The field of psychical research, encompassing the study of phenomena like mediumship and apparent communication with the deceased, is one that sparks considerable debate and curiosity. Researchers like Professor Gary Schwartz and Professor Archie Roy, among others, have conducted studies exploring the claims made by mediums, seeking potential evidence that might point towards some form of consciousness or personality surviving physical death.
While the validity of these studies and their conclusions is the subject of ongoing scientific and philosophical discussion, an interesting pattern often emerges within the reported phenomena themselves. If one considers the body of anecdotal accounts and the data collected in some mediumship experiments, there’s a striking tendency for the information conveyed to pertain to recently departed human beings and contemporary animals with whom they shared a close bond – beloved dogs, cats, and other pets. Conspicuously absent from these reported communications are verifiable details about long-extinct life forms like dinosaurs, or hypothetical beings from distant planets.
This observation, rather than being a point of immediate dismissal (though sceptics would naturally point to earthly explanations for any reported information), can be viewed as an intriguing feature within the framework of psychical survival hypothesis. If, for the sake of exploring this pattern, we consider the possibility that mediums are accessing genuine information from a non-physical source related to departed consciousness, why the focus on grandma and the family dog, and not a Triceratops or a Martian?
Here are a few sensible considerations from within the perspective of exploring psychical phenomena:
The Role of Relationship and Connection:
Much of the reported success in evidential mediumship hinges on the ability of the medium to convey specific, personal information unknown to the sitter, details recognisable as characterising the departed individual or pet. This suggests that a strong emotional or relational bond might be a key factor in facilitating communication or access. We form deep, personal connections with our loved ones – human and animal. These bonds are often recent, intense, and filled with shared experiences and memories. We have no such personal, recent bonds with individual dinosaurs or hypothetical aliens. If connection serves as a form of ‘channel’ or ‘attunement,’ it logically follows that communication would be more likely with those to whom we, or those we are trying to connect with, were closely tied.
Shared Reality and Verifiability:
The evidence sought in psychical research often relies on the medium providing verifiable details about the departed’s life, personality, shared history, or objects known to them. This is possible because the departed human lived in a reality (our recent past) that overlaps with the sitter’s present. They interacted with objects, people, and events that the sitter can confirm. Similarly, pets share our immediate, contemporary reality, with well-known habits, personalities, and interactions discernible by their owners.
Now consider a dinosaur. Their reality was millions of years ago, involving environments, behaviours, and experiences utterly alien to our own. How could a medium convey a verifiable detail about a specific Hadrosaur’s day? There’s no living human who shared that reality to confirm the information. The same challenge applies exponentially to extraterrestrial life; their environment, physiology, culture (if any), and every aspect of their existence would likely be so different as to render any purported communication completely unverifiable or even incomprehensible within a human frame of reference. If the mechanism involves accessing memories or experiences, those of a T-Rex or a being from Alpha Centauri would lack any common ground for translation or verification.
Focus and Relevance for the Living:
Mediumship services are typically sought by individuals grieving the loss of a loved one or a pet. The intent and focus of the sitting are inherently directed towards those specific, recently departed individuals. If the phenomenon is, in some way, responsive to the needs, questions, and emotional energy of the living, it makes sense that the ‘information’ accessed would be relevant to that need – connecting with a cherished grandparent or a beloved dog, not exploring the eating habits of an Apatosaurus or the philosophy of an alien civilisation. The ‘signal’, if it exists, might be strongest where there is recent loss, intense emotion, and a directed intent from the living.
The Nature of ‘Consciousness’ or ‘Survival’:
Stepping further into the speculative realm, perhaps the form or accessibility of surviving consciousness changes over vast stretches of time or distance. If something of consciousness endures, maybe its resonance or connection to the physical plane, or to living consciousness, fades significantly over millennia or across light-years. The ‘energy’ or ‘information’ accessible through mediumship might be the equivalent of a radio signal that grows fainter the further away (in time or space or dimension) the source is.
A Pattern for Consideration:
Observing that the reported phenomena in psychical research tend to centre on recent, relatable life forms (humans and pets) is not necessarily a weakness of the survival hypothesis, but rather a characteristic that might offer clues to its potential nature, if the phenomena are genuinely occurring. It suggests that if communication with a non-physical aspect of departed life is possible, it is likely facilitated by strong, recent bonds, grounded in a shared, verifiable reality, and potentially driven by the emotional and intentional focus of the living.
This specific pattern – the presence of purported communication from loved ones and pets, and the absence of verifiable claims from ancient or alien life – becomes an interesting point of consideration within the research by scholars like Schwartz, Roy, and others. It prompts questions not just about whether survival occurs, but how such survival might manifest and under what conditions communication might be possible, painting a picture that, for now, seems intimately tied to the bonds and shared realities of our human experience.
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