Ralph Goodwin 2008-09-01
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
What Did I Get Out of the Read?
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I have a better understanding of the main ways the telepathic transmission/perception process affects the received results. I have a better understanding of how our understanding of telepathy has developed.
Why Would You Want to Read This?
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1. Historical understanding of telepathic research.
2. Deeper understanding of the telepathic process.
What Did I Think of the Book?
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Warcollier assigns the variations between Target sketch and the telepathically received sketch into twelve different categories, explaining the nature of the categories, and, in some cases, suggesting the source of the variation. This analysis over a number of experimenters is the important historical contribution of the book.
In reading, you need to stay aware that the book is a snapshot of the understanding of telepathy at a point in time, post world war II. It was then thought that telepathy and clairvoyance had two different mechanisms, and the text reflects this. It now seems to be recognised that that one mechanism is sufficient to explain both.
Despite the interesting material, I struggled with this book. I attribute that to several factors:
1. The material has lost some of its impact in the conversion from university lecture format to book format.
2. The translation from French to English is somewhat cumbersome, (highlighted by contrast with my previous read "Mental Radio" by Pulitzer prize winner, Upton Sinclair).
3. It is a historical work from Europe, and uses terms I am unfamiliar with (being Australian with a paranormal background based mainly on the hegemonic US paradigms.)
4. The weight of comments preceding Warcollier's work (some 42 pages) - unless you are reading this for research reasons, I suggest you skim or skip them, or maybe come back to them after reading Warcollier's text.
