Presence : the strange science and true stories of the unseen other / Ben Alderson-Day.
| Author/creator |
Alderson-Day, Ben author. |
| Format | Book and Print |
| Edition | First edition. |
| Publication Info | New York, NY : St. Martin's Press, an imprint of St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2023. |
| Copyright Notice | 2023 |
| Description | xv, 285 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Subject(s) |
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| Variant title | Strange science and true stories of the unseen other |
| Contents | Preface: What is there? -- Part 1: Phantom others. A thickness in the air -- "Things which should never be spoken of" -- The double -- Luke -- The presence robot -- "I'll set the table for three people when it's just me and my wife" -- Part 2: Fellow travelers. The walnut of reality -- The Marathon Monk of Billingham -- Seeing darkness -- Spirit -- In two minds -- You never asked. |
| Abstract | These experiences of sensing a Presence when no one else is there have been given many names--the Third Man, guardian angels, shadow figures, "social" hallucinations--and they have inspired, unsettled, and confounded in equal measure. While the contexts in which they occur are diverse, they are united by a distinct and uncanny feeling of visitation by another. But what does this feeling mean, and where does it come from? When and why do presences emerge? And how can we even begin to understand a phenomenon that can be transformative for those who experience it, and yet so hard to put into words? The answers to these questions lie in this tour-de-force through contemporary psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience, and philosophy. Presence follows Ben Alderson-Day's attempts--as a psychologist and a researcher--to understand how this experience is possible. What is a voice when it isn't heard, and how otherwise do we know or feel that someone is in our presence? Is it a hallucination connected to psychosis, a change in the working of the brain, or something else? The journey to understand takes us to meet explorers, mediums, and robots, and step through real, imagined, and virtual worlds. Presence is the story of who we carry with us, at all times, as parts of ourselves. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Genre/form | Anecdotes. |
| Genre/form | Informational works. |
| Genre/form | Informational works. |
| Genre/form | Anecdotes. |
| LCCN | 2022051656 |
| ISBN | 9781250278258 |
| ISBN | 1250278252 (hardcover) |
| ISBN | (electronic book) |
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| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions | |
| Joyner | Order on Demand Title | Order On Demand | ✔ Available | Click to order this title |