From Osher Doctorow Ph.D.
In replying to a member of Fractint who was interested in my Deformation and other postings, I also happened to reply to Jim Muth's posting that included comments on Precognition. SherLok Merfy then replied to my reply which latter reinterpreted Precognition as Telepathy and Clair- voyance in the part that referred to Jim Muth's posting, although Merfy apparently didn't include his opinions if any on Deformation mathematics and physics regarding fractals. The main thrust of my Deformation and other postings has had nothing to do with Precognition, Telepathy, clairvoyance, and what I mentioned in my last Deformation posting was that in effect I wouldn't submit any more Deformation postings unless other member(s) were interested as a courtesy to members of Fractint. This is what mainly interests me, not Precognition, Telepathy, or Clairvoyance. Having said all that, I did praise Jim Muth in my reply for having the courage to go against the Mainstream by indicating his interest in Precognition. I still think that he is quite courageous. SherLok Merfy's reply to my reply contains both excellent ideas on unlikely knowledge and senses that are often neglected by science and some opinions that I'm not in agreement with. To save space, I'll discuss those opinions of his that I'm not in agreement with, and readers can read his reply if they want to for his excellent ideas. Merfy indicates that a lot of self-professed clairvoyants are mental patients which says nothing about probability of fraud (almost quoting him word for word) and indicates that no one has been able to demonstrate direct image transmission from mind to mind. He is technically correct, but unfortunately there is a world of difference between the "letter of science" and the "spirit of science" or in other words the "deeper ideas of science". For those who don't know, this terminology comes from the expression "the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law," which you might want to look up on the internet if you haven't seen it before. My wife Marleen J. Doctorow Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist with the State of California and has been in practice for several decades (we've been married almost 4 decades - perhaps a record for many professionals in the 50% or so divorce rate fad nation). She is one of the best psychologists in California. I don't think that, being married to her for almost 4 decades, it is very likely that I fall under the category of "mental patients", so it isn't necessarily true that somebody who thinks that Telepathy and Clairvoyance may or probably do exist is a mental patient. I am, however, a Nonconform- ist, which in the modern world is close to having the negative interpretation of being a mental patient - not that Merfy claimed that I'm a mental patient. Mental patients actually fall into two very important categories (and even more than two, but these two are important): A. Paranoid, B. Depressive. In simple language, using the psychoanalysis of Melanie Klein, the Paranoid position is Anger/Hatred Against Others, while the Depressive position is Anger/Hatred Against Oneself. Kleinian psycho- analysis, one of the most respected branches of psychoanalysis, has found that Depressives can usually be cured if they're treated early enough, while Paranoids can't because they hate the Psychiatrist and/ or Psychologist. Contrary to common belief, Paranoia and Depression aren't limited to mental patients in hospitals or doctor's offices - they range in "degree" from character disorders that are quite common both in and out of the academic world to neuroses that are often treated in an outpatient way to psychoses which usually require inpatient treatment in hospitals (although hospitals have their own problems due to overcrowding and so, and hospitalization is often far from an ideal solution other than preventing the psychotic from injuring anybody including himself/herself). So even if many self-professed Clairvoyants or Telepaths are mental patients, it's also true that many educated people are mental patients with or without belief in Clairvoyance or Telepathy, while many less educated people should have treatment but don't have the education to realize it. In fact, an amusing thing about the word "Normal" in comparing oneself with "Abnormal" mental patients is that according to clinical psychologists and psychiatrists, most people need some type of psychological or psychiatric treatment. You might like to look up "Character Disorders" on the internet as keywords to see some perhaps familiar examples of people who need treatment, including some professors and students who "keep on trucking" without being much interested in where they're heading. I don't think that human beings have much if any Telepathy or Clair- voyance, and certainly there's no evidence that they exert control over it or that Telepathy or Clairvoyance exert control over human beings. However, I think that somebody who thinks that it exists or might exist is a Nonconformist, and not a harmful Nonconformist such as a rapist or murderer. It might even help us in the rare event that humanity ever contacts a species in outer space which does have senses beyond human senses - perhaps senses similar in some ways to Telepathy or Clairvoyance. That is to say, it might help us in space exploration if we consider the possibility and the scenarios in which other possible species have very different senses and abilities from our own. Where Telepathy and Clairvoyance beliefs become dangerous is if one believes that "a dog is controlling me," or "somebody else's mind is controlling me," or "the devil made me do it," etc. Educated people do not tend to believe this, and seem to believe it less the more educated they are, which is fortunate for all of us. Occasionally a "semi-educated" person with considerable knowledge in one narrow field but little in other fields goes "off his/her rocker", though, and believes that he/she is controlled by or controls others. Bin Laden is possibly an example among others. Osher Doctorow