To most people, any bit of technical apparatus, provided it has a wheel turning, a light flashing, a needle wagging, is immediately exciting and somehow convincing on its own. This is particularly true when as with the average Scientologist or Aetherian, the individual himself has a limited scientific background. Then the mysterious apparatus acquires an aura of profundity which serves as the physical equivalent of the specialized jargon on which so many cults rely. The E-meter [a device used in Scientology, based on galvanic skin response] and its analogues are actually the cults implicit obeisance to the machine age, an unconscious recognition that the icons of today must be cast in the image of the jet engine, the television set and the digital computer. This is from Christopher Evanss 1973 book Cults of Unreason (Harrap, London), which is concerned mostly with Scientology, UFO mania and other cult-like activities of the time, but if hed have written it 30 or 40 years later he could be referring to the gear we paranormal investigators employ. A lot of it is about mystique, and a certain amount on theatre; not much of it is about science.
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 04:47:22 +0000
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