SELLING THE MIND SHORT

Exposing the myth of psychic privilege

Disseminating propaganda requires subverting rational thinking with seemingly
plausible lies. I was a teenager when I first believed the lie that there was
something about me or anybody else that could properly be labeled ``psychic.'' A
part of me felt sick when the label was used on me--the way I felt when I smoked
my first cigarette. There was something compelling and forbidden about the
experience, and something I also knew could eventually do me in down the line.

At the time, I was ripe for the slaughter--I was naive, searching for something
meaningful to do with my life. More than that, I was about to become a
propaganda magnet. The authority figures who sold me the bill of goods were
parapsychologists at one of the field's major laboratories, who used the label
``psychic'' to explain my performance in a parapsychology experiment. I did not
yet know enough about the politics of parapsychology to realize that those who
present themselves as authorities often are entrapped within their own
mythologies and that scientific competence is not the only coin of the realm in
the field.

Propaganda is infectious. Reviewing nearly 25 years of experience in
psychological research and the findings of more than 100 years of parapsychology
experiments, I cannot point to any evidence indicating that humanity can
objectively be divided between psychics and nonpsychics. Having once believed
the lie about myself, I finally have overcome it. But I continue to find myself
cast in the role of a psychic character in other people's mythologies. I find
myself described as a psychic in many recent parapsychology books, even by
authors who describe me as such over my objections. One such author privately
encouraged me to promote myself as a psychic, saying that by rejecting the
concept, I was missing a chance to make some serious money. I also find myself
credited in print with beliefs and accomplishments that have no basis in fact.
Propaganda has a mind of its own.

The public's fascination with reputed psychics triggers reactions of wonder or
incredulity whenever the term is invoked. Whether you believe in the existence
of these supposedly extraordinary people or believe those who claim to be
psychic are deluded or fraudulent is irrelevant. In either case, you are
excluding a variety of inner experiences from your concept of normal humanity.
That denial diminishes your sense of your own potential. It fuels the sales of
cult memberships, tabloid newspapers, deceptive 900-line services, and
questionable tests of psychic powers to the public.

The popular concept that there are mental processes called psychic abilities,
which are not directly related to other cognitive processes and that transcend
the laws governing our relationship with space and time, is logically vacuous.
We do not know enough about the underlying structure of reality to conclude that
the laws of nature are ever violated. It is far more likely that we do not fully
understand those laws. Nor have we sufficiently explored the innermost
boundaries of perception, communication, and intelligence. We cannot conclude
that something impossible is happening simply because we do not comprehend all
the subtle and complicated ways in which the mind processes information.

That the mind is capable of remarkable feats is undeniable. Exploring the
implications of this realization does not require resorting to extremes. It
should encourage us to create a middle ground--one that defines human potential
in human terms. If a higher perceptual, communicative, and thinking capability
exists within us, then it cannot be destined to remain anomalous or denied by
rational people or consigned to the realm of the psychic and paranormal. It must
be understood within the context of normal experience and achievable human
potential and considered within the emerging framework of mainstream science.
Rather than approaching this exploration as a conflict between an occult versus
a materialistic ideology, we may then embrace a balanced vision of human
potential and investigate the mysteries of nature with a truly open mind.