you are interested in. My list includes Parapsychology, Deep Thoughts, The Paranormal and Mindfulness to name a few. Of course, the idea is to have the public create free content for Quora so that people will come and read the ads embedded on each page. I think one of the reasons the business model works is that people can ask thoughtful questions in a pretty safe environment. And of course, like me, many people

are happy to share their opinion. Be aware though, Quora offers to pay money to people who attract a lot of answers. Some of the questions show they are coming out of the questioner’s mental random question generator. I like answering Quora questions because the questioners provide me a virtual cooperative community. Many of the questions are novel and force me to find a different way of explaining the concepts I write about. I write about a relatively small set of concepts such as Duality, ITC and survival. The concepts are complex and there are many ways they integrate into a whole. I have written books on the subjects, but I suspect my approach has always been a little too technical. I tend to work alone because I have not managed to find more than a few thoughtful people who will collaborate and give me much needed sensibility checks. As I think to answer a question, I occasionally have one of those realizations and that helps me better understand my subject. The reason I think you will benefit from reading the answers offered here is that, collectively, they paint a picture of information I think is vital to all of our spiritual progression. While I might make the same point in many of the questions, each repeat tends to be from a different perspective. One of those perspectives might finally sink in for you. Intellectual Authority to Answer Many of the questions I have answered should be answered by someone

who has academic and research experience in the subject. For instance, I am not a psychologist, yet I have answered several questions in the Consciousness section that are clearly intended for a Ph.D. to answer. Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 24 You will see that I frequently address the role parapsychologists play in the study of things paranormal. I am a critic (3) of many things parapsychological and am probably not the best one to talk about them to the public. Knowing this, I try to put my grievances aside and cast a positive light on the field of study. Afterall, people outside of our community are watching. You will also see that I have claimed subject matter authority that is outside of my formal education as an engineer. It is important to me that you, and people reading my answers on Quora, understand my qualifications. I often warn the reader at the beginning of the article that I am not a psychologists or parapsychologists. I explain my qualification (Page 421) to answer these questions at the back of this book. If you take time to review them, you will see that I am more like that old man next door who knows more about how to fix things in your house than the scientist who only knows how they work. At the most, I am a science reporter. Oh, and an inveterate shade tree philosopher. As well as I can tell, people who should be answering Quora questions

are not. I often write about the Academic-Layperson Partition in which people with an advanced degree, relevant or not, tend to shun people without. When an effort is made by an academic to communicate, it is too often from behind an ivory wall of science babble. I ran into the same absence of academic authority when I was an active Wikipedia editor. In almost every instance, my efforts to communicate with parapsychologists about these phenomena have not ended well. Now, I am of the mind that, if parapsychologists want to sequester themselves from the intellectually unwashed, I am happy to give them a good reason. Another important consideration is that Quora answers are read by the public, most of which, I expect, are not familiar with the paranormalist community. It seems that if I did not answer, only the religious or skeptics would. Attitude If you are familiar with my other writing, especially Section II of Your Immortal Self, (4) you may have noticed that I think community is of the utmost importance for personal development and the future possibility that we might someday understand these phenomena. 25 Answers I also feel that the academic community treats paranormal subjects like their plaything—entertainment in their retirement years. The problem with academics migrating from the established culture of mainstream science to the paranormalist frontier is that they bring their elitist culture with them. It manifests as an the Academic-Layperson Partition. At the least, it is a hinderance to gaining further understanding about

the nature of these phenomena. I often think of parapsychologists in terms of the Wizard Syndrome. That is the assumption that superior academic training automatically gives them authority in unrelated study. Because of the Partition, the usual feedback mechanism provided by collaboration between those qualified to study and those able to produce phenomena is mostly missing. On average, laypeople are little better. An emergent practice amongst wannabe experts is to claim credibility by using the name of a historically significant person. That is exactly the practice that has so corrupted the historical record of Hermetic teaching that we no longer know what to believe of work attributed to him. As a fan of ancient wisdom, I will never forgive those ancient Greeks. Certainly, I cannot condone our contemporary Greek-like plagiarists. The discernment of laypeople in the paranormalist community is often overshadowed by: The Wizard of Oz syndrome which is the layperson’s counterpart to the Wizard Syndrome mentioned above. We who are not academically trained have been culturally conditioned to accept anything a person with a Ph.D. says … without question. Hyperlucidity (5) is my term for a short-term change in behavior marked by the tendency to find phenomena everywhere despite considerable testimony to the contrary by peers. Laypeople tend not to bother with discernment. Possibly the greater sin is that their friends do not bother to correct them, even when their friends do not see the phenomena being shown them. Silver Bullet(-itis) is a way of saying that paranormalists tend

to turn toward the easiest way of producing phenomena, to communicate with discarnate loved ones or for self-improvement even though there is no objective evidence that the technique works. Of course, I point to the radio-sweep technique for EVP as a classic example, but mental mediumship is a close second. Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 26 Scientism is a version of the Wizard of Oz Syndrome. It is the belief that only established science tells the truth. That is, if science does not say it is so, it cannot be and therefore must be fraud. This usually becomes a factor when dealing with the skeptic community, but skepticism occurs at all levels. It is common for a person who accepts mental mediumship as a fact to argue that physical mediumship is fraudulent. Take some time to read some of the other answers to the questions I answered. In the eBook version, the date answered includes a link to the Quora page for my answer. Other answers can be accessed from a link at the bottom of that page. For the paperback version, go to quora.com/content. All of my answers are there. From the perspective of Duality, the answers offered from the faithbased point of view are exactly what we do not want the public to think is true. That is one of the reasons I answer. While I am sympathetic about religious beliefs, I see no public benefit in teaching that they are truth without framing them in the

context of research or at least naturalist studies. Finally, my dissatisfaction with the lack of community cooperation sometimes shows in my answers. While I stick to my convictions, it is for you to look beyond this old man’s discontent and find the greater truth. Arrangement of this Book I signed up for several categories of questions based on my interest and whether I think I can add something useful to the conversation. The questions to me via email. I have preserved the date on which I answered each question and a link to the web page the original is on. From there, you can see other answers. It is an interesting exercise to review other answers. When compared to other answers, one of the things I notice about my answers is that I have a rather different perspective. Perhaps my effort to change my perspective from body-centric to personality-centric is working. 27 Answers As they come to me, the questions are in one of the Quora categories. I have organized them in this book as they make sense to me. Thus, there are: Section 1 Theories and Concepts – Page 29 Section 2 Science – Page 85 Section 3 Psi Functioning – Page 207 Section 4 Ghosts – Page 262 Section 5 Demons and Evil – Page 311 Section 6 Spiritualism and Mediumship – Page 321 Section 7 ITC – Page 380 I understand that the Table of Contents is long. I set it up that way because it seems

doubtful that many people will read this book cover-tocover, but instead, find questions that seem interesting. Please be aware that much of what is included in these answers is substantiated on my Etheric Studies (6) website. In turn, the two books, Your Immortal Self (4) and Exploring the Mindful Way (7) are written to integrate the material in a more cohesive whole. I am always available for questions using the Contact Tool at the bottom of each web page. I prefer that discussions be conducted on the ATransC Idea Exchange at coop.ethericstudies.org/ Section 1 Theories and Concepts Introduction Beginning with questions that are concerned with Theories and Concepts will give you a little background about the way I answer and the metaphysics I follow. You will see that I have evolved a perspective in my writing that, while true to the implications of the metaphysical concepts, are likely unfamiliar to most people. Take a little time to contemplate these answers. Follow the links to examine the references. Study. Then see if the ideas can serve your progression. Most, if not all of the questioners appear to be asking from a relatively uninformed point of view. The questioners are not necessarily paranormalists. Quora pays people to ask questions based on the number of responses they attract. That means a lot of the questions are nonsensical because they are just dreamed up likely questions. The effect is that some questions approach familiar paranormal subjects such as mediumship and psi functioning in novel

ways. Of the many questions I see, I answer the ones that give me the opportunity to explain one of the concepts in terms of the metaphysics I have been trying to teach in my other writing. Take some time to read some of the other answers to these questions. They will often leave you thinking the phenomena are religious, nonsense or perhaps even evil. People from mainstream society might read answers to these questions. Many of my answers are simply to set the record straight. Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 30 Question 1 What are some generally accepted concepts in the paranormal community? For instance, children are thought of as more susceptible to seeing spirits, etc. Answered June 2, 2018 Answer Many different, often contradicting points of view are represented in the paranormalist community. And yes, the community includes religious and skeptic subgroups. My favorite comparison is the parable of blind men trying to describe an elephant by touch. It is likely that each has part of the story but will not accurately describe the elephant without collaboration with the others. From my study, I think there are three primary schools of thought. (8) One is that there is only the physical and reports to the contrary are fraud or normal mistaken as paranormal. Call this the Physical Hypothesis. In this, there is no psychic ability and there is no etheric. The second theory is that the physical is permeated by a subtle field referred to as the

psi field. The influence of thought in the psi field is referred to as Psi. Reported psychic abilities would be psi functioning. This concept is referred to as the Super-Psi Hypothesis, which holds that all reportedly paranormally accessed information is normal access mistaken as paranormal or the psychic access to someone’s memory or residual memory in the physical. Psi phenomena is well-studied with good science and arguably a universal characteristic of life. Psi is usually treated by parapsychologists as an undefined aspect of the physical that does not require the existence of etheric space or survived personality. The third theory is the Survival Hypothesis which holds that we are only entangled with our human for this lifetime, and that we as immortal personality existed before and will after this lifetime as a sentient, selfaware consciousness. In this theory, information thought to have been accessed by paranormal means is ordinary access mistaken as paranormal, 31 Answers psi functioning or access from other incarnate or discarnate personalities. Mental mediumship is psi functioning (psychic) with the intention of communicating with discarnate personalities. It is difficult to prove psychically accessed information is evidence of survival and not Super-Psi. Thus, survival is not a well-established theory from the science perspective. It is known that we easily delude ourselves because we become consciously aware of information after it is filtered by our worldview. I will let you contemplate the implications of that point. Test your references. If something is true, what are the implications? Are they

true as well or are they contradicted by other theories? A hypothesis must explain reported experience in a way that allows for testing and extrapolation of new questions. A theoretical model is not complete unless it addresses all forms of reported phenomena. Be careful about intellectual hand waving. Request clarification. Ignore statistical proofs. There are many well-meaning theorists in our community. A good litmus test of a theory is if it maintains that the information comes to us via a person is based on a personal theory or channeled information. If the information is manipulated by a person acting as a channel, it may be beliefbased and should be placed in the Suspended Judgment file for future reference. If it agrees with a well-considered and tested model, (9) then it should be considered for addition to the Maybe file. For instance, if the resulting information is testable, such as the location of a person’s lost keys, it is reasonable to include it in the Maybe file. However, if it is about the nature of the other side, it is not actually testable, and being from human intervention, it is considered belief and held in the Suspended Judgment file. Certainly, “Spirit told me” information can only be used as a reference that must be supported by other, more objective sources. This is because the “Spirit told me” information comes through a person’s mind. We know the majority of people’s mind is an unreliable storyteller. There are rare exceptions to this rule.

Jane Roberts’ Seth (10) may be one, but discretion must be used. I base this on a study conducted by Paul Cunningham (11) and the consistency of the Seth Material with other metaphysical sources. Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 32 You are right in asking. Be mindful that I represent only one possible approach to answer your question. Do not stop asking. Above all, never assume you know enough to say something is ”True” or “False” about things paranormal. None of us know enough to be sure. Question 2 Should we believe in spirits? Answered September 15, 2018 Answer I have a saying on my website: Believe what you wish but understand the implications of what you believe. The model for reality I use in my metaphysical study is that we exist to gain understanding. It is understanding of the actual nature of reality we seek in The Mindful Way (12) because it leads to greater lucidity. (5) That, in turn, leads to increased access to more opportunities to learn. Metaphysically, I think it is arguable that it is understanding we take with us beyond this lifetime. Memory of experiences is specific to the lifetime and probably fades. Another factor is that once we decide about something … right or wrong … we tend to integrate it into our worldview. That, then, is used as part of our sense of truth for future decisions. It is difficult to change our mind, and in fact, it only changes in small

learning increments. If there is doubt, the best approach is suspended judgment. (9) That is, consciously decide not to decide until more information is available. So, the first part of my answer is that, if you decide, know why you selected the decision and understand the implications of that decision. For instance, to ”believe” implies you are taking someone’s word for it. It is better to accept the results of your investigation or suspend judgment until you have more information. In matters of spirit, it is possible your teacher will be wrong … including me. To make sure we agree on terms, I think of spirit as that aspect of who we are that survives bodily death. When we transition out of this lifetime, we return to a more natural aspect of reality which we sometimes describe as being in spirit. When we communicate with discarnate loved ones, we 33 Answers might say they are spirits, but to avoid the overly used term, I say personalities. I say they are discarnate. When I try to describe our spiritual anatomy, I say they are immortal personality. With that said, the second part of my answer is that my studies have led me to accept that we are immortal personality temporarily entangled with our human in an avatar (13) relationship for this lifetime. That makes our actual nature during a lifetime the same as our loved ones who are in spirit. So, if you accept that you are not your body and

that your actual self will continue after bodily death, then yes, it is reasonable to accept the existence of spirits. Question 3 What is your personal opinion on the possibility of the existence of ghosts/aliens etc? Answered September 18, 2018 Answer There is substantial evidence that there is a nonphysical aspect of our reality. Research into psi functioning is a good place to begin. Parapsychologists have modeled the psi field as a hypothetical field acting as a means of psi propagation that permeates physical space. They characterize it as nonlocal (no distance) and nontemporal (no time to travel no distance.) See Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications on Psi Research compiled by Dean Radin. (14) It is necessary for a psi field to exist if we are to talk about ghosts. We know of no physical principle that explains Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). We also know that some examples may be produced by still physical people, but the preponderance of evidence is that most are initiated by people who are no longer in the physical. The production of EVP is seemingly independent of space. There is some evidence EVP are sometimes produced just before a question, suggesting agreement with the hypothesis that our unconscious mind processes information before presenting a version to our conscious self. The Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 34 communicator may be responding to our question as we prepare to ask it. This unconscious before conscious effect is referred to as presentiment. These and other indicators suggest that mind

is not produced by brain and that mind exists in the psi field (the etheric). These are necessary characteristics of reality for ghosts to exist. A more complete discussion of these concepts can be found on the Etheric Studies website. (15) For my answer to be complete, it is necessary to explain that our perception (of everything) is colored by cultural training. We experience what we have been taught to expect. (16) In the same way, we find the local ghost because we expect to and not because the ghost is stuck there. Remember that the etheric is nonlocal. We record the voice of the local ghost for the same reason. So, yes, I accept the immortality of personality as a reasonably wellestablished concept. If the concept is true, we have an etheric aspect and ghosts are possible. The problem is that I am pretty sure the myth of ghost is different from the actual nature of survived personality seeking to communicate across the veil. Aliens are part of the psi field and survival discussion. For instance, it is common to encounter apported objects in physical séance. (17) An apport is the product of disintegration, movement through the etheric and precipitation in the new location. Apports are usually small objects. Sometimes they are from living things such as flower petals but there is no apparent reason they could not be a spacecraft apported from one galaxy to another. I am working on an essay titled Avatar. (13) In it, I

am arguing that the life field model does not restrict immortal self’s physical organism entanglement to humans. I can find no reason, other than usefulness, preventing us from using a cat or bird as an avatar. In the same way, there is nothing restricting us from entangling with an alien species. Again, remember that the etheric is nonlocal. I hope that helps. 35 Answers Question 4 Do you think our thoughts are a means to the soul? Answered September 19, 2018 Answer I will say that I am of the Dualist school of thought. That means this answer is from the perspective that we existed before this lifetime and will after as conscious, sentient self. Those who have bothered to examine the evidence that mind is separate from body should have at least an attitude of “Wait to see if more information comes in,” rather than blind rejection. To answer your question, I say that Soul is how we have come to describe the immortal aspect of who we are. I rather think of Soul as our overriding personality. The way I think of it, personality is the source of our purpose and receiver of understanding we acquire through daily experiences. It is our I am this. In terms of spiritual anatomy, it is the Observer. (18) Think of conscious self as our experiencer … our traveling perspective or I think I am this. In our normal waking state as an immortal personality entangled with a human avatar, (13) that

perspective is generally inside of our human’s head looking at the world through its eyes. In terms of spiritual anatomy, it is the Experiencer. Think of our mostly unconscious mind as a complex of functions supporting our worldview to produce our perception and expression. Worldview represents our memory, cultural conditioning, our human’s instincts and our spiritual instincts. In terms of spiritual anatomy, it is the Judge. The model I use is simplistic, but I have found it helpful as a device for thinking about our mind. In the model, all signals from the environment, including from our body’s five senses, come to mostly unconscious mind as a psi (psychic) signal. We ignore most, consider some but most of what is passed on to our conscious awareness is modified to agree with what we have been taught. If it does not, we will likely not experience the signal. (19) Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 36 I make a distinction between our etheric self and your human to make the point that, unless we have learned to manage our human’s instincts — we call that maturing — our conscious thoughts will be largely those of our human avatar based on its survival instincts. The only real influence we have on our mostly unconscious perception is our conscious expression of intention. That is the real value of mindfulness. (12) It is through a lifelong habit of intending to experience reality as it is, rather than as we are taught, that we gain

a greater understanding of the actual nature of reality. So sayeth spiritual teachers. So, the short answer is that we are, indeed, Soul experiencing a physical lifetime, and no, our thoughts are not a means to our Soul. It is the conscious expression of intention that opens a window. But that is a process. I will add as a footnote that degree of lucidity (5) is a measure of how clear a person’s awareness is of the actual nature of reality. People who claim to be psychic or mental mediums will have more or less lucidity. Most mediums and psychics will just be good storytellers and their messages will be colored by their cultural training and cold reading. I am a certified medium with National Spiritualist Association of Churches (20) and can attest to the problem I have with coloring. When you consider answers to questions like this, suspend judgment so as to leave room for more input. If you do that, while always seeking to understand the actual nature of reality, your thoughts will eventually be a means to your soul as you become more lucid. The Judge hates to give up a decision, so suspended judgment helps avoid locking in a belief. Question 5 What is an example of philosophy in life? Answered September 20, 2018 Answer 37 Answers I am 75 now and have noticed over the years that people seldom begin by saying “This will be my philosophy in life.” More often, people are busy trying

to mature enough to be a good citizen. It is mostly the circumstances that determine their life. When asked “What is your philosophy in life,” I see people stop and consider their past. In their memory, they notice that they have been mostly fun loving or a born capitalist or find that they turned toward nature whenever possible. So, they name what they have become their philosophy in life. In marketing, it is sometimes taught that people have native personality styles. Consider David Merrill and Roger Reid (21) proposed four styles: Analytical: thinking, thorough, disciplined. Amiable: supportive, patient, diplomatic. Driver: independent, decisive, determined. Expressive: good communicator, enthusiastic, imaginative. Of course, there are also the twelve astrological signs and their predictive personality traits. I cannot speak for astrology, but I have noticed that the four styles of Merrill and Reid are easily applied in self-analysis and often agreed on by friends. The point is that people seem to come into life with inclinations that tend to determine how they react to situations. Over a lifetime, that inclination goes to shape who they are in terms of their philosophy. My personal philosophy in life begins with what I have on my personal website: Believe what you wish but understand the implications of what you believe We are part spiritual personality and part human. Both bring their instincts. It is for us to learn to manage our human’s instincts while we pursue our spiritual instincts. How well we do so goes a long

way toward determining how we live our life. In recent years, I have come to think of this practice as The Mindful Way. (12) Examine your beliefs. Our only real control over our inner thought processes is our intention. Learn to routinely manage your intention to see reality as it is and not as you have been taught. Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 38 Question 6 How does philosophy relate to creative and critical thinking? Answered September 23, 2018 Answer Speaking as a layperson, I have found that point of view modifies expression. A reason for this is explained in First Sight Theory. (19) I have attempted to write a brief on it in the Perception Essay. (22) Corollary 8 applies here: In this summative process, the person may turn toward information (signed positively) to include it in the construction of experience, affect or action, or turn away from information (signed negatively) and exclude it. Bidirectionality Corollary. Belief limits experience. Using First Sight Theory as a ruleset for how we think, if we do not accept the possibility of something, an experience involving that something will either never reach our conscious mind or will be modified to agree with what we do accept. 39 Answers Here, I am using philosophy to mean how we allow what we think is true to influence our thoughts and actions. If, for instance, a person thinks mainstream science has all of the answers and knowing mainstream science rejects the possibility of psychic functioning

or survival after death, the person’s creative work will be limited to what is acceptable to mainstream society. At the same time, the person’s assessment of reality will be blind to many aspects of reality we think exist. Another thing to consider is that many of us think we work with the unseen aid of others. I do not mean this in a mystical sense. However, if we act as if we are helped by loved ones on the other side, we are telling our mostly unconscious mind to consider new ideas. If we are the charioteer of our body the chariot, perhaps that is like letting our horses lead for a while and being open to where they take us. It does not matter where in the unseen our ideas come from so long as we are open to them and have the presence of mind to be discerning about what we accept. Question 7 How do you define supernatural? What is considered supernatural? Answered September 24, 2018 Answer Supernatural is an old term mostly used these days by the media. Most people I know might use it as an explanation point, but otherwise, prefer to think that all things are natural. Some just are not yet explained. I think the term most often used to identify phenomena once called supernatural (psychic, levitation, mediumship) is paranormal (aside from normal). I think of the community of people who are more than casually interested in paranormal phenomena as paranormalists. Thus, paranormalists

include skeptics, seekers, experiencers, practitioners, researchers and those seeking to understand. The belief that mainstream science explains everything there is, is known as scientism. It is faith based on the belief that scientists are infallible. In fact, some well-qualified and smart people with advanced degrees are studying things paranormal as an emerging science. We know Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 40 them as parapsychologists. The Parapsychological Association (23), Society for Psychical Research (24), Rhine Research Center (25), Windbridge Research Center. (26) To show the world that mainstream scientists still know everything, skeptics refer to the serious study of things paranormal as pseudoscience (false science) and have convinced the government it is a danger to society. Of course, that is nonsense, but you can see how desperately some scientists want you to believe in their power to explain. (3) Note that there is a difference between faith-based organizations and paranormalist groups. One of the reasons we have moved away from using the term, supernatural, is that it suggests belief, rather than objective understanding. An “I saw two suns” report would be treated as a probable illusion that may have personal meaning. If many people reported the same, the report might be treated as a possible objective event that needs an explanation. Researchers would compare it to other, probably betterunderstood reports and eventually develop hypotheses. Question 8 What are the types of morality? Answered September 24, 2018 Answer Morality became a question for me when a research team accused their living

research subject of trickery and fraud for activity that supposedly happened outside of the research protocol. (27) They unjustly harmed him in many ways. The Belmont Report (28) published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is the golden standard for research ethics when a human test subject is involved. I mention this because it illustrates that, in academia, moral treatment of research subjects is part of the culture. At the same time, the culture in parapsychology currently ignores this moral code. As some of the answers indicate, morality is relative. A better way of stating it is that behavior is okay in one community but may not be okay in another. 41 Answers Morality is usually established in a culture to support what the dominant members of the society want to do. A moral code might remain the rule until some part of the community rebels. Equal rights advocacy, Me Too Movement, Unionism and Democratic Socialism are examples of modern rebellion. In every case, it has been necessary to convince the leaders that their moral code is no longer acceptable. My take on ethics is different. I think of ethics as a foundation concept that does not change as one moves amongst communities. I use these definitions: Morality is defined here as a distinction between right and wrong based on local standards of behavior. Ethics is defined here as a distinction between right and wrong; based on the organizing principles governing reality. That governing reality bit comes

from the essay, Ethics as a Personal Code for Mindfulness. (29) An alternative reading would be “principles governing human decency.” So, my answer is that morality is a social norm based on what the leaders want. Ethics is a foundation concept that applies to all aspect of human behavior. Question 9 What is your favorite definition of a soul? Answered October 11, 2018 Answer Sasha, I have written a 500-page book addressing the Survival Hypothesis and the implications of that hypothesis. Except for the incidental use of the word such as in The Dark Night of The Soul, (30) I have not used the word, soul. Speaking the word soul automatically reminds the listener of a religious context. So, while it is a fine term, I avoid using it because the subject has nothing to do with religion. I use personality in the same context and define it as: Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 42 The etheric essence of a person. From the perspective that a person is a physical body that has evolved in the physical and mind which has evolved in the etheric, personality is that part of a person that has evolved in the etheric. Personality existed before this lifetime and will continue after this lifetime. It can be thought of as an etheric field containing the essence of who the person is including a measure of the person’s understanding which is realized as progression and an inherited urge to acquire understanding by way of experience.

See Glossary of Terms (31) You might try a different approach. Deepak Chopra’s definition of Spirituality is perhaps the best I have read. From Deepak Chopra in his Huffington Post Blog: Spirituality is the experience of that domain of awareness where we experience our universality. This domain of awareness is a core consciousness that is beyond our mind, intellect and ego. In religious traditions, this core consciousness is referred to as the soul which is part of a collective soul or collective consciousness, which in turn is part of a more universal domain of consciousness referred to in religions as God. Question 10 How can we understand "The production of knowledge is always a collaborative task and never solely a product of the individual"? Answered October11, 2018 Answer The most important implication of the idea that the creation of knowledge is the importance of a cooperating community … a global community. We must share this world and it is becoming increasingly clear that no event happens in a vacuum. Another important implication is the need for a library system that provides easy access to scientific literature for the average person. Since it is mostly lacking today, your question might be answered by saying we can 43 Answers understand it as a warning that we need an open library system and other ways of improving collaboration. According to Wayne LaMorte in Behavioral Change Models (32), an early version of Social Cognitive Theory known as Social Learning Theory “… posits that learning

occurs in a social context with a dynamic and reciprocal interaction of the person, environment, and behavior.” I refer to such a community as a cooperative community (33). The process of mentally composing what to say helps the person organize and better understand what he or she thinks is true. When a person comprehends what was said and organizers thoughts to respond, selflearning also occurs. Each person in a community acts as a teacher, role model and example. Question 11 As an atheist, what is the purpose behind souls, having feelings, and abilities (like speaking, running, decision making, etc.) if there’s no place to go after the body stops functioning? When the body stops working and we pass away, where do we go? Answered October 19, 2018 Answer My reasons for answering as I do are complex and make no sense if you do not have a little background. Let us make sure we are on the same page. From the American Atheist web page: “Atheism is one thing: A lack of belief in gods. Atheism is not an affirmative belief that there is no god nor does it answer any other question about what a person believes. It is simply a rejection of the assertion that there are gods. Atheism is too often defined incorrectly as a belief system. To be clear: Atheism is not a disbelief in gods or a denial of gods; it is a lack of belief in gods. Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 44

People I have talked to who consider themselves atheists object to the Father God concept and biblical creation theory. I also object to those concepts and think acceptance of them is an abdication of personal responsibility. It also ignores our natural urge to question and seek answers about our nature and the nature of the reality in which we live. The Apple Man fractal of the Mandelbrot Set provides an illustration of how a simple principle can result in a most complex and infinite space. There are an infinite number of sub-Apple man fractals in the space around the top Apple Man fractal. That mathematical space is a merger of the imaginary number plane bound by -1i, 1i and the real number plane bound by -2 and 1. The Mandelbrot Set is useful for explaining the First Cause or Source concept used in many metaphysical models. The set represents a hypothetical First Cause as the starting point for the reality field. The subfractals represent instances of life (life fields) in the reality field. As defined in the version I work with, there are three major characteristics of a life field: 1. Attention Complex – produces perception and expression. 45 Answers 2. Curiosity – implied behaviors of all life fields are curiosity, seeking understanding and gaining understanding. 3. Organizing Principles – This can also be thought of as worldview. Each instance of life has a personal reality based on prior conditioning be it evolved instincts or learned experience. The reality field

is conceptual space, as opposed to the physical universe which is objective space. That is, our perception of physical things is first conceptual, meaning that our awareness is a mental construct of the physical thing to which we assign physicality as we have been taught since birth. There is precedence for the idea of Organizing Principles. Physical space includes such physical principles as the natural distribution and the natural rate of decay. These are rules of nature that operate at the foundation of everything physical. For instance, an apple falling from a tree is a high-order event, but one of the natural principles underlying such an event is the acceleration of gravity which acts on all things physical. One last point. Think of the Attention Complex (mentioned above) as being composed of a Worldview and a Perceptual Loop acting together as a decision machine. The process compares sensed information with what the person thinks the world is like (worldview). The resulting perception sent to the conscious self is some version of the sensed information that agrees with expectations. That becomes the person’s expression. Worldview includes human instincts, what has been learned during the lifetime and (theoretically) acquired understanding derived from the expression of curiosity. I can explain the idea of mind-body duality and the nature of acquired understanding, but I think this answer is complex enough. See Mind as Storyteller (34) for extra reading. My answer is based on the cosmology described above. The people who think there is only

physical space will say that all of the behaviors you describe are based on instincts that serve to assure the continuation of the species. For instance, play teaches how to fight for the best mate. That is the bases of Darwinian Evolution’s ultimately random survival of the fittest. But there is growing evidence that learned behavior can be passed on to the next generation. Such evidence supports the idea that evolution is moderated by intelligent solutions to environmental challenges. If true, our instinctual urge to survive may be moderated by a more fundamental urge to gain understanding. Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 46 There is also good evidence of anomalous information access and the influence of intentionality on physical processes. These are some of the reasons I think something like the above model must be considered. The sentient part of who we are as a person appears to exist outside of individual lifetimes. This can be taken in many ways. I take it as we are sentient life forms that are (essentially) immortal. If curiosity does produce understanding, I think it is the understanding that survives and is inherited by other life fields. See Sheldrake’s Hypothesis of Formative Causation. (35) Understanding evolves from relatively incomplete to increasingly complete. If this is true, memories serve to help that evolution in understanding and may fade as they are no longer relevant. The one thing I think is demonstrably true is that we are more than our physical body. Amongst the consequences

of that are the ideas that purpose follows the organism. The human is inclined to continue its species. The conscious self is inclined to continue seeking understanding. All else are variations on that theme. None require the existence of a supreme being, only a hierarchy of inheritance that is organized according to knowable principles. Question 12 What are professional ethics? Answered October 30, 2018 Answer There are different ways to consider your question. Professionals, casual workers—all people—are subject to some form of ethical code. I try to make an argument for ethics as a universal concept in A Personal Code of Ethics for the Mindful Way. (29) My personal code begins with Do not Violate. Morality is defined here as a distinction between right and wrong based on local standards of behavior. Ethics is defined here as a distinction between right and wrong; based on the organizing principles governing reality. 47 Answers You can think of “organizing principles governing reality” as Natural Law. The trick is to think in fundamental terms to avoid cultural contamination such as might be injected by local moral codes. Without conscious intervention based on spiritual instincts, your human’s instincts dominate your thinking. For instance, your human’s instincts are to assure the dominance of its gene pool. That means your first reaction to a situation might be to dominate an opponent. That would not be a decision based on ethics but on a primal urge. You must decide if the greater good of your gene pool

is more important to you than the greater good of humankind. Ethical decisions are like that. That is why I suggest that each individual develop a personal code of ethics. Organizations typically have a code of ethics which employees are expected to know and follow. If you examine a few, you will see that they are actually a set of rules intended to control employee behavior so as to protect the company from angry customers and possible legal action. They seldom have much in them about ethics. At best, they are local moral codes. Professionals have a moral code that typically includes a few fundamental ethical ideals. The Hippocratic Oath is characterized as “first, do no harm,” although I understand that actually comes from Hippocrates’ Of the Epidemics. “First, do no harm” states an ethical idea. Similar ideals are applied to other professions. So, I might define professional ethics as a code of conduct reflecting local moral norms and based on fundamental ethical ideals. I might add that, while morals tend to be relative to local culture and ethics tend toward universal ideals, these things are also relative to the scope of the community so that you might have a personal ethical code, community moral standards, a national code of citizenship and global care for humankind. Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 48 Question 13 What are the base legal and ethical consideration of online publishing? Answered October 30, 2018 Answer The owner of an information outlet is responsible for

its content. You cannot assign that away. This is a personal opinion. I manage three websites and a discussion board and have always followed the policy that my organization, and me as an officer, is responsible for their content. This is a rule I see followed only when practical by most publications. For instance, a book publisher does have limits on what kind of material it will publish. However, as a practical matter, I think it comes down to expectation management. The bounds of what can be said are different if the material is publicly represented as political satire than if it is billed as news. Question 14 What are the best arguments against individual difference? Answered November 7, 2018 Answer I am not qualified to give you an answer under cloak of academic authority; however, I have developed a point of view during my study of the Survival Hypothesis that may help here. For this answer to make sense, for now at least, accept the idea that we are a spiritual personality having a physical experience as a human. I should also say that spiritual is used here to mean that part of who we are that we think of as our higher nature, however you think of your inner self. I intend no religious references in this answer. 49 Answers The first part of my answer is that we are fundamentally the same, but different in how we have learned to apply those fundamental characteristics. By that, I

mean that we have all inherited instincts (human and spiritual). Our behavior is informed by those instincts and only limited by the extent that we are able to consciously manage them. At birth, our human instincts are pretty much in control. As we gain in maturity, we learn to manage them by expressing discerning intellect based on our spiritual instincts. For instance, we happily take something from our weaker playmate when we are children if it seems to further our chances of survival. As we mature, we may learn to share as a way of earning support that helps us survive, but in many examples of sharing, there is clearly an altruistic aspect in which sharing is seen as compassion. As creatures of nature, we are not different in our expression of instincts. Our sex, hormones and physical abilities are the major differentiators of this otherwise common nature. During the course of our lifetime, it is our spiritual nature that may moderate the influence of our instincts if we have the mindfulness to do so. The factor that differentiates how our spiritual instincts influence us seems to be the question of how much we have come to understand how Mother Nature works. Based on my references, we come into this lifetime with a degree of understanding which sets us apart from others. In the essay, Conditional Free Will, (36) I have attempted to list the factors I think go toward limiting what we consider free will. While we may be

the same in essence, how well we learn to manage our perception helps to determine our difference. My answer is that it is better to recognize that we are fundamentally the same in nature, but different in how we well we understand and have learned to express our understanding of nature in the way we live. We are also different in physical characteristics such as sex, health and upbringing. Anyone who grew up in a small town and moved to a large city, if they think about it a little, will likely tell you that there is great benefit in human diversity. Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 50 Question 15 How many types of ethics are there? Answered November 7, 2018 Answer I distinguish between ethics and morals (29) in this way: Morality is defined here as a distinction between right and wrong based on local standards of behavior. Ethics is defined here as a distinction between right and wrong; based on the organizing principles governing reality. Following those definitions, if you think you are your body and will cease to exist when your body dies, then it is probably correct to say that behavior is only defined by the dictates of human instincts and locally defined morals. 51 Answers If you accept the possibility that you may exist as a self-aware personality after physical death, it would seem that there is one ethical code that should modify human instincts and local morality. I cannot claim the wisdom to

define a universal ethical code. That is why I recommend that each of us contemplate concepts like spiritual instincts, purpose and the implications of existence as an immortal personality and then define a personal code of ethics. Such a code would be modified during life as the person gains in understanding. To give you an idea of my point, the Possible Mindfulness Personal Code of Ethics shown above is one I developed for myself. Question 16 How can philosophical thinking benefit one in life? Answered November 8, 2018 Answer Good question. Conducting an Internet search for Philosophy will turn up many variations of the general theme: the study of knowledge, how things relate to you and how you relate to things. That is to say that philosophy is a process of seeking to understand. After seeing thousands of words about it on discussion boards, I have come to the conclusion that, as a term, philosophy is best reserved for the study of historical philosophy, such as the teaching of Socrates or Aristotle. Those who study the ancient philosophers are particular about how the term is used and become testy when an amateur chimes in. Philosophical thinking is usually discussed in terms of a behavior. I like to think of it in terms of musing, contemplating or studying. It is not intended to be academic. Instead, it is intended to help you make sense of things. To your question, the motto on my personal website is Believe what you wish but

understand the implications of what you believe. That is a personal philosophy. The process of examining personal beliefs and identifying their implications is thinking philosophically, but in more actionable terms, it is better described as contemplation. Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 52 Any kind of introspection is important and healthy. The most powerful tool you have for self-education is discernment. With that, you learn to … not question critically, but seek to see if an idea relates in a sensible way with what you already hold to be true. The second half of that is what I describe as the Mindful Way. (12) Back to my motto, by habitually asking yourself if what you are doing makes sense, you can effectively weed out unreasonable beliefs. Doing so will help you in many ways, but especially to align what you hold to be true with the actual nature of things. Question 17 Are most major philosophers now irrelevant? Answered November 22, 2018 Answer Ideally, philosophers help us sort out what we know and think we know about ourselves and the world we live in. Few of us are able to take the time to contemplate the more abstract aspects of our daily experiences. Thinking about the same sort of subject for a long time tends to give the thinker insight about that subject which the average person will not see without help. Our philosopher’s job is to help us think. A person who can be considered a philosopher is one

who has taken the time to contemplate concepts, has developed a discerning point of view and has become informed about many subjects related to his or her focus. A person we would consider a wise elder of the community is often such a person. By “major philosophers,” I guess you are thinking of the ancient philosophers of Greece and Rome. It is true that much of their work concerned timeless questions that are still relevant today. But, consider this. Wisdom must be anchored in contemporary experience; else it is of little use. A 2000-year dead philosopher did have important insight about our nature, the nature of the world and our relationship with the world. The problem I see with ancient philosophy is that it has to be explained to us for 53 Answers us to see the point. That is a red flag indicating there is a problem of relevance, and therefore, usefulness. The underlying themes are universal. For instance, the Allegory of the Cave (37) illustrates that we cannot trust our senses alone to understand our nature and ourselves. Plato turned to deductive reasoning to complete the required understanding. Today, we have thinkers who have evolved that deductive reasoning while adding contemporary understanding of psychology, biology, physics and emerging understanding about how we process information for perception and expression. By comparison, our contemporary philosophers make Plato’s work seem primitive. Which is more relevant to you? Question 18 How is morality possible without the existence of a higher being? Answered

November 23, 2018 Answer As the concept is applied in society, morality tends to be a local code or custom. From my experience, ethics tend to be more fundamental. A personal code of ethics (29) becomes an expression of how compassionate and humane a person is to self, others and the environment. A sense of purpose seems to drive ethics. Suppose for a moment that you are conscious self experiencing a lifetime as a human. From that perspective, you share your worldview with your human and are thus driven by your human’s instincts. Your human’s highest good is to assure the continuation of its genes. That is an instinct that has evolved as the human has evolved. In this supposed relationship, you as conscious self, also have instincts. Let me call them spiritual instincts. You become aware of these instincts as the urge to behave differently than the urge to act driven by your human’s instincts. In practice, you might override the urge to kill for food with a concern for the wellbeing of your prey animal. You might feed the poor rather than invest in making more money. (Here, making more money is Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 54 seen as an expression the human instinct to assure survival of its personal gene pool.) The urge toward compassion is a real thing I think we all experience. The source of this urge and its purpose is a complex question. You can call it the intention of a higher

being. The model I prefer is that it is the expression of curiosity about self that living this lifetime helps answer. To be sure, curiosity cannot be satisfied with just happy experiences. As they say, it is not what happens to us, but how we react. Every experience is an opportunity to gain understanding and understanding appears to be the immortal part of who we really are. If you reject that supposed relationship and think you are only your body, the concept of ethics is meaningless, and your behavior is only governed by local rules (morality). In that case, the idea of a higher being is meaningless. Question 19 What do you consider integrity? How would one acquire such? Answered November 27, 2018 Answer Integrity is usually used in the sense of having strong moral principles. We might say that a public figure or a merchant has great integrity if he or she behaves in a manner we expect. That is, in a manner that conforms to the moral standard of the community. But remember the saying that "There is honor among thieves.” Standards for integrity are also relative to the community. The underlying idea of integrity seems to be the idea that the person has a high moral and ethical standard. This, in the sense that the person has “a good moral compass.” Unlike moral integrity, ethical integrity is personal and concerned with right living from a humanist perspective, rather than a community or organization’s perspective. In terms of

ethics, a humanist is a person who has adopted a personal code of ethics which emphasizes understanding 55 Answers principles of nature and living in accordance with that understanding to the benefit of self and others in a cooperative community. My answer is that integrity is a sense of how well a person lives his or her personal code of ethics … and how well that code agrees with principles of nature such as respect for others, cooperation in the community and recognition that all life matters. Developing moral community integrity is just a matter of understanding the rules and following them. The trick is to make it a way of life. Remember that community integrity is in the eyes of the observer, so being predictable is important. Personal integrity is a little different because it involves understanding who you are, the nature of your world and how you relate to the world. I speak in terms that are probably better described as spiritual, although I intend no religious implication. From my studies, I have come to think of the process of understanding myself and my world as The Mindful Way. (12) It is the same as taught by many systems of study, including some ancient wisdom schools and New Age teachers. The idea is to habitually question what you believe is true. Not so that you are so uncertain that you are unable to act, but just to be aware of your actions and their consequences. I begin my

personal code of ethics (29)with Do not violate, from which comes principles such as respect, kindness and fairness which is expressed in such ways as “Just because I can doesn't mean I should” and “Lessons come from new experiences.” Be aware that a person of high personal integrity may not be favored in a community that places corporate wants over human needs. Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 56 Question 20 According to Descartes’ definition of a soul, can robots have soul if they get to a point where they are conscience and can ‘think’? Answered November 28, 2018 Answer Some futurists and science fiction writers have explored the possibility that machines might develop sentience. If you accept the idea that you are not your body. That is, if you think the real you is not dependent on your body to exist, complexity is not an issue. In the Dualist view, your brain is a transmitter-receiver for your perception and control of your body. In effect, your body is an avatar supporting your nonphysical self in this world. Consider the essay, Avatar. (13) It is an exploration of this question. The best answer I can think of is that it may be possible for a machine to function as an avatar once a method is developed to change physical signals into psi influences. Studies with random event generators have shown that there is a way to convert psi influences into physical signals. See Experiments Investigating the Influence of Intention on

Random and Pseudorandom Events. (38) Question 21 What is the most mind-blowing philosophical idea/theory you know of? Answered December 6, 2018 Answer As a co-director of an organization dedicated to the study of transcommunication, I have experienced, even produced many forms of 57 Answers phenomena which seem to be evidence of our continued survival after physical death. Examples of this communication include mental mediumship, physical mediumship and Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC). ITC includes audio (Electronic Voice Phenomena or EVP) and visual forms. My avatar is an example of video-loop visual ITC. The trans- prefix is used to indicate across the veil between the physical world and the greater reality. You would think the evidence of our immortality would be my answer. And yes, it is near the top of my list of important ideas I have encountered in my 76+ years. However, the real mind-blowing discovery for me has been that people—you and me—do not directly experience the world. I am not speaking in the usual metaphysical terms. I am talking about emerging evidence from mainstream science that everything we become consciously aware of has been filtered by our mostly unconscious mind based on what we have been taught is true (our worldview). I have provided four references below which are representative of what I am talking about. The reason this is so mind-blowing is that meditation, mediumship development, mindfulness—all of these ideas of learning to clearly sense our world—appear to be based on the assumption that we need to quiet

our mind so that we can listen to our inner self. While that is an important ability, as it turns out, the real task is to teach our mostly unconscious perception and expression processes to allow such information to come to our conscious awareness uncolored by our expectations. That can be described as lucidity. I refer to learning to do this as the Mindful Way. (12) In essence, it is the habitual, moment-by-moment examination of the implications of our thoughts, beliefs and expressions to ask if they are true, reasonable and consistent with a cooperative community. (33) Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 58 The one conscious influence we have on our mostly unconscious mental processes is the expression of intention. Mind itself will not change in great steps. It will only change in small increments. Making a decision tends to lock in a belief which is difficult to change, thus, suspended judgment is an important trait for managing our mind. If you consider the implications of these ideas, and if you know a little about personal improvement techniques such as meditation, you will see that everything changes with this new understanding. The path I have been on for so many years was more a circle than a progression. Perhaps this new understanding will turn me more decisively toward progression. It also blows my mind that it is so difficult to convince others of the importance of this idea. Four references that help explain my point are Perception written by

me (22), Decision-making May Be Surprisingly Unconscious Activity by MaxPlanck-Gesellschaft (39), The Unconscious Mind by John Bargh and Ezequiel Morsella (40) and First Sight: A Model and A Theory of Psi by James Carpenter. (19) Question 22 Should we care about morality or should we care about cause-effect? Answered December 13, 2018 Answer I understand the intent of your question as whether or not you should be willing to do whatever it takes to achieve something without regard for the possible negative effect your actions have on others. Think of yourself as two people sharing the same body. One is the inner seeker, ever striving to be at one with nature and our spiritual self. The other is the outward human that is driven by the instinct to assure the continuation of the gene pool. Both of you must live together. Your human must be successful, but your inner seeker will want that success to come without violating others. This idea of two purposes is described well in the Katha Upanishad (41) . I have tried to make sense of that story in the essay, The Razor’s Edge. (42) 59 Answers This is not a religious argument. The Katha Upanishad is just a good example of many such systems of thought arguing that we have a choice between following the way of our human or the way of our inner seeker. We all have that choice. Few follow the way of the inner seeker. My answer is that I personally

care about morality and accept responsibility for whatever my person may do, be it as the human or as the inner seeker. Ideally, the cause is right action. The effect is accomplishment while maintaining harmony in the community. As a point or order, morality tends to be practiced as local codes of expected behavior. As a practical matter, morality is instruction for the person following the way of their human instincts. In practice, ethics are more specific to the inner seeker. My personal code of ethics (29) is illustrated in the table provided here. Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 60 Question 23 Is morality social rules to constrain people? Answered December 25, 2018 Answer As you can see with some of the other answers, some moral codes make more sense than others. The subject of morality and ethics were probably amongst the first discussions around the clan fire at the beginning of civilization. We need to get along if we are to live together. The alternative is perpetual conflict. Being tall for my age in elementary school, I spent a lot of time sticking up for the weaker students. Perhaps I had something of a White Knight Syndrome as well. My point is that some of us are offended when we see bullying and mistreatment of others. I think that is not just a righteous response. It is one of our human instincts to preserve the community. When I was that kid in the playground, I was imposing a

moral code of sorts on the bullies: “Don’t pick on smaller kids and we’ll get along.” That is the kind of code imposed by police enforcing local laws. I had elected myself the playground sheriff. The biggest bullies in the global scene are religions trying to impose their sense of right and wrong on the rest of the world. Moral codes are typically designed to protect the institution. For instance, corporate moral codes are really codes of conduct directing how an employee should act to keep the job. “God tells us” moral codes are really just social engineering. So yes, moral codes are intended to constrain people. In the USA, we have a constitution that helps to limit how much organizations can constrain people. Freedom of speech and religion are two examples. Humans are motivated by instincts intended to assure continuation of the gene pool at all cost. We need moral codes to protect the weaker from the stronger and the organization from the rotten member. As an aside, the one code I would love to see all of us adopt is “Do not violate others.” I seek to follow that as the foundation concept of my 61 Answers personal code of ethics. (29) As you consider right and wrong, keep in mind that we are two people. One is driven by our human instincts which tend to dominate our behavior. The other might be thought of as our spiritual instincts. We want to do right by others if only

our urge to control the world would let us. Question 24 What is the difference between paranormal and supernatural? Answered January 3, 2019 Answer These are the definitions I am familiar with: Supernatural – not thought to exist in nature; not physical or material. Paranormal – not explained with known principles of science. Note that the definition for supernatural indicates it is used in the sense of not physical. This is magic in the sense of something not existing in nature. Paranormal is used in the sense of not defined by physical principles. This is in the sense of possibly existing but not currently defined … aside from normal. For instance, the ability to throw a ball farther than anyone else could technically be referred to as paranormal. As paranormal is usually used in modern vocabulary, it indicates experiences that are thought not to be explained by currently understood science (apparitions, anomalous acquisition of information, anomalous influence at a distance). The assumption is that the experiences are real and that existing principles, or even new ones will eventually be found to explain them. Something said to be supernatural may be attributed to divine intervention where the divine is unknowable. A point of confusion is that following the thread of cause and effect for paranormal experiences may also involve speculation about first cause. In this case, first cause would not be considered divine, but a knowable principle. This is comparable to Big Bang theory in physical science. Section 1 - Theories

and Concepts 62 My answer to your question, then, is that supernatural is more akin to magic while paranormal is more akin to science yet to be defined. Magic is simulation of real or deliberate illusion based on incomplete disclosure of information required for correct perception. Question 25 When dealing with paranormal experiences, how do you explain that which cannot be explained? Answered February 7, 2019 Answer Interestingly, there is quite a lot of evidence for the existence of many forms of paranormal phenomena. Yet, it is common for such reports to be discounted as fraud, delusion or normal mistaken as paranormal. There are three classes of paranormal reports. Class 1 - Ordinary mistaken as extraordinary. Since magicians depend on fooling people using this principle, I will include fraud and trickery in this group. Such a reported experience would likely be ignored by an experienced paranormalist. Class 2 – Psi Phenomena These are reported experiences that imply the existence of a psi field, anomalous information access and psychokinetic influences on the physical. The way these phenomena are modeled, a hypothetical nonphysical field permeates physical space and acts as a medium for propagation of psi expressions and sensing. There is tangible research evidence that intentionality can influence physical processes. We see this in Transform Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). (43) We also see this in the effect of intentionality on Random Event Generators (REG) (38) and intercessional prayer. (14) There is also solid evidence that people are able to psychically access information

about distant locations (remote viewing) and what is on the mind of other people (Extra Sensory Perception) 63 Answers Class 3 - Phenomena related to survival of personality after physical death. This is a more difficult class to prove because many of the reported experiences are actually Class 2. The primary form of proof is from mediumship in which a person is thought to convey information from discarnate personalities. There are many good examples of information being accessed via psychic or mediumistic ability that have been verified via the sound application of the scientific method. The proof that a mediumistically reported message is from a discarnate personality and not from a still living person’s memory is that the reported information cannot have been known by anyone in the physical. That is a difficult task. The only example I am aware of is the “Doja, No!” EVP recorded by Martha Copeland. It is explained in EVP Examples by Martha Copeland. (44) Skeptics try to discount the validity of all forms of paranormal phenomena by making researchers and advocates look like idiots and frauds. For this reason, it can destroy a young Ph.Ds. career to be associated with the study of things paranormal. In fact, many scientists who do study the phenomena apply the scientific method with a higher level of care than many mainstream scientists. People I know who approach the study of these phenomena without a debunking agenda do not see them as being unexplainable. There is no magic, no

Devine intervention. Reality is knowable. Researchers must not say more than they know, and when they do, they need to provide references and a yellow flag of some kind warning others that they do not know for sure. Care in distinguishing between what is known and what is speculation represents a cultural change that, in the future, might make it unnecessary for your now reasonable question. Question 26 What is the Secret Doctrine? Answered May 5, 2019 Answer Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 64 The Secret Doctrine (45) is the title of a two-book set written by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. She is one of the founders of the Theosophical Society. (46) and The Secret Doctrine is considered an important text for that system of thought. As I read it, the basic concepts seem sound but are flavored by the Indian culture. If you read the Katha Upanishad, 1-III-14. (41), it tells the seeker to “Arise, awake, and learn by approaching the exalted ones, for that path is sharp as a razor’s edge, impassable, and hard to go by, say the wise.” Blavatsky took that advice seriously and reportedly learned from many teachers (Mahatmas). Thus, The Secret Doctrine has many intriguing references to such ideas as the nature of the different kingdoms (planes of existence of which humankind is one), angelic personalities and life waves. These are things one can wonder about, but it is a stretch for my engineering temperament to make it relative to now. I have written

a couple of books about metaphysics. From that experience, I argue that readers will better understand the work if they do not expect the ideas to confirm what they believe. I think The Secret Doctrine is important and essentially true if we normalize the concepts to our contemporary perspective. The Secret Doctrine should be read as part of a wide-ranging study. Of course, I recommend my work, but the Hermetica (47) is another important system of thought. Personally, I began with the Builders of the Adytum (48) class on Tarot. Question 27 Could we have evidence for objective moral facts? What would it be? Answered May 9, 2019 Answer Morality is a local concept. By that, I mean that it is relative to local culture. Virtually all of the moral codes I have seen have been written to assure members of an organization do not embarrass the organization. 65 Answers Some other people answering here have noted that some cultures have different moral standards than others. Some codes even contradict other codes. For instance, capitalistic groups favor ruthless bargaining while humanistic groups find such tactics harmful to the wellbeing of individuals. A more fundamental approach to what I think we intend by morality is ethics. While morality tends to be relative to the community, ethics tends to be a more fundamental concept that is independent of the community. For instance, my personal code of ethics begins with the basic understanding that I should not violate others. I think of associate

principles as such concepts as kindness, respect and justice. The outward expression of those are such ideas as “Just because I can does not mean I should,” “Is it a belief or supportable understanding?” and “I will not impose my will on others.” The common denominator of all societies is the individual. Ethical or moral code, the objective should be to further the wellbeing of the individual. Certainly not to further the community at the expense of individuals. Question 28 What is the current theory on the purpose of humans? Answered August 21, 2019 Answer The reductionist answer to your question is that the purpose of humans is to procreate, assure the continuation of the human species and assure the dominance of the individual’s gene pool. To paraphrase Genesis 8:15-17 of the Bible: “Go forth from the ark … breed abundantly on the earth and be fruitful and multiply upon the earth.” That about sums it up. With that said, I want to answer based on the assumption that Dualism is largely correct, meaning that our mind exists independent of our body. Put another way, our aware self existed before this lifetime and will continue to exist after, while our human functions as an avatar. It likely has its own form of immortality as part of a species collective. See Morphic Resonance (35) Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 66 With Dualism in mind, the idea of a purpose should probably be attached to our aware self and not our

human avatar. The question I will answer, then, is “What is the current theory on the purpose of our aware self’s existence in this lifetime.” Consider our power to create. When we consider doing something, say going for a walk, it is natural to first visualize the walk. For a moment, we create a temporary world in our mind that represents where we might walk. We populate that imaginary world with a little me to which we give the freedom of choice in how to experience the imagined walk. Little me, then, returns to us a sense of the walk … do we like it, should we wear a coat … things that one gathers from thinking about something. Once we decide, we discard the imagined world and little me, but it is important to note that we can always recall that experience. In a sense, the imagined experience remains in our memory. By imagining a world and little me, we effectively create a venue for learning and populate it with an aspect of ourselves … complete with a degree of self-determination, but limited by our sense of world and colored by the nature of our curiosity as the intended purpose. The purpose of such mental creations is to gain understanding from a specific experience. Nature tends to reuse useful models, so it is reasonable to think we are little mes for other life fields. I will spare you the details of how that theory might be modeled. The main

part of my answer is that we inherit purpose from an immortal aspect of ourselves. Primarily, I think, it is to gain understanding about the nature of reality through life experiences. It is not what happens to us, but what we learn from what happens to us … the understanding we gain. People who understand this might moderate their reaction with the realization that their spiritual self progresses through all experiences. I recommend that you consider the two essays: Conditional Free Will (36) and Prime Imperative (49) 67 Answers Question 29 What are the 7 densities of consciousness? Answered September 9, 2019 Answer The seven-layer model of reality has been around a long time. The layers are sometimes referred to as planes, kingdoms and dimensions. They are often related to the seven chakras of the body. Typically, they are: Plane 1 - Mineral Kingdom Plane 2 - Plant Kingdom Plane 3 - Animal Kingdom (includes the human animal) Plane 4 - Astro (near-physical, perhaps the psi field) Plane 5 – Mental Plane 6 – Soul Plane 7 - God In the Implicit Cosmology (15) I study, the layer cake model is replaced with fields. In that, the physical universe, which represents the first three planes, is considered the physical aspect of reality (physical field). Source, which would be the God Plane, represents the reality field and the source of organizing principles. Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 68 As an aspect of the greater reality, the physical field is conceptually

in the reality field. That is, it is a subfield in the greater reality field. Here, “in” is a relational term since there is thought to be no distance in the etheric. Source is not a Dive figure, but the intelligent core of reality. Immortal personality is in three parts. One is the core intelligence of an individual life field. A second is the perceptual/expression processes informed by Worldview. The third is conscious self as the “I think I am this” experiencer of Immortal Self. As can be seen in the diagram below from the book, Your Immortal Self, (4) reality is a conceptual place. Our ability to experience aspects of it is limited by our ability to conceive of that aspect’s character. To answer your question, the seven densities of consciousness are an old cosmology based on the assumption that a person is in the body looking out. As the ancients understood. We know now that our human is just our avatar for this lifetime. Below are two diagrams from the Handbook of Metaphysics (50) that show how different systems of thought use the layer concept. The first is a composite of cosmologies. The second is based on the Cabala. 69 Answers Question 30 Isn't even the idea of thoughtlessness a thought? Can we ever be thoughtless? Answered September 9, 2019 Answer I have never achieved a true thoughtless state of mind, so I cannot speak with authority. In my study, I have found it seems nonsensical to seek

a no-thought state of awareness. Our mind is hard-wired to tell us a story about environmental signals and there are always environmental signals. Rather than seeking to completely still our mind, the challenge seems to be to learn to manage the stories our mind tells us. There is also a question Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 70 of usefulness. Our teachers do not tell us truth via a still mind. We discover understanding with a well-managed, engaged mind. Let me explain this way. If we believe something is true, information from our mostly unconscious mind will tend to reinforce that belief. For instance, a fearful person tends to have fearful thoughts. A person afraid of demons is more apt to experience demon-like thoughts than one who does not believe in demons. The task for personal progression is to live an active life while habitually asking if what we do and think is reasonable. If I am about to say something, I learn to ask if it is true to the best of my understanding, if it is considerate of others and if it leaves the door open for new understanding. When I am about to act, I learn to ask myself if it is appropriate, how will my action affect others and if it will further my understanding. One of my favorite sayings is “Just because we can does not mean we should.” The act of deciding if we should is on the road to enlightenment. Each time I

question my thoughts and actions, I send a message to my mostly unconscious mind to say that I intend to align myself with those values. I am telling my mind to change the story it tells me by ignoring what I have been conditioned to think is true and use what I am learning is … well, perhaps a little truer. My answer is that you are right in questioning the truth of no-thought. Seeking no-thought is like that proverbial guru who lives in a cave. It is much easier to be a guru in a safe cave than it is out there interacting with people. We are born into this lifetime to seek guruship by interacting with people. Question 31 What is the difference between the spirit world and the astral plane? Answered September 14, 2019 Answer The short answer is that the difference is one of perspective. The Astral Plane concept is part of the usual layer-cake models of reality that has evolved out of ancient wisdom. I think it has been useful to explain spiritual cosmology to people who had little vocabulary for such 71 Answers abstractions. I think we have evolved some and the layer-cake model is misleading in a way that now restrains seeker progression. Basically, the Astral Plane represents an attempt to describe the fringe region of perception people encounter while in a disassociated state that appears to be between true physical space and spiritual space. It is a relatively uncertain boundary in which

mental imaginings are easily expressed as seemingly real. From the dualistic perspective, the Astral Plane concept is developed around the body-centric perspective. That is, there is the physical in which our human lives. Since our mind is not physical, it is natural from a physical perspective to think there must be a plane above the physical for each aspect of mind: Astral for body consciousness, mental for mind and etheric for soul. There is more but you can get the idea. There is increasing academic recognition that mind is not the product of brain and that perception first comes to mind and then to conscious awareness. The best way I have found to model this is by using fields. In the Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 72 fields model, the building blocks of reality are life fields and the expression of life fields. All life fields have the same qualities, but they are expressed to different extents, depending on the role played by the field. In this model, our personality is our immortal self. As the center of our mostly unconscious mind, personality binds the various functions of our mind into an etheric or nonphysical field. It receives understanding about its world from our conscious awareness. Think of personality and its related mostly unconscious functions as the Observer. Our conscious self is our Experiencer. Think of it as a traveling camera. When we are awake, our perspective is through the eyes and other senses of our human avatar. As

you can see in the Functional Areas of a Life Field Diagram, The Attention Complex is functionally between our Observer and our Experiencer. Worldview represents what we have been taught is true, also, our spiritual and human instincts. It is our Judge because whatever is sensed by our life field is filtered by the Judge and sent to conscious self in a new form which better represents what we have been taught is true. The important point here is that, if we are not our body, then we are a being of the greater reality. Our more correct perspective is what I refer to as the immortal self-centric perspective. For the sake of discussing reality, some form of overriding source is necessary to complete the model. In this context, some kind of source is the reality field (top life field). Spirit is a word often used for the reality field. In any form of model that accounts for the nonphysical nature of mind, our natural habitat is in spirit. To be clear, this is not intended as a religious argument. I have just described a model that is like many such models that allow for nonphysical space and nonphysical mind. In this context, and in general conversation, it is correct to say that when we are not fully involved in conscious physical life, our mind is in spirit. That is, we have moved our perspective from that of our human avatar to that of our immortal self. The answer to

your question is that “Astral Plane” represents an early attempt to describe an aspect of our mind from the body-centric perspective while “spirit” is now used as a more useful way to describe mind from the immortal self-centric perspective. 73 Answers Question 32 Could an uploaded consciousness be considered a living entity? Answered September 17, 2019 Answer I made an effort to answer that question with the essay, Avatar. (13) Avatar is based on the assumption that our actual self is not our body; that we are entangled with a human during this lifetime. If the assumption is reasonably correct, our human acts more like a drone than our actual self. However, since our human is a life form, we share our avatar’s instincts, and to some extent, its consciousness. Even if the avatar model is not technically correct, it is useful for helping us understand our behavior. For instance, which of our actions are driven by our human’s instincts and which are driven by our spiritual nature? Our human’s instincts compel it to assure the survival and dominance of its genes … often at the cost of other gene pools. To do so, we, as an entangled personality, sometimes find ourselves doing things that are contrary to our spiritual nature. Understanding the difference might help us express more compassionate choices. Just looking at the drone part, any device that provides an ethericphysical transmitter-receiver function for our mind would serve as a way for our immortal self to more directly

experience the physical. The extent of that experience would depend on the capabilities of the drone. For such a device to work, it is necessary for us to be able to sense physical information. It appears our human’s brain serves that function. The way we sense distant things, say with remote viewing, is probably via mindto-mind communication with other personalities in the flesh. If that is true, our drone would be indirectly visible to us if it was seen by others. Otherwise, there is still no obvious means I am aware of for a machine to send us psychic information. That remains a research question. We know that mind can influence random processes. We see that in Instrumental TransCommunication. See A Model for EVP. (43) In principle, Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 74 we already know how to mentally control a machine. What remains is product development. This is all science fiction, but my point is that we are moving in that direction. So, my answer to your question is yes, if you accept the idea that our living personality would be expressed through the machine and understand those limitations. But note that we would not be creating consciousness. We would only be enabling existing consciousness to directly sense and interact with the physical. Be mindful that consciousness is probably not a physical world phenomenon. Question 33 If universes are by-products of supreme consciousness, where does this consciousness originate? Answered November 20, 2019 Answer Of course, the dominant theory

for what started the physical universe is the Big Bang Theory? (51) Based on current research, it is supposed that it began as a singularity that rapidly expanded to form the universe. There appears to be no answer in mainstream science for where that singularity came from or what caused it to expand. I believe scientists have no good theories for explaining the impossible forces inside that singularity. I might add that a huge proportion of society’s elective research funding is spent on discovering the nature of that first matter. For instance, by one estimate, the Hadron Collider has cost around $14 Billion. Without a clear understanding of the physical source of the singularity, it is not realistic to speculate whether a mind caused the event. I addressed Source as the reality field in the Source Discourse. (52) That does not answer your question as to the origin of consciousness, but that series of essays does suggest a conceptual field model for reality, rather than a physical universe cosmology. 75 Answers The question concerns the nature of reality for which we have no means for direct knowing. We must extrapolate its nature from what we do know. But first, let me make sure we agree on terms: If: 1. There is a greater reality (etheric) of which the physical universe is an aspect. 2. A person is an immortal self entangled with a human in an avatar relationship. 3. Reality consists of life fields and the expressions of life fields.

