Excerpt from Can Telepathy Explain?: Results of Psychical Research At the end I have tried to suggest what religious and ethical ideas are generally held by those who believe in the spiritual universe and in communication between that and this. These are not necessarily my own beliefs. They are here set down as an answer to frequent inquiries that have been received. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

From the PREFACE.THERE are two or three points which I wish the reader to have clearly in mind before he begins my little book. So I will set them down here, even at the risk of repeating something which is already in the text. Some of these concern my own personal point of view. The only excuse for referring to these is that in treating of matters of this sort, one needs to take account of the "personal equation." Very few persons are free from bias, and I wish the reader to take mine into consideration. First. I have never called myself a spiritualist. Those opposed to spiritualism have frequently charged me with being one; while, on the other hand, extreme believers have taken me to task for not assuming the name. My objection to this is not the unpopularity of the movement. If I have done nothing else in my life so far, I think I have proved that I am not afraid to express my opinions. The word "spiritualist," as ordinarily used, covers a state of mind which misrepresents my true position. The popular movement called spiritualism has been marked by credulity, a readiness to cover up, if not to defend, fraud, and an enthusiasm far from critical. To call myself a spiritualist, then, would be to take a position in popular estimation which I do not really hold. Secondly. I frankly confess that I am strongly inclined to hold the belief in continued personal existence as capable of proof and in the possibility of at least occasional communication. I have been a student of these matters for twenty-eight years. I have believed that certain things were taking place which were worthy of the most serious study. But I hold that the scientific method is the only method of knowledge. So I have felt that I had no right to express a certainty in this direction until that certainty could be made good, after the most careful, painstaking, scientific investigation. I have never been able to understand how anyone should wish to believe that which is not true. I would much rather wait until the fact of death, and so find out as the result of personal experience, than to accept any hasty conclusions or be the means of misleading other people. The body of the book will make clear to the reader what my present attitude really is. But I consider myself bound, as an honest man, to hold my mind open and ready to accept any new conclusions which may come with adequate credentials....

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.