
In this experiential seminar, originally given live, Jeff Carreira speaks about William James, Jeffrey Kripal and the history of paranormal experience. William James was the first president of the American Psychical Society who spent a great deal of time studying supernatural abilities. Mainstream American culture today tends to assume that paranormal experiences are fringe events experienced by strange people. Jeffrey Kripal, a modern academic, is putting together the pieces of a secret history of the paranormal and the sociological and economic reasons why it has largely been ignored. Kripal’s contention is that we all have more mystical and paranormal experience than our current belief system allows us to recognize. In his own way Kripal is continuing James’ intellectual pursuits. You won’t necessarily walk away believing in UFOs or remote viewing, but after listening to this recording you will know that the world is more mysterious than we are taught to imagine.
Resources
- Book: William James at the Boundaries: Philosophy, Science, and the Geography of Knowledge by Francesca Bordogna
- Book: Ghost Hunters: William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death by Deborah Blum
- Book: Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred
- Learn more about Jeffry Kripal: kripal.rice.edu

