Begin at the beginning
…and go on till you come to the end:
then stop.
- Lewis Carroll
(Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
The H.I.S.S. of the A.S.P. is about the full spectrum of human sensitivities-Physiological sensitivities,
Cognitive sensitivities, Emotional sensitivities, Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) sensitivities and
Transpersonal Experiences (TPE) sensitivities. That's the broad perspective. From a narrower perspective,
this book is about Transpersonal Experiences (TPEs) and the people who have them.
The two perspectives are equally important—if they are treated otherwise, one is likely to
fall into the conventional trap of thinking that Transpersonal Experiences are fictive, that
they are not real. This dismissal of the veridicality of Transpersonal Experiences occurs
because most people are unable to perceive the putatively sensory stimuli (phenomena) that
give rise to them—and by consensus such experiences are therefore considered to be not a part of objective
reality. Individuals who respond to stimuli that are not a part of consensus reality are said
to be hallucinating and hallucinations are generally held to be evidentiary of mental illness.
The concept of the Anomalously Sensitive Person (ASP) is experientially rather than phenomenologically
based. It thus avoids the issue of cultural consensus about reality entirely—and sidesteps the issue of psychopathology.
The essence of the ASP hypothesis is this:
Certain individuals—who will be spoken of as Anomalously Sensitive Persons (ASPs)—in
addition to being anomalously sensitive to stimuli in the Transpersonal Experiences realm, are also anomalously
sensitive to stimuli in the Physiological, Cognitive, Emotional and Altered States of Consciousness realms.
These individuals are predisposed toward being anomalously sensitive by various Biological ("nature"), Trauma
and Abuse ("nurture") and Temperament Type Preferences ("personality") factors.
Transpersonal Experiences are subjective experiences and, as such, are every bit as real as, say, love experiences,
aesthetic experiences, or anger experiences. All experiences, whether the stimuli that engender them are transpersonal
or otherwise, are simply the experiencers' interpretations of electro-chemical activity in the neurons and synapses of the brain.
Neurologically, one experience has the same reality status as another. Many of the ASP's sensitivities (e.g., immunological,
sensory, mnemonic) are objectively measurable and the data from the HISS ("Holistic Inventory of Stimulus Sensitivities")
questionnaire show that anomalous sensitivity to stimuli in one realm is very likely to be accompanied by anomalous sensitivity
to stimuli in all the other realms.
The experientially based discussion of Transpersonal Experiences (TPEs) that comprises the body of the text will, for many,
probably raise more questions than it answers—so much the better. My primary objective in undertaking this project was,
in addition to opening a few minds, more that of stimulating curiosity that might lead to further research by others, than
it was that of providing definitive explanations.
The story of my explorations that follows begins in Part I (The Concepts) with the introduction
of a hypnotherapy client who frequently had a variety of Transpersonal Experiences and my developing Realizations
that sensitivity to TPEs appears to be accompanied by a host of other sensitivities. Next is a look at Debunkers,
followed by an account of the early developmental stages of this research Project. The three subsequent chapters
are devoted to a discussion of Predispositions toward sensitivities-Biological predispositions, Trauma
and Abuse predispositions and Temperament Type Preferences predispositions. There are then five chapters about
Indicators of sensitivities—Physiological indicators, Cognitive indicators, Emotional indicators,
Altered States of Consciousness indicators and Transpersonal Experiences indicators. Part I concludes
with thoughts about the Future of both the HISS and the ASP. Part II (The Evidence) is about the statistical
analysis of the HISS data. It includes A Statistical Primer (for those who need one) and a summary
of The Findings from the HISS data. Part II contributes substantially to the depth, meaning
and credibility of the subject matter, but those who want no part of things mathematical can still get the gist of the book
if they choose to skip it.
The important thing is to not stop questioning.
-Albert Einstein
