Carl%20Sagan%20-%20The%20Demon%20Haunted%20World
Carl%20Sagan%20-%20The%20Demon%20Haunted%20World Carl%20Sagan%20-%20The%20Demon%20Haunted%20World
THE DEMON-HAUNTED WORLD alien abduction paradigm is 'Who's conning who?' Is the client deceiving the therapist, or vice versa? I disagree. For one thing, there are many other interesting questions about claims of alien abduction. For another, those two alternatives aren't mutually exclusive. Something about the alien abduction cases tugged at my memory for years. Finally, I remembered. It was a 1954 book I had read in college, The Fifty-Minute Hour. The author, a psychoanalyst named Robert Lindner, had been called by the Los Alamos National Laboratory to treat a brilliant young nuclear physicist whose delusional system was beginning to interfere with his secret government research. The physicist (given the pseudonym Kirk Allen) had, it turned out, another life besides making nuclear weapons: in the far future, he confided, he piloted (or will pilot - the tenses get a little addled) interstellar spacecraft. He enjoyed rousing, swashbuckling adventures on planets of other stars. He was 'lord' of many worlds. Perhaps they called him Captain Kirk. Not only could he 'remember' this other life; he could also enter into it whenever he chose. By thinking in the right way, by wishing, he could transport himself across the light years and the centuries. In some way I could not comprehend, by merely desiring it to be so, I had crossed the immensities of space, broken out of time, and merged with - literally became - that distant and future self . . . Don't ask me to explain. I can't, although God knows I've tried. Lindner found him intelligent, sensitive, pleasant, polite and perfectly able to deal with everyday human affairs. But, in reflecting on the excitement of his life among the stars, Allen had found himself a little bored with his life on Earth, even if it did involve building weapons of mass destruction. When admonished by his laboratory supervisors for distraction and dreaminess, he apologized; he would try, he assured them, to spend more time on this planet. That's when they contacted Lindner. Allen had written 12,000 pages on his experiences in the future, and dozens of technical treatises on the geography, politics, architecture, astronomy, geology, life forms, genealogy and ecology of the 164
The Dragon in My Garage planets of other stars. A flavour of the material is given by these monograph titles: 'The Unique Brain Development of the Chrystopeds of Srom Norba X', 'Fire Worship and Sacrifice on Srom Sodrat IT, "The History of the Intergalactic Scientific Institute', and 'The Application of Unified Field Theory and the Mechanics of the Stardrive to Space Travel'. (That last is the one I'd like to see; after all, Allen was said to have been a first-rate physicist.) Fascinated, Lindner pored over the material. Allen was not in the least shy about presenting his writings to Lindner or discussing them in detail. Unflappable and intellectually formidable, he seemed not to be yielding an inch to Lindner's psychiatric ministrations. When everything else failed, the psychiatrist attempted something different: I tried ... to avoid giving in any way the impression that I was entering the lists with him to prove that he was psychotic, that this was to be a tug of war over the question of his sanity. Instead, because it was obvious that both his temperament and training were scientific, I set myself to capitalize on the one quality he had demonstrated throughout his life . . . the quality that urged him toward a scientific career: his curiosity .. . This meant . . . that at least for the time being I 'accepted' the validity of his experiences ... In a sudden flash of inspiration it came to me that in order to separate Kirk from his madness it was necessary for me to enter his fantasy and, from that position, to pry him loose from the psychosis. Lindner highlighted certain apparent contradictions in the documents and asked Allen to resolve them. This required the physicist to re-enter the future to find the answers. Dutifully, Allen would arrive at the next session with a clarifying document written in his neat hand. Lindner found himself eagerly awaiting each interview, so he could be once more captivated by the vision of abundant life and intelligence in the galaxy. Between them, they were able to resolve many problems of consistency. Then a strange thing happened: 'The materials of Kirk's psychosis and the Achilles heel of my personality met and meshed 165
- Page 125 and 126: The Demon-Haunted World of God in v
- Page 127 and 128: The Demon-Haunted World In the witc
- Page 129 and 130: The Demon-Haunted World publish his
- Page 131 and 132: The Demon-Haunted World been father
- Page 133 and 134: The Demon-Haunted World It was thei
- Page 135 and 136: The Demon-Haunted World that UFO oc
