Monthly Archives: February 2013

Prominent psychologist praises First Sight

The following review by Donald T. Saposnek, PhD, appeared on Amazon.com.  Dr. Saposnek is the author of Mediating Child Custody Disputes and Splitting America: How Politicians, Super PACs and the News Media Mirror High Conflict Divorce.  Widely published in child psychology, he has received several awards, including the International Association for Conflict Resolution’s JOHN M. HAYNES AWARD, and The California Psychological Association’s AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED CONTRIBUTION TO PSYCHOLOGY AS A PROFESSION.

 

A BRILLIANT NEW THEORY OF THE MIND

For anybody that likes to challenge their ordinary ways of thinking, Jim Carpenter’s new book, First Sight, is a mental life-changer. I most highly recommend it to you.

In his efforts to bring the illuminating findings of a generation of empirical research on parapsychology into contemporary psychological thinking, Carpenter developed his “First Sight” theory. This rich and ambitious theory integrates the research findings of parapsychology with that of normal psychology as to how our minds work, and it succeeds in weaving together a seamless continuum from normal to paranormal mental processes, such that the designation of “para” appears irrelevant. He carefully and methodically documents how each of us is continually gathering (“prehending”) information before it even gets to our sensory organs or awareness, and such information is continually influencing our thinking and our actions (both unconscious and conscious). The theory suggests that this pre-gathering of such information is evolutionarily hard-wired into us and has allowed us as a species to survive predators and dangerous situations. As such, it is a natural and normal process.

Most people think categorically and believe that “normal” experiences (those that presumably can be explained by science) are one thing, but paranormal experiences (those that presumably cannot be explained by science) are a whole other thing. In fact, in most people’s minds, parapsychology and ESP are linked with stage magicians or odd individuals who have that “weird gift” of being psychic. Throughout this book, Jim Carpenter continuously disabuses us of this categorical thinking by presenting the careful empirical research that thoroughly documents findings that cannot be explained by our usual theories–but that also cannot be ignored. And then, he convincingly demonstrates how First Sight theory can account for these findings, on a continuum of normal experiential and cognitive processing–effectively replacing categorical with dimensional thinking.

To say that this theory is brilliant would be an understatement. This book will make you think, and think deeply. It takes you on a fascinating mental journey that will have you questioning all your regular assumptions about how we gain our knowledge. At the beginning and end of each section, that is chock full of fascinating research findings, Carpenter gives your mind a resting spot by summarizing the accumulating key points of his theory; this helps you to absorb, incrementally, the full impact of this profound theory.

The read along the way is scintillating and provocative. You will want to share with your friends and family each fascinating research finding that you encounter, as you re-think your own usual ways of thinking.