A Unified Theory
of Religion, Hypnosis,
PM TRUTHE CORRUPTION OF
i
This groundbreaking volume examines
our sometimes strained grasp of reality
and sheds new light on three subject
areas that continue to fascinate re-
searchers, namely, religion, hypnosis,
and psychopathology.
In The Corruption of Reality, noted
psychologist John F. Schumaker argues
that, despite their superficial differences,
religion, hypnosis, and psychopathology
are all expressions of the unique human
ability to modify and regulate reality in
ways that serve the individual and soci-
ety. In turn, these same behaviors can be
traced to the the brain’s remarkable
capacity to process information along
multiple pathways, thus allowing us to
distort reality in strategic ways that
enhance coping. This trance-related
brain faculty, known as dissociation, is
revealed as a crucial determinant of what
we come to experience as human reality.
Taking a broad multidisciplinary
approach, Schumaker demonstrates that
reality is usually orchestrated at the level
of culture in the form of traditional reli-
gion, with religion having been a total
way of life in premodern times. In order
to function optimally. religions (with the
exception of most Western ones) employ
dissociative trance-induction techniques
that take advantage of drugs, music,
dance, and other sources of repetitive
monotony. Many of these closely resem-
ble hypnotic induction techniques as they
exist in Western culture. They also oper-
ate similarly to the cognitive rituals that
establish and maintain nonreligious
abnormal behavior, better known as psy-
chopathology or mental iliness. In this
last area, special attention is given to
drug abuse, eating disorders, phobias,
obsessive-compulsive disorders, post-
traumatic stress disorder, and responses
to trauma. Many of these disorders,
Schumaker argues, are the direct result
of the inability of Western culture, with
its severely eroded religious systems, to
function adequately in its role as regula-
tor of reality.
Schumaker proposes ways to revitalize
our sick Western culture, including the
controversial prospect of constructing a
new religion incorporating our current
knowledge about our peculiar relationship
to ourselves and the world. Along these
lines, he offers innovative solutions to
such pressing global problems as over-
population and ecological destruction.
Rigorously argued yet written in a style
accessible to all readers, The Corruption of
Reality challenges traditional ideas and
paves the way for a far-reaching unified the-
ory of conscious and unconscious behavior.
JOHN F SCHUMAKER is a Senior Lecturer in
Psychology at the University of New-
castle, Australia. He is the author of
many books, including Wings of Illusion:
The Origin, Nature and Future of
Paranormal Belief.THE CORRUPTION OF
in
of Rolgion, nana
and Psychopatholo:
JOHN F. SCHUMAKER
@ Prometheus Books
39 Jobs in Gle:
Amherst, NewYor a DS. 2197
Series in Transpersonal and Humanistic Psychology) Grof, Stanislav - Psychology of The Future - Lessons From Modern Consciousness Research-State University of New York Press (2000)
Totem and Taboo: The Horror of Incest, Taboo and Emotional Ambivalence, Animism, Magic and the Omnipotence of Thoughts & The Return of Totemism in Childhood