AFTER THE WHITE CROW: INTEGRATING SCIENCE AND ANOMALOUS EXPERIENCE

Abstract

In this edited version of the 1996 ISSSEEM Presidential Address given at the annual conference in Boulder, Colorado, Dr. Wesch outlines some unique issues for "scientifically-inclined mystics" and "mystically-inclined scientists." The nature of anomalous experience tends to produce profound personal effects on the experiencer, creating conflicts for the supposed objectivity of the scientific method if that experiencer is also a working scientist. Using the "White Crow" metaphor from William James' 1896 Presidential Address to the Society for Psychical Research as a starting point, problems of "fear of psi," negative reactions of friends, family and colleagues, and loss of openness are explored. A personal solution to living on the bridge between the mystical and the scientific is offered.