COMMENT:An exposition of "the varieties of skeptical experience" as seen from the perspectives of skeptics, parapsychologists, and New Agers. The author presents an analysis of "the three cultures" with reference to the emergent "paraculture" as illustrated in the portrayals of the three types in current literature and especially in cinematic efforts to deal with the darker side of the paranormal, as in such movies as "Poltergeist", "Exorcist", etc. wherein the skeptic is usually the first to be killed off, resulting in some resolution between newage credulity and parapsychological wisdom. While the author's sentiments seem to lie with the parapsychological view, he does make a credible presentation of similar methodologies that are used by each camp to debunk/discredit the other, whether it be the "antagonistic" approaches of CSICOP or the "kinder gentler" methods of the parapsychologists. "... I see the New Age movement not as a new irrationalism but instead as a new expression of skepticism within a framework of religious or spiritual assumptions: a spiritual self-help movement or even a kind of religioscientific consumerism."
