Science vs. Spooks

Skepticism, scientific research and the Nostradamus effect

In this odd corner of the world, California, some people are interested in the changing nature of mind, emotions, personality. In certain quarters, it is believed that the uniquely western contribution to "spiritual" efforts will be the addition of scientific investigation. Perhaps this is a new chapter of the old science vs religion debate; perhaps it is a new path to understanding. I have a slightly different take on some related questions which I'm calling, Science vs. Spooks. It has to do with the prejudice of those who sponsor the research. More precisely: who's buying and why and what does this have to do with science?

The Institute of Neotic Sciences was born from the odd mixture of new age personal growth techniques and a deeply powerful personal, transforming experience. The astronaut Edgar Mitchell on his voyage to Moon during the Apollo project, had what had to be a deep, profound kensho in the most unique of circumstances. This is the second hand version of the story I heard. He was doing a space walk to check things out before the capsule fired off on its return to earth. He was, and perhaps still is, a very technical kind of guy, a total professional, running down the check list transmitted to him from NASA command. There was a momentary lapse in the transmission just as the capsule emerged from the dark side of the moon. With nothing to do for 30 seconds or so, but his concentration still entirely focused, Edgar looked up as the earth rose above the moon's horizon, and the whole universe opened up for him. Yeah, POW. Wish I'd been there.

Mitchell returns to earth a changed man and starts off on a personal quest. I have never talked to him, and can't read his mind, but perhaps he wanted to try to figure what that experience was all about, and also, perhaps, ways for others to have that experience which might drastically alter the way we live on earth.

Enter Michael Murphy and Esalen, the new age, meditation, psycho-spiritual center. In the 70's, Esalen (which is located in one of the most beautiful settings California has to offer) was a kind of supermarket of meditation-altered-state-spiritual experience. Mitchell becomes a regular, and Esalen becomes a model for the Institute of Neotic Sciences. Some of the best minds in the West, highly trained professionals who were also seekers, along with a good dose of quacks and kooks, used it as their laboratory. It was an exciting time and place. I was among the second generation of seekers to sample the feast - mostly through Claudio Naranjo's SAT which was born during the first Arica training with Oscar Ischazo that 40 or so Esalen 'members' attended (that is a loose term, they were mostly just regular participants in Esalen workshops and seminars plus a few luminaries).

Sometime around the mid to late 70's, at least this is how I see it, three things began to happen: first there was a straight forward attempt to use standard tests, psychological and medical, to measure the effects of meditation. The work of the Institute of Noetic Sciences has been a leader in this area and its contribution impressive. The second objective is quite close to the first, standard psychological instruments began to be used to see if there were measurable changes in persons who did the various workshops and trainings: if people reported beneficial results, to see if they were real change that lasted, or if it was just a kind of workshop high.

And the third thing, and here I have to be very careful because what I have to say is just my judgment though based on real experience, the producers of the various trainings and workshops wanted to show positive scientific results as part of their marketing. Most were connected to the world of psychology, some professionals and some who had transformative experiences and wanted to present them to a larger audience. Of course, money was required to support these projects. If you would like to see who some of these people are, simply look at the associate faculty of the Institute of Noetic Sciences. It is an odd assortment of practitioners, luminaries and aspiring luminaries.

I worked on staff at two Easlen type human potential companies, and I watched scientific studies as they were undertaken in both companies. In a small way, I participated in the creation and execution of one.

Here's the scenario: The company finds the money to finance the study, just as drug companies do when they are testing their products. Then someone, in the case I know best it was a PhD psychologist on staff, shops around university graduate psychology departments for some professors willing to design and execute a study. There are the usual requirements to insure that the results are completely impartial and not stacked. Both what is to be measured, and what instruments will be designed for measurement and assessment of results are negotiated and agreed on. The size of the sample and a time table are set. A fee is paid. There is also a promise to have the results, if they are positive, published in a professional peer reviewed journal.

However, there are three areas where there was participation (and revision) skew the 'objective science' behind the 'result.' I was one of several people who pre-tested the instrument that was designed. The researchers were looking for the positive psychological results some people reported and determine if they were lasting. As a 'graduate' of the course, I was given a questionnaire that the researchers had designed to measure certain psychological results. But then, through the in house psychologist, there were 'adjustments' in what was measured (most I suspect, with an eye to using the results for marketing). Then the testing began. At some point, perhaps three months into the process, I heard that people in the company were calling participants to make sure that they completed their questionnaires. (I actually overheard some phone calls though I was not asked to make any). Though this is probably not completely unethical within the agreed upon conditions of impartiality, it seems to me that if I did not feel strongly enough to send my report back to the psychologists, that would effect the statistical evaluation. I did not heard any coercion in the phone calls other than to complete the questionnaire. There were however, other 'support' calls to graduates at specific intervals. Now if I got a support call, reinforcing my experience, and then, a few weeks later, another making sure I completed a questionnaire for the study, well, you get the picture.
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And the final area of manipulation of the results is their publication. And this is the most flagrant. Although the researchers themselves wrote up the results of their study and submitted it to professional journals, perhaps even a presentation at some conference (I left the company before it was complete), there were interim reports: you know, "After six months, participants report more confident and loving conversations with their spouses and children." That first report, an assessment of the initial data, was written by the in-house psychologist and given to the president. The president claimed that there was just too much scientific jargon. In reality it was not the overwhelming positive result expected. I actually stood by his desk as he reworked every sentence, every word or phrase that seemed too guarded, and changed them, asking us as witnesses, "I don't think it should say that, this (his powerful punched phrase) says the same thing, doesn't it?" When I asked the psychologist himself about the revisions, he was pretty non-committal, "I suppose that could be said about X," and turned the conversation to his new home in the foothills.

There is nothing criminal or terribly important in this manipulation of scientific inquiry - the drug companies do it all the time and we pay for it - but it shows, I think, the limitations of scientific research in the real world.

What has this to do with our old friend Nostradamus? Did that phrase about the two giants collapsing or whatever, really 'foretell' the attack on the World Trade Center towers? I bet we could find some rich paranormal enthusiasts to fund a study that proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that a certain percentage of the American public, after hearing those sentences read to them in a scripted phone survey, will agree that Nostradamus did really predict 9/11. It is one way to defend against the terror of the unpredictable.

I remain skeptical.