2021 00 00 Journal for the Study of Religious Experience - Vol 7 No 1 - Jack Hunter

Magazine Overview

This issue of the Journal for the Study of Religious Experience, Vol. 7, No. 1 (2021), features the article "Deep Weird: High Strangeness, Boggle Thresholds and Damned Data in Academic Research on Extraordinary Experience" by Jack Hunter.

Deep Weird: High Strangeness, Boggle Thresholds and Damned Data in Academic Research on Extraordinary Experience

Introduction

Jack Hunter's paper explores why the most unusual reports of extraordinary experience are often neglected in scholarly discourse, even within the fringe field of religious and extraordinary experience research. He posits that methodological issues and cultural attitudes contribute to this academic aversion. This has created a divide between the types of experiences discussed in academic literature (e.g., OBEs, NDEs, visions) and those explored by popular paranormal researchers (e.g., UFO encounters, Bigfoot sightings). Hunter suggests that despite this divide, common themes link these seemingly disparate areas, and that 'high strangeness' might be a fundamental characteristic of extraordinary experience that warrants greater scholarly attention.

High Strangeness

The concept of 'High Strangeness' is introduced, referring to experiences that are particularly bizarre and difficult to classify. Mike Clelland describes such experiences as being enmeshed in a "tangled knot of implausibility" where synchronicity plays a significant role. The term 'High Strangeness' was coined by J. Allen Hynek in the context of his 'Strangeness Rating' for UFO encounters. Hynek defined it as a measure of the "number of information bits the report contains, each of which is difficult to explain in common sense terms." Jacques Vallee expanded on this, identifying seven levels of strangeness, from simple sightings to abduction experiences. The paper notes that high strangeness permeates various paranormal phenomena, including Bigfoot encounters, poltergeist activity, and even interactions with entities interpreted as angels or aliens, often blurring the lines between categories.

The Role of Popular Researchers and 'Damned Data'

Due to academic neglect of the more outlandish elements of paranormal experience, the responsibility for investigating them has often fallen to journalists and popular writers. The paper highlights the work of Charles Fort, John Keel, Jenny Randles, and Albert Rosales as examples of popular researchers who have embraced 'High Strangeness.' These experiences, according to Charles Fort's terms, become 'damned data,' even within fields like parapsychology or religious experience research.

Boggle Thresholds and Academic Research

Renée Haynes coined the term 'Boggle Threshold' to describe the point at which an experience is deemed too outlandish to be considered by a researcher. This threshold is influenced by individual temperament, history, training, and social groups. The paper discusses how 'Boggle Thresholds' can limit the scope of academic studies on extraordinary experience. The pioneering study 'Census of Hallucinations' by Henry Sidgwick and colleagues used a 'filter question' to exclude experiences that might "muddy the waters," potentially ruling out phenomena occurring in hypnagogic or hypnopompic states. Similarly, the Religious Experience Research Unit (RERU) at Oxford University used the 'Hardy Question' to focus on religious experiences, though they later broadened their scope due to the 'wild' nature of the submissions.

Damned Experiences from the RERC Archive

The Religious Experience Research Centre (RERC) archive, housed at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, contains over 6,000 self-submitted reports of religious experiences. While studies like Timothy Beardsworth's have categorized experiences based on sensory input and a 'sense of presence,' the archive also holds 'out-lying accounts' that do not fit neatly into academic frameworks. An example is provided of an experience from 1951 involving "little green men" and electrical disturbances, which might have exceeded Beardsworth's boggle threshold and shares characteristics with UFO, abduction, or fairy encounters. This highlights the difficulty in categorizing experiences that straddle religious and paranormal domains.

The Numinous, The Weird and the Oz Factor

The paper then delves into the 'deep weirdness' underlying many extraordinary experiences, referencing Rudolf Otto's concept of the 'numinous' as the foundational religious impulse, characterized by 'mysterium fascinans' (fascinating) and 'mysterium tremendum' (frightening), and sometimes 'daemonic dread.' The cultural theorist Mark Fisher defines the 'weird' as a "particular kind of perturbation" involving a sensation of wrongness that challenges existing categories of understanding. The paper also discusses Peter Rojcewicz's work on the Men in Black (MIB) and Jenny Randles' concept of the 'Oz Factor,' a dream-like, silent state of consciousness that can precede encounters with various anomalous phenomena. An example is given of an encounter with a tall, white, three-dimensional object in the woods, described as being like light but casting a shadow, which also exhibited an anomalous 'sense of presence.'

