"Normal dissociation enables us to disengage our psychological processes from the ongoing tangible reality around us. This is useful; dissociation can provide us with temporary relief from tragedy, or even from everyday drudgery."
"In my laboratory, we have shown that normal dissociation contributes significantly to unsubstantiated paranormal beliefs, and even to the perceptual reconfiguration of everyday things into paranormal objects and entities, ranging from alien spacecraft to Bigfoot."
"Astronomers have sometimes interpreted natural physical features of other planets as evidence of extraterrestrial life, or even as the work of extraterrestrials; and our experiments have shown that more dissociated individuals tend to make exactly the same types of incorrect interpretations of astronomical images."
Dissociation is a common psychological process experienced by everyone, allowing temporary disengagement from reality. It can foster creativity in art, literature, and science by enabling the generation of new concepts. However, it also has a negative aspect, leading to the formation of unsubstantiated beliefs, including paranormal phenomena. Research indicates that dissociation influences perceptions in everyday life and scientific interpretations, such as misidentifying natural features as extraterrestrial evidence. This duality of dissociation highlights its significant role in both creative imagination and erroneous judgments.
Read at Psychology Today
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