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Many Lives, Many Masters, Many Fallacies
This book wasted no time in sending up warning signs. In the preface alone
it had one very common sign of crackpot theory, the appeal to Galileo. Plus
the fallacy of False Dichotomy, these are either past-life memories, or
collective unconscious of the race.
It seems the entire book, and Weiss’s entire practice in past-lives is based
on a fallacy of false premise. His patient ‘Catherine’ seemed to not
remember many events from her early years, and not finding a likely cause for
her phobias in recent time, Weiss considered using hypnotherapy to overcome
this ‘repression’. Besides assuming the lack of significant memories was
due to repression the real problem is his mistaken beliefs about hypnosis. He
believes it is simply a state of focused concentration, causing the memory to
sharpen.
Through many experiments it has been clearly shown that memory is NOT a
perfect recorder. Hypnosis is NOT a state of concentration, but of
suggestibility. ‘Memories’ regained through hypnosis have been clearly
shown to be easily influenced by leading questioning, the expectations of the
hypnotist, and the expectations of the subject. This is demonstrated as those
‘therapists’ who believe in satanic cults often find their patients were
victims of such cults, ones who believe in UFOs often find their patients are
abducties, and so on. Yet the cult believer doesn’t find UFO stories in
their patients, and vice versa. Add in how people who think they might have
had an abduction experience might be more inclined to go to a therapist known
to treat such patients. This is like people who think they might have had an
ADC going to the ADC board for their opinion. Weiss himself states he had
treated thousands of patients before, many under hypnosis, but had never
encountered past life memories before. Now he deals in them all the time. A
likely sign that his own expectations are leading the results. He even says
his questions in past lives are more direct and more leading than in normal
therapies.
He goes through a list of possible causes for delusions, and rejects them. He
sees no evidence of schizophrenia, no hallucinations, no psychotic episodes,
nor does she seem out of touch with reality. No alcohol, drugs, or
hallucinogenic substances he knows of. It does not occur to him that hypnosis
is an altered state of consciousness. One that could contribute to
hallucinations like mind altering substances. To put it simply, he’s
accepting whatever she tells him at face value. On his website under commonly
asked questions you find no mention of false memories, how they might be
differentiated from claimed real memories. Interestingly there is no way to
submit new questions, no contact info.
The next fallacy I think is argument from incredulity. Repeatedly when
Catherine is giving her past life stories Weiss comments there is no way she
could have known such information. Why not? In one of the best known examples
of past-life investigation, the Bridey Murphy case, it was eventually found
out she was not remembering a past life in Ireland. She was remembering
stories told to her by an Irish neighbor when she was a kid. Between books,
movies, TV, and school we are exposed to a lot of information. Not to mention
there did not seem to be much in the way of details actually given, at least
recounted in the book.
As for the information that was recounted, many items would probably need an
appropriate historian to examine. But there are a few items that don’t seem
to make sense. Such as the first life given. She lived in a valley. She stated
there was no water, yet that life was supposed to have ended in a tidal wave?
In another she mentions a cart with stone wheels. Stone wheels? Why would
stone be used for the wheels of a cart instead of wood? There is also the
question of how can a person know they are living in 1863 BC, or any other
date BC? There is a long answer given in his FAQ on his site, but it boils
down to "they just do".
Another problem with reincarnation claims is that the living just may
outnumber the dead. He answers this with saying that there are other planes
with souls on them. Why the heck is this one becoming so popular then? Does
birth control make reincarnation here less appealing? Do fertility drugs make
a woman more appealing to spirits so she gets 6 or 7 of them trying to
reincarnate in her at one time? To solve the problem of when past lives seem
to overlap the same period he offers the idea that souls can ‘split’, and
be in more than one life at the same time. Gee, you mean it’s not to put a
patch on a hole in reincarnation theory?
What about present life knowledge? He demonstrates the same incredulity that
she could find the information she relates about his father and son. He makes
a big deal that she knew her brother was conceived before her parents were
married. Gee, take his birthday, their anniversary, and a little math is all
you really need to figure that one out.