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring theme throughout the issue is the academic tendency to neglect or dismiss extraordinary experiences that fall outside conventional categories, particularly those exhibiting 'high strangeness.' The journal appears to advocate for a more inclusive approach, suggesting that these 'damned data' are crucial for a comprehensive understanding of human experience and that the 'deep weird' deserves greater scholarly attention. The editorial stance supports the exploration of overlaps between religious, paranormal, and other extraordinary experiences, challenging the rigid distinctions often imposed by academic research.

This issue of the Journal for the Study of Religious Experience, Volume 7, Number 1, published in 2021, focuses on the concept of 'High Strangeness' as a framework for understanding extraordinary and religious experiences. The journal's ISSN is 2057-2301.

The Phenomenology of High Strangeness

The central theme of this issue is 'High Strangeness,' a term used to describe experiences characterized by a high number of anomalous information bits that defy common sense. The article delves into a specific account from an informant who witnessed a bizarre entity in a forest. This entity was described as having an 'upside down V or U' shape and exhibiting 'creepy swaying movements' in a manner akin to a living animal. The experience was accompanied by an unnerving silence and stillness in the environment, with no wind present. The informant found the sight 'beautiful to look at but terrifying at the same time,' and experienced a feeling of 'impending doom,' leading them to immediately leave the area with their friend.

The author connects this account to other elements of high strangeness, such as the bizarre movements of Men in Black (MIB) and the 'Oz Factor' (lack of sound and wind) often associated with UFO sightings and abductions. The numinous quality of the experience, described as 'wholly other' and capturing Otto's concept of 'mysterium horrendum,' is highlighted. The narrative's compelling nature is attributed to the 'knotting together' of numerous high strangeness threads, a characteristic that, according to Mike Clelland, lends validity to complex interwoven details.

Conclusion and Broader Implications

The conclusion section reiterates that 'High Strangeness' was introduced as a scientific term to help make sense of complex extraordinary experiences. The journal argues that this perspective broadens the study of extraordinary and religious experiences by encouraging a serious consideration of elements that might otherwise be dismissed as bizarre or absurd. This approach can help bridge the gap between popular Fortean perspectives on the paranormal and academic research on religious and extraordinary phenomena. It reveals connections between the highly strange and established religious themes, suggesting that elements of religious experience can sometimes 'tip over' into the highly strange. The paper posits that 'High Strangeness' may not be merely a feature of outlying cases but a fundamental characteristic of extraordinary experiences in general, deserving wider scholarly attention.

Acknowledgements and References

The issue acknowledges contributions from Dr. Michael Grosso, Prof. Bettina Schmidt, Joshua Cutchin, and Tony Eccles for their comments on an earlier draft. A comprehensive list of references is provided, citing works by authors such as T. Beardsworth, M. Clelland, J. & T. Cutchin & Renner, H. Evans, M. Fisher, C. Fort, M. Fox, R. Graham, G.P. Hansen, A. Hardy, R. Haynes, J. Hunter, J.A. Hynek, J.A. Keel, J.J. Kripal, J.A. Krosnick & S. Presser, M.M. Ohayon et al., R. Otto, A. Puhle, J. Randles, P.M. Rojcewicz, A.S. Rosales, H. Sidgwick, J. Vallee, D. Yamane, and S. Young. These references cover a wide range of topics including phenomenology of religious experience, UFOs, abductions, the paranormal, folklore, and the study of unusual phenomena.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring theme is the exploration and validation of 'High Strangeness' as a legitimate area of academic inquiry within the study of religious and extraordinary experiences. The journal advocates for a comparative approach that integrates popular paranormal discourse with scholarly research, emphasizing the potential for 'High Strangeness' to be a core characteristic of profound human experiences rather than an anomaly. The editorial stance appears to be one of open-minded yet rigorous investigation into phenomena that challenge conventional understanding.