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Throughout history and up to the present day
people have been slow, reluctant, and/or unwilling
to accept new ideas, beliefs, and truths.
This
will undoubtedly always be the case.
There
are those among us who refuse to open their minds
to so-called “mysteries.” It is unfortunately an
apparent fact that, even in the present time, there
are those who fear any form of anything that is,
to them, an enigma.
Mysteries
remain mysteries only until someone finds a way
to explain them.
Our
remote ancestors were thrown into fits of terror
during solar eclipses, in some instances of indulging
in human sacrifices in attempts to appease whatever
god was responsible for the sudden daytime darkness.
They must have believed their sacrifices worked,
for daylight did reappear.
Fortunately,
people were eventually able to figure out the cause
of solar eclipses.
The
unknown has always had the potential to cause fear.
It still has, but why? Why should we be so myopic?
Why should we have no curiosity? Why do we not want
to see what’s around the next corner? Why do we
continue to turn away from apprehensions of anything
untested, unproven, and label it therefore untrue
and unacceptable?
Even
today two of the many maligned, misunderstood and
therefore feared fields are those of the paranormal
and the possibility of life on other planets.
They
are mysteries; ergo, they are something to induce
anxiety; ergo, it becomes easier to say they do
not exist.
This
is akin to denying the vast potential of the human
mind
Those
who honestly and earnestly delve into such studies,
searching for substantiation of the wonders of the
human mind and the wonders of our galaxy are often
hampered by a public which, apprised of clever charlatans
and snickering comments about little green men,
jumps to the conclusion that those who believe such
things are truly absurd or, at the very least, naive.
An
expose of a quack doctor doesn't automatically carry
a like reaction to doctors in general. A bumbling
teacher, lawyer, architect, plumber or electrician,
et al, may be put out of business and ostracized
by their peers. But those peers don't necessarily
assume the stigma.
If
an unethical scientific researcher in any other
field were to "help" his or her experiments toward
a desired conclusion – and this chicanery was discovered
– all other experiments in that particular field
by other scientists wouldn't be cast aside as obviously
fake.
Galileo
Galilei (1564-1642), considered the founder of modern
scientific methods, wrote about his experiments
that were so difficult to reproduce that many doubted
he actually conducted them.
Isaac
Newton (1642-1727) adjusted his calculations so
they would support his theory of gravity.
The
"Piltdown Man" was considered one of the greatest
scientific hoaxes of all time. Hailed as proof of
the missing link between apes and humans, it was
later revealed the skull was actually an ape jaw
with part of a human skull attached – and stained
to look old.
It
strikes me as an unfair set of double standards.
There are many who find manufactured psychic ability
an easy way to dupe the public and make a profit
in the process. We should not, however, allow their
presence to dim the importance of serious students
who not only want, but also need, to learn.
One
of the first contemporary and highly respected scientists
to consider extra-sensory perception as valid was
Sigmund Freud (1856-1938). And such acceptance didn't
come easily to the genius pacesetter of psychoanalysis:"I
am ready to give up my opposition to the existence
of thought-transference," he wrote, adding he was,
"prepared to lend the support of psychoanalysis
to the matter of telepathy." (FREUD AND THE PARANORMAL,
Martin Ebon).
It
is reported that Freud waged an inner battle about
the pros and cons of parapsychology.
But, in 1921, when Freud was invited to join the
advisory council of the American Psychical Institute,
he allegedly wrote, in response to the invitation:"I
am not one of those who, from the outset, disapprove
of the study of so-called occult psychological phenomena
as unscientific, as unworthy or even dangerous.
If I were at the beginning of a scientific career,
instead of, as now, at the end of it, I would perhaps
choose no other field of work, in spite of its difficulties."
(THE LIFE AND WORK OF SIGMUND FREUD, New York, 1961).
The
American Association accepted the Parapsychological
Association, an international professional society
for the study of parapsychology, as an affiliate
organization for the Advancement of Science on December
30, 1969.
Such
"respectable scientific endeavors" may be accepted
into professional scientific associations – but
they unfortunately remain, in the minds of the masses,
in the realm of nonsense. There are, again unfortunately,
many who consider themselves well-educated and open-minded
and yet refuse to give parapsychology the time,
thought and eventual acceptance it deserves.
Was
Jules Verne a psychic? Or was his 1865 book about
an imaginary trip to the moon – in which his spaceship
was launched from Florida, took 3 days to reach
the moon and, upon its return, splashed down in
the Pacific Ocean – just a well-thought-out lucky
guess?
104
years later, Apollo 11 was launched from Florida,
took 3 days to reach the moon and, upon its return
to Earth, splashed down in the Pacific Ocean.
I
seriously doubt if envoys for Outer Space would
visit us with the intent of causing chaos or disaster.
Why should they bother? We do an excellent job in
the chaos and disaster departments without any outside
help.
It
has never been difficult for me to accept that there
is a strong possibility that other forms of intelligent
life exist outside our relatively small galaxy –
in which Earth is but a pinprick. It is one of an
infinitesimal number of pinpricks in just one small
group of stars on the edge of the Milky Way. The
Milky Way is made up of an estimated 100 billion
stars, only about 7,000 of which we can view without
the aid of a telescope.
The
number 100 billion is hard – no, impossible – for
me to imagine. It is, however, a very small number
when compared to the estimated width of our small
Galaxy: 100,000 light years! A light year is, if
rounded off, about six trillion miles. Multiply
that and write it out! It makes everything on this
small planet – including us – seem truly insignificant.
Next,
we should consider the scientific statement that
our Solar System – 50 billion times the size of
Earth – is considered an extremely small sample
of the total universe. And yet, beyond our small
Solar System in a rather trivial-sized Milky Way
there lie, in all directions, countless other "Milky
Ways" and countless other Solar Systems.
When
contemplating the vastness of our universe how can
one be so blatantly myopic as to claim – let alone
believe – that ours is the one and only planet capable
of supporting intelligent life? We deny the possibility
of life on nearby planets that lack our chemical
make-up in atmosphere. Some planets are surrounded
by primarily methane gas, a lethal substance for
humans to breathe. But why do we discount the feasibility
of non-human life thriving on methane gas – and
being unable to live where they would breathe a
mixture of primarily oxygen?
We
continue to cling so tightly to the security of
what is known that we all too often close our eyes
and minds to the values to be found in exploring
the unknown.
Do
you think Ladd’s analysis of the progression of
human understanding is too optimistic? Discuss Here
Copyright
© 1999 Gloria Ladd
THE
DETROIT FREE PRESS called Gloria Ladd "one of the
biggies" in the realm of paranormal investigations.
She has been published in THE DETROIT NEWS, THE
DETROIT NEWS SUNDAY MAGAZINE and Syracuse University's
prestigious INTERNATIONALLY SPEAKING. She was a
stringer reporter for THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER for
ten years and has authored five books. The five
include PLUM DEAD, now featured on www.deadendstreet.com.
At present, she is working on a sequel to PLUM DEAD.
In addition to her writing, Ms Ladd designed a substance
abuse out-patient program for youths 17 and under
and served as executive director of the program
for five years.
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