Then: a) Personality is the immortal aspect of who we are. A person-centric perspective is from the physical looking toward the etheric. An immortal personality-centric perspective is from the etheric looking into the physical. b) To know the greater reality (the etheric), one must assume a personality-centric perspective rather than a person-centric perspective. c) Consciousness is a characteristic of the greater reality. By itself, it is not sentient. That is, sentience is a characteristic of a life field bounded by personality. d) As a building block of reality, life fields consist of the following major functional areas: 1. Core personality (purpose; The Observer) 2. Unconscious Self (perception, expression and memory; The Judge) 3. Conscious Self (volition; The Experiencer) e) While the physical is organized according to fundamental principles such as forces (gravity, magnetism, nuclear) and constants (rate of decay, phi), the etheric is organized according to fundamental organizing principles such as intention, imagination, attention. f) Changes in reality are expressed via personality’s attention on an imagined outcome with the intention to make it so. Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 76 My best guess is that Source is a good model for a universal consciousness from which individuals like my immortal personality are differentiated. Think of a nested hierarchy of personalities (life fields), so that a personality is a parent with many child personalities. Thus, comes the idea that the Source life field is the reality field and each of us is a child of a personality that may be

far removed from Source, but in the Source field. Like Source, each personality is a creator following Item f, above. The origin of Source is the cosmological question. Consider the fundamental properties of physical space. A few forces such as gravity and properties like the natural rate of decay combine to produce the physical as we see it. If an overriding consciousness is added to the mix, then these forces and properties act to bound the influence of the creative process (Item f). In this cosmology, personalities (life fields) are the creators of the physical aspect of reality. Probably more like a collective of personalities merging intention to produce and sustain an aspect of reality like the physical. This is a fundamental cosmology, but it goes to my answer to your question. As a collective, we are the creators. That would make our collective the supreme consciousness, what I refer to here as Source. I have no answer for Source’s origin. it may be an aspect of yet a more fundamental personality. This is what I wrote in the book, Your Immortal Self: (4) Initial Conditions For completeness, the singularity called Source is used as the initial condition for this hypothesis. Since this hypothesis is concerned with the progression of personality, if just personality is considered, the cause and nature of reality may be ignored. Initial Condition include: 1. There is a Source as the top life field and the top organizing field. As a singularity, Source is the reality

field. See the Etheric Fields (53) and Life Fields (18) Discourses. 2. For simplicity, Source is assumed to be (at least) self-aware and curious about its nature. This curiosity is expressed as a creative process to explore its nature. See the Perception and Expression (22) Discourse. The Anticipation Corollary (22) of First Sight Theory, (19) which essentially states that mind seeks to anticipate events, 77 Answers provides reasonably good support for this idea of a personality having a natural tendency to understand its environment in order to anticipate changes. If this is a valid argument, then all else follows. 3. Seeking to understand itself, Source has imagined aspects of its personal reality and aspects of itself to experience those subrealities. 4. The process of imagining with the intention of understanding has produced a hierarchy of personalities (aspects of Source) as a Hierarchy of nested sub-subfields. 5. In response to a prime imperative (49) [to understand], aspects of Source express aspects of themselves with the intention to understand the nature of reality (which is the nature of Source). This translates as an individual with an inherited urge to gain understanding through experience. Question 34 Do you believe in collective consciousness? If so, do you believe one individual can lift/lower the collective consciousness? Answered November 28, 2019 Answer Collective consciousness is a term that can be rightly applied to several aspects of who we are. For instance: Mainstream thought Social culture is the collective measure of truth, morality and acceptable process that

has evolved in a community. The Definition of Morality (54) Changes in paradigm as the common truth evolves. Global Mind Change (55) Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 78 Instincts are natural behaviors that have evolved out of the collective experience of many generations of the same or related species. The Greatest Threat of All: Human Instincts Overwhelm Reason (56) Metaphysical thought The understanding of the collective consciousness (hypothetically) evolves as individual personalities gain understanding through experience. Prime Imperative (49)and Progression, Teaching and the Community (57) The collective morphogenetic code (hypothetically) evolves as individual personalities adapt to environmental challenges. Morphic Resonance and Morphic Fields an Introduction (35) There are others, I am sure, but the point should be clear. Collective behavior is based on the evolution of a collective memory which in turn helps organize individual formation, behavior and responses to environmental signals. If that is true, individuals contribute to the collective, and in turn, are influenced by the collective. Personal responsibility and self-determination prevail but they are influenced by the collective memory. As you consider this answer, keep in mind that, as persons, we are both a spiritual personality and a human organism. Emerging understanding is showing that environmental information from our five physical senses and our spiritual senses are processed in our mostly unconscious mind before becoming part of our awareness and behavior. Our Unconscious Mind (58) That processing is influenced by our human and spiritual instincts. We are an active part of many collectives. Question 35 How

does one's mind and one's body be entangled with energy through one's organic system/medium? Answered December 21, 2019 Answer 79 Answers The short answer is that no one knows with any empirically supported certainty. There are theories, though. But first, let us agree on a few terms for this answer. Physicalism is used here as the philosophical view that only matter exists. Everything is physical and the interaction of things physical. In Dualism, reality consists of material (physical) and mind (spiritual). In this, mind is independent of body, but is expressed into the physical by way of the body. In Monism, all of reality is mind and the physical is an expression of mind. All three are correct, depending on the perspective. When dealing with purely physical problems, mind appears to have relatively little effect and physicalism is the right view. That is also the body-centric perspective. When concerned with the nature of mind, Dualism is most useful, but it is necessary to remember that physical principles might still apply. Monism is right for dealing with the nature of life. How reality evolved to its present state is spiritually important to understand purpose but has little to do with how an apple falls from a tree. Of course, mainstream science is based on physicalism. It got that way as an evolutional escape from religious creation doctrine. Today, its hardedged materialistic view is softening under the influence of emerging understanding about our mind-body interaction. From the Parapsychological Association, (23)“Parapsychology is the

scientific and scholarly study of three kinds of unusual events (ESP, mindmatter interaction, and survival), which are associated with human experience.” Parapsychologists who seek to understand the nature of mind-matter interaction appear to have settled on a few important concepts to help describe this human experience. Psi is a term used to signify the mental influence (psychokinesis) and perception (psychic) which is propagated in a hypothetical psi field. Parapsychologists describe it as subtle energy, but since it does not behave like physical energy, I prefer to refer to the psi field as a field of influence. For instance, the influence of intentionality. Psychic influence of physical matter has been documented in the form of non-contact mental influence of the physical. For instance: Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 80 • Discovery of an Anomalous Non-contact Effect with a Pyramidal Structure (59) • Effects of Distant Intention on Water Crystal Formation: A Triple-Blind Replication (60) • Distant Healing Intention Therapies: An Overview of the Scientific Evidence (61) • Psychophysical modulation of fringe visibility in a distant doubleslit optical system (62) • Examining Psychokinesis: The Interaction of Human Intention With Random Number Generators—A Meta-Analysis (63) In our study of transcommunication, especially Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP), relatively chaotic noise is seen to be transformed into speech, apparently in a nonlinear process of audio recording devices. See A Model for EVP. (43) The entanglement you speak of is the mind-body-interface. Presumably, it is via the physical brain, but for it to exist (Dualism), it

is necessary to identify a nonphysical-physical interface between the mind and brain. We see in the above references, evidence that mind can influence the physical. In the study of EVP, we think the influence of intention (a conceptual influence) expresses intentional order on a chaotic process by way of stochastic amplification (the concept of a physical process). In that, a small signal is amplified when mixed with a strong noisy signal. In survival metaphysics, (64) it is usually posited that the body is a complete organism that would survive a lifetime without entanglement with an immortal personality symbiont. The subject is complex, but the idea is that the dualistic solution to the question is that our human is an avatar (13) through which we experience the physical. If that is true, we can argue that the brain provides a chaotic biological noise signal which is psychokinetically influenced by nonphysical mind as intended order. If mind is nonphysical, memory, perception and expression signals would be processed in nonphysical space. The only input of mind to body would be action commands (move, sniff, look). The remaining problem is perception of physical senses. For that, I have seen no good theories. Of course, one is the mind-to-mind exchange of information from someone that is looking at us. There is also some 81 Answers discussion that the microtubules in our brain act like a phased array antenna to convert physical signals into psi information. I am currently operating under the assumption that our discarnate

friends (hypothetical discarnate friends, if you must) cannot actually see us, but must rely on mind-to-mind communication from those still in the flesh who do see us. Us looking into a mirror, for instance. This is a most interesting field of study. The more we understand the mind-body interface, the better we understand our actual nature, how to fix malfunctions and how to do things like possibly moving spaceships to distant stars with our thought. Question 36 Can you measure awareness? Answered December 25, 2019 Answer By “awareness,” I am going to assume you intend a person’s actions being guided by conscious decisions rather than being automatically guided by human instincts. Being aware of the nature of one’s thoughts, for instance. Human potential movements such as the New Age Culture of the 1900s are all about personal improvement by developing our spiritual aspect. By spiritual it was usually intended becoming consciously aware of our relationship with such concepts as purpose, altruism and discernment. Mindfulness through meditation was seen as important and notable effects of success were such abilities as improved personal health, increased awareness of the influence of friends in spirit and psychic ability. Virtually every such class I have taken has aimed at improving my selfawareness so as to enable my ability to heal others and myself, sense subtle energies around me and even commune with discarnate loved ones. Being able to express such abilities are seen as evidence of increasing spirituality. The term most often used for the

process was to increase self-awareness. Having studied these concepts for a time, I have moved on to the more pragmatic question of how one person is more able to record voices via Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) or is more able to psychically or Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 82 mediumistically access information than others. Even more relevant for today is how a person decides to be a liberal or a conservative? I am not a psychologist, so I will not speak from that authority. What I have observed is that sentience is a universal consequence of life, but that it is more or less expressed, depending on the organism hosting it. See Morphic Resonance and Morphic Fields an Introduction. (35) Psychologists sometimes measure awareness in terms of acting to serve self versus acting altruistically to help others. In terms of human potential, turning toward the altruistic choice is thought of as being more aware, and therefore, more spiritual. In Mind as Storyteller, (34) I explored the implication of awareness as it influences our life choices. In the diagram shown here, the Dominance Threshold marks the moment of enlightenment in which a person consciously decides to seek greater lucidity. Here, lucidity is used to mean how clearly a person is able to sense the difference between actual reality and the version sent to the person’s conscious awareness by mostly unconscious mind. It is argued in First Sight Theory (19) that everyone first psychically senses the environment and that the unconscious

mental processing of that information might not reach our conscious awareness. As a person develops lucidity, the person becomes more aware of that psychic sensing. That is what the New Age movement has been trying to teach all along in the form of increasing self-awareness. So, my answer to the question is that all of the measurement techniques that parapsychologists have developed for the study of psychic and mediumistic functioning apply here. We can tell when a person has 83 Answers turned toward more discerning decision making, at least in the sense of is or is not, is some or is a lot. Possibly none of us know what complete selfawareness looks like. Question 37 Is your future self watching you right now through memory? Answered December 29, 2019 Answer This is an interesting question. While “watching” is probably not the best way to say it, it appears to be reasonable to say that our present creates our future. It comes down to the way we develop our worldview. By Worldview, (16) I mean a functional area in our mostly unconscious mind that acts like a database that informs our perception of the world and how we express ourselves. I refer to this database as Worldview because it holds our memory, our human’s instincts, our spiritual instincts, our acquired understanding about the nature of things, and most important for us as people, it holds what we have been taught is true by our parents, culture, teachers and the media. Every

decision we make is formed around our worldview. When we smell or feel something, when someone speaks to us, that information is first processed by our mostly unconscious mind based on our worldview. It is only after that information has been changed to agree with our sense of truth that it comes to our conscious awareness. It is possible that we may not even become aware of some information if it is too far out of agreement with our worldview. In effect, our worldview forms our personal reality. It represents what we think is true. We can evolve it toward different perspectives, say more radical conservative or more discerning, through such techniques as mindfulness. I refer to the technique that helps me as The Mindful Way. (12) The key is to decide to and learn to habitually question what we think is true—not to be paranoid but in the same way that we learn to question if our actions are ethical. (29) Section 1 - Theories and Concepts 84 With this said about Worldview, you can see that your past—that which is contained in your worldview—informs your present self. The way you evolve your worldview determines your future. In that way, your future self is influenced by your present self. To finish this answer, I should say that the Worldview concept is a model that has turned out to be useful. I am not a psychologist, and this may not be exactly as a psychologist might explain the concept. It

is an important model that we would all do well to understand, as it describes a way for us to take a little responsibility for our actions before we act. Section 2 Science Introduction Science is the term we use for fact-based explanations about all things, the development of those facts and the community doing the developing. We distinguish things scientific from opinion and beliefs. We assume scientists are unbiased researchers and reporters of that research. We assume scientists work in service to humankind. To some extent, science is all of that. For sure, I think most scientists try to be all of that. In the paranormalist community, parapsychologists have assumed the role of scientists. We paranormalists want to think they exemplify all of those qualities. As you will see in these answers, I have something of a strained relationship with parapsychologists. I attempt to be supportive of them. Certainly, I am quick to defend their usually hard and earnest work. It seems important that mainstream society sees that our scientists know what they are doing. Many of my answers are written with parapsychologists in mind. They are never around to answer these questions. It is doubtful any of them bother to read the answers. But, just in case, I sometimes imagine that parapsychologists are reading my answer, and in a moment of AcademicLayperson Partition (3) weakness, say something to their peers and take steps to tear down that partition. I also dream of someday meeting Tinker Bell. Perhaps if

I put out a glass of milk and some cookies. Section 2 - Science 86 Question 38 Is there a single paranormal case that has been agreed by scientists to actually be supernatural? Answered September 14, 2018 Answer To be sure of our terminology, science is best considered in two parts: normal and paranormal. Paranormal means something that is not explained with normally understood physical principles. Normal science is not equipped to study something that is not covered by normal principles. Paranormal scientists are primarily psychologists (parapsychologists). Many are philosophy majors. Many carry physicalist baggage from mainstream science that tends to cloud their judgment. In my opinion, few have demonstrated the open-mindedness needed to study many of the different forms of trans-etheric-physical influences such as Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). When discussing things paranormal we are dealing with people from just about every point of view: atheist, devoutly religious, pragmatic scientist, practical naturalist and … well, those who will believe anything. Do not expect agreement. For your answer, it is best to look for well-documented studies and decide for yourself. I recommend The Survival Top 40. (65) Also, take a look at some of the articles at atransc.or/journal/ 87 Answers Question 39 What is the best reason for writing an argumentative essay about believing in ghosts? Answered September 14, 2018 Answer Essay means to write a considered opinion. So, let us examine two assumptions. First, believe something versus accept the evidence. On the continuum of understanding, belief is right next to

faith which is a matter of religion. Accept the evidence is on the other end of the continuum, right next to know. It implies that the evidence has been studied and the person has made an informed decision. As an ordained Spiritualist, I will say under no uncertain terms that I do not do religion. If you want to work on the religion end of the continuum, stop reading and go ask your minister. If you inform yourself about the state of art related to the survival hypothesis, you will find that considerable evidence has been accrued over the years concerning our dual nature. Much of it is supported by good research. While I am not prepared to tell you that you should accept survival as fact, I am happy to accept the evidence of survival for myself. Here is why: 1. Miles Edward has compiled some well-studied cases of apparent survival. You can read them at The Survival Top 40. (65). Anecdotal evidence reports do not prove survival by themselves, but they are necessary if research is to be acceptable. 2. Duality is the idea that we are a physical body and an etheric mind. Here etheric means nonphysical. In parapsychology, it usually means the Psi Field. (53) See Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications on Psi Research. (14) In the survival hypothesis, (64) it is our nonphysical aspect we think continues to exist after physical death. This is a necessary characteristic if there are to be ghosts. Section 2 - Science

88 3. There is strong evidence that the psi field is nonlocal, meaning that there apparently is no distance in the etheric. Thus far, researchers have not found a way to shield from the psi field. That means it is possible to put a person functioning as a psychic in a sensory isolation chamber, yet the person is able to access information outside of the shielded room. This characteristic is a strong indication that we cannot apply physical principles to survival questions. Physical is objective, etheric is conceptual. 4. Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC) provides important hints about our nonphysical nature. In audio ITC (aka Electronic Voice Phenomena or EVP), anomalous speech has been recorded, even though the recorder was in an electromagnetic, magnetic, electrical and audio isolated chamber. See Eliminating Radio Frequency Contamination for EVP (66) and Report of an Anomalous Speech Products Experiment Inside a Double Screened Room. (67) 5. Apparent nonlocality has also been shown in EVP. The effect is that the voice of a specific person might be recorded anywhere the recorder is and not necessarily where the person was known to have died. 6. It is becoming evident that sensed information is subconsciously processed before we become consciously aware of the information. See First Sight Theory. (19) This unconscious mental processing is based on our worldview which includes what we have been taught. Consequently, conscious perception tends to be contaminated by expectation. This seems to be a strong indicator for Dualism which is a necessary characteristic of

reality if the ghost concept is valid. Considering apparent duality, cultural contamination of perception, nonlocality of the psi field and all of the evidence for trans-etheric influences, ghosts appear to be possible, but it is likely that we experience them as we expect. There is no reason to think they are stuck in a specific place. They are there because we expect them to be there. This is a brief explanation, but I think you can use it to begin your study. My short answer is that survived personality seems to be actual but the way we perceive them as ghosts is a cultural artifact. 89 Answers Question 40 Does research support ESP? What are your thoughts on ESP? Answered September 15, 2018 Answer While parapsychology is considered the science department for the paranormalist community, not all people working as a parapsychologist accepts the evidence of psi phenomena (ESP, psychic, healing intention, mediumship, remote viewing). Anomalistic Psychology is specifically antiparanormal. A definition for Anomalistic Psychology is provided in What is Anomalistic Psychology? (68) (The paranormal is defined as) “Alleged phenomena that cannot be accounted for in terms of conventional scientific theories.” The author explained that “Anomalistic psychology may be defined as the study of extraordinary phenomena of behavior and experience, including (but not restricted to) those which are often labeled ‘paranormal.’ It is directed towards understanding bizarre experiences that many people have without assuming a priori that there is anything paranormal involved. It entails attempting to explain paranormal and related

beliefs and ostensibly paranormal experiences in terms of known psychological and physical factors.” (Bold is my emphasis) Note that the definition is specific that Anomalistic Psychology is intended to explain paranormal phenomena without considering explanations offered in other approaches. For instance, Exceptional Experiences Psychology is like Anomalistic Psychology but also considered the evidence of the psi field (psychic, ESP) The two approaches represent the majority of parapsychologists. Neither considers the survival hypothesis. Both seem to want to prove you are mentally deficient if you accept the survival hypothesis. Read about First Sight Theory. (19) It represents an important compilation of current understanding about ESP in the form of a useful model. Section 2 - Science 90 ESP is a naturally occurring ability. However, as with any human ability, some of us are superstars and some of us are underdeveloped. Question 41 What is the true meaning of an essay? Answered September 19, 2018 Answer I am no literary scholar, so you need other opinions. I will give you my reasons for writing essays. It is exciting to note that many people I have known over the years either journal or seek to write something for others to read. Few of my friends claim to be intellectuals or scholars, but as my father used to say, everyone has at least one good story in them. It is our nature that our one good story creates an urge in us to share it with others. In my mind, that is the main

purpose of writing essays. I share ideas with others. Ever trying to find a way to explain the need to share our one good story, I once wrote: The Way of Progression Through community comes knowledge Through teaching comes understanding It takes a collective When you compose your thoughts to say something, your mostly unconscious mind responds to your intention with a fast selection-rejectiontry again cycle of finding the right part of your memory with which to compose the words. It is the result of that perception-expression process you use to speak. Two things happen next. First, you get to hear yourself—you learn what is in your worldview. Second, you get to see your audience’s reaction. Those are two important opportunities for you to gain understanding. It is your intention that turns your mostly unconscious mind toward one or another point of view. So, that is an armchair philosopher’s version of what happens when you write. Journaling is okay, but it is so much better to talk it out with someone 91 Answers or write an essay for others to read. Without feedback, we too easily talk ourselves into thinking something is real when it may only be a little like that. Talking it out is also how we strengthen our community. Another reason I write is that I have evolved a rather complex philosophy. Much of what I write these days is to illustrate that model in some way. So, while we mostly write to share, sometimes, we also

write to teach. Question 42 What is dualism? Write an essay on dualistic philosophy. Answered September 19, 2018 Answer From The Basics of Philosophy website: (69) Dualism in Metaphysics is the belief that there are two kinds of reality: material (physical) and immaterial (spiritual). In Philosophy of Mind, Dualism is the position that mind and body are in some categorical way separate from each other, and that mental phenomena are, in some respects, non-physical in nature. From my perspective as one who thinks the Survival Hypothesis is mostly correct, I might identify myself as a Dualist. Here is how I break it down from the perspective of my take on the paranormalist community. The divisions are this way to account for mainstream reluctance to accept the literal understanding of survival. As such, things seen as paranormal from the mainstream point of view is seen as normal from the Duelist point of view. • The Physical Hypothesis point of view holds that paranormalist phenomena are delusion, fraud or mundane, mistaken as paranormal. In this view, the necessary science-based supporting mechanisms for paranormalist phenomena are not established, and therefore any reference to them must be pseudoscience. This is being addressed these days as Anomalistic Psychology. (68) In this Section 2 - Science 92 approach to the paranormal, consciousness is considered a product of the brain and ceases to exist when the brain dies. For conversational convenience, I refer to this point of view as Physicalist. • The Super-Psi Hypothesis is the Physical

Hypothesis modified with the contention that the physical universe is permeated by a psi field. (53) From this point of view, if not mundane, delusion or fraud, anomalous access information is produced via psychic access to residual memory or the mind of still living people. This is beginning to be addressed as Exceptional Experiences Psychology. (70) In this, consciousness is either a product of the brain or a psi field phenomenon originating from the brain. For conversational convenience, I refer to this point of view as Psi+ Physicalist. • The Survival Hypothesis represents the point of view that we are immortal self temporarily entangled with a human for this lifetime, that our conscious self existed before this lifetime and will continue to exist in a sentient, self-aware form after this lifetime. (64) For conversational convenience, I refer to this point of view as Dualists. For my personal study, I refer to the study of survival as Etheric Studies. As you can see, the philosophy of Dualism is not based on an ancient philosopher. It is a contemporary question that very much living people are seeking to answer. Question 43 What are the paranormal theories? Answered September 24, 2018 Answer There are three primary theories about the nature of paranormal phenomena in parapsychology: 1. Anomalistic Psychology - Anomalistic Psychology (68) seeks to understand the nature of paranormal experiences reports without 93 Answers by using only mainstream science. The experiences are explained as illusion, mental illness, fraud normal mistaken as paranormal. Physical

Hypothesis 2. Exceptional Experiences Psychology - Exceptional Experiences Psychology (70) holds that reported paranormal experiences may be ordinary-world experiences mistaken as paranormal but may also be evidence of psi. It specifically excludes explanations based on the Survival Hypothesis. 3. Dualist – Dualism (69) holds that mind and body are separate. Brain is a transmitter-receiver for mind. Personality existed before this lifetime and will exist after. In Dualism, physical space and the psi field exist. Some paranormal phenomena are explained in terms of physical principles or as psychic functioning, but some are better explained as the effect of survived personality. Two theories I often turn to in my study are the Hypothesis of Formative Causation (35) and First Sight Theory. (19) Question 44 Is Parapsychology a legitimate science? Answered September 25, 2018 Answer Parapsychology is a community of people seeking to explain what we call paranormal phenomena in three primary ways. I think the majority seek to explain experiences reported as paranormal using principles of physical science. That is Anomalistic Psychology. (68) Another large contingent of parapsychologists agrees that some reported experiences are better explained using normal principles. They also consider the possibility that there is a nonlocal field permeating physical space that makes information available to people who are able to psychically sense the field. I have learned to refer to this group as Exceptional Experiences Psychologists (70) A few parapsychologists do seek to explain reported experiences as probably physical but possibly psychic functioning. For these Section 2 - Science

94 parapsychologists, if physical or psi functioning do not explain the evidence, they will consider the possibility that a discarnate personality is responsible. From my experience as a layperson observing these three points of view, I see that Anomalistic Psychologists are conceptually closer to the center of mainstream science. However, their explanations always fail when they seek to explain such objective phenomena as Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) and evidential mental mediumship because they are unwilling to consider alternative theories. Exceptional Experiences Psychologists are better able to explain those phenomena, but the existence of a subtle, as yet poorly defined field propagating psychic access to information requires modification of accepted principle which is likely not going to happen without a major paradigm shift. They also have the problem of ignoring the possibility of a discarnate cause. If this is true for Exceptional Experiences Psychology, you can imagine the resistance mainstream science has to the Survival Hypothesis. To be clear, science is not so much about the facts as it is about the momentum of accepted theory. For we who think scientist are supposed to help us understand our world, it is important to ask if the scientist has examined the evidence or if the person is simply reciting the belief in scientism that, “If it is not specifically explained by science, then it cannot be.” Before accepting what they say, always ask scientists to explain their point of view. Are they Physicalists or Dualists? Do they accept the possibility of psi

functioning? What is their attitude about survival? Question 45 Is dualism a convincing approach to explain the identity of a human being? Answered October 10, 2018 Answer Paranormal experiences, such as remote viewing, the influence of intention at a distance and Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP), have been reported 95 Answers that have not been able to be explained with currently known physical principles. These are the three dominant theories I have found useful. Physical Hypothesis - The physical universe is all there is. Reported possibly paranormal experiences are explained as fraud, delusion or normal mistaken as normal. Super-Psi Hypothesis - The physical universe is all there is except that a subtle field permeates the physical which is sometimes referred to as the psi field. Possibly paranormal experiences are explained as fraud, delusion or normal mistaken as normal, but they might also be explained as psychic functioning (psi functioning). Survival Hypothesis - There is a physical universe, but it is an aspect of a greater reality. Possibly paranormal experiences are explained as fraud, delusion or normal mistaken as normal, but they might also be explained as psi functioning. Some experiences that can be explained as psi functioning may be initiated by discarnate personalities. These phenomena have been replicated under controlled conditions for which physical principles have been accounted. For instance, randomly selected locations have been described by trained remote viewers, even though they had no prior information about the location. Even the angle of the physically present spotter’s view might agree

with the remote viewer’s report. Super-Psi can explain this, but it cannot be explained with currently known physical principles. The effect of intention on random number generators (38) is well documented. This is influence at a distance and helps support the idea of healing intention and the formation of EVP. These phenomena are not explained by physical principles but are explained by the existence of a psi field. Quantum principles have not been helpful in explaining these phenomena; however, more work needs to be done before we can say they do or do not apply. My guess is that they do not. Most EVP can be explained by the influence of mind on random events, psychokinesis (mind influencing matter) and Super-Psi in which a practitioner or interested observer causes the formation in the EVP based on psychically accessed memory or a still-living person. (Possibly life records if they exist.) Section 2 - Science 96 We are pretty sure EVP are created by a person in the flesh, but a survived personality may initiate the process. We cannot shield from the propagation of psi, so we have no way of assuring a person did not access memory of a still physical person. The only way to know for sure is if the EVP contained information that was not previously known by anyone … ever. We have one example of this I can think of. It is the “Doja, No!” EVP recorded by Martha Copeland. (64) (Follow the link to hear the

example.) The short description of the EVP is that Cathy, who is on the other side, scolded her dog for tearing up the house. No one physical knew about it until Martha came home. These examples are best explained with the existence of a psi field. They suggest mind operates independently of brain. By extension, that would seem to indicate that Duality is the most useful explanation. Whether duality means survived personality is a much more difficult point to verify. From my experience, the most reasonable explanation for paranormal phenomena is that we are not our body, we, as immortal personality, existed before and will exist after this lifetime. Finally, Since the etheric mind only needs sensory information from the body and the ability to command movement, the brain only has a transmitter-receiver function. The large-scale field of neuron activity in our brain may provide the psi-to-physical receptor required for commanding movement of the body. If mind is not body, the only information needed from the body to mind is the information from the five senses. Some speculate that quantum effects operating in the microtubules of the brain might be the physical-to-psi transformer. Question 46 Which phenomena cannot be explained using scientific reasoning? Answered October 10, 2018 Answer Rather than a scientist, I am an engineer, so my answer should not be considered the final word. From my perspective, any question should be 97 Answers able to be considered with the kind of logical progression we consider the scientific method:

1. Reported experience 2. Proposed explanatory hypothesis 3. Question based on hypothesis 4. Test of question 5. Reframe hypothesis if necessary 6. Repeat question and test sequence until hypothesis is stable 7. Proposed theory 8. Replication Objective experiences such as an apple falling from a tree are easily replicated and easily studied. Such study quickly leads to theory and replication. Subjective experiences are much more difficult to study, and while it is usually possible to hypothesize about their nature, those hypotheses are often difficult to test. A major complaint about subjective experiences is that they may not be reliably replicated, and related hypotheses may not be testable. As such, they may indefinitely remain in the hypothetical stage. A reported experience cannot be ignored, but it can be put in the “Hold to see if more such reports come in” folder. I call that suspended judgment. Many subjective experiences such as sensing a presence tend to be frequently reported. If so, it is sometimes reasonable to develop a hypothesis based on a “This tends to happen when…” model. Some experiences inherit credibility from other experiences. Science may not be able to provide a definitive answer, but it should be able to provide useful guidance, rather than simply “you are delusional” which is how some scientist justify ignoring the question. “Is there a God” is probably the kind of question that is not easily straight-on addressed by science. The scientific method can be applied to human experience but sometimes, it is probably

going to produce an untestable hypothesis. Keep in mind that the “Is there a God” question can be restated to make it more testable. For instance, “Is there a first cause” or “is there order in reality.” First cause in physics is the Big Bang. Not being provable has not stopped scientists from attributing a whole lot of data to a big bang of sorts as the cause. Order is what we call Natural Law. Consider the order we see Section 2 - Science 98 in such constants as the natural rate of decay or natural distribution. Those came from somewhere. Another point to keep in mind is that people are poor witnesses. Just because you think there is a ghost in your house does not mean that there is. It may mean that you have convinced yourself after that last scary movie that those naturally occurring sounds are proof of a ghost infestation. Question 47 What supports morality scientifically? Answered October 21, 2018 Answer It has been my experience that morality is relevant to the social structure. That is, behavior in agreement with the cultural norm tends to be more acceptable than that which contradicts the norm. What is morally right may be dictated by religion but only if the religion is dominant in the culture. You also have factions, so that it might be seen as immoral to be gay by religious but irrelevant by people more concerned with human rights. I am not an authority, but I

tried to make sense of this in Ethics as a Personal Code for Mindfulness: (29) Morality is defined here as a distinction between right and wrong based on local standards of behavior. Ethics is defined here as a distinction between right and wrong; based on the organizing principles governing reality. Clarification: “Organizing Principles” is not a scientific term; however, the concept that Mother Nature operates according to natural principles is empirically supportable. For instance, physical science includes such constants as the speed of light in a vacuum and the mass of an electron in a list of basic principles. In science, if predictions from a proposed hypothesis can be tested, it may be possible to move the hypothesis from conjecture to theory. Morality and ethics are conceptual states of mind-behavior for which it is 99 Answers difficult to establish the usual cause and effect we expect in the hard sciences. Some people argue that the methodology of reductionist science, which presupposed a clockwork universe, is not appropriate for questions of mind and behavior. Because I cannot prove some of this with accepted science, I look for effects. That is, what are the observable outcomes of an act? For me, I begin my personal code of ethics with “Do not violate.” When I observe the results of an act, if it seems beneficial, then I go on. If it seems disruptive, I trace down my ladder of personal rules. to see what might have been done differently. Too often, I end

up at the first rung asking if I violated someone in some way. Wirth habitual self-evaluation, I intend to become a better citizen. Question 48 What is metaphysical dualism? Answered October 22, 2018 Answer Metaphysical Dualism is a way to describe the speculation about our spiritual nature. The usual definition of metaphysics is the philosophical study of reality. And, for Dualism, it is the belief that reality has a physical and a mental nature. Rather than the philosophical musing implied by the usual definition, I will speak from the perspective that we can develop testable hypotheses that will lead to useful applications. The real issue is how reality is defined. Here is the way I parsed the study of paranormal phenomena in Open Letter to Paranormalists: Limits of science, trust and responsibility: (3) Theories of Reality Because it is important that you are clear about who believes what, the three dominant theories designed to explain the nature of reality are provided here. This is taken from the book, Your Immortal Self: (4) Section 2 - Science 100 The Physical Universe Hypothesis • All that exists is the physical universe. • The universe has evolved from a singularity into what it is today. • Life has evolved on earth into what it is today. • Mind has evolved as a product of brain which is a product of evolution. • Memory is an artifact of mind. • When the brain dies, mind and memory cease to exist. • People have five

senses: smell, sight, hearing, touch and taste. To simplify conversation, people who think the Physical Universe Hypothesis is correct are described here as Physicalist. Parapsychologists who lean toward the Physical Universe Hypothesis often work under the banner of Anomalistic Psychology, (68) which holds that reported paranormal experiences are actually ordinary-world experiences mistaken as paranormal. In effect, these parapsychologists are debunkers determined to find a normal explanation for all psi and survival-related phenomena. These diagrams share a set of functions which are explained in Your Immortal Self. The functional areas represent the mostly unconscious thought process as I have modeled them based on First Sight Theory (19) and lessons learned from transcommunication. The functional areas are mostly the same for each theory because they are becoming more widely accepted by both mainstream and parapsychological thought. 101 Answers The Super-Psi Hypothesis • All that exists is the physical universe. • The universe may have evolved from a singularity into what it is today. • An as yet unidentified form of space called psi (psi field) permeates all of physical reality. • Life has evolved on earth into what it is today. • Mind exists in the psi field and continues beyond death of the brain as differentiated, residual energy. • Brain is a transmitter/receiver for mind. • Thought, memory and emotions are retained in the psi field. • People experience reality via five bodily senses that are informed by impressions from the psi field. People who think the Super-Psi Hypothesis is correct

are described here as Psi+ Physicalist. Parapsychologists who lean toward the SuperPsi Hypothesis are increasingly working under the banner of Exceptional Experiences Psychology, (70) which holds that reported paranormal experiences may be ordinary-world experiences mistaken as paranormal but may also be evidence of psi. In effect, these parapsychologists are debunkers determined to find a normal or psi explanation for all psi and survival-related phenomena. Section 2 - Science 102 The Survival Hypothesis • There is a greater reality of which the physical universe is an aspect. • An as yet unidentified form of space called psi permeates all of reality. • The psi field is an aspect of the greater reality. • Mind, with its thoughts, memories and emotions, has evolved in the greater reality and continues to exist beyond death of the brain. • For a lifetime, mind and brain are entangled to produce a physical-etheric link: a person. • During a lifetime, mind is expressed as consciousness (I think I am this) and a mostly unconscious etheric personality (I am this). • Unconscious mind is informed by the person’s five physical senses and psi signatures from the environment. • Unconscious mind expresses to conscious self an understanding of the environment as it is informed by worldview (memory, experience, human and personality instincts). People who think the Survival Hypothesis is correct are described here as Dualists. Some Psi+ Physicalist accept that mind is different from body. The distinction is that Dualists think mind preceded body and continues after the

body in a sentient form. Psi+ Physicalist think mind is a product of body and sentience ceases when the body dies. For them, all evidence of survival is just evidence of survived memory. 103 Answers This is better explained under the Concepts tab of ethericstudies.org. I should also note that this is according to me and not necessarily widely accepted in the community. It is for you to find alternative views. The cosmology I find most useful to help me understand paranormal phenomena is that we are native to etheric space and our human is our avatar for the physical experience. Even if this is not the most correct understanding of our nature, behaving as if it is true by seeking spiritual maturity is useful for daily living. That is why I propose The Mindful Way in my writing. (12) You must decide, but please, do so after a little study. Question 49 What are some good criticisms of scientism? Answered October 25, 2018 Answer You will receive answers from two different points of view. A scientist will probably give you something like the following from the Scientism (71) article in The Basics of Philosophy website: Scientism is the broad-based belief that the assumptions and methods of research of the physical and natural sciences are equally appropriate (or even essential) to all other disciplines, including philosophy, the humanities and the social sciences. It is based on the belief that natural science has authority over all other interpretations of life, and

that the methods of natural science form the only proper elements in any philosophical (or other) inquiry. A person involved in the study of paranormal subjects, such as mental mediumship or remote viewing, will tell you that the above is a mainstream view. My answer is a paranormalist view. I am a paranormalist and define scientism as: The belief that science, the scientific method and work product is the only way to validate reality. In practical terms, scientism holds that, if Section 2 - Science 104 something is not recognized by mainstream science, then it is not real and is, therefore, impossible. According to mainstream scientists, the opposite of science is pseudoscience. From my experience, people who follow scientism discount anything that is not specifically defined by science as being pseudoscience (false science). In fact, I have been banned for life (72) from editing the Rupert Sheldrake (73) Wikipedia article because the dominant skeptic editors argued that I was promoting pseudoscientific claims by supporting his views. Wikipedia’s official policy is that things paranormal are pseudoscience. (See Wikipedia’s List of topics characterized as pseudoscience. (74)) As such, I argue that the dominant editors in Wikipedia must be advocates of scientism. While that seems like an extreme opinion, the fact is that mainstream scientists tend to discount frontier subjects. And that is the main criticism of scientism: advocates of scientism think it is okay to ignore evidence that does not comply with popular theory. Another important criticism of scientism is illustrated with

John Godfrey Saxe poem Blind Men and the Elephant. (75) If some reported experiences are ignored because they are not currently explained by mainstream science, the result is necessarily only part of the story. For instance, if your mind is not a product of your brain (an idea claimed by skeptics to be a pseudoscience), then any theory about mind that does not consider that possibility may be wrong. Yet many scientists will tell you that such and such human behavior is controlled in such and such part of the brain. If they say that without discussing why Dualism is not correct, they are practicing scientism. I think scientism is not intended to be a pejorative but too much trust in science tends to lead to bad science. That is why it is often used as a pejorative. I can say the same about pseudoscience. There are instances in which people inappropriately claim to be scientific (possible pseudoscience in the sense of “not science”), but the term is too easily applied to anything the person does not believe is true or want to be true. 105 Answers Question 50 Is it true that "church ladies" now form the major obstacle to progress in science? Answered November 7, 2018 Answer This is a sarcastic question with little merit, but it gives me an opportunity to rant about science. Based on your question, I assume you are equating church to anything not supported by physical science (scientism). I am an ordained Spiritualist

and do not consider Spiritualism a religion in the sense of a belief. As I understand it, the fundamental concepts taught by Jesus and other wayshowers was expected to be taken as important guidance for how to be a good citizen of the greater reality (spiritual realm, if you insist). Modern religion is a social phenomenon that has sometimes corrupted the intention of the founding teachers. In recognition that my wife, Lisa, and some of our most important teachers were both informed metaphysicians and “church ladies,” I will replace church with the term, paranormalist community. I began a chapter on science in Your Immortal Self (4) with “Hands down the most disruptive influence for the paranormalist community is science.” The existence of many phenomena related to spirituality, survived personality and psychic ability are well-established via accepted scientific methodologies. Some of this proof comes from intelligent, university trained, seasoned scientists in the parapsychological community following the best of scientific methodology. Yet, most mainstream scientists and many parapsychologists insist in telling us that all of the phenomena we report are in our delusional mind. This, with them typically not being able to carry on an intelligent conversation about the phenomena. The term for that is a priori which means a conclusion made without examination or factual study. That kind of spontaneous rejection comes from belief rather than knowledge. While it is not always true, as a general statement, science has Section 2 - Science 106 hindered our ability to further our understanding

of the nature of these phenomena. Asking if some of our people get in the way of science evidences ignorance of the way momentum of scientific truths inhibits discovery. Question 51 Is Metaphysics a science? Answered November 17, 2018 Answer In my words, metaphysics is the examination of the nature of reality, including the relationship between personality and the greater reality. A model used to describe a set of interrelated metaphysical concepts is referred to as a cosmology. There are two important views of metaphysics which you need to consider: Physical Metaphysics would be defined as the study of physical reality with the assumption that there is only the physical universe and people cease to exist when their body dies. The related cosmology is sometimes referred to as an astronomical cosmology. (76) What I will call Dualist Metaphysics would be defined as the study of physical reality with the assumption that a subtle field of influence exists with the physical universe and personality exists in that subtle field independent of the physical body, before and after bodily death. The related cosmology would consider the astronomical cosmology a subset of one that includes the environment in which personality exists. Rather than the “Big Bang” origin of the physical universe, some other form of first cause would be hypothesized. Like the Big Bang, any such first cause would be proposed to close the model with an initial state. Typically, no god is intended. Everything related to Dualist Metaphysics is considered pseudoscience by

Physical Metaphysicians. The pseudo- prefix means false. So, if you approach life from the Physical Metaphysics perspective, it is reasonable to 107 Answers think physical metaphysical models are speculation based on good science, but that dualist metaphysical models are not. In turn, Dualists tend to think science predicting physical metaphysics is incomplete because it does not consider a probably large part of reality. Perhaps you can see the disconnect in these two perspectives. Considering those factors, metaphysics is speculation about the nature of reality based on a combination of observation, experience, cultural wisdom and popular science. It is not a science but a model that might predict science. Question 52 How do you define metaphysics, and is it just another word for "supernatural"? Answered November 20, 2018 Answer As an engineer who is little schooled in metaphysics and philosophy, my definition of metaphysics is “the examination of the nature of reality, including the relationship between personality and the greater reality.” A model used to describe a set of metaphysical concepts is referred to as a cosmology. Here, the scope of reality can be considered in three primary ways: Physical Hypothesis – It is the physical universe if you only accept the existence of physical space. Psi Field Hypothesis – It is the physical universe permeated by a field of subtle space. Survival Hypothesis – It is etheric space, of which the physical universe is an aspect. (For the sake of discussion, I use etheric to name the greater reality.) Referring

to our core self as personality and our conscious self as the experiencing aspect of personality, the relationship between personality and the greater reality may be considered in three primary ways: Section 2 - Science 108 • Physical Hypothesis – Personality and conscious self are products of the brain and cease to exist when the brain dies. Perception and expression are bound by widely accepted physical principles. • Psi Field Hypothesis – Personality and conscious self are products of the brain and cease to exist when the brain dies. Perception and expression are bound by widely accepted physical principles but are augmented by psychic and psychokinetic faculties propagated in the psi field. Memory continues to be psychically accessible after physical death. • Survival Hypothesis – In terms of a human lifetime, personality and conscious self are immortal. Personality is in an avatar relationship with the human body and conscious self acts as the experiencer with personality as the observer. Personality, conscious self and their expression-perception faculty exist in the etheric. Perception and expression are propagated in etheric space. The avatar’s brain acts as a physical senses-to-psi signal transformer and to relay psi commands for body movement from the perception-expression faculty. As I understand metaphysics, these three perspectives, or variations of these general themes, represent the scope of metaphysical conjecture. As an observer of metaphysical speculation, it is important that you are mindful of which hypothesis has informed the metaphysician’s thinking. A metaphysical speculation should be able to be described with

a cosmological model of reality. Such a cosmology must faithfully represent known characteristics of perception and expression. Using the cosmology, it should be possible to develop a logical progression from reported experience to reasonable explanation. That logical progression should be reversible in the sense that such a reported experience might reasonably be predicted by the cosmology. In this sense, metaphysics has the potential of guiding personal progression. Please be mindful that there are other points of view on this subject, which you might explore for completeness. 109 Answers Question 53 Why do scientific observations often reflect philosophical observations? Answered November 22, 2018 Answer Science has many faces. The study of physical properties intended to further develop a product is science. Let us call that engineering science. As an electronics engineer, I looked to findings of science to eventually result in the development of new electronic components that I could apply to new products. Biological science has a similar relationship to medicine and patient care. Other than often philosophical considerations of ethics and morality, philosophy seems to have little relationship with the material and biological sciences. It is in the science of human nature that philosophy seems to be closely related to science. Philosophy is concerned with the nature of people, the world and how people are part of the world. That is also a daily concern of people, albeit more how those things affect survival and happiness. Science studying human nature is concerned with the same things that concern people,

and by extension, subjects which are of interest to philosophers. From my experience as a shade tree philosopher and amateur student of human nature, philosophy tends to predict the evolution of human science. But then, philosophers are expected to integrate new findings into their work. So, you might say that, in the humanities, philosophers produce the hypothesis which is tested by scientists. Results of these tests produce new insight for philosophers who, in turn, propose new hypotheses. Some of the best scientists are also amongst our better contemporary philosophers. Section 2 - Science 110 Question 54 What do you think about parapsychology? Answered November 23, 2018 Answer Parapsychology is the study of abnormal (para-) mental behavior (psychology). Paranormal is a term meaning other than normal and is usually applied to reported experiences not explained with currently understood principles. They include psychic or mediumistic access of information (psi functioning) and the movement of physical objects (psychokinesis). Healing intention, near-death and out of body experiences, and reincarnation are also classified as paranormal phenomena. Parapsychologists study paranormal phenomena. I am not a parapsychologist, so I do not speak for them. From my experience, they approach these phenomena from one of three perspectives. Anomalistic Psychology - reported paranormal experiences are normal experiences mistaken as paranormal. Exceptional Experiences Psychologists - reported experiences may be normal mistaken as paranormal, but some may be the expression of psychic ability. Survival Hypothesis - some parapsychologists are open to the possibility that reported phenomena may be normal or psi

functioning but may also be the influence of survived personality. My personal perspective is that the survival hypothesis is largely correct. My interest is in seeing more meaningful theories and models from parapsychologists that help me understand reported experiences. While I am not determined that the Survival Hypothesis is true, I am determined that explanations for apparently paranormal experiences further my understanding one way or another and that they are well-considered. With that in mind, Anomalistic Psychology is in the same class as skeptics who ignore the evidence in order to find ways to prove there is only 111 Answers the physical. To me, that is scientism. It is also disingenuous for them to work under cloak of academic authority as parapsychologists. I should add that it is also disingenuous of the rest of the parapsychological community for not call out the skeptics in their midst. Anyone, layperson or academic, who is not specific about their point of view only adds to the confusion the rest of us must deal with when trying to find the most reasonable explanations for these phenomena. Studying paranormal phenomena can ruin a professional career. As a consequence, most Ph.Ds. who are not trying to debunk the phenomena are retired from professional life. Most are also cross-over from such fields as psychology, philosophy and a few physical or biological sciences. Thankfully, a few young Ph.Ds. are coming into the field. Most seem to be turning toward Exceptional Experiences Psychology. Since many survivalrelated questions involve psi

function, their work has the potential of furthering our understanding of both human potential and survival. Skeptics only have insults, inappropriately interpreted research and innuendo to argue against the existence of paranormal phenomena. Wikipedia editors even banned anything affirmative (77) in articles about the phenomena. In fact, I was banned from editing an article (72) because I supported what they have branded as pseudoscience. (Naming ideas pseudoscience is the first sign of scientism.) The only way we will learn if reported paranormal experiences are meaningful is if they are studied. Right now, we depend on parapsychologists for that lonely task. What if we are more than our body? Can we afford not to find out? Question 55 What is a priori skepticism? Answered November 23, 2018 Answer In the context of skepticism, a priori means forming an opinion without examining of evidence. Section 2 - Science 112 This is a difficult subject to speak of in general terms because, in the sense of being discerning, skepticism is a good thing. It is expected that skeptical people can become less skeptical after examining the evidence. In principle, they are sufficiently open-minded to accept the fact of something if the evidence supports the claims. People who have decided a claim is not true, and who will not change their mind no matter the evidence, generally refer to themselves as skeptics. Organized skeptics have co-opted the term skepticism for their usually closed-minded attitude about a subject. For that reason, it may be better

for someone practicing healthy skepticism to think of their attitude as being discerning. Discernment means habitually examining the evidence to develop an informed opinion. Concerning paranormal subjects, the organized skeptic community depends on a nearly religious assumption that, if something is not specifically defined by science, it is impossible and must be misidentified physical phenomena or fraud. Skeptics seldom exhibit evidence that they have seriously examined claims of paranormal experiences before setting out to debunk them. Question 56 Is morality a byproduct of our biological reward system? Answered November 28, 2018 Answer I have found it useful to think of conscious self as the outward expression of our human and our immortal personality. It is also useful to distinguish between that which is the expression of our human and that which is the expression of our immortal personality. This is not necessarily to say that conscious self is separate from the body. I think it is, but using this difference helps me describe biology, morality and ethics. Human instincts evolved before we developed civilization. If human behavior is explained as a response to the prime imperative to assure the continuation of our genes, moral codes are intended to facilitate that survival. For instance, moral codes provide a roadmap for successfully 113 Answers navigating social rules. So, in that sense, I believe morality is a byproduct of our biology. Consider the difference in purpose motivating the urge to make more money (assure survival of the family, and therefore, personal gene pool)

and the urge to help a stranger with no apparent possibility of reward. Some argue that people perform random acts of kindness in an effort to bank goodwill that might further survival in the future. While that is one possibility, I think there are examples in which people have an altruistic urge to do things that are unrelated to gene survival. The dualistic model is useful for considering the difference between human instincts and our conscious self’s instinct to gain understanding through experience. Cooperation amongst people is an important way to further that understanding that tends to be defeated by the urge for gene survival. With these ideas in mind, it is arguable that personal ethics are mostly driven by conscious self and social, moral codes are mostly driven by gene survival. A maturing person is expected to moderate the urge for gene survival with the urge for cooperation to further understanding. Question 57 What will it take for Americans who are opposed to science to change their attitudes towards it? Answered November 28, 2018 Answer People are selectively biased about what they consider good science. For instance, after dealing with the skeptics in Wikipedia, it seems clear to me that someone who will fight to make a climate change article properly describe the science will fight as hard to make more frontier sciences look like fiction. To them, science is apparently not science, only science they accept is science. A fundamental concept of science is that if predictions based

on a theory are shown to be true, the effect should be to increase the credibility Section 2 - Science 114 of the theory. I will talk about climate change theory as one of the betterproven theories that are being rejected by some people. The problem is that there are four important sources of resistance that tend to control the opinions of a lot of people: Capitalism – remediation of the causes of climate change calls for many new technologies that often produce new companies. For instance, new batteries, stronger motors, higher efficiency home appliances. Meanwhile, some existing technologies must go away. Coal and gasoline-powered vehicles, for instance. It is probably economically difficult for some existing technologies to adapt, if possible, at all. The next best solution is to spend money on lobbyists for laws to protect the old order, even if it is against the best interest of the general public. Remember that, in capitalism, the only job of a Chief Executive Officer is to make the stockholders money; certainly not to serve the public. Religion – the Genesis story of the Bible tells us that God gave the earth to man. It appears that the story established the understanding that God would not give us something we can destroy. In effect, climate change theory is an affront to that religious belief. The effect is that some religious groups lobby government to ignore climate change. Political – politicians are dependent on donations to survive. The effect is that the

person with the most money, or that controls the most voters, has the loudest voice in lawmaking. Right now, capitalist and religious special interest groups are doing everything they can to control the government. See Top 10 Climate Deniers. (78) Libertarian – According to the Institute for Human Studies, the libertarian perspective is that peace, prosperity, and social harmony are fostered by “as much liberty as possible” and “as little government as necessary.” (79) When research indicates that a particular human behavior is not sustainable, say, burning fossil fuels, a rational government response is to begin curtailing that activity for the greater good. Some people oppose such perceived restrictions on their “Godgiven rights,” no matter what. Max Planck told us “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because 115 Answers its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.” That seems to be truer today than ever. It is unlikely a person who is predominantly guided by human instincts will respond favorably to rational arguments. The solution, I think, is education and guidance in mindfulness. Question 58 Is parapsychology related to physics? Answered December 19, 2018 Answer Full disclosure: I am not a parapsychologist. I do study reported survival related phenomena. I have a BS in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. I think parapsychology began as the study of reported abnormal experiences such as sensing other people’s thoughts, faith healing and reported visitations

from the dead. Such reports were considered psychological problems, making it reasonable that they would be studied by psychologists. The para- prefix relates to the abnormal part. Paranormal reports have been studied using increasingly controlled application of the scientific method. Good science has produced a current working hypothesis that a subtle field of propagation permeates the physical. It is known today as the Psi Field where psi is the term for the characteristic influence involved in many if not all paranormal phenomena. Section 2 - Science 116 They say “energy” instead of “influence” but that may be misleading. Influence in the etheric is equivalent to energy in the physical Another discovery is that intentionality can reduce the randomness of Random Event Generators (REG). Less accepted amongst parapsychologists is the repeated observation that intentionality can impress intended order on random noise in the form of paranormal voices. That is referred to as Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). A visual form is also easily replicated. ATransC White Paper on Transcommunication (80) has a useful discussion of these phenomena with examples. The fact is that correctly using methodologies of science, some paranormal phenomena are shown to be a physical effect caused by the mentally expressed influence of intentionality. It is necessary to study such effects by studying the mind, the psi field and known physical principles. To that extent, parapsychology and physics are related. Here is the rest of the story. Pseudoscience (false science) is a term used by ensconced mainstream opinion setters to

dismiss anything that might contradict their favored theories. That closed-minded approach to science is better known as scientism … like a religion and not science at all. Since psi functioning has been shown to influence REG behavior and audio recorders, it is reasonable to expect psi functioning also influences other instruments and physical processes. Anyone studying physics that are not considering the human-psi factor studied by parapsychology is not considering all of the question. As we learn more about the psi field, it is becoming evident that parapsychology might be better named Psi Studies. Conversely, any research team that does not include a Psiologist is incomplete. Question 59 Does precognition by itself account for all the various findings in parapsychology? Answered December 19, 2019 Answer 117 Answers Since I am not a parapsychologist, this is not a question for me to answer. Having studied many forms of phenomena generally referred to a paranormal, I will say that it appears precognition is only one of many characteristics of reported experiences. For instance, the effect of intention on the randomness of random event generators and the ability to sense information at a distance are more commonly demonstrated. First Sight Theory (19) proposed by James Carpenter includes the argument that psychically sensing and psychokinetically expressing information are natural functions. This is a well-supported roadmap for how we think and shows that virtually every aspect of our existence involves parapsychological phenomena. (I have paraphrased First Sight Theory in a perhaps more easily understandable form

in the Perception Essay. (22)) Question 60 What is the difference between dualism and non-dualism? Answered December 22, 2019 Answer Speaking in terms of Physicalism (non-dualism), the established point of view is that the mind is a product of biological processes in the brain, consciousness is a product of mind and when the body dies, so does mind and consciousness. That is non-dualism as I understand the concept. As such, a person is a human … end of story. In the dualistic point of view, mind is a nonphysical presence from which consciousness emerges and which existed before birth of the human and exist after the human dies. In this version of Dualism, a person is an immortal personality entangled with a human for a lifetime. This is basically the Survival Hypothesis (64) and is not generally accepted by mainstream science. There are variations of the dualistic view. For instance, some argue that the mind comes from the brain, but because energy cannot be destroyed, mind continues after the body dies. I personally reject this version because Section 2 - Science 118 it means trans communication must be with memory and not still-sentient consciousness. We have numerous examples of Electronic Voice Phenomena (43) in which apparent discarnate personalities interact with practitioners in a responsive manner. Question 61 What are the differences between metaphysics and parapsychology? Answered December 23, 2019 Answer From the Parapsychological Association (23) website: Parapsychology: Term coined in German by Max Dessoir (1889) and adopted by J. B.

Rhine in English to refer to the scientific study of paranormal or ostensibly paranormal phenomena, that is, psi; except in Britain, the term has largely superseded the older expression “psychical research;” used by some to refer to the experimental approach to the field. [From the Greek para, “beside, beyond,” + psychology, derived from the Greek psyche, “soul, mind,” + logos “rational discussion”] (23) What is Parapsychology: Parapsychology only studies those anomalies that fall into one of three general categories: ESP (terms are defined below), mind-matter interaction (previously known as psychokinesis), and phenomena suggestive of survival after bodily death, including near-death experiences, apparitions, and reincarnation. (23) What is not Parapsychology: Parapsychology is not the study of “anything paranormal” or bizarre. Nor is parapsychology concerned with astrology, UFOs, searching for Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, paganism, Satanism, vampires, alchemy, or witchcraft. (23) An Internet search for metaphysics shows that there are a lot of different opinions about what metaphysics is. That is probably because the 119 Answers general definition of metaphysics is the philosophical study of the real nature of things. That usually divides the audience into religious and science points of view. Thus, there is the likes of the Biblical Creation Story and the mainstream science’s Big Bang Theory. I study what might be called survival metaphysics. My purpose is to understand our nature, the nature of reality and our relationship with reality. For that, it must be stipulated that we are not our body and that a person is an

immortal personality entangled with a human for this lifetime. It must also be stipulated that there is some form of nonphysical aspect of reality that is our natural habitat. If you accept that you are more than your body, it should be clear that some metaphysical models fall short if they do not account for these factors. A good metaphysical model or theory will lead to a logical cosmology which explains the relationship of the various aspect of the model. For instance, astronomical metaphysics includes a cosmology intended to explain the origin of the universe. For comparison, I have been working with the Implicit Cosmology (15) which is implied by the Trans-Survival Hypothesis. (64) My answer is that metaphysics seeks to explain all reality and parapsychology is a science that studies aspects of reality. Results of that study should eventually manifest as elements of the metaphysics. You and I should be able to use the cosmology implied by that metaphysics for guidance in our daily living. Question 62 What is the point of metaphysics to the average person? Answered December 30, 2018 Answer I am not a college-trained metaphysician. This answer is from the perspective of an electronics engineer who has studied human potential, survival metaphysics and paranormal phenomena. I will use the metaphysical model I am studying to answer your question. Section 2 - Science 120 Metaphysics is usually defined by the mainstream in terms of the philosophical study of being and knowing. I characterize metaphysics from the dualist

perspective as the examination of the nature of reality, including the relationship between personality and the greater reality. As the terms are used here, Reality is the entirety of existence. Your personal reality is how you have learned to experience your local part of the greater reality. It is the world you live in. A cosmology is a sort of roadmap of reality that is implied by the metaphysical system being used. You should be able to understand the relationships between the various parts of reality proposed in the metaphysical model by studying the implied cosmology. (15) For instance, how do you relate to the rest of reality? When you sense your local reality, should you trust what you are sensing? Black box analysis (81) is an interesting tool that might help you see the relevance of the metaphysics-cosmology relationship. Imagine a box that contains a process that responds to incoming signals to produce different outgoing signals. We do not know what the process is, only that given a known set of inputs we should get a known set of outputs. The task is to build a block diagram representing functions in the box that at least reasonably represent the mystery process. That is, “solve the black box problem.” Imagine that we do not know how a radio works. All we know is that the inputs are multiple radio station signals and electricity for power. We also know that the output signal is intelligible sound from different stations. The problem

is, what inside the box will respond to those inputs to produce those outputs? As an engineer, it is relatively easy for me to propose a block diagram in which each block represents the 121 Answers necessary functions to convert electricity and radio signals into sound. Those functional areas are the solution. Properly defined, a radio could be built based on them. The known inputs and outputs of the black box are implied by the metaphysical propositions I defined. The black box problem may also include supposed external conditions, but the designer must be careful to stay as close to knowns as possible. For instance, I use the metaphysical proposition that the survival hypothesis is largely correct. The implication of this is that we have a physical body and a nonphysical mind. This is often referred to as duality. Personality (82) is a term I use in reference to the core of who we are. I refer to personality as the Observer; our I Am This of our immortal self. Our conscious self is our I Think I Am This as the Experiencer. An important implication of duality is that consciousness is a nonphysical process. Also, there must be a flow of information between our mostly unconscious mind and our conscious self. The input and output signals in this consciousness black box analysis are based on what we know about the way we mentally process information, parapsychological research and what we are learning from far-frontier subjects like mediumship and Electronic

Voice Phenomena. These propositions are supported by reasonably well-defined research. The solution to this black box exercise tells us that the perception and expression processes are in the black box and operate in our mostly unconscious mind. They are regulated by a sort of database I call Worldview. It contains memory, what we have been taught, what we have decided about things, our human and spiritual instincts. Worldview (16) acts as our Judge for incoming information. In effect, input signals might be discarded if they do not agree with worldview. If they are at least familiar, the signals may be modified to agree with worldview. We only become consciously aware of the information as it is modified by worldview. Worldview is resistant to change, but in some cases, incoming information may be ambiguous enough to be familiar to worldview and also change worldview to include the new perspective. Learning occurs. This view of metaphysics tells us that we cannot tell worldview what to do, but we can influence how it treats incoming information by habitually intending to understand the actual nature of reality. In effect, we decide to Section 2 - Science 122 align our personal reality with actual reality by gaining an understanding of the actual nature of things. To do that, we must examine what our worldview sends us by asking if it is true, right and if it furthers our understanding. Take a look at the block diagram representing my solution to the black box problem. It

represents part of the cosmology implied by my metaphysical study of things. The Mindful Way, (12) as I describe the process of seeking understanding, is defined by the metaphysics. For me, a metaphysical model can be a roadmap for spiritual progression. 123 Answers Question 63 What is the simplest definition of metaphysics? Answered January 3, 2019 Answer I define metaphysics as the examination of the nature of reality, including the relationship between personality and the greater reality. A model used to describe a set of metaphysical concepts are referred to as a cosmology. It is important to establish the scope of what you intend by reality. I define it as the actual reality in which the physical is an aspect. I do so because I subscribe to the dualistic nature of mind and brain. An astronomer will begin a metaphysical model with Big Bang Theory and the resulting cosmology will be the structure of the physical universe. A person basing understanding of reality on what ancient philosophers said will say metaphysics is as defined by such dead philosophers as Plato and Socrates. Question 64 Has science ruled out or disproven psychic abilities? Answered February 11, 2019 Answer To answer your question, it is first necessary to explain that science is not a single thing. It is a methodology used to study nature, our relationship with nature and how to apply that understanding in our daily living. One application of science might not apply to other questions. Think of science as

three faces. One is mainstream physical science, which is concerned with the nature of the physical universe. Section 2 - Science 124 Psychology is a science concerned with human nature. But here, we need to begin to distinguish between human and mind. There are two main theories of mind. The biological theory of mind is that it is a product of brain activity and the other is that mind and brain are separate with brain acting as a transceiver for mind. I think the theory that best addresses psychic ability is the psi field theory of mind which holds that mind exists independent of brain. An important characteristic of psychic phenomena is that they are not dependent on distance. For that reason, researchers have proposed that there is a Psi Field (53) permeating physical space which acts as a medium for propagation of the influence of thought. They refer to the psi field as being nonlocal, meaning there is no distance … everywhere is here. As I understand the science, brain is not thought to be able to produce psychic phenomena because it is a physical organism dependent on physical principles. Mind is a psi field phenomenon dependent on psi field principles which are still being learned. Next, we must say that, if mind is not brain, it is probably not part of the human organism except partially during the entanglement of a lifetime. So, we have the person, which is a human and a mind working together, and we

have the mind which produces psychic ability. Physical science does not yet accept the idea of a psi field, and so does not study psychic phenomena. Psychology studies the human mind. It does not study the mind working independently of the human. Yes, they think they do, but most psychologists still argue that mind is a product of brain. When we think of science, we must distinguish between physical, psychology and what I refer to as Etheric Studies (6) (the study of nonphysical mind). The answer to your question is that those who apply the scientific method to something like Etheric Studies have mostly shown psychic ability to be a genuine and knowable part of who we are. 125 Answers Question 65 Will there ever be a science of morality? Answered February 18, 2019 Answer This is why I make such a distinction between morality and ethics. Morality is a social phenomenon. I think many learned people are developing a workable science around the dynamics of social behavior which includes what the locally dominant society deems moral. Ethics and morality are interchangeable concepts in physical and psychological sciences. However, if you accept the concepts of survival metaphysics (Dualism), we are two aspects: one is our human body with its instincts; the other is our immortal personality with its spiritual instincts. In that view, morality and ethics can be defined as: Morality — right and wrong based on local standards of behavior. Ethics — distinction between right and wrong based on

personal responsibility and self-determination In this view morality is a function of human instincts. Virtually all of the corporate moral codes I have seen boil down to whatever will avoid embarrassing the corporation. The human instinct to perpetuate the personal gene pool means success in business. These ideas can be codified by science. The idea of ethics addresses fundamental concepts while morality tends to be relative. I think a science of ethics is still some time off as we wait for mainstream science to seriously consider the possibility of metaphysical duality. Then, it will likely be more in the form of probable behavior based on metaphysical models of our etheric nature. Section 2 - Science 126 Question 66 What's the correct word to refer to a believer of scientism? Answered March 16, 2019 Answer Scientism is usually defined as a belief that science alone is capable of explaining reality. The key term here is belief. Arguably, it is oxymoronic to include science and belief in the same sentence. Those who ignore the fact that properly conducted science is an unfinished story tend to assume it is infallibly correct. This leads to the rejection of new ideas that are not specifically addressed by current science. As a practical matter, scientism is a pejorative because it is typically applied to someone as a complaint about the person’s ignorance. At best, it is the recognition that the person does not understand the limits of science. Saying something someone says is scientism should be

sufficient. But if you want further description, one excellent term is apologist. A science apologist is one who explains and defends science. From my experience, an apologist does so based on scientism rather than an openness to new ideas or their actual nature. Also see Question 111: Is pseudoscience a pejorative term? Question 67 Is application of the principle of parsimony to scientific research rooted more in logic or pragmatism? Answered March 22, 2019 Answer It must be said that I am not a philosopher and find -isms more distracting than helpful. But the question of how we model unknowns is critical to my 127 Answers study of survival metaphysics. I will make a point and then ask more knowledgeable people to expand on this. The Principle of Parsimony is explained in Oxford Reference as: The principle that the most acceptable explanation of an occurrence, phenomenon, or event is the simplest, involving the fewest entities, assumptions, or changes. In phylogenetics, for example, the preferred tree showing evolutionary relationships between species, molecules, or other entities is the one that requires the least amount of evolutionary change, that is, maximum parsimony. The Principle of Parsimony takes us back to Occam’s Razor: When you have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler one is the better." What is Occam's Razor? (83) has a good discussion of the evolution of the interpretation of Occam’s Razor toward the Principle of Parsimony that is worth reading. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, (84)

Pragmatism is explained as: Pragmatism is a philosophical movement that includes those who claim that an ideology or proposition is true if it works satisfactorily, that the meaning of a proposition is to be found in the practical consequences of accepting it, and that unpractical ideas are to be rejected. The Basics of Philosophy (85) website defines Logic as: The study of reasoning, or the study of the principles and criteria of valid inference and demonstration. It attempts to distinguish good reasoning from bad reasoning. The Principle of Parsimony is based on the assumption that researchers have the necessary understanding of the subject to decide on the “acceptable explanation.” Occam’s Razor makes the same assumption. In fact, emerging understanding of how we think and mentally interact with our world, for instance, suggests that considering only physical principles for even the simplest events, such as a falling apple, may produce an incomplete explanation. Consider the question as it applies to how research might be applied in real life. Engineers apply the results of science to satisfy human needs. The Section 2 - Science 128 penalty for an engineer’s wrong conclusion possibly costs money, even lives. For an engineer, the test of what is an “acceptable explanation” in the Principle of Parsimony is the pragmatic question of whether it “works satisfactorily.” The answer to the question is that Logic requires that Parsimony be tested with Pragmatism. Question 68 Is philosophy a mystic science? Answered March 23, 2019 Answer Dictionaries usually define three

kinds of philosophy: 1. A system of thought, typically with a “-ism” suffix. From my experience, this version is usually done by abstract modeling of human nature. It may have a contemporary application but its application to science seems obscured by its usual emphasis on antiquities. 2. Personal belief about the nature of life and the world. Think of your worldview as a database filled with memory, what you have been taught and your instincts. Your worldview acts as a filter to show you mostly what you think is true about the world. Every experience that comes to your conscious self is colored by your worldview. Personal philosophy is important because it goes toward deciding how well you live life. It also goes toward deciding how executives govern companies and nations. It is always true about Worldview that garbage in equals garbage out. 3. Metaphysical inquiry. Metaphysics is all about understanding the nature of reality, people and their relationship with reality. Cosmologies are models representing a metaphysical view. The origin of the universe, its organization and the principles governing 129 Answers that organization is represented as a cosmological model depicting what is known. The cosmological model of the universe has been evolving for many years as different theories were tested to further refine the model. On a less global scale, the study of, say a colony of ants, at least indirectly begins with that universal model. How the ants are related to the model is as much philosophy as good

science. (Consider Darwinian Evolution versus Lamarck's Theory of Evolution) For those of us who study abstract metaphysical models, your term “mystic” is a little dismissive, as it conveys the assumption that there is no path to objective truth. I would say that version 1 and 3 of philosophy represent a pursuit of understanding intended to lead to objective truth. In fact, I would say your term “mystic science” is self-contradicting. The answer, then, is no. Question 69 To what extent is the belief in progress based on wishful thinking? Answered March 25, 2019 Answer Progress is a relative concept. If it is defined in terms of progressing toward an objective, it is necessary to ask who is objective. I will answer by targeting the question toward three categories: Science —Progress in science is measured by how well a hypothesis predicts observation. Our understanding of nature is converging on a universal hypothesis, but might never reach it, as understanding tends to beget new understanding. Engineering — Progress for the consumer might be economically infeasible for the manufacturer. Engineers are pulled by the need to please the consumer while keeping down manufacturing costs. We have all seen examples in which a new version of something is of less use. I agree that progress in engineering is an allusion in some cases; Section 2 - Science 130 however, in some major steps, such as the introduction of the first electric shaver, progress is real, depending on the stability of society. Society — This

depends on your measure. Mine is humanitarianism. (86) Any instantaneous sample of society will show how the influence of human instinct is balanced by humanitarian ideals. From my perspective, we are making progress toward a more humanitarian society, but as current USA politics are showing, such progress can be undone with the influence of a strong expression of the human instinct to be the dominant person or group. Here, progress is probably an illusion. Personal — In terms of personal wellbeing, progression is the act of achieving greater understanding. In What Does Spiritual Progress Really Mean? Margaret Placentra Johnson (87) suggested: The common trajectory in all spiritual progress takes a person from a selfish, egocentric, competitive and materialistic worldview, through some steps involving emergence beyond group think (and sometimes beyond the limitations of organized religion) by way of individuation and courageous questioning of ‘the givens’ handed to him by society, toward a stance where the self is less important than the whole and where the principle of unity (or oneness) supersedes individual striving and goals. A “selfish, egocentric, competitive and materialistic worldview” is the very definition of a person who is guided entirely by human instincts to perpetuate the gene pool no matter what. “… toward a stance where the self is less important than the whole” is a description of what some people describe as spiritual maturity. The progression from the first to the last is taught by many systems of thought. I describe it as The Mindful Way.

