My Library

And thereafter skeptics and disbelievers decided NOT to take part in ESP tests. In any event, here was something to be swept under mainstream carpets, since within mainstream contexts, opposed as they were to ESP and psi, nothing could be done to encourage belief in ESP. However, along with her subsequent and voluminous work, the sheep-goat experiments elevated Schmeidler to a leadership position within parapsychology -- a position which was reinforced in that she was the acknowledged protégé of Dr. Gardner Murphy, the distinguished pioneering figure in psychology and in psychical research and parapsychology as well. At the McCann gathering, Schmeidler and I talked a lot, not only about technical matters and larger overview of things, but regarding common-sense ones. She was the first, and one of the very few, parapsychologists to confess herself surprised by my "articulateness." So, of course, I promptly fell in love with her, and still am to this day. This "articulateness" now needs to be explained, because it has a special meaning in parapsychology -- and in the future was to have something of an important role when I discussed matters with government officials or their representatives. Early psychical researchers had examined many kinds of psychics, and of course the researchers were interested in questioning them about the processes that went on in their heads.