Research source

It will be remembered that telepathy is the basis of the explanation thus far

Date of account: Early twentieth century
Source: True Ghost Stories
Reference: True Ghost Stories · selected passage 29
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

It will be remembered that telepathy is the basis of the explanation thus far. Let us extend this. We have only to suppose that the spirit of man survives the shock of death, and that it can continue to exert its powers and capacities also. For, if a living mind can influence the living by telepathy; why not a "dead" one? Why should not the surviving spirit of man continue to influence us, by telepathy? If they could, we should still have cases of telepathic hallucinations--induced from the mind of a discarnate, not an incarnate, spirit. The "ghost" might still be a telepathic hallucination. And if several persons saw the figure at once, we should, on this theory, have a case of collective hallucination--in which one mind affected all the rest equally and simultaneously.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This comes from historical psychical research. Methods, witness handling and standards of evidence differ from present-day research and should be assessed from the cited passage and edition.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

The passage can support a history of claims and recurring descriptions. It does not establish a paranormal mechanism, and competing psychological, social and physical explanations remain relevant.

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