(12) Personal progression is a form of progress that is a little like the idea that you cannot unring a bell. While the individual may seem to backslide, decision making will always be biased by the person’s understanding. 131 Answers Question 70 What is the scope of practice for a metaphysics doctorate? Answered April 2, 2019 Answer It depends on which path you wish to take. At a glance, I see three main approaches you might follow: Mainstream Metaphysics taught by philosophy professors. Spiritual Metaphysics taught with a religious, New Age focus. Analytical Metaphysics focused on understanding the architecture of reality. These are my titles and probably not ones people in those fields would like. I cannot speak for Mainstream Metaphysics. To my knowledge, little useful comes from it. As an ordained Spiritualist, I can speak for Spiritual Metaphysics, but it is largely a belief-based approach best suited for religion and personal improvement. The University of Metaphysics (88) is a good example. If you look at their program, you will see that they recommend ordination with their bachelor’s degree. Analytical metaphysics has two important branches: 4. Astronomical Metaphysics is based on mainstream science models such as the Big Bang Theory and theories about star and planet formation. An astronomical cosmology has evolved to describe the architecture of the universe. This view dominates physical science. I am not sure about the kind of courses necessary for a doctorate in this metaphysics. It is likely that one must have a doctorate in

an astronomy or physics-related field to then work as a metaphysician. Section 2 - Science 132 5. Survival Metaphysics is my term to distinguish the study of first cause based on a model of reality of which the physical universe is an aspect. It is based on the Trans-Survival Hypothesis (64) which holds that we existed before this lifetime and will after as selfaware, still living consciousness (immortal personality). Use discernment here. The Trans-Survival Hypothesis is an elaboration of the usual survival hypothesis which is also used to describe survived memory. As written, it is not widely accepted. Cosmological models evolve out of metaphysical theory. The Implicit Cosmology, (15) which evolved out of the Trans-Survival Hypothesis, provides a useful metaphysical model with which the necessary vocabulary can be developed for discussing analytical metaphysical ideas. While mainstream academia will not usually address survival metaphysics, people in philosophical and spiritual metaphysics might support it to some extent. Etheric Studies (6) is one alternative. The Parapsychological Association (23) has a list of universities offering degrees in parapsychology. That would be a good place to begin. Although most parapsychologists are not metaphysicians in any way, a broad understanding of paranormal phenomena is helpful because each form provides hints as to the nature of the underlying reality. So, take your pick. One of the Hermetic schools (metaphysical) teaches that it is important to learn everything one can about everything possible to better understand any one thing. That would suggest that training in metaphysics is based

on a strong foundation of academic training in the sciences and a lot of experience. Question 71 Is panpsychism a form of property dualism? Answered April 10, 2019 Answer 133 Answers First, I am neither an academically trained philosopher or psychologist. My approach is via survival metaphysics. (6) On the surface, panpsychism (everything has consciousness) and Property Dualism (physical objects have physical and mental characteristics) appear to be the same. I answered this question because it gives me an opportunity to note that both describe physical objects from the body-centric perspective. (89) That is, the physical is primary and mental is a subset of the physical. No matter how hard people try to explain the mind in terms of the physical, current research into such characteristics of mind known by terms like anomalous acquisition of information, influence of intention on random processes and distant healing intention, makes it necessary to consider a different model. Increasing understanding of the nature of mind suggests that consciousness creates reality. (90) If true, the diagram for Property Dualism relating the object to physical and mental characteristics would be turned around to indicate that mind initiates physical objects with intended physical characteristics. This view is still conjecture but it is becoming well enough accepted that the model should be one of the considerations when Panpsychism and Property Dualism are discussed. Perhaps we can refer to it as mental-object expression. Panpsychism holds that consciousness emerges from physical material. That is, first came the electron (rock, water…)

and then came consciousness inherent in electrons (rock, water…). This is just a way to avoid including the possibility of a nonphysical aspect of reality. Question 72 Parapsychology has studies that have been replicated and are known to be solid. Are you convinced? Answered April 11, 2019 Answer Section 2 - Science 134 Replication with the same assumptions is not proof that the assumptions are correct, only that using them can produce the same results. For instance, in Anomalistic Psychology, the main assumption is that there is no paranormal anything, only imagined experiences or mental aberration. Bound by that point of view, study results are reported as evidence that the assumptions are correct, while more probably, they only appear correct because other explanations are not allowed. One widely cited Failure to Replicate (91) study was conducted using a protocol that deviated so much from best practices that it would never or seldom produce the target effect. Thus, replication of the study would be easy but would not prove anything meaningful. Other than the ineptitude of the supposed researcher, the problem is in the idea that such studies are “known to be solid.” One obvious reason is the belief that peer review is effective. However, it is conducted in secret, and consequently, the observer has no way of knowing the qualifications of the reviewers. The above-mentioned study was peer-reviewed and published in a parapsychological journal known for publishing anti-survival reports. Being well-versed in the subject in question, and knowing the community,

I am confident no qualified peers reviewed the work. But I do not know because it is a secret. A rational, discerning observer has no choice but to ignore the report. To be clear, I think much of reported parapsychological research is well conducted and the results need to be positively considered. We must not lose sight of the good work of some parapsychologists and support them as we are able. Related questions might be asked that are more to the point. It does not matter if people are convinced. It matters if people understand the implications of the research. Some researchers have done an excellent job of expressing their results and models in easily understood media. Most, however, fail their public service role. A plague on the house of statistics! Perhaps you could get a better sense of public opinion by asking if people can explain the implications of the research they accept. For instance, do they understand what is intended by survival hypothesis? Do they understand that explaining mind as a quantum effect avoids saying mind survives physical death as a sentient consciousness? 135 Answers Parapsychology is a category of science representing many points of view ranging from only the physical exists to the physical is an aspect of a greater reality. Pronouncements in the name of science can only be meaningful when the scientist’s point of view is explained as part of the report and the qualifications of peer reviewers are known. Question 73 What are the

fundamental differences between modern science and scientism? Answered April 13, 2019 Answer I study Survival Metaphysics. (15) By that, I mean my objective is to understand how reported experiences deemed paranormal might be possible. My study is not to prove they exist, only to understand why they are reported and how we might explain their possible objective effects. The idea is to develop a model that successfully predicts such reported phenomena by applying known physical principles if possible, and then by extrapolating modifications to existing principles or additional principles that might be needed. The model is like a thought engine in which we say that, if this input is true, then what must happen in the engine to produce the reported output. To be clear, I am not qualified to propose changes in known physical principles, only to point out the possible need for changes and their purpose. I do claim the qualifications to propose survival metaphysical principles. But at most, I can only outline them. As with any new ideas, the metaphysical principles I discuss must be vetted. When I attempt to discuss with learned scientists or science enthusiasts how known principles might be applied to the model, the most common response is that the study of the reported phenomena is pseudoscience. That typically ends the conversation. Pseudoscience is a pejorative. It is intended to tell me that I am stupid because I study the phenomena, and if I believe they are real, I am a wacko Section 2

- Science 136 or perhaps a fraud. Either way, the opportunity for collaboration is lost by the person’s dogmatic belief in their version of science. By referring to the study of anything as pseudoscience, the person is saying that, if science does not specifically define the phenomena, it cannot be and cannot exist. That is scientism. Rational inquiry into the nature of something using well-considered methodologies of science is not scientism. Scientism is the belief that science has explained everything and if science has not endorsed a reported phenomenon as real, then it must be fraud or an illusion. Science is generally defined as the systematic study of the nature of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. Because the survival metaphysics I study and much of the work of parapsychologists (23) calls into question the scope of “physical and natural world,” I substitute “reality” in that definition so that: Science is the systematic study of the nature of reality through observation and experiment. As a citizen, I look to scientists to help me understand the world I live in, improve my life and help assure my safety. We all do. That is one of the reasons so many of our tax dollars go toward funding universities and the education of scientists. For the most part, science has been a wonderful servant to society. This is especially true for medicine, engineering and exploration. However, those who study physics, and our human and spiritual nature appear to be locked

in a form of dogmatic science. The effect is that their culture tends to resist change. Consider this observation expressed by physicist Max Planck: A new scientific truth does not generally triumph by persuading its opponents and getting them to admit their errors, but rather by its opponents gradually dying out and giving way to a new generation that is raised on it. Good science is conducted when the scientists openly consider new ideas. The alternative is scientism. 137 Answers Question 74 How is psychokinesis related to quantum connection? Answered April 27, 2019 Answer I was not going to respond to this question, but all the answers thus far are so ill-informed and dismissive that it seems necessary. I am not a parapsychologist, but as a layperson, I am a longtime experiencer, practitioner and investigator. Psychokinesis (PK) is a reported human experience that involves apparent mental influence on physical objects and processes. It is studied by parapsychologists but virtually entirely rejected as illusion or fraud by most mainstream academics. As a paranormal phenomenon, it is helpful to think of PK as the expression of mind while the various forms of psychic functioning are seen as the perception of mind. Experiences reported as apparent PK include decreased randomness of a Random Event Generator (REG) when physically collocated with people in deep meditation. See: The Global Consciousness Project (92) Experiments Investigating the Influence of Intention on Random and Pseudorandom Events (38) Exploratory Study: The Random Number Generator and Group Meditation. (93) Electronic

Voice Phenomena (EVP) is apparently a PK influence. See A Model for EVP (43) Dr. Dean Radin has conducted studies of apparent PK influence on the classic split-screen experiment. The result is an apparent influence of intentionality (expressed PK) on the normal distribution of photons passing through the double-slit apparatus. Consciousness and the double-slit interference pattern: Six experiments. (94) Section 2 - Science 138 Poltergeist activity is typically reported in homes in which a disturbed child lives. A popular theory to explain psychokinetic activity is that it is caused by the child’s unconscious cry for help. It subsides as that cry is answered. The main points are that psychokinetic influences on physical processes are clearly demonstrated and they appear to have a physical human source. Poltergeists (Overview) (95) No one claims to know how PK works. Most research has been on the effects of PK under mostly controlled conditions. My answer to your question is that psychokinesis has been associated with some quantum effects such as the double-slit experiment. But the actual psi-physical interface is still undetermined. In the Fallacy of Equal Similars, people mistake magic and known physical phenomena as looking like the paranormal phenomena and thus make the logical mistake of assuming that physical phenomena explain the paranormal. I think using quantum principles to explain PK falls under that logical error. It is demonstrably clear that some mind-to-physical effect occurs and needs to be better understood. That research is being made doubly difficult by the off-hand rejection by

mainstream science apologists. Question 75 What are the metaphysical presuppositions of science? Answered May 1, 2019 Answer Consider that religion was a dominant influence in our early history and practicing what we think of as the scientific method would have been heresy in most cultures. I am not a historian, but I suspect science began as a simple questioning of religious doctrine. Perhaps as “Was it really God’s hand or did the person do something to make himself sick?” At the same time, the metaphysics were well developed even in early Egypt some 6000 years ago. You can see that, throughout our history, philosophers have questioned the nature of reality. 139 Answers A good scientist looks for relationships between observed effects and prior events. The apple did not fall when it was green, only when it was ripe. Did God do something or did the apple stim grow weak with age? Did God cause the cycle from flower-to-harvest or is it a natural result that evolved over time? Naturalist observations evolved into modern science. The only metaphysical presupposition I can think of to influence this early naturalism is the belief that Mother Nature’s secrets are knowable. There was the second metaphysical presupposition that we humans have a spiritual aspect and a physical aspect. That dualistic view is clear in some of the surviving text from ancient teachers. However, as science evolved from a holistic study to what we now think of as a reductionist one, the dominating modern-day assumption of

science is that reality is explained, and we are now only filling in the details. Dualism is not seen as part of real science. Question 76 What energy does paranormal phenomena use or contain? Answered May 4, 2019 Answer A similar question is Question 80: What is psi energy? Please refer to my answer. Quantum physicists David Bohm proposed a hypothetical Implicate Order (96) as a field underlying physical reality. He proposed that the field connects everything and contains the essence of what physical reality can become. Parapsychologists have proposed the Psi Field (53) to explain how psychic sensing (psi) and psychic expression (psychokinesis or PK) is propagated outside of physical space. Mind is seen by many researchers as a field independent of biological brain. An Emerging New Model for Consciousness: The Consciousness Field Model (97) Section 2 - Science 140 Rupert Sheldrake proposed the Hypothesis of Formative Causation (35) to explain how organisms know how to form. The central characteristic of the hypothesis is what he refers to as a morphic field. In effect, the decision of first cells in an organism to divide into specific groups such as hair, bone and tissue is managed by a nonphysical morphogenesis field that is unique to each species … worldwide. It is becoming clear that perception is formed in our mostly unconscious mind. Sensed information is modified to agree with memory and what the person has been taught to be true before being delivered to conscious awareness. Mind is a nonphysical

field. See James Carpenter’s First Sight Theory. (19) The common factor of these references is that the nonphysical aspect of our world is best described as a field. A characteristic of nonphysical fields is that they are nonlocal, meaning that physical distance is not a factor — here is everywhere. In my study of transcommunication, (98) it has become clear that the psychokinetic influence on physical objects is not a matter of energy. It is a matter of nonphysical intention influencing physical space. The nonphysicalto-physical interface is a conceptual influence which causes a physical effect. If this is correct, the answer to your question is that physical energy is involved on this side of the interface. Intention is the motive influence on the other side. One form of influence we think is beginning to make sense is the influence of intention on random processed. Random processes tend to become less random. One physical process that might be involved is known as stochastic amplification: a large, broad-spectrum signal will amplify a small, discrete signal when the two are combined. Thus, we see that apparent intended order is impressed on background noise during audio recording to produce the paranormal voice of Electronic Voice Phenomena. The answer is intention produces a change in conceptual intended physical order as an objective event. 141 Answers Question 77 What are some good resources for learning about metaphysics? Answered May 5, 2019 Answer First, I am not a trained metaphysician or philosopher. My answer is based on

personal experience resulting from a lifetime-interest. From Google Dictionary: “Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space.” I would remove “abstract concepts” as unnecessary but otherwise, I agree. Philosophical metaphysics is influenced by such ancient thinkers as Aristotle but he lived more than 2,000 ago. We have evolved, and with our evolution has been an evolution of how we understand our world. We must see the world from the relevancy of our current consciousness. Metaphysics is the study of underlying principles. Properly done, a metaphysical perspective of a subject is just musing until it leads to an implied model usually referred to as a cosmology. A cosmology (15) should suggest testable hypotheses, which if tested, should lead to the kind of objective understanding (theories and corollaries) an engineer can turn into a product. The necessary feedback is that the results of testing hypotheses should be used to further refine the cosmological model. Since the cosmology is implied by the metaphysical speculation, that speculation should be better informed and more representative of the actual nature of reality. A trap we have fallen into today is the tendency to institutionalize cosmologies as immutable truths. When that happens in science, we think of it as scientism. Paranormalists think of it as reductionism and reductionists assume paranormalists are delusional … and too uneducated to understand Aristotle. Emerging understanding about the way we think suggests that

we experience the world as we have been taught to expect. If true, that would Section 2 - Science 142 suggest the validity of metaphysical speculation is relative to the thinker’s worldview. If that is true, I argue that the underlying, naturally occurring principles organizing reality represent the measure of the metaphysical speculation and not the effectiveness of resulting theory. Question 78 Why are there skeptic organizations? Do people need help to disbelieve things? Answered May 5, 2019 Answer There are community-minded people amongst us who are inclined to start a support group based on their interest. I think that is the fundamental principle. The rest is probably that people are attracted to like-minded people. From my experience jousting with the dominant, skeptical editors in Wikipedia, it is not about disbelieving. It is about defending society from pseudoscience. That is a big deal in the philosophy of science. Consider The National Science Foundation’s Annual Science and Technology Report. (99) From 2006, A recent study of 20 years of survey data collected by NSF concluded that ‘many Americans accept pseudoscientific beliefs,’ such as astrology, lucky numbers, the existence of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), extrasensory perception (ESP), and magnetic therapy (Losh et al. 2003). Such beliefs indicate a lack of understanding of how science works and how evidence is investigated and subsequently determined to be either valid or not. In fact, the Lord of the Flies amongst Wikipedia skeptical editors was a fellow signing as Scienceapologist. His name was well chosen because

apologist is defined as A person who argues to defend or justify some policy or institution. The net result is scientism. The belief is that “if known science does not specifically address the subject, that subject is not real. It cannot exist.” 143 Answers Mainstream science does not allow for duality and survival metaphysics, so those cannot be real. Anyone who thinks they are is delusional or fraudulent and the subject is pseudoscience. It has also been my experience that skeptics are amongst the least informed about the target of their skepticism. When you begin with an impossible or fraud argument, there is not much room for informed discussion. Question 79 Is the study of metaphysics futile and overly vague? Answered May 5, 2019 Answer Astronomy is based on observations and extrapolation of what is known about Earth and our solar system. Models designed to explain what is observed are used to develop hypotheses that are tested when possible. Some of the models are mathematical like Einstein’s e=mc2 and theoretical predictions that certain background signals are evidence of an expanding singularity (Big Bang Theory). Astro-metaphysics is not futile. It might be vague to the untrained eye, but a little study produces a lot of insight about what is known. Let me call this The cycle of knowledge: 1. Contemplation about what is observed (metaphysics, naturalist) 2. Modeling based on that contemplation (cosmology) 3. Proposal of hypotheses suggested by that cosmology 4. Predictions based on those hypotheses 5. Test of those

predictions followed by feedback to refine the hypothesis in a possibly endless cycle of refinement. 6. Engineering to develop a useful output based on that cycle of refinement. 7. Contemplation of the results (Consumer benefit) Section 2 - Science 144 At some point in the history of every consumer benefit is metaphysical contemplation. A second kind of metaphysics is actually philosophy. That is usually where all of those ancient philosophers come in. As an engineer, I will say that all they had to say is being said better in our time. Our consciousness has evolved, and with it, our need for a more sophisticated delivery of those fundamental concepts. The work of modern metaphysicians is probably more relevant, but their work is futile if its public-facing version is overly vague. Even so, knowledge begins with contemplation Question 80 What is psi energy? Answered May 6, 2019 Answer A similar question is Question 76: What energy does paranormal phenomena use or contain? Please refer to my answer. The main thing to remember is not to try explaining the phenomena of mind (psi functioning) with physical terms. A thought is a nonphysical, conceptual thing that is real enough to have a physical, objective effect. But thought is not governed by physical principles. The distinction is important. When we say energy, all of our training about the nature of energy comes to mind. This leads us down the wrong train of thought. From the book, Your Immortal Self: (4) Energy and Potential You

will probably be familiar with cosmologies that describe reality as planes of existence and that use terms such as higher, lower, finer and vibration. You will also be accustomed to thinking in terms of energy. None of these concepts are useful in this cosmology. Concepts often spoken of in terms of energy are modeled here in terms of potential which is characterized as the influence of intention. There is no electromagnetic equivalent in the model, although to be 145 Answers technical, electromagnetic energy would be modeled as an expression of intention. See the Etheric Fields Discourse. (53) Potential has special meaning in that it is used in the sense of emergent form, rather than in the physical sense of a difference of potential between two electrical terminals. In its quiescent state, the etheric can be modeled as a nascent form of potential. More correctly, a nascent process. The idea is that etheric, as the fundamental element of reality, is an undifferentiated process which is defined by intention to produce intended order. This is an etheric or conceptual equivalent of a random physical process such as white noise or the output of a random event generator. The answer is that the apparent energy of psi energy is really the effect of what I refer to as the Creative Process: (100) Changes in reality are expressed via personality’s attention on an imagined outcome with the intention to make it so. This applies to any intended order from speaking to precipitating a painting.

Question 81 Are skeptical standards for parapsychology unrealistic? Answered May 6, 2019 Answer Skeptical standards for parapsychology are as relevant as my standard for astrophysics. The skeptic’s authority comes from their audience and not from anything resembling actual science. All appears to be based on a religious belief about what they think is science. An example is “There is no verified objective evidence that would support a parapsychological hypothesis.” Then there is the common declaration that “we will never know” or “it is unknowable.” The examples are quotes from other people’s answers to this question. Are you familiar with First Sight Theory? (19) It is based on substantial research concerning the nature of psi functioning (psychic) and current psychological theories about the way we think. I have found First Sight Section 2 - Science 146 Theory useful in my study of transcommunication. For instance, the corollaries have proven to be an effective ruleset for how I have modeled perception and expression. In effect, I am testing the theory by comparing it to known phenomena and current models. This would not be possible if the theory had no empirical foundation. Other theoretical models are being tested in parapsychology. For instance, a theory is emerging from current research that may help explain apparent psychokinetic influence on random processes. Also, several techniques for Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC) have proven repeatable. My avatar is an example of video-loop ITC. My point is that there is quite a lot of objective evidence. Research continues and is

furthering our understanding. Any rational observer would see that the skeptic’s argument comes from people who are either uninformed or are informed but determined to protect their status quo, which is scientism. So, the real question is not the high standards, it is who are skeptics trying to convince? Question 82 J. B. Rhine application of scientific methods enabled him to produce credible evidence that extrasensory perception and psychokinesis phenomenon exist. Where are those results? Answered May 7, 2019 Answer The following is for others answering here who think Rhine has received a fair shake from skeptics. I use the Sheldrake article because it is one of the better-documented cases of blatant scientism I have seen. See The Big TED Controversy of 2013, Part 1 (101) and Weiler’s book, Psi Wars. (102) 147 Answers I was an editor in Wikipedia for a few years. It was during the time that the skeptical editors managed to band together and establish the online encyclopedia as a tool for anti-paranormal propaganda (any frontier study). Since they are nearly lost in Wikipedia history, the main arbitration cases are listed here: Wikipedia Arbitration. (77) Anything that is not explicitly supported by mainstream science is considered pseudoscience in Wikipedia. It is now established in Wikipedia that simply talking in a positive tone about what is considered pseudoscience is the same as supporting quackery. I was banned for life (72) from editing the Rupert Sheldrake page (103) because I was supporting a more moderate phrasing for Sheldrake’s

work. Notice in Wikipedia’s Rupert Sheldrake article (73) that the skeptics begin denouncing his work in the first paragraph. Look fast, because the Page History shows that there is still a lot of argument over the content. They call that an edit war. A recent case has been brought to the Wikipedia Neutral Point of View Notice Board (104) that is usually used for grievances concerns Sheldrake. It is worth a read if you doubt that skeptics have taken over Wikipedia. My point is that mainstream science, academia and their apologists will do anything they can to deflect positive comments, references and citations about the work of parapsychology, including the Rhine Research Center. My answer is that one should begin looking for the Rhine material on the Rhine Research Center website. (25) Question 83 What are the laws of metaphysics? Answered May 12, 2019 Answer I am aware of two versions of metaphysics: astronomical metaphysics and survival metaphysics. Astronomical or physical metaphysics includes the fundamental assumptions that the universe is all there is, it began as a singularity (Big Bang) and is organized according to naturally occurring principles such as the natural rate of decay and pi for circles. Section 2 - Science 148 Survival metaphysics uses the assumption that the physical universe is an aspect of a greater reality (the etheric). The etheric is nonlocal, in that everywhere is here and provides a propagation medium for mind and thought. The physical is usually modeled as the expression of mind.

The etheric is conceptual space while the physical is objective space. Because of this, physical energy is meaningless in the etheric. Instead, potential to express is the motive force. The creative process is attention on an imagined (visualized) outcome with the intention to make it so. Fundamental principles organizing the etheric are also conceptual. I have made an attempt to list what I found useful when developing a cosmology: Organizing Principles (100) Question 84 What are reasonable alternative explanations to genuine paranormal evidence recorded on video? Answered June 9, 2019 Answer Be mindful of the qualifications of people answering your question. A Ph.D., for instance, may not make a person qualified to respond to something about things paranormal. And therein lies the issue. In a rational world, one does not have the right to comment without solid reasons. At the same time, discernment requires the witness to understand the validity of offered reasons. An example of the Fallacy of Equal Similars is throwing a coffee cup into view of a camera and claiming it proves that poltergeist activity is fake. The effects are similar, but the well-documented circumstances surrounding the flying cup are different. The chain of custody of the evidence becomes important. Using your terms, “genuine paranormal evidence” would be video of the flying cup taken by a qualified researcher with witnesses and supporting evidence. While the researchers may not have answers as to why, who or how, their 149 Answers video is still reasonable evidence that something paranormal

seems to have occurred. If it is faked, then it is faked and not genuine. Something faked is never paranormal, only like something paranormal. There are fake videos claiming to be proof of the paranormal. Some are people wanting the notoriety of having proof. Most are people trying to spoof the public. In fact, it is not spoofing so much as it is outright lying and making it harder for researchers to properly study claims. Stupidity is easy. Being fooled by stupidity is easy. Doing the work to understand these reported experiences is hard. It is possible to find an explanation for how some videos may be actual but not necessarily proof. No video should be taken by itself. The chain of custody and surrounding circumstances should be understood as an event … all of the event and not as isolated bits of information. Other than faked material, the most common problem with evidence is ordinary mistaken as extraordinary. For instance, a naturally occurring lenticular cloud looks a lot like a flying saucer. A lot of Electronic Voice Phenomena posted by way of video on YouTube are just noise mistaken as paranormal by inexperienced practitioners. An increasingly popular technique to produce apparent transfiguration is to take a picture of a person’s face while moving a sheer screen between the person and the camera. It is more probable that the apparent transfiguration is actually just obscured vision and befuddled perception. Defense from that kind of misdirection is to understand the common

characteristics of such phenomena and the metaphysical models. An important rule is to suspend judgment until more is known, rather than deciding without full understanding that something is fake. When in doubt, always error toward the mundane. Question 85 What do you think about my first thesis on science and its relationship to the metaphysical world? Answered June 14, 2019 Section 2 - Science 150 Here is the summary of the questioner’s thesis: In summary, scientists believe that truth is found in reason and that reason is found in the material world and in the scientific analysis of the evolution of the human psyche, which scientists argue is mostly material. Scientists see the value in metaphorical stories but argue that these stories offer far more harm than good to collective and individual well-being. Answer Interesting perspective, but I need to disagree. Metaphysics is the study of fundamental concepts. For instance, astronomical cosmology is based on a metaphysical model defined as beginning with a singularity. The public refers to the model as “The Big Bang Theory.” Scientists cannot help it if their singularity is taken as proof of God by religious people. They also cannot ignore their theory to avoid its cooption by religions any more than physicists can ignore nuclear principles out of fear of them being coopted for a nuclear bomb. I study things paranormal. The model I am currently working with depends on mainstream science and consideration of what is currently understood about frontier subjects such as speculation

about a subtle psi field, psychokinetic influence and psychic information access. In the eyes of mainstream society, there is little difference between religion and the study of things paranormal. The mainstream science I depend on does not allow the existence of the phenomena I study. Should those scientists discard their work because I coopted it for my study? Science is the study of things and ideas. If it is conducted while deliberately ignoring some peripheral influence on those things and ideas, then it is not science but self-fulfilling ideology. As a postscript, science does try to control how theories are used by branding study they do not agree with as pseudoscience. The farther we are out in the frontier of thought, the more social pressure there is to make us go away. 151 Answers Question 86 Scientifically is it possible some supernatural entity created the dense atom that created our universe? Answered June 17, 2019 Answer It seems more reasonable to say that nature is organized according to naturally occurring principles than to say that a god causes something in nature. Yes, we can argue that a god caused the principles. You must decide the source of the original intention. Did a god intend to create the universe by first creating the dense atom or did a god create the dense atom knowing a future universe would depend on its existence? Spiritualists (20) deal with this question by saying reality (not limited to the physical universe) exists as an overriding

intelligence they refer to as Infinite Intelligence. They argue that it is organized by principles which are naturally occurring expressions of that intelligence. This is not a Divine, father god. The popular equivalent is Mother Nature from the perspective of a physicist and not that of a Wiccan. I should say here that there is nothing wrong with the Wiccan point of view. It takes us to the same origin as Spiritualism in the final analysis. Consider this comparison. Physicists have the origin of the universe as the expanding singularity we think of as the Big Bang. Principles referred to as universal constants naturally followed the expanding singularity. To my knowledge, the source of the singularity is not scientifically known. While Spiritualists tend to assign a lot of respect to the idea of Infinite Intelligence, the concept is not intended to be thought of as a god it is seen as a first cause and whatever caused first cause is beyond to scope of the system of thought. There is no qualitative or quantitative difference between the Infinite Intelligence concept and the Big Bang Theory other than the understanding that the “Big Bang” singularity is conceptually within the Infinite Intelligence field. Section 2 - Science 152 Examples of naturally occurring physical principles are the constant for the natural rate of decay referred to as Exponential Decay (Lambda “λ” ) and the Elementary Charge “e.” My physics is rusty, but I believe these, in turn, are the natural result of other

factors now being codified in the study of quantum mechanics. In the end, it is possible that some first cause intended these. In Dualism, metaphysically, the Creative Process is attention on a visualized outcome with the intention to make it so. The resulting creation is expected to be organized by naturally occurring principles. As a person who dabbles in metaphysics, my speculation is that first cause began with the basics intention and purpose which were modified with curiosity motivating expression and perception. That only moves the timeline back a little before first cause and the Big Bang, but those more fundamental concepts seem more likely to represent the underlying principles of nature than atoms. Question 87 Why is scientism considered a bad thing? Answered June 18, 2019 Answer Interesting that there are so many ways of looking at your question. According to one of the people who offered an answer, I am “dumb or ignorant or evil folks.” I can only answer from the perspective of my learned response to the concept. That was as an editor in Wikipedia where I concentrated on articles about paranormal subjects. I was there as the skeptical editors were self-organizing into a block controlling those articles. In fact, I am banned for life from editing one of them because I violated the “Thou shalt not defend subjects defined as pseudoscience.” rule. User talk:Tom Butler (72) Pseudoscience is a pejorative coined by people zealously skeptical about anything that is not specifically defined by mainstream science.

Scientism is a term used to describe such radical skeptics and people who assume science is finished evolving … and want everyone to agree. 153 Answers I am an engineer and think that, alongside reason, science is the foundation of knowledge acquisition. I am intrigued by reported human experiences that cannot be explained by known science. I seek to study such experiences, but I am hampered by people who think pseudoscience is a danger to society and must be stamped out. Skeptics have even convinced governments of this. For instance, Chapter 7: Science and Technology: Public Attitudes and Understanding (99) The bottom line is that scientism is the belief that science has the only answer to everything based on an unrealistic expectation that science is infallible. Besides being a religious-like point of view, it is not actually one shared by reputable scientists. Question 88 Why does mainstream science brush off any seemingly reliable scientific evidence of paranormal phenomena such as psi phenomena that seems to be proven to some degree to occur? Answered June 21, 2019 Answer Parapsychologists study phenomena related to extraordinary human ability. One of the hypotheses considered for anomalous acquisition of information is that it is psychically acquired from other minds. That is pretty far out on the frontier of science. I will refer to that as the Psi Field Hypothesis. Section 2 - Science 154 It is proposed in mediumship that the mind providing the anomalous acquisition information is discarnate. That is even further out on

the frontier of science. I will refer to that as the Survival Hypothesis. Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) are speech found in electronic devices for which there are no known science-based explanations. Still further out on the frontier. EVP is the audio version of Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC). My avatar is a visual ITC image. The working hypothesis for EVP is that many are initiated by discarnate personalities. In effect, dead people talking on tape. Yes, even further out. I study EVP. A Model for EVP (43) will give you a sense of what we know about it. Virtually all parapsychologists who study reports of unusual human experiences are skeptical of EVP. I do not have exact figures. Based on my experience, the majority of parapsychologists are skeptical of the Survival Hypothesis and probably half are also skeptical of the Psi Field Hypothesis. Parapsychologists specializing in Anomalous Psychology are dedicated to proving there is no such thing as psychic ability. In practice, they are mainstream scientists debunking the paranormal. My point is that academically trained thinkers tend to be skeptical of reported phenomena that are farther from the mainstream than the subject they study. From experience, I know part of that is overconfidence in the completeness of their education. For instance, a common explanation offered by skeptical scientists for EVP is that they are stray radio waves. That assumes the people who study EVP are idiots. I have an electronics engineering degree and know a thing or two about stray radio waves.

EVP are not those, but the explanation sounds plausible to someone who is not informed about EVP or who does not understand stray radio waves. Another explanation is scientism. If mainstream science does not specifically endorse a phenomenon, people afflicted with the religion of scientism have no choice but to assume it is impossible, and therefore, cannot be. 155 Answers Question 89 What is the difference between science and scientism? Answered June 22, 2019 Answer It is true that scientism is a pejorative. However, it is true in the sense that dictator is a pejorative when you call a dictator one. Loser is a pejorative, but if you say that a horse that just lost a race is a loser, it is a true pejorative. There are two schools of thought that I deal with concerning the nature of reality — organized skeptics and the paranormalist community. Both communities have the usual range of aptitude from simple stupidity to intellectual brilliance. Both communities have their useful pejorative. Paranormalists say that a person (usually self-identified as a skeptic) is practicing scientism when the skeptic argues that, if something is not specifically defined by mainstream science, it is impossible and cannot be. In turn, skeptics argue that anyone studying something that is not specifically defined by mainstream science is practicing pseudoscience. They say that false science is a danger to society. Of course, calling something pseudoscience is intended to defame the paranormalist and make their work go away. I sometimes think the

next step is witch burning … again. See Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust (105) and User talk:Tom Butler (72) So, you can see, scientism is all about religious-like belief in the infallibility of science. Scientists and laypeople are equally susceptible to such an unreasonable belief that science already knows everything. There are consequences. As you can see in one of the previous answers, people afflicted with scientism can be assertive. The second link above illustrates how it has become the law in Wikipedia. I was a Wikipedia editor while that law was written. There was no intent by the dominant skeptics to allow a balanced exploration of ideas. The intent was to tell the public only what mainstream science holds to be true … scientism. Section 2 - Science 156 One of the greatest hindrances to our understanding the potential of our mind is scientism. It stops research funding; it scares away important talent and it makes people fearful of demons. Question 90 Has telepathy been either refuted or proven scientifically? Answered June 25, 2019 Answer Most of the answers thus far are based on the assumption that “there is no good scientific evidence to support the existence of telepathy.” In fact, parapsychologists who study such phenomena are aware of such uninformed assumptions and tend to overcompensate with care in their research. The techniques developed for such study and the statistical rigor used for data reduction put parapsychological are at the forefront of “good science.” Meanwhile, the deniers are seldom sufficiently

informed to comment one way or another. What you hear is belief-based skepticism. The discerning witness will recognize this. A good study reference for research is maintained by the Chief Scientist at IONS and past President of the Parapsychological Association, (23) Dean Radin Ph.D. (106) The list is Selected Psi Research Publications. (14) The first thing to keep in mind is that telepathy, generally defined as mind-to-mind communication, is an old term which is being superseded by a more inclusive concept of psi, psi field and psi functioning. What I refer to as the Psi Field Hypothesis is the proposition that the physical is permeated by a subtle field of still undefined characteristics. The psi field has been demonstrated to be nonlocal (everywhere is here), which makes it decidedly nonphysical. It is treated as a medium of propagation of the influence of thought. Thought in the form of expression, perception and acquisition of information are described as Psi Functioning where Psi is the as yet undefined expression of thought and that which is propagated in the psi field. 157 Answers Take a moment to digest what I have said. Psi does not behave like physical energy. The motive force in psi functioning seems more akin to the influence of intention and curiosity. Psi functioning has been shown to cause changes in random physical processes. This is seen in the REG studies (93) and Electronic Voice Phenomena. (43) All of the paranormal phenomena I am aware of can be described in

terms of the Psi Field Hypothesis. This does not mean the hypothesis is true, only that it is a useful model which aids our attempt to understand reported experiences. The Psi Field Hypothesis has been developed as a model to explain realworld experiences, many of which can be and have been studied under controlled conditions. An excellent book to understand what is being learned is First Sight Theory. (19) by Jim Carpenter, Ph.D. (107) I have attempted to paraphrase the essence of the theory here: Perception (22) My answer then, is yes, the existence of some form of anomalous information access is well established by qualified researchers using good science. Those who have attempted to refute the existence of Psi phenomena have conducted some research using inappropriate protocols, but as a body of research, have fallen short of showing that such phenomena are an illusion. Question 91 Is the study of supernatural phenomena considered an actual field of science? Answered June 26, 2019 Answer First, let me define the scope of my answer. “Supernatural” can be defined as reported experiences that cannot be explained with known physical principles. I will specifically address what is referred to these days as paranormal phenomena. These include anomalous information access (psychic, mediumship), noncontact influence of physical objects (psychokinesis), healing intention) and altered states of awareness (neardeath experiences, out-of-body experiences). Section 2 - Science 158 If you agree with that definition, the short answer is Yes. Things paranormal are real in the sense that they

are reported experiences. Science studies them. It is beside the point that some members of mainstream society reject that study as pseudoscience (false science). They still need to be studied and understood. In modern times, the study of paranormal phenomena began as the study of aberrant psychology. For instance, what goes on in a person’s mind to make them think they can sense distant information? The study is now referred to as parapsychology, meaning aside from normal psychology. Because the subject is so controversial amongst mainstream academics, parapsychologists seek to maintain a higher than expected standard of selfregulation, peer review and procedural controls. It is arguable that the science conducted by many parapsychologists is procedurally more scientific than some mainstream science. To be clear, not all parapsychologists assume paranormal phenomena are actually paranormal. Anomalistic Psychologists seek to show that such reported experiences are mental aberrations. Exceptional Experiences Psychologists seek to show that such experiences are either normal mistaken as paranormal or possibly evidence of the existence of a subtle aspect of reality. Only a few accept the possibility that the phenomena are evidence of survived personality. Question 92 How can one differentiate between normal accidental/coincidental activity and a paranormal activity? Answered June 30, 2019 Answer Many of us who study paranormal activity call it that because others know what we are talking about when we use that word. However, we would prefer that they be thought of as something normal that falls outside of usual experience. The model that seems

to best help me explain my answer is the idea that perception is mediated by worldview so that what we consciously 159 Answers experience is mostly based on what we have been taught to be true. We see this in the Seep-Goat Effect. (108) In that, it has been noted in research that psychic scoring tends to be higher for test subjects who are more open to the existence of paranormal phenomena. A good reference for how all of us experience the world is First Sight Theory. (19) I have attempted to digest it in the Perception Discourse. (22) The idea is that everything has an associated psi (psychic) signature that we normally unconsciously sense. Our mind ignores most of what we unconsciously sense. We only become consciously aware of information that is of interest. The process of becoming aware of it is what I describe in the Perception Discourse. Our worldview is the filter for that decision. That means that we tend to experience what we have been taught is real. Even if we experience something, we would normally consider paranormal, our mind will probably modify what we unconsciously sense to better agree with our expectations before delivering it to our conscious awareness. The answer to your question is that your mind tells you a story (34) about your world that best agrees with your expectation. That means, unless you have taught yourself to see reality as it is (increased lucidity), you cannot know if you are actually experiencing

what we call paranormal phenomena. The other side of the problem is when we become so open to the idea of the paranormal that we see paranormal phenomena when there are none. I refer to that as hyperlucidity. (31) Actual paranormal phenomena are relatively rare, that is why we refer to them as paranormal. The best way to tell the difference between mundane and paranormal experiences is to understand how things work. Self-educate. Since such phenomena are really just poorly understood normal, we know they follow patterns that allow us to study them. For instance, in Bayesian Analysis, the present example would be compared to what is normally expected. Even amongst paranormal phenomena, there are expected behaviors. If a reported experience falls far outside of that norm, it should be set aside to wait for other, similar examples that might indicate a trend. In any subject area, understanding what is known is necessary to recognize what is properly in that set. Section 2 - Science 160 Question 93 What are the best discoveries in parapsychology? Answered June 30, 2019 Answer One person who answered this question suggested that remote viewing is the best discovery in parapsychology. I agree that it is important, but it is just a well-publicized one of many. In fact, remote viewing is a variation of prior studies of what I grew up knowing as clairvoyance (Clear seeing). For instance, Rhine (25) conducted Extra Sensory Perception studies as early as 1927. From my perspective as a layperson

in the field, the most important discoveries are: 1. Hemi-Sync® – Robert Monroe, founder of the Monroe Institute. (109) Technique for teaching our mind to consciously recognize meditative states. It teaches the average person that conscious control of mostly unconscious processes is doable … and here is how. 2. First Sight Theory (19) – James Carpenter. A ruleset for how mostly unconscious mind generates conscious perception. The fact that conscious perception is the product of mostly unconscious filtering and coloring. Mind as Storyteller (34) is a good discussion of how important this can be. 3. Hypothesis of Formative Causation (35) – Rupert Sheldrake. Provides a model for how nonphysical body image organizes the physical organism. The hypothesis offers a theoretical foundation to model reality as nonphysical organizing fields, rather than physical principles and objects. 4. Global Consciousness Project – The Global Consciousness Project (92) helped establish the fact of mind-machine interaction Using Random Event Generators. The importance of the study is echoed in other studies such as Dean Radin’s Double Slit study (94) and our 161 Answers work with Electronic Voice Phenomena. (43) The key element is the influence of attention-intention on highly indeterminate processes. 5. Electronic Voice Phenomena – Friedrich Jürgenson. (110) Friedrich Jürgenson is credited with discovering EVP, but others came shortly after to establish it as a valid set of phenomena. EVP are important because they give researchers a way of studying all trans-etheric influences. They are not always proof of survival but do offer ways of

testing the idea. 6. Psi and Psi Field Hypothesis – Many researchers have described psi fields and the etheric field concepts described in Etheric Fields. (53) The Psi Field Hypothesis must be largely true for the Survival Hypothesis to be true. Psi functioning (psychic) appears to be our primary mode of sensory perception. 7. Mental Mediumship – There have been many researchers of mental mediumship. Right now, The Windbridge Research Center (26) seems to be the most active and effective. Mental mediumship is psi functioning to communicate with discarnate personalities, so you can see that related research is important. 8. Physical Mediumship – A competent physical medium is able to demonstrate precipitation (apports, ectoplasm, lights). (111) The importance of having objective examples of precipitation is that it establishes the kind of etheric-physical influence that is necessary for most objective forms of paranormal phenomena and gives us good reason to place the person as the conduit for that influence. These are the most influential for my work. My focus is on survival metaphysics. Someone with a focus of reincarnation or reunions would likely have a different list. Section 2 - Science 162 Question 94 Why do some people so readily latch onto junk science when so much of it is easily dispelled? Answered Jul 2, 2019 Answer Junk science and pseudoscience are terms used by debunkers to cast doubt on any ideas that do not conform to their sense of truth. It seldom has anything to do with science. It almost

always has to do with scientism. I generalize it to say that skeptics (debunkers) believe that, if mainstream science does not specifically explain something, it cannot be and must be impossible. That is scientism. I study a set of reported experiences generally known as paranormal phenomena. The majority of supposed scientists explain them as illusion, delusion or fraud. We know they are not and can demonstrate as much with good studies and often good science. It seems they are lying to us in order to defend their belief in what is real. Other supposed scientists offer explanations that we can easily show are without merit. They too, seem to be defending their status quo. Here is an overview of this problem: Open Letter to Paranormalists: Limits of science, trust and responsibility (3) Much of supposed junk science has been shown to be important to the development of our civilization. I am not a historian, but I think we can go back at least to Galileo. The purpose of science is to help us understand our world. That is to say, scientists are to provide a demonstrable explanation for reported experiences such as “why did that apple fall on my head” and “why do I have strange voices in my audio recording.” It is not scientific to cast aside such reports as delusion or fraud when it is easily demonstrated that they are not. 163 Answers Only the uninformed and unscientific describe attempts to understand such experiences as junk science. With

that said, I will admit that some claimed science is reported by people who do not understand science … but then, that is not science, it is uninformed attempts to conduct science. Question 95 Is parapsychology ever associated with paganism, Satanism, vampires, alchemy, or witchcraft? If so how Answered July 12, 2019 Answer Here are extracts of two relevant Q&A from the Parapsychological Association website: (23) What is parapsychology: “Parapsychology is the scientific and scholarly study of three kinds of unusual events (ESP, mind-matter interaction, and survival), which are associated with human experience.… Parapsychology only studies those anomalies that fall into one of three general categories: ESP (terms are defined below), mind-matter interaction (previously known as psychokinesis), and phenomena suggestive of survival after bodily death, including near-death experiences, apparitions, and reincarnation. And, What is not parapsychology: Parapsychology is not the study of “anything paranormal” or bizarre. Nor is parapsychology concerned with astrology, UFOs, searching for Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, paganism, Satanism, vampires, alchemy, or witchcraft…. I am not parapsychologists and cannot speak for them; however, I think you might find parapsychologists studying why people believe in such ideas Section 2 - Science 164 as paganism, satanism, vampires, alchemy, or witchcraft. I say this for two reasons. Some subgroups of parapsychology seek to show that all reported experiences of paranormal phenomena are a delusion. In that view, your list is as valid as any as examples of self-delusion. Parapsychology is ultimately the study of reported human experiences that fall outside

of what is considered normal. Remembering that “para-” means aside from or abnormal and psychology is the study of mind and human behavior, you can see that parapsychology is based on the assumption that all such reported experiences are mental. From my experience, most parapsychologists begin with the assumption that the experiencer is delusional. Question 96 What is a parapsychological (PSI) phenomena? Answered August 3, 2019 Answer According to parapsychologists, psi is used as a placeholder term until a better term is found. The Psi Field Hypothesis (53) has been proposed to explain psi functioning. Be clear that the title of parapsychologist is used by people who seek to prove such phenomena are not paranormal but are delusions, those seeking to understand psi functioning and only a few who allow for the possibility of survival of sentient consciousness after bodily death. Question 97 What is the dualistic theory? Answered August 20. 2019 Answer 165 Answers In parapsychology, anomalous access to information is known as psychic or psi functioning. In real-time, a person is able to access information about another person, place or event, even though in different parts of the world. There is quite a lot of research establishing the validity of that form of mental activity. For instance, see Selected Psi Research Publications. (14) The important characteristics of psi functioning that must be accounted for are: First, anomalous information access — the information is mentally accessed in ways that cannot currently be explained with known physical principles. This established

mental ability is also not explained by currently accepted theories of mind which are dependent on reductionist theory. Second, mentally, everything is local — psi functioning appears not to be affected by distance. In reductionism, a physical medium of propagation is required to move information from one place to another. For instance, sound is able to travel in air. Thus, air is a medium of sound propagation. Mentally accessing information from another person, near or far, requires an as yet undefined medium of propagation for the mental influence … whatever it is. Third, there is the problem of time — under controlled experimental conditions, psi access of information from a person in a different part of the world appears to be accomplished in real-time. Even if a medium of propagation was identified, such propagation generally requires time for what is being propagated to move through the medium. While it may not have been established that thought is faster than light, there is evidence that time is not required for the access of information. With all respect for philosophers, they are not trained to have an understanding of the current research on psi functioning. Referring to philosophers as authorities on the subject is the Appeal to Improper Authority Fallacy. The one reductionist theory that may eventually prove useful for modeling psi functioning depends on quantum mechanics. Such quantum phenomena as entanglement, and apparent mutual responses by entangled objects to external influences, seem to be similar to psi phenomena, but that is

extending quantum mechanics far beyond what is known. Section 2 - Science 166 There is also the problem of the Fallacy of Equal Similars. One phenomenon seeming to be like another does not always mean explaining the one also explains the other. To answer your question, it is necessary to understand the effects that must be accounted for before developing a theory about its nature. The one version of Dualism that seems to address most of the effects is that mind exists independently of the brain and is organized according to principles that apply to some nonphysical aspect of reality. Current parapsychological modeling suggests the existence of a psi field that is beside physical space and that functions as a medium for propagating thought. Etheric Fields (53) Question 98 Is anything in parapsychology useful? Answered August 22, 2019 Answer I ask the same question about the over $50 Billion cost of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. I think parapsychology may be annually funded far under a million dollars worldwide. So far, I have seen no tangible good from the Large Hadron Collider, yet a new phase will likely be funded. The money spent on questionably useful original research is a human tragedy when the cost of Global Warming is considered. Now consider just the most useful results of parapsychological research. One is parapsychologist’s demonstration that the mind is able to influence random processes without physical contact. Future research may develop this potential into a tool for handicapped people,

possibly a new form of human-machine interface. 100 Scientific Papers Offering Evidence for Psi Phenomena & Effects (112) Many reported experiences that have been treated as mental illness are now seen as normal, thanks to parapsychology. Thanks to parapsychology, mental phenomena are now thought to be propagated via the nonphysical psi field. The field is known to be nonlocal, meaning information can be anomalously accessed via psi functioning no matter where it is. 167 Answers The determination that this field exists represents a breakthrough in our understanding about the nature of reality. for instance, it is now reasonable to seriously consider mind as independent of body. That opens the door to serious consideration of survival after bodily death. A currently popular model for perception known as First Sight Theory (19) is based on parapsychological and psychological research. It is leading to better ways to teach mental disciplines such as mediumship and remote viewing. I am not a parapsychologist, but much of my work is based on parapsychological research. What I sometimes refer to as our spiritual anatomy is helping me define a way of spiritual progression that helps make such progression more available to the average person. There are more contributions. The point to notice is that much of the benefit from parapsychology is toward helping the human condition. Just imagine the potential if we could divert even 1% of the Collider’s budget into parapsychological research. Question 99 Is there such a thing as dogmatic scientism? Answered August 23, 2019

Answer First, scientism is a pejorative, but it is an apt term to describe a person who thinks science has all of the answers, and that, if the subject is not covered by one of those answers, it is impossible, and therefore, cannot be. Practicing scientism is dogmatic because such science apologists seldom allow for any form of frontier thought that might deviate from the gospel of mainstream science. In a real sense, it is faith-based adherence to published science as it is understood by the apologist. The scientism point of view also holds that the study of something not specifically covered by science is pseudoscience. Here is an example: Reported experiences such as the apparent anomalous access to information and the noncontact influence of random processes are studied Section 2 - Science 168 by parapsychologists. The field of parapsychology is populated by academics who: • Seek to establish that such phenomena are normal but are mistaken as paranormal or are mental aberrations. Anomalistic Psychology • Seek to study the possibility that psychic and psychokinetic abilities exist and that a subtle field of influence acts as a medium of propagation for mental influence. Exceptional Experiences Psychology • Seek to determine if apparent psychic access of information may be indicative of survived consciousness. Survival Hypothesis (for me, this is Etheric Studies) Like any scientist, parapsychologists will probably argue to support one theory or another, but I do not recall any qualified researcher stepping outside of the bounds of good science when

it comes to making unsupported claims about their research. Because they know a mainstream skeptical spotlight is always on them, parapsychologists tend to overcompensate when it comes to doing good science. I will wager that you are familiar with the phenomena parapsychologists study and will agree that it is a good thing to see if such reported human experiences are real … with good science and not under cover of religious or scientism dogma. Parapsychology is labeled a pseudoscience. People practicing scientism are trying to show governments around the world that pseudoscience is a danger to society. If they have their way, the natural progression of dogmatic scientism is to have the government outlaw parapsychology. Consider the list of pseudoscience maintained by skeptic editors on Wikipedia: Wikipedia List of topics characterized as pseudoscience (74) That kind of book-burning mentality is why scientism is dogmatic and deserves to be a pejorative. 169 Answers Question 100 Why do scientists turn their head away from findings in the paranormal field? Answered August 24, 2019 Answer Not all scientists turn away from the findings. The paranormal field is studied by parapsychologists, and it is correct to assume they do conduct good science. For example, see 100 Scientific Papers Offering Evidence for Psi Phenomena & Effects (112) The problem is that there is mainstream science and there is frontier science. Mainstream science is marked by the dominance of existing theory which generally holds that there is only physical reality. Any established system of thought has

considerable momentum and things tend to change in a stepwise manner. That is why historians talk in terms of the occasional revolutionary age such as the Industrial Revolution. Paradigms are dominant points of view and cultures tend to support the status quo. All of these are natural characteristics of an evolving society. The current physical world paradigm works well for building civilization, although we are seeing growing need to shift that a little away from the current nuts and bolts view to a more humane nut, bolts and human needs view. Current views about the nature of mind are undergoing the greatest change. Emerging understanding is that most of our perception is generated in our unconscious mind and that only the results become part of our conscious awareness. That change furthers the idea that our mind is not the product of our brain. The idea that our mind exists independent of our brain opens the door for mainstream science to integrate some parapsychological theories into a new paradigm which embraces many paranormal phenomena as normal. In answer to your question, science only turns away from ideas for which there is no support from mainstream theory. Cultural momentum, the need for the old to retire so the new can take over, changes in Section 2 - Science 170 paradigms all combine to integrate the frontier of thought into the mainstream. In the meantime, it is for the explorers to continue doing the best science possible and for the rest of us

to suspend judgment. Absolutely, the most anti-progress act in science is to decide about something if there is insufficient information to actually know. Question 101 How common is scientific fraud? Answered August 30, 2019 Answer I am not a scientist, but as an engineer, I am reasonably well informed about science and well informed about the so what of science. With confidence, I will argue that the majority of people we can call scientists are making our world a better place in which to live. The problem is that science is only part of the equation. As with any endeavor, some people conducting science are not actually qualified to do so, are not allowed to conduct good science or are insufficiently funded to do so. There are some who are scoundrels, but then, those people are probably not actually conducting science. Academic and social momentum is a problem. One of the methodologies of science is known as Bayesian Analysis. It involves evaluating current measurements based on historical measurements. It is a powerful tool, but as I have seen it applied, it tends to create too much momentum in accepted truths. New discoveries tend to be discarded as statistical outliers. Cultural forces also cause momentum so that a young scientist with a new idea must first get past the old scientists who reject new ideas because they are unfamiliar. Thus, the quote from German physicist Max Planck A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them

see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it. 171 Answers Along the same lines of thought, science is subject to paradigms. Reductionism holds that everything can be explained by explaining the component parts. To compare, Holism holds that everything is greater than the sum of the parts. A scientist seeking to model the function of a falling body in water will do fine with reductionism. However, if seeking to model the relationship between a plant and its gardener, a more holistic approach may be needed. If that is true, an old-school scientist might honestly feel that he or she is reporting good research by using the reductionist approach. From a person who accepts the holism paradigms, that would be bad or at least incomplete science. A scientist’s thinking can be tainted by beliefs. For instance, the study of climate change requires that the scientist can be objective about the relationship between climate data and God’s promise to Noah. In my field of study, doubt expressed under cover of academic authority is almost always traceable to the belief system of the doubter and not to his or her academic examination of the data. Science, engineering, production, sales, consumption and disposal needs to be treated as a responsibly managed system; a whole. We see how consideration of one part while ignoring the others leads to problems. For instance, good science gave us antibiotics, but bad consumption practices have given

us bacteria immune to those antibiotics. Good science has given us nuclear power for electricity, but bad engineering has given us reactor failures and nuclear contamination. The same sort of problem has given us climate change and contaminated water. So, you can see, there are many ways in which good intentions can still deliver bad results. Outright fraud may occur in science, but if it does, it is not science. It is a crime against society under the cover of science and needs to be addressed in that way. As the orderly examination of nature, science is mostly good and needs to be supported in every way possible. Part of that support is making sure it is not conducted in a vacuum. Section 2 - Science 172 Question 102 What is the theory of a bunch of thought? Answered August 31, 2019 Answer I am going to guess that by ”a bunch of thought” you are asking about theories of how thoughts are packaged. I expect there are psychological terms that are more analytical sounding, but the consensus seems to be that thoughts are more like Gestalt thoughtforms than streams of information. From: Etheric Studies Glossary of Terms: (31) Gestalt: A system or set of elements that must be taken as a whole; something that is understood as a whole, such as a gestalt realization resulting in sudden overall comprehension. The idea is that information in the etheric is managed as concepts which are apparently conveyed by gestalt bundles of

related concepts. Our minds, which are oriented toward a building-block perspective of reality, then converts this thought ball into understanding based on our worldview. 1. The Law of Proximity: Stimulus elements that are closed together tend to be perceived as a group 2. The Law of Similarity: Similar stimuli tend to be grouped, this tendency can even dominate grouping due to proximity 3. The Law of Closure: Stimuli tend to be grouped into complete figures 4. The Law of Good Continuation: Stimuli tend to be grouped as to minimize change or discontinuity 5. The Law of Symmetry: Regions bound by symmetrical borders tend to be perceived as coherent figures 6. The Law Simplicity: Ambiguous stimuli tend to be resolved in favor of the simplest 173 Answers Thought Balls Robert Monroe is well known for his work with spontaneous out of body experiences. He proposed that the normal means of communication in mental space is via “thought balls” he called “rotes.” Thought balls may be similar to thoughtforms. The term is useful in describing an exchange of information that is sensed as a gestalt impression that includes intention, feelings and imagery as an instantaneous experience. Thought balls appear to contain conceptual information. Thoughtform In survival metaphysics, a useful model for the building blocks of reality are fields. A field can be visualized as a set of elements bound together by a common influence. As rudimentary etheric fields, thoughtforms contain information about a specific subject. They may be nested so that a

thoughtform concerned with transportation, for instance, may contain information about all forms of transportation while a red wagon thoughtform would contain information specific to red wagons. That, in turn, would be a subset of the transportation thoughtform. As I understand current theories about the propagation of thought, it is as nonphysical thoughtforms. There appears to be no distance in nonphysical space, or psi field as it is known in parapsychology. Thought does not appear to be propagated in the same sense that sound, for instance, is propagated in air. It is characterized more as influence, intention and information than with physical dimensions. As has been recognized in Gestalt Psychology, our mind takes a holistic approach to perception. It picks and chooses from a huge amount of instantaneously received information to deliver specifically what we are looking for to our conscious awareness. The rest of the story is that our worldview filters incoming information so that we consciously experience only what we think is true. Section 2 - Science 174 Question 103 What is the middle way between dualism and physicalism? Answered September 4, 2019 Answer I gather that by “middle way,” you are asking how we balance Dualism and Physicalism as one concept. I will answer that as I understand the concepts. We are born into the perspective of a human living in a physical world. We learn that we are that human and the physical universe is all there is. Our worldview holds that as truth. There is emerging

understanding in psychology that mind acts as a preprocessor, of sorts, that decides what we think about incoming information. It makes that decision about everything, even signals from our body such as feeling and seeing. The mental decision made by our mind is thought to be based on our worldview. That is, what we have been taught is true is used to decide what we think about incoming information. The result of that mostly unconscious mental filtering is delivered to our conscious mind as conscious perception. As this process is becoming understood, it is becoming apparent that we only indirectly experience our world and what we experience is pretty much how we have been taught to experience it. If the theory that our subconscious mind translates information before sending it to our conscious awareness is correct, the implication is that we make our world according to what we have been taught. If that is correct, there is an actual reality which we may or may not correctly experience. A second emerging concept is that our mental functions extend outside of our body. For instance, there is good documentation that some of the information coming from the environment is from other minds. Here is supporting research: 100 Scientific Papers Offering Evidence for Psi Phenomena & Effects (112) and Selected Psi Research Publications (14) There is also research indicating that our mind is able to function when our brain is essentially dead. Here are some interesting perspectives on this: 175 Answers Is

There Life After Death? The Worlds Top Scientific & Spiritual Experts Weigh In (113) Duality requires that our mind has a presence outside of our body. Based on current and emerging research, it is becoming clear that our mind does exist beyond our body. It also indicates that we experience physicality because we have been taught to assign physical characteristics to sensed information that we have been taught is physical. The middle way, then, is that we are nonphysical personalities experiencing a physical lifetime and that the experiences we associate with our lifetime are assigned as such via our worldview. This is mind-bending to grasp, but it is also important to grasp if we are ever to understand the relationship between Dualism and Physicalism. Question 104 How scientific is psychology? Answered September 6, 2019 Answer Psychology is concerned with the mind (psyche) and how it influences human behavior. I am not a psychologist, but from my experience, it is illogical to compare science as it is applied to reductionism and science as it is applied to the infinitely variable psyche. I can predict to a few milliseconds how long a block of wood will take to slide down an incline and be correct virtually every trial. That is because such factors as friction and the acceleration of gravity are empirically established quantities. I am aware of no such collection of empirically established factors for the behavior of mind. Of course, some traits have a predictable gross influence on behavior. For

instance, certain chemicals have predictable effects on mood. A male child will tend to have a known spectrum of behaviors that are different from a female child. But these are combined sciences of psychology, biology and pharmacology. The most valuable expression of science I have seen in psychology has been concerned with mental processes. For instance, First Sight Theory (19) proposes that perception is directly influenced by a person’s ability to focus. Section 2 - Science 176 (I have integrated the essence of First Sight Theory into the Perception Discourse. (22) Actually, you really need to have psychology be a form of orderly pursuit of knowledge, rather or not you call it science. The more we understand how perception works, the more evident it becomes that we need to find ways to manage perception. Psychology is the only tool we have, that I am aware of, that might help us find ways to better manage perception. See Our Unconscious Mind (58) Question 105 Has a general theory of thought ever been developed? Answered September 23, 2019 Answer Of course, there are foundation assumptions posed by people with different perspectives. The mainstream view is that thought is a biological process of our brain. In that, mind is somehow a product of electrochemical processes in the brain and when it dies, so does mind. Dreams, for instance, are sometimes characterized as the reviewing and rearranging of memories stored in brain cells. While the biological explanation is generally referred to as Materialist Monism

(everything is physical) or Physicalism, Dualism is the contending view, which holds that mind and brain exist in different aspects of reality. For a long time, dualistic ideas were relegated to philosophies and religions. Mind was seen as the product of brain and all that remained was to sort out where particular mental functions existed in the brain. However, today, researchers are turning more toward the idea that there exists a nonphysical aspect of reality in which mind exists and that propagates the influence of thought. Brain is seen as a transmitter-receiver for thought as it relates to the physical. In parapsychology, the aspect of reality in which mind might exist is sometimes referred to as the psi field. The expression and perception functioning of mind is modeled as psi functioning (psychic perception and psychokinetic expression) 177 Answers So, my answer is that the nature of mind is still an open question, but that the trend seems to be toward Dualism and the existence of a nonphysical (nonbiological) mind which exists in the psi field. Etheric Fields (53) is written as a layperson’s discussion of the field concept. Question 106 What are the paradigms of parapsychology? Answered September 23, 2019 Answer Parapsychology is the study of abnormal (para-) mental behavior (psychology). Paranormal is a term meaning other than normal and is usually applied to reported experiences not explained with currently understood principles. They include psychic or mediumistic access to information (psi functioning) and the mental influence of the physical (psychokinesis).

Healing intention, near-death and out of body experiences, and reincarnation are also classified as paranormal phenomena. Parapsychologists study paranormal phenomena. From my experience, they approach these phenomena from one of three perspectives. Anomalistic Psychology – seeks to show that reported paranormal experiences are normal experiences mistaken as paranormal. Exceptional Experiences Psychologists – seeks to show that reported experiences may be normal mistaken as paranormal, but some may be the expression of psychic ability. Survival Hypothesis – some parapsychologists are open to the possibility that reported phenomena may be normal or psi functioning but may also be the influence of survived personality. Section 2 - Science 178 Question 107 Was the inclusion of metaphysical elements in Alchemy and other sciences an early gesture towards a unified theory of everything? Answered September 27, 2019 Answer Alchemy is related to the Hermetic Great Work. The Great Work is the process of transmuting the lead of coarse human nature to the gold of spiritual human nature. A person following the Alchemy Way experiences the spiritual education of a seeker. Ancient wisdom is all about human nature and personal progression toward spiritual maturity. The ancients understood that our spiritual nature is our actual self. To understand our actual self, it is necessary to understand the nature of the reality we inhabit. The study of metaphysics is the study of actual reality. Since we do not have direct experience about the nature of actual reality, it is necessary to develop models—thought models—that help us visualize nature,

and by extension, who we are. The metaphysical elements of alchemy are the so what aspects of a long-evolved model of reality that help us understand how to transmute the coarser nature of our human’s instincts into the more spiritual nature of our true self. The idea of a unified theory of everything should probably be considered from two perspectives. There is a metaphysical view of actual reality, of which the physical universe is a subset and a physical universe view that ignores the idea of a greater reality. The Big Bang Theory and all of the subsequent theories of physical reality are involved in a unified physical theory of everything. A unified theory of reality would suppose that physical space is a subset of the greater reality. As I stated above, it is ultimately concerned with the 179 Answers nature of reality and you and me, since we are presumed to be elements of reality. In a practical sense, we must understand the physical to survive well in the physical, so a unified theory that does not include the greater reality is useful. For those who wish to understand how we as people fit into actual reality, it is necessary to look beyond the physical. Two perspectives, two different unified theories. One a subset of the other. Question 108 How would you scientifically describe or define the existence of a soul or spirit? Answered October 20, 2019 Answer I should begin by saying that I hold a Bachelor of

Science Degree in electronic engineering, rather than a Ph.D. in scientist. My answer is in the sense that Soul is a religious term for the essence of who we are while personality (spirit) is a term for the experiential, nonphysical aspect of who we are. I will address the experiential aspect. The engineer’s approach to understanding something that cannot be directly examined, in this case, personality, is to develop a model. I use the black box technique to develop a model. It is based on a cosmology implied by dualistic metaphysics. Personality is imagined to be in the box. Next, the known inputs and outputs related to personality are identified. This exercise is to develop a model of our spiritual anatomy. In the box are our conscious self, perception and expression processes, core intelligence and our human’s organizing field. These are known by different names, depending on the area of study, so you will need to normalize the terms to better agree with your experience. A model for each major element should be developed in its own black box. I am cutting corners for this explanation. Section 2 - Science 180 Mainstream science is focused on understanding the nature of physical things. Since it is dominant in our culture, the study of nonphysical things is done in terms of mainstream science. Thus, it is assumed in mainstream science that the mind is a product of the brain. That is a body-centric perspective. It is legitimate science to hypothesize that there

may be a nonphysical aspect of reality that is alongside the physical aspect. If so, its study would require a mind-centric perspective. One of the more useful theories being developed by parapsychologists is the Psi Field Hypothesis. (53) In my words: A field of subtle energy permeates psychical space and functions as a media of propagation for psi influence. Further, the known physical principles of the Physical Hypothesis either do or can be modified to explain psi and psi functioning. The Life Field Black Box Diagram was initially used in the essay Morphic Fields. (81) The functional input and output signals suggested by Dualism are used to develop requirements for functional areas within the box. 181 Answers The existence of a psi field and of psi functioning are well-established, both anecdotally and mostly verified through extensive research. See Selected Psi Research Publications. (14) A model of personality must account for these characteristics. Of course, a model of personality must also account for characteristics of mind. We have our conscious awareness and a mostly unconscious mind that acts as a preprocessor for awareness. It has been known in science for some time that the mined is partitioned as conscious and unconscious. Emerging understanding is showing that everything we consciously perceive is first processed by our unconscious mind. See Unconscious Mind Shape Our Day-to-Day Interaction. (40) An important characteristic of the personality model is the idea that it exists independent of the body. The way I like to put it is that

we existed before this lifetime and will exist after in a sentient, self-aware form. If that is true, then a model for spiritual anatomy must account for our human avatar as a distinct life field. Please note that we do not have to accept the immortality of our spiritual self for this model to work. There are many indicators that we are guided by human instincts and altruistic urges that seem not to be related to our human’s urge for gene dominance. See The Greatest Threat of All: Human Instincts Overwhelm Reason (56) The Life Filed Complex Diagram below represents my proposed solution to our spiritual anatomy black box problem. The functional area labeled Body Mind represents our human organism’s nonphysical support. An excellent explanation for the relationship between physical organism and nonphysical morphic blueprint is the Hypothesis of Formative Causation. (35) Our conscious interface with reality is represented in the diagram in association with our human avatar. That is our only nonphysical-to-physical interface. I refer to our conscious awareness as the Experiencer. This is our I think I am this aspect. Think of it as a traveling video camera with internal intelligent control. The Attention Complex represents our mostly unconscious mind. Perception and what we will express are organized by the Perceptual Loop working with our worldview. Pay attention to the lines of influence. All of what we express and what we consciously experience is controlled by the Perceptual Loop. Section 2 - Science 182 Worldview contains all that

we have been taught, memory and acquired understanding. It is the measure by which our unconscious mind determines what to send to our conscious awareness and how it should be sent (fear, love, ignore). That is why I refer to this functional area as the Judge. See First Sight Theory. (19) One prediction of this model is that we share our worldview with our human so that much of what is sent to our awareness is colored by our human’s desire to assure the dominance of its genes. There are many human behavior studies concerning this. I think the most useful is the way psychologists model temperament. For example, Myers Briggs Personality Types (21) 183 Answers The Life Field Complex Diagram represents our spiritual nature. We do have a purpose and unlike the fact that our human will kill for dominance, how we seek to achieve our purpose appears to be guided by an altruistic nature. All of the life field is immortal in the sense that it has a span of existent that is longer than our human’s. The model predicts that there is a core intelligence functional area that acts as an attractor or kernel for our life field. I refer to this as Personality as our true “I am this” aspect. It is the Observer of our existence. The model also predicts that there is a source of purpose and an archive of understanding. I think Personality satisfies this function. If I were to point out Soul

in all of this, I would assign the concept to Personality. That is my answer. It is not scientific, but it is getting close. I believe that the missing factor is scrutiny by academically trained thinkers who are able to integrate the various elements of this model. It is easy for one person to concoct a model. It is much more difficult to turn it into science. However, lacking more attention from mainstream science, it is representative of what we have today. Please do remember that there are other thinkers with possibly better models like this, so keep looking. My point here is to show that our spiritual nature is knowable, and that progress is being made. Question 109 If scientists are able to create artificial consciousness using future quantum computers or upload our own consciousness into a machine, would spirituality and nonduality therefore become obsolete/unnecessary under this new materialist paradigm? Answered October 24, 2019 Answer Section 2 - Science 184 This is an interesting question. The credibility of my answer depends in part on whether you accept the idea of duality. That is, if our mind is not a product of our body but exists as an independent life form that came before this lifetime and will continue after. In that sense, our human is an avatar for us in this lifetime. So, from the perspective of duality, your question is more concerned with whether we can develop an artificial avatar. Take a look at the Avatar. (43) While

not an expert in these things, I did conduct an extensive thought exercise exploring that question. The Avatar Essay includes consideration of what we are learning from instrumental and personal transcommunication. The challenge is to find a way that thought can sense and influence the physical. In duality, the mind does not directly sense the physical. It detects the bioelectric-chemical signals via the brain that represent the human’s five senses. In turn, it interacts with the physical by sending commands to the human to act. An analog of this is that our human is a drone that acts like a roving sensor capable of manipulating physical objects as commanded by our mind. When our drone speaks to another drone, it is using a long and clumsy way of communicating that already occurs mind-to-mind. In effect, as drone operators, we are sitting next to other drone operators. Rather than asking the drone to convey a message to the next drone, it is more efficient to simply talk to the person sitting next to us. As the mystics would say, because we learned to talk, we forgot to sense. What makes our human drone an avatar is that we appear to share our worldview with our human. Much of our younger years are guided by our human’s instincts. it is only after we learn the difference between human instincts and our … let us say, spiritual instincts, that we begin to act as a spiritual being. The diagram below from Mind as

Storyteller (34) will give you a sense of what I mean. The possibility we can develop a drone that our mind can direct is shown by the fact that random event generators have been shown to apparently change in randomness under the influence of intentionality. Then, of course, Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) appear to be formed by the intentionality of mind. It seems reasonable to expect machines in the near future that are directly controlled by mind … no wires, implants or biofeedback devices. 185 Answers Developing a device that converts physical signals to mental signals is a little more difficult. At this time, I am unaware of no way to replicate the mental sensing side of a drone. However, one possible explanation of sensing in remote viewing is that the viewer is not sensing the distant location, but rather, is sensing the memory of people on-site or who have been there. If this is true, except for situations in which the drone is to operate where no human (or other animals) has been, there would be no functional need for such a physical-to-mental signal transformation. If our mind is not a product of brain, my answer is that our spiritual nature is not a function of our human. The task you suggest is to build a suitable drone. I see no way that such a drone, itself, would have the sentience to merge with our nonphysical worldview. Question 110 Why can't science explain supernatural things like magic or ghosts?

