Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife
Author(s): Mary Roach
ISBN: 978-0393329124
APA Style Citation:
Roach, M. (2005). Spook: science tackles the afterlife. New York: W.W. Norton Company
Author(s): Mary Roach
ISBN: 978-0393329124
APA Style Citation:
Roach, M. (2005). Spook: science tackles the afterlife. New York: W.W. Norton Company
| open_your_class_with_this_tomorrowspook.pdf |
Book Description
Mary Roach tackles to subject of the afterlife with her usual humor and bluntness. Her investigation takes her to India to learn more about potential reincarnation and to England for a class on becoming a psychic. Roach remains skeptical, finding many interesting anecdotes, but little scientific proof of an afterlife. After reading the work of University of Virginia’s Ian Stevenson on reincarnation, Roach heads to India to visit with Dr. Rawat a colleague of Dr. Stevenson’s in Bangalore. Rawat is investigating a case of a boy named Aishwary who claims to be reincarnated from a man in a neighboring village. While there are some unusual circumstances in the case, Roach ultimately decides that these are merely coincidences as all of the stories regarding the reincarnation do not coincide. She also indicates that reincarnation in India is part of the religious beliefs of Hindus, which might explain the numerous cases Dr. Rawat investigates. Roach spends some time discussing how early researchers went about identifying where the soul resided and what happened to the soul when the body passes on. She discusses Phrenology and Galls’ collection of skulls to demonstrate different talents. Roach describes Duncan MacDougall who attempted to weigh the souls of the human soul of people dying of consumption. Others have attempted to weigh animal’s souls upon their death but none to Roach’s satisfaction have succeeded at proving that it is the soul, which is being measured. Next, Roach investigates séances to determine if the souls of lost loved ones can return to send messages to family members. She wryly points out that it is unlikely that those who have passed on to the other side would communicate by moving tables and producing ectoplasm that upon further investigation often is astoundingly similar to the innards of animals hidden somewhere on or in the body of the supposed “psychic”. Roach visits the University of Arizona to speak with Gary Schwartz and the University’s Human Energy’s Systems Laboratory, which deals with mediums who claim to be able to communicate with the dead. Roach acknowledges that some of the claims made by medium Allison Dubois are uncannily specific, she points to others that are quite general, because of these generalities, Roach remains unconvinced of the medium’s ability. Roach’s next stop if Arthur Findlay’s College in England to take a three day course on the “Fundamental’s of Mediumship”, she attempts to visualize and “read” her classmates and has some degree of success but attributes it to reading the person rather than to psychic powers. Some ghost hunters attempt to make recordings of spiritual encounters but these often prove to be only interference from nearby radio stations or accidental recordings from the ghost hunters themselves or random sounds which the ghost hunters give meaning to. Roach is off to Iowa to find out more about the case of a changed will. A man in Iowa claimed that his dead father appeared to him as he slept to tell him that he had changed his will from leaving everything to the eldest son’s widow to splitting everything evenly between his children. The ghost indicated that the new will was hidden in his old overcoat lining, and in fact it was found in that location. The case was brought to court but before a judge could make a decision, the widow agreed to abide by the new will. Roach visits with the decedents of the family who stand by the ghost story, when Roach brings the new will to a handwriting expert, he determines that the new will is a forgery and although the family continues to believe, Roach is unmoved. Finally, she visits a hospital at the University of Virginia hospital, which is attempting to find out more about people’s out of body and near death experiences. In patients having heart surgery, they are effectively dead for a few moments while a procedure is completed to embed a defibrillators in their body. Professor Bruce Greyson wants to discover if those who claim to have out of body experiences can see a screen mounted far above the surgical table to determine if these individuals can describe what is on the screen. He has not yet had any luck but holds out that through continued experimentation he may discover more about these out of body experiences that some people report. For now, Mary Roach remains unconvinced, but holds out for the possibility in the afterlife but wants scientific proof first.
