My Library

This might be interpreted in ways indicating that parapsychology is a world or a subculture of its own, and that it doesn't directly interface with other scientific disciplines or public appreciation. The reasons for this cannot be blamed on parapsychology alone -- reasons I will be forced to comment upon as this tale and soap opera extends into bigger and more dramatic realms. One of the fall-outs of this isolation, and as I've directly experienced, is that parapsychologists are not used to having OUTSIDE influences penetrate into their midst. They like the processes and motions in their subculture to be predictable and more or less under the control or influence of their recognized leaders. I can't fault them for this. But it does raise the matter of status within the subculture, the matter of who's who, and who has power over whom. During the period of my "entry" into parapsychology, there were four sources of outside influences parapsychologists, as a group, tried to guard against. The first three of these sectors consisted of psychics, skeptics, and independent, radical researchers working outside of the pale of the inside lines of parapsychology -- such as Cleve Backster and others we'll meet ahead. All of these brought unpredictable influences into parapsychology -- but which even I agree needed to be sustained by some kind of central core so as to remain as scientific and proper as possible.