Answered November 23, 2019 Answer Science can explain paranormal phenomena and is making progress. It is just that there remains a lot of work to do. First, to set the record straight, “supernatural” is an old term meaning that a reported experience is not natural. Research is showing that the Section 2 - Science 186 reported experiences we refer to as paranormal (was supernatural) are natural characteristics of consciousness. Because we do not yet have effective models explaining them, it is too easy to think of them as magical. When we call these natural phenomena magical, we tend to make it more difficult for people to understand their true nature. None of the research I am aware of suggests magic in the context of things paranormal is anything other than trickery. For this question, there are five primary subgroups in the paranormalist community. Parapsychologists are academically trained people, usually with an MS or Ph.D., who focus their research on paranormal phenomena: Anomalistic Psychology – attempts to show such phenomena are normal consciousness mistaken as paranormal, aka delusion. Exceptional Experiences Psychology – study to understand phenomena as psi (psychic) function associated with consciousness. Survival Metaphysics – considers the possibility that some reported psi phenomena may be evidence of survival, and if so, how should that be modeled. Practitioners – people of any educational level and walk of life who produce or seek to produce paranormal phenomena. Observers and Experiencers – people who seek to experience, understand and apply paranormal phenomena. We

expect parapsychologists to be our source of knowledge concerning things paranormal. In practice, popular wisdom, cultural contamination, false assumptions and skepticism are prevalent amongst all five groups. The question, “Why can't science explain supernatural things like magic or ghosts?” is an example of a false assumption. As did the questioner, the remedy is to ask questions and develop informed discernment by studying the literature from all five groups. The organized study of things paranormal is still in its infancy. It is poorly funded, and the field is fraught with false assumptions. All of us come from the mainstream culture in which we have been taught that only mainstream science can explain … anything. 187 Answers A more correct truth is that psi phenomena are not easily studied using the old ways. It is just recently that scientists are realizing this and are developing research techniques that are applicable. Comments Occasionally, people pass by and leave a comment on Quora. Some of those are rather interesting. Herbert Delling commented: We live in the “dark ages” of knowledge of existence. Ancient spiritual knowledge and wisdom points directly to a simple acceptance of that which needed no complicated explanations or “proofs”. And yet the most basic of proof is lost in the search of details to disprove it. I replied I have studied the ancient teaching a little. In fact, mention of my favorite references is in an essay I am working on right now for a talk: Emerald Tablet – First dispensation

6,000 years ago. Instruction for the Creative Process. For this reason, I am called Hermes Trismegiatus–one in essence but three in total aspect. In this Trinity are concealed the three parts of the wisdom of the whole world. Line 13; Hermes explaining how to master the creative process. The Hermes Concepts (1) Katha Upanishad – Second dispensation 4,000 years ago. Instruction on how to concern death. But whoso is possessed of a discriminating intellect and a restrained mind, and is ever pure, attains that goal from which he is not born again. 1-III-8 Arise, awake, and learn by approaching the exalted ones, for that path is sharp as a razor's edge, impassable, and hard to go by, say the wise. 1III-14 Vedanta Shastras Library (41) Christian Bible – Third dispensation 2,000 years ago. Instruction on personal progression and service to others. Thomas said to him, “Master, we don’t know where you’re going, so how could we know the way there?” John 14.5 Section 2 - Science 188 Jesus explained, “I am the Way, I am the Truth,[g] and I am the Life. No one comes next to the Father[h] except through union with me.[i] To know me is to know my Father too. John 14.6 Bible Gateway passage: John 14 (114) Aramaic version. Notes: [g] Or “the True Reality.” [h] Jesus does more than take us to heaven, he brings us next to (alongside of) the Father. The Father is the destination. [i] Or “through [faith in] me.” I will

argue these are references to the three aspects of a teacher, which is pretty close to an organizing principle of Natural Law. The problem with ancient wisdom is that it tends to be corrupted by society. The Greeks did terrible things to the Hermetica. The words attributed to Jesus have been turned into religious gospel designed to exclude all but believers. If the principles taught by these wayshowers are valid, then the metaphysical processes and implications they represent are knowable. It is by coming to understand those underlying implications that we can learn how to make them available to more people and perhaps apply them to more than just individual progression. Take care not to assume the wisdom of the individual. Perception is contaminated by culture. Belief left unanswered by discerning intellect too easily leads to superstition and control by priests. Question 111 Is pseudoscience a pejorative term? Answered December 18, 2019 Answer The short answer is “Yes.” However, our focus should be on why people use the term. First, a few terms as I use them here: 189 Answers Pseudoscience – false or fake science; not defined by mainstream science. Scientism – the belief that only established science can explain reality; the belief that something is not real unless it is specifically described by science. Mainstream science or society – the majority culture; the part of society that accepts the majority science view as the only truth. This is primarily a physicalist view. Frontier of thought – early studies

of phenomena not yet integrated into mainstream science; the emerging outer limits of knowledge. Also known as emergent science. This may be physicalist but also may be dualist. I am going to use Wikipedia to explain. As an editor, I spent a lot of time interacting with other Wikipedia editors during the time Pseudoscience, Fringe Science and Paranormal were defined in arbitrations. Wikipedia Arbitration. (77) The dominant group of editors of frontier subjects in Wikipedia is decidedly skeptical of subjects that are not specifically explained by mainstream science. They identify with organized skeptics. While it is important to be discerning, the outright rejection of frontier subjects is scientism. The problem is that Scientisimist editors (if it isn't, it needs to be a word (115)) have so dominated the frontier subject articles in Wikipedia that they are able to suppress all other views. An example is that I have been permanently banned from editing the Rupert Sheldrake (104) article because I was trying to support a more balanced treatment of Sheldrake’s work: Pseudoscience arbitration case notification: Due to ongoing single purpose advocacy of pseudoscience topics and editors, you are hereby notified that this topic area is under an Arbitration Committee case discretionary sanctions] enforcement. The following sanction now applies to you: Topic banned from Rupert Sheldrake in accordance with the terms at WP:TBAN. You have been sanctioned per this arbitration enforcement request Now take a look at List of topics characterized as pseudoscience (74) – maintained by skeptic Wikipedia editors. Close

examination of the Section 2 - Science 190 references used to support the entries on the list will show that virtually all of them are from known skeptical publications, people who base their reputation on debunking ideas and outdated publications. Granted, some of the subjects are questionable, but pseudoscience is being used as a general term to discount anything the conservative editors do not like. Scientism is a belief and pseudoscience is the brand of shame scientismist place on any idea that does not agree with their worldview. Frontier subjects are such because they are part of our emerging understanding of reality. Given their way, scientismist would lock us in the present with no hope of gaining further understanding of our world. So yes, pseudoscience is a pejorative. Question 112 Is there any science data and research supporting psychic phenomena? Answered December 30, 2019 Answer The short answer is “yes.” But as always, there are considerations. The field of parapsychology is specifically focused on paranormal phenomena. From the Parapsychological Association, (23) “Parapsychology is the scientific and scholarly study of three kinds of unusual events (ESP, mind-matter interaction, and survival), which are associated with human experience.” All parapsychologists are expected to be Ph.Ds. (academics), but not all are trained scientists. It is also important to understand that parapsychologists tend to be retired from an unrelated field. It seems the most common, for instance, are retired philosophy or psychology professors. It is possible to find a Ph.D. in biology, for instance, espousing

truth about physical mediumship under cover of that unrelated degree. Paranormalists is a useful term for people who have more than a casual interest in things paranormal. Some are academics, some are laypeople. Not all accept the evidence of paranormal phenomena. There is a defacto Academic-Layperson Partition that tends to retard the free exchange of information. The effect is that academics seldom 191 Answers collaborate with laypeople and laypeople seldom understand what academics are up to. Reports and possibly resulting theories are written for other academics and seldom trickle down to laypeople as actionable guidance. It is useful to divide the paranormalist science community into three categories: Materialism is the philosophical view that only matter exists. Everything is physical and the interaction of things physical. We see this view in Anomalistic Psychology. This is often referred to as Physicalism or as the Physical Hypothesis. It is argued in Dualism that reality consists of material (physical) and mind (spiritual). In this, mind is independent of body, but is expressed into the physical by way of the body. This view is often expressed in Exceptional Experiences Psychology. The Psi Field Hypothesis (53) and First Sight Theory (19) (22) are representative of this. In Monism, all of reality is thought to be mind and the physical is an expression of mind. Survival Metaphysics is one view of this. Most of ethericstudies.org is concerned with Survival Metaphysics. Mainstream science is predominantly materialistic. But here is the problem. Parapsychologists identifying with Anomalistic Psychology are also

physicalists. Psychologists tend to be our harshest and least informed critics. Paranormalists think of such uninformed criticism as skeptic and debunking. Another factor that needs to be considered when evaluating the “science data and research supporting psychic phenomena” is that our understanding of these phenomena is evolving faster than most people realize. In my study, I have found that, in some cases, articles and reports can be out of date within ten or fifteen years. A person’s expertise in a field, say the study of Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP), can be dated by a single discovery. For instance, the realization that the voice is formed out of available noise in transform EVP, and that it tends to be initiated by brief spikes of sound, offers an explanation for why steady-state noise is not as useful as more chaotic noise. That came about around 2010. prior to that, even the steady-state noise of radio static was being recommended for background noise. Section 2 - Science 192 This rapid evolution of understanding has served to assure the obsolescence of academic authority that has crossed over from unrelated fields of study. Nevertheless, many parapsychological reports are written as if the obsolescence of the author’s expertise is not a factor. Being peer-reviewed is not a recommendation when it is done in secrecy by people from unrelated fields. Most paranormal phenomena involve a mental influence on a physical process. Consciousness is always involved. In Dualism, the effect should be studied from the consciousness-to-physical perspective, but

as physical people, to understand the full effect, it is also necessary to study the influence from a physical-to-consciousness perspective. That means the study of psychic functioning, for instance, needs to be studied in terms of human factors (instincts, lucidity, worldview, motivation cultural influences), physics (conversion of mental processes to physical effect) and survival metaphysics (propagation of thought, physical characteristic conversion to mental influence). With this in mind, it is arguable that any effective study should be conducted by a team with representation from psychology, physics, electronics, and most importantly, practitioners who are able to produce the phenomena to be studied. Some parapsychologists insist that real science cannot be conducted in the field. For them to conduct research, they argue that the practitioners would be required to go into the laboratory to demonstrate their phenomena under controlled conditions. Other researchers are happy to hire college students to act as practitioners, even though the students have no demonstrated ability. All of our studies suggest that the practitioner is part of the channel. Their expectations that they are in a haunted house or in their special work area has considerable influence on their ability to demonstrate. With the resulting failure to produce expected phenomena in the laboratory, resulting parapsychological reports typically show that the phenomena are practitioner delusion. (3) It is important that anyone studying this “science data and research” material is aware of the considerations I have described. The observer should always consider the qualifications of the author. One report does

not establish truth. Science is evolving and the observer should always maintain a sort of meta-analyses mental image of that science as more research is considered. 193 Answers I recommend that the observer considers both academic and lay sources. Resources Dean Radin, Ph.D. has a good list of literature I often use as a deanradin.com/evidence/evidence.htm 100 Scientific Papers Offering Evidence for Psi Phenomena & Effects at subtle.energy/list-100-peer-reviewed-papers-offer-scientific-evidencepsi-phenomena/ The Psi Encyclopedia includes articles written by parapsychologists but with no apparent lay input: psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/. The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) maintained a Research Article Database: www.spr.ac.uk/publications-recordings/research-articlesdatabase Parapsychology: A Handbook for the 21st Century Edited by Etzel Cardeña , John Palmer and David Marcusson-Clavertz McFarland, 2015, ISBN 978-0-7864-7916-0, ebook ISBN 978-1-47662105-0 As a layperson, I maintain a rather unorganized list of links at ethericstudies.org/references/ I recommend taking time to consider Forever Family Foundation, (116), Etheric Studies (6) and Association TransCommunication (117; 118) Question 113 How does science explain paranormal phenomena? Answered January 4, 2020 Answer 1234 Scientists do not usually provide pat explanations. They seek to understand nature and that understanding evolves with continuing study. Current understanding tends to reveal new questions that, with study, might result in greater understanding. Explanations come when there exists sufficient Section 2 - Science 194 understanding to develop useful explanations. Society should not want science to be any other way. Things paranormal are no different. The study of reported experiences such as the anomalous acquisition of information (psychic or psi functioning), influence at a distance (psychokinesis or

psi functioning) and the effects of healing intention has evolved over time as more reports emerge and research tools improve. Unlike a falling apple or refraction of light in water, which are physical phenomena, reported experiences generally referred to as paranormal phenomena appear to be predominantly mental. They must be studied by studying their effects. For instance, a remote viewer may correctly describe a building in another city that the person has never seen or even knew about (anomalous acquisition of information). The randomness of random event generators is sometimes seen to become less random with the influence of intention, even in the presence of a meditating person (influence at a distance). Changes in a person’s psychology have been noted when healing intention is directed toward them. In Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC), mental influence appears to cause a physical effect in the form of anomalous speech (Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP)) or visual features. While the study of most paranormal phenomena did not begin in earnest until the late 1800s, ITC is a relatively new experience and well-considered study is just beginning. The answer to your question is that these phenomena are still not well enough understood to establish substantiated explanations. Mostly, there are a few encouraging theories. In fact, we still see the need to improve collaboration between those who are trained to study such phenomena and those who are able to produce examples to be studied. Parapsychologists continue to disagree if demonstrations of paranormal phenomena should be studied in the

field where it normally occurs or in a laboratory where the scientists can control the demonstration. Going back to that falling apple example, the apple will always fall on demand. Most paranormal phenomena are either spontaneous (haunt phenomena, for instance) or induced by practitioners — exceptional individuals who have inherent ability or who have developed it through considerable effort. We also await efforts from the academic community to provide guidance to help practitioners improve their ability. 195 Answers Question 114 How do we define what a science is? To my understanding anything can be a science as long as there is an ambition for objective truth and the ability to falsify. Answered January 13, 2020 Answer I am not a scientist. I am an engineer. As a person who has spent the greater part of my life at the frontier of science, I will argue that there is a textbook definition of science and there is the actual practice of science. Consider Paradigm Shifts. It begins: (119) Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996; American philosopher of science), in his famous book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962), argues that “science” does not progress as a linear accumulation of new knowledge, but undergoes periodic revolutions called paradigm shifts. According to Kuhn, paradigms represent a widely held truth about some aspect of reality (my words). The Big Bang Theory and quantum physics are paradigms. Again, from the brief: It is not possible to understand one paradigm through the conceptual framework and terminology of another rival

paradigm. As a member of a scientific community, our “reality” is determined by the paradigm through which we see the world. Science begins with the naturalist taking careful field notes. Newton’s notes about that falling apple, for instance. A possible explanation is proposed in the form of a testable hypothesis: drop apple many times, see if it hits the ground. The hypothesis is refined through test and modification until it begins to amount to a sort of truth. Our current paradigm about gravity and apples is that they always fall to the ground. Section 2 - Science 196 Again, from the brief: When observations or the results of research do not conform to the paradigm, they are seen as not refuting the paradigm, but as the mistake of the researcher. Truth is relative and science depends on prior understanding. As a relatively mature society (older, not necessarily wiser), most of our science is done in the context of received wisdom in the form of paradigms. For small questions, such as the speed of light in water relative to the speed in a vacuum, working within the paradigm is demonstrably good science. For larger questions, Dualism versus Physicalism, for instance, received wisdom tends to suppress progress. An example is the possibility that attention on a process tends to change that process. That is normally seen as a parapsychological question, but it has become a factor as the observer effect in the study of quantum mechanics. A scientist using electronic technology is

apt to report a physical effect, when in fact, it is a psychokinetic effect caused by the scientist or an interested observer. Until the paradigm changes to allow more open consideration of such psi phenomena, mainstream science will always be wrong. It may be right enough to work, but errors tend to compound. My answer, then, is that science is all of those textbook definitions but also suspended judgment. Science is supposed to be conducted without undue influence of preconceptions. truth is not as important as are trends. Question 115 How do metaphysics and epistemology connect? Answered January 26, 2020 Answer Here is the relationship between these terms as I have learned to use them. An example to work with 197 Answers There is a parapsychological proposition that a subtle nonphysical field called the psi field permeates physical space and acts as a media of propagation for the effects of intentionality and perception. The influence or effect being propagated is called Psi. It is useful to think of Psi, not as thought, but as the influence of thought. It is the influence of thought that needed to be accounted for, as physical principles do not. Since we think in concepts more like whole ideas, it is useful to model the stuff of thought—that which we think about—as thoughtforms. Thoughtforms are variously described as thought balls, gestalt forms, and simple etheric fields. Thoughts about a cat, for instance, would be a thoughtform field containing all of the aspects of cat such

as small, house pet, cute, whiskers, nine lives…. all bound to the central idea of cat (the field’s attractor). The cat thoughtform would be closely associated with a feline thoughtform which might be the top field as the attractor for more specific thoughtforms such as different species of cats and different classes such as large hunters or feral. In turn, the feline thoughtform would be related to others, such as canine and simian thoughtforms. Different but related thoughts will relate these elements in different ways, but the underlying relationship remains the same and would be their epistemology. The Psi Field Hypothesis is a metaphysical concept. The thoughtform concept is part of a metaphysical architecture. The relationship between the hypothetical psi field, thoughtforms and physical space is a cosmology. These are comparable to the singularity (epistemology) causing the Big Bang to produce the physical universe (metaphysical architecture). The resulting structure of the universe would be the astronomical cosmology. And so, you have the origin of concept (epistemology), concept (metaphysical) and relationship amongst concepts (cosmology) Section 2 - Science 198 Question 116 Why do you think that ESP and other elements of parapsychology are controversial with many researchers? Answered February 20, 2020 Answer The intellectually lazy comments like “ESP is not controversial because there is no evidence it exists” help assure the real reported human experiences may not be understood. That is an intellectual equivalent of book burning. To be clear, the phenomena of parapsychology are real to those who report experiencing

them. Any explanation for those experiences must somehow explain the experience, if not the possible phenomenon. In fact, research is beginning to produce workable theories that describe principles that may one day expand our understanding of ourselves and our world. The controversy is of the same nature that Galileo faced from the church. Psi phenomena and related research tend to contradict the status quo. Always, the status quo resists change. It seldom has anything to do with the facts. When someone tells you that there is no proof, ask them to show the research disproving it. Parapsychologists are required to show the research proving it. It goes both ways. Here are a couple of lists providing links to research reports about such phenomena: Selected Psi Research Publications (14) • Healing at a Distance (10 Items) • Physiological correlations at a distance (19 Items) • Telepathy & ESP (24 Items) • General Overviews & Critiques (5 Items) • Survival of Consciousness (10 Items) • Precognition & Presentiment (16 Items) 199 Answers • Theory (12 Items) • Mind-Matter Interaction (29 Items) • Potential Applications (3 Items) • Some recommended books (23 Items) • Websites with access to more articles (17 Items) • Videos (3 Items) 100 Scientific Papers Offering Evidence for Psi Phenomena & Effects (112) Question 117 Why is paranormal science not developed like other science? Answered March 9, 2020 Answer Remember how Galileo Galilei was in trouble with the Church for heresy about what we today would call science? That

was in the early 1600s. As an early astronomer, Galileo is generally considered the Father of Modern Physics. Mainstream science is older than Galilei, but if we begin with him, it has been evolving for around 400 years. Governments and corporations fund universities and researchers to further science. Universities manage libraries to help researchers share information. Professional organizations support a large community of scientists. The “mainstream science” I refer to is well established with a substantial foundation of knowledge based on abundant research by thousands and thousands of scientists with many more supporting technicians and engineers. Universities teach science, not just to future scientists, but at least some science to almost all students. High schools and elementary schools also teach science. We are a science-literate society. Established science, education programs, publications by support organizations and funding sources work together to reinforce a standard of Section 2 - Science 200 science that basically tells the world, “This is established science, this is what is truth and these are the truth givers.” While the frontiers of known science are actually emergent or proto science, thanks to organized skeptics, anything not part of mainstream science is considered pseudoscience. Reported experiences we refer to as paranormal should be studied as frontier science, but instead, they are called pseudoscience and verge on becoming a taboo subject except for the for entertainment only popular culture. Again, thanks to the organized skeptic, pseudoscience is considered a danger to society and working on frontier subjects that skeptics brand

as pseudoscience can cost the researcher’s mainstream career. Certainly, there is little money for research, only a few poorly attended professional organizations and virtually no university support. My personal advice to young doctoral students wanting to be a parapsychologist is to major in a mainstream subject and work on things paranormal as a private avocation. On close examination, it is clear that most parapsychologists come to the study late in life from other fields of study. Retired, they no longer need to worry about being ostracized by their mainstream peers and are more able to apply scarce research grants to actual research. One of the oldest organizations supporting parapsychology was founded in 1882 in England as the Society for Psychical Research (24) Most of the research they conducted in the early days was like naturalists observing demonstrations. The first half of the 1900s saw the establishment of formal laboratories for studying paranormal phenomena under controlled conditions. Most of those labs have closed due in part to the lack of funding. I believe a major problem for in-lab studies is that it is difficult to study such experiences as psychic sensing, psychokinetic influences and distant healing intention under controlled conditions. From my study, it appears the results of the lab’s work are that the phenomena are real, but few useful theories have emerged that lend themselves to focused research unless the field opens more to hypotheses that consider alternative physics. It appears everyone has psi functioning capabilities but there are relatively

few people who can decisively demonstrate them and even fewer who are able to do so on demand. Here are two lists of research reports that may give you an idea of what has been done: Selected Psi Research Publications (14) and 100 Scientific Papers Offering Evidence for Psi Phenomena & Effects (112). 201 Answers It was speculated a few years ago that there were around 50 Ph.Ds. in the world working as parapsychologists. The field is just a little more than 100 years old. By comparison, mainstream physics is at least 400 years old and conducted by probably many thousands of scientists. Universities do not support the field and there are few professional organizations. Compare the sparse resources and short history of the paranormalist research community with the mainstream academia’s resistance to change, institutional protection of established truth and the skeptic’s scientism. The better question is to ask when the public is going to demand that their funding goes toward a better understanding of our most important ability. Parapsychologists are doing their part. Question 118 Should non-experts be allowed to criticize experts? Answered March 13, 2020 Answer An expert is generally defined as a person who has comprehensive training in a subject, and through extensive experience, has gained authoritative knowledge of that subject which they are willing and able to convey to the public. I personally prefer subject matter specialist instead of expert. A specialist seeks to understand and become proficient in a particular subject area. From my experience,

a person claiming to be a specialist may have a greater understanding about a subject than do others but will generally not claim to be any kind of expert--just helpful. The public has a responsibility as well. When looking to a person for guidance, the most important tool we have is discernment. Here are a few phrases that help explain this point: There is mediocracy at all levels – amongst any group of people working in the same subject area, some are only marginally qualified to be in the group and some are the most knowledgeable of the group. The majority are more or less average. How the expert ranks amongst peers is information the public deserves to know. Section 2 - Science 202 Wizard of Oz Syndrome – The misconception that people with doctorate degrees are infinitely knowledgeable and wise, and that they work to help us better understand their subject. In fact, they are not allwise and seldom bother to actually try to communicate their understanding to the public. Mostly, we hear from science writers. Wizard Complex – People with doctorates believe they are infinitely knowledgeable and wise. People with more training in a subject area than the public tends to assume knowledge authority that may not be present. The “I am trained and you are not” attitude is followed by “Therefore, I know more than you about this subject.” This ignores the fact that training gives information. Only practice gives knowledge. Experience only offers the opportunity for

understanding. Training alone gives no assurance of expertise. For instance, I know Amateur (Ham) Radio Operators who know more about the characteristics of radio communication than many academics. While academics trained in the field should know more of the physical principles, they probably will not have a sense of how those principles manifest in the real world. Expertise is relative. Hyperlucidity – Self-delusion; mistaking information colored by worldview as a lucid sense of the actual nature of reality. See Jerusalem Syndrome. (120) This is especially important for mind-related subjects but it has an equivalent in scientism, which means the belief that science holds all truths and is the ultimate authority. Assumed Knowledge – Often stems from hyperlucidity but is usually related to the Wizard Complex. This is especially problematic when academically trained people depend on their credentials to give them authority in an unrelated field. For instance, a Ph.D. in biology might claim academic authority in a field investigation of reported paranormal phenomena. Since the science is so sparse in that field, none of which is biologically founded, the Ph.D. has no academic standing greater than, say, a layperson who has been studying the subject for years. If parapsychological organizations actually understood the intent of peer review, they would never publish an assumed knowledge report. See Open Letter to Paranormalists: Limits of science, trust and responsibility (3) 203 Answers Academic-Layperson Partition – Separation between people without an advanced degree imposed by people with an advanced degree; an aspect of Wizard

Complex. One of the reasons we, the people, help pay for the university system is the expectation that the resulting educated people will help us sort out how to live in this world. Sometimes, this expectation is met with an academically imposed separation between the educated and the not so educated. When this partition is strong, academics posing as experts often figuratively speaking simply toss information over the partition. I suspect it is those academics this question addresses. The answer is yes, proclamations of truth under cover of academic authority always need to be questions … with respect while expecting respect in return. It is hugely important to society that well-qualified people make their expertise available to the rest of us. From my experience, those who would be considered experts are a mixed lot, many of whom are not actually qualified to be considered experts. This is true about some who altruistically try to help. Ultimately, knowledge comes from education and experience. Academics represent the organized education aspect of society. Often, laypeople represent the experience. An exchange of information between the two in the form of collaboration is a valuable tool. If the layperson is unable to decide whether or not the expert is qualified, he or she should ignore the supposed expert. Section 2 - Science 204 Question 119 Why are there still many profoundly metaphysical questions that remain unanswered by science? Answered March 29, 2020 Answer An assumption in physics is that reality is knowable. If all of

reality is known, then metaphysics would be a meaningless term because everything would be defined within the scope of known science. While physical science is successful, people studying the physical sciences tend to limit themselves to physical concepts. That is, they argue that only the physical universe exists. Psychology deals with the mind and has only recently been grudgingly give the status as real science. Concepts concerned with mind and concepts concerned with physical science do not often mingle. If we agree that reality is entirely explained as the result of the hypothetical “Big Bang” event, which is thought to have created the physical universe and everything in it including mind, then there can be no metaphysical concepts that address anything other than what was created by the Big Bang. However, if we agree that mind is not the product of a biological brain, it becomes necessary to speculate about the existence of an aspect of reality that is not physical. That is, mind is not physical and must exist somewhere other than in the brain. The idea of mind that is independent of biological brain is referred to as Dualism. There is sufficient experimental and anecdotal reason to speculate that a nonphysical field exists with the physical universe, in which mind exists, and that provides a medium of propagation for the influence of thought. If we are to study mind, consciousness and the many reported apparently paranormal experiences, it becomes necessary to think of metaphysics as the study of

fundamental principles of both physical and mental aspects of reality. The fork in the road is at physicalism on the one way and Dualism on the other. 205 Answers While the physical world is not completely explained, it is much better explained than the nonphysical field supporting mind and thought. Even more important for you and me is that the relationship between the two aspects of reality is hardly studied. In my view, the answer to this question is that scientific dogma does not include the possibility of nonphysical mind, and therefore, the concept is only studied by a few brave souls as a frontier science. Section 3 Psi Functioning Introduction Psi functioning is the mind’s equivalent of the human’s five senses. It includes such abilities as being psychic, mediumship, clairvoyance, remote viewing, healing intention and psychokinesis (aka mind over matter, levitation). In Dualism, mind (consciousness, personality, self) is considered nonphysical. The nonphysical aspect of reality is still being defined. I refer to it as etheric (the etheric, etheric space). Parapsychologists have identified a field overlaying the physical they refer to as the psi field. Psi is the expression of mind and the psi field functions as a medium of propagation for psi. It is correct to say that mind inhabits the psi field. It is important to me that people have a realistic and supportable understanding of these phenomena. Our parapsychological community is doing a lot considering their limited resources and few qualified researchers. The concepts are complex, and

I believe most people do not realize how much is known or the implications of what is known. As you read these answers, keep in mind that, as a technical writer, I search for terminology that explains the point in a useful manner. For instance, I am not sure I have actually read where a parapsychologist has referred to the psi field as the Psi Field Hypothesis. I have taken it on myself to name it a hypothesis so that I can compare that concept to the Survival Hypothesis. There are other ways in which I have made a sort of leap of logic in an attempt to clearly make a point. That is one of the reasons I try to include references to useful source material. Examination of my essays will show additional references. If you question my answers, please do examine the references. Also feel free to contact me if you have questions or think I should answer in a different way. Section 3 – Psi Functioning 208 Question 120 Do you believe that ESP exists? Answered May 30, 2018 Answer These days, ESP or Extra Sensory Perception is more often referred to as psi sensing. Psi, pronounced sigh, is thought to be a subtle aspect of reality that permeates all of the physical as the psi field. First Sight Theory (19) is gaining acceptance as the model for how all of us are naturally able to sense information in the psi field and how our thoughts naturally

send information into the field. If you want to know yourself, perhaps the most important thing you can do is understand a little about First Sight Theory. In Spiritualism, (20) mediumship is referred to as the ability for a person to act as a conduit for information from our friends on the other side. Psychic is the ability to sense information without any apparent physical means. From the perspective of the psi field, mediumship and psychic are both forms of psi functioning. Or, as you are asking, ESP. So, the answer is yes, we think everyone is able to sense the psi field. Some are more able than others. It is a skill that can be developed, but keep in mind that, as in sports, most of us are just okay while a few are naturally superstars. Question 121 Is telekinesis scientifically true? Answered September 25, 2018 Answer I was going to pass on this question until I read the one answer listed at the time. Beware those who make absolute statements. Look at their credentials. 209 Answers Parapsychologists refer to telekinesis as psychokinesis these days. An excellent overview of Psychokinesis (PK) is in the Psi Encyclopedia in the Psychokinesis Research (121) article. The objective nature of Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) is discussed in a study report titled EVP Online Listening Trials. (122) EVP is a less wellaccepted form of PK influence of electronic equipment but it is easily studied. Physical séance phenomena often involve PK but is mostly studied

by not so well controlled observation. I have included a photograph from History and Background of the SORRAT Group by I. Grattan-Guinness (123) of a disposable camera as it was levitated in a locked 20 Gallon glass chamber. The movement was captured with a motion-sensitive camera. The circumstances, qualifications of the people operating the chamber and the chain of custody of the original photograph represent the work product of valid science research. Another way that PK is studied is during the study of poltergeist activity. See Poltergeists (Overview). (95) There are examples of table levitation that have been studied. Just search for “table levitation research” on the Internet. I have been a sitter when the table rose with all four legs off the floor several inches and then crashed down. This, a couple of times. Beware your toes! The facts of PK are well established. Theories are being tested. The problem is that those theories depend on principles that are not currently Photograph from History and Background of the SORRAT Group by I. Grattan-Guinness Section 3 – Psi Functioning 210 accepted by mainstream science. Until the momentum of old science is superseded by more contemporary theory, the science will always be considered pseudoscience (false science.) Question 122 How did you get involved with the paranormal? Answered November 7, 2019 Answer Each of us has experiences that hint to the possibility there is something more to who we are than what we are told. I do not mean this in the

sense of “who am I” or “what is my purpose.” Nor am I talking in terms of religion or spirituality. Consider the times you might have noticed your pet seemed to be smarter than expected or the way events seemed to come together just right for your best interest. How about your dreams? Have you wondered why you are different than your friends—not physically or socially, but why you have a different way of thinking about things? People range in degree of comprehension, discernment and understanding. All three are different things but related like legs of a threelegged stool: Comprehension –the ability to recognize characteristics and their relationships in things to understand their nature. Discernment – the presence of mind to question, consider and examine ideas to see the sensibility of their implications. A discerning person is one who does not accept information on face value but seeks to comprehend the underlying evidence. Understanding – comprehension of underlying principles. Understanding is like a thought ball. When you understand a wagon, for instance, in one thought, you are aware of looks purpose, limitations, alternatives, anything you have learned that is related to wagonhood. Understanding is relative, so that your first exposure to wagon may produce limited understanding, but over time, with repeated 211 Answers encounters, your understanding matures to a more correct comprehension of the actual nature of the wagon concept. Greater than average comprehension, more than average discernment and an urge to gain understanding are characteristics of a person who

is likely to begin seriously considering the possibility that a paranormal explanation to experience may make more sense. In my experience, all else who claim an interest are just idly interested in the same way they might be idly interested if Big Foot exists. What I have described here is my answer to how I got involved with the paranormal. Religious and scientific explanations of my experiences fell far short of furthering my understanding. How could I not look closer to see the underlying ideas? Remember, paranormal is a word for nature not yet described by mainstream science. Comprehension, discernment and understanding can be developed. Make a habit of understanding things you see in your environment. For instance, when you see a dog, consciously recognize that it is a dog. Speculate about what it is doing, and later, decide if your speculation makes sense. A fundamental lesson taught in ancient wisdom schools is that seekers (students) should learn everything they can about everything. In a real sense, the more we know the more background we have to comprehend new ideas. The Mindful Way (12) is a good term to describe what it takes to develop discernment and increase understanding. Increasing the two will, in turn, increase your comprehension. Understanding the paranormal is learning to understand yourself. Question 123 How can I learn telepathy, telekinesis, and to understand auras? Answered February 11, 2019 Answer Section 3 – Psi Functioning 212 Telepathy is an old term for the ability to sense the

thoughts of other people. It was superseded by Extrasensory Perception (ESP) and that is now more often thought of as psychic or psi functioning. Telekinesis is an old term for the human ability to influence matter with the mind. A more commonly used term for this is psychokinesis. Both of these abilities are thought to be natural to life, but like any ability, some people are more able to express their abilities. There is good research supporting the existence of both. I will not address seeing auras. While I have been able to replicate the reported ability to some extent, the evidence is unclear to me if it is an imagined ability or actual. As to developing the ability, it needs to be noted that the natural ability seems to follow the normal distribution (Gaussian) so that all have some, but only a few are superstars. With that said, it appears possible to improve on your natural ability in the same sense that an average athlete may improve with practice but might not become a superstar. During the last fifty years or so, I have attended many classes designed to improve these abilities. The first thing to learn is that they are abilities and not gifts from God. The second thing to learn is that the abilities are part of your nonphysical aspect. To make sense of that, think of yourself as two parts. One is your human body which hosts you in this lifetime. The second is your immortal

personality which includes purpose (the Observer), Discriminating perception and expression (the Judge) and conscious self as your Experiencer. These parts are nonphysical and exist independently of your human. However, you are entangled with your human and share the Judge during a lifetime. That means your first task is to learn to recognize which is deciding how you think … your personality or your human. The best argument for what I am saying here is First Sight Theory. (19) I have attempted to rephrase this theory in the Perception Essay. (22) For this answer, the idea is to learn to stop mentally switching from subject to subject (switching). By consciously paying attention to your less well-formed thoughts, you teach your Judge to pass them on unfiltered to your conscious Self (Experiencer). Practice suspended judgment, as it is more difficult to change once a decision (true or not) is made. 213 Answers The Mindful Way (7) is a way of thinking about your nature and the nature of reality that might help you gain more conscious control over your Judge. The idea is to habitually, mentally question the sensibility of what you think is true. Our Judge is trained by human instincts and cultural norms. That is a garbage in-garbage out situation that can be managed but it takes practice. I know of no of one who has become enlightened overnight. Remember the old saying “For enlightenment, chop wood carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” The rest of the story

is to practice every chance possible. One of the reasons I am a Spiritualist (20) is that meetings give me the opportunity to exercise some of those abilities. Question 124 How much of YouTube's paranormal aired material possibly real? Answered March 22, 2019 Answer Whenever there is the public’s ability to add content to a website, that content must be considered “for entertainment only.” In the Association TransCommunication (atransc.org) (117), we sometimes receive material that is clearly intended to fool us. Some material is of such poor quality that Bettys in there EVP waveform (atransc.org/evp-tom-lisa-butler/). Examining the waveform often reveals if it has been modified and makes it easier to identify possible EVP. Section 3 – Psi Functioning 214 it is not reasonable to say it is paranormal. Much of what we receive these days is by way of a link to a video clip on YouTube. When we say that someone has a good example, in effect, the ATransC is certifying that the example is paranormal. That means we need to be careful not to discredit the Association. We examine examples of Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) with an audio management program such as Audacity (audacityteam.org). It is usually necessary to use headphone, even repeat the example several times. After all, it is important for the practitioner who made the recording, as it may be the voice of a loved one. We do not listen to examples of EVP posted on YouTube. Well, these days, we are reluctant to consider

any because people become angry when we do not certify their work. It can be even more difficult to be sure about visual forms of Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC). Many of the hints that tell us an example is ITC, rather than just a bad picture, are dependent on the resolution of the media. Those visual features are often lost in poor reproduction of the sort we see on YouTube. Then there are the people who delight in confounding serious study by posting the fraudulent video. A joke, I suppose, but it is unethical. Some of it is pretty convincing, making it unwise of us to consider any YouTube examples. The evidence is pretty decisive that some forms of phenomena are paranormal as evidence of psi functioning, maybe even survival of bodily death. The effectiveness of that evaluation depends on how it is presented. Of course, given that there are actual phenomena, some of the material on YouTube is real. But it is better to look to the practitioner’s website or a trusted aggregating site like atransc.org. (124) Get to know the person’s work and support them to do more. Above all, avoid sensationalism of the kind better suited to a New Age spirit festival than serious study. 215 Answers Question 125 Why do some people attract a lot of paranormal activity, others a bit and most none? Are there characteristics in people that dictates that? Answered March 22, 2019 Answer A lot of research has been conducted concerning psychic functioning

(psi functioning), mediumship and healing intention. You may be familiar with the Rhine Research Center’s (25) work. James Carpenter has conducted a meta-study of such research. He participated in much of it himself. The result of his study is First Sight Theory. There is a book by that name, and you can read his comments on it at First Sight: A Model and a Theory of PSI. (19) I have tried to provide a simplified paraphrase of the important elements of the theory in an essay on Perception. (22) The essence of Carpenter’s well-received theory is that everything produces a psi signal which all of us are able to sense. Put another way, we are all psychic. His theory also argues that our every expression is accompanied by a psychokinetic influence into the world. The effect is that, even when we reach for something like a coffee cup, we are sending out a mental command for the cup to come closer. (It is usually a small command.) Another important idea supporting First Sight Theory is that we unconsciously process information before becoming consciously aware of the results. For instance, see: Decision-making May Be Surprisingly Unconscious Activity. (39) Further, our worldview provides the yardstick for the preprocessing. Worldview is like a database in our mostly unconscious mind containing memory, what we are taught, beliefs and instincts. Putting all of this together, we all have the same native abilities but each of us expresses those abilities differently, depending on our beliefs, Section

3 – Psi Functioning 216 prior education and personality. If we believe in phenomena, we are more apt to experience it. If we do not, the incoming information will probably be put in the ignore pile. Alternatively, the incoming signal may be changed to something we can agree with. For instance, if you believe in the paranormal but are religious, you might become aware of a psychic signal that began as a simple “hello” as “I will take your soul.” It is important that you learn deliberate discernment. (12) So, the main part of my answer is that what we experience depends a lot on what we think is true. The second part of my answer is that some people have a … well, they have a hysterical personality. To a person who wants to experience phenomena but who does not have a discerning mind, it is possible that everything might seem paranormal, even when it is not. See my comments about hyperlucidity. (16) Training our mostly unconscious mind is not a matter of simply deciding. It learns in small increments. Ambiguous information tends to be more effective for training than decisive information. This is one of the reasons I feel affirmations may work as reminders but are mostly ineffective for mental training. Question 126 Is telekinesis scientifically possible within the realm of how little we understand of existence or would something totally new have to be discovered for it to become plausible? Answered March 23, 2019 Answer Telekinesis is

also known as PsychoKinesis (PK) amongst parapsychologists. It is defined as the mental ability to affect physical objects. For examples, the ability is reported to manifest as levitation of objects, changes in biological organisms and random processes. 217 Answers For healing intention, the article Meditator’s non-contact effect on cucumbers (125) explains an example of the way PK is studied for healing intention. In that, changes in the bioluminescence and outgassing of slices of ordinary cucumbers are measured when meditators direct intentionality toward them. Also see The Effects of Distant Intentions on Water Crystal Formation: A Triple-Blind Replication. (60) The Global Consciousness Project (92) has a global array of Random Event Generators (REG) that have been seen to change in randomness just prior to major world events like the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center. Meditators have been shown to change the randomness of REGs. See Experiments Investigating the Influence of Intention on Random and Pseudorandom Events (38) and Exploratory Study: The Random Number Generator and Group Meditation. (93) Dean Radin has shown that expressed intention can bias the distribution of photons through a double-slit apparatus. See Consciousness and the double-slit interference pattern: Six experiments. (94) Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) appears to be formed by the influence of intended order on random noise. See A Model for EVP. (43) The list goes on. My point is that the existence of psychokinesis is not really in question. Many parapsychologists who study PK attempt to explain it using just known physical principles.

The problem is that no known physical principles account for the observed characteristics of PK. A more useful model for PK has emerged known as the psi field, where psi is used as a place-keeper name for whatever the influence (energy or force) might be that is involved in psychic ability and PK. It is proposed in the Psi Field Hypothesis that there is a subtle field permeating physical space that acts as a means of propagating psi influences. This model allows for mind-body duality in which mind is a psi field phenomenon. From my study of survival metaphysics, it seems clear that some form of subtle field is required to properly model psi characteristics. I am an electronics engineer and have tried for years to explain those characteristics with what I know of physics. While quantum principles may help explain the psi-physical interface, they are more useful for here is everywhere kind of analysis. Psi phenomena require an everywhere is here solution. My answer is that it is necessary for mainstream science to find a way to integrate the Psi Field Hypothesis into current models or figure out how to interface it with currently accepted principles. Section 3 – Psi Functioning 218 Question 127 I’m fairly sure I’m Clairaudient. I acknowledge presence of spirit but don’t know how best to hone or use it, any guidance you can offer? Answered March 24, 2019 Answer From my study, (126) it has become clear that clear sensing of any form involves

the same mental processes. Which ability we consciously express depends on our expectations and interest. We all have the ability to sense subtle influences around us. The problem is that we first unconsciously sense the influence. If it is not in agreement with what we think is true, our mostly unconscious mind does not pass it on to our conscious awareness. The trick is to teach our worldview to be more open to unexpected input. That is not as easy as it sounds. It is becoming known that we literally only experience what we think is possible. The judge for this is our worldview. At birth, our worldview, and therefore our perception and actions, is dominated by our human’s instincts. During life, it is filled with cultural lore, media entertainment and memory of our experience. Even if we tell ourselves we want to be psychic, if we have been brought up in a conservative, probably religious community, the momentum of our worldview will override that relatively recent desire. The only way we have to change worldview is the conscious expression of intention. Worldview resists change, so the process is not a one-time, one-day cure. It is a lifestyle process I refer to as The Mindful Way. (12) That is like the usual mindfulness, but not meditative. It is the moment-tomoment habit of pausing to consider what we think, our actions and our intention. Habitually intend to see reality as it is. Understanding is relative because understanding something opens the door

to a better understanding of that something. Deciding is quitting. instead, suspend judgment. I personally do not know enough about things 219 Answers to say with certainty that my perception is actual or misunderstood. Judge to understand but do not judge to decide. An important concept has recently come to us from James Carpenter called First Sight Theory. (19) There is a good book by that name explaining the concepts in detail. I have attempted to paraphrase it in the Perception Essay. (22) The theory is gaining acceptance in the parapsychological community and I find it useful to explain how our internal judge works. Corollary 13 reads: The arousal of anticipatory networks of ideas and feelings resulting from unconscious psi information may be considered liminal ones, in terms of the boundary between conscious and unconscious thought. Habitual interest in liminal experiences facilitates expression of psi processes (openness), leading to unconscious reference to psi material (and other streams of unconscious material). A more positive, open, secure state of mind will tend to facilitate reference to a broader spectrum of contextual, potentially liminal experience. (In other words, habitually paying attention to subtle information emerging from your unconscious can lead to more direct awareness of what has been psychically sensed from psi space.) Liminality Corollary. My answer is to become informed about how we think, (16) decide to step onto some way of habitual self-examination (12) and practice a lot. Find a safe group to work with. Start a development circle. Join a

Spiritualist group (20) that teaches mediumship. As a footnote, a common error new people (and a lot of veterans) make is to think they are clear sensing when they are only imagining they are. The difference is hard to tell for the practitioner and the witness. I refer to that tendency as hyperlucidity. (16) The way to avoid hyperlucidity is to have a few trusted witnesses who will give you feedback as to how you are doing. When it comes to clear sensing, it is never a good idea to trust what we sense until we have gained quite a lot of experience. Our mind is a mischievous storyteller. Section 3 – Psi Functioning 220 Question 128 How does spiritual communication work? Answered March 30, 2019 Answer The people who study this question are known as parapsychologists. They approach the question from three main points of view: Physical Hypothesis — Spirit communication does not exist. It ordinary being mistaken as extraordinary. Psi Field Hypothesis — Apparent spirit communication may be psychic functioning (a mind of still-living person-to-a mind of still-living person) or mediumship (a mind of still-living person-to-the memory or residual energy of a once-living person). Survival Hypothesis — The same as Psi Field Hypothesis except that mediumship is thought to be with a mind of still-living person-to-the still sentient mind of a discarnate personality. It is increasingly understood amongst parapsychologists that psychic ability exists. Only a minority of them accept that survival may be possible. The first point to

understand is that mediumship is the least accepted possibility for how information is psychically accessed. I am a certified medium with the National Spiritualist Society of Churches. (20) When I seek to demonstrate spirit communication, the first question I must ask myself is whether I am basing what I think is the information I deliver on what I am sensing or what I think I am sensing about my sitter. It can be difficult for me to avoid coloring a real spirit message with my own assumptions and psychically sensed information. The second question I must ask myself is if I am accessing someone’s memory. Mediumship and psychic functioning are identical processes. It is the intended purpose of communication that seems to decide how we direct our attention. If I am seeking to clairvoyantly see a distant city, I expect to do so through the senses of someone who knows the city. If I am 221 Answers trying to see if you will get a new job, I try to sense the potential of moving forward that is with my sitter. If I am trying to access information from long-dead Uncle John, I mentally call him up in my mind and try to keep mental blinders on to shut out all other input. I do not know the exact process. Perhaps The Windbridge Research Center (26) can make the process a little clearer. All I know for sure is that I mentally turn toward the target personality. The Switching Corollary

of First Sight Theory mentioned below will give you a sense of what I mean. Here is an important point. Every mediumistic message should be preceded with the disclaimer that the information may be from a discarnate loved one but that it also may be from the sitter’s memory of the person or the memory of someone who knew the person. For most people, the existence of our friends on the other side, even the existence of another side, is a matter of faith. it is only conditionally accepted by a few scientists. Learn to distinguish between faith-based beliefs and research-based understanding. The best instruction I can offer for how spirit communication works is presented in First Sight Theory. (19) I have tried to paraphrase the theory in the Perception Discourse. (22) The last one in the Perception Discourse will give you a sense of it: 13. The arousal of anticipatory networks of ideas and feelings resulting from unconscious psi information may be considered liminal ones, in terms of the boundary between conscious and unconscious thought. Habitual interest in liminal experiences facilitates expression of psi processes (openness), leading to unconscious reference to psi material (and other streams of unconscious material). A more positive, open, secure state of mind will tend to facilitate reference to a broader spectrum of contextual, potentially liminal experience. (In other words, habitually paying attention to subtle information emerging from your unconscious can lead to more direct awareness of what has been psychically sensed from psi space.)

Liminality Corollary Spirit communication (mediumship) is a skill that can be developed, at least to some extent. I always fall back to the Mindful Way (12) as a means of increasing the skill. Section 3 – Psi Functioning 222 Question 129 Does E.S.P. exist? Answered March 30, 2019 Answer The short answer based on research is yes. Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP) is so named because it was thought to be an addition to the five ordinary senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch. It refers to the ability to access information without the five normal senses and is thought to be a mental ability. Other terms for ESP include: Psychic — Accessing information with the mind (telepathy, remote viewing, clairsentient). Mediumship — Mentally communicating with discarnate personalities Psi Functioning — Sensing information from or expressing a mental influence on the hypothetical psi field. Psi function is a newer term based on research leading to the proposal that a field of subtle influence permeates physical space and acts as a reservoir for information and a media of propagation for thoughtintentionality. Psychic is a more popular term. Mediumship came from Spiritualism. Many Spiritualist mediums will say that they are psychic mediums. That can be taken to mean the person accesses information from the psi field (other people’s mind, memory presumably retained in the field) and/or from discarnate personalities. Considerable research has been conducted showing that ESP is probably a valid human experience. Everyone is potentially psychic, but as with athletes, some are

naturally better. An excellent study guide for discovering the research and available resources is Dean Radin’s Selected Psi Research Publications. (14) 223 Answers Question 130 Is the human mind actually powerful enough to use telekinesis? Answered April 4, 2019 Answer There is quite a lot of experimental evidence that telekinesis is an actual phenomenon. Parapsychologists prefer calling it psychokinesis and there is a good list of references for this research in Selected Psi Research Publications. (14) Psychokinesis (aka PK, telekinesis) is a term used to describe the apparent human ability to influence physical objects and processes with the mind. It is commonly demonstrated in physical mediumship (111) circles as audible sounds, levitation of objects and the presence of lights. Physical mediums typically develop their skills over many years. Not everyone who tries, develops the ability, although researchers seem to agree that it is a latent ability with all of us. It has been shown in multiple experiments that the output of a Random Event Generator (REG) will become less random when in the presence of a group of meditating people or when attention is focused on it. In fact, one REG manufacturer tried to develop a toy vehicle that could be controlled by a person’s intentionality, although it seems the degree of difficulty for the operator made it an impractical toy and development was stopped. Poltergeist (95) activity often involves the movement of objects. Current thinking is that the phenomena are caused by a disturbed child living in the home

(not a ghost). Such phenomena are well documented. Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) are known as anomalous voices found in recording media for which no known physical principles account. Current understanding is that they are a psychokinetic effect caused by the practitioner or interested observer but possibly initiated by a discarnate personality. This is explained in A Model for EVP. (43) Researchers are not in agreement about the nature of mind and certainly not about how such abilities are generated. It is pretty clear that it is not a question of power, as the effects are not explained with known Section 3 – Psi Functioning 224 physical principles. The force behind PK is probably better described as intention. If so, the ability to express PK influence is better described in terms of how well a person can focus attention with clearly imagined intention (intended order). As a general statement, all of us have the same abilities but we are not all able to express them to the same degree. As it is with athletics, some of us are just a lot better than others and some of us train a lot more than others. Some people speculate that we come into this lifetime with skills of expression and perception that are developed before birth. This requires consideration of the Survival Hypothesis (64) or at least the Hypothesis of Formative Causation. (35) Question 131 Can you obtain psychic powers through training? Answered April 21, 2019 Answer The short answer is yes, but

there are many caveats. First, it should be noted that most academics seem to prefer psychokinesis (PK) as a term, rather than telekinesis. I always try to use terms that will be recognized by the largest audience. Some researchers say that we all have psychokinetic ability. First Sight Theory (19) is one case. Also, see the Perception Discourse. (22) The same is true of psychic ability. It appears our perception is first mostly unconsciously psychic and then conscious. Psychokinetic ability is like any human ability. Athletes, for instance. All of us have athletic ability but a few of us are potential super athletes. To be useful, such an ability needs to be developed. A good working hypothesis is that physical effects require influences that are governed by physical principles. There is no magic. Mental expression is not physical. It is an influence that occurs in nonphysical space. Some parapsychologists refer to that as the nonphysical psi field which is thought to permeate physical space. 225 Answers If this is true, then there must be some form of psi field-to-physical space interface. In Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP), we see an apparent psychokinetic influence on noise that appears to be stochastic amplification. In that, a small signal carrying intelligence is amplified when mixed with a large noise signal. The idea is that a weak psychokinetic signal representing the communicator’s intended order (the message) is amplified in the noise to produce an audible signal. However, there still needs to be a way for

the mind-to-audio signal influence to be propagated across the psi field-physical interface. To my knowledge, we still do not know what that is. The Global Consciousness Project (92) uses Random Event Generators (REG) as psi detectors. The REG output becomes less random under the influence of intentionality. After studying EVP and as an electronics engineer, I believe both indicate the same principles governing the psiphysical interface. The REG effect requires some kind of interface. There are a few alternative proposed explanations such as mass hallucination but following the logic of Occam’s Razor, I think the best avenue for research is to find that interface. I would focus on how we are thought to create our personal reality. All of this is important to explain that the most likely approach to teaching a person any outward mental influence is to teach the person to manage visualization and intentionality. In First Sight Theory, the corollaries listed in Perception Discourse suggest that we must first learn to manage how we think. I talked a little about this in the How We Think Essay. (16) The Creative Process is attention on an imagined outcome with the intention to make it so. That requires focus as described in the First Sight Theory Switching Corollary (#10) and the Extremity Corollary (#11). It also requires learning to pay attention to subtle cues from the mostly unconscious mind as described in the Liminality Corollary (#13). There are many techniques for this. All I am aware of are lifestyle

kinds of training that can take many years. One does not go into a cave for a few years and come out a psychokinetic master. It is more like one begins to habitually focus attention on those small signals that seem to come to conscious thought from deep in the subconscious. Spiritualist churches (20) often teach classes intended to help a person become more aware of those inner thoughts and learn to know what is self and what is from others. Lacking a technique for teaching Psychokinesis, I Section 3 – Psi Functioning 226 think learning mediumship is a good place to begin. Healing intention is a good way to learn to sense, recognize and manage the influence of intentionality. Contemplation (meditation with a purpose) is a good way to develop focused perception. Also see the Becoming Lucid Discourse. (5) None of these work by themselves and all take time to have an effect. It is all about the person wanting this and being willing to do the work. Follow something like The Mindful Way (12) and practice, practice, practice. From the Katha Upanishad (41) 1-III-14.: (42) “Arise, awake, and learn by approaching the exalted ones, for that path is sharp as a razor’s edge, impassable, and hard to go by, say the wise.” Find yourself a teacher you can trust to teach a practical way and not one of fantasy and empty belief. Question 132 Scientists theorize that psychic ability comes from the subconscious. What do you think? Answered

April 23, 2019 Answer As it is turning out, all of our awareness appears to come from the mostly unconscious mind. I say “mostly unconscious” to recognize that, as we gain in lucidity, (5) so do we begin to manage the stream of consciousness coming from our unconscious perceptual processes to better experience actual reality. Here are a few references showing that researchers are beginning to think we first unconsciously sense information. It is modified (colored) to agree with our worldview (what we have been taught is true). That personal reality version is sent to our conscious awareness: Our Unconscious Mind (58) Decision-making May Be Surprisingly Unconscious Activity (39) The Unconscious Mind (40) 227 Answers First Sight model and neurological damage-induced psi openings (127) I have tried to simplify the First Sight Theory corollaries in Perception (22) Our mostly unconscious mind is our judge. Our judge uses our worldview to determine what is true. Worldview contains our personal sense of reality, so if we have been taught that psychic ability is impossible, using First Sight terms, our judge will turn away from thinking a personal experience is related to psychic ability. In most cases, we might not even experience the input. Psychic can be defined as mentally sensing information. Since all our experiences, including awareness of our body’s senses, comes to our conscious mind by way of our mostly unconscious mind, it is arguable that we are all psychic. And yes, the naturally occurring ability comes to us by way

of our subconscious mind. I should point out that this research about how we process information is relatively new and most people interested in the paranormal have not caught up. The result is that some mediumistic practitioners tend to misunderstand the nature of their mediumship. Question 133 Are there any scientifically proven psychics? If so who are they? Answered May 7, 2019 Answer According to the FAQ section of the Parapsychological Association (PA) website: (23) Parapsychology is the scientific and scholarly study of three kinds of unusual events (ESP, mind-matter interaction, and survival), which are associated with human experience. From the PA’s FAQ What is the state-of-the-evidence for psi? To be precise, when we say that "X exists," we mean that the presently available, cumulative statistical database for experiments studying X, Section 3 – Psi Functioning 228 provides strong, scientifically credible evidence for repeatable, anomalous, X-like effects. With this in mind, ESP exists, presentiment (physical changes in skin reactivity, pupil size, heart rate, and other factors indicating precognition before a stimulus is applied) exists, telepathy (direct mindmind communication) exists, and mind-matter interaction (previously known as psychokinesis or PK) exists. The survival of bodily death remains unproven, though there is suggestive evidence for this from the reincarnation research performed by Ian Stevenson and others. (Note that we are using the terms ESP, telepathy and MMI in the technical sense, not in the popular sense. See What do parapsychologists study?) Also see Selected Psi Research Publications. (14) Based on the above, I

will argue that there is well-considered research indicating psychic ability exists. We all have psychic ability, but like other human abilities, there are only a few super-psychics amongst us. For instance, I am a certified mental medium but my batting average is something like one maybe good message in, say, twenty misses. The misses are really unknowns, as I have had people come to me years later to tell me about the importance of a message that I thought was a miss. Psychics typically express as healers, intuitives, empaths and mediums. Although not necessarily the same, we see a similar distribution of expression in temperament. For instance, David Merrill and Roger Reid have proposed four social styles: (21) Analytical: Thinking, thorough, disciplined Amiable: Supportive, patient, diplomatic Driver: Independent, decisive, determined Expressive: Good communicator, enthusiastic, imaginative There is probably not a direct comparison between the temperament and psychic expression. I hazard a guess that healing intention relates to Amiable-Expressive, intuitive matches well with Analytical, and of course, empathic goes well with Amiable. You can use the temperaments help identify the way others around you might express their naturally occurring psychic ability. My point is that people find ways of integrating their natural abilities into their lives without realizing they are psychic. For instance, I argue that we momentarily enter 229 Answers into a deep-trance state of awareness when we pause to retrieve something from memory. There are not many opportunities for people to develop these abilities. Spiritualists sometimes teach the abilities,

but their focus is mostly on healing intention and mediumship. Like me, few work outside of the local community. Other places to look is alumni from the government remote viewing project. I met Joe McMoneagle at the Monroe Institute. (128) He indicated that he is remote viewing for Japanese firms. I met one other person who is applying his psychic ability for Japanese firms. Question 134 Why, since the dawn of time, have many people perceived reflecting surfaces as portals towards other worlds? Answered May 18, 2019 Answer I can offer three perspectives, but there remains a psychologist’s perspective I am not qualified to offer. First, from my experience, it is not really the reflective surface as much as it is a blank place to focus the eyes. It is referred to as scrying when something like a calm pool of water or, yes, a crystal ball is used to help the reader or sitter’s mind focus on information coming from the unconscious. Looking at things, say a picture of a house, causes the mind to dwell on what is seen, rather than what is thought. See Scrying: How to Practice the Ancient Art of Second Sight (129) A psychomanteum is usually a small dark chamber one sits in. It is usually set up with a dim light behind the sitter and a mirror in front. Correctly arranged, the sitter can see the mirror but no detail so that it is like looking into an infinitely deep featureless space. See

The Trigger of Psychomanteum: Dr. Raymond Moody's Psychomanteum Research. (130) Part of Moody’s process is to prepare the sitter by inviting them to spend contemplative time remembering the person they want to contact. Section 3 – Psi Functioning 230 A more obscure explanation comes from Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). In the past, members of the Association TransCommunication have reported recording voice messages presumed to come from either someone’s unconscious mind or a discarnate personality. The communicators tell us that the mirrors help. See “Cross Reference of EVP Messages” on Page 6 of the Summer 2002 issue of the ATransC NewsJournal. Considering our current models for EVP, we think the communicators might not be able to see us. Instead, they know what we look like by sensing our self-image. When we look into a mirror, we see ourselves, and thus, they can see us. This is one of the references supporting the idea that we are the conduit for such phenomena. Question 135 How do you turn off telepathy or disconnect a psychic connection? Added May 21, 2019 Answer An important teacher for me was Paul Twitchell. (131) He often said that spiritual seeking was only for the brave. He sometimes elaborated to say that the Darshan (132) might come but once in a person’s life. Such an event can be a fearful experience. However, turning away from it out of fear might prevent it from ever returning. Darshan means experiencing the appearance of the master. The context in which Twitchell

spoke of it indicates that it is all about spiritual awakening. Some seekers spend the better part of a lifetime consciously seeking to gain full lucidity. (5) One of the ways people think it comes is by way of spontaneous out-of-body experiences. For some, an out-of-body experience is easy like waking up to a new “atmosphere and awareness.” Others describe it as like pulling a cork out of a wine bottle. It is sometimes not easy, with a lot of nonphysical bodily vibration and disorientation as the focus of the person’s sense of center suddenly becomes other than the center of their head. 231 Answers The Razor’s Edge (42) is embodied in that moment we decide to be okay with the experience or mentally retreat. Examine the First Sight Theory Corollaries I paraphrase in the Perception Discourse. (22) As a weekend medium, I fully endorse the corollaries as something of a ruleset for perception, especially psychic perception since simple thinking is pretty much automatic. Pay close attention to the idea of turning toward or away (#8, Bidirectionality Corollary). It is arguable that you cannot directly influence your perceptual processes. It is necessary to habitually express the intention to experience your desired mental states. That is why I talk about techniques like the one described in The Mindful Way. (12) The first part of my answer is that you can learn to habitually examine the information coming to your conscious mind and deliberately express the intention to agree or reject. Or

the one I think most important, you can decide to suspend judgment until more is known. The second part of my answer is that a wise person will learn to recognize the difference between a story told by their mind (34) and actual information coming from without. I will wager 99% of the information you attribute to psychic sensing is a story told by your mind in an effort to satisfy your expectations. Question 136 How do you stop viewing the world in dualistic terms? Answered May 29, 2019 Answer From The basics of Philosophy / Dualism: (69) Dualism in Metaphysics is the belief that there are two kinds of reality: material (physical) and immaterial (spiritual). In Philosophy of Mind, Dualism is the position that mind and body are in some categorical way separate from each other, and that mental phenomena are, in some respects, non-physical in nature. Section 3 – Psi Functioning 232 If you think your mind is a product of your brain, then you must think reality is only physical. That is, your mind, your thoughts and memory, are the direct product of the creation of the physical universe (the Big Bang Theory). When you die, your mind also dies. The only thing that survives is your friends’ memory of you. If you are more than your body, that is, if you accept there is a nonphysical aspect of reality, of which your mind is a part, then you are a Dualist. There are two primary points

of view in Dualism. One is that your nonphysical mind survives as residual memory in the etheric. The second is that your nonphysical mind appears to be immortal; existing before this lifetime and continuing to exist after as a sentient, self-aware lifeform. Most spiritual seekers seek to experience life as their immortal personality. The way I teach to do this is to decide our mind has two motivators. One is our human’s instincts. The second is our spiritual discerning intellect. See Humanism and Discerning Intellect (86) If you wish to “stop viewing the world in dualistic terms,” suppress your discerning intellect and allow your human instincts to rule your life. As it happens, most people naturally do that, as it takes a degree of lucidity for people to begin managing their human’s instincts. 233 Answers Question 137 What are examples of paranormal documentaries? Answered June 8, 2019 Answer Try youtu.be/0DWS3Iqms0w youtu.be/GkWPOIbsldE Section 3 – Psi Functioning 234 Victor Zammit often posts videos in his Afterlife Report. The current one is at Afterlife Report. (133) Question 138 How does knowledge affect your emotions? Answered June 16, 2019 Answer Emotion is the emphasis we put into our thoughts and actions; the assertiveness we attach to our expression. The extent of that emphasis is a function of the importance we place on things and the choices we make. Both are learned. Both are moderated by discerning intellect. I do not know, but I am pretty sure discerning intellect is something that we must

decide to apply to our thinking. Without that decision, we are guided by our human’s instincts which turn our emotional expression toward anything that will help assure the continuation of our gene pool. That is the pleasureful decision below. The Katha Upanishad (41) describes an interesting perspective on how we chose to live our life: 1-III-3. Know the Self to be the master of the chariot, and the body to be the chariot. Know the intellect to be the charioteer, and the mind to be the reins. 1-III-4. The senses they speak of as the horses; the objects within their view, the way. When the Self is yoked with the mind and the senses, the wise call It the enjoyer. 1-III-5. But whoso is devoid of discrimination and is possessed of a mind ever uncollected – his senses are uncontrollable like the vicious horses of a driver. 1-III-6. But whoso is discriminative and possessed of a mind ever collected – his senses are controllable like the good horses of a driver. 235 Answers 1-III-7. But whoso is devoid of a discriminating intellect, possessed of an unrestrained mind and is ever impure, does not attain that goal, but goes to samsara. Samsara is Hindu for the cycle of death and rebirth as life is bound to the material world. shastras.com/upanishads-krishna-yajur-veda/kathaupanishad/ (41) Some well-educated, intelligent people make decisions that other, equally educated and intelligent people think are foolish. It is clearly not a matter of IQ or education. Temperament seems to be

the dominant factor and that is something we are born with. Being aware of how our temperament moderates our thinking can help us learn to guide its effect as we intend. Hermetic Wisdom schools teach spiritual progression. One of their recommendations is that the seeker learns everything possible about everything. Knowledge is relative while information is specific. Learning things does not mean having knowledge of them. Through living in a mindful way, it is expected that the information is turned into knowledge through mindful intention. Spiritualists teach the importance of learning to understand Natural Law. That is the same concept. Enlightenment comes from realizing that there is a difference between the pleasureful way and the meaningful way. Progression comes from learning to habitually turn toward the meaningful, and thereby teach the horses of the Katha Upanishad to follow a mindful way. All of this mystical handwaving is to say that knowledge understood might lead to changes in emotion, but presumably, those changes will produce a more meaningful expression of emotion. Question 139 What are the downsides to a person having a lot of skepticism? Answered June 18, 2019 Answer Section 3 – Psi Functioning 236 People closer to the center of society tend to be skeptical of thought closer to the frontier. I study pretty far out on the frontier of thought and from that vantage point, skeptic is a dirty word meaning unreasonable rejection of good science and active interference with efforts to study reported human experiences. Skeptic is

an earned pejorative meaning closed-minded scientism. Those who are guilty of this form of scientism have co-opted the term. Because of that, I always advise people to practice discernment. Search for skeptic on the internet and you will find organized skeptic groups trying to squash open study of things paranormal. The first to come up for me is The Skeptics Society & Skeptic Magazine. In that view, there is no such thing as healthy skepticism, only obstructionism. Again, a healthy attitude is discernment. Referring to The Sheep-Goat Effect (108)and First Sight Theory. (19) it is becoming clear that we tend to turn away from information that does not agree with our belief system. That means a skeptic is less likely to experience the subtle effect of mediumship or psychic access of information, even though these are demonstrated through good science as being actual and natural forms of information access. A compounding factor is that, once a person decides something is not true, the person’s mostly unconscious perceptual processes tend to resist changing that decision. It is hard to open a closed mind This form of self-fulfilling belief is the major penalty of closed-minded skepticism. Question 140 What is the best website for someone that loves the paranormal? Answered July 7, 2019 Answer The paranormalist community consists of many smaller communities. In Your Immortal Self, (4) I wrote about the paranormalist community in some detail From one part: 237 Answers The paranormalist community includes five main communities of interest. It is

important to note that a person might be involved in all five: 1. Parapsychology: Academically trained, usually with doctorates, concerned with theorizing and conducting research, primarily considering the human nature-based response to phenomena, especially psi field-related phenomena. 2. Citizen Scientists: People who are involved in the study of these phenomena on the layperson side of the Academic-Layperson Partition. 3. Mediumistic Practitioners: People who apply techniques to induce transcommunication, such as mental and physical mediumship, automatic writing and ITC. Healing intention is included here. 4. Hobbyists: This community of interest is primarily composed of ghost hunters. There are hundreds of ghost hunter clubs which are usually operated as social clubs with haunted house investigations as outings. They usually employ quite a lot of technology to collect evidence, including recording for EVP. 5. Seekers: People who are interested in understanding these phenomena as it relates to their true nature and relationship with reality. Such concepts as personal improvement and human potential apply to this community of interest. Each group represents a different point of view, and while each group is relatively self-sufficient, all must be considered for the proper study of these phenomena. Each group tends to have its supporting organizations and boards; however, these days, boards are mostly dead due to lack of participation. That means social media such as Facebook remain, but they are poor places for learning and teaching. A lot of misleading information is presented as fact in social media so use discernment. There is also the problem

that many of the official organization sites such as the Parapsychological Association (23) and Society for Psychical Research (24) have little information about their work … minimal … mainly to support members. However, the SPR now has a Psi Encyclopedia (121) containing many useful articles. Section 3 – Psi Functioning 238 It seems necessary here to point out that Wikipedia is pure and simple anti-paranormal propaganda. Using, supporting or quoting Wikipedia is the same as attacking the paranormalist community. While I recommend the Psi Encyclopedia, be aware of the need for discernment. Some of the articles are written by people who have an anti-survival agenda. For mediumship, Forever Family Foundation (116) is a good place to look. The more technical Windbridge Research Center (26) is another place. I personally use Dean Radin’s Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications on Psi Research. (14) Spiritualism (20) is a community to consider. The religion part is mostly in terms of the spirit of community. They have no “thou shalt” dogma. I maintain a site dedicated to the human potential “so what” of the paranormal at Etheric Studies. (6) There is an interesting list of references that might help. (134) For transcommunication, try the Association TransCommunication (ATransC.org). The newsletter archive is especially informative. (124) Be mindful that loving the paranormal has two faces. It can be a sport as we see with ghost hunting clubs or it can be a well-considered study as we see with the more serious haunt investigation groups. It can be a passing

fascination like wondering if we are telepathic or it can be dedicated seeking for self-realization. It might be constructive for you to be specific about your intention when you ask such questions. Those references will help you find others. Question 141 How do you distinguish credible psychics from frauds and charlatans? Answered July 10, 2019 Answer Anomalous acquisition of information is a phrase sometimes used to describe psychic functioning. The phrase is useful because it does not presuppose paranormal phenomena. Instead, it is the recognition that some 239 Answers people have demonstrated the ability to know things that cannot be explained with known principles of science. And that is the point. Current understanding suggests that we are all able to psychically access information. It is just that some of us are better at recognizing information that is not ours, so to speak. Most of us color what we sense with what we expect. I see a man in rags and assume he is poor, while in fact, he might be a financially well-to-do home gardener. If I do not know how to recognize my stuff from what I am sensing, I will be wrong more often than not. Such assumptions are hard to avoid and always give skeptics reason to debunk psychic claims. While researchers have established information can be accessed with no apparent physical mechanism, we must still ask if it is psychic functioning? We think of it as such but must always remain open for alternative explanations. As

for your question, it is a practical matter that the psychic must have established a history of reporting psychic access of information that has proven to be true. Let me say that is a measure of competency ranging from Class A = often correct to Class F = no noted successes. If a Class A psychic tells you that they see your mate coming home with a turkey for dinner, it might be a good idea to skip lunch. Go ahead and have lunch if the psychic is known to be a Class F. Next, you need to look at who is giving the psychic their competency rating. If I give you a good psychic reading, it may be that I am just a good guesser. Some people are good guessers. Just because you sat with me does not mean you are qualified to rate me. One must know a thing or two about human nature, the phenomena, how we think, and a little about a thing I call cultural contamination, to be qualified to grade a psychic. Right now, the only organization I feel comfortable recommending is the Forever Family Foundation. (116) So now you have found yourself a Class A medium rated by a credible organization. Here is the problem. Even the best psychic is probably reasonably close to right only about 10% or 20% of the time. If you do not already know the answer, or if you do not have a way to find out if

what you are told is correct, you have around 5% chance of receiving correct information that you did not already know from a Class C psychic or medium. Section 3 – Psi Functioning 240 By the way, a psychic sensing physical world information is a psychic. A psychic sensing information from discarnate personalities is a medium. Remember, there are superstars amongst psychics, but the fact is that it is a subtle ability that we have successfully suppressed since the advent of reductionism. I think there are people who will attempt to fool you, but most people are earnestly trying to develop their psychic ability. It is for you, the sitter, to suspend judgment, provide an opportunity for the person to learn, but to have the discernment to know not to act on what you receive unless you have objective evidence to the contrary. Always seek supporting information from a different kind of source. Oh, and give your psychic feedback. Feedback needs to be candid but kind, else you can turn a budding young psychic away from a potentially important service. An important caveat about research that is related to this question. As with ITC practitioners, when studying if psi functioning exists or its scope, the research simply is not valid if the competence of the practitioner test subjects has not been established by experienced graders. Question 142 Is there a connection between the paranormal and UFO phenomena? Answered August 13, 2019 Answer The short answer is that we do not

know enough about either to say yes or no. Wormholes, interdimensional travel, all such theories are suppositions with little or no proof. This is not to say they are not real, but a house design is not a house. While it appears there are crafts flying about that are not explained, do seem controlled by sentient life and appear to be space worthy, there is a lot to be learned before we can say how they fly and from where. 241 Answers One proposal is that they might travel in the same way an apport is moved from one location to another. See Paranormal Apports Phenomena, (17) High Strangeness! Strong Evidence? FEG-Spirit Team Seance at BPV Basle achieves one of the most interesting apports ever (135) and SORRAT Examples. (136) An apport is an object that is apparently delivered into the physical by our friends on the other side. They are usually thought of as communication because they often have special meaning to the recipient. They may be live, such as a flower petal, but are usually found objects like stones and little figurines. The communicators tell us they are not stolen. In theory, an apportation is accomplished exactly as the teleportation device works in Star Trek. Will Star Trek-style Matter Transporters Ever Exist? (137) To work, the object must be dematerialized and translated from physical space where there is distance, into nonphysical space where there is thought to be no distance. It then must be disassociated from the physical

entanglements of its original location and associated with the new location. Then, it must be precipitated back into the physical as an apport. By disassociated, I intend that the object is thought to exist as it is intended by sentient personalities. Those personalities are in agreement that it is there. That agreement would need to be changed to agreement that the object is in its new location. Movement in nonphysical space does not appear to be a physical movement. It appears to be a change in perception. Amongst people working with physical mediumship, apports are reasonably common. We have a high degree of certainty that something like apportation is possible. If so, and since the farthest star is as close as right here in nonphysical space, it is reasonable to think that a civilization that has developed mediumistic abilities might move a spaceship from there to here as an apport. As we learn more about the paranormal, we see that all physical processes are influenced in some way by what is today called paranormal processes. I will add that the Association TransCommunication is conducting a study to see if reported visual ITC can show a trend of ET-like examples. See ET Visual ITC Study. (138) Section 3 – Psi Functioning 242 Question 143 What paranormal experiences have been proven to be misperceptions based on logical explanations? For example, orbs in photographs are caused by dust, moisture and reflection. Answered September 1, 2019 Answer This question should not be answered without

explanation. There is something of a paradox in the way reportedly paranormal experiences have been described. Mixing reported paranormal experiences (psi functioning) with normal experiences (normal, illusion or trickery) has made it difficult to discuss actual paranormal phenomena. If a reported experience or ability is determined to be normal mistaken as paranormal, it is not paranormal, it is mundane. If a person tricks observers into thinking a playing card has magically appeared on a table, it is not paranormal. It is a simulation of paranormal. A fraudulent psychic or medium does not demonstrate paranormal ability; they demonstrate fraud. If a person demonstrates the ability to describe what is in an envelope even though all imaginable precautions have been taken to assure the person has no natural way to know, that would appear to be paranormal. If an image of an object flying across the room with no known normal explanation is captured in recording media by researchers, that would appear to be paranormal. The likeness of a face appearing in optical noise while apparently violating known physical principles, and that can be reasonably compared to a known person, would appear to be paranormal. Note my emphasis on known physical principles and the difference between “determined to be” and “would appear to be paranormal.” Science cannot be conducted without access to all of the facts. That is one of the reasons some parapsychologists insist on only studying phenomena in the controlled conditions of a laboratory. 243 Answers Magic, which is deliberate

deception, only works when the observer does not have access to all the facts. A fraudulent medium depends on telling a convincing story that cannot be proven. It is the Fallacy of Equal Similars to compare magic to apparent paranormal experiences. We do not directly experience our world. Our mind tells us a story about what we experience. One of the problems with that reality is that it is natural for some people to become convinced that they are producing paranormal phenomena and to share their delusion with others under the guise of psychic ability. When trained observers have access to all of the facts, such delusion quickly becomes demonstrably apparent. Even your example of orbs has more than one explanation. Yes, the majority of photographic orbs can be shown to be just ruined photographs due to light reflecting from particulates or bright objects. Many reportedly paranormal light traces in photographs are caused by image detector latency and a slightly moved camera. These are artifacts of the technology that are mistaken as paranormal out of ignorance of how the technology works. However, there are some examples of orbs that are not explained as camera artifacts. The example here is from a frame grab of video taken by Universal Studios for a White Noise movie bonus feature. The rapidly Section 3 – Psi Functioning 244 moving, softball-sized black orb (end of arrow) was captured without a camera flash. See the enhanced inset. I currently know of no way to explain its

existence based on known physical principles. My point is that it is intellectually lazy to combine all reported paranormal experiences into one group, and then by showing that one example is false, arguing that all must be false. When someone tells you there is no proof of anything paranormal, ask them what research they have reviewed. Have they examined any of the research listed at 100 Scientific Papers Offering Evidence for Psi Phenomena & Effects (112) or Selected Psi Research Publications? (14) In answer to your question, there are many examples of trickery, normal mistaken as paranormal and apparently paranormal experiences later explained as normal. There remain many apparently paranormal experiences that continue to be studied. Some explanations are trending toward a new model of reality and some will probably be explained with normal physical principles once more is understood. It is the nature of science to seek to learn and explain all of the facts. Else, it is not science. Question 144 Why is there no idea of a telepathy device? Answered September 23, 2019 Answer In a simple sense, telepathy is the transmission of thought. As such, a telepathy device is a physical technology that will respond to thought. If that is the spirit of your question, there is progress in that direction. Consider The Global Consciousness Project, (92) Consciousness and the double-slit interference pattern: Six experiments (94) and A Model for Electronic Voice Phenomena. (43) All of these involve the influence of mind on physical processes. Most

demonstrations of mind influencing matter are rudimentary. For instance, the Global Consciousness Project involves an apparent change in the collective consciousness causing a change in the randomness of random 245 Answers event generators; in this case, a collective dread expressed prior to a major event such as the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center. Electronic Voice Phenomena are the existence of anomalous voices found in recording media. They appear to be caused by thought from incarnate or discarnate minds. There is a growing list of electroencephalogram-like devices that detect thought in the form of changes in small bioelectric signals. These brainwave detectors are connected to devices and the person is intended to train the device to recognize specific changes in his or her thinking. In effect, these are sophisticated biofeedback devices. Question 145 Is there any evidence of the scientific measurement of the speed of mind in telepathy? Answered October 31, 2019 Answer To answer the question of “speed of mind in telepathy,” it is necessary to agree on the “medium of propagation of thought.” That is, does mind move through physical space or through some other aspect of reality? From my study, the Psi Field Hypothesis best describes what is known about telepathy. But first, a few terms: Parapsychology — the scientific and scholarly study of three kinds of unusual events (ESP, mind-matter interaction, and survival), which are associated with human experience. From the Parapsychological Association (23) Telepathy — the mind-to-mind exchange of information by thought alone. Psi