- Page 137 and 138: The Demon-Haunted World encounter t
- Page 139 and 140: The Demon-Haunted World Long before
- Page 141 and 142: 8 On the Distinction between True a
- Page 143 and 144: On the Distinction between True and
- Page 145 and 146: On the Distinction between True and
- Page 147 and 148: On the Distinction between True and
- Page 149 and 150: On the Distinction between True and
- Page 151 and 152: On the Distinction between True and
- Page 153 and 154: On the Distinction between True and
- Page 155 and 156: 9 Therapy It is a capital mistake t
- Page 157 and 158: Therapy memories of rape and childh
- Page 159 and 160: Therapy and confabulations, and the
- Page 161 and 162: Therapy Survivors of Child Sexual A
- Page 163 and 164: Therapy name of God, Jesus and Moha
- Page 165 and 166: Therapy children in social assembli
- Page 167 and 168: Therapy by Corydon Hammond, PhD, pa
- Page 169 and 170: Therapy How much training in scient
- Page 171 and 172: Therapy alien abductions to help th
- Page 173 and 174: The Dragon in My Garage An so on. I
- Page 175: The Dragon in My Garage Purported a
- Page 179 and 180: The Dragon in My Garage by a thin l
- Page 181 and 182: The Dragon in My Garage answer to w
- Page 183 and 184: The Dragon in My Garage tantamount
- Page 185 and 186: The Dragon in My Garage critical sc
- Page 187 and 188: The Dragon in My Garage Americans h
- Page 189 and 190: The Dragon in My Garage instrument,
- Page 191 and 192: 11 The City of Grief . . . how alie
- Page 193 and 194: The City of Grief • I don't know
- Page 195 and 196: The City of Grief space somewhere -
- Page 197 and 198: The City of Grief • You, sir, are
- Page 199 and 200: The City of Grief with] a silent ho
- Page 201 and 202: 12 The Fine Art of Baloney Detectio
- Page 203 and 204: The Fine Art of Baloney Detection b
- Page 205 and 206: The Fine Art of Baloney Detection f
- Page 207 and 208: The Fine Art of Baloney Detection w
- Page 209 and 210: The Fine Art of Baloney Detection w
- Page 211 and 212: The Fine Art of Baloney Detection m
- Page 213 and 214: The Fine Art of Baloney Detection e
- Page 215 and 216: The Fine Art of Baloney Detection w
- Page 217 and 218: The Fine Art of Baloney Detection i
- Page 219 and 220: 13 Obsessed with Reality A shipowne
- Page 221 and 222: Obsessed with Reality eating the gr
- Page 223 and 224: Obsessed with Reality stranger thin
- Page 225 and 226: Obsessed with Reality homes in Amer
The Dragon in My Garage<br />
planets of other stars. A flavour of the material is given by these<br />
monograph titles: 'The Unique Brain Development of the Chrystopeds<br />
of Srom Norba X', 'Fire Worship and Sacrifice on Srom Sodrat<br />
IT, "The History of the Intergalactic Scientific Institute', and 'The<br />
Application of Unified Field Theory and the Mechanics of the<br />
Stardrive to Space Travel'. (That last is the one I'd like to see; after<br />
all, Allen was said to have been a first-rate physicist.) Fascinated,<br />
Lindner pored over the material.<br />
Allen was not in the least shy about presenting his writings to<br />
Lindner or discussing them in detail. Unflappable and intellectually<br />
formidable, he seemed not to be yielding an inch to Lindner's<br />
psychiatric ministrations. When everything else failed, the psychiatrist<br />
attempted something different:<br />
I tried ... to avoid giving in any way the impression that I<br />
was entering the lists with him to prove that he was psychotic,<br />
that this was to be a tug of war over the question of his sanity.<br />
Instead, because it was obvious that both his temperament<br />
and training were scientific, I set myself to capitalize on the<br />
one quality he had demonstrated throughout his life . . . the<br />
quality that urged him toward a scientific career: his curiosity<br />
.. . This meant . . . that at least for the time being I<br />
'accepted' the validity of his experiences ... In a sudden<br />
flash of inspiration it came to me that in order to separate<br />
Kirk from his madness it was necessary for me to enter his<br />
fantasy and, from that position, to pry him loose from the<br />
psychosis.<br />
Lindner highlighted certain apparent contradictions in the documents<br />
and asked Allen to resolve them. This required the<br />
physicist to re-enter the future to find the answers. Dutifully,<br />
Allen would arrive at the next session with a clarifying document<br />
written in his neat hand. Lindner found himself eagerly awaiting<br />
each interview, so he could be once more captivated by the vision<br />
of abundant life and intelligence in the galaxy. Between them,<br />
they were able to resolve many problems of consistency.<br />
Then a strange thing happened: 'The materials of Kirk's<br />
psychosis and the Achilles heel of my personality met and meshed<br />
165