Reviewed by Piero Calvi Parisetti
This textbook provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to parapsychology for readers with no prior knowledge.
This is certainly a laudable aim and introductory textbooks are welcome. However, they are challenging to write.
Chapter 1, “Unveiling the Unseen”, provides a comprehensive general introduction to parapsychology, of sufficient breadth and depth to give a reader with no previous knowledge a good basic understanding of what this discipline is, what it studies and how. Some of the main challenges it faces are also covered. This is good. However, a recurring issue in this book is also evident, the somewhat meandering nature of the writing and especially the lack of structure. Paragraphs are well written and easy to read (apart from occasional formatting glitches), but they follow one another without interruption, leaving the reader unsure about what belongs to one thematic area and what belongs to another. In addition, occasionally and inconsistently, a few words are written in bold, which only adds to the confusion.
Chapter 2, “Echoes of the Past”, continues in the same style. The author delivers a considerable quantity of information. First, concerning the early years of psychical research, everything is relevant, but alas it is presented in an unfortunate way. Without interruptions, the author covers: ancient religious practices; the birth of spiritualism; the foundation of the SPR, its founders, and some SPR investigations. Then he covers the foundation of the ASPR, four notable figures in early psychical research, and a description of some areas of investigation. Psychical research concerned a variety of subjects, hauntings, spontaneous cases, telepathic dreams, and visions. Two notable mediums are also described. Finally, the author briefly returns to hauntings and psychometry, before launching into a detailed overview of the challenges psychical research faced (which appear to me as relevant today). The lack of interruptions is exhausting.
Chapter 3, “The Force Within”, deals with the ESP and begins with a discussion of telepathy. The author covers definitional, methodological, and theoretical issues, but inexplicably deals only with the Rhine era. He then moves on to clairvoyance, considering remote viewing alongside psychometry, out-of-body experiences, and dowsing. Precognition is also covered, but presentiment is only briefly mentioned. The rest of the chapter is devoted to the difficulty of separating one ESP faculty (telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition) from another and to a rather lengthy exploration of the term General Extrasensory Perception (GESP). Admittedly, this sets this book apart from similar ones.
Chapter 4, “The Force Between”, deals with psychokinesis (PK). However, as in the previous chapter, not a single experimental result is presented, nor a review of outcomes or a meta-analysis. Procedures are explained in very general terms. Most of the meandering and repetitive text consists of musings about challenges faced by experimenters. In addition, sociological and theoretical implications are covered. I am unsure about why sizeable sections in the chapter are dedicated to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, to Penrose’s Orchestrated Objective Reduction or to Henry Stapp’s theory to explain “causal efficacy.”
Chapter 5, “Iconic Cases and Investigations”, surprisingly barely deals with the substance of the phenomena, dwelling instead more on sociological issues, like the reaction of the public and the sceptics, and methodological challenges. Only four “iconic” cases and investigations are considered: the Northampton poltergeist, the Rhine card guessing studies (already extensively covered in previous chapters), Uri Geller, and the US Government-sponsored remote viewing experiments.
Chapter 6, “Methodologies in Modern Parapsychology”, opens with a series of disjointed short sections introducing: the concept of comparison, randomisation, blinding, objective outcomes, and replication (already repeatedly considered in earlier chapters). This is followed by six pages about Random Number Generators, followed by six pages on forced-choice studies (yes, Rhine once again). One single paragraph is devoted to effect sizes and one to statistical significance. The rest of the chapter deals in a general manner with free-response studies, remote viewing in particular. Finally, the author briefly discusses challenges with judging, the possibility of fraud, research integrity, and surprisingly also psi-missing.
Chapter 7 deals with statistics and analysis. It begins with a useful but very general discussion of why and how statistics is important for parapsychology. Then, inexplicably, the author returns to odds against chance, significance and p-values, which were introduced earlier, but now they are covered in a little more depth. Finally, the chapter offers reflections on the difference between statistical and practical significance.
Chapter 8, “Psychological Factors and Psi”, deals with a wide range of subjects, including the effect of beliefs, expectations and several personality traits on psi performance. There is also a paragraph about biofeedback, one about “holistic or field-like interactions”, one about music and rhythmic activities, and other on similarly loosely related subjects. The chapter ends with a few pages on mindfulness and psi.
Chapter 9 should deal with the relationship between parapsychology and mainstream science. In reality, a confusing succession of short sections mostly revisits theoretical, methodological and sociological issues.
Chapter 10 is supposed to concern psi in everyday life. It begins with short sections on precognitive dreams and hunches, both already discussed previously. Then, despite recognising that these are not everyday occurrences, the author devotes six pages to near-death experiences and out-of-body experiences. This is followed by another six pages on synchronicities and their possible explanations (also discussed in previous chapters). He also covers experiences that seem linked to the relationships between individuals, including crisis apparitions and “family psi”. A short guide to the critical interpretation of anomalous personal experiences suggestive of psi is also provided.
Chapter 11 concerns psi and consciousness. The author begins by introducing some of the challenges the purported existence of psi poses to both materialism and idealism. This is followed by some, admittedly slightly confusing, sections on “property dualism” and the need to “re-evaluate the mind-body problem.” The chapter devolves into a quagmire. Theories of consciousness, like Integrated Information Theory and Global Workspace Theory, are introduced in some detail and discussed in terms of their ability to explain psi. The author then moves on to “field theories”, jumping from “David Bohm's holomovement” to quantum physics and Jung's collective unconscious. Finally, it ends with a discussion of issues like “whether precognition is compatible with true indeterminism.”
At this point, two-thirds in, I felt that I had read enough. The question of whether this book offers anything that may set it apart from the already vast literature loses relevance in light of its shortcomings. The author is obviously familiar with many aspects of the subject matter and can write perfectly good English, but this book needs a massive editorial overhaul. The following general remarks are offered in consideration of the fact that the book is self-published and that it is therefore easy for the author to publish a revised version.
First of all, when dealing with material of such quantity and diversity, breaking down chapters into sub-sections with clear headings is necessary. This helps the reader navigate through the different subjects and keep track of how the author’s discourse unfolds. This also helps the author himself structure the material in a clear and logical way. In addition, this can help the author avoid tiresome repetitions.
Concerning another issue, it is arguably essential to provide the reader with enough information to be able to form a judgement. It is not nearly enough to just say that “some experiments were successful and others were not.” Readers must be given a proper idea of the weight of the empirical evidence gathered so far for and against. Lastly, the choice of the psi faculties to be discussed, of the kind of evidence that may support or refute their existence, and the space devoted to each of them could usefully be reconsidered.