FRINGE-OLOGY. Steve Volk [Book Review]
"At the most fundamental level of reality, we are fellow travelers stuck to the hull of a rock floating through pace, without final answers to the questions that are traditionally most important to us: What happens we we die? Is there a god? Are we alone in the universe? Why are we here?" (pg. 6, Introduction)
"This is a book that asks the reader to recognize that there is a difference between knowledge and belief, and that the bar for what constitutes true knowledge is set awfully high--far higher than we can attain throughout our society." (pg 14, Introduction)
FRINGE-OLOGY.
Though this book is under the "body, mind, spirit" genre, I think it's more properly fit into a "proof documentation" frame, under a sociological scope.
Volk, more than diving into his topics, gives a satisfying number of examples and stories to compare and contrast, what, ironically, he tries to dissuade--two sides: the rationalist and the believer. And through the two archetypes, he reveals the humanity of our pursuance of the unknown--the "paranormal".
"We live in a world of false certainties: Whether we are discussing politics, religion, or economics, when we flip on our televisions or open our Web browsers to a news site, we encounter the often strongly held opinions of others--opinions that lead us into a series of binary choices: conservative or liberal, believer or atheist, capitalist or socialist. My argument, simply, is that these are false choices--that there are middle paths that bear more fruit." (pg. 4, Introduction)
In ten parts, Fringe-ology discusses near death experiences, lucid dreaming, consciousness, the afterlife, ghosts and spirits, UFOs, psi research (such as telepathy and remote viewing), space travel, and the power of meditation and thought. It plays into the emotional aspects of these studies, even mentioning the amygdala (in the brain) and its functions more than once--how we perceive life, the fear and anxiety we feel when our worldviews are confronted. Human nature dictates our denial of the things we cannot understand--that there's more to this world than we know.
"It seems that both religious and irreligious people see death and threats to their worldviews as of a piece; in other words, he who threatens my life and he who threatens my way of looking at the world are, on a psychological level, related. That is a dangerous way of thinking, but it seems we're built for it--machines constructed to fight." (pg 11, Introduction)
Volk presses his readers to both embrace this fact and yet reminds us that we are constantly discovering new things through the power of our minds; even if our perception of these realities and discoveries may be skewed, the limitations of religion and science can work together to monopolize what knowledge is at our disposal.
To be honest, this book wasn't what I expected. I delved into Fringe-ology assuming I'd be thrown into a heated discussion on the paranormal, not-so-much the ideologies or the emotional correspondences of the people who research and experience such things. This book remained pleasantly unbiased, exploring both sides of the spectrum as well as detailing the research and lives of people in the middle--though perhaps not peaceful and united, neither were they resilient or irrational.
I'd say this is a good pick for a beginner interested in a brief and informational telling including well-documented references to further one's own research. That's certainly what I'll be doing; and it has further fueled my desire to learn as much as possible on things like lucid dreaming and meditation.
Overall, I'd give this book a 4/5--it's a great, easy read, neither light nor dense but somewhere placidly in between, and it gives wonderful insight into the reality of human nature--and how it's okay that we don't have all the answers--yet, at least.
"This is a book that asks the reader to recognize that there is a difference between knowledge and belief, and that the bar for what constitutes true knowledge is set awfully high--far higher than we can attain throughout our society." (pg 14, Introduction)
FRINGE-OLOGY.
Though this book is under the "body, mind, spirit" genre, I think it's more properly fit into a "proof documentation" frame, under a sociological scope.
Volk, more than diving into his topics, gives a satisfying number of examples and stories to compare and contrast, what, ironically, he tries to dissuade--two sides: the rationalist and the believer. And through the two archetypes, he reveals the humanity of our pursuance of the unknown--the "paranormal".
"We live in a world of false certainties: Whether we are discussing politics, religion, or economics, when we flip on our televisions or open our Web browsers to a news site, we encounter the often strongly held opinions of others--opinions that lead us into a series of binary choices: conservative or liberal, believer or atheist, capitalist or socialist. My argument, simply, is that these are false choices--that there are middle paths that bear more fruit." (pg. 4, Introduction)
In ten parts, Fringe-ology discusses near death experiences, lucid dreaming, consciousness, the afterlife, ghosts and spirits, UFOs, psi research (such as telepathy and remote viewing), space travel, and the power of meditation and thought. It plays into the emotional aspects of these studies, even mentioning the amygdala (in the brain) and its functions more than once--how we perceive life, the fear and anxiety we feel when our worldviews are confronted. Human nature dictates our denial of the things we cannot understand--that there's more to this world than we know.
"It seems that both religious and irreligious people see death and threats to their worldviews as of a piece; in other words, he who threatens my life and he who threatens my way of looking at the world are, on a psychological level, related. That is a dangerous way of thinking, but it seems we're built for it--machines constructed to fight." (pg 11, Introduction)
Volk presses his readers to both embrace this fact and yet reminds us that we are constantly discovering new things through the power of our minds; even if our perception of these realities and discoveries may be skewed, the limitations of religion and science can work together to monopolize what knowledge is at our disposal.
To be honest, this book wasn't what I expected. I delved into Fringe-ology assuming I'd be thrown into a heated discussion on the paranormal, not-so-much the ideologies or the emotional correspondences of the people who research and experience such things. This book remained pleasantly unbiased, exploring both sides of the spectrum as well as detailing the research and lives of people in the middle--though perhaps not peaceful and united, neither were they resilient or irrational.
I'd say this is a good pick for a beginner interested in a brief and informational telling including well-documented references to further one's own research. That's certainly what I'll be doing; and it has further fueled my desire to learn as much as possible on things like lucid dreaming and meditation.
Overall, I'd give this book a 4/5--it's a great, easy read, neither light nor dense but somewhere placidly in between, and it gives wonderful insight into the reality of human nature--and how it's okay that we don't have all the answers--yet, at least.