Other Related Resources
Website for the book Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife
http://www.maryroach.net/spook.html
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Aristotle
Descartes
Leonardo DaVinci
Franz Joseph Gall
Franz Anton MesmerHallucinations
Melatonin production
Perceptual sets
Phrenology
Pineal gland
Temporal lobes
Mary Roach tackles to subject of the afterlife with her usual humor and bluntness. Her investigation takes her to India to learn more about potential reincarnation and to England for a class on becoming a psychic. Roach remains skeptical, finding many interesting anecdotes, but little scientific proof of an afterlife. After reading the work of University of Virginia’s Ian Stevenson on reincarnation, Roach heads to India to visit with Dr. Rawat a colleague of Dr. Stevenson’s in Bangalore. Rawat is investigating a case of a boy named Aishwary who claims to be reincarnated from a man in a neighboring village. While there are some unusual circumstances in the case, Roach ultimately decides that these are merely coincidences as all of the stories regarding the reincarnation do not coincide. She also indicates that reincarnation in India is part of the religious beliefs of Hindus, which might explain the numerous cases Dr. Rawat investigates. Roach spends some time discussing how early researchers went about identifying where the soul resided and what happened to the soul when the body passes on. She discusses Phrenology and Galls’ collection of skulls to demonstrate different talents. Roach describes Duncan MacDougall who attempted to weigh the souls of the human soul of people dying of consumption. Others have attempted to weigh animal’s souls upon their death but none to Roach’s satisfaction have succeeded at proving that it is the soul, which is being measured. Next, Roach investigates séances to determine if the souls of lost loved ones can return to send messages to family members. She wryly points out that it is unlikely that those who have passed on to the other side would communicate by moving tables and producing ectoplasm that upon further investigation often is astoundingly similar to the innards of animals hidden somewhere on or in the body of the supposed “psychic”. Roach visits the University of Arizona to speak with Gary Schwartz and the University’s Human Energy’s Systems Laboratory, which deals with mediums who claim to be able to communicate with the dead. Roach acknowledges that some of the claims made by medium Allison Dubois are uncannily specific, she points to others that are quite general, because of these generalities, Roach remains unconvinced of the medium’s ability. Roach’s next stop if Arthur Findlay’s College in England to take a three day course on the “Fundamental’s of Mediumship”, she attempts to visualize and “read” her classmates and has some degree of success but attributes it to reading the person rather than to psychic powers. Some ghost hunters attempt to make recordings of spiritual encounters but these often prove to be only interference from nearby radio stations or accidental recordings from the ghost hunters themselves or random sounds which the ghost hunters give meaning to. Roach is off to Iowa to find out more about the case of a changed will. A man in Iowa claimed that his dead father appeared to him as he slept to tell him that he had changed his will from leaving everything to the eldest son’s widow to splitting everything evenly between his children. The ghost indicated that the new will was hidden in his old overcoat lining, and in fact it was found in that location. The case was brought to court but before a judge could make a decision, the widow agreed to abide by the new will. Roach visits with the decedents of the family who stand by the ghost story, when Roach brings the new will to a handwriting expert, he determines that the new will is a forgery and although the family continues to believe, Roach is unmoved. Finally, she visits a hospital at the University of Virginia hospital, which is attempting to find out more about people’s out of body and near death experiences. In patients having heart surgery, they are effectively dead for a few moments while a procedure is completed to embed a defibrillators in their body. Professor Bruce Greyson wants to discover if those who claim to have out of body experiences can see a screen mounted far above the surgical table to determine if these individuals can describe what is on the screen. He has not yet had any luck but holds out that through continued experimentation he may discover more about these out of body experiences that some people report. For now, Mary Roach remains unconvinced, but holds out for the possibility in the afterlife but wants scientific proof first.
Other Related Resources
Website for the book Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife
http://www.maryroach.net/spook.html
Psychological Figures and Concepts
Aristotle
Descartes
Leonardo DaVinci
Franz Joseph Gall
Franz Anton MesmerHallucinations
Melatonin production
Perceptual sets
Phrenology
Pineal gland
Temporal lobes
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