— the active characteristic of mental sensing and the expression of mental influence. Psi is a term used in parapsychology to study characteristics of mind related to supposed paranormal phenomena. Section 3 – Psi Functioning 246 Psychic — the ability to mentally access information in ways that do not seem to involve physical principles; anomalous information access via mental process alone. This is also an umbrella term that includes such apparent abilities as telepathy, remote viewing, healing intention, clairvoyance and psychokinetic influence (mind influencing matter). The reported psychic ability to sense information from discarnate personalities is referred to as mediumship. All of these are studied as psi functioning. Psi Field — if psi is a characteristic of the physical, the psi field is a proposed subtle energy field that overlays the physical and which acts as a medium of propagation for psi. If psi is not a characteristic of the physical. The psi field is a proposed nonphysical or etheric field permeating physical space which acts as a medium of propagation for psi. All of the evidence I have seen indicates that it is nonphysical with nonphysical characteristics. Nonlocal — in simple terms, nonlocal means “here is everywhere.” Studies have shown that information present in one physical place can be accessed from another as if there is no distance between the information known to be in New York, for instance, and the person sensing the information who might be in San Francisco. Movement in the etheric is accomplished by changing

one’s perspective. Two lists of references I use in support of these concepts are Selected Psi Research Publications (14) and 100 Scientific Papers Offering Evidence for Psi Phenomena & Effects (112). In terms of psi functioning, degree of intentionality in the psi field has a similar effect as force in the physical. In the psi field, visualization and focus tend to have similar effects as physical work. One does not go somewhere in the etheric. instead, one changes perspective as if the mind is a roving video camera that is anchored to the center of reality. Consider the terms listed here. They suggest that the existence of telepathy (a form of psi functioning) is empirically established and that it is propagated in a nonphysical aspect of reality in which there is no apparent distance, and therefore, requires no time to change the relationship from one aspect of the physical to another. While most of the academic research of “the speed of telepathy” has been conducted by parapsychologists, mostly laypeople have studied EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomena; aka audio Instrumental TransCommunication 247 Answers or ITC). The laypeople study of EVP has also indicated that distance is not a factor in the formation of the paranormal speech. So, my answer to your question is that the study of telepathy-related phenomena indicates that it is not affected by distance. In that sense, the speed of telepathy appears to be instantaneous. I should note that the jury is still out on the nontemporal aspect of

telepathy. For instance, sensing of information that seems to predict a future event may not be precognition or direct sensing of the future, but the sensing of previously formed potential futures. In a similar sense, studies of presentiment (sensing something moments before it happens) may not indicate that the person is predicting a future event. Our mostly unconscious mind has been shown to process sensed information before it is conveyed to our conscious awareness. The delay required for processing, and possibly waiting for more definitive information seems to be a more realistic explanation. Question 146 Is there a difference between psychics, clairvoyants, and mediums? Answered November 21, 2019 Answer It is a good idea to explain the limits of my qualifications to answer this question. I am not a psychologist. What I say here is as I understand the subject based on my education (126) as an engineer, ordained Spiritualist (20) and certified medium. I have also been co-director of the Association TransCommunication (ATransC.org) since 2000. (124) Please use discernment. The short answer is that they all appear to involve the same ability, but they are experienced in different ways, depending on the purpose. To understand these abilities, it is helpful to understand how we mentally process information and where in our life field it is processed. Our vision of the world around us is not direct from our eyes to our awareness of what we are seeing. Emerging understanding in psychology Section 3 – Psi Functioning 248 appears to

be that information from our five physical senses goes first to our mostly unconscious mind. There, the information is compared to our worldview, which represents what we have been taught is true, memory and instincts. I have attempted to illustrate this process in the Perception Diagram below. Note that incoming information from our senses may be: • Rejected because it is far from what we think is true, in which case, we will not experience it. • Accepted as true and then sent to our conscious awareness with possible changes to make it better agree with our past experiences. • The Maybe result of the compare process may send the information to our conscious awareness with some modification, but it may also modify our worldview. It is through this more ambiguous but otherwise recognizable information that we evolve our beliefs. (That is why mindful living can cause changes in our behavior and how we might increase our lucidity.) References for this unconscious-to-conscious filtering include: First Sight Theory (19) The Unconscious Mind (40) 249 Answers Our Unconscious Mind (58) Decision-making May Be Surprisingly Unconscious Activity (39) An Emerging New Model for Consciousness: The Consciousness Field Model (97) A Study: Your Brain Sees Things You Don’t (139) As far as I can tell, information coming from other minds is treated the same way as information from our five physical senses. There is increasing support for the idea that our mind is not a product of our brain, but is a nonphysical characteristic

of who we are, and is what continues after the physical death of our human. Think of our mind-body relationship in terms of our mind as a nonphysical life field of consciousness and our body as a physical, biological organism … an avatar. When we transition out of this lifetime, we become just a life field with no physical body (discarnate). If this is reasonably true, it means the only difference between who we are, and dead people, is that we are still entangled with human avatar. Following First Sight Theory (referenced above), nonphysical minds psychically communicate … all the time. Some of us are just more aware (training, paying attention) than others. So, psychic ability appears to be a naturally occurring characteristic of being alive as a conscious, self-aware personality. Old-time Spiritualism used a lot of terms to describe what was being experienced Most have been replaced by more contemporary terminology as supposedly more objective parapsychologists are forever trying to distance themselves from less substantiated belief systems. That is, if a word is common in Spiritualism, parapsychologists will try to find a different one with similar meaning. Spiritualist tend to use the old terms, but some Spiritualists are also trying to keep up with new discoveries. In Spiritualism, the traditional terms for the nonphysical sensing version of our five senses began with the French clair- prefix which means clear. And so, there is clairvoyance for clear seeing, clairaudience for hearing, clairalience for smelling, clairgustance for tasting and clairsentience for

feeling. In practice, clairvoyance is used for all forms of nonphysical sensing. The psych- prefix refers to the mind or mental. In this context, psychic means a person who is able to mentally acquire information. Psychic is now Section 3 – Psi Functioning 250 the generic term for any form of mental acquisition of information, be it telepathic (an old term for mind-to-mind communication) or remote viewing (psychically sensing information about a distant object). Technically, healing intention is a psychic function. An important emerging theory in parapsychology is that the physical is permeated by a field of subtle energy called the psi field. It is hypothesized to function as a media for propagating mental influence. Not knowing the actual nature of the energy, substance or influence of the psi field, the influence is referred to as psi. Psychic functioning is now psi functioning. To answer the question, mental acquisition of information is psi or psychic functioning. If it is for the purpose of talking to supposedly dead people (mind no longer entangled with a physical body), it is mediumship. If it is for the purpose of learning something about a distant location, it is remote viewing. If it is to acquire information from a physical object or place, it is psi or psychic functioning. It is also psi or psychic functioning if the purpose is to communicate with another person in the physical or not. As an ability, psi functioning is distributed in our population in the same way as

athletic ability. Everyone has some athletic ability but only a few are superstars. Everyone needs development and practice to be good at it. Question 147 Do dreams represent archetypal realities obscured during waking consciousness? Answered December 27, 2019 Answer Consider the way some researchers think we process information in our mind. First, information comes to us, say, information about what we touch or smell. It is processed by our mostly unconscious mind before being sent to our conscious awareness. That processing involves comparing the incoming information with our worldview which contains what we believe is true, our memory and our instincts. We only become aware of a version of the original information. And that represents the world as the way we think it is real. 251 Answers As it turns out, our mind is hardwired to explain incoming senses. It is also an excellent storyteller as it tries to make sense of incoming information. There is always incoming information. But if there is not, our mind is content to tell an even longer story about the last input. Our mental chatter—when we are awake or when we are sleeping—is that random storytelling. Our mind tries to make sense of everything so as to recognize threats and opportunities to feed us and further our genes. Stream-of-consciousness storytelling is like the stories improvisation entertainers produce when they feed off of one another’ input. The stories can sound meaningful but are typically nonsensical. Dreams can tell you a little about yourself, but so

can a fortuneteller who reads your appearance to tell you your future. At least our stories are based on our truths. For instance, if you are religious, they can be religious stories full of demons and angels, depending on your sense of self that night. If you secretly wish you could break away from something in your life, the dreams might be colored with all sorts of related symbolism. In that way, I suppose they can be meaningful. Resist thinking a dream book is the answer. The symbols in your dreams are yours and for you to understand. They probably should never be taken literally. After some time studying lucid dreaming, I am comfortable in advising that mindful contemplation is a more useful way of communicating with your mostly unconscious mind. Question 148 Why do psychics misinterpret questions? Answered January 12, 2020 Answer That is a question a lot like “Why do students get ‘F’s” when any thinking person understands that not all students get ‘F’s. Try the question another way. “Why is it so difficult to understand physic phenomena?” Consider the scientist, the engineer and the consumer. The scientist discovers that electricity will make a wheel turn. The engineer develops a Section 3 – Psi Functioning 252 way to put a turning wheel to work, say in a car. The consumer just wants a dependable ride. Parapsychologists study psychic functioning. They still do not have a widely accepted model for it, so there are a lot of proposed models.

I personally like First Sight Theory. (19) Teamed with The Hypothesis of Formative Causation. (35) The two models give us the beginnings of a workable hypothesis. But the bottom line is that we are still trying to figure out “psychic.” Parapsychologists are the scientists in this answer. Psychics are the engineers. I am an electronics engineer and also a certified mental medium. (20) A medium is a psychic with the intention to access information from discarnate personalities. People who spend their time trying to figure out how to apply what scientists teach them try all sorts of techniques to make their transcommunication more correct. The only real way to do so is to practice. Enter the consumer. Those who go to a psychic for a reading are seldom well-schooled in what the scientists say. They are seldom familiar with the experimental nature of the art of being psychic. I cannot remember all of the times I have given a message that was rejected as “not for me,” but later to learn that the message was true. Sometimes, people do not know themselves as well as the psychic knows them. So here is the deal. Parapsychologists are doing a piss-poor job of conveying what they can agree on to the practitioners. Practitioner— psychics— want nothing more than to be a clear channel for spirit into this land. (In fact, “I am a holy man, a clear and open channel for spirit into this land” is my centering mantra for healing intention).

Sure, there are a few would-be psychics who would be better sticking to other fields of interest, but amongst those brave people who risk their selfrespect to stand and deliver to willing but doubting sitters, are the few who do not misunderstand, who do not guess, who are actually clear and open channels for spirit into this land. The consumer who buys a sedan expecting a pickup has little room to blame the salesperson. 253 Answers Question 149 As a psychic, where can I speak with other psychics? Answered March 7, 2020 Answer The question seems to be asked by someone considering applying their psychic ability in service to others free or for pay. Begin with the understanding that we all have natural psychic ability. (Please do not think of this natural part of who you are as a gift some Divine being gave you.) While our lucid sensing informs all of our cognition, some of us naturally express our ability more outwardly. Assuming two people who are about the same on the Lucidity Spectrum, (5) the difference between a person who should only apply it as a personal tool, and one who can reasonably claim the ability to serve others, is education and practice. There are a lot of wannabe experts out there who will tell you all sorts of things about psychic ability—what it is, how to develop it and how to sell it. Your first task is to self-educate enough to be able to recognize the nonsense

from genuine knowledge. Of course, I am going to recommend my writing at Etheric Studies, (6) especially the two books, Your Immortal Self (4) and Exploring the Mindful Way (7). I understand that most of my writing is not for the average reader, but the essays include numerous links that will serve as a good study guide. I especially recommend First Sight Theory, (19) which I have attempted to digest in the Perception essay. (22) Also, become aware of some of the research. See, for instance, Dean Radin’s Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications on Psi Research. (14) He is past president of the Parapsychological Association (23) Also see 100 Scientific Papers Offering Evidence for Psi Phenomena & Effects (112) There is quite a lot of functional difference between a person acting as an information psychic and one acting as a mediumistic psychic. The one organization I feel comfortable recommending for mediumship is the Section 3 – Psi Functioning 254 Forever Family Foundation. (116) Another good source for mediumship is the Windbridge Research Center (26) Practice is the hardest part of this. My wife Lisa and I became Spiritualists because, at the time, we were living in a fifth-wheel trailer and traveling with the seasons in the Western USA. We wanted a community of like-minded folk. Societies affiliated with the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (20) (NSAC) typically include spirit greetings in their meetings. Spirit greetings are brief mediumistic messages for attendees that are offered by certified mediums and mediums in training. There

are likely local centers, usually bookstores, that teach and offer services. But again, I recommend that you self-educate so as to be able to tell the difference between psi-babble and genuine psychic teaching. Question 150 How do you tell the difference between connecting with the spirit world and a hallucination? Answered March 10, 2020 Answer This is an important question that everyone must deal with in one way or another. Mostly, sensing spirit is a personal experience that is different for each of us, but there are common characteristics. As a certified medium and spiritualist healer, and having taken many development classes over the years, I know the first thing to understand is how we develop ordinary perception of our world and our routine expression. The short explanation is that psychologists are learning that we first unconsciously sense our surroundings. That sensed information is managed by the mostly unconscious processes that we use to develop conscious awareness. That which we become consciously aware is a version of the actual incoming information as it is modified to better agree with our worldview. 255 Answers For example, without noticing, we might frequently see a particular kind of car. If the car has little meaning to us, our perceptual processes will probably simply ignore the cars. If, however, something happens to draw our interest, say we buy that kind of car, it will seem that there is one at every intersection. In effect, our new focus instructs the filter that controls our perception

to pass related environmental information to our conscious awareness. A second way our perception is unconsciously managed is when that filter modifies environmental information to better agree with what we think is true; what we have been taught. For instance, say someone tells us they think they saw someone in their house that, later, was not there. If we believe them and are religious, it is possible our mind will convey information about that someone as a demon or angle. If we are a paranormalist, we might think it is a ghost. If we are a scientist, we might think the person is delusional. This filtering always happens. Our unconscious mind will ignore uninteresting information or change it to agree with our expectations. Unless the information specifically agrees with our expectations as it comes to us, we will seldom experience it as it originated. With this information in mind, you can see that psychic sensing, mediumship and normal sensing are all treated the same in our mind. The difference in the way we become aware of the information is mostly based on what we are doing. For instance, if I am trying to sense something about a person, and a sports car pops into my mind, I have at least a clue that it may be for the person because I prefer SUVs. If skiing comes to mind and the person is wearing a ski sweater, I should be aware that I might be making assumptions based on visual cues.

This also goes for assumptions about age and health. Our unconscious mind is conditioned to make assumptions that help us survive. When it comes to spirit, such assumptions only get in the way. The idea of lucidity is that people with great lucidity more clearly sense their world as it is rather than as they are taught to think it is. There are a couple of tricks you can use to help develop lucidity. First, intend to see the world as it is. Intention is your most important way of influencing your unconscious mind. The second most important is to resist making right-wrong, good-bad decisions about what you become aware of. Our mind hates to change its Section 3 – Psi Functioning 256 decisions. If you resist deciding, you instruct your mind to wait and see. I refer to that as suspended judgment. Be willing to not sense anything. If you insist that spirit is talking to you, your mind will tell you something to make you happy. It may not be from spirit. Spontaneity is a learned ability. For instance, in automatic writing, one way to get going is to simply begin writing a story while trying to not intend the next word. This is a little like improvisation. It helps to develop a light meditative state of mind while maintaining the understanding that communication will come. Practice and routine tend to increase the expectation Some people talk about having a sense of knowing that what they sense is

from spirit. Because of the way we develop conscious perception, I tend to think that approach might be prone to self-delusion. As an engineer, I tend to make my world as it has been explained by science. My knowing is recognizing underlying principles. That is an expected outcome that has little to do with spirit. When something I sense surprises me, say a thought or a mental image, I am more inclined to stop and think of spirit. This is not to say that surprising thoughts are always from spirit. Remember I said the difference between psychic and mediumistic information is situational. The same goes for everyday sensing. Be cautious of what I refer to as hyperlucidity. Often, people new to these phenomena and poorly informed about what is probably paranormal and what is probably not, tend to see phenomena in everything. We refer to communication across the veil as transcommunication because we expect meaningful communication. We have similar expectations for anomalous access of physical-space information (psychic). That is, we expect meaningful access or exchange of information that is in some way verifiable. The way to protect from the self-delusion of hyperlucidity is to insist on verification, at least in the beginning. Depend on friends to give you feedback. We tend to lie to ourselves, so do not argue with them when they say you are crazy. Just work to get better. I know of no rules for telling the difference. Each of us is different in this way. Practice

is important, as is feedback. Spiritualists teach to give what you get, meaning that putting physical energy into something tends to reinforce its importance. If you tell someone, make sure you are clear with them that you are only learning. We are all still learning. 257 Answers Remember, communication with our nonphysical friends is not faithbased, it is a craft using knowable principles. Some of us are just naturally better than others, so manage your expectations. Question 151 What is the most compelling, unexplainable piece of paranormal footage (or photographs, recordings, etc.) out there? Answered March 11, 2020 Answer Any list of compelling demonstrations of paranormal phenomena has to include Rupert Sheldrake’s Psychic Parrot. youtu.be/2UX4d2nb7yU Section 3 – Psi Functioning 258 Question 152 Do you believe psychics are really or scam artists? Answered April 07, 2020 Answer A “scam artist” acting as a psychic is not a psychic. He or she is a scam artist. The question should be, is the psychic ability real? If so, what is the research? Here is a useful list of references that show research which indicates that psi functioning (psychic) is a real ability that is well studied: • Dean Radin, Ph.D. has a good list of literature I often use: Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications on Psi Research. (14) • 100 Scientific Papers Offering Evidence for Psi Phenomena & Effects (112) • The Psi Encyclopedia includes articles written by parapsychologists but with no apparent lay input so use discernment: psiencyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/. (121) • The Society for

Psychical Research (SPR) maintained a Research Article Database. (24) • Parapsychology: A Handbook for the 21st Century, Edited by Etzel Cardeña , John Palmer and David Marcusson-Clavertz McFarland, 2015, ISBN 978-0-7864-7916-0, ebook ISBN 978-1-4766-2105-0 • As a layperson, I maintain a rather unorganized list of links at ethericstudies.org/references/ (134) • I recommend taking time to consider Forever Family Foundation, (106), Etheric Studies (6) and Association TransCommunication (ATransC.org) (124) The bottom line is that psychic ability appears to be a naturally occurring characteristic we all share. Some of us are naturally more able to 259 Answers express that ability and some of us have worked to develop it as a useful tool to help others. It is important to distinguish between people trying to trick you from people who are able to serve you with developed intuitive ability. It is like the difference between a psychic and a magician. A psychic at least attempts to demonstrate a real ability. A magician begins as a performer to simulate psychic ability. The observer is expected to know the difference. With that said, not all developed psychics are always accurate. It remains for the observer to use discernment. Section 4 Ghosts Introduction Ghost hunting is more a social activity than a paranormal investigation. Yes, a few people are legitimately conducting investigations following protocols that can produce meaningful information, but for most, research and science are more aspiration than reality. With that said, some haunt phenomena are arguably real and offer the opportunity to better

understand our etheric nature. Poltergeist activity, for instance, is now thought to be psychokinetic expression of an emotionally disturbed person living in the house. The Implicit Cosmology (15) I work with provides a useful model for understanding the nature of ghosts and how we experience them. When I answer ghost-related questions, I do so from that perspective. It is important to note that ghost hunting is often a point of entry into the paranormalist community for a person to begin serious research. For that reason, and because there is so much mainstream chatter about ghosts, it seems important to me to set the record straight, at least within the scope of the Implicit Cosmology. Section 4 – Ghosts 262 Question 153 In horror movies, ghosts/demons can create very strong physical movements on things like throwing a chair and pulling hair. Are these realistic? Can real life demons/ghosts do that? Answered June 1, 2018 Answer Our worldview is the mold in which we create our reality. Worldview is like a database which is filled from the time of our physical birth with human instincts, what our parents, teachers and society teaches us, and most importantly, what we learn from media like the movies. It is our task to learn to align our worldview with the actual nature of reality. We do that in part by practicing discernment. Asking questions is another good way. The information I am seeing from poltergeist research indicates that the physical phenomena is probably caused by a

troubled child. It appears all of us have psychokinetic ability which we are always unconsciously expressing into our environment. Once the troubled child has attracted the attention of parents and researchers, the paranormal phenomena slows to a stop. A well-developed physical medium can produce some pretty astounding phenomena, as well. I expect there are instances in which people spontaneously express some kind of psychokinetic influence into their environment, but our worldview is likely the reason this is not common because we have been taught that this is not possible. In all of my study of things paranormal, I have not found or experienced evidence that there is any such thing as a demon, only people behaving badly. Be careful not to look for exotic explanations and resist letting your worldview make normal events seem like scary phenomena. Finally, question the authority of your sources. If we are to practice personal responsibility and gain spiritual maturity, then we must have at least conditional free will. Being tested by the gods, as with demons and the 263 Answers devil, would seem to contradict that personal responsibility. In terms of our immortality, evil is in how we react to experiences. Question 154 Is it possible to contact a deceased family member without the aid of a psychic or using anything dangerous like a Ouija board? Answered August 17, 2018 Answer That is a good question. First, I need to say that, like all such devices, the Ouija Board is just a tool. By

itself, it is neither good nor evil. It only has the power you give it with your beliefs. You make the world according to your beliefs. If your board seems evil, change your beliefs! The best way to contact a loved one on the other side is to learn contemplation. Meditation is fine for relaxation, but our friends talk to us when our mind is in a receptive, expectant state. They need that inner chatter of your mind to communicate. The trick is to gain the lucidity (5) to distinguish between your runaway subconscious mind and impressions from your discarnate friends. Contemplation is like meditation, except that your objective is to visualize something and then mentally examine every aspect of it to better understand its nature. That generates a receptive, expectant state of awareness. You are relaxed, focused on the memory of your loved one. It is preferable to focus on one memory, not everything about the person at once. The rest will come in time; more as an understanding of your loved one’s nature, rather than this and that. I think that technique is essentially what Raymond Moody used for his Reunions. By contemplating a loved one, you become your own medium. You need not believe in life beyond this lifetime to commune with your loved one. Much is to be gained by simply being with the memory in a Release and remember sort of way. Sometimes, you might be surprised by what you Section 4 – Ghosts 264

remember. It is for you to decide if it is memory or a thought from your loved one. What matters is comfort … and understanding. If you do use a mental medium, make sure the person is trained as a medium. Metaphysically, psychics and mediums function the same, but a medium intends to reach your loved ones and has trained accordingly. It takes more work to develop the lucidity necessary to be the clear channel of a medium. Maybe use a psychic if you are looking for your lost car key. A good place to find a certified medium is the Forever Family Foundation. (116) Still, use discernment. The Ouija Board and automatic writing are ways of entraining your attention on your loved one. Moody used a psychomanteum as an aid to entrainment. (Think scrying with a crystal ball or dark water.) Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) (43) is a way to make contact as well but learn a little about EVP before trying it. (My recommendation is to use transform EVP only. You can find out what that is on atransc.org) There is no guarantee you will reach a particular person, but you should be able to reach someone (presumably) on the other side. That should give you the sense that your loved one is okay, as you will be when it is your turn to transition. Contemplation is best because it is just you. Mediumship is okay if you need someone to tell you, but you will always question

their ability. Ouija Boards and similar aids are okay, but it is really easy to fool yourself with them because they must work through your mostly unconscious mind to control your muscles. EVP is good because it is just you, but the usual one or two words do not contain a lot of information. Sometimes you can recognize the voice of the speaker. In the end, it is all about the lucidity of your channel, be it yourself or a practitioner. Lucidity comes from practicing discernment and learning mindfulness, so no matter what technique you use, seek to understand the nature of what comes to you. 265 Answers Question 155 What are some paranormal activity detection machines used by people investigating haunted houses? Answered September 10, 2018 Answer Haunted house, ghost and detecting paranormal activity are really three different questions. Yes, there may be haunted houses, but paranormal activity might be detected anywhere. Ghosts are, by definition, dead people but dead people are not the only source of haunt activity. In fact, the best theories I have read for poltergeist activity (levitation, haunt effects) indicates that the apparent haunting activity is likely caused by a child in the house who is emotionally calling out for help. Once acknowledged, the poltergeist activity tends to stop. I subscribe to the Survival Hypothesis but must acknowledge that the Super-Psi Field Hypothesis is largely correct. The Super-Psi Hypothesis holds that many apparent proofs of survived personality can be better explained with psychic access to

the information held in the memory of still living people or proposed residual memory. People can apparently, unconsciously cause some pretty impressive psychokinetic effects that look like haunt phenomena. From my experience, a large percentage of apparent survival phenomena (often experienced as haunt phenomena) is better explained as being caused by still living people. To your question, our work with EVP has shown that a broad-spectrum chaotic audio signal, which is frequently perturbed by audio spikes, is most beneficial for the formation of the paranormal voices. In parapsychology, it has been found that a random process tends to become less random when in the presence of meditating people. These are two references for speculation that a random process is modified by psi influence. I refer to this effect as the imposition of intended order. And so, devices that are able to detect changes in a chaotic signal, and produce a useful output showing the detection (audio recorder, visual Section 4 – Ghosts 266 display, data logger), appear to work for detecting the presence of a psi influence. But here is the rest of my story about ghosts. Random processes are demonstrably influenced by psi, and apparently intelligently influenced by psychically expressed intention. Now consider that you are not your body. If you accept the existence of ghosts, you must also accept that you are not your body. When you are in the flesh you are first a ghost and then a physical person. Metaphysically, there is no difference in the

expression of intention from you in the flesh and you after your transition. Detecting paranormal activity is just one aspect of studying our etheric nature. Question 156 Can you give me a good example of detecting paranormal activity using an EMF detector? Answered September 13, 2018 Answer I am aware of three kinds of paranormal detectors that seem to fit your question. The first and most common is human or personal transcommunication (as I have learned to think of it). Here, the trans- prefix is used to mean across the veil. Mental mediumship is personal because an instrument is not used. Mental mediumship is well established as a form of psi functioning, meaning the person is able to mentally access information that he or she should not be able to access given only physical principles. The problem is that it is difficult to know if the information is from a sentient personality still in the flesh, a discarnate personality (aka dead person) or one who has never lived in the physical. We know that much of what is reported by mediums is from the medium’s memory, psychically accessed from the memory of some other person or from a hypothetical residual memory stored in the psi field. Think of such mediumship as psychic or psychical functioning. See Windbridge Research Center (26) 267 Answers We all have mediumistic ability to some extent, so we are one form of paranormal detector. Here, paranormal means not accepted by mainstream science … not thought to

be normal. It has been shown that the output of Random Event Generators (REG) change in randomness in the presence of meditating people. The extent of this REG-mental interaction is not yet well defined. The Global Consciousness Project (92) is one example, as are REG studies with meditating people. The important point here is that the studies are repeatable, the tools for the study are easily available to the average person (I have an REG) and the study demonstrates a mental-physical interaction. This applies to ghost hunting if you accept that a person is a ghost still in the flesh. The third form of paranormal activity detection I think applies is transform Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). (Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC) includes EVP and visual forms involving similar mind-machine effects.) Transform EVP are collected with ordinary audio recorders. The paranormal voice is found in background noise transformed into voice, we think either by a still physical person or a discarnate personality. See ATransC White Paper on Transcommunication (80). The common factor between REG-related phenomena and transform EVP is the apparent influence of intention on a random process. In the case of EVP, background noise is the random process. Mental mediumship may share physical effect if the randomness of brain activity is considered. We do not know. The relationship of ambient magnetic fields to how REGs detect focused mental activity, and how audio recorders produce EVP, is still debatable. My guess is that running around with an electromagnetic or magnetic field detector to

find ghosts is best considered magical thinking. I know of no good science supporting the idea. See Failure to Replicate Fallacy. (91) Section 4 – Ghosts 268 Question 157 What is the best reason for writing an argumentative essay about believing in ghosts? Answered September 14, 2018 Answer I assume you are not looking for “Because your teacher told you to.” Essay means to write a considered opinion. So, let us examine two assumptions. First, belief versus accept evidence. On the continuum of understanding, belief is right next to faith which is a matter of religion. Accept evidence is on the other end of the continuum, right next to know. As an ordained Spiritualist, I will say under no uncertain terms that I do not do religion. If you want to work on the religion end of the continuum, stop reading and go ask your minister. If you inform yourself about the state of art related to the survival hypothesis, you will find that considerable evidence has been accrued over the years concerning our dual nature. Much of it is supported by good research. While I am not prepared to tell you that you should accept survival as fact, I am happy to do so for myself. Here is why: 1. Miles Edward has compiled some well-studied cases of apparent survival. You can read them at The Survival Top 40. (65). Anecdotal evidence reports do not prove survival by themselves, but they are necessary if research is to be acceptable.

2. Duality is the idea that we are a physical body and an etheric mind. Here etheric means nonphysical. In parapsychology, it usually means the Psi Field. (53) See Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications on Psi Research. (14) In the Survival Hypothesis, (64) it is our nonphysical aspect we think continues to exist after physical death. This is a necessary characteristic if there are to be ghosts. 3. There is strong evidence that the psi field is nonlocal, meaning that there apparently is no distance in the etheric. Thus far, researchers have not found a way to shield from psi influence. That means it is 269 Answers possible to put a person functioning as a psychic in a sensory isolation chamber, yet the person is able to access information outside of the shielded room. This characteristic is a strong indication that we cannot apply physical principles to survival questions. Physical is objective, etheric is conceptual. The effect is that the voice of a specific person might be recorded anywhere the recorder is and not necessarily where the person was known to have died. 4. Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC) provides important hints about our nonphysical nature. In audio ITC (aka Electronic Voice Phenomena or EVP), anomalous speech has been recorded, even though the recorder was in an electromagnetic, magnetic, electrical and audio isolation chamber. See Eliminating Radio Frequency Contamination for EVP (66) and Report of an Anomalous Speech Products Experiment Inside a Double Screened Room. (67) 5. It is becoming evident that sensed information

is subconsciously processed before we become consciously aware of the information. See First Sight Theory. (19) This unconscious mental processing is based on our worldview which includes what we have been taught. Consequently, conscious perception tends to be contaminated by expectation. Considering apparent duality, cultural contamination of perception, nonlocality of the psi field and all of the evidence for trans-etheric influences, ghosts appear to be possible, but it is likely that we experience them as we expect. There is no reason to think they are stuck in a specific place. Ghosts are there because we expect them to be there. This is the short list, but I think you can use it to begin your study. My short answer is that survived personality seems to be actual but the way we perceive our discarnate friends as ghosts is a cultural artifact. Section 4 – Ghosts 270 Question 158 If you died and came back as a ghost, who would you want to haunt and how? Answered September 15, 2018 Answer The author of True Hauntings: Spirits with a Purpose (140) has an interesting take on what makes ghosts tick. She worked with families being haunted, a good mental medium and a little historical sleuthing to find that some of the ghosts came around because they were attracted to one of the people. According to the medium, the ghost indicated feeling that the person might help them in some way. Another reason was confusion. Some ghosts were confused about their new

status. In most cases, the ghost was able to be convinced that it was time to go … and they were gone. To be clear, all of the reported haunting phenomena might have been caused by a living agent. If we expect a ghost, we conjure one up. If the shaman has made us hurt enough to believe we have been cured, then the ghost or demon is gone. Examine your beliefs and then consider the science. Our work with Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) has shown that our etheric communicators were not physically somewhere specific. They could communicate any time anywhere. They also communicated with apparent purpose. Often, it was to reassure loved ones still in the physical. Sometimes it was to help in some way. One communicator complained that it was hard to get through because the person in the physical was expressing too much grief. We think at some point in their transition, they move out of range, so to speak. Some have indicated it was time for them to transition again. We are not sure what that means, but we think it is them reincarnating. There are a lot of reasons for discarnate personalities to make themselves known. We literally know of no malicious contact. People’s fear of ghosts is learned from religion and media. We are taught to be afraid of 271 Answers the dark, and so a bump in the night is always a ghost coming to get us … never mind the wind rattling

the shutters. Question 159 Paranormal: do cats have their own spirits/entities that attach to them and haunt them? Answered October 8, 2018 Answer As it turns out, I am about to publish an essay titled Avatar. (13) It should be available under the Blog tab of ethericstudies.org in a day or so. In it, I explore the idea of what might be required for our nonphysical self to entangle with our human for a lifetime. My target point is what it might take for a computer to be sentient. Based on the model I use in that essay, there is no such thing as an attachment. In my years of studying these phenomena—producing a few myself—I have not seen a single example of spirit attachment. I have seen a lot of popular wisdom born of a strange combination of religious belief, ghost stories (scary movies) and a sort of ghost hunting club mythology that has no apparent foundation of reality. With that sort of cultural contamination in the way people think, it is no wonder that all sorts of ordinary illness, accidents and natural events become proof of evil attachments. Question 160 Have you seen your cat witness a ghost/spirit? Answered October 9, 2018 Answer Section 4 – Ghosts 272 My wife, Lisa, was sitting at her desk that is situated against a wall. Her chair was turned so that she could face me as I sat on an easy chair to the right of her desk and farther from

the wall. We were about six feet apart. Our cat was sitting on the floor between us and closer to the wall. The cat faced between us as if being part of the conversation. Without warning, a shape moved from my right between Lisa and me and continued into a nearby bathroom. It looked like a flurry of arms and legs that reminded me of the Tasmanian Devil cartoons. I could not make out the arms and legs, only a vague, brown shape rapidly moving limbs might make (if it had limbs). It was about the size of a basketball. It was just a flurry of activity moving a little faster than I walk, about eighteen inches off of the ground and just a foot or so in front of the cat. I saw it, Lisa saw it, the cat’s ears perked up and she followed the shape with her eyes. As the critter disappeared into the bathroom, the cat stood up and pranced in after it as if wanting to see what it would do next. No fear and no sound. We had not before, nor did we see it again. However, the cats do behave as if they occasionally see things. For some time, one of them was afraid to go into that same room when it was dark. I have studied things paranormal for years and speculate that a life form might fill an ecological niche in the space straddling physical and etheric. (In the near-etheric.) I

have no proof, only speculation based on the idea that these shadowy critters better exhibit physical animal characteristics than they do known characteristics of trans-etheric influences. They are not haunting us. Lisa thinks they might be attracted to emotion similar to the way moths are attracted to light. I refer to them as etheric critters because they do not appear to have a human origin. A new species? While becoming a certified Mufon Field Investigator, I saw that the Handbook said that one of the possible naturally occurring object that might be mistaken as a UFO is ball lightning. The Handbook described that critter I saw to a “T.” I am an electronics engineer and have a fair amount of training in physics. Based on my study of things paranormal and examples presented to me over the years, I have to disagree. The phenomenon is unlikely to be electrical in nature. If it were, the cat would have gone the other way in a hurry. 273 Answers Question 161 Why do we not see the good spirits trying to help the bad spirits? Does this even happen, why not? Answered November 23, 2018 Answer In my years studying things paranormal, I have encountered no evidence of good or bad spirits. To avoid religious connotation, I use personality instead of spirit to describe the core essence of who we are. From my study, it seems clear that we are all personalities. Some of us are experiencing a physical lifetime. Some may

be experiencing a lifetime in a different venue for learning and some seem to be in between lifetimes. If you are asking about spirits, I assume you accept the idea that you are more than your physical body. If so, then you should recognize that you are influenced by your human’s instincts. Unless you impose self-aware, compassionate influence on those instincts, everything you do will be intended to assure the survival of your human’s gene pool. With that in mind, the assumption that there are good and bad spirits may be based on the recognition that some people are more compassionate than others. My view is that the human experience does tend to have a short-term influence on our personality, but that is apparently moderated by a realization that survival of the gene pool was a human thing and not personality’s. Everything I have come to understand indicates that those of us who are not in a lifetime tend to focus on helping those of us who are. The usual way we see this is in the idea that our etheric communicators are either a loved one or a personality designated by a group to represent them in efforts to help us. This is discussed a little in Cooperative Community (33). By help, I mean help in understanding the fundamental principles we are learning. in Spiritualism, those are referred to as Natural Laws. The most important part of living is gaining understanding from experiences. It is that understanding we seek.

All else is temporary. Section 4 – Ghosts 274 Question 162 Honestly, do you believe in ghosts, spirits or angels? Answered November 29, 2018 Answer I will answer by first describing why I think we are an immortal self experiencing a physical lifetime with a human avatar. The explanation of deity proposed by Edward Malkowski (141) seems to closest to what I have studied. “… the Egyptian word neter being translated into Greek as ‘god,’ which later took on the Westernised meaning of deity. The true meaning of neter was to describe an aspect of deity, not a deity to be worshipped. In essence, neters referred to principles of nature in a practical scientific way.” The one document I am willing to think was at least inspired by Hermes of ancient Egypt is known today as the Emerald Tablet (1). It is a lesson taught by a master to his initiates and is concerned with the process of gaining progression (spiritual maturity). The original title was probably something like The Truly Great Work. Hermes seems to be speaking about gods, but it is clear that he is speaking of aspects of informed expression. A few thousand years later, and at least two thousand years before the Bible, the ancient oral tradition of the Indus Valley was written as the Katha Upanishad (41). It includes instruction by the God of Death to a seeker. The essence of it is that the seeker must make a choice between the two aspects of

mortal living. That is, make choices intended to perpetuate the gene pool or choices intended to gain understanding. The God of Death is like the Egyptian Neter, an aspect of one god. The Holy Bible even addresses some of this idea of who we really are in John 14. (114) It is all about the same instruction for progression given by Hermes and the God of Death. 275 Answers The message in these three historical references is that we are spiritual personalities experiencing physical life to gain an understanding of our true nature and the nature of the reality in which we live. I have found no evidence at all that there is any such entity as an evil demon. Even in my study of Paul Twitchell’s. (131) work (he is the founder of Eckankar (142)), I see that he taught that the lord of the physical, Kal Niranjan, was considered our devil. Twitchell explained that Kal was actually responsible for assuring we gained sufficient maturity to move to new venues for learning before he would let us out of the cycle of physical lifetimes. Without good and bad experiences, there can be no progression in understanding. My view of a Cooperative Community (33) goes like this: The Way of Progression Through community comes knowledge Through teaching comes understanding It takes a collective The idea comes from the many ways we are told that each of us is part of a collective or community of personalities sharing a common search

for understanding. It appears that many such collectives share the same venue for learning. For us, the venue is Earth and possibly the physical Universe. Since everyone in the collective benefits from what is learned by other members, members that are not currently in a lifetime are thought to do what they can to help those who are. I think all personalities have the same fundamental characteristics such as purpose, expression, perception and worldview. However, there are at least six important ways personalities might express those characteristics: A source personality (not a father god) from which organizing principles and curiosity originate. (This is just to complete or bound the cosmology like the Big Bang Theory (51) bounds astronomical cosmologies.) Formative Personalities cooperating to maintain commonly visualized venues for learning in their attention. These would be like Kal Niranjan and perhaps the Egyptian Neter and The God of Death in the Katha Upanishad. (Are these all the same personality or are they representatives of a collective of formative personalities?) Section 4 – Ghosts 276 Experiencer Personalities (you and me) experiencing this venue as we gain understanding through experience. Guide Personalities are members of our collective who are not currently in a lifetime. These possibly act as our inner guides and teachers. Loved ones on the other side who may also help as they are able. They are not necessarily in our collective. Teacher Personalities who have taken it on themselves to further our understanding. Here, it is important to note that,

like Kal Niranjan, teaching sometimes means helping us understand the nature of grief. I expect there are others, but these appear to be the main players. None are to be worshiped, feared or condemned. All are to be respected, as we will certainly one day join their ranks. My answer is that I accept the evidence of the immortality of personality, which is who we are. We are all of those you list but your terms carry too much religious baggage to be useful for serious discussion. You might consider looking over the Glosser of Terms I include at the end of Your Immortal Self (4). Also see the Glossary of Terms. (31) Question 163 Do spirits group with the spirits of their own religion when they fly off to the universe (per scientists) after death? Answered December 23, 2018 Answer There are many versions of the survival story. The problem is that, as we are learning today, it is difficult for information to come across the veil without being colored by the channel’s beliefs. Cultural contamination tends to produce similar messages from different people claiming to be in communication with discarnate personalities. The existence of such communication is well-established and 277 Answers the initial message from any one channel might be evidential. It is just that we do not know how it has changed as it is relayed by the physical person. By considering many different sources, both ancient and contemporary, it is possible to develop a model that

seems to reasonably answer your question. I have tried to compile this model in What is it Like on the Other Side. (143) As for your question, one of the more common characteristics of the discarnate communicator is the claims that it represents a group of personalities. One of the Organizing Principles I needed to make sense of for the Survival Hypothesis is the Principle of Perceptual Agreement: (144) Personality must be in perceptual agreement with the aspect of reality with which it will associate. In effect, we can only perceive that which we are able to visualize and that is limited by worldview (memory and what we have been taught). To your question, this means that people may share aspects of reality if they have similar cultural backgrounds. It is less likely they will be able to share aspects of reality if they do not. So yes, it looks like we do gravitate toward like-minded people in spirit just as we do in the physical. But be aware that mainstream science thinks you and I need to be put in a padded cell for even thinking about such questions. Question 164 Is it scientifically proven that ghosts exist? Answered December 24, 2018 Answer I should begin by saying that scientific evidence is probably the wrong place to begin answering your real or not real question. The basic scientific method is important, but it must be applied with an open mind. Many of us make a distinction between mainstream science

and frontier science. Mainstream science is really good for the study of commonly accepted principles. But the institutions supporting established Section 4 – Ghosts 278 science have a vested interest in being right. As of today, being right means that there is no such thing as nonphysical anything. With that said, the four conditions of my answer are that: 1. There is a nonphysical aspect of reality. In the survival metaphysics I study, the physical is a product of consciousness, but there is a less complex model that is better supported by study. That is, a subtle field of influence permeates the physical that is sometimes referred to as the psi field. Important characteristics of the field are that it is nonlocal (no distance; everywhere is here) and that it acts as a medium of propagation for consciousness and thought. 2. Mind is not the body. That is, our conscious self existed before this lifetime and will exist after this lifetime in a sentient form. 3. People are naturally psychic. People sense information in the psi field and express a psi as information and influence (psychokinesis). 4. Discarnate personalities communicate with still physical people. Our discarnate loved ones are able to communicate with people still in the flesh by way of mind-to-mind psi expressions and psychokinetic influence on physical processes. (Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) for instance). These four conditions must be true for ghosts to be real. Realistically, proof is still being developed as research continues. Anomalous access of information

(psychic functioning, mediumship) and mental influence of physical processes (EVP and changes of randomness of random processes) represent areas of research that tend to support Items 1–3. Item 4 is the most difficult to prove. The fact that people are able to psychically access information that appears to be present in the minds of still living people makes it difficult to say that a reported contact from a discarnate loved one did not actually come from someone’s memory of the person. There is also the problem that we know of no way to shield from psi influence. Put another way, the information a psychic access es could come from any place in the world, including a sealed vault or from a person deep in a mine on the other side of the world. The only psychically accessed information we might be able to say probably comes from a discarnate person is if the information is not known by anyone in the world. If the information is in the form of “That is 279 Answers something long-dead Uncle John might have said,” it is arguable that something came from the mind of someone who knew Uncle John. An EVP recorded by Martha Copeland is an example of information that no one in the physical knew of at the time. You can hear it at Martha Copeland EVP (44) on the Association TransCommunication website (atransc.org). So, while the four conditions above might be satisfied, there remains the human factor of the witness

and the form the ghost takes. The best of the study and research seems to tell us that physical phenomena may be caused by a different personality but must go through the witness. This appears to be the case for EVP, for instance. This is to say that we are the channel and we tend to color what we channel based on our expectations. If this is true, ghosts are not physically present. They are superimposed over the scene in our mind’s eye. Ghostly physical effects are probably of the same sort of psychokinetic effects as we see in poltergeist phenomena. All of the (probably) required elements seem to be in place for ghosts to be real. They may not be proof of a discarnate personality. Much of what is popularly believed about ghosts is folklore. Question 165 Are ghost detectors just detecting electromagnetic fields? Answered December 24, 2018 Answer I will begin by referring you to my answer to Question 167: Is it scientifically proven that ghosts exist? Read Loyd Auerbach Discusses Paranormal Misconceptions. (145) In it, he states “Just because it says ‘ghost meter’ on it doesn't mean it detects ghosts… or anything paranormal, psychic or supernatural. EMF detectors detect electromagnetic fields.” Loyd’s specialty is apparitions (ghosts) and I yield to his expertise. Here is one point to consider. In Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP), (80) voices are sometimes found in recording media that cannot be accounted Section 4 – Ghosts 280 for with known physical principles. Our working

hypothesis is that they are produced by the psychokinetic influence of the practitioner or an interested witness. They may be proof of discarnate personalities, but they may also just be proof that the person initiating the EVP is psychic and accessed the information from someone’s memory. The existence of EVP in recording media seems to indicate that mind can influence physical processes. We see other evidence for this in the way the output of Random Event Generators become less random when in the presence of meditating people. See: Experiments Investigating the Influence of Intention on Random and Pseudorandom Events. (38) Electromagnetic Field (EMF) detectors used in ghost hunting, in fact, all electronic devices used for ghost hunting, may indicate changes in the environment as they are designed to do. They may also give a false indication of such changes because the operator is focusing so much on the device that he or she is psychokinetically causing changes in the device which signal as changes in EMF. Remember that an EMF meter is not designed to present changes as a voice message. They can only present as they are designed. As such, it is difficult to know if the influence causing a report is EMF or the practitioner. Question 166 Among all the cryptids (kraken, megalodon, Bigfoot, etc.) or the legendary or supernatural beings (ghosts, for instance), which is the most believable and could really exist according to you? Answered December 29, 2018 Answer Concerning the possible existence of ghosts, it

is necessary to identify a space in which they exist, how it is that we can experience them and what they are. The three dominant theories are that ghosts are pure imagination, 281 Answers they are real but only seen in the mind’s eye or that they are produced psychokinetically. From my study, all three points of view may have merit. Here are a few points to consider: 1. Emerging theory holds that we first experience our environment as sensed information delivered to our mostly unconscious mind. The information is considered by comparing it with worldview (memory, beliefs, cultural training, instincts). The results of that are presented to conscious self but modified to better agree with worldview. In other words, we experience reality as we expect, not as it is. See for instance, The Brain's Autopilot Mechanism Steers Consciousness Our Unconscious Mind (146) 2. If that is true, what we see is based on beliefs that are partially shaped by instincts. At least to some extent, ghosts represent an unknown presence that evokes our human’s fear response. The result is a proneness to seeing what is feared. See for instance, The role of fear in delusions of the paranormal. (147) 3. Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) are voices found in recording media that cannot be explained with known physical principles. The working hypothesis is that the paranormal messages are caused by the psychokinetic influence of mostly unconscious mind on the electronic circuits of recording devices. Some EVP are thought to originate

from the memory of still physical persons (present or distant), but some are also thought to originate from the still sentient mind of discarnate persons. See for instance, A Model for EVP (43) 4. Other forms of mind-to-physical influences have been reported. For instance, the random output of Random Event Generators (REG) has been shown to become less random in response to the influence of intention or in the presence of meditating groups. See for instance, Experiments Investigating the Influence of Intention on Random and Pseudorandom Events (38) 5. Poltergeist activity is typically reported in homes in which a disturbed child lives. A popular theory to explain psychokinetic activity is that is it caused by the child’s unconscious cry for help. It subsides as that cry is answered. The main points are that Section 4 – Ghosts 282 psychokinetic influences on physical processes are clearly demonstrated and they have a physical human source. See for Instance, Poltergeists (Overview) (121) The existence of ghosts as they are commonly reported is a reasonably well-established phenomenon. Psychokinetic activity (mind over matter, levitation) has been reliably reported and is a common element in reports of hauntings. Also, the seeing of apparitions is explainable with known psychological responses to suggestion. The model I have come to study is called the Implicit Cosmology (15) and includes the idea that a physical person is necessary for physical paranormal effects, but that those effects might by caused psychokinetically. As such, I argue that experiencing ghosts is real, but

their presence is caused by still physical people. Whether they are proof of the existence of discarnate personalities (dead people) is an open question. The people causing ghosts may be getting their references from present or remote memory (cultural contamination). This would be the Psi Field Hypothesis. (53) Some, including me, think that some of the ghostly phenomena are initiated by discarnate personality through the physical living person who acts as a channel. That is the Trans-Survival Hypothesis. (64) From the points listed above, it should be clear that external psi influences that are initiated by a person and those initiated by a discarnate personality have the same outward appearance. The only difference is the source. For the survival hypothesis to be true, it is necessary to show that the information a person accesses to produce a physical effect might only exist in the mind of a discarnate personality. The one example I have of such information was collected by Martha Copeland in an EVP: Martha Copeland’s daughter, Cathy, transitioned as a young woman. Martha had accidentally left Cathy’s dog, Dojo, in the house when she left to go shopping. She had also left her voice activated audio recorder on. No one was in the house except for the animals. Dojo tore up a potted plant and made a great mess. You can hear an EVP from Cathy as she scolds the dog saying, “Doja, No.” (You can hear the example here: Martha Copeland EVP (44) My answer is that

I cannot speak to the authenticity of cryptids, but I am reasonably sure there is objective support for the existence of ghosts. It is just that one must be clear about the why ghosts exist. 283 Answers Question 167 What would be a logical explanation of ghosts? One that correlated with science and what we know about the universe? Answered February 3, 2019 Answer Let us agree that a ghost or apparition is defined as the visible presence or effect attributed to a disembodied person. That is, someone reports seeing a dead person or some effect thought to be caused by one. Let us also agree that science is fundamentally the observation of nature and the development of models intended to explain what is observed. But there are many different kinds of naturally occurring phenomena and those differences sometimes require different approaches to the practice of science. Physical Science: Reductionist models work for most physical characteristics of nature. For example, an apple falling from a tree can be modeled with such characteristics as gravity, mass, changing seasons and relative motion. Understanding the physical world is the domain of physical science. An important rule is that physical models must correctly predict the falling apple’s behavior. This is sometimes known as physicalism. Psychological Science: The study of mind and consciousness requires a rather different approach. Mental behavior is more conceptual and typical reductionist modeling such as the effect of an action causing a reaction is replaced with something like the predicted response

to a stimulus. This is the domain of psychological science. As I understand this field, psychological models are typically based on observation of responses to stimuli. After many tests, the distribution of responses eventually indicates support for predictions. Dualism: Characteristics of reality necessary for a disembodied person to exist is that there must be a nonphysical aspect of reality and it must Section 4 – Ghosts 284 be possible for a disembodied person to influence the physical in some way. There is quite a lot of research suggesting the existence of what is currently being referred to as a psi field. This nonlocal field appears to be a medium for the propagation of the effect of mental activity that can influence physical processes. There is no known way to shield from such influence. Psi functioning (psychic, mediumship, psychokinetic) research is not yet recognized by physical scientists but is beginning to be acknowledged by psychologists. A good example of this work is in the studies of how meditating groups influence the randomness of random number generators. The About Etheric Studies Essay (6) provides a good overview of the relationship between physical science, psychological science and the study of the nonphysical aspect of reality. Dualism represents a third way of science. If physical science ignores the existence of the psi field and psychological science thinks it is just psi functioning and that survival means survival of memory, neither is examining the effect of intention on physical processes from the perspective of possible

nonphysical (discarnate), sentient personality. For a ghost to be proven real or not real, some the research perspective of Dualism is necessary. As you read the rest of my answer, keep in mind that science cannot be done if it examines only part of the phenomenon. Studying Ghosts From my study, I would say that there are three likely explanations for ghosts: Naturally occurring physical event mistaken as evidence of a ghost. An example is a door moving without apparent physical force. I have one of those. It is hung on its hinges so that, because of gravity, it slowly swings open to a natural rest position. Such explanations are the domain of physical science. Another example is a physiological response to a feared presence. For instance, during ghost hunts, the investigators easily become so jumpy that any sounds become evidence of a ghost. Once that hairtrigger state of alertness is reached, the mere suggestion that a ghost is near may cause people to experience touches, smells, even movement 285 Answers seen from the corner of the eyes. Such explanations are the domain of psychological science. Commonly used technology such as audio recorders, still cameras and video recorders sometimes record evidence that is normal mistaken as paranormal. While this is sometimes a case of trickery, it is most often the case of people not understanding how they can be fooled by their equipment or the many ways their mind can misunderstand such information. The failure to understand how technology produces

artifacts is a problem of physical science. Not realizing human potential for delusion is a problem for psychological science. Trickery and fraud Having participated in recording sessions for television shows, I know that there may be an occasional instruction from the director to be more afraid for the camera or to respond to a sudden noise made offcamera. That is simple fraud and a problem for the ethics people. Trickery and fraud are uncommon in parapsychological research. A magician’s ability to reproduce haunt phenomena depends on the ability to control the scene. However, using wire to simulate movement only simulates. On close examination, such demonstrations are only simulations and not demonstrations of levitation or psi functioning. When a magician claims to be able to duplicate a haunt event using stage trickery, it is not the haunt phenomena being replicated. For instance, an object might be seen on camera to fly across the room. The same effect for the camera can be produced with a thin wire to pull the object or it might simply be thrown from off camera. In the end, magicians are guilty of the Fallacy of Equal Simlars. This is not science, only magician’s fraud. Trans-etheric influences (ghostly events or haunt phenomena). The study of ghosts is just one part of the study of how communication of information happens between the proposed etheric (nonphysical, psi field) and physical aspects of reality. If we accept that mind is nonphysical, then bodily senses (vision, smell, touch, sound, taste) are

physical-to-etheric phenomena. Commands to move the body are etheric-to-physical phenomena. The only difference between a ghost and a person is that a person has a physical body and a ghost does not. Mind-to-mind communication between is a psychic exchange of influences using mind-talk symbols … Section 4 – Ghosts 286 probably a sort of thought ball or gestalt thoughtform rather than words. Our mind translates such thoughtforms into words and a version of our world. The two most important phenomena for ghosts to exist is the ability of mind to influence the physical world and for the physical world to affect mind. Of course, if mind is etheric, then our body does these conversions for us. Much research has been conducted with Random Event Generators (REG). See Experiments Investigating the Influence of Intention Experiments Investigating the Influence of Intention. (38) The short explanation is that random processes are shown to become less random with the influence of attention. We see a similar effect with Electronic Voice Phenomena. (43) This is a mind-to-physical effect comparable to mind controlling body movements such as walking and talking. Physical-to-mind influence is a more difficult effect to show scientifically. One way is the indirect study of remote viewing. A possible explanation for person B to be able to clairvoyantly see a distant place and accurately report about it is for person A to be physically present or remember being present at the location. Then for person B to access memory of what was seen by

person A as a mind-tomind exchange. Such anomalous access of information has been shown with good research to occur. The effect is a demonstration of how the physical can affect mind. Of course, if mind is not in the brain but is in etheric space, then the body routinely affects mind. To answer your question, if you accept that you are more than your physical body, that some aspect of who you really are continues after physical death and that it is possible for mind to cause an effect in the physical, and in turn, be affected by the physical, then you have reason to accept that ghosts are just people without a body. We must examine the science and decide if it is valid. To do that, we must have the education to reasonably assess the quality of that science. Your question is reasonable, appropriate and the sort of inquiry all of us need to make to develop an informed understanding. Opinion is the same as belief and there is no science in belief. 287 Answers Question 168 Why aren’t things like hunting for ghosts/paranormal experiences treated more seriously in science? Answered April 9, 2019 Answer Reports of paranormal phenomena might have been treated seriously in the early days. But then, there was little in the way of technology to support the study and religions pretty much owned related ideas like survival, spirits and spirit healing. There were the usual frauds like priests using the paranormal for social engineering

and guilds trying to make themselves more than they were. The effect with an emerging scientific culture has been for researchers to shun everything associated with the old superstitions. Of course, we now know that a lot of those superstitions were based on actual experiences and abilities. But these phenomena are elusive and the brave scientists who did begin studying them could seldom point at an effect as the kind of proof one gets for gravity with a falling apple. Science, usually in the form of parapsychology, is gradually furthering our understanding of these phenomena. But they face a strong headwind. Mainstream science still hears terms like mediumship and thinks religiously inspired fraud. The paranormalist community does not help. We cannot even agree amongst ourselves about how to talk about these phenomena, never mind how to make a discerning, informed report. My answer is that these phenomena are not being treated more seriously because we who insist they are real have not self-organized enough to support them with rational reports and more funding for research. Section 4 – Ghosts 288 Question 169 What are other theoretical explanations of ghosts, assuming: a) they are not imagination and b) not spirits of the dead? Answered May 3, 2019 Answer Recently emerging understanding about how we develop our perception is showing that we do not directly perceive what we sense. Our perception is developed in our mostly unconscious mind. That includes our worldview database which represents our human’s instincts, our discerning intelligence, what

we have been taught and memory. Think of our mostly unconscious mind where perception is formed as our Judge. Sensed information (feel, taste, see, hear, smell) comes first to the Judge where it is compared to worldview and adjusted to agree with our sense of what is real before being delivered to our conscious awareness. Here are two of the many available references: Our Unconscious Mind (58) and Decision-making May Be Surprisingly Unconscious Activity. (39) Another important reference is The Sheep-Goat Effect (108) which is the idea that people with an open mind tend to be better able to experience the unexpected than those who have a more rigid sense of reality. My answer is that all of our experiences begin the same way as our imagination. The difference between real and not real is a function of how the information is processed in our mostly unconscious mind. Information we classify as real is colored by our Judge to agree with what we think real is supposed to be. information might be completely rejected if it much contradicts what we think is real. This answer can be expanded to explain the nature of supposed paranormal experiences, but you excluded that line of thought. It is up to you to contemplate the implications of a thought process that always seeks 289 Answers to show us what we think is supposed to be there … and by extension, hide what we think should not be there. Question 170 Why do people feel

that ghost hunters are scam artist? Answered May 20, 2019 Answer The short answer is that the well-organized skeptic community has taken every opportunity to villainize everything paranormal. Their reasons are based on an almost religious belief that if mainstream science does not specifically endorse the existence of something, then it is impossible and cannot be. If someone claims it is real, they are either delusional or frauds. That is scientism. Observers need to be aware enough to recognize scientism. During my time as an editor in Wikipedia, I learned that zealous scientism is the reason skeptics have tried so hard as a group to show articles about paranormal subjects in a negative light. A good example of this can be seen on the Talk page archives of the Rupert Sheldrake article. For instance, Talk:Rupert Sheldrake/Archive 18 - Wikipedia. (73) All of the haunt investigators I have known do it for sport and follow a strict code of ethics concerning property, owners and truthful reporting. Or, they are serious investigators, often supported by academically train scientists, albeit from unrelated fields. As in any endeavor, there is a natural distribution of understanding amongst haunt investigators. For instance, there are a lot of sincerely held opinions amongst paranormalists that are often more like popular wisdom than empirical understanding. Haunt investigators are not regulated, so anyone can take up a few simple devices and go on a walkabout to try their hand. For comparison, one of my focuses in the study of paranormal

phenomena is mental mediumship. It is common to encounter a young, would-be medium who has watched enough television, maybe even read a Section 4 – Ghosts 290 few books to think they are qualified to serve others as a medium. All the while, not really knowing what it is like to be a qualified medium. These people are not frauds. They are sincere but lack the education needed to know better. In time, and with the help of others, such people often develop into effective, ethical mediums in service to others. Question 171 Are ghosts tied to a specific location or can they wander? If so, how far? Answered June 4, 2019 Answer It is well-established that the etheric—the nonphysical aspect of reality—is nonlocal, meaning that a ghost is not in a place. For instance, in Electronic Voice Phenomena, (EVP), a practitioner living in Dallas can record the voice of a discarnate loved one who died in New York for a person who is in Seattle … real-time. We learn to think of a place as haunted, and thereby begin to expect ghostly experiences in that place. The ghost is not there. A sort of contact field appears to develop over time so that different people can have similar ghost encounters in the same place at different times. Think of that contact field as a thoughtform that people are able to sense. So not only do they expect to experience haunt phenomena, but they also experience haunt phenomena suggested by

that thoughtform. Be discerning when it comes to listening to what people have to say about these things. There is a lot of superstition and religious lore that confuses truth. From my study, discarnate people do not get stuck. The only possession is of our own superstition. Self-determination is limited only by the extent that we give away our discernment to others. 291 Answers Question 172 Are ghost hunting devices and equipment sold on the internet fraudulent? Answered June 6, 2019 Answer First, there must be ghosts. There are conditions that need to be true for ghosts to be real: 1. The Psi Filed Hypothesis needs to be true. Basically, that says that there is a nonphysical aspect of reality (the psi field) which permeates the physical. 2. Thought is modeled as a psi field phenomenon; mind-to-mind or mind-to-physical influence of which is propagated in the field. 3. Thought can influence the physical as directed by the attention and intention of a person. 4. While a person is a physical organism, mind must be part of the psi field (or a related aspect of reality). That is, brain is modeled as a transmitter-receiver for mind. 5. Mind must exist in a self-aware, sentient form after death of the organism. Ghosts then, would be survived minds. That is the argument for the Survival Hypothesis in Dualism. Contending hypotheses are that people are delusional to think mind exists independent of brain (Anomalistic Psychology, Physical Hypothesis, Physicalism) and mind is a product of

brain but continues to exist after death of the brain as residual energy … not still living (Extraordinary Experiences Psychology, Super-Psi Hypothesis, Psi Field Hypothesis). A good list of references providing apparent evidence for the Psi Field Hypothesis is Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications on Psi Research. (14) There is not much serious literature supporting survival, so I have tried to Section 4 – Ghosts 292 compose a sound argument for the Survival Hypothesis in Trans-Survival Hypothesis. (64) So, what would ghosts be? Based on all we seem to know about the Survival Hypothesis, these are the characteristics I would expect: • The psi field has been shown to be nonlocal, meaning there is no distance. A discarnate personality in New York should be able to cause an effect in Texas or Nevada … maybe at the same time. This means the personality which is the ghost is not in the haunted location. We are simply connecting to it by way of our attention … or the ghost’s attention. • The ghost is not physical energy. That means it is not a magnetic field or change in temperature. A ghost is best described as a sentient, nonphysical field which involves such influences as attention, intention and perception. Look at a ghost and a person as the same, except that the person is entangled with its human for this lifetime. • Intentionality can influence some physical processes. We think we see this with Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). That means the ghost, or our

own enthusiasm, can influence some of our electronic ghost hunting devices. For instance, there is a transistor in magnetic field meters that is probably as easy to influence as noise in an audio recorder. Thus, a detected ghost is possibly detected influence from the ghost hunter or possibly an interested ghost. • We cannot shield from the psi field, so there is no way to know if we ask a question and the ghost answers or we answer. In other words, much of the phenomena we attribute to ghosts are probably caused by physical people. There is some evidence of the development of a thoughtform related to a physical location. For instance, if I say that I think a place is spooky at night I am expressing a thoughtform linked to my mind. If others share that idea, the thoughtform is thought to begin taking on a degree of latency that, in effect, becomes available for others to sense without prompting. We see this sort of effect with hospitals, churches … places for which people habitually, mentally attribute great importance. The thoughtform hypothesis is one proposed to explain the recorder ghost effect and apparitions. It is all about mostly unconscious expectation. 293 Answers A popular theory explaining poltergeist phenomena is that they are psychokinetically caused by a mentally disturbed child living in the home. Once the reason for the child’s discomfort is addressed, the phenomena tend to dissipate. I am not going to say that ghost hunting equipment is fraudulent.

