Fringe-ology
Subtitle: how I tried to explain away the unexplainable--and couldn't
By: Steve Volk
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: HarperOne
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 321
ISBN-13: 9780061857713
Subjects: Parapsychology; Supernatural
Other titles: Fringeology
Description: "Fringe-ology is a rollicking narrative journey into the unexplored territory where modern science and the paranormal converge. In it, reporter Steve Volk peeks over an anesthesiologist's shoulder as he claps a mask over a patient's face and leads us on an exploration of the deepest realm of our being. He sits beside a world famous psychologist whose research entailed watching patients die, and who concluded that death is not the end, a belief that set her own legendary career aflame. He pores over psychical research conducted by military scientists that concluded psi-phenomenon exists, and watches quantum physicists battle over the results. He offers intimate accounts of individuals who have life-changing paranormal experiences, but because of modern social stigmas must be very discreet about sharing them. Volk interviews people claiming to have been abducted by aliens, and meets a N.A.S.A. astronaut whose trip to outer space turned him into a passionate paranormalist. He investigates what happens in the brains of people undergoing a religious experience, and learns how to control his dreams. He goes hunting for specters in some of this country's most renowned haunted locations, and even wrestles with his own family's mind-bending ghost story. In the end, what Volk discovers is that there is enough mystery left in the world to humble us all, and that out of this humility arises the opportunity to answer some of the most fundamental questions that lie at the heart of human existence: Is there a God? Are we alone in the universe? What happens when we die?"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-311) and index.
Table of contents: title: What we talk about when we talk about the paranormal; title: On death and not dying: the provocative beginning of near-death-experience research; title: Do you see what I see? The curious conflict between telepathy skeptics and believers; title: Out of our heads? Off with their heads! Consciousness outside the brain; title: Blazing saddles: UFOs and the strange lights over a Texas town; title: Was there a ghost in my house? The unexplained noises that fueled a childhood mystery; title: To infinity and beyond: what science and spirituality look like from outer space; title: The open mind: how new science is revealing the power of meditation and prayer; title: The impossible dream: sleep as an untapped resource for an awakened life; title: After-death communication? How a new therapy uses the dead to help patients live; title: You can't go home again: has anyone else encountered a ghost in my old house? Our time in hell: lucid dreaming and its most potent lesson for science and spirituality.