Paranormal Cognition
- Author:
Laurence J. Bendit,
B.Ch., M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., D.P.M. haber. ry 5s. n 2$
It is of interest that this study of phenomena known ^ telepathy, “sixth sense ” and so on, is the substance o thesis accepted for a doctorate by the Cambridge Facu of Medicine. -tjj
Dr Bendit’s experience in psychotherapy accords W* the evidence established by psychical research, ,tn j sensitive people are in fact subject to impressions def)v , from their mental environment and from indivi<i minds in it, through channels other than those ol known physical senses- 0f
This may complicate diagnosis, for example in c^?eSteCi delusion in which the patient complains of being by the thoughts of others; it may be necessary , distinguish a paranoid misinterpretation from an act sensitivity to such impressions, instead of classing symptom as delusion, pure and simple. But many of have felt that cases of participation mystique, in Par jy lar, could not be satisfactorily dismissed as Pur delusive; they appear to be aberrations to a greate{:0ji lesser degree, of a natural power of intuitive percept and sympathy. Dr Bendit’s thesis enlarges our view such possibilities.
This small book does not attempt to give a systern3 ^ account of what is as yet an unsystematized fie.’d js discovery, but “to suggest a line of thought whicn important to psychotherapists, especially if they c dealing with a type of persons who is sensitive, intui . and artistic on the one hand, or else unreason3? . cimrractiKlo nnrl nncfnKlo nn fVia rtVar ” I n thlS ^ from suggestible and unstable on the other “. To this Dr Bend it proceeds chiefly by showing evidence .
his own observation and experience and that of Pi e^t that ideas and emotions coming from sources diftef J from and external to the patient’s own subjective mj* but by other than the known sensory channels, may have a direct bearing upon the neurotic condition. reader will find that the cases briefly quoted are ?fa ^c for which the established psychological explanations often unsatisfying as theory and ineffectual in Practl^,j’iig Is this paranormal sensitivity best regarded as show dissociative regression towards a more primj protopathic mode of response to the environment’ as a reputable function of the civilized mind, des and requiring proper integration with xhe ep’c functions ? The question has considerable bearing the right attitude of the psychotherapist, or qua’1 approval or the reverse, towards its manifestations”? a oriet concluding section, Dr Bendit discusses the Probabilities and decides that paranormal fun us place in current evolution. As is usual when we ask * ‘ this or that ” question of Nature, the reply is y . or that”, both alternatives are open. 1 he; pro Sressive task is, as with other functions, of the p> y ? 10 integrate the paranormal material and, as J^r!^ys, this concerns education as well as psychoth py. For both, the task is ” to help the patient or the child to llft his material from the more primitive to .the less Primitive, from the protopathic to the epicritic ^ ^
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
Material currently under copyright, made available with a Creative Commons license chosen by the publisher.
Material that is in the public domain
Material identified by the Welcome Trust as an Orphan Work, made available with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.