I will say that the metaphysics do not always support what the devices are supposed to do. There is little evidence that the devices are tested under properly controlled conditions to assure they detect ghosts and not stray magnetic fields or imagined effects. If a company sold a television set that would not display programming … Consumer Protection agencies would probably step in. It is probably better to investigate a building, supposedly haunted or not, using a well-trained medium and a good historian. There is much more evidence that mediumship is a valid tool for communicating with so-called dead people. Being in the building helps to focus the medium’s attention but is otherwise not necessary. EVP can be used but do your research. Is there a proven history of controlled studies for the silver-bullet EVP box you might purchase? Consider: ATransC White Paper on Transcommunication (80) Question 173 Do ghosts keep up with technology? Answered August 18, 2019 Answer As to the existence of ghosts, there is sufficient evidence to argue that people experience apparitions. Some experiences have a physical component to them which can be investigated. Photographic and audio evidence exists in a number of forms, making it possible to study the phenomena. See the list of pictures at Your Immortal Self (4). In Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP), which is an audio form of transcommunication, the communicators appear to adapt to our changing technology, but more likely, our changing technology has common elements that make it possible to make

psi signals audible. See A Model for EVP (43) Section 4 – Ghosts 294 Based on current theories about the mechanism of thought and what we have learned through transcommunication—both instrumental and direct (mediumship)—the most useful model for ghosts is that their influence into physical space is via still physical people. We experience our world based on the content of our worldview. Worldview is populated with cultural training which includes religious and popular wisdom about ghosts. For instance, our human (instincts) is afraid of the dark. Our worldview explains scary situations based on that cultural training which means a bump in the night too easily become a ghost in our mind. We might even see a ghost. The physical human influence on paranormal phenomena is becoming established. For instance, poltergeist (95) activity is currently being explained by parapsychologists as the psychokinetic expression of a still physical, troubled person. The utterances of EVP are virtually always in a language the practitioner or interested observer understands. A person expecting scary things tends to have a scary experience while a more analytical person will have a more informative experience. Even though they seem to require a physical person as a conduit, there remains good evidence that some of these paranormal experiences are initiated by discarnate personalities. See Trans-Survival Hypothesis. (64) The answer I have then, is that ghosts appear to keep up with technology, but more likely, it is the still physical person who is keeping up and the ghost is communicating where

we are looking and listening. Question 174 What does a black orb mean? Answered September 5, 2019 Answer I do not know the popular wisdom about black orbs. Probably 99.999% of photographic orbs are just ruined photographs due to light reflecting from atmospheric particulates caught in the camera flash, sun flairs and light shining off of shiny objects in the scene. Make sure you understand how your camera works. For instance, a camera set to take dark-room pictures may have an infrared light you 295 Answers cannot see. The infrared light will illuminate dust even better than a flash. There does seem to be evidence of orbs we would, at least for now, think of as paranormal. Most I have seen have been white and milkytranslucent. The one shown here is from an ATransC friend in New York. He told us there were usually two of them, they sometimes came out of the wall of his apartment and sometimes played (harassed) with his dog (he showed us a video). The one shown here had stopped in the air. He said they tended to “wiggle their tail” before taking off. We encountered a black, softball-sized, fuzzy orb during a walkabout for a Universal Studio’s White Noise bonus feature. As shown here, the cameraman was using available light in a relatively dark landing. You can see Lisa and me climbing the stairs in the video frame grab below. The orb can be found at about three-minutes into the feature. None of us

saw it at the time. It moved a little faster than a man normally walks and came from the direction of a bedroom about which we recorded the EVP “Bettys in there” moments after the orb passed. See The EVP of Tom and Lisa Butler (118) to hear the EVP. We (ATransC) do not know what such orbs are. They often seem intelligent. My best guess at this time is that there is a continuum between the objective physical space of our normal world and the conceptual space of the psi field which propagates thought and intentionality. It seems that there may be a class of life fields that inhabit that fringe space and that venture into the physical. Section 4 – Ghosts 296 One speculation is that they are attracted to emotional energy. At this time, we simply do not know. Question 175 If a ghost is no longer a living person, why are they caught on EVP with breathing sounds? Answered October 9, 2019 Answer We do not know for sure why breathing sounds are reported in EVP. If you consider how we think they are formed, the answer may be in our memory and expectations. In truth, I do not recall a proven EVP to be long enough to include pauses for breath. The current model for how EVP are formed is that the practitioner or an interested observer function as the etheric-physical channel for the 297 Answers utterance. It is also theorized that they originate from

the mind of the communicator. For EVP, the mind of physically alive (incarnate) people is modeled as a nonphysical (etheric) aspect of who they are. That is, our mind is nonphysical while our skin and bones are physical. Of course, the mind of the hypothetical discarnate communicator is also nonphysical. In fact, the model for both is the same except one model allows for the presence of a human avatar. This comparison is important to show that the message may be originated by our mind, the mind of an interested physical witness or a discarnate personality. Emerging understanding about the way we think indicates that our thoughts are moderated by our worldview. That is, we think based on what we have been taught to think is true. That is also why we can record English words spoken by a person we know did not speak English. Our mind receives the message as a thoughtform and translates the information into familiar terms. We breathe when we speak. It is natural for us to record speech that has pauses for breathing just as it is natural to record speech in the voice, mannerisms and apparent sex of the person thought to be speaking … as we or an interested observer remembers them. Your question is often asked, and poorly informed people often use the apparent sound of breathing as proof that EVP are fake. The best answer to your question is that it is our mind telling us what to expect. I

might add that a person who has recently transitioned to the other side is still stuck with a worldview trained by physical living. They too expect to breathe when they talk. It is worldview and mind that we need to understand in order to understand ghosts. Section 4 – Ghosts 298 Question 176 How can I start a paranormal investigation team, with very little equipment? Answered October 16, 2019 Answer Ghost hunting clubs are sometimes considered a good entry-level approach to learning about things paranormal. While members can conduct good science, it is not always realistic and can distract from the enjoyment of a group activity. Most members treat their group as a social organization with ghost hunting and other paranormal interests as the focus. I am not the best person to advise you about starting such a group, but I can offer a few pointers. Most important is to self-educate. Read all you can about things paranormal. You will notice that there are many different opinions about things paranormal, what ghosts are, how best to look for them and the ethics of dealing with homeowners and our discarnate friends. The more you learn, the better you will be at weeding out the nonsense to recognize the useful guidance. Just about every town of any size already has one or two ghost hunting groups. If you do not want to join one, at least introduce yourself to them and let them know your intention. You will find that they are

eager to give you advice. Education is free on the Internet. You can learn where the county’s history archive is stored, perhaps in a Historical Society library. Learn how to research the history of your intended place to investigate. A local historian would make a good addition to the team. Develop a code of ethics. Also, learn the local laws about property rights. Always get permission and always give feedback. Never say more than you know; clarify when you are speaking of evidence and established theory and when you are speaking of belief. 299 Answers Telling a homeowner that they have an evil presence is unethical. You might say that you noted an unnerving event or recorded an EVP that sounded mean-spirited, but unless you have a Ph.D. in psychology and some serious religious training, you should not even suggest an evil presence. From my study, what people report as an evil presence is just them projecting their personal fears on naturally occurring noises of an old house. Advice from an old paranormalist — if you tend to be afraid of the dark, if you are very religious, if you are inclined to do what others tell you without question, you should probably not be a ghost hunter. Be careful not to give advice that is beyond your academic training. Advising a homeowner to put a better light in the hallway is fine. Counseling a person about how to sleep better at night might be seen as prescribing psychological therapy.

Learn the local laws. Develop a list of social, psycho and medical professionals you can refer people to. Other than popular belief, the evidence I am aware of that magnetic meters and such detect ghosts is almost nonexistent. Do not bother. Using them makes you look silly. From my experience and based on how people interact with technology in other areas, trying to use a lot of gadgets will interfere with your team’s ability to sense the subtle influence of a possible ghost. Take a look at the paper at ATransC White Paper on Transcommunication (80). It includes instructions for working with Electronic Voice Phenomena. All you need is an inexpensive audio recorder and a way to transfer files into one of the free audio management computer programs. I do not recommend phone apps and expensive EVP devices. From my studies, they produce too many false positives. To the average person who is unfamiliar with EVP, even a Class A transform EVP may be difficult to make out. The most common complaint I hear about ghost box examples is that they are just noise or gibberish. It is best to share only Class A examples that make sense with homeowners. Remember that one ah-shit wipes out all of the atta-boys. Share gibberish gibberish defeats all of your good efforts. Try to include a person with mediumistic ability on your team. They do not have to be super-mediums, just able to distinguish between their preconceptions and the small signals they sense

from the environment. Work with the Historical Society to compare mediumistic impressions with the local history. Section 4 – Ghosts 300 The real trick for any work with things paranormal is to have an open attitude. look over some of the articles at ethericstudies.org, especially How We Think (16). (consider them essays about a model that is useful but not necessarily academically correct.) The idea is to suspend judgment. Do not accept or reject theories about a place. Just experience and let the facts lead you. Your most important tool is discernment and self-education. Question 177 Would it be reasonable to state that “ghosts” or “spirits” people witness can be interpreted to extraterrestrial more so or just as likely as they can be interpreted to the “supernatural”? Answered October 27, 2019 Answer There are three assumptions I need you to at least tentatively accept for this answer: 1. Our actual self is nonphysical and continues to live as a sentient personality after physical death. (ghosts) 2. Intelligent life exists in other parts of the universe. (Extraterrestrial beings) 3. It is possible that life exists in as yet uncharted parts of our world (cryptids). From my study, unusual encounters should be thought of as: Possibility 1-First, something in the environment we did not know was present (second ghost investigator in the room) or that we do not understand (noise from a furnace). Possibility 2-If not that, then our imagination (mistaking a natural shadow for a ghost). 301 Answers Possibility 3-Only then,

consider the possibility of mind causing motion, sound or light (psychokinesis). Possibility 4-If all else is eliminated, the possibility of an apparition or a ghost (survived personality). Possibility 5-From my understanding, there are reasonably frequent reports of cryptids (Big Foot, Mothman). Skinwalker Ranch, (148) for instance. Possibility 6-Last, the possibility that an extraterrestrial being is present. If possibility 3 is real, then Possibility 6 is not limited by distance to the ET’s home planet. In fact, there is quite a lot of support for apport phenomena related to spirit communication. In principle, Movement of a flower petal from the flower to the séance room is no different than the movement of a spacecraft from Planet A to Planet B if principles guiding apports are involved. As I understand it, the greatest majority of bumps in the night are caused by Possibility 1, 2 or 3. If you have not eliminated Possibility 1 and 2 with certainty, you should never consider the rest. Always error on the side of the mundane. Question 178 Why can ghosts and spirits manipulate electricity and electrical devices so easily? Answered November 7, 2019 Answer First Part: From our study, physical people appear to act as a conduit for the nonphysical-to-physical influence of our (hypothetical) discarnate friends (ghosts, spirits). Section 4 – Ghosts 302 If that is true, it is someone in the physical who is manipulating the physical, either for a communicating personality or for themselves. One of the reasons this appears to be true

is the way practitioner’s beliefs tend to color the Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) they record. For instance, a fearful person tends to record fearful EVP; religious beliefs tend to produce religious-sounding EVP. Second Part: Parapsychological research has shown that a group of meditating people will tend to make a Random Event Generator (REG) be less random. See, for instance, Exploratory Study: The Random Number Generator and Group Meditation. (93) Likewise, Global Consciousness Project (92) has shown that the randomness of a global array of REGs tends to change just before a major world event such as the 9-11 attack of the World Trade Center. It is as if the collective consciousness expresses dread as a painful potential future nears becoming actual. In EVP, noise (a random process) is transformed into speech, presumably via the practitioner or an interested observer acting as a conduit for trans-etheric influence. See A Model for EVP (43) These are examples of known mind-to-physical psychokinetic influence. From my study, how easily the influence affects physical processes such as electronic devices, is a function of the extent to which the process is determined. That is, if a device is engineered with good constraints on its function—for instance, little drift in amplitude or station tuning—it is more difficult to mentally change. An example is that we see fewer EVP recorded with expensive audio recorders. Once an EVP is moved from the audio stage to digital memory, it appears to become stable. Digital circuitry is very determinant while analog

stages are much less, and cheap recorders are even less determinate—a good thing for EVP. White noise is not so good for EVP, I think because it is a stable concept—each next instant is predictably random. By comparison, noise randomly punctuated with noise spikes is better for EVP. It appears the spikes enable the formation of EVP in the otherwise too stable noise. The answer is that the manipulation appears to be in the form of the expression of intended order. It is an etheric or conceptual influence on a physical process. Since the influence is conceptual and not objective, the influence appears to be on the concept which is the physical thing. The 303 Answers more definite (determined) the physical concept, the more difficult it is to change with the mind. Question 179 Can animals other than humans become ghosts? Answered November 15, 2019 Answer In the context of the relationship between mind and body, Dualism is the idea that consciousness exists independently from our biological brain. That is, our brain acts as a transmitter-receiver for our mind. The mainstream view of Dualism is that, even if consciousness is not produced by the brain, it nevertheless ceases to exist after physical death. I study what I refer to as survival metaphysics. In that, Dualism is understood in terms of our conscious self existing before this lifetime and after in a self-aware, sentient state. Scientific publications - Pim van Lommel (149) will give you a few references for how one

researcher has documented some of what survival metaphysics predicts. That is, he has shown indications that mental activity appears to continue while the brain is clinically dead during surgery. I simplify the metaphysical model I study to say that reality consists of Life Fields (18) and the expressions of life fields. Also, in that model, life fields have a set of functional areas that are more or less expressed depending on the circumstance of life. Using Rupert Sheldrake’s Hypothesis of Formative Causation. (35)—a biological organism consists of a hierarchy of life fields such as all skin cells, all blood cells and hair cells, organs and limbs. You can see that all life fields have perception and expression functional areas, but they are rather different for a bone cell as compared to a human body. All of this is to say that a cat, for instance, is as much a life field as a human, just with different degrees of expression. Section 4 – Ghosts 304 Avatar The second part of this is that Dualism necessarily requires that we, as conscious, self are in an Avatar (13) relationship with our human. This should be self-evident if conscious self existed before and will continue to exist after this lifetime. That is to say that we are not our human. Following Sheldrake’s logic, there is probably a collective consciousness supporting individual species and types of life fields. That is where his morphic resonance comes in. I say this to explain that our human

also has a life cycle that has immortal aspects. Remember … universal life fields with different expressions. If the avatar model is right, it is reasonable to speculate that our pets are also avatars. Like us, they are conscious self experiencing the physical as a pet. When the pet dies, they are free to turn their perception back to their natural etheric habitat … just like us. A couple of points to consider. One is that we apparently do not immediately return to our pre-lifetime awareness. it reportedly takes a while, and for that while, we tend to loiter in familiar (imagined) surroundings as we get well by slowly stepping away from our identity as a physical person. Our pets would be the same. We do have frequent reports of Instrumental TransCommunication contact, either with pets or with someone referring to pets. I have included a visual ITC image of a person Video-loop ITC examples. Left, a man seemingly in uniform and holding a small dog as if for a portrait. Right, a cow. 305 Answers and his dog Lisa and I collected. These are images found in visible noise produced with a video feedback loop. A second point to consider is that we should ask what our pets are doing in this lifetime. My model suggests that we are seeking understanding through experience. I suppose my cats are doing that, but I sometimes wonder they are watchers. Just a thought you will understand if you have cats. Finally, we

share worldview with our human. It is worldview that shapes our perception to show us what we think is real. Most of us are guided by our human’s instincts more than our spiritual understanding. Our pets would be in the same situation. We will see flashes of intellect and compassion in our pets—all of the things we think of as higher awareness. But for the most part, their animal instincts for survival will dominate. If we have a hard time managing our human’s instincts, just think of how difficult it is for, say my cats, to manage theirs. My answer then is that, if you mean by “ghost,” survived personality, people and pets are the same, only slightly different expressions. So, yes! Question 180 How do I write from a ghost's POV? Answered November 26, 2019 Answer Consider the essay Personality-Centric Perspective. (89) If you can think of yourself as an immortal personality entangled with a human avatar for this lifetime, perhaps you will understand the discarnate personality’s perspective. Section 4 – Ghosts 306 Question 181 Since ghosts from ancient times are seldom, if ever, seen, do ghosts have a "shelf life"? Answered January 3, 2020 Answer Our perception of ghosts is psychic and not physical. How we experience the psychic presence of a discarnate personality is largely determined by our expectations based on our worldview. That is, we mentally embody our long-transitioned Uncle John as we remember him in life and as we expect him to have changed in

death. One of the more important organizing principles I have decided is necessary for the study of survival metaphysics is Perceptual Agreement: (144) Personality must be in perceptual agreement with the aspect of reality with which it will associate. The principle suggests that we must be able to visualize something in order to experience it. We base that visualization on what we have been taught and memory. So, when we go ghost hunting and expect to find the local ghost, we encounter what we expect … probably not an ancient Roman. However, if we have been studying ancient Romans, it is more likely we will encounter one. This is not to say that the ancient Roman personality is not a real etheric consciousness. It is to say that a historian is more able to associate with that sort of awareness than someone who is not interested or informed. With that said, there does appear to be a degree of difficulty for our etheric communicators. Again, Perceptual Agreement is at work. A recently transitioned person can be expected to have difficulty visualizing themselves as a discarnate personality. It appears that part of our transition process is spending time inbetween lifetimes. Communication with people still in the flesh is apparently relatively easy during that time of rest and recuperation. Their memory of us is strong, as is ours of them. However, when they move on to a new venue for learning, we can expect their attention to be directed 307 Answers toward

that new experience. We have few points of reference for this, but it appears that many personalities stop communicating after they finish transition. There are two important principles involved for this answer. One is Perceptual Agreement. The other is Attention. (100) Something I did not say in the answer is that the link of familiarity between a discarnate personality and still entangled personality—a person—is referred to as rapport. When we think of someone, we establish a link of attention between the person and ourselves. If we think of them a lot, the link of rapport become strong. The link of rapport is also flavored, so to speak. Angry thoughts are telegraphed in the link. I think the other person can be aware of the anger. Once established as an angry link, it is likely difficult to change the flavor and that anger would reflect back to us. The same would be true of loving thoughts. Question 182 If ghosts exist, how can they walk through walls and touch people too? Answered January 3, 2020 Answer Such reported experiences can be understood according to knowable principles. That is the premise of what I refer to as survival metaphysics. In other words, there is no magic, only the operation of organizing principles. While such a statement may be controversial for paranormalists, it must be seen as an of course statement for physical science. The premise underlying physical science is that knowable, naturally occurring principles organize the operation of physical space. All of

the research and study indicates that we should expect conceptual organizing principles for the etheric. The Implicit Cosmology (15) is a model I have composed to describe the implications of known mainstream science, parapsychological science and lessons being learned from transcommunication as part of survival Section 4 – Ghosts 308 metaphysics. It is not a widely known or accepted model, so please use discernment and be sure to consider other models. Technically correct or not, the Implicit Cosmology is useful for trying to understand reported paranormal experience. For your question, it indicates that our perception of ghosts is a psychic experience. They are not physical and are probably unable to directly influence the physical. For instance, all indications in Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) suggest that a physical person is necessary to produce the phenomenon. This is difficult to test because an interested observer in another city has attention on the process, and is therefore, able to provide the conduit for the trans-etheric influence. Remember that there is no apparent distance in the etheric. Indications are that they do not directly see us, but instead, see us by way of our mind or the mind of others experiencing a physical lifetime. For instance, in EVP, our communicators suggested we have a mirror in our recording space, we think, so that they can see us as we see ourselves in the mirror. Another example is that current theories intended to explain poltergeist activity is that it is the psychokinetic influence of a

disturbed person in the home. The activity diminishes when the person begins to receive care. This is not to say that ghosts are not real. It appears that we psychically sense the attention of a discarnate personality (not the presence because everywhere is here in the etheric) and that we embody it as a ghost according to our beliefs and expectation. You can thank the media and your religion if you find ghosts scary. Also remember that your human is afraid of the dark (the unknown). When we look for a ghost in a supposedly haunted location, in effect, we call it up with our expectations. It is not in the place. Consciousness inhabits nonlocal space. It is as we expect within the bounds of organizing principles. Again, if you accept the existence of ghosts, it is also necessary that you accept that your conscious self is not your body. Your human body is a walking, living environmental sensor … a kind of drone for your conscious self. Since we appear to share worldview with it, I find the avatar model most useful. Our body sends us information about its five senses via the brain. We attribute the appropriate meaning to those signals. And in the same way, it is easy for us to attribute psychic touches as physical touches. Section 5 Demons and Evil Introduction This is one of those subjects that I have attempted to discuss with people but find that they hang on to their fear as

if a matter of religion. Looking back, I cannot remember a single time that I have successfully dissuaded someone of their fear of evil or demons. Most argue until angry. The Lucidity Model Diagram shown here represents something of a culmination of my efforts to understand why some people become seekers. Section 5 – Demons and Evil 312 As it happens, the model has helped me understand the difference between ultra-conservatives and liberals. It all seems to come down to the degree to which our human’s instincts dominate the development of our perception. Since fear seems to be more a human response to the unknown and curiosity seems to be more an immortal self’s response, the Temperament Mediated Perception Model also helps me understand why people believe in evil. I am finishing the second edit-read of this book in May of 2020. Of course, Covid-19 is dominating the news. Lisa and I are in our seventies and I have occasional trouble with my heart (an underlying condition?). We do all we can to stay safe. We stay home except for shopping for food and always wear a mask while in public. That is the best advice our community has to offer and as citizens, we follow. As you can probably tell in my recent writing, I am preoccupied with trying to understand how people think. It is the way we develop perception that determines if we become seekers and the degree to which we achieve spiritual maturity. We literally make

our world. By understanding how we think, we can learn to align our perception of reality with the actual nature of reality. The Temperament Mediated Model Diagram above provides a good summary of this understanding. The left side represent radical Conservatives and Libertarians. Specifically, people who put their ideology above the greater good. That side represents the course personality addressed in the Great Work of the Emerald Tablet and talked about by the God of Death in the Katha Upanishad. On that side, are people whose perception is almost entirely influenced by their human’s instincts. They are typically low on the Lucidity Spectrum, meaning they make their world as they have been taught and in a way that best assures the dominance of their personal gene pool. They have not recognized that there is a difference between their spiritual self and their human self. The right side represents our more humane, compassionate, altruistic citizens. Having matured passed the Dominance Threshold at which they recognize that they are more than their physical body, people begin to follow the Seeker’s Way toward greater spiritual maturity. They do this by consciously seeking to moderate the influence of their human’s instincts with their increasingly mature understanding of the actual nature of reality. 313 Answers In simple terms, I have been trying to understand the extent to which a person’s behavior is based on conscious choice verses spontaneously driven by human instincts. It is not always easy to know. For instance, sometimes anger is a

useful response to a situation. It might help share an important lesson, an altruistic act with no persona benefit. On the other hand, kindness is often a disguise to manipulate others to facilitate the kind person’s human instinct to assure gene dominance. The social dynamics I see on my Facebook pages and in the news provides many examples of altruistic acts and human nature at its worst. If you take time to consider what I write here and in my preceding books, you will see that these behaviors are understandable in the context of Dualism and by distinguishing our avatar’s stuff from our immortal personality’s stuff. I am mystified that more people have not seen this. Question 183 Why do people insist demons are not real? Are they? Answered August 7, 2018 Answer Consider the How We Think (16) essay. From my perspective as an engineer and metaphysician, I think there are three important aspects of religious text. Most important is that some text, often buried under a lot of dogma, describes a path toward spiritual maturity. The Katha Upanishad (41) is one, as is the Emerald Tablet (1) and John 14 (114) of the Bible. There is no fear of demons in those, only fear of failing to pursue spiritual maturity; the fear of missing an opportunity to gain new understanding. The second aspect of religion is social engineering, which provides guidance in how to live in early societies. Back then, citizens were told that there were demons waiting

to punish those who did not follow the Law. Those ancient demons are clearly concocted by the priesthood to keep people in line, but otherwise, they have no real existence unless punishment for ignoring them was enforced by the king. Section 5 – Demons and Evil 314 The third aspect is born of superstition as primitive people tried to explain the extremes of Mother Nature. Human nature is part of this, in that a person who hears voices due to mental illness might be explained away as being possessed. A flood might be explained as caused by an angry god. Modern people understand that there is good science explaining away those superstitions, but religions still rule the mind of many of our people. Even some of our scientists have learned to compartmentalize their belief from their understanding. But some believe without questioning. It is those who keep the superstitions alive. Let us not forget that we may be a spiritual being having a physical lifetime, but our human’s instincts tend to rule our life if we do not consciously decide to manage them. What might a modern person feel justified in doing to assure the perpetuation of his or her genes? Therein lies the source of most of what seems evil—a natural acting out of our animal prime directive. Here is the second part of my answer. The research I have examined indicates that the behaviors usually thought of as evidence of demons can be explained in less scary terms.

For instance, poltergeist activity has been shown to be caused by a resident youth. To accept this explanation, you must accept that people can cause psychokinetic levitation and such. There is considerable evidence to show such ability exists. We have examined hundreds of examples of Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) and not one credibly indicated the presence of a demon or evil spirit. This is not proof, but examples of EVP have given us strong evidence that the way the EVP practitioner thinks has a lot to do with the kind of messages recorded. If the person believes in evil, the messages tend to take on a more menacing tone. This is especially true if the practitioner is religious. None of this is to say that there are not people behaving badly, but keep in mind that many of us feel this lifetime is an opportunity to gain new understanding through experiences. In the end, it is not what happens to us that matters. It is how we react to what happens to us that matters. 315 Answers Question 184 Can your spirit guide be lost using an Ouija board? Answered August 14, 2018 Answer An Ouija Board is to spirit communication as a notepad is to memory. It is an aid that helps you focus your intention. It also gives you a way of translating your senses into letters … a communication aid. In automatic writing, some people have learned to allow their inner senses to influence the letters they

write. That is much the same. I personally prefer other aids … I write. Using a board with others adds confusion and there is always doubt about the other’s lucidity. You are the medium. Your spirit guide (any of your friends and loved ones on the other side) communicates with your mostly unconscious mind. As you gain in lucidity, you are more able to consciously sense that information. You might think of an Ouija Board as training wheels to help you sense that communication, but be aware that it is easy to become dependent on the training wheels. Play with the board, but work on your lucidity through mindfulness. Question 185 Have you ever used a Ouija Board? What happened? Answered August 22, 2018 Answer This is similar to Question 154: Is it possible to contact a deceased family member without the aid of a psychic or using anything dangerous like a Ouija board? Section 5 – Demons and Evil 316 I am commenting here because I do not want you to be frightened by the previous answers about Ouija Boards that are so fearful. Take some time to think about what you read. Some people are afraid of the unknown while others seek to learn from it. If you are afraid, you should not do anything involving the unknown. You should go to church and believe everything told you by your Priest, superstitious friends and the media that you pay to scare you. A great teacher once said that

spiritual seeking is only for the brave. I will add that it is only for the discerning, as well. Find bravery in discernment. Question 186 Are there any real Ouija experiences that are comforting? Answered August 23, 2018 Answer They are all real in the sense that there is communication from your mostly unconscious mind that is translated by way of the ideomotor effect into movement of the planchette. If you do not know much about these tools, it is easy to believe the resulting messages are from a loved one and that can be comforting. However, that is really a superstitious belief that can produce comforting results and belief in demons. Note that most of the questions I have answered have been concerned with fear of the Ouija Board. Even so, we feel some messages are at least indirectly from loved ones. From our study of Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC) (includes Electronic Voice Phenomena or EVP), we think there is little difference in the way our unconscious speaks to us as something on our mind and the way a loved one on the other side speaks to us. In both cases, our unconscious mind-conscious self interface provides the path. Both sources—loved one and our own thoughts—are filtered by our worldview, which represents our memory. Our own thoughts about a loved one are based on our memory. A message from a loved one is thought to be conceptual so that we need to transform the intended conceptual message 317 Answers into

objective form we can visualize. The visualization is based on our memory, even if it is a novel message. The only way I know to tell the difference between my remembrance of a loved one and a message from that loved one is a subtle sense of presence I sometimes feel. If I am surprised by the sensed message, say a loved one expresses in an uncharacteristic manner, I am more inclined to think the message was initiated by the loved one and not just me thinking of them. The point is that a message from a loved one first seems like our thoughts. It is hard enough to learn to distinguish our thoughts from loved one’s message when we contemplate. For some, the planchette just gets in the way; however, for others, it actually helps clear the channel by fooling the inner storyteller. You must decide that for yourself. If you need a physical tool, my recommendation is that you try automatic writing instead. Journaling, for instance, can be a powerful means of contemplation. Keep in mind that our mostly unconscious mind is a habitual storyteller. It is easy to be fooled into thinking one of our inner stories is contact with a loved one. Consider the difference between lucidity and what I call hyperlucidity. See How We Think (16) Question 187 What if you hear an EVP say a demon’s name? Answered September 6, 2019 Answer Anyone working with Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC), which includes EVP, needs to understand

that the best information we have today about ITC phenomena is that a person still in the flesh is the channel through which information comes from the communicator to the recording device. This means that the information must pass through the practitioner’s or an interested observer’s mind. The perceptual process which determines what the channeled information looks like is informed by the person’s Section 5 – Demons and Evil 318 worldview. Worldview represents the person’s memory, what has been learned and what the person believes to be true. If the person is religious, messages like “I love you” might be translated through Worldview as something colored by belief as “I am God.” The actual EVP may be paranormal, but how it is experienced is colored by beliefs. Whatever is heard in an EVP, the practitioner needs to understand current theories for how perception works, how EVP works and how personal beliefs of the practitioner or interested observers influence resulting message content. If the person does not understand these concepts, the prudent thing to do is not to make a decision about what is experienced. I call this suspended judgment. As a general statement, a fearful person will tend to record fearful messages. A devoutly religious person will tend to record religious messages. As I understand Christians, many are afraid of the Devil and demons and probably should not work with ITC until they have a firm grip on their worldview. In my work with phenomena since the 1950s and in

my work with ITC since 1987, I have never encountered anything on the other side resembling evil. People behaving badly, but no biblically evil. Question 188 Where can I buy a Ouija board in Johannesburg, South Africa? Answered October 26, 2019 Answer You might try the toy store. Ouija Boards are just games. Alternatively, put the letters of the alphabet, 0–9, Yes, No and Goodbye on a piece of cardboard a few feet square. Anything, such as a small piece of cardboard or a flat piece of wood will work as a planchette. Make sure it is big enough for a couple of people to put a few fingers on it, that it will easily move over the letters and that it has a point or some way of knowing what is being targeted. 319 Answers The board acts as an aid for you to focus your attention on your own psychic ability. The resulting message could come from your unconscious mental processing (imagination), from a discarnate person or even the mind of someone still in the flesh. It could come from a combination of both since all must go through your unconscious worldview which colors information according to your beliefs. To use the board, decide your question or purpose. Focus on your purpose. This should be a naturally relaxing pause and not a getting ready kind of contemplation on what you wish to achieve. Alone, or with one or more friends, lightly place the tips of your fingers on

the planchette and tell yourself “This is how I am going to find the answer to my question.” Aloud, speak your question or purpose and continue to visualize it while you allow the planchette to move as freely as you are able while keeping your fingers on it. Working with the planchette takes a little practice because it is something of a skill to be able to let it freely move while maintaining contact. You are the conduit, so yes, you are the one moving the planchette. However, with practice, you should be able to, in effect, step aside to allow your unconscious mind more access to your muscles. This is not mind-over-matter, it is mind-over-body. It is reasonably well established that some form of ideomotor effect (mind-body influence) is involved. The mind-body connection is largely unconscious, and the resulting message could be coming from your imagination or from an outside personality. It is difficult to tell but analysis of the message sometimes gives a clue. A much more useful form of communicating with spirit or your unconscious mind is automatic writing. Take a look at How Does It Work?: Automatic Writing, Motor Automatism, And The Unconscious Mind (150) Even if automatic writing is just stream-of-consciousness, it is a useful way to allow your unconscious mind to more directly communicate to your conscious self with less static from daily preconceptions. This is important: if you are fearful, say afraid of evil spirits or being possessed by the board, put the

board in the trash and find a good psychic, instead. There is nothing to fear, but you are the channel and fear tends to cause you to make fearful things that are not actually present. Remember, the board is a tool, just like listening to biofeedback or talking to a medium. Section 6 Spiritualism and Mediumship Introduction As I expect you have read by now, I am an ordained Spiritualist medium with the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (NSAC). (20) I am also certified with them as a mental medium. While I am not a commercial medium, I do offer what we refer to as spirit greetings during our local Spiritualist Society meetings. With that said, it is important to note that I do not speak for Spiritualists. In fact, I cannot name a single Spiritualist who understands the metaphysical models I work with. That does not mean they are not knowledgeable Spiritualists. It just means that I have embarked on a rather different way of understanding Spiritualism. I think of my work as contemporary Spiritualism, but without a lot more vetting from my peers, I cannot claim it is a better way. As you read these answers, be aware that I am speaking from the farthest frontier and not as a mainstream Spiritualist. Question 189 Who is a spiritualist? Answered September 10, 2018 Answer I will answer from the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (20) Defining Spiritualism web page. Defining Spiritualism Spiritualism is the Science, Philosophy, and Religion of

continuous life, based upon the demonstrated fact of communication, by means of mediumship, with those who live in the Spirit World. Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 322 Spiritualism Is a Science because it investigates, analyzes and classifies facts and manifestations demonstrated from the spirit side of life. Spiritualism Is a Philosophy because it studies the Laws of Nature both on the seen and unseen sides of life and bases its conclusions upon present observed facts. It accepts statements of observed facts of past ages and conclusions drawn therefrom, when sustained by reason and by results of observed facts of the present day. Spiritualism Is a Religion because it strives to understand and to comply with the Physical, Mental and Spiritual Laws of Nature, which are the laws of God. A Spiritualist is one who believes, as the basis of his or her religion, in the communication between this and the Spirit World by means of mediumship and who endeavors to mold his or her character and conduct in accordance with the highest teachings derived from such communication. Question 190 What is a mental medium? Answered September 23, 2018 Answer According to the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (NSAC) (20): A Medium is one whose organism is sensitive to vibrations from the spirit world and through whose instrumentality, intelligences in that world are able to convey messages and produce the phenomena of Spiritualism. Contemporary understanding is that everyone has psychic ability. While some people are more sensitive than others, we

think most people can develop their ability to some extent to consciously sense the etheric aspect of reality. With that in mind, a mental medium is one who has developed their psychic ability so as to better tell the difference between their own thoughts and information form the environment. Part of the challenge in learning to function as a medium is for a person to learn to recognize when 323 Answers a thought comes to them from a discarnate personality rather than their own memory or the thought of other, still physical personalities. Think about the implications of that point. Many who claim to be psychic or mediumistic are really just clever storytellers about clues they gather from the people around them. The NSAC tries hard to test people before certifying them as mediums in an effort to assure the ability is developed and the medium knows how to give evidential messages. A lazy medium is one who is able but finds it easier to tell stories. I think they are not deliberately unethical, but more education is too often required. A psychic is one who gathers information from the environment and the memory of people still in the flesh. A mental medium is one who is able to sense information from a discarnate personality. While anyone has those abilities, the real expression of mediumship is the ability to assure the information is coming across the veil. A physical medium is a mental medium who has also developed the ability

to enable physical phenomena such as spirit lights and sounds, levitation, precipitation and the production of ectoplasmic forms. I believe this is possible because of the hard work of the medium—often over many years of progressive development—and the cooperation of a nonphysical personality or spirit group. As a final thought, in my opinion, all of that handwaving about Indians and spirit guides is a leftover of a naiver age. Mediumship is a natural ability. There is no magic, there are only special people if they work hard and have a little natural ability … just like in athletics. Be discerning. Question 191 Can you truly believe in a Higher Power without a supernatural experience? Answered September 25, 2018 Answer The way you are asking indicates a question about a biblical God and experiencing a miracle. It has been my experience that the willingness to Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 324 accept a biblical Father God requires the believer to surrender critical thinking to a preacher. Try this. Imagine putting all of your human’s instinctual behaviors in one pile and all of your … let us call them spiritual behaviors in a second pile. You need to think about this for a while. Your human’s pile includes survival of the species-type behavior such as procreation, seeking to be at the top of the pecking order, killing if necessary, for food. Sports are practice for survival behavior. Hunting and fishing are instinctual hangovers from ancient times. Owning a gun is a

fear response heightened by overactive survival instincts. Your human will kill to survive. In your spiritual pile are just two things: the urge to gain understanding and the urge to help your fellow citizens gain understanding as part of a Cooperative Community (33). If you remember your spiritual instincts, you might not consider killing to survive. To be clear, you are in this lifetime to further your spiritual instincts while living a life as a human. You gain understanding through experiences and it is your human’s instincts that make those possible. As a person, you seek to balance your spiritual instincts with your human’s. I expect some wonderous understanding might be gained from participating in a little mayhem. My argument is based on the understanding that we are immortal personality experiencing a physical life. This is a natural and practical reality. The implications of this understanding are that we have inherited our urge to gain understanding and that there is a reason that is outside of our field of influence. See Question 222, How do you know that we are spiritual beings having human experiences rather than human beings having spiritual experiences? It is the source of our spiritual instincts for which I have considerable respect, but not in a religious sense. That source is ultimately knowable but not to be worshiped. The supernatural experience you seek is the realization that you are more than your physical body and that you have a purpose beyond simply living a good life.

Here, there is substantial difference between hearing the words and understanding their meaning. By seeking to understand these things, you begin to honor your spiritual purpose rather than your human’s god. 325 Answers Question 192 What happen to Silva mind control? Answered September 27, 2018 Answer I think because mind control was a controversial term, they changed the name to the Silva Method at (Self-mind control by a sophisticated mental training program. (151)) Be aware that there are alternative methods that involve less highpressure selling and more reasonable cost. I participated in the basic and advanced class in the late 1960 and have benefited ever since, so I suppose the cost was reasonable in the long view. The basic lessons of the course first and foremost teach students to understand they are more than their body. A form of induced deep trance was taught. (I recommend the less expensive Monroe Institute (128) to help you be aware of your dual nature and to recognize a path to deep trance.) I do not know about today, but they also taught a form of personal, contact and distant healing. Question 193 What are the roles of religion to ethics? Answered November 18, 2018 Answer Never mind the dictionary definition of religion. Religions are first and foremost a community of like-minded people seeking to understand themselves and the nature of their world. You may have heard the saying that you are in the wrong religion if it does not support you during a

time of need. I think that is the bottom line. Morals are really a local code of conduct. Ethics come out of the community’s understanding of themselves and their reality and represent Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 326 their fundamental truths. My personal code of ethics begins with Do not violate. The Katha Upanishad (41) is an excellent illustration of right thinking one would expect to find in religion. It speaks of a choice between one way of living and another. While it explains the kind of benefit and disadvantage of each, it is not a thou shalt kind of teaching. There are a number of useful ways of seeking spiritual understanding. I fancy myself a technical metaphysician and have difficulty understanding people who seek mutual comfort in a religious organization. At the same time, I am an ordained Spiritualist and have witnessed firsthand the benefit of that mutual support. When religions seek to tend to the flock, so to speak, the ethics they teach seem to follow the same concepts I study in metaphysics. Each of us has a way of seeking best suited to our needs. Being ethical is being true to that way. Question 194 Why is integrity so important? Answered December 19, 2018 Answer Think of integrity as an exercise in personal development. Of course, the dictionaries are correct in the two principal definitions of unbroken completeness and moral soundness. I prefer the definition of moral as expected good behavior as defined by a community;

a quality of good citizenship in a community. That, as compared to ethical as a spiritual measure that is common amongst all communities. These definitions are important because integrity is relative. Whether or not a person has integrity is usually measured in the local moral code. As a general statement, a person is said to have integrity if he or she does what is expected—consistently. Keep in mind the old saying that there is honor amongst thieves. Always consider the context. With that said, here is why it is so important to the person seeking to have integrity. It is a mark of maturity that a person has the presence of mind to examine his or her actions before committing to them. If you seek 327 Answers to be seen as a person with integrity, it is good to make a habit of examining your actions. Ask yourself how they will affect others. Will they represent your true intention or just your off-hand response? We express ourselves by way of our mostly unconscious mind according to what we have been taught; what we think is true. The act of examining your thoughts and actions with the intention to represent yourself as a dependable, thoughtful person sends a signal to your unconscious mind that you wish to behave that way. Begin with “Do not violate others” as your first principle. In effect, the most important part of integrity is the personal benefit of seeking to have integrity. I think of that

as part of the Mindful Way. Here is my ethical code (Not in the answer). Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 328 Question 195 How genuine are psychics, mediums, etc.? Houdini was exposing mediums in his time, so do today's mediums (and similar) use different tactics to fool the public? Or are they actually genuine? Answered December 24, 2018 Answer The idea that magicians are better at detecting fraudulent paranormal practices is the uninformed witness Fallacy of Equal Similars. Magicians turned debunkers depend on the idea that being able to simulate a paranormal phenomenon using fakery proves the target phenomenon is fake. This is a common logical error when it comes to trying to understand the unknown based only on accepted science. Something 1 being like something 2 does not mean something 2 can be judged by the standards of something 1. Doing so is like saying that a car is a fraudulent pickup. or an orchard is fraudulent because it cannot fly like the butterfly it resembles. As in any human endeavor, there are people who use trickery to fool people. There are also people who think they are producing phenomena, but who are not well enough informed to realize they are not. There are also people who, with some reasonable degree of reliability, are able to produce phenomena. The Forever Family Foundation. (116) focuses on certifying mental mediums so that they can recommend them to others. They stake their reputation on the trustworthiness of their certified mediums. The

Association TransCommunication (ATransC.org) has sponsored physical mediums to demonstrate under reasonably well-controlled conditions. Consider the report Hans Bender’s Message at Reno Séances. (152) I am certified by the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (20) as a mental medium. I do not give readings in the usual sense. I routinely offer 329 Answers what we refer to as spirit greetings during meetings for members of our local society. While I have a relatively poor percentage of what I consider hits, some of the material I am able to convey to the sitter is surprising, even to someone like me who has produced and witnessed so much phenomena. All I can do is deliver what I sense and depend on the sitter to have the discernment to accept or reject. My point is that, while individual examples of mediumship may not be proof, the collective body of evidence better supports that the phenomenon is real than it supports the idea that it is fake. Rather than denying yourself the opportunity to learn about a most amazing characteristic of life by expecting fraud, consider suspending judgment so that you might learn for yourself. Question 196 What are the most basic principles of being a spiritualist? Updated February 7, 2019 Answer There is something of a continuum of belief amongst different Spiritualist groups from mostly Christian to pure secular. I will answer from the perspective of a person ordained by the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (20) (NSAC). It is correct to say that

NSAC Spiritualists are not Christian. Jesus and other spiritual leaders are considered important wayshowers to be respected but not worshiped. NSAC Spiritualists are pretty pragmatic with just a few tenets and no real thou shalt beliefs. We do not accept the concept of an anthropomorphic god. In a similar way that I do with Source in the Implicit Cosmology (15), NSAC Spiritualists bound their tenets with the idea of Infinite Intelligence. You could model Infinite Intelligence as the reality field and Natural Law as the expression of Infinite Intelligence. This is in the same way that naturally occurring physical principles such as the half-life concept or pi for circles are the spontaneous expression of the Big Bang. Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 330 To make a point of this, Infinite Intelligence is not a matter of religious belief. It is recognition that there is a greater reality of which the physical is an aspect, and that reality is organized according to knowable principles. Spiritualists are expected to learn to recognize the presence and influence of Natural Law, understand how Natural Law is involved in daily living and live in accordance with that understanding. A better way of putting this is what I have come to describe as The Mindful Way (12): by habitually stopping to consider the implication of our actions, and intending for them to be in accordance with the nature of reality, we tend to align our personal reality with actual reality. This seeking to understand is

a lifelong way of existence which all of us followed before this lifetime, at least unconsciously follow in this lifetime and will continue to follow as we transition out of this lifetime. Of course, Spiritualists accept the evidence of survival. That point of view shapes all of our concepts. One understanding is that everyone is routinely aware of everyone else. We say specifically discarnate everyone else, but in practice, we are aware of the influence of empathy in our actions and moods. To say this in a different way, Spiritualists accept the evidence that everyone—in a physical lifetime or discarnate—expresses a psychic influence into the environment. Everyone is naturally aware of such psi signals from others (psychic). Some people are more aware of this ability in the same sense that everyone has athletic ability but only a few are super-athletes. It is all about natural ability and training. When people sense the psychic influence of a person still in a lifetime, we refer to it as being psychic. We refer to sensing the psychic signal from people who are not in a lifetime as mediumship. In Spiritualism, we hold that we are just channels for our discarnate transitioned friends, teachers and loved ones. That means that the spiritual healing we (seek to) demonstrate is us acting as a conduit for the healing influence of our discarnate friends. We do not heal others. We just provide the means. This is why I refer to the spiritual healing I demonstrate in meetings

as healing intention. The same goes for mediumship. It is not us providing the information. We are just the conduit. It is Spiritualist’s intention that everyone learns to express healing intention and express psychic and mediumistic ability for themselves. Thus, 331 Answers some Spiritualists think of public demonstration of these abilities in the sense of "As I do now, so can you." Ancient Hermetic and Sanskrit-based teachings have always included the creative process and personal seeking. Probably the most important development in consciousness research for Spiritualists in modern time is the effect unconscious preprocessing has on our conscious perception. This is to have a profound effect on Spiritualism in the coming years as we redefine mediumship and healing. Question 197 Why are some people so interested in and believe in the paranormal? Answered February 11, 2019 Answer People are not “interested in and believe in the paranormal?” People have experiences they seek to understand. Some are explainable with more understanding … say why our car seems to have better traction on a turn when we are accelerating. When people fail to find a known physical principle to explain such experiences, the experiences are called paranormal. Most people I know who seek to explain the so-called paranormal experiences do so from the assumption that their causes are knowable. The problem comes when the researcher has a point of view based on known science or religious belief and fails to conduct proper studies that might lead to new principles. Another source of

confusion is the way people hold on to old beliefs. It is common in a single thread on Facebook to have posts explaining an experience with a religious point of view beside ones saying that the experience is explained with quantum physics, also right next to a post explaining that mindfulness is the answer. None will accept the other’s explanation. Probably none have thought through their explanation to be able to rationally argue their point. The result is actual scientists running for the door. Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 332 Research has shown that it is probable that everyone has the potential to or may have had such experiences. The real question is why more people have not publicly questioned their experiences. Question 198 Is there a difference between psychics and spiritualists? Answered May 5, 2019 Answer Psychic is the term used to name an ability. About half of parapsychologists will agree that all of us have psychic sensing but only some of us are consciously aware of that natural ability. An Emerging New Model for Consciousness: The Consciousness Field Model (97) Spirit is used to describe a personality (entity, ghost, angel, god …) in the nonphysical aspect of reality (heaven, etheric, Psi Filed). These days, people seem to prefer that we name the personality rather than referring to them as a spirit. For instance, if it is a ghost, call it a ghost. If it is long dead Uncle John, name him. It is correct to say that

someone is in spirit, meaning they have transitioned to the other side (physically dead). Spiritual is a term used to describe a state of mind in which a person is turned toward the higher ideals of life (humanist, respect for others, love of life). Spiritualism (capital “S”) is a system of thought based on the acceptance that we have a nonphysical aspect that continues after physical death. Some argue that aspect is immortal, having existed before this lifetime and existing after as a sentient, self-aware intelligence. From the National Spiritualist Society of Churches (20) website: Spiritualism is the Science, Philosophy, and Religion of continuous life, based upon the demonstrated fact of communication, by means of mediumship, with those who live in the Spirit World. (Adopted 1919) 333 Answers Spiritualism Is a Science because it investigates, analyzes and classifies facts and manifestations demonstrated from the spirit side of life. Spiritualism Is a Philosophy because it studies the Laws of Nature both on the seen and unseen sides of life and bases its conclusions upon present observed facts. It accepts statements of observed facts of past ages and conclusions drawn therefrom, when sustained by reason and by results of observed facts of the present day. Spiritualism Is a Religion because it strives to understand and to comply with the Physical, Mental and Spiritual Laws of Nature, which are the laws of God. Spiritualist (capital “S”) is a term used to name a person who has aligned thinking with the system of thought

known as (organized) Spiritualism. spiritualism (small “s”) is the belief that we have a nonphysical aspect which continues to live on the other side of physical death. A spiritualist (small “s”) is a person who accepts concepts associated with spiritualism. Generally speaking, any person who accepts the idea of survival is at least spiritualist-minded. However, most people have other ways of describing themselves. The argument that spiritualism has been around since the beginning of religion is true, but a meaningless claim since the term is currently applied to people specifically focused on survival, rather than worship. It is useful to understand the differences amongst these terms because they are part of our cultural conversation. When you use them, or are communicating with someone who is, be sure to understand the context. If the point of view of the other person is religious, you may have to mentally translate their all-inclusive use of the terms to the more generic one used outside of a religious context. Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 334 Question 199 What is an unpopular/unusual belief you have regarding the paranormal? Answered May 8, 2019 Answer Consider the range of answers thus far. Consider how many are based on informed fact and not popular wisdom. The hard problem in our field is not how to explain consciousness. It is how to convince people that they are obstructing the pursuit of knowledge by espousing opinions based on beliefs, assumptions and popular wisdom rather than on informed understanding. The

short answer is that people do not actually get to have an opinion if it is based on belief. Some smart, educated and well-trained people have been studying these phenomena for years. Their work has produced sound hypotheses which are being tested. There is substantial empirical support for many of these phenomena. Rejecting them out of ignorance is denying oneself an important opportunity to understand our reality. Unless a person has studied what is known, he or she simply does not get to have an opinion. If they have not studied and do express one, pro or con, they are just making noise. It is fine to qualify such an opinion. For instance, “based on this research or that, I find the evidence is insufficient to be convincing.” Such an informed opinion has value because it opens a potentially useful discussion. Question 200 Why are people skeptic of psychic mediumship? Answered May 13, 2019 Answer 335 Answers All of us have psychic ability. Mediumship is psychic ability applied to communicate with discarnate personalities. The difference between a psychic and an average person is the person claiming to be psychic has made an effort to develop their natural ability. There are organizations that either do or have tested claimants to certify those who have been shown to access verifiable information via mediumship and deliver it in an ethical way. The Forever Family Foundation. (116) is an example of a group testing mental mediums to be recommended to others as a certified

medium. The Windbridge Research Center (26) is an example of a research organization that does or has examined mediums for research. Mainstream science tends to reject anything that is not specifically defined by known science. The majority of skeptics I have encountered are science adherents (apologists) and have the attitude that, if science does not specifically support the idea, it is impossible and therefore must be fraud. Relatively few academics accept the evidence of survival (mediumship) but more people accept the evidence of psychic functioning. There has been a lot of research indicating the existence of psychic ability. In some cases, it has been put to work; the Stargate Project, (153) for instance. As a general rule, more people are skeptical of a subject the farther out it is on the frontier of knowledge. The only solution is to teach people to be more discerning. Question 201 Why is spirituality called spirituality if it doesn't have anything to do with spirits? Answered June 18, 2019 Answer In the context of human potential and understanding the nature of reality, terms with spirit in them are way overused. Words matter, so care needs to be taken to be specific in order to be understood. Here is how I define them: Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 336 Spirit: Saying that someone is in spirit is the same as saying they are in the etheric or nonphysical aspect of reality. A discarnate personality (sometimes, a ghost) is a personality or conscious self rather

than a spirit. There are also hypothetical personalities sometimes referred to as devas and nature spirits. (154) These are not ghosts but elemental personalities thought to be responsible for formation. (From my study, they are more likely thoughtforms we have developed over the centuries to account for the mysteries of nature. A more likely explanation is the operation of natural principles.) Spiritual: Spiritual relates to the high ideals often associated with being religious. In my writing, spiritual is intended in a more objective sense of understanding rather than believing. Thus, I say spiritual maturity, meaning the development of understanding about the nature of reality. Spirituality: Spirituality is the point of view associated with seeking to gain spiritual maturity. It is also the state of spiritual maturity. Spiritualism: Spiritualism is a system of thought based on the idea that people have an immortal aspect which existed before a lifetime and continues to exist after, and which is able to communicate with people still in the flesh. It may be organized Spiritualism such as a society or church (capital “S”) or a philosophical point of view (small “s”). The best way to think of the answer to your question is to say that we are immortal personalities and our natural habitat is the greater reality (etheric, nonphysical). We refer to that greater reality as in spirit, but we mean much more. Being spiritual is not being religious. It is better to think of being spiritual in terms of honoring the highest good

in all life. I emphasize that as humanism. (86) 337 Answers Question 202 Is it better to live a lie in luxury or live in the truth penniless? Answered June 22, 2019 Answer I am going to assume you are using the two choices as extremes of a continuum representing the life choice between habitually seeking material success versus spiritual fulfillment. The best reference for this I have found is in the 3,000-to-4,000-yearold Katha Upanishad (41). It was written in Sanskrit based on the oral tradition of the Indus Valley. My guess is that the foundation of that teaching originated from the Hermetic teaching of Egypt some 6,000 years ago. Katha Upanishad is about the God of Death explaining what happens beyond death to a seeker. This is the important part for your question: Vedanta Shastras Library (41) 1-III-3. Know the Self to be the master of the chariot, and the body to be the chariot. Know the intellect to be the charioteer, and the mind to be the reins. 1-III-4. The senses they speak of as the horses; the objects within their view, the way. When the Self is yoked with the mind and the senses, the wise call It the enjoyer. 1-III-5. But whoso is devoid of discrimination and is possessed of a mind ever uncollected – his senses are uncontrollable like the vicious horses of a driver. 1-III-6. But whoso is discriminative and possessed of a mind ever collected – his senses are controllable like the good

horses of a driver. 1-III-7. But whoso is devoid of a discriminating intellect, possessed of an unrestrained mind and is ever impure, does not attain that goal, but goes to samsara. and Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 338 1-II-2. The preferable and the pleasurable approach man. The intelligent one examines both and separates them. Yea, the intelligent one prefers the preferable to the pleasurable, (whereas) the ignorant one selects the pleasurable for the sake of yoga (attainment of that which is not already possessed) and kshema (the preservation of that which is already in possession). Samsara is Hindu for the cycle of death and rebirth as life is bound to the material world. See The Razor’s Edge. (42) A more contemporary source for the difference between obeying the motivation of our instincts and following the wisdom of our discerning intellect is described in the article, Is a Happy Life Different from a Meaningful One?: (155) From a study of 397 adults, the researchers identified five major differences between a happy life and a meaningful one. Happy people satisfy their wants and needs, but that seems largely irrelevant to a meaningful life. Therefore, health, wealth, and ease in life were all related to happiness, but not meaning. Happiness involves being focused on the present, whereas meaningfulness involves thinking more about the past, present, and future—and the relationship between them. In addition, happiness was seen as fleeting, while meaningfulness seemed to last longer. Meaningfulness is derived from giving to other people;

happiness comes from what they give to you. Although social connections were linked to both happiness and meaning, happiness was connected more to the benefits one receives from social relationships, especially friendships, while meaningfulness was related to what one gives to others—for example, taking care of children. Along these lines, self-described “takers” were happier than self-described “givers,” and spending time with friends was linked to happiness more than meaning, whereas spending more time with loved ones was linked to meaning but not happiness. Meaningful lives involve stress and challenges. Higher levels of worry, stress, and anxiety were linked to higher meaningfulness but lower happiness, which suggests that engaging in challenging or difficult situations that are beyond oneself or one’s pleasures promotes meaningfulness but not happiness. 339 Answers Self-expression is important to meaning but not happiness. Doing things to express oneself and caring about personal and cultural identity were linked to a meaningful life but not a happy one. For example, considering oneself to be wise or creative was associated with meaning but not happiness. I just finished an essay intended to help me understand how we decide between pleasurable and meaningful. It is Mind as Storyteller (34) Our human’s survival instincts dominate our decision making. That leads us to the pleasurable or to live a life in luxury. Here, pleasurable is used to mean action that supports our human instinct to assure the continuity of our gene pool. Enlightenment is an important term related to seeking and spiritual growth. As

I use it, think of enlightenment as the realization that we are more than our human body and that our purpose is to gain understanding about the nature of our existence. Enlightenment is not becoming but the realization of the need to become. Without that fork in the road, a person remains under the influence of human instincts. That which comes after is The Great Work described by Hermes in the Emerald Tablet. (1) A few of us cross that threshold of enlightenment to realize that our human’s instincts do not lead us toward the kind of understanding which leads to spiritual maturity. It is that turning toward meaningful choices that leads the seeker to self-realization. The pleasurable-meaningful choice is an individual choice, but it is not the individual’s alone to make. A society that is all about self-preservation is a far less humane society than one populated with people seeking the meaningful. Consider these differences: Pleasurable over meaningful: Gun ownership over public safety, conservative capitalism over equal opportunity, 1% versus no person left behind, religious and capitalist influence in government over fair representation, right to life rather than self-determination … tribal dominance over spiritual progression. If you want to live in a compassionate society, take time to teach compassionate living. Else, we honor power and dominance. This is the kind of choice that can only be made by people who realize there is a difference … and that they have a choice. Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 340

Question 203 What made you interested in metaphysics? Answered August 1, 2019 Answer Good question. Just as each of us practices a little armchair philosophy, so do we dabble in metaphysical musing. It is good for us to pause and think about how we think. I study reported human experiences that are known as paranormal. For instance, mental mediumship is the apparent communication with the socalled dead. Since mainstream science does not allow for such ability, how mediumship is possible and how we should understand it is a question left to parapsychologists to answer. Most parapsychologists also do not accept the possibility of survival. Consequently, for me to understand mental mediumship, it has been necessary for me to find my own answers. Consider this. My engineering classes were based on currently accepted theory. We were taught what was true. That is the way of most college courses. One need not think metaphysically when being graded on how well we can apply given truth. That is not the case with things paranormal. When scientists pronounce about things paranormal, it is virtually always based on what they were taught in school. That is, that paranormal is not possible and therefore cannot be. So, you can see, to understand the nature of things paranormal, it is necessary to begin with the fundamentals. Lesson One is to question what we think is true. Lesson Two is to examine the consequences of what we think is true. As an addendum to this answer, I should

say that many of us who dabble in metaphysics make an effort to codify what we are learning in books and on websites. The wise and discerning explorer will find teachers in this group, learn what they have to say and build on that. It is through our ability to pass forward what has been learned that we further 341 Answers understanding. As is taught in ancient wisdom, first find a teacher as a wayshower for the seeker’s way. Always remember Lesson One. Question 204 Are the parapsychological phenomena produced by the materialization medium Mychael Shane real or faked? Answered August 3, 2019 Answer Mychael Shane (156) accompanied the Felix Experimental Group’s physical (135) physical medium Kai Mügge to a seance we sponsored for the Association TransCommunication (ATransC). (117) After the seance, he demonstrated the apportation of gems. The technique Shane has learned is to begin the session by filling his mouth full of water so that we could all see he had nothing in his mouth other than the water. He entered the cabinet. The original group of sitters sat outside of the cabinet. After some time, he came out, we held a towel under his chin, and he spit out the water along with many cut gems stones. See the FEG article. (157) It was an informal demonstration and we had not searched him nor taken steps to assure he had not previously swallowed the gems. I am not sure how we would have checked. Perhaps we could

have weighed him before and after. There should be no difference. If there was trickery, he would be heavier before because of the gems in his body. The test we did make was to note that the gems did not smell like body fluid and the water was not colored by regurgitated bile. I am pretty sure the gems were costume jewelry. Some were only about 1/3 inch in diameter, but some were over an inch. Since then, Kai has also learned to work with the gems. I think the gems are not the point. The point is that our friends on the other side have found mays to show us that we are not our human body and that there is more to reality than we are taught. Such demonstrations Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 342 help the discerning witness begin to move their perspective from their usual body-centric perspective to a more immortal self-centric one. I am not in a position to vouch for Shane since I was just a witness. Based on what I know about these things, my inclination is to recommend him as genuine. I otherwise had control of the room because I did oversee Kai Mügge’s demonstration that was just before in the same room. Remember that witness doubt is not easily changed, so any hint of trickery could be hard for Shane to overcome. He seems not the type to risk that. Always ask his detractors if they have seen his work

firsthand and if they can give a valid normal explanation. Finally, just because someone can simulate the work with magician’s manipulation does not mean they have reproduced his work. Avoid the Fallacy of Equal Similars. Question 205 Is Marcello Bacci a fraud? Answered August 5, 2019 Answer Consider the article, The Instrumental Transcommunication Work Of Marcello Bacci. (158) The author Paolo Presi was part of a team of respected investigators who studied Marcello Bacci. His team, and others I am aware of, have been careful to assure that his work is actual and not normal mistaken as paranormal or trickery. The main ingredients in his phenomena are Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) and physical mediumship. Other than mental mediumship, EVP sessions are perhaps the most frequently replicated paranormal phenomena. Consider The EVP of Tom and Lisa Butler (118) for a few examples. There are other excellent examples under the ITC Tab. While everyone has mediumistic ability, only a few have developed physical mediumship to the level necessary for public demonstration. Consider the Felix Experimental Group (135) and Stewart Alexander. (159) Anabela Cardoso’s work is similar to Bacci. See “Rio do Tempo” Station. (160) 343 Answers Cardoso and Bacci appear to be spontaneous physical mediums of high caliber and their work is not easily replicated. Nevertheless, there is little question amongst those who have investigated their work that it is real. My answer is that there is virtually no empirical reason to think Bacci was a fraud. Anyone who claims that he

was should be asked to provide evidence. Otherwise, one treads precariously close to the defamation of character. Question 206 Does the 'SOUL' concept have any philosophical value? Answered August 14, 2019 Answer I am not a philosopher. My answer is based on my interest in survival metaphysics. The word, Soul, is usually related to religious doctrine. While human potential teachers do not intend the religious references, they use soul, I think, for lack of a better word. You asked the question in the right way because the Soul concept is a different thing than the religious belief in a Soul. The Katha Upanishad (41) uses discriminating intellect. 1-III-3. Know the Self to be the master of the chariot, and the body to be the chariot. Know the intellect to be the charioteer, and the mind to be the reins. 1-III-4. The senses they speak of as the horses; the objects within their view, the way. When the Self is yoked with the mind and the senses, the wise call It the enjoyer. 1-III-5. But whoso is devoid of discrimination and is possessed of a mind ever uncollected – his senses are uncontrollable like the vicious horses of a driver. 1-III-6. But whoso is discriminative and possessed of a mind ever collected – his senses are controllable like the good horses of a driver. Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 344 1-III-7. But whoso is devoid of a discriminating intellect, possessed of an unrestrained mind and is ever impure, does not

attain that goal, but goes to samsara. Samsara is Hindu for the cycle of death and rebirth as life is bound to the material world. shastras.com/upanishads-krishna-yajur-veda/kathaupanishad/ (41) English translations of the Katha Upanishad usually use self rather than Soul. I began in my writing to talk about the soul concept in terms of self, but pretty quickly decided I was just trying to avoid saying what I really intended. I now use immortal self because that aspect of who we are is thought to have existed before this lifetime and is expected to exist after. Consider these relationships: Physical science — specific physical principles Psychology — defining human behavior and mental processes Philosophy — dealing with the meaning of existence Metaphysics — formation, concepts and relationship of concepts In my effort to understand the nature of the reported human experiences referred to as paranormal phenomena, it has been necessary to develop a model for what I refer to as our spiritual anatomy. Paranormal phenomena have been determined to have physical and nonphysical components. To make sense of the existence of physical and possible nonphysical aspects of reality, it is necessary to postulate that a person is a physical body (a human) and an immortal aspect I refer to as personality. I will not attempt to explain the current models of the nature of the nonphysical aspect of reality. The Trans-Survival Hypothesis (64) Discourse explains my version. The basic spiritual anatomy that seems to be necessary would have an immortal personality

(Observer) as the core intelligence of our life field, our conscious self as our Experiencer and a functional area I describe as our Attention Complex (Judge) representing how we develop perception and 345 Answers expression. The Life Field Information Flow Diagram below will give you a sense of how I think information flow might be modeled. To answer your question, personality seems to satisfy the intent of the Soul concept. You will notice that I have placed the Judge between personality the Observer (which is our source of purpose) and conscious self the experiencer. All are nonphysical. Only our human’s body is physical. The Judge includes worldview which represents what we think is true. As such, what we think in the moment is determined by what we think is true. Going back to the Katha Upanishad, conscious self is the master of the chariot, but it is the degree of discerning intellect that determines if the chariot is to be guided by the wisdom of Personality or by the basic nature of human instincts. How we manage that decision determines who we are as a person. While it is a philosophical question, psychology is coming to understand and apply models like this, and it is expected that physical science will eventually integrate physical and nonphysical as two parts of the whole. Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 346 Question 207 Where does the study of philosophy fit in the study of spiritualism? Are these two areas compatible? Answered August 23,

2019 Answer In philosophy, spiritualism with a lower case “s” represents the belief that the physical is an aspect of a greater reality in which the essence of who we are is native. Small “s” spiritualism usually includes acceptance of the idea that people in the flesh are able to communicate with people who are not. Spiritualism with a capital “S” represents a number of organizations which are based on various version of spiritualism (small “s”). I am a member of the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (20) (NSAC) (nsac.org/) which is chartered in the USA. The Spiritualists' National Union (SNU) (snu.org.uk/) is located in the UK. The International Spiritualist Federation (ISF) (theisf.com/) is also an important organization. There are others. Also, Spiritists (explorespiritism.com/) are different, in that they follow the teaching of Allan Kardec. The NSAC explains: Spiritualism is a Science, Philosophy and Religion of continuous life, based upon the demonstrated fact of communication, by means of Mediumship, with those who live in the Spirit World. Spiritualism Is a Science because it investigates, analyzes and classifies facts and manifestations demonstrated from the spirit side of life. Spiritualism Is a Philosophy because it studies the Laws of Nature both on the seen and unseen sides of life and bases its conclusions upon present observed facts. It accepts statements of observed facts of past ages and conclusions drawn therefrom, when sustained by reason and by results of observed facts of the present day. 347 Answers Spiritualism Is a Religion because it

strives to understand and to comply with the Physical, Mental and Spiritual Laws of Nature, which are the laws of God. For spiritualism to be a science, the related phenomena must be codified by well-considered research. If you are familiar with current parapsychological research, you will know that there has been research which seems to indicate that: • A nonphysical aspect of reality known as the psi field seems to provide the necessary medium for the propagation of nonphysical mind. • Anomalous acquisition of information (psychic functioning) appears to exist. • Psychokinetic influence of matter has been validated. See 100 Scientific Papers Offering Evidence for Psi Phenomena & Effects (112) For spiritualism to exist, it is necessary to show that at least some anomalously acquired information comes from discarnate personalities. The research seems to indicate this is true, but more work is needed to be sure. Spiritualism turns to philosophy as a means of establishing precedence for accepting the idea of survival. For instance, see The Hermes Concepts (1) for Hermetic thought and The Razor’s Edge. (42) for the much later Katha Upanishad (41). It is important to realize that spiritualism is based on a system of thought that has been repeatedly revealed to us since the beginning of civilization. As an organized system of thought, Spiritualism is treated as a religion for practical reasons, but make no mistake, Spiritualists do not consider it a faith-based system. Spiritualist gather together for the comradery of likeminded folk and mutual instruction. Section

6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 348 Question 208 What are the pros and cons of getting indulged in paranormal stuff either directly or indirectly? Answered August 24, 2019 Answer First, “paranormal stuff” might be better phrased as reported normal experiences that are not explained by reductionist science. Parapsychologists study such experiences. The theory to describe how people experience these phenomena that seems to be increasingly wellreceived by many parapsychologists is First Sight Theory. (19) Psychic is a term used to describe a person’s ability to sense information by means other than the five human senses. First Sight Theory proposes that everyone is naturally psychic. Also, that all environmental information, such as the five bodily senses, psychically shared information from other people and possibly discarnate people, are first sensed by our mostly unconscious self. Only after that information is processed by our unconscious mind, might it be made available to our aware self. See How We Think (16) The theory also proposes that our expression, such as speaking, moving our body, sending thoughts into the environment, are first in the form of a psychokinetic influence and then as a physical action. Remember that, if our mind is not a product of our brain, the command to move our body is necessarily a psychokinetic influence between our nonphysical mind and physical brain. The key to understanding First Sight Theory is to recognize that we are all psychic and influence our world with our minds. The degree to which we influence our environment

or become aware of our sensed information is determined by the way we process information in our mostly unconscious mind. For instance, a part of First Sight Theory is the idea that we are constantly switching our attention from one thought to another— 349 Answers unconsciously and quickly. The better we are at focusing our attention on a single thought, the more apt we are to sense or express the information as it is intended. I have paraphrased the theory in the Perception Discourse. (22) If you take a little time to study the theory and contemplate its implications, you will see that it applies to all of us. The way of personal development I refer to as The Mindful Way (12) is simply the integration of those implications into daily living. My point is that you can further your personal growth by considering the implications of that “paranormal stuff.” I think the first step on the way toward spiritual enlightenment is consciously accepting those implications and deciding to seek personal progression. Question 209 What is your attitude to paranormal and scientifically unexplained activities? Answered August 25, 2019 Answer Our mind has a peculiar habit of becoming stuck with what it decides is true. Once decided, it is hard to change. I study things paranormal and am aware that it is easy to arrive at the wrong conclusion when examining only part of the evidence or when not understanding the involved natural principle. See the essay, Mind as Storyteller (34)

Reported experiences classified as paranormal range from natural mistaken as unnatural to objectively validated with good science. For instance: • Some reported experience can be explained as artifacts naturally produced by the environment or the technology being used to detect ghosts. For instance, it is possible for a handheld audio recorder to detect radio signals which can be mistaken as paranormal voice. • Some people are prone to what I refer to as hyperlucidity. (16) Hyperlucidity can be compared to the old quip, “To a hammer, Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 350 everything is a nail.” For some ghost hunters, everything is evidence of ghosts. • Some reported experiences turn out to be evidence of psychic functioning. For instance, remote viewing is a well-documented expression of our natural ability. What is Remote Viewing (161) • Some reported experiences turn out to be the expression of intentionality causing random processes to become less random. For instance, the Global Consciousness Project (92) tracks the apparent influence of humankind’s collective reaction to major events such as the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center. They are using random event generators as the “dread” detector. See Effects of Mass Consciousness: Changes in Random Data During Global Events. (162) For someone to make the decision that all such reported experiences are just imagination and that there is no such thing as paranormal is evidence that they have not examined the research. It is unfortunate that, once they have arrived at such a conclusion, it

is unlikely they will change their mind. My answer is that people easily fool themselves. But I think they arrive at that particular self-delusion because at least some such reports have turned out to be objectively real enough to be scientifically studied. After we rule out delusion, mistaken identity and ignorance, some of what is left may be paranormal and needs to be studied. It is for learned, informed people to explain rather than debunk. Always examine the credentials of the person doing the debunking … and of those claiming proof. Question 210 What are some secret symbols hidden in plain sight? Answered October 26, 2019 Answer 351 Answers Symbols represent ideas. The way the ideas they represent are understood is a function of what the observer is taught to recognize. The Hermetic Tarot is a good example of “hidden knowledge” that is only available to “those who have eyes to see.” From their origin hundreds of years ago, they were designed to look like just another deck of playing cards. Seekers could study their symbols in public while seeming to be playing with ordinary cards. Secret wisdom is in two parts. It is secret because knowledge is power, and that power was kept close to the masters. Second, secret wisdom is only secret because the observer does not have the necessary background to understand the message. For instance, I can tell you that your conscious perception is determined by your unconscious mind and that the actual information is colored

by your unconscious mind according to your worldview. Unless you bother to examine that claim, you will likely never understand why you do not understand the Tarot. Going back to the idea that knowledge is power, improper understanding of the secret wisdom can actually harm a seeker’s progression. For instance, mistakenly thinking understanding is God-given instead of recognizing the need to do the work for personal progression. The Chariot from the Rider-Waite deck as taught by Builders of the Adytum (48). The primary secret in the Key is that we as spiritual beings are Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 352 in an avatar relationship with our human. We as personality are the charioteer and our mind is the rains. The prior six keys represent the underlying principles leading to the realization that we are not our body. See The Hermes Concepts (1) The Tarot is just an example. The answer to your question is that information must be integrated into knowledge and lived to become understanding. Daily living is full of lessons that are only learned by those of us who consciously seek understanding. Question 211 Do you believe in collective consciousness? If so, do you believe one individual can lift/lower the collective consciousness? Answered November 28, 2019 Answer Collective consciousness is a term that can be rightly applied to several aspects of who we are. For instance: Mainstream thought Social culture is the collective measure of truth, morality and acceptable process that has evolved in a community. The

Definition of Morality (54) Changes in paradigm as the common truth evolves. See Global Mind Change. (55) Instincts are natural behaviors that have evolved out of the collective experience of many generations of the same or related species. See The Greatest Threat of All: Human Instincts Overwhelm Reason (56) Metaphysical thought The understanding of the collective consciousness (hypothetically) evolves as individual personalities gain understanding through experience. See Prime Imperative (49) and Progression, Teaching and the Community (57) 353 Answers The collective morphogenetic code (hypothetically) evolves as individual personalities adapt to environmental challenges. Morphic Resonance and Morphic Fields an Introduction (35) There are others, I am sure, but the point should be clear. Collective behavior is based on the evolution of a collective memory which in turn helps organize individual formation, behavior and responses to environmental signals. If that is true, individuals contribute to the collective, and in turn, are influenced by the collective. Personal responsibility and self-determination prevail but they are influenced by the collective memory. As you consider this answer, keep in mind that, as persons, we are both a spiritual personality and a human organism. Emerging understanding is showing that environmental information from our five physical senses and our spiritual senses are processed in our mostly unconscious mind before becoming part of our awareness and behavior. Our Unconscious Mind (58) That processing is influenced by our human and spiritual instincts. We are an active part of many collectives. Question 212 What do you call someone who guards the

doorway between the spirit world and the Earth? Answered December 8, 2019 Answer In Western Traditions concerning physical mediumship, it is expected that a personality on the other side will agree to work with the medium and help develop his or her mediumistic ability. This personality is sometimes referred to as a control. See David Thompson and The Circle of the Silver Cord Séance (163) for instance. Keep in mind that this is tradition, and thus the way some mediums are trained. It works, but also keep in mind that, while the ability is in all of us, those who are able to achieve the level of ability needed to demonstrate such phenomena as the production of ectoplasm, levitation, spirit lights and Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 354 direct transcommunication usually must train hard over many years. They are guided by successful tradition. An important clue to this is the way some of the physical mediums I have sat with begin the day with a strict routine, and as the séance begins, they enter into a deep trance. Typically, their control personality will be the first personality to speak through them. This ability to step aside and allow another personality to, in principle, assume control of their body, is an important part of the training. Another part of the training is to recognize when they are fooling themselves. (hyperlucidity. (16)). In some of the séance, I have experienced, the control then allows other personalities to come forth to speak.

