Product Description

Lyall Watson challenges scientific orthodoxy by applying new criteria to the investigation of supernatural phenomena. The result is a study that proves that science is stranger than the supernatural!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81836 in Books
• Published on: 1995-07-20
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 314 pages

Customer Reviews

Supernature - Super Book!
This was the second book of Lyall Watson's I has read, the first being "Dreams of Dragons," another fantastic read. Supernature is unlike any other book that I have read. It has given much food for thought, and conversation! The style is such that you do not feel pressured to believe what is written, and there are some truly amazing claims in there, but somehow the evidence provided is so compelling it appears that it must be true.. Amazing "facts," a lively style and a thought provoking read. Could read it again and again and never tire of it!

Highly dubious
Lyall Watson has apparently written better books than this, but this is the one that made him mega-famous and is still the one that friends kept pushing me to read. Eventually I got around to it, and was extremely disappointed.

The trouble is that Watson's PhD and credentials as a practising scientist give him an air of authority, which misleads many readers into thinking that he's making coherent arguments when in fact he's being wildly speculative. His method goes like this: he gives an account of an experiment that, he says, appears to prove the existence of some supernatural phenomenon, like ghosts or psychokinesis. He then covers his ass by saying that the results of the experiment are maybe not as conclusive as all that. Then he says that IF the conclusions were true, the implications would be staggering - and he then goes on to talk about the implications as though they were real, and as though the experiment did indeed prove what he says it proves.

He also makes sweeping generalisations that on closer analysis turn out to be either trivial, tautological or meaningless - such as his opening remarks to the effect that everything on the planet is part of 'one life'. This is true insofar as everything on the planet that's alive, is alive; but does it really mean anything more than that? It certainly doesn't get us anywhere; for example, it doesn't begin to address the hard questions of how we're to behave towards other life forms. Does it mean anything to say that a human being is as alive as a human immuno-deficiency virus? Should malignant viruses have as much right to life as people?

I also think that his fascination with the supernatural is a bit childish when so much of the ordinary things we take for granted are in fact so little understood. The means by which babies acquire language, for example, are still very much (but not totally) a mystery, and that affects all of us - whereas ghosts and PKE are things most of us will never come into contact with. Watson's freakshow is actually less interesting than the things around us every day.

Ultimately, I think that the bad reasoning and empty assertions rob this book of value. Watson's books may or may not encourage an interest in the natural world, and insofar as they do, some people would say that that's a good thing. But I don't think so. Insofar as this book encourages people to believe that pseudoscience is more interesting than science, it's a threat to clear thinking.

Scully gets converted
This is (as far as I understand) the first book written as Lyall Watson began his X-files style quest into the unknown. As such, it comes from a fairly sceptical point of view, unlike his later books such as "The Romeo Error" & "Lifetide". I am not saying that the subject matter is treated scornfully, but throughout it I had the distinct impression that he was waiting to be truly convinced by what he saw and examined. Much of the material contained within here I would say is pretty much out in the open these days, but there are still extremely interesting experiments, such as measuring plants' 'emotions' etc. Ideally this book is for someone who wants to look into basic strange phenominon from a source which as far as researchers go, is pretty well respected as genuine.

Watson does tend to take a very clinical attitude towards what he encounters and does not gush with emotion or make up stupid "facts" about ghosts and ghoulies.

If you're used to paranormal experiments, then it will be of limited value, but overall is a must read book and quite an important one for your collection.