Explanatory Book Review on 'Extraordinary Knowing' - Essay Example

Name) (Instructors’ name) (Course) (Date) 1n 1991 Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer who was at the time a clinician psychologist lost her eleven years old daughters harp. She tried looking for it using police and other conventional means but could not locate the harp. Just when she was about to lose hope a friend of hers suggested to her that if she really needed to find the harp she would try anything. And at that moment she proposed to her to find a psychic dowser to help her locate the harp. In less than two days the dowser call her and she found the harp in California without even leaving home. That as she says changed everything (Mayer) . That paranormal event shaken her and with a lot of concern Mayer starts a fourteen year journey of research and discoveries of which she interview even the most educated and famous surgeons whom had similar experiences but in secret hide them due to fear of unknown logic explanation .One of the surgeon whom said that sometime he just knew things for example the hidden location of the diseases and the time to operate, confirmed her deep thought of sense that people jog around the scenarios that happen to them which they cannot explain instead of digging deep and face their fears of unknown. She explains the events as they happens to most of us which are normally seemed un explainable .She does not force us to believe rather she brings a positive reaching implications which are not only for scientific reasoning and inquiry but also for the way of our life In the world. Through this Mayer bring us to understand the extraordinary knowing which she express as an attempt to pass through silence brought by fear and to explore scientific explanations about this infinite phenomena. She is dedicated to prove this by even going ahead to her research with the Central Investigation Agencies (Mayer). Mayer during her exploration and research she came across and interviewed many different persons who had experienced different perceptions with anomalous experiences. She even interviewed healers, psychics, and remote viewers to gain their experiences. Those that she interview seem not to be arrogant as they answer and share their experiences with humbleness. After interviewing them she came up with her skeptics through asking herself the question “what if?” (Mayer).Throughout her research she investigates wide number of areas like, meditation, prayers, quantum physics, ESP, and telepathy. She gives many extraordinary occurrences especially in the areas of ESP and remote viewing. The theme that cut across this book which is the most interesting one is how scientist professionals take psi more serious than expected. How she read across Maimonides research and Ganzfied controversy, spoke to Jann concerning PEAR research, Hal Put Hoff concerning remote view and Stargate and others shows more about the interest theme. She also reveals her no doubting interest on prayers section. But what she was most fascinated with is the reverse reaction of the psi, like of that from NRC report to that of the journal editor who was told by the peer reviewer that the article did not have any problem but still he did not believe it to be true. She clearly shows that the feelings was not just felt by the militants, she herself experienced it when she lost her watch and went directly to automatic pilot ,opens the drawer and find the watch where it was hidden as if she knew where it was (Mayer) .She also give another fascinating example where a certain woman in her clinical practice give her a life experience when she was little that her father wound drive home drunk and she could have the feeling earlier of hiding herself and the younger sister to prevent being beaten even though their father did not drink all the time she would still feel him coming. Mayer further disagrees with Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. Freud seem to associate the unknown with the dark world of dreams a certain way to make one feel better and bring unconscious that cannot be explain to normal suppressing anxiety and need to know more. As to a contradiction to that Mayer seem to show psi as an element of whole and which is healthy to functions of the minds at various levels, Freud view psi as source of danger and threat rather than a window to a wider world (Mayer). The book gives hope to readers who have experienced super normal unexplained events of the outer word in the essence that Mayer gives a reassurance that one can view these scenarios seriously without being regarded mad. As compared to other writers of parapsychology Mayer has shown a fully understanding through experiences and experiments that are fully persuading about the wide world and shows psychics who are already fully embedded to the outer world which can be fully coped with without fear of unknown and scientific inferiority. Although Mayer has tried to show us the fear of unknown can be fully explain her theories are barely based on interviews and interrogations but not fully scientific logical proven facts. From the beginning of the journey which is her inspiration can be merely a coincidence .The flow of events is not well elaborated scientifically but mythical and superstitious. She herself did not believe earlier and the sense of believe clearly shows that the whole experiment was based on a belief not a fact. The background of the research is from a psychic of which she contradict to the scientific psychology in the essence that most psychics are delusional and do not have a universal based prove of what they say other than they talk of unknown. Speaking of unknown we can all agree that the extraordinary knowing can be based on personal fantasy where proves can only be based from other psychics. Sample of few coincidences does not provide a baseline prove that the extraordinary knowing cut across the world. From the traditional psychologist the conscious mind is always right as compare to the unconscious mind. Mayer seems to convince us otherwise with no scientific proof. This is an evidenced biasness. Mayer seems to have written the book prior to research and experiment. The audience she chooses did the entire corporation needed. This shows the research did not reveal fully the end result but she seemingly to have the original aim of arriving to the conclusion she got. The book does not show so much negatives and hardship of the study other than the chorological of events seem to be supporting the topic in all corners. She bring her experiments subjects so much convincingly and humbled and bringing the thought that all people have some relatively similar experiences. In summary I can say I highly recommend this book especially for psychics and skeptics who are overwhelmed by fear and have a view of the world differently as science present it. I would also like to thank the writer for providing a different word view paradigm. Although she did not leave a clear conclusion she had provide start experiences and have left a wide gate for further researchers. The knowing of unknown is tuff and if scientist will not come up with a proper explanation we will stand with the extraordinary knowing. References Mayer, E.L. Extraordinary Knowing. New York,NY: Bantam, 2008. Read More