Parasociology

[wicro]

Here is a link to a sociologists blog that I stumbled upon when researching my recent dissertation. He has some interesting ideas on combining the two disciplines of sociology and parapsychology that may be of interest to some of the paracast listeners.

Eric Ouellet

 

[111uminate]

Interesting indeed. Reading through the first two paragraphs I was immediately reminded of Jung's work, and then after falling upon the words "collective unconscious" that sealed the deal. I've always found that Jung's methods, especially in relation to paranormal phenomena at large proves to be a great tool for scrutiny.

Evans notes that in the 1970s (once again!) two noted French ufologists (Pierre Guérin and Michel Monnerie) separately came to the conclusion that the UFO experience appears to combine objective and subjective elements.

That is spot on, and a useful way of contemplating the phenomena in my opinion. I wasn't aware such research and theories had been put forth before to that degree. It's amazing what gems have been lost over the decades from the early days of research; the real research. The combination of an objective and subjective relationship as a property of the mystery has profound implications, as he mentions here:

This is where Jung’s hypothesis works superbly: for it proposes that the percipient undergoes his experience both as an individual and as a child of his time. And the result is that he sees an entity that has a communal significance—the Virgin Mary, an alien visitor—but with specific attributes that relate to his own situation—the Virgin gives a message of personal comfort, the alien shares his preoccupation with ecology or The Bomb.”

Certainly that is nothing new, as anyone who is vaguely familiar with Vallee will know. Though his proposed theory leans a little more toward an external intelligence, as opposed to an illusory personal experience, I find the two to be closely similar. Each harbor a trick at play, whether it be permitted by ourselves or something else. That is definitely heady subject matter and one of the more complex theories out there in my opinion, and unfortunately it's extremely difficult to convey. The limits of language, or perhaps the obstruction of language, and the lack of understanding we hold for our own minds doesn't make for easy digestion of such concepts. Like others have postulated, perhaps that's the "point" of the phenomena. A cosmic monkey wrench.

I must admit, I thoroughly enjoyed that reading. Very interesting stuff, and once again he was spot on with:

In the light of this review, it is now quite clear that our knowledge of the UFO phenomenon has not made much progress since the late 1970s/early 1980s. Many key ideas and notions were developed then, but were not pursued vigorously afterward. It is probably due in large part to the Roswell/Majestic hysteria, which did provide any room for anything else to be published but entertainment-like books and documentaries about aliens and conspiracies.

Painfully true. Like I said earlier, the real research is still sitting in the 70s and 80s.