Posthuman Blues

The Presencing of the Other (Daniel Pinchbeck)

Whether the subject is crop circles, orbs, alien abductions, UFOs, miraculous appearances of the Virgin, spirit encounters in psychedelic states, and so on, we face the question of the existence of "the Other," of entities or energies that seem to have intention, and to exist largely beyond the current range of our perceptions, while they touch upon our world. Philosophers would agree that we don't know "things in themselves," but only those aspects of a thing that can be perceived by our senses and cognized by our mind. It is also clear that perception involves a tremendous amount of choice, and that choice is based upon our psychological disposition. We don't see the world as it is, but to a large extent we see the world as we are.