March 20th show

[DaveM]

Don, a very interesting show. Listening to you and Rich talk about reincarnation was a treat. Thanks. Dave

 

[Polterwurst]

What? OMG. I'll have to download this.
EDIT done, now let's see what these guys have to say...man, I would have liked to phone in on that one.

 

[Polterwurst]

Nice show. Very insightful. Unfortunate, though, that people didn't seem to want to stay on topic, but what can you do. It's regared as new agey and religious by many people, and someone who hasn't had their own experience will obviously find other things more interesting or convincing.

When I started to read up on the late Prof. Ian Stevenson after my cousin had told me that he had been murdered in his "former life", I was like "why the hell is this work not better known?" He wasn't some esotericist revealing the "secrets of the east", but a thorough and thoughtful scientist, exactly the kind of person I'd personally want to be involved in examining all these claims and fringe topics.

While it didn't surprise me that he was absolutely unknown here in Germany, where the belief in reincarnation is regarded as religious nonsense and wishful thinking, I was kind of taken aback, to be honest, when I started scanning american forums and blogs. Obviously, he isn't much better known in the U.S. The degree of willingness to accept reincarnation as a valid theory, is much higher, though, and I guess he did play a role in that.

The case Don mentions at the start of the show is described in Jim Tucker's book "Return to Life". Dr. Tucker was Ian Stevenson's research assistant and is now continuing his work. He seems to be more willing than Stevenson to go public with this work, which is why I have suggested him as a Paracast show guest.

I think both described childhood fascinations (the Alamo and the Civil War) are highly likely to have their roots in actual past lives in the era. It seems to be more complicated than a simple succession of life after life, though. And while you often hear of that time period of about 20 to 30 years "between lives", there have been cases reported, where a past life ended very shortly before or even after the birth of the "present" life.

Regarding Kaspar Hauser, he's still well known here in Germany. There was a conspiracy theory according to which he was actually from a princely house, exchanged at birth, to make way for someone who was believed to be better suited. This has been laid to rest, though, when scientists compared his DNA to that of the "princely house" mentioned. No similarity was found.

 

[Constance]

Nice show. Very insightful. Unfortunate, though, that people didn't seem to want to stay on topic, but what can you do. It's regared as new agey and religious by many people, and someone who hasn't had their own experience will obviously find other things more interesting or convincing.

When I started to read up on the late Prof. Ian Stevenson after my cousin had told me that he had been murdered in his "former life", I was like "why the hell is this work not better known?" He wasn't some esotericist revealing the "secrets of the east", but a thorough and thoughtful scientist, exactly the kind of person I'd personally want to be involved in examining all these claims and fringe topics.

While it didn't surprise me that he was absolutely unknown here in Germany, where the belief in reincarnation is regarded as religious nonsense and wishful thinking, I was kind of taken aback, to be honest, when I started scanning american forums and blogs. Obviously, he isn't much better known in the U.S. The degree of willingness to accept reincarnation as a valid theory, is much higher, though, and I guess he did play a role in that.

The case Don mentions at the start of the show is described in Jim Tucker's book "Return to Life". Dr. Tucker was Ian Stevenson's research assistant and is now continuing his work. He seems to be more willing than Stevenson to go public with this work, which is why I have suggested him as a Paracast show guest.

I think both described childhood fascinations (the Alamo and the Civil War) are highly likely to have their roots in actual past lives in the era. It seems to be more complicated than a simple succession of life after life, though. And while you often hear of that time period of about 20 to 30 years "between lives", there have been cases reported, where a past life ended very shortly before or even after the birth of the "present" life.

Regarding Kaspar Hauser, he's still well known here in Germany. There was a conspiracy theory according to which he was actually from a princely house, exchanged at birth, to make way for someone who was believed to be better suited. This has been laid to rest, though, when scientists compared his DNA to that of the "princely house" mentioned. No similarity was found.

I didn't know about this program or would have listened to it. I'll download the paracast.

"The case Don mentions at the start of the show is described in Jim Tucker's book "Return to Life". Dr. Tucker was Ian Stevenson's research assistant and is now continuing his work. He seems to be more willing than Stevenson to go public with this work, which is why I have suggested him as a Paracast show guest."

I've read Tucker's book and agree with your suggestion that he be invited for a Paracast interview. Reincarnation research provides us with more than the usual evidence of what we call 'para-normal' experience. There's a mountain of research to pursue from Stevenson, the archives at the University of Virgina and the work that Tucker continues to pursue there, and many other books and articles originating in the US and elsewhere in the world.

"Regarding Kaspar Hauser, he's still well known here in Germany. There was a conspiracy theory according to which he was actually from a princely house, exchanged at birth, to make way for someone who was believed to be better suited. This has been laid to rest, though, when scientists compared his DNA to that of the "princely house" mentioned. No similarity was found."