In several places he details his educational and professional history
(argument from authority?), and states his own scientific training and
skepticism. And yet he does not seem to display this training and skepticism
when dealing with the subject. Spiritual planes and dimensions are brought up,
as well as vibrations. >From Catherine’s statement people of the same
vibrational level are drawn to one another, Weiss starts thinking of this as
the explanation why people tend to congregate in homogeneous groups. Accepting
supernatural explanations for social dynamics he should already understand
from his profession? A growing acceptance of psychics and mediums is also
included. Catherine claims to be growing psychic. She gives a story of being
able to pick every winner one day at the racetrack. But how do we know she
did? She is supposed to have handed over the winning tickets, but that
doesn’t mean she is the one who placed the bets. She could have taken
winning tickets after they had been redeemed. And she says she gave all the
money away to charity. Why not give a lot more to charity and be on TV with
Randi then? There is also the claim she went to a psychic who could read past
lives and came up with the same lives he did. As there is no recording of the
event we can’t know if the information was given away in cold readings, or
even if it happened at all. After all of this Weiss says how he is living more
intuitively. "I listen to my dreams and intuitions. When I do, things
seem to fall into place. When I do not, something invariably goes awry"
– confirmation bias?
He calls for more scientific investigations. But as examples he mentions Dr.
Joseph B. Rhine – known for making flawed experiments promoting ESP. As the
experiments got better designed the results went away. Dr. Ian Stevenson –
investigator of reincarnation claims, which were shown to not be as fantastic
as he promoted, and Dr. Gertrude Schmeidler. I have a feeling if asked today
he’d include Schwartz as well. His reading list includes books on Edgar
Cayce, Depak Chopra, and Hello From Heaven.
But then, does it even matter to him if they are real. Weiss handles the
question of weather or not these memories are real by saying "You can’t
go into the laboratory [for proof]….In therapeutic terms, it doesn’t
matter [where the images come from]. As a therapist, what it is becomes
secondary." (Goldner, "remembrances of Lives Past," pp. 74-75)
and in this book "Whether through actual memories or vivid fantasies, I
had found a way to help her, and I was not going to stop now." In a way
it reminds me of George. After shooting Schwartz’s theory full of holes
George pleaded that we shouldn’t be criticizing it, because the work is too
important. Weiss almost seems to have taken up a cause in fact, to help people
overcome fear of death. This image is helped because often in the hypnosis
sessions, when talking to the spirits he calls "Masters", the
messages were not for his patient but for him. If you look at it, Weiss is
saying he has been given a divine mission. At times he seems more interested
in what the "Masters" have to say to him than in his own patient. As
on pg 52 after she spent a long time describing some life "Forsaking my
patience, I advanced her to her death."
Which makes me worry for his patients. He seems more inclined to diagnose
problems as having causes in past lives rather than known medical problems in
this one. In the book ’Crazy’ Therapies one thing they had to say
about such regression therapy is it is a no-no to pressure one’s spiritual
beliefs onto a patient. If the patient doesn’t believe in reincarnation,
then the therapist shouldn’t be encouraging it. "And for those ready
for more, to suggest readings and to share my experiences with Catherine and
others was like opening a window to a fresh breeze. The ones who were ready
were revived. They gained insights even more rapidly." How can you tell
one is ready? What happened with those that weren’t ready? Also in
teaching the techniques at his seminars, you DON’T have to be a therapist to
be in it! So people who have no psychiatric training are being taught how to
mess with people’s memories! How wrong is that?!
Now for Debbie,
You have had interest in Sylvia Brown, and you have had interest in Brian
Weiss. How do you reconcile the conflicting stories they give? Sylvia’s
cosmology does not have the multiple levels of Weiss’s, no mention of
Masters, and the lives are planned out in detail. Weiss makes no mention of
the ‘left door’, of an earthlike world with landspeeders. He mentions
spirits rising up, not to the side like Sylvia says. No mention of planning,
in fact crimes of one life are punished in latter lives. Weiss says spirits
can only contact the living for specific reasons, while Sylvia says any of
them can contact anyone.
The places they seem to mostly agree on are that reincarnation is real, and we
are here to learn lessons. These lessons are the same old common sense
morality that you can get from any newage guru or most religions, or even
humanist moral codes. Nothing new to see here.
Marc
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Last change 16 Sept 2002 am
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