Stephen Braude, PhD, is an emeritus professor and former chairman of the philosophy department at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He has also served as president of the Parapsychological Association. He is author of First Person Plural: Multiple Personality and the Philosophy of Mind, Crimes of Reason, The Gold Leaf Lady, Immortal Remains, The Limits of Influence: Psychokinesis and the Philosophy of Science, and ESP and Psychokinesis. He is the recent recipient of the prestigious Myers Memorial Medal awarded by the Society for Psychical Research for outstanding contributions. He also serves as editor of the Journal of Scientific Exploration.
Here he points out that poltergeists are thought to represent the recurrent, spontaneous psychokinetic activity of particular individuals. This is an unconscious process not under the control of the individual. However, generally, the troubling phenomena tend to go away once psychological problems are resolved. Hauntings, on the other hand, represent similar phenomena – associated with a particular location rather than a particular person. Hundreds of such cases have been observed by researchers. The discussion covers many details and nuances found in the available research literature.
(Recorded on March 12, 2016)
Published on March 14, 2016