It appears each new personality represents an even deeper level of trance for the physical medium. I have observed that, as the seance ends, each personality returns in the reverse order to say goodbye. I think this signifies that the medium is coming out of the trance. Their appearance may be an aid for the medium. The implication is that the control is close to the medium’s conscious awareness as an ever-present teacher and that some of the subsequent personalities require more effort to come through … which is facilitated by the deeper trance. Now I am speculating. My point is that the control is seen as a teacher as well as a guide. Some systems of thought hold that all of us have one or more such teachers that we are sometimes taught to think of as guides. Although I have been trained in that school of thought, my personal approach is that we are part of a collective of personalities, some of which are in the flesh and some who are not. All of us are working toward gaining a greater understanding of some aspect or aspects of our world. Those in my collective who are not in the flesh busy themselves doing what they can to help those of us who are entangled with a human avatar to gain that understanding. Three points I would make. One is that you may or may not be in the same collective as the person near you. Two, I know

of no evidence that we need protection. We may need help in keeping our focus. Of course, the inner guidance is invaluable to our personal progression and that is always there, should we learn to listen. The third point I want to make is that we have self-determination. What that determination is, is more decided by our mostly unconscious mental processes. Some of the experiences we work hard for may not be ones we would consciously seek. One must look for understanding in all experiences 355 Answers and some understanding, such as the nature of fear, might only be found in fearful experiences. A guide would not interfere but only help us find that understanding. Let “Do not violate others” be your guiding principle … here and hereafter. Question 213 When a spirit is 'moved on' what happens to them? Answered December 11, 2019 Answer I wrote an essay about this subject for the book Exploring the Mindful Way (7) The essay is What is it Like on the Other Side. (143) The essay is written from the perspective of emerging understanding about how we mentally process information, parapsychological models, and lessons learned from Instrumental TransCommunication (EVP, visual ITC) and personal transcommunication known as mediumship. Ancient wisdom, New Age beliefs and popular lore have also informed the model presented in that essay. Based on that essay, the short answer is that, when our human avatar can no longer sustain us in the physical (it dies), we (our actual self as

a nonphysical, sentient consciousness) are free to return to our more natural habitat of the etheric. We appear to spend some time adjusting to the realization that we are no longer entangled with our human. For instance, if we were sick in the physical, we will tend to be sick in the etheric until we realize that it was our body that was sick. A period of introspection is thought to occur, after which we begin to respond to an urge to gain more understanding through experience. The way we scratch that itch is to enter into a new life experience. That may be in this physical venue, but it may be in some other aspect of reality, depending on the lesson we seek. It seems better and more correct to think of dying, getting well, introspection and subsequent incarnation into a new lifetime as transition rather than death or dying. Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 356 As one who will eventually transition, I like the model because it is sensible, supportable and consistent with my view of a meaningful life. Ideas such as karma, hell, punishment and being stuck, are the expression of cultural fear and have no actual support in the science I study. How sensible of my answer seems to you depends on your background and worldview. My base assumption is that we exist to gain understanding about the nature of reality. That understanding comes from life experiences. Question 214 How do I see the physical

world for the illusion that it is, without suffering? Answered December 20, 2019 Answer The Mindful Way (12) is my attempt to make sense of how we experience our world. The person I have learned to think of as a seeker is one who habitually contemplates experiences in an effort to perceive them as they actually are and not as he or she has been taught to think of them. Personal, spiritual progression can be thought of as the degree of lucidity the seeker has achieved. That is, to what degree has the person become lucid enough to see past the illusion shown by the person’s mostly unconscious mind. Perception is informed by personal worldview. A person’s worldview represents what he or she has been taught is true by culture, media, teachers, clergy and parents. It is the source of what we think is real and the illusion I think you are speaking of. Information is allowed into our worldview based on our temperament. That is, do we choose the pleasureful way of our human instincts or the meaningful way of our spiritual instincts? One becomes a seeker when he or she realizes that there is a difference and chooses the meaningful way. Progression and lucidity come from living life and consciously seeking understanding about the nature of reality from experiences. 357 Answers I am a dualist, meaning that I accept the evidence indicating that we are immortal personality experiencing a lifetime as a person for the purpose of gaining

understanding through experience. While I am a seeker, I understand that living the lifetime before me is part of that seeking. Some experiences are really bad, some are pretty good. I am responsible for all of them … if not the cause, at least how I respond. I expect you have heard the phrase, It is not what happens to you, it is how you respond that matters. My answer then, is that living a good life is to seek to understand your experiences with discerning intellect. Always turn toward the meaningful choice. The more you do so, the more your perception will show you the actual nature of reality. Clear seeing is a lifelong journey. Enlightenment is the realization that there is such a journey. Question 215 How can you tell if another thing (besides people and animals) is conscious? Answered December 20, 2019 Answer Here is the abstract from an essay in which I attempted to address this sort of question. Avatar. (13) If we are immortal personality experiencing a lifetime as a human, is it possible our pets also serve as an avatar for an immortal personality? If so, is it reasonable to extend the logic to say our computers might also be sentient; perhaps not now, but in the future? This essay is an exploration of the limits bounding what can and cannot be an avatar. Avatar is a Sanskrit term meaning descent. As it is used in Hinduism, an avatar is a deity that deliberately

returns to life on earth as a person. The term can be translated into English as incarnation. In this Opinion, avatar is intended in the same sense used in Hinduism, except that our immortal self is the deity. A person is defined in the Implicit Cosmology Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 358 as an immortal self entangled with a human body in an avatar relationship. Presumably, all humans are an avatar for an immortal self. My objective is to suggest details about the avatar relationship and to show that the model does not preclude other species from being avatars. Considering how we think transform Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) are formed, I will suggest the possibility that an electronic device might also serve as an avatar. I explore the implications of personage without human instincts. Question 216 Does the universe have a consciousness? Answered December 28, 2019 Answer If we are to speculate that the universe might be conscious, it is necessary to adopt a point of view that supports the existence of consciousness separate from the body. For instance, I know of no useful argument for the existence of nonbiological consciousness if the correct point of view is that consciousness is a product of our biological brain. In that view, since the universe has no brain, it cannot be conscious. This answer is based on the point of view that Dualism is largely correct and that our personality existed before this lifetime and will continue to exist after in

a sentient, self-aware form. This is generally consistent with the survival metaphysics (64) in which we are considered a personality experiencing a lifetime entangled with our human avatar. Assuming consciousness is a characteristic of life that is apart from physical biology, we must adopt a model for the nature of consciousness. That is, if it is not bound by our scull, what does bound it? The model often used in metaphysics is that consciousness exists as a field. Remembering that consciousness deals with concepts and not objects, personality acts as the binding influence of the consciousness field. Think attractor in chaos theory or kernel in computer programs. It is necessary here to make sure you are thinking about consciousness in terms of concepts and not objective things. The language of thought is 359 Answers symbolic or conceptual. For instance, the mind’s natural habitat is a nonphysical aspect of reality sometimes referred to as the etheric or psi field. Research is showing that everywhere is here in the psi field which is a characteristic known as being nonlocal. Influence is in the form of intention, rather than physical force. Changes in reality are expressed via personality’s attention on an imagined outcome with the intention to make it so. Physical changes caused by mind can be described as changes in intended order. With that in mind, the second important point to make is that, if conceptual consciousness is not our body, it is arguable that our perception of the physical is not

unlike the perception a drone operator has of the drone’s field of operation. That is, we build our perception of our world based on sensory inputs from our body and psychic-sensory inputs from the psi field. See the Etheric Fields Discourse. (53) With that in mind, it becomes arguable that mind precedes physical reality. Put another way, the physical only exists as a mental construct. The consequences of duality are that the arrow of creation points from the creative process of mind to the resulting objective physical. See The Creative Process Discourse. (164) This means we are talking about whether reality is conscious and not if the universe is conscious. Universe is a term reserved for astronomical cosmology, which is arguably a subset of survival metaphysics. I have argued that reality consists of life fields and their expression. Think of a city. It consists of people and the things they have built. The city exists now in a substantial form, so it is hard to think of it as a collective formation. The first expression of the city began as one person designated a place to build a home. Now, it has assumed a sort of pseudo-life of its own that is the result of many people’s work. Reality appears to be like that. It is qualitatively the same as a city. Yes, we have to account for other life forms such as birds and cats, also the earth. Other life forms are also life fields. The earth is seen

as the collective creation of other life fields. Now seemingly substantive, probably with a humble beginning like the town. At least in the Implicit Cosmology (15) I study, the physical universe is modeled as a collective expression of many life fields and inherits purpose and form from their consciousness. Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 360 Question 217 What do spiritualist churches do? Answered December 28, 2019 Answer Take a look at the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (20) (NSAC) website. I will answer from the NSAC perspective. Spiritualism evolved out of Christianity in the late 1800s. In fact, NSAC originally required a Christian Bible to be present at the podium during services. There are still a few Christian Spiritualist groups. This is not a judgment, and in fact, my Christmas talk was Christmas is for Compassion. (165) As I will explain, there are some important differences between Christianity and Spiritualism. I should say that Spiritists have a different approach to spiritualism. The NSAC defines Spiritualism as “the Science, Philosophy, and Religion of continuous life, based upon the demonstrated fact of communication, by means of mediumship, with those who live in the Spirit World.” From this, you can see that Spiritualism is concerned with the continuation of consciousness after bodily death. It approaches this subject as a community of likeminded people (religion) who seek to understand their spiritual nature (philosophy) from a rational, evidential perspective (science). NSAC Spiritualists are not told what to believe. The closest they have to dogma

is the Declaration of Principles: 1. We believe in Infinite Intelligence. 2. We believe that the phenomena of Nature, both physical and spiritual, are the expression of Infinite Intelligence. 3. We affirm that a correct understanding of such expression and living in accordance therewith, constitute true religion. 4. We affirm that the existence and personal identity of the individual continue after the change called death. 361 Answers 5. We affirm that communication with the so-called dead is a fact, scientifically proved by the phenomena of Spiritualism. 6. We believe that the highest morality is contained in the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” 7. We affirm the moral responsibility of individuals and that we make our own happiness or unhappiness as we obey or disobey Nature’s physical and spiritual laws. 8. We affirm that the doorway to reformation is never closed against any soul, here or hereafter. 9. We affirm that the precepts of Prophecy and Healing are Divine attributes, proven through Mediumship. Principle 7 indicates that Spiritualists are expected to seek to understand the organizing principles of nature, sometimes known as Natural Law and to learn to live in accordance with that understanding. With that in mind, you can see that it is illogical for a Spiritualist to think of a Father God (anthropomorphic). Thus, Principles 1–3 describes reality as Infinite Intelligence and its expression as organizing principles. Principle 7 also points out that we have personal responsibility. That means there is

no such thing as forgiving sins. Well, there is no such thing as sins, only incorrect understanding of Natural Law and failure to live in accordance with what we do understand. That is also a useful definition of Karma. A typical meeting is about an hour and a half on Sundays. We sing two or three songs and recite the Principles at every meeting. In our meetings, one of the members, sometimes a guest, gives about a twenty-minute talk intended to inform about spiritualism or inspire about personal spirituality. One of us leads a group meditation, followed by a period of time for Spirit Healing. A period of time is set aside for certified and student mediums to provide Spirit Greetings for members, depending on how the person is inspired. It is important to note that Spiritualism is all about furthering individual’s understanding about their true nature as spiritual beings. The Spirit Greetings are intended to demonstrate the continuity of life, but more importantly, they provide student mediums opportunity to practice sensing subtle influences from our discarnate friends. Not all are accurate, although time tends to show us that more are accurate than first thought. It is said Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 362 that all people are psychic, but not all people are mediums. Some of the messages are admittedly psychic. It is all about lucidity of the medium and need of the sitter. Singing can be irritating, as the poorest of us seem to stand out the

most in a small group. Reading the principles, group meditation and singing songs all serve to establish a common-purpose contact field for communion with our friends on the other side. The resulting unity is important because it helps establish the group as one mind. Spirit Healing often involves the healer placing hands on the shoulders of the sitter. We always ask permission to touch and do so in full view of members. We call it Spirit Healing because the healer is considered to be just a conduit for our friends on the other side to help the sitter as is needed. In that sense, I refer to it as Healing Intention because actual medically certified healing is seldom experienced. Spiritualists will tell you that even death is sometimes healing. Remember we think we do not actually die, only transition out of this lifetime. Sometimes healing does occur. It is between the sitter who is more or less unconsciously open to it, the ability of the healer to step aside to provide a clear conduit and the ability of our friends on the other side to express intended order. It is a complex subject. The bottom line is that the intention is more important than the effect. That is how we gain understanding. One last point. We collect an offering each meeting. Fact is, we have to pay the rent. While we live in spirit, our human lives in the economic realities of needing to somehow embody the society in the

physical. We do not tithe, and we do not have an expectation of how much one offers. It all comes down to sustaining the ability to have meetings. No one is paid in the Society I attend. In my mind, a Spiritualist is one who seeks to understand the actual nature of reality and to live in accordance with that understanding. Many people not presenting themselves as Spiritualists are spiritualist minded. It is just that some of us understand the value a community of like-minded folk brings to our personal seeking. In my mind, Principle 6 should read, “Teach me as I teach you.” 363 Answers Question 218 Who started the path of Spiritualism? Answered January 24, 2020 Answer This question can be answered from at least four different perspectives: 1. Philosophical systems of thought, either technical metaphysics (Hermetic, some Eastern thought, contemporary survival metaphysics) or religious (most religions). 2. Belief in the survival of personality beyond physical death (survival, Dualism) 3. Organized systems of thought based on the acceptance of survival (Spiritualism and Spiritist). 4. The individual path concerned with personal progression based on the acceptance that we are not our body. Here I should say that a medium is a person who has learned to sense information from our discarnate friends and is able to convey that information as a relatively uncolored message. Any system of thought focused on what I refer to as survival metaphysics is by definition, spiritualist (small “s”). The actual means of contact might

be called channeling, automatic writing, mediumship or even Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC) (which includes Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP)). According to the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (20) (NSAC), in the last half of the 1800s, the Fox Sisters in Hydesville, New York began responding to raps that were later attributed to the communication of a peddler who was killed and buried in the foundation of their home. The time was ripe for spirit communication because the USA was dealing with the Civil War. The Fox Sisters are often cited as the beginning of organized Spiritualism. Spiritism began in the 1800s with information channeled by Allan Kardec and represents a focus on access to information about our spiritual nature by way of mental mediumship. See What is Spiritism (166) Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 364 In Egypt some 6,000 years ago, a personality known as Hermes is thought to have been a great spiritual teacher. An important discourse about the Creative Process known as The Emerald Tablet (1) is attributed to him. It is possibly the oldest remaining spiritualist text. For instance, from The Emerald Tablet: By this process thou wilt partake of life, love, and light, and the honors of the whole world; therefore, let all obscurity flee before thee. (Line 9) In this, Hermes identified our purpose in life and has described the process with which we can pursue that purpose. He is telling us that by living life while consciously seeking understanding, we will align ourselves with the

true nature of reality (Organizing Principles or Natural Law). In Line 13, Hermes identifies himself as an example of what living in accordance with the true nature of reality means. That is, teacher, expression of the principles in daily living and the potential effect of living in that way manifest as a (spiritually) successful person. In effect then, he is telling us that we too can be happy and respected citizens while walking a more realized path. The essence of spiritualism is the idea that there is a greater reality in which we continue to exist after bodily death. The Emerald Tablet provides instruction for accessing the greater reality to further personal progression. One aspect of the creative process he spoke of is the transmutation of the coarse personality of the unrealized person into a spiritually realized self. Some 4,000 years ago, the Katha Upanishad (41) was written based on oral tradition from the Indus Valley in Pakistan. The teacher in the text—the God of Death—describes our spiritual nature and provides an approach to seeking that remains relevant today. See The Razor’s Edge. (42) Pertinent to this discussion is: 1-III-3. Know the Self to be the master of the chariot, and the body to be the chariot. Know the intellect to be the charioteer, and the mind to be the reins. 1-III-4. The senses they speak of as the horses; the objects within their view, the way. When the Self is yoked with the mind and the senses, the wise

call It the enjoyer. Our spiritual anatomy described in the Katha Upanishad represents the same foundation assumption of organized Spiritualism. It is echoed in the 365 Answers Hermetic Tarot that is thought to have been composed of much older metaphysical teaching attributed in the 1600s to Hermes. A more contemporary view of Spiritualism comes from the Biblical teaching of Jesus. From John 14.3: (114) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. This is a pivotal line. When Jesus states that “I will come again, and receive you into myself,” he is telling his students that he will receive them in spirit when they also pass from their physical life during transition. He may also be speaking from the perspective of his aspect as the path or way of progression when he suggests that he will bring them into himself. The relationship between Jesus the man and Jesus the transitioned teacher is pure spiritualism and should be considered in metaphysical terms rather than religious. As a closing note, I want to speak of our contemporary spiritualist teachers. NSAC Spiritualism is described as a science, philosophy and religion. It is a religion because it is a community of like-minded folk seeking to understand their spiritual nature. It is a philosophy because there remain a few concepts still out of reach of science. It is mostly a science because the concepts of

spiritualism are knowable. Our modern pioneers are people like Rupert Sheldrake who has Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 366 proposed that biological organisms are organized according to nonphysical fields representing “Nature’s Habit.” Morphic Resonance (35) James Carpenter has proposed a most useful ruleset for our we think called First Sight Theory. (19) Kenneth Batcheldor, and later, Walter von Lucadou for providing an empirical foundation for the importance of indeterminate processes in the production of phenomena. See Predictions of the Model of Pragmatic Information About RSPK. (167) ITC pioneers such as Sarah Estep (In Memory of Sarah Estep (168)) and Ernst Senkowski (Instrumental Transcommunication - A review (169)) have introduced us to a modern form of mediumship that is facilitated by technology. There are many important contemporary practitioners such as the Scole Mediums (17) and the Felix Experimental Group’s (135) physical medium Kai Mügge. I have reported on other such contributions to modern spiritualism in various essays at EthericStudies.org. Also, see Association TransCommunication (ATransC.org). Spiritualism has been a constant companion of human experience. It is old, but it is also evolving as we gain understanding. Question 219 How do I become a good rationalist, humanist and spiritualist? Answered February 20, 2020 Answer In Why I vote Humanist, (170) I use these definitions (my definitions unless otherwise noted): Humanist – a person who has adopted a personal code of ethics which emphasizes understanding principles of nature and seeks to live in accordance with that understanding to the benefit of self and

others in a cooperative community (33). 367 Answers Rationalist – a person who accepts that there is order in reality and that the principles organizing that order are knowable. Spiritualist (with a capital “S”) – one who believes, as the basis of his or her religion, in the communication between this and the Spirit World by means of mediumship and who endeavors to mold his or her character and conduct in accordance with the highest teachings derived from such communication. (From the National Spiritualist Association of Churches (20) (NSAC)) Spiritualist (small “s”) – a person who accepts the evidence of Dualism, meaning that our conscious self existed before this lifetime and will continue to exist after in a sentient, self-aware form. In common usage, spirit refers to the vital principle or animating force of life; the indestructible essence of self-conscious life. It is correct to say that a discarnate personality is in spirit but calling such a being a spirit is sloppy nomenclature. Spiritual – anything relating to source (aka Infinite Intelligence, God, Prime Creator, First Cause). It is reasonable and proper to refer to the purpose and origination of reality as spiritual. A person expressing the high ideals of citizenship in the greater reality might be referred to as spiritual or being spiritual. Discerning Intellect – Rationalist, humanist and spiritualist can be generalized together as Discerning Intellect. Here is the Abstract for the essay, Humanism and Discerning Intellect (86): In the context of this essay, our discerning intellect is

an enlightened motivator that moderates our baser, human instincts. If the ideal citizen is one who seeks progression in cooperation with others, rather than at the expense of others, their discerning intellect must dominate decision-making. This Opinion is an exploration of the difference between our human’s instincts and our discerning intellect and how we might move toward a more humanist society. I first encountered the term discerning intellect in the 4,000-year-old Katha Upanishad (41). It uses discriminating intellect as a term for explaining how a seeker benefits from deciding the meaningful way over the pleasant way. From the Vedanta Shastras Library (41): Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 368 1-III-3. Know the Self to be the master of the chariot, and the body to be the chariot. Know the intellect to be the charioteer, and the mind to be the reins. 1-III-4. The senses they speak of as the horses; the objects within their view, the way. When the Self is yoked with the mind and the senses, the wise call It the enjoyer. 1-III-5. But whoso is devoid of discrimination and is possessed of a mind ever uncollected – his senses are uncontrollable like the vicious horses of a driver. 1-III-6. But whoso is discriminative and possessed of a mind ever collected – his senses are controllable like the good horses of a driver. 1-III-7. But whoso is devoid of a discriminating intellect, possessed of an unrestrained mind and is ever impure, does not attain that goal, but goes

to samsara. (Samsara is Hindu for the cycle of death and rebirth as life is bound to the material world.) Here are a few guiding principles for developing your discerning intellect: • Understand that you are not your human body. Even if you do not accept Dualism, behaving as if you are not your body is a powerful tool for personal development. By learning to adopt the perspective of immortal self temporarily entangled with your human for this lifetime, you will be able to distinguish your human’s self-serving instinctual motivations from your spiritual self’s more altruistic motivations. • Recognize that your human’s instincts will turn your decisions toward those that benefit its gene pool … often at the expense of others. • Adopt a personal code of ethics. (29) Make sure it begins with something like Do not violate others. (Mine includes such reminders as “Just because I can doesn’t mean I should.” and “Citizenship means cooperation.” 369 Answers • Make it a life-long habit to examine the reason you decide as you do so as to have the presence of mind to determine if it is in agreement with your personal code of ethics. • Resist deciding. Once your mind makes a decision, it is reluctant to change, so practicing suspended judgment teaches your mind to remain open to new ideas. • Always be aware that your conscious perception is influenced by your memory, beliefs and what you were taught by society. Always being mindful of your intention to

experience reality as it is rather than as you were taught will teach your mind not to color perception. • Remember that intention is your one influence on your mind. Manage it well. Thus, you gain lucidity. (5) Your lucidity is a measure of spiritual maturity. Question 220 How do I deal with paranormal beliefs without looking like a crazy person? Answered February 27, 2020 Answer First, learn to understand the difference between belief and understanding. Also, the difference between normal and paranormal. You see, it is all about perspective. To believe something is to accept something as fact without any reasonable evidence. Belief and faith are the same things when it comes to questions of what is real. In our society, belief and faith are religious terms. Belief is typically not bounded, meaning that it is never clear where articles of belief end and actual reality begins. That is why people who pride themselves as being rational scoff at claims of belief. To understand something means to be aware of the evidence and how that evidence helps explain the experience. Understanding is always bound Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 370 by the limits of the evidence. For instance, I am limiting the scope of my answer here by making sure we agree on the definition of our terms. In terms of paranormal, things that are considered normal are reported human experiences that are reasonably well explained by our scientists. Gravity, for instance, has been explained as one of

the four fundamental forces in nature. Science has explained it in a way that everyone accepts. What we know about things paranormal also begins with reported human experiences. The reason they are considered paranormal experiences is not that they are false but because our science community has not gotten around to explaining them in a way that makes sense to the experiencers. That is also the reason reports of such phenomena persist. That is, people continue to experience things paranormal and explanations like delusion, fraud and normal mistaken as paranormal do not satisfy the experiencers. Our scientists have not finished their job. The last and possibly most important idea to understand is discernment. Learn to have the wisdom to distinguish between belief and understanding. Is the paranormal phenomenon in question a one-of-a-kind report or is it like others? For instance, the report “I saw a man walking on the ceiling,” is probably a one-of-a-kind report and should probably be put in the “hold to see if anyone else makes a similar report” folder. A report like “I sensed something traumatic would happen in that city” is of the kind often studied by parapsychologists (scientists who study things paranormal). Evidence has shown us that some such reported human experiences turn out to foretell an actual traumatic event in that city. Thus, we have a pattern and patterns can be studied. Having discernment, or being discerning, means suspending judgment so that your mind can remain open for possible new evidence, but at

the same time, not deciding true or false. As one who has studied things paranormal most of my life, my greatest fear is deciding something is true or false, only to later discover it is the opposite. We keep ourselves from some of the most interesting lessons by deciding too soon. My answer then is to adopt the attitude of a scientist. Tell others … and your mostly unconscious mind … that you are studying things paranormal to see for yourself if there is anything to them. What if there is? Some people will condemn you for being associated with things paranormal. They bring no value to your world and can be safely ignored. Do not let them keep you from discovery. 371 Answers Some people transcend the wheel of life to become ascended masters. Others fall off and become rats. ;-) Question 221 What is the value of metaphysics within contemporary society? Answered March 2, 2020 Answer A useful definition of metaphysics comes from the Public Broadcasting Service Glossary: “Metaphysics is a type of philosophy or study that uses broad concepts to help define reality and our understanding of it.” Saying someone studies metaphysics has little meaning and tends to scare people away. It is more correct to say that a person studies metaphysical concepts. The idea of the first cause of reality is such a concept, as is the possible immortality of the conscious self. Metaphysical theories have little practical use unless they lead to a model that

reasonably describes the various metaphysical concepts and that facilitates examination, testing and evolution of those concepts. Such a model is referred to as a cosmology. A cosmology is implied by a metaphysical view. To be clear, metaphysical theorizing should imply a cosmological model from which hypotheses can be defined (if-then) which should lead to tests designed to evaluate the cosmological model. A feedback loop is expected as the model is refined to better agree with experienced reality. There is usually a difference between actual reality and experienced reality. Metaphysics is expected to converge experienced reality toward actual reality. As an amateur metaphysician, I have learned that there are two primary points of view used in the study of metaphysical concepts. Here are the terms I have learned to use: Physical metaphysics - the assumption that reality is limited to the physical universe. The initial state of the physical universe is popularly known as The Big Bang, which is theorized to have begun when a Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 372 singularity rapidly expanded into the universe as it is today. The implied model is the astronomical cosmology we know today. Importantly, physical metaphysics requires that life is a product of the physical and that consciousness is a product of biological life. This can be thought of as Physicalism. Survival metaphysics - the assumption that the physical universe is an aspect of a greater reality and that consciousness evolved independently of the physical universe. In this view, a conscious mind

is entangled with a biological organism (in our case, a human) during the lifetime of the biological organism but otherwise has an independent existence. This can be thought of as Dualism. I say survival metaphysics to distinguish it from physical metaphysics and because Dualism implies to many people survived consciousness after bodily death. Both points of view are based on the assumption that reality is knowable. This is important because a third important point of view held by many metaphysicians is the religious one that reality began with God and that God is not knowable. If you begin with the notion that reality is knowable, metaphysics becomes the tool with which we are able to begin that learning process. Think in terms of fundamental concepts. -isms such as physicalism and Dualism are useful ways of parsing thought, but they are not metaphysics. It is the examination of fundamental concepts and their implication without regard to their -ism assignment that can be considered metaphysics. There are many reported experiences that suggest people have mental abilities that have not been explained by science. The two contending theories for this is that people are simply delusional or faking it, verses people naturally have psychic ability. That is, either people reporting such experiences are frauds or they have the ability to mentally, remotely access information. If people are faking it, there is no more to discuss other than why. The implications are profound for all of humanity if people actually have psychic abilities. Properly

done, metaphysics will help us decide. Another way of looking at it is to realize that the first scientists were naturalists observing Mother Nature as she existed in the field. The theories those naturalists formulated to explain her actions were metaphysical since there was no established science on which to build. 373 Answers Question 222 How do you know that we are spiritual beings having human experiences rather than human beings having spiritual experiences? Answered April 19, 2020 Answer The short answer is that, to my knowledge, physical-biological scientists have not explained how conscious mind is produced by our human biological organism, nor have parapsychologists arrived at a consensus. Until a widely accepted, useful model describing consciousness mergers, the nature of our consciousness becomes a philosophical question that is best answered in a way that furthers our personal growth. Dualism For me, as a long-time seeker of personal improvement, I seem to gain more personal awareness when I think of myself as an immortal personality entangled with my human for this lifetime. I see my purpose as the urge to understand this human experience. That is what I think of as the dualistic, personality-centric perspective, meaning that I seek to understand myself as if I am an immortal personality entangled with my human avatar for this lifetime. When my body is no longer able to support me in the physical, I expect to return to my natural habitat in the greater reality which I refer to as the etheric. Physicalism

Physicalism is the more widely accepted perspective. In that, consciousness is the product of biological functions in the brain. In physicalism, consciousness is treated as physical energy. The actual creation of consciousness is sometimes attributed to quantum-level effects of microtubules in brain fiber. However, only regions of brain-cell activity have been defined in relation to specific functions. It remains a mystery for how consciousness and brain tissue are integrated. Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 374 In one version in physicalism, consciousness ceases to exist when the brain dies. The only way we survive is if someone remembers us or we have a building named after us. The second version in physicalism is that the physical energy representing consciousness lingers and can somehow be psychically sensed. That is the Super-Psi Hypothesis. The principle of Conservation of Energy is often cited for how the memory of consciousness lingers. Psi Field To decide if we are humans dreaming we are immortal personality or immortal personality having a human experience, it is necessary to understand what is known about consciousness. In doing so, it is useful to note that mainstream scientists are largely physicalists and seldom even consider the research of parapsychologists who range from physicalists to dualists. The consequence is that parapsychological research is often ignored by learned people who seek to explain the nature of consciousness. Here are a few terms we need to agree on: Psychic — the ability to sense the subtle energy of consciousness. This is sometimes referred

to as anomalous access of information. Psychokinesis — the ability to mentally influence physical objects. The movement of objects is one form of this, but more common is the apparent mental influence on physical processes. For instance, the output of Random Event Generators (REG) tend to change in randomness in proximity to meditating people. Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) is thought to be a form of psychokinetic influence on the randomness of audio-frequency noise. Psi — the influence of thought. Thought is best modeled as a conceptual process. In psychokinesis, the influence of thought is a conceptual-to-physical influence. While we think of physical energy as force and differences in potential the equivalent in thought is attention (force) and intention (potential). Psi is a term used in parapsychology to indicate that influence. Psi Field — media of propagation for the effect of psi. According to the Psi Filed Hypothesis, it permeates all of physical space. It is nonlocal, meaning that there is no apparent distance in psi space. A psi influence 375 Answers experienced in New York is simultaneously, equally experienced in Seattle. All of these concepts are supported by research. Consider A List of 100+ Peer-Reviewed Papers that Offer Scientific Evidence for Psi Phenomena (112) and Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications on Psi Research. (14) From my personal work, I recommend A Model for EVP. (43) and TransSurvival Hypothesis. (64) Discerning Intellect Beginning with the personal improvement instructions offered by Hermes of Egypt some 6,000 years ago, humankind has been repeatedly advised to

develop discernment, and in effect, consciously take control of our human. The model I find most useful for this is that we share worldview with our human avatar. That is, our conscious perception is determined by what we have been taught is true and our human and spiritual instincts. Our human’s survival instincts dominate unless we consciously moderate them. It is the influence of inherited spiritual instincts that guides that moderation. In effect, by thinking of ourselves as a human and an immortal personality, it is possible to develop ourselves as a more compassionate, spiritual person. Remember that our human’s influence is to kill if necessary to assure the dominance of its gene pool. Lucidity Spectrum As it is used here, lucidity means to more or less clearly sense the actual nature of our environment. In terms of Dualism, the spectrum of lucidity ranges from total immersion as “I am my body” to unobstructed perception in which we sense the actual nature of sensed information (I am this). That is, our degree of lucidity is measured by how well the content of our worldview is aligned with the actual nature of reality. The objective of a seeker is to align personal reality so that it agrees with actual reality. I know of no one who is on that far spiritual end of the spectrum; however, I know many who are consciously moving in that direction via mindful living. As a side benefit, it is becoming clear that, as people strive

to develop greater lucidity, they tend to become more consciously psi expressive. Section 6 – Spiritualism and Mediumship 376 The dual nature of how we develop perception provides an important indicator of our actual nature. Remembering that evidence inherits credibility from related, credible evidence, here are the related facts: • Physical-biological scientists have not produced an effective model for the biological origin of consciousness. • It is well-established that all people have some degree of psychic ability. • Psi functioning (psychic expression) is known to be propagated in a ubiquitous nonlocal field that permeates physical space. • There is no known way to shield from psi. This supports the idea of nonlocality. • It is possible to increase our psi ability by consciously seeking greater lucidity. • The difference in behavior between the influence of unmoderated human instincts and human instincts that are moderated by spiritual instincts is best explained by Dualism. As a person who has studied these concepts, produced some of the phenomena and tested dualistic models, I find that the more rational perspective is Dualism. That is, I am not my body. I am in an entangled relationship with my body for this lifetime. The implications of this are profound: • What I do now matters here and hereafter. • Dying does not offer escape from personal responsibility. • Ethics are spiritual and morality is local. • My job is to live this lifetime as well as I can as a beneficial citizen of this local venue

and as a cooperative citizen of the greater reality. • Experiences are neither good nor bad, only opportunities to gain greater understanding. • I need always be mindful of the difference between my spiritual urges and my human’s instincts. • Honor my human as I honor myself. 377 Answers Total immersion in entanglement as a person means that I cannot tell the difference between my conscious self and my physical self. Enlightenment means that I know to move my perspective from that place in my head behind my eye to the greater reality as a participating observer. My answer, then, is that we are demonstrably “spiritual beings having human experiences.” As a personal note, even if we are not, behaving as if we are, gives us important tools for personal improvement. Spiritual seekers who are not dominated by dogma tend to be more compassionate and rational citizens. Good question! Section 7 ITC Introduction When Lisa and I agreed to assume leadership of the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP) ion 1982 from its founder Sara Estep, the phenomena were relatively new. I think because there were so few people who even knew about EVP, we were often referred to as “The EVP people.” Ernst Senkowski (169) is credited with coining the name, Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC), mainly to address a cluster of phenomena associated with the Maggy and Jules Harsch-Fischbach (171) That cluster of phenomena included some pretty astounding examples of television and audio communication. Some of the old-time researchers

seemed a little irritated that we coopted ITC to mean all forms of instrument-aided trans-etheric phenomena. Of course, EVP remained the best known but to be technically correct, ITC consists of a suite of phenomena primarily in the category of voice or audio ITC and visual or optical ITC. We take the trans- prefix to mean across the veil. To be consistent, we increasingly talk of all forms of intended trans-etheric influence as transcommunication. Mediumship, for instance is personal or direct transcommunication. At that time, the AA-EVP was a dues-supported organization with members living in many countries. While we were primarily focused on EVP, we addressed many other forms of phenomena, as well. To be more inclusive and to be more inviting to people to bring us their not-EVP examples, we changed the name to Association TransCommunication (ATransC). That happened about the same time that social media was really gaining in popularity and our members were drifting off to friendlier, easier, more fun social media such as Facebook. To some extent, thanks to the Section 7 – ITC 380 White Noise movie we helped sell, ghost hunting was also becoming more popular. Meanwhile, our focus was increasingly turning toward study of the implications of transcommunication. What does it tell us about reality and our place in it? I personally felt almost an urgent need to understand why some people turn toward the pursuit of greater spiritual maturity while the majority did not. Examining the available science, it did not seem

that the academic community was including what we know from transcommunication in their metaphysical modeling. To answer our questions, it seemed necessary to strike out on our own by developing more inclusive models. As we pursued our metaphysical study, our view of EVP changed from it being the star of our interest to something akin to a lab rat. EVP is not a reliable tool for grief management. Loud noises from the makers and self-proclaimed experts were beginning to drown out rational discussions about EVP. It became necessary to step back and let social dynamics take their course while trying to maintain a reputation as an honest broker. All of this is to say that our evolution of understanding about survival metaphysics has taken us away from our earlier fascination with ITC. It is in this book because it is important. It is last because it is no longer the hero of the story, only one of the players. Question 223 How accurate is EVP recordings? Answered July 3, 2017 Answer As a point of order, it is “How accurate are EVP recordings?” Not “is.” Sarah Estep founded the American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena (AA-EVP) in 1982. With my wife, Lisa, I manage the Association which we now call the Association TransCommunication (ATransC) to support an international audience and more forms of phenomena. 381 Answers Sarah referred to EVP in the plural because there are several forms that need to be considered. For instance, transform EVP is formed by

changing noise into voice. Opportunistic EVP is formed by randomly selecting bits of speech. There are spontaneous EVP sometimes found in call recorders and induced EVP formed when a person conducts a session intended to produce EVP. It may be that some instruments, such as magnetic field detectors, are perturbed by attempts to form EVP. Because of their design, the instruments are only able to show changes in the meter when an EVP attempt is made. It is true that some EVP are just noise translated by our mind into familiar patterns. I conducted a brief study to answer that question. It is reported in EVP Online Phantom Voices. (122) In other studies, we asked website visitors to tell us what they hear in unlabeled examples. Correct word recognition in that and other studies seems to be settling down around 25% correct word recognition. Scottish researcher Alexander MacRae conducted listening studies which included some files with no speech. His listening panel rejected them as having no voice, so it is arguable that qualified listeners can tell the difference between noise and speech. Much of the lore about EVP is based on uninformed supposition, so study before you assume such an important question as survival. By themselves, EVP are not proof of survival. The Super-Psi Hypothesis can account for most proofs of survival. It argues that anomalous acquisition of information (mediumship, psychic, EVP) can be explained by the ability of a person to access information from someone’s memory and psychokinetically impress

it into the media. To be proof of survival, the information must not be in anyone’s memory. We (ATransC) have one example that seems to fit that requirement, but we depend on an array of evidence which begins to converge on proof. Section 7 – ITC 382 Question 224 What age should I be to try to capture an EVP? Answered July 31, 2018 Answer For membership in the Association TransCommunication (formerly American Association of Electronic Voice Phenomena), we asked that people be at least 18, preferably 21. The age request was for legal reasons, as we were not equipped to properly communicate with younger people. It was not because younger people were not or should not record for EVP. Let me explain. An interesting way of looking at the age question is if the person is legally and socially able to make informed decisions. For instance, I would not consider teaching EVP to a high school class unless I had written permission from every student’s parents. The subject of paranormal phenomena is controversial and simply suggesting they are real might offend devoutly religious parents. At the same time, I do not speak for the larger community. The theories I discuss are not widely accepted, even in the paranormalist community. These are reasons I suggest self-education and spend so much time writing about these phenomena. Our advice to everyone is that, if you are prone to do, without question, what others ask or are easily fooled, it would be best

to avoid unsupervised communication across the veil of any kind. The same can be said if you have strong views, say religious or political. Do you think you live in a fearful world? Are you afraid of the dark? Do you believe in possession by demons? Perhaps you can see where I am going with these questions. We appear to be the conduit for the messages so that our beliefs tend to color their meaning. A message from a discarnate loved one might begin during the formation of an EVP as a friendly “I am always with you.” But 383 Answers once it is colored by a person’s fear, it might end up as an “I am haunting your every moment.” EVP are a form of communication between the conceptual reality of the etheric and the objective reality of the physical. They are an imperfect form of communication and offer many opportunities for misunderstanding. Anyone, young or old, who does not understand this is likely to end up believing something that is not true. If you are old enough to accept that kind of responsibility, there is little reason why you cannot study these phenomena. The revelation of EVP is that we are immortal beings. If that is true, the only thing to fear is ignorance and that can be corrected with education. Like everything else, seek first to be a good citizen of the paranormalist community. Ask questions like this. Self-educate. Be amongst the few who do it right.

Help others do the same. Question 225 Is EVP a real phenomenon? Answered August 22, 2018 Answer The existence of EVP as voice phenomena found in the output of electronic equipment is not really disputed. There is considerable question about the paranormality of the voices, some of which are well-founded. However, most rejection of EVP comes from the mainstream science which has branded it a pseudoscience (false science). Parapsychologists are mostly divided between those who explain EVP in terms of psychological problems of the experiencer, fraud or normal mistaken as paranormal (delusion, pareidolia), and those who explain it as a psychic phenomenon (psi) in which the messages are psychokinetically formed by a physical person by taking information either from memory held by a still physical person or from a supposed residual memory in the psi field. This is related to the Super-Psi Hypothesis. To be honest, I do not know of any qualified Ph.Ds. who are studying EVP. There are a few who are claiming research showing that EVP could not Section 7 – ITC 384 be replicated or that it is delusion, but I have yet to review a single research paper based on a viable protocol. The farther out one works on the frontier of science, the more risk to one’s career. Frontier subjects have much less supporting research. Consequently, the study of frontier subjects like EVP is left to laypeople and academics who have no career to risk. Such academically trained people are too often, retired professors

who use it as a plaything. This is important to my answer because you will read a lot about EVP written under cloak of academic authority that is simply nonsense. You will encounter two main kinds of EVP. We refer to one as opportunistic EVP. It is usually in the form of randomly selected buffer addresses containing bits of words. Those are strung together to make an output sound stream that is supposed to contain the message. The random process used to select the buffer addresses is supposed to be changed by the etheric communicator. This has been shown to work, but the technique produces many false positives. Because of that, we recommend against its use. Radio-sweep is another common form of opportunistic EVP. It depends on rapid sweeps of a radio dial to produce an output stream made of bits of radio broadcast. From our studies, this technique does not produce EVP. The paradox is that the majority of people working with EVP these days are using some kind of radio-sweep device. They are known by such names as Spirit Box or Ghost Box. Because of the popularity of radio-sweep devices, my comments here represent a minority view. You will need to decide. Transform EVP is recorded with a simple audio recorder with the availability of a little background noise. We do not recommend static or radio hiss unless it is frequently interrupted with brief noise spikes. The noise spikes seem to help begin the transform process. In the

early days of EVP, all most people had for noise generation was radio static produced by tuning a radio between stations. Radios were not so well designed back then and did not lock on to one station or another, making it possible to set them between stations. We think one of the reasons people think radios are used today comes from that historical expediency. Transform EVP has been shown to be objective. A Class A example (172) can be understood by the average listener without prompting. It is common to recognize the speaker (boy, girl, accent, mannerisms), and they typically have some relationship to what is asked or going on at the time. 385 Answers Transform EVP are a little difficult to capture, but with practice, you should be able to hear one recorded by you with your recorder and without the problem of possible outside speech contamination. The ATransC White Paper on Transcommunication (80) includes a good tutorial about EVP. An important test for any EVP is if others can hear and correctly understand the words without prompting. Our studies show that, on average, online listeners can correctly make out a Class A EVP about 25% of the time. See EVP Online Listening Trials (122) So yes, EVP are real. Their cause is not known for sure, but my personal leaning is toward the idea that at least some are initiated by discarnate personalities. However, always be aware that some reported examples may not be paranormal. Question 226 Is

EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) accepted in the world of science? Answered August 23, 2018 Answer Take a look at A science checklist. (173) Science is pure, in that it seeks to understand the nature of reality, it is philosophical, in that it seeks correct understanding and it is political, in that it must conform to the current view of reality. As you can see, good intentions are defeated by momentum. Perhaps you have seen the quote from Max Planck: “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.” That is where we are today. A common comment I heard from other Wikipedia editors was that EVP (anything paranormal) is not supported by science, and therefore, it cannot be. It is official Wikipedia policy to refer to things paranormal as pseudoscience, which is a danger to society. EVP is the farther out on the frontier than, say psi functioning or NDE. While we in the paranormalist community look to parapsychology for learned enlightenment, in fact, many parapsychologists are trying to prove EVP are normal mistaken as paranormal, illusion of fraud (Anomalistic Section 7 – ITC 386 Psychology). Others are trying to show that EVP are evidence of the SuperPsi Hypothesis (Exceptional Experiences Psychology) and not evidence of survived personality. In practice, only a few academics working as parapsychologists are trying to understand these phenomena by

including the consideration of survived personality as part of their study. Even then, there is a disconnect between the Ph.D. qualified to conduct research and the layperson able to produce phenomena (Academic-Layperson Partition). That seems to be the reason we have Failure to Replicate studies. The supposed scientists think college students can produce EVP on demand. EVP are real enough. They are objective and easily demonstrated by competent practitioners. They are not necessarily proof of survival. If you consider how we process information in our mostly unconscious mind before becoming consciously aware of the information, you will understand that there are many factors that must be answered before EVP is to be considered contact with discarnate personalities. Of the thousands of EVP examples I have studied, I can only name one that may be proof of survival, as opposed to possibly being produced from memory. The example is “DoJa, no!” Martha Copeland EVP (44) Our biggest problem today is the hundreds of really bad examples posted on the Internet and the questionable claims of spirit boxes and such. When scientists do study EVP, it is likely they will do their research by contacting a typical practitioner. That is likely to be a spirit box practitioner. Predictably, the examples will not pass a listening panel and the scientist will go away convinced we are all delusional. I will conclude by noting that part of the problem is the momentum of currently accepted theory (scientism) and a growing population of people claiming

to record EVP that does not pass a listening panel test. EVP that are useful for study are pretty much lost in the weeds. 387 Answers Question 227 What is one time you have seen a supernatural entity that has made you believe in the paranormal? Answered September 23, 2018 Answer Experience alone should not be your guide to truth. If one experience makes you believe, it is time to examine your discernment, as we are experts in fooling ourselves. I have learned to think of the way we fool ourselves into thinking something is paranormal as hyperlucidity see Hyperlucidity in How We Think (16). By the way, my avatar is an example of video-loop ITC. It came from the grabbed video frame shown here. Look at the bottom. My avatar is shown as an inset. It has been slightly enhanced for clarity. You should see a man’s Section 7 – ITC 388 head and shoulders. He is looking to your right, wearing a full beard, balding and wearing a neck ruff. After seeing many such examples that cannot be explained with known physical principles, it becomes necessary to consider an explanation, possibly not based on normal physical principles. It need not be a paranormal explanation, but the paranormal cannot be excluded in the hunt for understanding. Question 228 What is EVP in the world of the paranormal? Answered November 15, 2018 Answer Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC) is a commonly used term for communication across the veil with the aid of

technology. ITC occurs in visual and audio forms. Of course, the audio form is Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). I recommend that you read ATransC White Paper on Transcommunication (80) for more detailed information about these phenomena. The article includes examples. From the ATransC Glossary of Terms (31): Electronic Voice Phenomena or EVP: EVP are anomalous, intelligible speech produced in electronic devices. They may be heard as a realtime output but are more generally heard on review of a subsequent recording. No currently understood physical processes account for the existence of EVP. The ATransC uses a three-tier scale for classifying how well an EVP example can is expected to be heard and understood by a listener: Class A: Can be heard and understood over a speaker by most people Class B: Can be heard over a speaker, but not everyone will agree as to what is said Class C: Requires using headphones to make out and is difficult to understand 389 Answers Class B or C voices may have one or two clearly understood words. Loud does not equal Class A. A distinction can be made between Types of phenomena so that a Type 1 is transformed physical media and the paranormal example is not always present while a Type 2 example is always present and is often as a persistent artifact of the technology or material. See: the Classifying Phenomena Best Practice. (172) EVP are spoken of in the plural because there are a number of forms. For instance, Transform

EVP are the most common form in which the voices are formed out of available audio-frequency background sound either in the environment or produced in the recorder. Opportunistic EVP are voice formed by selection of available bits of sound as seen with EVPmaker or some of the Spirit Boxes. A third form is the spontaneous messages found in telephones and answering machine. These three forms are thought to depend on different physical processes. Speaking for the Association TransCommunication (ATransC.org), we think a common factor in the formation of ITC is the influence of intention on chaotic noise. I refer to that as Intended order. The physical process that seems to be involved is stochastic amplification. A few characteristics of EVP we are pretty sure about is that it is not the same as Direct Voice (all can hear it in the air, real-time.) It is not voice spoken beyond our hearing range and it is not an electromagnetic phenomenon (not stray radio frequencies, for instance. Because chaotic noise seems to be better for voice formation, a highquality audio recorder is not recommended. EVP can be recorded with or without a microphone and tends to occur on only one of many recorders or one audio channel. That is why we think it is impressed into the electronics as intended communication. Analysis of the voice shows that it appears to be a simulation of biologically spoken voice. See Computer-Based Analysis of Supposed Paranormal Voice. (174) Forensic analysis of some EVP have shown

a high degree of correlation with the living voice. In transform EVP (noise transformed into voice), it is common to recognize the speaker, to tell if the speaker is male, female, age and attitude. There is much more to these phenomena. The ATransC White Paper mentioned above provides detailed instructions for you to collect examples for yourself. One caution, though. A simple audio recorder and reasonably Section 7 – ITC 390 chaotic noise, such as made by a fan, are all you need. avoid the temptation to use one of those silver bullet solutions such as a Spirit Box or one of the new cellphone apps. Anything using scanned radio has been shown to probably not produce EVP. Proceed with great discernment, as there are a lot of baseless claims made by people who have not studied or have ignored existing literature. By the way, we think many EVP are initiated by discarnate personalities, but some may be initiated by still physical people. The Super-Psi Hypothesis can also explain some EVP (psychic access to memory). We recommend that you depend on how it seems to you if you are looking for relief from fear of dying or grieving the loss of a loved one. If you are approaching it as a science, these beliefs need to be supported by more research. Question 229 What’s the best app for communicating with ghosts on iPhone? Answered November 28, 2018 Answer Use the audio recorder function of your phone. You will want to

be able to examine the resulting recording in an audio management tool. The idea is to be able to review parts of the recording, possibly many times. Always use headphones. The advent of computers and digital recorders made technically powerful tools available to the average person at a relatively low cost. That resulting surge in increased understanding has given us important insights about the nature of transcommunication. The cell phone does not seem to have furthered that understanding. ATransC White Paper on Transcommunication (80) provides a useful tutorial for working with EVP. Resist using apps designed to scramble pre-recorded speech, scan radio stations or select words based on changes in local energy such as magnetic field. There is little research supporting their usefulness. There is also a problem with false positives, in which the person too easily mistakes ordinary sounds as paranormal. 391 Answers Do not us apps or devices for EVP if the app programmer or device maker does not explain how their product produces artifacts. For instance, it is easy enough for a programmer to know if their product accesses a particular range of buffer addresses more often than expected. This should be identified by them and disclosed to you. Always ask a few friends to tell you what they hear in a possible example without prompting. If a majority does not agree, discard the example. An unexpected trend in cellphone apps is the manipulation of images or speech to make the results more interesting or fun. For

instance, adding an accent to recorded voice or artificially changing a photograph to seem like an ultraviolet or infrared photograph. While the apps can be fun, they introduce the possibility of artifacts the practitioner does not necessarily know about or understand. Unless such artifacts are understood, the apps should be avoided. If they are used, full disclosure to witnesses means explaining the app and what it does to the results. Happy recording! Question 230 What is the difference between dust orbs and spirit orbs, and how can you tell? Answered December 2, 2018 Answer Some orbs may be paranormal, but most are not. We tell the difference by having more data than just a picture. There is evidence that orbs found in photographs are produced by bright objects in the scene or light reflecting from objects near the lens. There is a good article on a study of orbs on Page 8 of the Fall 2009 ATransC NewsJournal titled Apparitions, Orbs, Ultraviolet and Infrared Photography by Rick Moran. (175) Also take a look at Anthony Justus’ excellent article, Section 7 – ITC 392 Paranormal Photography: Orbs and More: Fact or Fiction: Analyzing Paranormal Photographs. (176) Both articles explain that many orbs found in photographs are caused by light reflecting from dust. Very small particulates in the air that are close to the camera are illuminated by the flash and show up in the picture as translucent, usually white orbs. Since most ghost hunters use their camera on automatic mode, the

flash is almost always used. The fact that you do not see the dust at the time means nothing. Another cause of photographic orbs is light reflecting from a bright object such as a metal doorknob. Light from a bright light or the sun will do the same. Camera lenses almost always have a slight film of dust or oil on them which will image the bright light as an orb. A common ghost light is caused when a photograph is taken in a dim scene in which there is a street or porch light. The scene will show as a crisp image, but the light will show as the light at the end of a bright, erratic trail. Bright lights image faster in the camera and a handheld camera moves a little when the picture is taken. The result is something like the example below. Look closely at the hull of the ship. You can see that the letters for the name are reasonable steady, yet all of the lights moved. Such streaks of light are often mistakenly reported as evidence of spirits. With that said, some reported orbs may be paranormal. An example is an orb that crossed the room during a video shoot of Lisa and me doing a walkabout for a Universal Studios. It was for a bonus feature for the White Noise video release. The frame grab is from a video made in natural light (no flash). The softball-sized orb did not have a light

of its own. 393 Answers In another example, a friend of the ATransC sent us a picture of one of two orbs that repeatedly showed up in his New York apartment over many days. He reported that they were teardrop-shaped and moved about as if they were sentient, even to the point of bothering his dog. The orbs also passed through walls. This is a picture of one that was not moving. We do not know enough about orbs, like the black one and the one with a tail, to speculate what they are. Based on other forms of phenomena, there is no reason to think they are the spirit of a dead person. Our best guess today is that they may be indicative of a near-physical life form. That is why I refer to them as etheric critters. Another form of orb is the kind that shows up in video and seems to be moving about under their own power. We have an example of one collected Section 7 – ITC 394 by a friend in which the orb-shaped object moved up a staircase. In another example, orbs passed through glass. We have had reports of orbs moving toward a person, seemingly on request. These orbs are clearly in the scene, rather than near the lens. They appear as a solid shape. They may or may not be self-illuminated and all I have seen have been white. Unlike dust orbs that are nearly impossible to say where they are

in the room, these orbs can be decisively located in the scene. We do not know enough about this kind of orb to speculate about their nature, accept to agree that they seem intelligent and seem to contradict known physical principles. As we know from visual forms of Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC), paranormal faces tend to be formed in chaotic, medium-brightness optical noise. Dust orbs are usually formed of that kind of optical noise and people often report finding an anomalous face in them. Such faces are not evidence of a local ghost but may be an example of ITC. Research is indicating that etheric space (not physical) is nonlocal, meaning that there is no distance. Everywhere is here. In that sense, your loved one on the other side is not really any one place. Their distance from you is the distance of a thought. My answer is that probably 99.999% of photographic orbs are not paranormal. The odds of you photographing one that is paranormal is slim. Understand that dust moves with the air. It will even follow you around as you move the air when you walk. Be slow to claim something is an orb unless you have additional evidence. It is probably true that an orb example is just a ruined photograph. Question 231 Is it really possible to hear the voices of the dead? Answered March 22, 2019 Answer Mainstream science tells us there is nothing but the physical, and that when we die, our personality ceases

to exist. There is also a lot of momentum in popular theories. People who are qualified for this study may sacrifice their 395 Answers mainstream science career when they openly study survival. There is also little funding for research. Predictably, most of the answers to this question will be based on beliefs such as only special people are mediums or you only hear the dead if you are crazy or if God wills it. This is an important subject, and if you really want to know the answer, it is necessary to do the work to study existing literature. The answer is yes, it really is possible to hear voices of the dead … at least that is one of the contending theories intended to explain the anomalous voices of Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) (43) and the anomalous acquisition of information thought to come from deceased people (mediumship (26)and psi functioning (19)). There are some good examples of EVP scattered around the Internet. I can offer those under the ITC tab of atransc.org. (124) Use caution when examining examples. Not all offered examples around the Internet are actual EVP. EVP and mediumship are examples of psi functioning (psychic). However, they are not necessarily proof of survival. We know that all of us are psychic (it is a natural ability and not a gift) but some of us are more effective than others and some have worked hard to be good enough mediums to serve the public in grief management and

research. We also know of no way to shield from psi, so the information could be psychically accessed from a still physical person. Information must be assumed to come from a still living person unless no one knows about the information except the supposed dead person. Because the question is so important, it is best to assume that psi functioning is real and possibly some information comes from the other side. We are still learning. Question 232 Is there any science behind “spirit boxes” or any tools for paranormal investigations or is it all entertainment? Answered May 2, 2019 Answer Section 7 – ITC 396 There is a shortage of good research on haunt phenomena investigation. Consequently, there is no shortage of untested theory and local wisdom. Spirit boxes are a good example. Since you mentioned spirit boxes, I will use EVP as an example. To my knowledge, there are five basic approaches to Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) collection: 1. EVP recorded using a simple audio recorder to record voices thought to be paranormally formed by transforming background noise. (Transform EVP) 2. Prerecorded speech, sometimes just phenomes, which is thought to be transformed by a communicating personality into the intended message. Foreign-language speech is usually used in an effort to avoid false positives. (Transform EVP) Using Live Voice Input Files for EVP (177) 3. Prerecorded speech, sometimes just phenomes, which is broken into small segments for storage in a buffer. A random process selects buffer addresses for inclusion of the

stored sound fragment in the output sound stream. The resulting arrangement of voice bits is supposed to form words intended by the communicating personality. (Opportunistic EVP) 4. Fragments of prerecorded speech stored in a buffer. The paranormal message is thought to be formed by detecting changes in ambient energy such as temperature, rf energy and magnetic fields and using that signal to select buffer addresses, thus forming an output sound stream. (Opportunistic EVP) 5. A radio modified to rapidly scan the local commercial radio spectrum (radio-sweep). The paranormal message is thought to be caused by fortuitously tuning into the required fragment of broadcast sound. (Opportunistic EVP) See Formation of EVP (178) There are two schools of thought about the effectiveness of transform and opportunistic EVP techniques. Transform has been around the longest with the most studies. Technology has made opportunistic techniques possible and tends to be seen as a silver bullet tool for EVP. It appears the majority of EVP practitioners prefer opportunistic techniques, but there are many observer complaints that the reported EVP are more than a little difficult to make out. Sometimes a reported 397 Answers opportunistic EVP turns out to be a transform EVP formed from the noise inadvertently produced by the technique and not by the intended output stream. EVP reported from using Foreign-language speech has too often turned out to be simply a word in that Foreign-language and not EVP at all. As a co-director for the Association TransCommunication (ATransC.org), (124) I am speaking from

the point of view that opportunistic techniques may not actually produce EVP. We have conducted studies on both and virtually all of the opportunistic techniques have been disappointing. You can review these studies under the Journal tab at atransc.org. The Approach we recommend for any practitioner is to form and depend on a witness panel. Witness Panel (179) Our mind fools us, so it is best to have unbiased second opinions. My answer is that there is little science but there are many well considered studies. The working hypothesis we are using for the ATransC is that nonphysical-to-physical influences such as EVP formation and haunt phenomena is made possible through the mind-body interface of a physical person and subsequently produced via psychokinetic influence at the direction of the communicating personality. Trans-Etheric Influences (180) If that is true, haunt phenomena may depend on physical people’s attention on the location and phenomena. For instance, it looks like poltergeist phenomena are associated with the presence of a disturbed child in the home. About Poltergeists (181) To understand what is known about haunt phenomena, it is necessary to distinguish between popular wisdom and empirical studies. It is also important to be familiar with adjacent theoretical models. From my perspective, there is good science to support trans-etheric phenomena, including haunt. For current ideas about haunt phenomena, I prefer to yield to Loyd Auerbach. Misconceptions About the Paranormal (145) Question 233 What is EVP in parapsychology? Answered May 27, 2019 Answer Section 7 – ITC 398