The Kaspar Hauser case is fascinating and imo significant for consciousness studies. Do you know of and recommend any books or articles in English reporting research on Kaspar Hauser's life and development after he was found wandering in Nuremberg as a young man? From some reading I did on the case in the past I was impressed by the extent to which, with the tutelage he received, he was able to attain language skills and develop his intellect. I was also struck by the extent to which he had developed subtle senses apparently beyond the usual five during his childhood kept alone in the dark outbuilding so that later on he.could identify various metals and minerals merely by being in the same room with them (blindfolded as I recall). Have you seen Werner Herzog's film about Kaspar Hauser's life? It's remarkable and very moving.

The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Polterwurst]

I didn't know about this program or would have listened to it. I'll download the paracast.

It's not a paracast, but Don Ecker's Dark Matters Radio. You can find the link on the 2015 downloads table here (last show of week 12)
Dark Matters Radio - Downloads | CyberStationUSA On Demand Programming

I guess I'll have to repeat my guest suggestion for Dr Jim Tucker from time to time. I know he has been on other podcasts, so I hope he would agree to do a Paracast, too.

As for Kaspar Hauser, I actually think the case might not be that unique or remarkable after all. Romanticism was at its height when he showed up and that meant many people would be mystifying him. There might have been similar cases before which basically got ignored.
I watched the movie years ago and don't remember much of it, but I guess it was well done and not too pro conspiracy.

With the theories about a noble origin now all but debunked, I guess Hauser might just have been a child born out of wedlock, a soldier's "bastard" who was kept hidden away. Maybe he had an impoverished mother who sent him away with the message when she didn't know how to feed him any more. As for the strange circumstances surrounding his death, the doctors indicated even back then that he might have inflicted the wound on himself (as he probably had done before). It seems that he got depressed, when the public attention died down, and it's possible he invented the mystery attacker to keep it up.

In terms of the development of language, consciousness etc., there's actually a much more recent and better documented case, that of Genie Wyler:

It's a sad story, too, but unlike Hauser, Genie's not going to have any monuments or museums built in her name.

And then there's cases like this which really makes you wonder if monsters can sometimes become parents and make their own child's life a living hell:
Fritzl case - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Goggs Mackay]

This is your pet subject Polter, am I right?

 

[Polterwurst]

This is your pet subject Polter, am I right?

If you mean reincarnation, yes. I guess, experiencing two cases in which children act like they have "been here" before, can do that to you. And as I said elsewhere, I was a 100% agnostic, if not a nihilist regarding afterlife beliefs. "Life's a bitch and then there's nothing". Not so much afterwards. I guess I am a little like Marty Rosenblatt who wants"his field" to be better known because he feels RV is a part of everyone's life. Same with me and reincarnation. It just so happens that it happens. It's not woo-woo, it's not religious or esoteric, just a part of nature.

If you mean Kaspar Hauser or people keeping their children hidden away or in cellars, no, it's not. Like Constance, I think these sad cases could give clues about how consciousness develops. I stumbled over the Genie Wyler case whilst "researching" consciousness. The other two are quite well known here.

 

[Goggs Mackay]

@Polterwurst - If I have any questions about reincarnation, you're the person I'd ask.
Can you remember if we've done a show about reincarnation specifically? If one comes up in the future I would recommend you be a guest too! (be great to hear a Deutsch accent on the show)

 

[Polterwurst]

@Goggs Mackay Thanks. I'm pretty sure there has never been a show on reincarnation in general on the Paracast. Or on the unexplained phenomenon of children seeming to have memories of a deceased person. I hope Gene's going to correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.

If there ever should be such a show, I hope Gene and Chris get someone like Dr. Jim Tucker or one of his research assistants on. There are plenty of other people talking about the topic, but few who are purely scientific about it.

As for my participating in a reincarnation-themed show, the accent would probably not even be the worst thing people would have to endure (luckily "ums" and "ahs" don't present much opportunity for an accent to show and that would probably be what I'd say most of the time). I also have a pretty crappy bandwith. I've tried Skype, but the connection always breaks down. The upload "speed" doesn't even deserve to be called that.

 

[Constance]

For Poltergeist and Goggs and anyone else interested, we are taking up discussion of reincarnation at this point in the 'Consciousness and the Paranormal' thread, along with other related anomalous experiences including OBEs, NDEs, mediumship, remote viewing, and more. This post I just added indicates the directions I hope we will take.

