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Interview
Susan Blackmore
Susan Blackmore is a well-known cognitive scientist, psychologist, lecturer and author. She has just written a textbook on consciousness. Rick Lewis asked her about her journey from parapsychology to the study of consciousness.
What experience originally led you to believe that consciousness could leave the body?
In my first term at Oxford when I was studying physiology and psychology, I was also running the Psychical Research Society, just because I had been faintly interested in paranormal phenomena, and I got sucked into an enormous enthusiasm for that whole area. Anyway, one night when we’d been having a ouija board session I was sitting in a friend’s room smoking some dope, listening to Grateful Dead, or Pink Floyd or something and I seemed to be galloping down a tunnel of leaves like a road, towards a bright light at the end, as if I was in a horsedrawn carriage. One of my friends said “Where are you Sue?” And that was a really important question. I thought “Where am I?”
Then everything cleared and I had a perfect view from up on the ceiling looking down and I could see myself sitting down below with my two friends and watch my own mouth opening and shutting saying “I’m on the ceiling.” I could see a silver cord coming out of my neck and coming up to me.
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