EVP is an acronym for Electronic Voice Phenomena. EVP are recorded voices, the presence of which cannot be explained by known physical principles. They are thought to represent mind-to-mind communication. One theory is that a physical person acts as the conduit for the transfer of nonphysical (mental) information to the physical recording. Part of the theory is that at least some EVP are initiated by discarnate personalities (aka dead people). A few examples are at The EVP of Tom and Lisa Butler. (118) Also see A Model for EVP (43) A more current term is Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC), for which EVP are the audible form. There is also a visual form. Here is one collected by Lisa Butler and me. You should see a child looking toward your left shoulder. The image was formed in noise generated with a videofeedback loop. By comparison, mediumship is a non-instrumental form of trans communication. Parapsychologists are not in agreement about EVP. From my assessment, most think EVP is pareidolia, fraud or simple normal mistaken as paranormal. Others maintain that EVP are possibly mind-to-mind transfer of information but not evidence of survived personality. Only a few parapsychologists openly speculate that EVP may be evidence of survival. 399 Answers Question 234 Which devices record the paranormal activities and how far they are accurate? Answered May 29, 2019 Answer If you can physically experience the phenomenon, standard recording equipment will work. However, there is a problem with recording evidence of what we cannot physically experience. Magnetic

field detectors, for instance, are affected by naturally occurring fields and electrical devices. Since we cannot normally physically experience the present influence of a discarnate personality, we have no direct way of knowing if the detected magnetic deviation is natural or paranormal. Also consider that, as with an audio recorder for Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP), the electronic sensor in the magnetic field detector could be psychokinetically influenced by a mind (incarnate or discarnate). Since the etheric (the psi field) is known to be nonlocal, the influencer could be anywhere in reality … not in the room at all. I base my opinion on a wide range of research reports from parapsychology, known physics, a degree in electrical and electronics engineering and lessons learned from the study of transcommunication (mediumship, audio (EVP) and visual ITC). The best model I have found to help us understand trans-etheric influences supposedly detected by devices is that the practitioner or interested observer is the conduit through which the influence is passed from the etheric to the physical. We are both the creator and experiencer of our own worldview. We are the agent by which the phenomena we experience is possible. That does not mean that we cause the phenomena, only that we enable it. The explanation for this model is complex, so here, I will just say that the real question concerns how well we are able to influence our physical world. To understand that, we need to look at research concerning the influence of

intention on physical processes. Begin with the list of Section 7 – ITC 400 references kindly provided by Dr. Dean Radin: Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications on Psi Research (14) A quick review of the articles under Mind-Matter Interactions near the bottom of that list will show that, under some conditions, people are able to influence the operation of Random Event Generators (REG) and quantumlevel processes. In the study of EVP, we have learned that the supposed paranormal speech is injected into the audio recorder and not recorded by way of the microphone. The speech appears to be formed by the psychokinetic influence of intentionality on available audio-frequency noise. That is, the voice is formed in the recorder by transforming noise recorded by or generated in the recorder. We refer to that form of EVP as Transform EVP. Other techniques depend on the apparent psychokinetic influence of random processes to intentionally select the necessary pre-recorded bits of speech to produce the intended output signal. We refer to that as Opportunistic EVP. The answer to your question is that standard equipment will record what we can physically experience. We can indirectly experience some phenomena if it can be developed in our equipment, but that is much less reliable. Naturally occurring artifacts produced by the equipment can be mistaken as paranormal, so there are questions. It is important to understand the nature of how we interact with the physical and the technology we use to study that interaction. It has been my experience that

most popular beliefs are just that, beliefs based on assumptions which are based on sounds-good popular wisdom and not on good study or well-considered research. 401 Answers Question 235 Everything can be faked with special effects these days. So hypothetically how would one prove the existence of the paranormal even with undoctored ultra high def footage? Answered May 29, 2019 Answer Studying paranormal phenomena, I too often encounter skeptics claiming that a magician can do the same thing, and therefore, it is fake. My answer is that they are committing the Fallacy of Equal Similars. By that, I mean that a particular effect might be replicated in the narrow sense of a controlled condition. For instance, I can throw a cup across the room, and thereby replicated the effect of a poltergeist, but it is a fallacy to argue that the physically lifted object is the same as the psychokinetically levitated one. People who are reasonably well informed about a particular form of paranormal phenomena are generally capable of recognizing the real deal from the fake. However, most experts know to suspend judgment if there is any doubt. An obvious fake might be actual paranormal phenomena manifesting in a new way. For instance, catching a physical medium walking about during a dark room seance does not necessarily mean fraud. The medium is supposed to be in a deep trance. When in a deep trance, the person is pretty much under control of the communicating etheric personality. That means the medium

may be a trance puppet and be moved about the room without being aware of the fact. I am trying to explain that we do not know enough about these phenomena to say that something is definitely fake or not. However, we usually know enough to be cautious. I personally practice suspended judgment. If claimed evidence comes in for which I do not know the origin, Section 7 – ITC 402 if I have no reason to trust the source or if the example does not conform to known values, I withhold judgment until more information comes in. I have a large collection of wait and see examples that may never be moved on to here is another example of that. I suspect some of that material is fake. One important point I would like to make is that there are a lot of examples around from people who honestly think they have evidence. One of the biggest problems in our study of these phenomena is that we so easily fool ourselves. It is not the fraud we need to be mindful of. It is our friends who mistake normal as paranormal. Read How We Think (16) for a sense of what I mean. Question 236 What do you think the orbs are that appear in photos? Do you believe these are supernatural in nature, and do you have any orb photos to share with us? Answered June 27, 2019 Answer The subject of photographic orbs is pretty complex. The

majority of photographic orbs are the result of light shining off of nearby bugs, moisture or dust particles. What we refer to as string of pearls orbs are caused by lent and bits of spiderweb. Orbs became a problem with cameras that automatically set exposure and flash. When the flash is close to the lens, it creates a region in front of the lens in which small objects can be illuminated by the flash. The particulates are usually so out of focus that they are translucent. The results are that it is almost impossible to tell how far away and how large they are. Because you can usually at least partially see through them, it is impossible to tell if they are in front of or behind solid features in the scene. There is a little background information in the articles Paranormal Photographic Anomalies Page 5 in the Summer 2005, Apparitions, Orbs, Ultraviolet and Infrared Photography Page 8 in the Fall 2009 and Common 403 Answers Mistakes in Identifying Paranormal Phenomena Page 16 in the Fall 2007 ATransC NewsJournals. (124) Ghost hunters routinely report photographic orbs. they also routinely search for ghosts in dark, dusty places with a lot of dust and always with the flash operating. Camera lenses often develop a film over the glass that is not easily seen and does not overly affect resulting photographs. Nevertheless, bright sources of light in the scene can image on the film as orbs in the resulting photograph. When this happens,

look to see if the camera flash operated. This is especially a problem with windows and mirrors. Shiny doorknobs produce great orbs. There are some orbs that are not explained as above. We look for evidence that the reported orb is moving independently of local drafts or camera movement. If we do not see such evidence, we have no choice but to set aside the report. The majority of reported orbs are shaped like circles filled with milkywhite optical noise. Faces can sometimes be found in such orbs, but they should not be taken as evidence of the local ghost. Visual Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC) studies have shown that such faces will sometimes be formed in any visual noise, be it in an orb or on some surface. JPEG compression noise is an excellent source of such faces. ©Universal Films Section 7 – ITC 404 We have two examples of moving orbs that are convincingly paranormal. Neither look like the usual dust-mote orbs. The softball-sized fussy black orb above can be seen at about the three-minute point of the White Noise DVD, Hearing is Believing bonus feature. That is me climbing the stairs at the right. The cameraman was using available light. The orb moved at about knee-level and about as fast as a person can walk. My wife Lisa later recorded a Class A EVP, “Betty’s in there,” (118) in the room it came from. The second example is one sent us by Mr. D. of New York City. He

indicated that there were usually two together. They seemed to come through the wall. As in this picture, they sometimes hovered motionlessly, but then wiggled their tail and took off. He also sent us a video of one dropping down from the ceiling toward his dog and then chasing the dog as if they were playing. We do not know how to judge the nature of such interactive orbs. All we can say is that they apparently exist. My speculation is that they are more like etheric critters; a life form that exists at the edge of the physical, closer to the etheric. We do not know. In answer to your question, most orbs are just in ruined photographs as naturally occurring artifacts. However, there does appear to be evidence that some are actually life forms of some kind. Much more must be known before we speculate further. As always, we are looking for examples of this kind. 405 Answers Question 237 Is the electronic voice phenomenon (EVP) just nothing more than the snippets of random radio stations? Answered October 12, 2019 Answer Your question illustrates one of the problems we have in the paranormalist community. Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) sessions represent one of the most often replicated of paranormal phenomena. It is important that we get them right. Anyone with an audio recorder can conduct a recording session with a reasonable expectation of collecting a possibly paranormal utterance. The problem is that few who do, have the necessary understanding

to be discerning about what is and is not EVP. There are two primary types of EVP. The oldest technique is the use of an audio recorder to record audio-frequency noise. Anomalous speech can sometimes be found in recordings of such noise sources as a common household fan or simply a passing car. We refer to this kind of EVP as transform EVP because the speech appears to be formed by transforming the noise according to the intention of the communicator. We refer to the second form of EVP as opportunistic EVP. In this, prerecorded word or word fragments are stored in memory and then selected for the output sound stream based on changing environmental energy or a random process. Sometimes a foreign language is used. These days, smartphone apps are often used. The more popular way to collect opportunistic EVP is to create an output sound stream by rapidly sweeping the radio dial. The output is, as you suggest, just a stream of bit and pieces of radio broadcast. There are apps for this as well. Opportunistic EVP is usually based on the use of live voice, meaning that someone’s speech is recorded and then manipulated in some way to produce the phenomena. From our study, Using Live Voice Input Files for EVP (177) for instance, the rate of false positives is high. Too often in radio- Section 7 – ITC 406 sweep, the sweep is so slow, whole words of broadcast speech can be heard in the output

An important characteristic of transform EVP is that available noise is changed into recognizable speech. The apparent action is that the relatively random noise is changed according to some’s intention. This also appears to be the underlying principle for the Global Consciousness Project, (92) Dean Radin’s double-slit study (94) and the study of how meditating people change the randomness (93) of random event generators. Transform EVP appears to involve the same etheric-physical principles. On the other hand, opportunistic EVP only indirectly involves this principle. For instance, the noise generated with radio-sweep is sometimes transformed into voice as transform EVP. Another problem is that opportunistic EVP techniques typically use random processes that are constrained into narrow ranges which appears to be much more difficult to transform with intentionality. There is also a huge problem with mundane sounds being mistaken as paranormal. This is common in radio-sweep and in the use of foreign language. In pseudo-random access of speech stored in memory, access tends to be weighted in favor of certain addresses so that the output tends to repeat. Finally, makers of opportunistic technique devices and apps appear not to test their products. Rather, they are sold with promises but no certification, which is the definition of fraud. The solution, of course, is education of the public and a more activist public demanding honesty in our vendors and opinion setters. So, my answer is “yes.” Most listeners I have communicated with make the same complaint. Those claiming opportunistic EVP are actual paranormal

speech need to do a lot more to establish the validity of their claim and explain the conditions under which they are right. 407 Answers Question 238 How accurate do you think a spirit box is communicating with the dead versus an Ouija board? Answered November 2, 2019 Answer To understand my answer to this question, it is important to understand the role a person plays as a conduit for the flow of information into the physical. My answer is based on what I have learned as an engineer, Spiritualist, (182) director for the ATransC (124) and author of books (4) on the subject. While I expect parapsychologists will agree to some extent, this is not an official perspective of parapsychology. First, we need to agree on the meaning of a few terms: Transcommunication – used here to mean mind-to-mind, etheric-tophysical sharing of information. This may be between two people in the physical (incarnate) or between a person in the physical and a hypothesized person who has transitioned out of the physical (aka a dead person; discarnate). Transcommunication may be direct, in the form of telepathy (mindto-mind between physical people), mediumship (mind-to-mind between a psychical person and a discarnate person) or instrument-aided communication such as visual and audible Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC). Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) is also known as audible ITC. People as a conduit for transcommunication – a physical person must provide a conduit for his or her intention, or the intention of another personality, to influence physical space.

This means the influence necessary to produce EVP is an etheric-to-physical process enabled by the EVP practitioner or an interested observer. Opportunistic EVP – techniques for collecting EVP that may be in the form of a stand-alone box or a smartphone app. Classical transform EVP Section 7 – ITC 408 only requires an inexpensive audio recorder. See the ATransC White Paper on Transcommunication (80) for instructions. Spirit Box – a term that has come to mean an electronic device other than an ordinary recorder, which is designed to enables discarnate personalities to communicate with the living. They are usually opportunistic EVP (183) devices, meaning that they depend on the availability of pre-recorded speech (live voice) or other forms of physical signals that contain parts of the message. The device must in some way isolate the message from the surrounding bits of speech. While the information in spirit boxes is embedded in the source sound or source database, isolation of required words or bits of sound required to form the message is usually accomplished by detecting changes in some random process. Those changes are used to select memory addresses containing the intended bits of speech. Early versions of spirit boxes were radio-sweep devices. In those, a radio is modified to automatically sweep the dial to momentarily intercept the local radio stations in a continuous cycle of about three seconds. The resulting stream of bits of sound is expected to contain the paranormal message. The idea is that the communicating personality will

cause the necessary song, silence or h produced by the radio station to form the intended message. For radio-sweep to work, it is necessary to cause a person to do something. In my years of metaphysical training, such violation of selfdetermination simply does not exist. For this reason, and the fact that radio-sweep examples virtually never pass a listening panel test, (184) the Association TransCommunication has advised members to avoid the technique. At the least, it produces too many false positives to be of practical use. The use of pre-recorded speech is an alternative approach to opportunistic EVP formation. In the technique bits of speech, sometimes whole words, are stored in a database. The randomness of local energy such as magnetic fields or temperature to detected and used to select the required pre-recorded speech fragment (sometimes whole words). The idea is that the communicating personality will change the local energy to purposefully select memory addresses containing the sounds needed to form the intended message. 409 Answers Transcommunication appears to depend on the imposition of intended order on a physical process such as the local magnetic field or background sound. Apparently, the more indeterminate the process, the easier it is to mentally influence. For instance, transform EVP (43) is thought to be produced by the imposition of intended order on available noise, thus changing the noise to resemble the intended speech. Techniques that detect changes in ambient energy, such as magnetic field and temperature to select memory addresses, do appear to

be a viable approach to produce EVP. The only problem we have noted is that—from our last study—the devices produce way too many false positives to be dependable. An Ouija Board game consists of a board with the alphabet, the Numbers 0–1, Yes, No and Goodbye. They are equipped with a pointer supposed to be touched by the players but moved by the communicating personality to spell out messages. The term Ouija Board has become a generic name for any device, table or board that provides a selection of words, letters and/or numbers and a means to select those options so as to produce a message. Sitters for an Ouija Board session are supposed to mentally step aside to allow discarnate personalities to use them as instruments to move the pointer. In principle, this is a discarnate mind-to-incarnate mind communication. What we think we know There are two modes of transcommunication that must be considered to understand transcommunication. It appears anyone is able to act as a conduit for transcommunication. However, like any endeavor involving people, the natural distribution or Bell Curve applies. Most people provide a modest conduit for transcommunication. Only a few people are able to enable substantial mind-to-mind influence. So, while all of us are mediumistic to some extent, some are superstars. I am a mental medium (some mind-to-mind influence) with perhaps slightly better than average ability because of training. I have not been able to demonstrate the astounding feats shown by some physical mediums who are

capable conduits for greater mind-to-mind influence. Radio-sweep may not produce EVP because the sweep intersects the radio station broadcasting the exact bit of sound needed to form the message (opportunistic EVP), but the resulting noise of the sweep may be Section 7 – ITC 410 useful for the formation of transform EVP. Virtually all of the examples of radio-sweep EVP I have heard that do seem like EVP, also seem like transform phenomena. A person who can provide a clear conduit may be more able to produce EVP than the average person. An Ouija Boards is thought to be just an aid to help the person provide a clear conduit. As popular wisdom tells us, the person is not responsible. It is the board that is doing the communicating. Based on that lack of personal responsibility, the person does not have to take responsibility and is more able to keep ego out of the process. This idea is supported by research indicating that phenomena produced during séances tend to be stifled when sitters were able to clearly see the effects. This fuzzy sensing seems to help the person get out of the way so that their mostly unconscious mind is better able to impose intended order. For example, see The Content-Source Problem in Modern Mediumship Research. (11) Other techniques for helping the person step aside are scrying (gazing into a blank surface like water or a mirror), automatic writing and trance. All of these techniques, including ITC, involve the person

acting as a conduit for the expression of intended order into the physical. That order presents itself as the device permits. In ITC, it is the voice or video recorder, in an Ouija Board, it is the movement of the pointer, in automatic writing, it is the written word, in trance, it is the spoken word. My answer to your question is in two parts. First, the availability of physical substance to be transformed determines how useful the technique can be to the practitioner. Spirit boxes are most useful if they are producing transform EVP. However, they are of little practical use unless the practitioner can provide a clear conduit. Second, none of the techniques are of use if the practitioner cannot step aside so as to provide a clear conduit. It is difficult for the practitioner to step aside when using an Ouija Board. Before attempting any form of transcommunication, examine your own worldview. If you are fearful, judgmental, overconfident, sure of yourself or consider yourself an expert, it is likely that any of the techniques will lie to you. After all, as the conduit, it is your worldview (16) that provides the translation from thought to words. 411 Answers Question 239 Can animals other than humans become ghosts? Answered November 15, 2019 Answer In the context of the relationship between mind and body, Dualism is the idea that consciousness exists independently from our biological brain. That is, our brain acts as a transmitter-receiver for our mind. The mainstream

view of Dualism is that, if consciousness is not produced by the brain, it nevertheless ceases to exist after physical death. I study what I refer to as survival metaphysics. In that, Dualism is understood in terms of our conscious self existing before this lifetime and after in a self-aware, sentient state. Scientific publications - Pim van Lommel (149) will give you a few references for how one researcher has documented some of what survival metaphysics predicts. That is, he has shown indications that mental activity appears to continue while the brain is clinically dead during surgery. I simplify the metaphysical model I study to say that reality consists of Life Fields (18) and the expressions of life fields. Also, in that model, life fields have a set of functional areas that are more or less expressed depending on the circumstance of life. Using Rupert Sheldrake’s Hypothesis of Formative Causation. (35) a biological organism consists of a hierarchy of life fields such as skin, blood and hair cells, organs and limbs. You can see that all life fields have perception and expression functional areas, but they are rather different for a bone cell as compared to a human. All of this is to say that a cat, for instance, is as much a life field as a human, just with different degrees of expression. Avatar The second part of this is that Dualism necessarily requires that we as conscious self are in an avatar relationship with our human. This should

be Section 7 – ITC 412 self-evident if conscious self existed before and will continue to exist after this lifetime. In other words, we are not our human. Following Sheldrake’s logic, there is probably a collective consciousness supporting individual species and types of life fields. That is where his morphic resonance comes in. I say this to explain that our human also has a life cycle that has immortal aspects. Remember … universal life fields with different expressions. If the avatar model is right, it is reasonable to speculate that our pets are also avatars. Like us, their symbiotic personality is conscious a self experiencing the physical as a pet. When the pet dies, symbiotic personality is free to turn its perception back to its natural etheric habitat … just like us. A couple of points to consider. One is that we apparently do not immediately return to our pre-lifetime awareness. It reportedly takes a while, and for that while, we tend to loiter in familiar (imagined) surroundings as we get well by slowly stepping away from our identity as a physical person. Our pets would be the same. We do have frequent reports of Instrumental TransCommunication contact, either with pets or with someone referring to pets. I have included a visual ITC image of a person and his dog that Lisa and I collected. These are images found in visible noise produced with a video feedback loop. A second point to consider is that we should ask what our

pets are doing in this lifetime. My model suggests that we are seeking understanding through experience. I supposed my cats are doing that, but I sometimes wonder if they are watchers. Just a thought. You will understand if you have cats. Finally, we share worldview with our human. It is worldview that shapes our perception to show us what we think is real. Most of us are guided by our human’s instincts more than our spiritual understanding. Our pets would be in the same situation. We will see flashes of intellect and compassion in our pets—all of the things we think of as higher awareness. But for the most part, their animal instincts for survival will dominate. If we have a hard time managing our human’s instincts, just think of how difficult it is for, say my cats, to manage theirs. 413 Answers My answer then is that, if you mean by ghost, survived personality, people and pets are the same, only slightly different expressions. So, yes! Question 240 If spirits don’t exist, how do you explain “electronic voice phenomena” or EVP’s for short? Answered December 18, 2019 Answer Using current terminology, Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC) is the recording of anomalous images and speech using instruments. Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) is an older term used to describe the voice form of ITC. You may encounter other terms because of differences in language. Transcommunication generally means across the veil or trans-etheric. The information is anomalous because it cannot be explained with physical

and psychological principles that are currently accepted by mainstream science. Section 7 – ITC 414 Some parapsychologists model the effects of mind as psi functioning propagated in a psi field. The Psi Field Hypothesis holds that there is a nonlocal ubiquitous subtle field of influence which acts as a medium for the propagation of the influence of thought in the etheric. See the Etheric Fields Discourse. (53) The Psi Field Hypothesis does not presume the existence of discarnate mind, only that mind functions psychically. The Survival Hypothesis holds that discarnate mind also exists and also functions psychically. Thus, when speaking of anomalous access of information, the information may come from either the mind of a still-living person or a discarnate personality. It is necessary to be specific about what is being discussed because the only way to tell the expression of a still physical person from the expression of a discarnate personality is information content and associated circumstances. For instance, in remote viewing, the intention of the viewer is to psychically access information about a distant location. In mental mediumship, the same person might intend to access information from a discarnate loved one. The common factor in transform EVP and visual ITC is the presence of chaotic noise. The voice or image is formed by transforming the noise. The physical principle appears to be stochastic amplification. See What Is Stochastic Resonance? (185) The actual trans-etheric influence is more difficult to model. Part of the problem is that the etheric appears

to be purely conceptual and the physical is objective. I model the Creative Process as changes in reality are expressed via personality’s attention on an imagined outcome with the intention to make it so. If that is correct, the intention to cause a physical effect is accomplished as the influence of intention on the conceptual character of the noise. That is the expression of intended order. See A Model for EVP (43) The dualistic model seems to provide the answer to this question. In Dualism, we are nonphysical mind interacting with the physical by way of our human body. Our physical-biological brain acts as a transmitter-receiver for mind. The difference between a person in the flesh and one in spirit is that we in the flesh have a body. The expression of intended order from the etheric into the physical is the same if we have a body or not. Remember our mind is nonphysical … just like our discarnate friends. 415 Answers EVP is just another form of that expression of intended order. The technology just makes it a little easier since it is designed to record and playback speech. The actual speech is just manifest intention. No magic allowed. Question 241 Where can I have ghost audio (EVP) analyzed? Answered January 1, 2020 Answer It has been our experience that Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) is best if it does not need analyzing by manipulating the soundtrack with audio management software. Sometimes a little amplification and slight noise reduction

helps, but as a general practice, if you cannot make out the words in the raw form, it is best not to bother. It is possible to change the perceived meaning with too much manipulation. We consider the correct understanding is important. Else, we too easily fool ourselves. EVP are often classified as: Class A: Can be heard and understood over a speaker by most people Class B: Can be heard over a speaker, but not everyone will agree as to what is said Class C: Can only be heard with headphones and is difficult to understand [Note that Class B or C voices may have one or two clearly understood words. Loud does not equal Class A.] See Classifying Phenomena. (172) An example of a Class A EVP recorded by Lisa Butler is Betty’s in There. (118) EVP are typically like speech, but more a simulation than the actual thing. Words in EVP are often missing the audio cues we depend on for understanding. That is why we say that it is helpful for a person to learn to Section 7 – ITC 416 listen to them. For instance, not being true speech, the paranormal utterances can be nearly hidden in the noise. This need to learn how to listen is only something to be aware of. If you are expecting normal speech, it is likely you will not understand or even notice an EVP. All it takes is a little practice. It is a good practice for an

EVP practitioner to have a few friends that will act as a listening panel. If, say, two out of three do not agree without prompting, it is best to discard the example. See Witness Panel (179) The answer to your question is that, if you cannot make out the words without analysis, it is best to discard the example. Try again if you are learning to record for EVP. Question 242 Has anyone, or even you, ever used a spirit box before, and what stories can be shared using it? Answered January 7, 2020 Answer We at the Association TransCommunication (ATransC.org) conducted a few studies of the box technologies in the past. Our conclusion is that some probably do not produce Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) in the way they are intended. A typical ad hoc study is described in Radio-Sweep: A Case Study. (184) Even though EVP were reported in the sample, we found none when a blinded listening panel was asked. A listening panel study was conducted by Mark Leary, Ph.D. with disappointing results. There was a slight agreement when listeners were told what to hear but zero agreement when they were not. Dr. Leary proposed a number of useful cautions to take when working with all EVP. A Research Study into the Interpretation of EVP (186) I am aware of three fundamental technologies used in such devices. Frank Sumpton is credited with originating the radio-sweep technique. In that, a radio is broken so that the electronic circuit continuously

scans the radio tuner to produce an output stream made of bits and pieces of local 417 Answers radio broadcast sounds. The paranormal message is supposed to be formed from of those bits of sound. We refer to EVP presumed to be formed in that way as opportunistic EVP because it depends on the just-in-time availability of the necessary bits of sound. Compare opportunistic EVP with transform EVP in which the paranormal speech is formed by transforming available audio-frequency noise. See Formation of EVP (178) Other than the apparent fact that radio-sweep probably does not produce EVP as intended, there are problems with how it is thought to work. Different forms of Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC), which include EVP, seem to depend on similar physical characteristics, namely the apparent psychokinetic influence of intention on chaotic, random processes. We see the same transform effect in visual and audio. For radio-sweep to work, it requires that someone be forced to produce the required bit of sound at exactly the moment the device is intercepting that radio signal. Ignoring that such reported EVP typically only pass the listening test when the listener is advised about what to hear, there is no precedence in ITC for our etheric communicators to force their will on physical people. Some of the box devices use a process similar to an old software application known as EVPmaker. In that, bits of pre-recorded sounds are stored in computer memory. A random process is used to select the bit from memory

to produce an output sound stream. Changes in the randomness of the random process that controls the selection of bits of sound in the right order to form the intended voice is thought to be psychokinetically controlled by the etheric communicator. This is similar to transform EVP, so we agree that, in principle, EVPmaker should work. By extension, phone apps and such using that approach may be useful. We conducted a few studies using EVPmaker. One such study ran for a year. A target object was placed on a table by one of our members. Other members did not know what was on the table until after the next object was placed. We found no reported results that matched the object, but there were a few side comments from our etheric communicators that suggested a hit. See Information Gathering Using EVPmaker With Allophone: A Yearlong Trial (187) We also funded an EVPmaker study by an outside firm with disappointing results. See EVPmaker with Allophones: Where are We Now? (188) Section 7 – ITC 418 Our conclusion is that, in principles, random access to stored bits of sound is a viable technology for EVP, but it is uncertain. The resulting reported EVP are so often not EVP and the staccato output resulting from the random sampling so befuddles the mind that the listener is even more prone to error. As with radio-sweep devices, we recommend that serious practitioners stick to transform EVP. The third such box technology we are aware of

is a variation of the EVPmaker approach. Stored words or bits of words are still used but in place of a random event generator, detected changes in environmental energy such as magnetic field, radio-frequency and temperature are used to select the pre-recorded sound. This technique should produce EVP, but the results can be misleading because of artifacts produced by the technology. For instance, poorly designed memory access tends to result in selected bits of sound being more frequently accessed than would be expected for intelligent communication. With our members (we no longer use a membership model), we have studied many forms of EVP and countless techniques. While we are reluctant to argue that a technique does not work, we see it as our duty to provide the best guidance possible to the paranormalist community. See Pledge. (189) Because of this, we do not recommend any of the box techniques. I understand that many people find such box techniques their favorite way to communicate across the veil. None of us know enough about these phenomena to say with any certainty that something is or is not true. We invite researchers to provide reports for studies that might give us reason to change our recommendation. If you take time to read A Model for EVP (43), you will see that any sound stream with a little noise in it might possibly be transformed into an EVP. This causes some confusion amongst practitioners because, in fact, some of the reported EVP from such

box devices are actually transform EVP formed in the recording device. Given that this is true, it would save a lot of money to just use a simple audio recorder and a little background noise. For your future reference, we recommend that you use a listening panel to help you classify your EVP examples. During the grading, never tell your listener what they should hear. Resist claiming a single syllable sound is an EVP. Discard the example if there is any doubt. These phenomena are 419 Answers actually relatively rare, and we too easily fool ourselves. When in doubt, err on the side of the mundane. What is that old saying … "When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras." My Qualifications You can see my biography at ethericstudies.org/tom-butler-biography/. My Influences It may be helpful if you have a sense of my approach to these subjects. I am fascinated with some of the ancient teaching about our spiritual nature. I always begin with Hermes who was a teacher who lived in Egypt some 6,000 years ago. The Egyptians had a god named Thoth which was considered the mind of God as a teacher, source of writing, healing, art and music. Many contemporary accounts describe Thoth and Hermes as the same person, but it is more likely Thoth was an aspect of God, or ideal, while Hermes was probably an influential priest or class of priests. Amongst many titles, Thoth was considered the heart and tongue of the sun god

Ra and the means by which Ra’s will was translated into speech. He also had the title of Three times great, great. The Greeks thought Thoth and Hermes were the same, and thus gave Hermes-Thoth the title of Trismegistus (Greek for Hermes the thrice-greatest). The Romans referred to him as the god Mercury (Mercurius ter Maximus in Latin). While the line of inheritance is likely different for people who have followed other paths of learning, these are milestones marking the evolution of our modern spirituality as I see them: Pre-Hermetic – The spiritual instructions attributed to Hermes appear to be fully developed in his time. Following the Perceptual Agreement Organizing Principle, such understanding probably should not be expected to appear fully developed. It is more realistic to think it had evolved prior to Hermes’ time. If so, what civilization existed before? See Before The Pharaohs: The Evidence for Advanced Civilisation in Egypt’s Mysterious Prehistory. (141) Hermes – Perhaps the only document reliably attributed to Hermes is the Emerald Tablet (1) A more appropriate title for the discourse is The Truly Great Work because it describes the creative process and how to My Qualifications 422 apply it to the personal pursuit of spiritual maturity. About 6,000 years ago. Katha Upanishad – Sanskrit was the language of the Indus Valley at the border between Pakistan and India. About 4,000 years ago, the spiritual oral traditions of that region were written as educational stories. The Katha Upanishad (41) describes a conversation between the

God of Death and a seeker asking to know the nature of death. It is important because, as I describe in The Razor’s Edge Essay, (42) it clearly explains the relationship between our spiritual self and our human avatar. It also explains how to seek spiritual maturity. John 14 of the Bible – The teaching attributed to Jesus in John 14 (114) also describes the relationship between spiritual self and physical self. It depicts the three aspects of a teacher in the same sense as the Emerald Tablet and the Katha Upanishad. Above all, and a lesson often lost on modern Christians, it teaches the way toward spiritual maturity. About 2,000 years ago. Hermetic Tarot – The earliest Tarot I am aware of appeared in the 1300s. It is important to distinguish between New Age Tarot card used for divination and the 22 Major Arcana of the Hermetic Tarot designed to depict the way to spiritual maturity. I study a version of the 1910 Rider-Waite deck modified by Paul Foster Case and used by Builders of the Adytum. (48) The 22 Major Arcana (cards) symbolically represent one cycle of seeking toward spiritual maturity. Contemporary Science – Parapsychology is the apparent keeper of contemporary spiritual wisdom. I say that with some reservation because that field of study has probably done more damage than good to our understanding of things paranormal. Here, things paranormal are also things spiritual because understanding the one can lead to understanding the other. Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC) –

As I studied both audio and visual ITC, it became clear that ITC is a contemporary dispensation of the same spiritual guidance taught by Hermes, the Katha Upanishad, Jesus and the Hermetica. My personal objective in life is to understand who I am and my relationship with the greater reality. The most important milestone of all for this quest has been ITC. The phenomena themselves are important, even 423 Answers sometimes useful for such service as helping with grief and fear of death, but the implications of their existence unavoidably show us the fact of our immortality as spiritual self first and human avatar second. I write because it is the only way I can scratch this itch to teach. 1234 Index 9-11 Attack ........................ 217, 302, 350 A Priori ............................................. 105 Aberrant Psychology ......................... 158 Academic-Layperson Partition ......24, 85, 190, 203, 237, 386 Alchemy Way .................................... 178 Alexander MacRae ............................ 381 Allan Kardec............................... 346, 363 Amateur Radio Operators ................. 202 Anabela Cardoso ............................... 342 Anthony Justus ................................. 391 Appeal to Improper Authority Fallacy 165 Apple Man Fractal ............................... 44 Aristotle....................................... 51, 141 Association TransCommunication ...... 341 Axis Mundi ........................................... iv Bayesian Analysis ....................... 159, 170 Bell Curve ......................................... 409 Belmont Report .................................. 40 Bible ...... 65, 114, 187, 274, 313, 360, 422 Biblical Creation Story ....................... 119 Big Bang Theory ...... 61, 74, 97, 106, 119, 123, 131, 143, 150, 151, 178, 195, 197, 204, 232, 275, 329, 371 Big Foot ..................................... 211, 301 Black Box Analysis ...................... 120,

179 Builders of the Adytum ........ 64, 351, 422 CERN ................................................ 166 Christians.......................................... 422 Civil War ........................................... 363 Cryptids ..................................... 282, 301 Crystal Ball ........................................ 229 Cucumber ......................................... 217 Cultural Contamination .. 47, 88, 186, 239, 269, 271, 276, 282 Darshan ............................................ 230 Darwinian Evolution .......................... 129 David Bohm ...................................... 139 David Marcusson-Clavertz McFarland 193 David Merrill ................................ 37, 228 Dean Radin. 156, 193, 217, 222, 238, 253, 258, 400, 406 Declaration of Principles .................... 360 Deepak Chopra.................................... 42 Demon .............................................. 262 Devil ................................................. 263 Dualism ... 65, 79, 88, 91, 93, 99, 104, 117, 125, 139, 152, 166, 174, 176, 184, 191, 196, 204, 207, 231, 283, 303, 313, 358, 363, 367, 372, 373, 411, 414 Eckankar ........................................... 275 Edward Malkowski ............................ 274 Egypt .................. 274, 337, 364, 375, 421 Einstein ............................................. 143 Emerald Tablet ...... iii, 187, 274, 312, 313, 339, 364, 421 Epistemology .................................... 197 Ernst Senkowski ........................ 366, 379 Etheric Critter..................... 272, 393, 404 Etzel Cardeña .................................... 193 Extraterrestrial .................................. 300 Ezequiel Morsella ................................ 58 Fallacy of Equal Similars ..... 138, 148, 166, 243, 285, 328, 342, 401 Felix Experimental Group.... 341, 342, 366 Forever Family Foundation 193, 238, 239, 254, 258, 264, 328, 335 Fox Sisters ......................................... 363 Frank Sumpton .................................. 416 French............................................... 249 Friedrich Jürgenson ........................... 161 Galileo Galilei ..................... 162, 198, 199 Genesis 8:15-17................................... 65 Gestalt Psychology ..... 172, 173, 197, 286 Global Consciousness Project.... 160, 217, 225, 267, 302, 350, 406 Global Warming ................................ 166 Greeks ...................................... 188, 421 Hadron Collider ...................................

74 Helena Petrovna Blavatsky .................. 64 Index 426 Hermes ............... 274, 339, 364, 375, 421 Hermetic ........ 25, 64, 132, 178, 235, 331, 337, 347, 351, 363, 365, 421 Hermetica ......................................... 188 Historical Society ............................... 298 Holism .............................................. 171 Hydesville, New York ......................... 363 I. Grattan-Guinness ........................... 209 Ideomotor .................................316, 319 Implicate Order ................................. 139 India ................................................. 422 Indian ............................................... 323 Indus Valley ................274, 337, 364, 422 Institute for Human Studies ............... 114 International Spiritualist Federation .. 346 J. B. Rhine ......................................... 118 James Carpenter .. 58, 117, 140, 157, 160, 215, 219, 366 Jane Roberts ....................................... 31 Jerusalem Syndrome ......................... 202 Jesus ...........................105, 188, 365, 422 Joe McMoneagle ............................... 229 John 14 ......................................365, 422 John Bargh .......................................... 58 John Godfrey Saxe ............................. 104 John Palmer ...................................... 193 Kai Mügge ..................................341, 366 Kal Niranjan ...................................... 275 Katha Upanishad .... 58, 64, 187, 226, 234, 274, 312, 313, 326, 337, 343, 347, 364, 367, 422 Kenneth Batcheldor .......................... 366 Lamarck's Theory of Evolution ........... 129 Large Hadron Collider ........................ 166 Lisa Butler ......................................... 398 Logic ................................................. 127 Lord of the Flie .................................. 142 Loyd Auerbach ...........................279, 397 Lucidity Spectrum ......................253, 312 Maggy and Jules Harsch-Fischbach .... 379 Mahatmas .......................................... 64 Major Arcana .................................... 422 Mandelbrot Set ................................... 44 Marcello Bacci................................... 342 Margaret Placentra Johnson .............. 130 Mark Leary ........................................ 416 Martha Copeland ............... 279, 282, 386 Materialism ....................................... 191 Materialist Monism ........................... 176 Max Dessoir ...................................... 118 Max Planck ................. 114, 136, 170, 385 Max-Planck-Gesellschaft ......................58 Mercury ............................................ 421 Microtubules .......................................96

Miles Edward .............................. 87, 268 Monism ....................................... 79, 191 Monroe Institute ....................... 160, 325 Mothman .......................................... 301 Mufon ............................................... 272 Mychael Shane .................................. 341 National Science Foundation.............. 142 Natural Law .... 47, 97, 188, 235, 273, 329, 361, 364 Neter ................................................ 274 New York........................................... 393 Newton ............................................. 195 Occam’s Razor ........................... 127, 225 Organizing Principles ... 41, 45, 67, 75, 98, 142, 148, 188, 275, 277, 306, 361, 364, 421 Ouija Board ......... 263, 315, 316, 318, 409 Pakistan .................................... 364, 422 Panpsychism ..................................... 133 Paolo Presi ........................................ 342 Paradigm ........................................... 195 Paul Cunningham ................................31 Paul Foster Case ................................ 422 Paul Twitchell ............................ 230, 275 Perceptual Agreement ....................... 421 Physicalism ... 79, 117, 174, 176, 189, 191, 196, 204, 283, 372, 373 Pim van Lommel ........................ 303, 411 Plato ........................................... 53, 123 Poltergeist ... 138, 148, 223, 261,265, 279, 281, 293, 294, 308, 314, 397, 401 Pragmatism ....................................... 127 Principle of Parsimony ....................... 127 Property Dualism ............................... 133 Proto Science .................................... 200 Psi Encyclopedia ................................ 238 Psi Studies ......................................... 116 Psiologist ........................................... 116 Psychic Parrot .................................... 257 Psychomanteum ........................ 229, 264 427 Answers Ra .................................................... 421 Rapport ............................................ 307 Raymond Moody ....................... 229, 263 Razor’s Edge ..................................... 231 Reductionism ...... 141, 165, 171, 175, 240 Rhine Research Center ........ 40, 146, 147, 160, 215 Rick Moran ....................................... 391 Rider-Waite ............................... 351, 422 Rio do Tempo Station ........................ 342 Robert Monroe ................................. 173 Roger Reid ................................... 37, 228 Romans ............................................ 421 Rupert Sheldrake ....... 104, 140, 147, 160, 189, 257, 289,

303, 365, 411 Sanskrit ...................... 331, 337, 357, 422 Sarah Estep ................................ 366, 380 Scientisimist...................................... 189 Scientism ............................................ 26 Scole Mediums ................................. 366 Scrying ....................................... 229, 264 Seep-Goat Effect ............................... 159 Seth .................................................... 31 Silver Bullet.................................. 25, 293 Skinwalker Ranch .............................. 301 Social Cognitive Theory ....................... 43 Social Learning Theory ........................ 43 Society for Psychical Research ..... 40, 193, 200, 237, 258 Socrates....................................... 51, 123 SORRAT ..................................... 209, 241 Spirit Guide ....................................... 323 Spiritist ...................................... 346, 363 Spiritualism ..... 36, 87, 105, 131, 151, 208, 213, 219, 220, 222, 225, 229, 235, 238, 247, 249, 254, 268, 273, 321, 322, 326, 328, 329, 332, 346, 360, 363, 367, 407 Spiritualists' National Union ............... 346 Star Trek ........................................... 241 Stargate Project................................. 335 Stewart Alexander ............................. 342 Stochastic Amplification ..... 140, 225, 389 Suspended Judgment ........................ 318 Tarot ........................ iv, 64, 351, 365, 422 Tasmanian Devil ................................ 272 The Chariot ....................................... 351 The Cycle of Knowledge ..................... 143 The Dark Night of The Soul .................. 41 The Great Work .................. 178, 312, 339 The Razor’s Edge ............................... 338 The Secret Doctrine ............................. 64 The Sheep-Goat Effect ....................... 288 Theosophical Society ........................... 64 Thomas Kuhn .................................... 195 Thoth ................................................ 421 Thought Balls ............................ 173, 197 Tinker Bell ........................................... 85 Tree of Life ........................................... iv Universal Studios ....................... 295, 392 University of Metaphysics .................. 131 Victor Zammit ................................... 234 Walter von Lucadou .......................... 366 Wayne LaMorte .................................. 43 White Noise .............................. 295, 392 Wikipedia ... 104, 111, 113, 142, 147, 155, 168, 189, 238,

289, 385 Wilhelm Reich ................................... 155 Windbridge Research Center ...... 40, 161, 221, 238, 254, 266, 335 Wizard Complex ........................ 202, 203 Wizard of Oz Syndrome ............... 25, 202 Wizard Syndrome ................................ 25 World Trade Center .... 217, 245, 302, 350 Index 428 Exploring the Mindful Way Companion to Your Immortal Self Book’s dedicated web page Immortal Self-Centric Mindfulness The most important understanding seekers of spiritual maturity must come to is the difference between lucidity and hyperlucidity. Lucidity is the degree to which we are able to clearly sense information from our mostly unconscious mind. Hyperlucidity is a term used in the Implicit Cosmology for a complex of behaviors motivated by the belief we are lucid when we are actually only sensing what we have been taught to expect. The second most important understanding is that lucidity is the seeker’s objective, but that it is achieved in small steps. The only real conscious influence we have on our mostly unconscious mind is the expression of intention. This means that we must learn to consciously examine what we think is true. Mind changes only slowly, and so, the seeker’s objective is to habitually express the intention to align perception with the actual nature of reality. In the first book, Your Immortal Self, the process of consciously seeking greater lucidity is referred to as the Mindful Way. Many people practice mindfulness simply to improve personal wellbeing. A few step onto the Mindful Way to seek greater understanding of their immortal nature and

the nature of the reality they inhabit. Even fewer remain as wayshowers for those who seek greater lucidity. The fact of our immortality is explained in Your Immortal Self. This book, Exploring the Mindful Way, includes twenty-one essays explaining some of the more important concepts encountered on the Mindful Way. While you will benefit from first reading Your Immortal Self, there are sufficient explanations in this book to make it a stand-alone text. Will you be a wayshower? References 1. Butler, Tom. “The Hermes Concepts.” Etheric Studies. 2016. ethericstudies.org/hermes-concepts/ 2. Quora. quora.com/ 3. Butler, Tom. “Open Letter to Paranormalists: Limits of science, trust and responsibility.” Etheric Studies. 2017. ethericstudies.org/openletter-to-paranormalists-science/. 4. Butler, Tom. Your Immortal Self, Exploring the Mindful Way. s.l. : AAEVP Publishing, 2016. ISBN 978-0-9727493-8-1. 5. Butler, Tom. “Becoming Lucid.” Etheric Studies. 2020. ethericstudies.org/becoming-lucid/. 6. Butler, Tom. “About Etheric Studies.” Etheric Studies. 2007. ethericstudies.org/about-etheric-studies/. 7. Butler, Tom. “Exploring the Mindful Way.” Etheric Studies. 2018. ethericstudies.org/exploring-the-mindful-way/. 8. Butler, Tom. “Paranormalist Community.” Etheric Studies. 2017. ethericstudies.org/paranormalist-community/. 9. Butler, Tom. “Consensus Building in the Paranormalist Community.” Etheric Studies. 2017. ethericstudies.org/consensus-building/. 10. Jane Roberts Learning Center. sethlearningcenter.org/. 11. Cunningham, Paul F. “The Content-Source Problem in Modern Mediumship Research.” Rivier University, Department of Psychology. The Journal of Parapsychology, 76(2), 295-319., 2012. rivier.edu/faculty/pcunningham/Publications/CunninghamJP_Fall2012-Vol-76-(2)-295-319.pdf. 12. Butler, Tom. “The Mindful Way.” Etheric Studies. 2014. ethericstudies.org/mindfulness/. 13. Butler, Tom. “Avatar.” Etheric Studies. 2018. ethericstudies.org/avatar/. 14. Radin, Dean. “Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications on Psi Research.” Dean Radin.com. deanradin.com/evidence/evidence.htm. References 430 15. Butler, Tom. “Implicit Cosmology.” Etheric Studies. 2015. ethericstudies.org/implicit-cosmology/. 16.

Butler, Tom. “How We Think.” Etheric Studies. 2014. ethericstudies.org/how-we-think/. 17. Solomon, Grant and Jane, Solomon. “Paranormal Apports Phenomena Evidence.” The Scole Experiment. thescoleexperiment.com/paranormal-apports-phenomena.html. 18. Butler, Tom. “Life Field.” Etheric Studies. 2014. ethericstudies.org/lifefield/. 19. Carpenter, James. “First Sight: A Model and A Theory of Psi.” James Carpenter. 2014. drjimcarpenter.com/about/documents/FirstSightformindfield.pdf. 20. National Spiritualist Association of Churches. February 2012. nsac.org/. 21. Merrill, David W. and Reid, Roger H. David Merrill & Roger Reid: “Social Styles.” Management Pocketbooks. 2017. pocketbook.co.uk/blog/2017/04/18/david-merrill-roger-reid-socialstyles/. 22. Butler, Tom. “Perception.” Etheric Studies. 2015. ethericstudies.org/perception/. 23. Parapsychological Association. parapsych.org/home.aspx. 24. Society for Psychical Research. spr.ac.uk/main/. 25. “The Rhine.” The Rhine Research Center. rhine.org/. 26. Windbridge Research Center. windbridge.org/. 27. Butler, Tom. “Debunking Survival Under Cover of False Academic Authority.” Etheric Studies. 2014. ethericstudies.org/scientist-attackmedium/. 28. “The Belmont Report: Office of the Secretary, Ethical Principles and Guidelines for the Protection of Human Subjects of Research.” The National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. 1979. hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/belmont.html. 29. Butler, Tom. “A Personal Code of Ethics for the Mindful Way.” Etheric Studies. 2016. ethericstudies.org/code-of-ethics/. 30. Coleman, Patrick John. A Shaman’s Guide To The Dark Night Of The Soul. Medium. 2014. medium.com/concrete-shamanism/a-shamansguide-to-the-dark-night-of-the-soul-e9e699a6a787. 431 Answers 31. Butler, Tom. “Glossary of Terms.” Etheric Studies. 2014. ethericstudies.org/glossary-of-terms/. 32. LaMorte, Wayne W. “The Social Cognitive Theory.” Behavioral Change Models. 2016. sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPHModules/SB/BehavioralChangeTheories/BehavioralChangeTheories5.h tml. 33. Butler, Tom. “Cooperative Community.” Etheric Studies. 2018. ethericstudies.org/cooperative-community/. 34. Butler, Tom. “Mind as Storyteller.” Etheric Studies. 2019. ethericstudies.org/mind-as-storyteller/. 35. Sheldrake, Rupert PhD. “Morphic Resonance and Morphic Fields.” Rupert Sheldrake. sheldrake.org/research/morphicresonance/introduction? 36. Butler,

Tom. “Conditional Freewill.” Etheric Studies. ethericstudies.org/conditional-freewill/. 37. Cohen, S. Marc. “The Allegory of the Cave.” Philosophy 320, History of Ancient Philosophy. 2015. faculty.washington.edu/smcohen/320/cave.htm. 38. Radin, Dean and Utts, Jessica. “Experiments Investigating the Influence of Intention on Random and Pseudorandom Events.” Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. Vol. 3, pp. pp. 65-79. 1989 deanradin.com/articles/1989%20circle%20of%20lights.pdf 39. Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. “Decision-making May Be Surprisingly Unconscious Activity.” Science Daily. 2008. sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080414145705.htm. 40. Bargh, John A. and Morsella, Ezequiel. “The Unconscious Mind.” US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. 2008. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2440575/. 41. (Translator) Panoli, Vidyavachaspati V. “Katha Upanishad.” Vedanta Shastras Library. shastras.com/upanishads-krishna-yajur-veda/kathaupanishad/. 42. Butler, Tom. “The Razor's Edge.” Etheric Studies. 2016. ethericstudies.org/razors-edge/. 43. Butler, Tom. “A Model for EVP.” Association TransCommunication. 2017. atransc.org/model-for-evp/. 44. Copeland, Martha. “EVP Examples by Martha Copeland.” ATransC. atransc.org/copeland-evp/. 433 Answers 60. Radin, Dean, et al. “The Effects of Distant Intentions on Water Crystal Formation: A Triple Blind Replication.” Institute of Noetic Sciences. [From] Journal of Scientific Exploration. 2008. deanradin.com/papers/emotoIIproof.pdf 61. Radin, Dean, Schlitz, Marilyn and Baur, Christopher. “Distant Healing Intention Therapies: An Overview of the.” Dean Radin dot Com. 2015. deanradin.com/evidence/RadinDistantHealing2015.pdf. 62. Radin, Dean, Michel, Leena and Delorme, Arnaud. “Psychophysical modulation of fringe visibility in a distant doubleslit optical system.” Dean Radin dot Com. 2016. deanradin.com/evidence/RadinPhysicsEssays2016.pdf. 63. Bosch, Holger, Steinkamp, Fiona and Boller, Emil. ‘Examining Psychokinesis: The Interaction of Human Intention With Random Number Generators—A Meta-Analysis.” Psychological Bulletin. 2006. deanradin.com/evidence/Bosch2006RNGMetaFull.pdf. 64. Butler, Tom. “Trans-Survival Hypothesis.” Etheric Studies. 2015. ethericstudies.org/trans-survival-hypothesis/. 65. Allen, Miles Edward. The Survival Top 40. survivaltop40.com/. 66. Weisensale, Bill.

“Eliminating Radio Frequency Contamination for EVP.” Association TransCommunication. Spirit Voices, Issue 3, 1981. atransc.org/eliminating-rf-contamination/. 67. MacRae, Alexander. “Report of an Anomalous Speech Products Experiment inside a Double Screened Room.” Southwest Ghost Hunter's Association. 2009. sgha.net/library/MacRaeAnomalousSpeech.pdf. 68. APStaff. “What is Anomalistic Psychology?” Goldsmiths, University of London. 2015. gold.ac.uk/apru/what/. 69. Mastin, L. “Dualism.” The Basics of Philosophy. philosophybasics.com/branch_dualism.html. 70. Simmonds-Moore, Christine. “What is Exceptional Psychology?” Journal of Parapsychology, 76 supplement, Pages 54-57. 2012. 71. Mastin, L. Scientism. The Basics of Philosophy. philosophybasics.com/branch_scientism.html. 72. “User Talk:Tom Butler.” Wikipedia. 2014. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Tom_Butler#Arbitration_Enforcement 73. “Rupert Sheldrake.” Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Sheldrake. References 434 74. “List of topics characterized as pseudoscience.” Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_topics_characterized_as_pseudoscience. 75. Saxe, John Godfrey. “Blind Men and the Elephant – A Poem by John Godfrey Saxe.” All About Philosophy. allaboutphilosophy.org/blindmen-and-the-elephant.htm. 76. Redd, Nola Taylor. “What Is Cosmology? Definition & History.” Space.Com. 2017. space.com/16042-cosmology.html. 77. Butler, Tom. “Wikipedia Arbitration.” Etheric Studies. 2016. ethericstudies.org/wikipedia-arbitration/. 78. Demelle, Brendan. “Top 10 Climate Deniers.” 2019. beforetheflood.com/explore/the-deniers/top-10-climate-deniers/. 79. “What Is Libertarian?” Institute for Human Studies. theihs.org/who-weare/what-is-libertarian/. 80. Butler, Tom. “ATransC White Paper on Transcommunication.” Association TransCommunication. 2014. atransc.org/itc-white-paper/. 81. Butler, Tom. “Morphic Fields.” Etheric Studies. 2018. ethericstudies.org/morphic-fields/. 82. Butler, Tom. “Personality.” Etheric Studies. 2014. ethericstudies.org/personality/. 83. Gibbs, Phil and Hiroshi, Sugihara. “What is Occam's Razor?” University of California, Riverside. 1997. math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/occam.html. 84. McDermid, Douglas. “Pragmatism.” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. iep.utm.edu/pragmati/#H2. 85. Mastin, L. “Logic.” The Basics of Philosophy. philosophybasics.com/branch_logic.html. 86. Butler, Tom. “Humanism and Discerning Intellect.” Etheric Studies. 2019. ethericstudies.org/humanism-and-discerning-intellect/. 87. Johnson, Margaret Placentra. “What Does Spiritual Progress Really Mean?” Patheos. 2013. patheos.com/blogs/faithbeyondbelief/2013/03/what-does-spiritualprogress-really-mean/.

88. “Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral Metaphysical Degree Programs.” University of Metapysics. universityofmetaphysics.com/introduction/. 89. Butler, Tom. “Personality-Centric Perspective.” Etheric Studies. 2014. ethericstudies.org/personality-centric-perspective/. References 436 103. “Talk:Rupert Sheldrake/Archive 19.” Wikipedia. 2014. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Rupert_Sheldrake/Archive_19. 104. “Wikipedia:Neutral point of view/Noticeboard/Archive 75: Rupert Sheldrake.” Wikipedia. 2019. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Neutral_point_of_view/Noticeboard/ Archive_75#Rupert_Sheldrake. 105. “Biography of Wilhelm Reich.” The Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust. 2011. wilhelmreichtrust.org/biography.html. 106. Radin, Dean. “Dean Radin, PhD.” Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS). noetic.org/profile/dean-radin/. 107. Carpenter, James C, Ph.D. First Sight: ESP and Parapsychology in Everyday Life. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012. ISBN 978-1-44221392-0 (ebook). 108. Storm, Lance. “The Sheep - Goat Effect.” Psi Encyclopedia. Society for Psychical Research, 2019. psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/sheepgoat-effect. 109. Butler, Tom. “The Monroe Way.” Association TransCommunication. 2008. atransc.org/monroe-way/. 110. Jürgenson, Friedrich. “Voice Transmissions with the Deceased” (German to English Translation, T. Wingert & G. Wynne, 2001). Friedrich Jürgenson Foundation, Sweden. 1964. atransc.org/books-itc/. 111. Butler, Tom and Lisa. “A Visit to the Felix Experimental Group.” ATransC NewsJournal Fall 2010, Vol 29-3, Page 4. 2010. atransc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/29-3-Fall-2010-ATransCNewsJournal.pdf. 112. “A List of 100+ Peer-Reviewed Papers that Offer Scientific Evidence for Psi Phenomena.” The Science of Subtle Energy. subtle.energy/list-100peer-reviewed-papers-offer-scientific-evidence-psi-phenomena/. 113. Brown, David Jay. “Is There Life After Death? The World’s Top Scientific and Spiritual Experts Share Their Insights.” Conscious Lifestyles Magazine. 2015. consciouslifestylemag.com/life-after-death-whathappens/. 114. Simmons, Brian. “John 14.” Bible Gateway. biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14&version=TPT. 115. Mregnor, Blogger. “Scientismist (is that a word?).” Egnorance (A Blog). 2011. egnorance.blogspot.com/2011/07/scientismist-is-that-word-drharry.html. 437 Answers 116. Forever Family Foundation. foreverfamilyfoundation.org/. 117. Butler, Tom and Lisa. “About the Association TransCommunication.” Association TransCommunication. atransc.org/about-atransc/. 118. Butler, Tom. “The EVP of Tom

and Lisa Butler.” Association TransCommunication. atransc.org/evp-tom-lisa-butler/. 119. Frey, Rodney. “Paradigm Shifts.” University of Idaho. https://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~rfrey/PDF/220/220%20Thomas% 20Kuhn.pdf. 120. Nashawaty, Chris. “The Jerusalem Syndrome: Why Some Religious Tourists Believe They Are the Messiah.” Wired Magazine. 2012. https://wired.com/2012/02/ff_jerusalemsyndrome. 121. “Psi Encyclopedia.” Society for Psychical Research. spr.ac.uk/publications/psi-encyclopedia. 122. Butler, Tom. “EVP Online Listening Trials.” Association TransCommunication. 2008. atransc.org/evp-online-listening-trials/. 123. Grattan-Guinness, Ivor. “SORRAT History and Background.” Association TransCommunication. 2011. atransc.org/sorrat-history/. 124. Butler, Tom and Lisa. “ATransC Newsletters Archive.” Association TransCommunication. atransc.org/category/archive/. 125. Takagi, Osamu, et al. “Meditator’s non-contact effect on cucumbers.” Academic Journals. 2013. academicjournals.org/article/article1380558158_Takagi%20et%20al.p df. 126. Butler, Tom. “Tom Butler’s Biography.” Etheric Studies. ethericstudies.org/tom-butler-biography/. 127. Joshi, Sheila. “James Carpenter’s First Sight model and neurological damage-induced psi openings.” Blog: Neuroscience and Psi. August 11, 2012. neuroscienceandpsi.blogspot.com/2012/08/james-carpentersfirst-sight-model-and.html. 128. “Monroe, Robert.” The Monroe Institute. monroeinstitute.org/. 129. Luna, Aletheia. “Scrying: How to Practice the Ancient Art of Second Sight.” Lonerwolf. lonerwolf.com/scrying/. 130. Williams, Kevin. “The Trigger of Psychomanteum: Dr. Raymond Moody's Psychomanteum Research.” Near-Death Experiences and the Afterlife. 2016. neardeath.com/psychology/triggers/psychomanteum.html. References 438 131. Twitchell, Paul. The Flute of God. First. Eckankar, 1969. p. 94. ISBN is for second edition. ISBN-13: 978-1570430329. 132. “The Yogic Encyclopedia – Darshan.” Ananda. ananda.org/yogapedia/darshan/. 133. Zammit, Victor. “Afterlife Report.” Victor Zammit. victorzammit.com/archives/index.html. 134. Butler, Tom. “References.” Etheric Studies. 2018. ethericstudies.org/references/. 135. Mügge, Kai. “Felix Experimental Group.” Felix Experimental Group. [Cited: october 5, 2011.] felixcircle.blogspot.com/. 136. Butler, Tom and Lisa. “SORRAT Examples.” Association TransCommunication. 2005. atransc.org/sorrat-examples/. 137. Millis, John P. “Star Trek: Instantaneous Matter Transport.” ThoughtCo. thoughtco.com/star-trek-instantaneous-matter-transport-3072118. 138. Butler, Tom. “ET Visual ITC Study.”

Association TransCommunication. 2019. et-visual-itc-study.atransc.org/. 139. Littin, Shelley. “UA Study: Your Brain Sees Things You Don’t.” University of Arizona. 2013. uanews.arizona.edu/story/ua-study-your-brain-seesthings-you-don-t. 140. Denning, Hazel M. True Hauntings: Spirits with a Purpose. s.l. : Llewellyn Publications, 1996. ASIN: B0046LVFXK. 141. Malkowski, Edward. “Before The Pharaohs: The Evidence for Advanced Civilisation in Egypt’s Mysterious Prehistory.” New Dawn. 2013. newdawnmagazine.com/articles/before-the-pharaohs-the-evidencefor-advanced-civilisation-in-egypts-mysterious-prehistory. 142. Eckankar. eckankar.org/. 143. Butler, Tom. “What is it Like on the Other Side.” Etheric Studies. 2012. ethericstudies.org/like-on-other-side/. 144. Butler, Tom. “Perceptual Agreement.” Etheric Studies. 2015. ethericstudies.org/perceptual-agreement/. 145. Frazier, Karen. “Misconceptions About the Paranormal.” Love To Know. paranormal.lovetoknow.com/paranormal-interviews/interview-loydauerbach-paranormal-misconceptions. 146. Ayan, Steve. “The Brain’s Autopilot Mechanism Steers Consciousness.” Scientific American. 2018. scientificamerican.com/article/the-brainsautopilot-mechanism-steers- 439 Answers consciousness/?fbclid=IwAR18A8_OFcBoOGtObaYHBi_2MsOSSoS51mL 6Hxzf6mMD5Ld_qrzv77Opd4Y. 147. Lange, R. and Houran, J. “The role of fear in delusions of the paranormal.” Pub Med - US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. 1999. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10086472. 148. Oberhaus, Daniel. “Hunt for the Skinwalker.” Vice Media Group. 2018. vice.com/en_us/article/59abbx/hunt-for-the-skinwalker-is-the-firstvideo-released-from-inside-ufo-wolf-haunted-ranch-robert-bigelow. 149. Near-Death Experience, Consciousness and the Brain. Lommel, Pim Van. Taylor & Francis Group, LLC, 2006, World Futures, The Journal of New Paradigm Research, Vol. 62, pp. 134–151. ISSN 0260-4027 print / 1556-1844 online. 150. Peters, Lucia. “How Does It Work?: Automatic Writing, Motor Automatism, And The Unconscious Mind.” The Ghost In My Machine. 2019. theghostinmymachine.com/2019/04/15/how-does-it-workautomatic-writing-motor-automatism-and-the-unconscious-mindpsychography-spirit-writing-medium-seance-spiritualist-spiritualism/. 151. The Silva Method. silvamethod.com/. 152. Butler, Tom and Lisa. “Hans Bender’s Message at Reno Séances.” Association TransCommunication. 2013. atransc.org/hans-bendersmessage/. 153. Pike, John and Aftergood, Steven. “STAR GATE [Controlled Remote Viewing].” Federation of Research Scientists. 2005. fas.org/irp/program/collect/stargate.htm. 154. Crystal, Ellie. “Nature Spirits.”

Crystalinks. crystalinks.com/nature_spirits.html. 155. Marsh, Jason and Suttie, Jill. “Is a Happy Life Different from a Meaningful One?” Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. 2014. greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/happy_life_different_from_me aningful_life. 156. “Mychael Shane.” Rev. Mychael Shane. mychaelshane.com/. 157. Mügge, Kai. Ibiza “Advanced Physical Mediumship Days.” Felix Experimental Group. 2017. felixcircle.blogspot.com/2017/06/ibizaadvanced-physical-mediumship-days.html. 158. Presi, Paolo. “The Instrumental Transcommunication Work Of Marcello Bacci.” Association TransCommunication. 2016. atransc.org/pressibacci/. References 440 159. Stewart Alexander. stewartalexandermedium.com/. 160. Cardos, Anabela. “’Rio do Tempo’ Station.” ITC Journal. 2016. itcjournal.org/?p=4671. 161. Smith, Paul H. “What is Remote Viewing?” International Remote Viewing Association. irva.org/remote-viewing/definition.html. 162. Nelson, Roger and Bancel, Peter. “Effects of Mass Consciousness: Changes in Random Data During Global Events.” Researchgate. 2011. researchgate.net/publication/313163831_Effects_of_Mass_Conscious ness_Changes_in_Random_Data_during_Global_Events 163. Butler, Lisa. “David Thompson and The Circle of the Silver Cord Séance.” Association TransCommunication. 2009. atransc.org/david_thompson_seance1/. 164. Butler, Tom. “The Creative Process.” Etheric Studies. 2014. ethericstudies.org/creative-process/. 165. Butler, Tom. “Christmas is for Compassion.” Etheric Studies. 2019. ethericstudies.org/christmas-is-for-compassion/. 166. “What is Spiritism?” kardec Radio. kardecradio.com/what-is-spiritism. 167. Zahradnik, Walter von Lucadou & Frauke. “Predictions of The Model of Pragmatic Information About RSPK.” Parapsych.org. 2004. archived.parapsych.org/papers/09.pdf. 168. Estep, Becky. “In Memory of Sarah Estep, an ITC Pioneer.” Association TransCommunication. 2016. atransc.org/sarah-estep-memorial/. 169. Senkowski, Ernst. “Instrumental TransCommunication.” World ITC. 1995. worlditc.org/c_07_senki_00_content.htm. 170. Butler, Tom. “Why I Vote Humanist.” 2018. ethericstudies.org/humanist-2018/. 171. Locher, Theo and Harsch-Fischbach, Maggy. “Breakthroughs in Technical Spirit Communication.” World ITC. worlditc.org/c_01_lohf_first.htm. 172. Butler, Tom. “Classifying Phenomena.” Etheric Studies. 2016. ethericstudies.org/classifying-phenomena/. 173. “A science checklist.” Understanding Science. undsci.berkeley.edu/article/whatisscience_03. 174. Gullà, Daniele. “Computer–Based Analysis of Supposed Paranormal Voice: The Question

of Anomalies Detected and Speaker 441 Answers Identification.” Association TransCommunication. 2004. atransc.org/gulla-voice-analysis/. 175. Moran, Rick. “Apparitions, Orbs, Ultraviolet and Infrared Photography.” Association TransCommunication. 2009. atransc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/28-3-AA-EVP-Fall-2009NewsJournal.pdf. 176. Justus, Anthony. “Paranormal Photography: Orbs and More: Fact or Fiction: Analyzing Paranormal Photographs.” The Haunted Spots Blog. 2015. hauntedspotslibrary.wordpress.com/2015/12/06/paranormalphotography-orbs-and-more-fact-or-fiction-analyzing-paranormalphotographs/. 177. Butler, Tom and Lisa. “Using Live Voice Input Files for EVP.” Association TransCommunication. 2012. atransc.org/live-voice/. 178. Butler, Tom. “The Formation of EVP.” Association TransCommunication. 2009. atransc.org/evp-formation/. 179. Butler, Tom (et al). “Best Practices: EVP Witness Panel.” Etheric Studies. 2013. ethericstudies.org/witness-panel/. 180. Butler, Tom. “Trans-Etheric Influences.” Etheric Studies. 2009. ethericstudies.org/trans-etheric-influences/. 181. “About Poltergeists.” Psychic Science. psychicscience.org/polt1. 182. Butler, Tom and Lisa. “Spiritualist Society of Reno.” Spiritualist Society of Reno. spiritualistsocietyofreno.org/. 183. Butler, Tom. “Locating EVP Formation and Detecting False Positives.” Association TransCommunication. 2010. atransc.org/locating-falsepositives/. 184. Butler, Tom. “Radio-Sweep: A Case Study.” Association TransCommunication. 2009. atransc.org/radiosweep-study1/. 185. Abbott, Mark D. McDonnell and Derek. “What Is Stochastic Resonance? Definitions, Misconceptions, Debates, and Its Relevance to Biology.” NCBI, PMC, US National Library of Medicine. May 29, 2009. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2660436/. 186. Leary, Mark. “A Research Study into the Interpretation of EVP - Three parts.” Association TransCommunication. 2013. atransc.org/radiosweep-study2/. 187. Heinen, Cindy. “Information Gathering Using EVPmaker With Allophone: A Yearlong Trial.” Association TransCommunication. 2010. atransc.org/information-gathering-using-evpmaker/. References 442 188. Butler, Tom. “EVPmaker with Allophones: Where are We Now?” Association TransCommunication. 2011. atransc.org/evpmaker-studywhere-are-we-now/. 189. Butler, Tom and Lisa. “Pledge.” Association TransCommunication. atransc.org/pledge/. Your Immortal Self Exploring the Mindful Way Book’s dedicated web page We Can Know the Nature of Reality Our understanding of

the nature of reality is undergoing an important shift from mostly supposition and belief to actionable facts based on important developments in parapsychology and transcommunication. This means the emergence of new tools which are helping us better understand our nature and the nature of the world we live in. To be sure, this shift involves theory and research, but it ultimately comes down to who we are and what we can become. The best way to describe this future paradigm is in terms of mindfulness and the middle way of mindful living. This is not the mindfulness of living in the moment based on the belief that you are your body. It is the mindfulness of experiencing life from the perspective of your immortal self. This book is written to show you the evidence of survival and the implications of that evidence as an important model for future research. While your personal progression depends a lot on understanding the evidence, the community sharing your journey is equally important. To help you learn where to look for help, a comprehensive survey of our paranormalist community is included. Mindfulness can lead to important growth in your ability to work with nature, to sense the subtle fields influencing your life and more confidently commune with your loved ones on the other side. But it is important to understand how this paradigm shift is changing our understanding of the phenomena of transcommunication and interconnectedness in our community. The last part of this book includes

a comprehensive discussion of the phenomena, including EVPITC, healing intention and mediumship transcommunication phenomena. ---