Consciousness and the Paranormal — Part 3 | Page 60 | The Paracast Community Forums

Just preceding that is a link to a paper entitled "Who am I in Out of Body Experience: Implications from OBES for the explanadum of a theory of self-consciousness in Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences" by Glenn Carruthers, which I think will be a significant beginning for the discussion. Here's that link again:

(in press) "Who am I in Out of Body Experience: Implications from OBEs for the explanandum of a theory of self-consciousness" in Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences | Glenn Carruthers - Academia.edu

 

[Goggs Mackay]

@Goggs Mackay Thanks. I'm pretty sure there has never been a show on reincarnation in general on the Paracast. Or on the unexplained phenomenon of children seeming to have memories of a deceased person. I hope Gene's going to correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I am.

If there ever should be such a show, I hope Gene and Chris get someone like Dr. Jim Tucker or one of his research assistants on. There are plenty of other people talking about the topic, but few who are purely scientific about it.

As for my participating in a reincarnation-themed show, the accent would probably not even be the worst thing people would have to endure (luckily "ums" and "ahs" don't present much opportunity for an accent to show and that would probably be what I'd say most of the time). I also have a pretty crappy bandwith. I've tried Skype, but the connection always breaks down. The upload "speed" doesn't even deserve to be called that.

I am sure we could fix you up somehow - in 21st century Germany!

by the way Polter, as your memory says there has not yet been a show about reincarnation, why don't you have a think of who could be a great guest on the topic, someone who could sustain a 2 hour show and go ahead and feel them out about appearing on the show - I don't mean go as far as ask them for an interview yet but maybe find out if they are open to the idea and if they are, bring it to Gene/Chris for approval to go ahead.

Gene and Chris will consider anything brought before them, and more so if you do a little digging first, rather than just posting on the possible guest thread. I've suggested guests for this and another show and followed through too. Nobody else will do it if they guy really into the subject won't!

Seriously though, nobody will try and force you onto a microphone if you don't want to but if you think a show on reincarnation would be good - absolutely go ahead and try and suss out a good guest for the topic. I'll second you.

 

[Constance]

It's not a paracast, but Don Ecker's Dark Matters Radio. You can find the link on the 2015 downloads table here (last show of week 12)
Dark Matters Radio - Downloads | CyberStationUSA On Demand Programming

I guess I'll have to repeat my guest suggestion for Dr Jim Tucker from time to time. I know he has been on other podcasts, so I hope he would agree to do a Paracast, too.

As for Kaspar Hauser, I actually think the case might not be that unique or remarkable after all. Romanticism was at its height when he showed up and that meant many people would be mystifying him. There might have been similar cases before which basically got ignored.
I watched the movie years ago and don't remember much of it, but I guess it was well done and not too pro conspiracy.

With the theories about a noble origin now all but debunked, I guess Hauser might just have been a child born out of wedlock, a soldier's "bastard" who was kept hidden away. Maybe he had an impoverished mother who sent him away with the message when she didn't know how to feed him any more. As for the strange circumstances surrounding his death, the doctors indicated even back then that he might have inflicted the wound on himself (as he probably had done before). It seems that he got depressed, when the public attention died down, and it's possible he invented the mystery attacker to keep it up.

In terms of the development of language, consciousness etc., there's actually a much more recent and better documented case, that of Genie Wyler:

It's a sad story, too, but unlike Hauser, Genie's not going to have any monuments or museums built in her name.

And then there's cases like this which really makes you wonder if monsters can sometimes become parents and make their own child's life a living hell:
Fritzl case - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks for this post and the additional citations, Poltergeist. Sadly, monsters do become parents.

Getting back for a moment to Kaspar Hauser's case, I think the theory at the time that he might have been 'of noble blood' was just a contemporary distraction from the real interest of his life. You're right that in trying to understand his situation and condition before and after 17 years of isolation and abuse -- an amazing development of consciousness and mind after such long deprivation of normal experience in the world -- we are limited by what his tutor and benefactor (and I think several other individuals in the vicinity) observed and wrote about his development. I do think that Herzog captured many significant aspects of both of Hauser's lives, which both during and after the radical isolation he lived through demonstrate the openness and persistence of consciousness and its reliance on a social world in which to develop.

 

[Polterwurst]

by the way Polter, as your memory says there has not yet been a show about reincarnation, why don't you have a think of who could be a great guest on the topic, someone who could sustain a 2 hour show and go ahead and feel them out about appearing on the show - I don't mean go as far as ask them for an interview yet but maybe find out if they are open to the idea and if they are, bring it to Gene/Chris for approval to go ahead.

Will do. I'm going to send an E-Mail to the division of perceptual studies at the University of Virginia, where Dr Tucker is based. And look for other possible guests.

As for 21st century Germany, the area I live in is very rural, more like 19th century.