Hidden Memories: Voices and Visions from Within [Paperback]

Robert A. Baker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1996

Alien abductions, satanic kidnappings, the channelling of spirits, the recall of past lives and other similar bizarre experiences are reported almost daily in the media. Is there a rational explanation for these events? According to Robert A Baker, such irregular or supernatural experiences are manifestations of hidden memories, a phenomenon in which experiences that originally make little conscious impression are filed away in the brain and later are suddenly remembered in an altered form. In "Hidden Memories", the most recent scientific evidence on memory is used to dispel many supernatural beliefs and to show how the boundaries of human behaviour are often misperceived by therapists, especially those who adhere to fringe beliefs. He shows how delusions and illusions affect behaviour and discusses the role hypnosis, imagination, and suggestion play in the creation of other worldly experiences. Finally, Baker looks at the media's role in aiding and abetting paranormal belief in addition to promoting the growth of superstitions and popular myths.

Editorial Reviews

Review

An upstate New York woman was gripped one day by the horrifying childhood memory that her father had involved her in satanic rituals. Jennifer recalled a time when she was four and was forced to witness animal sacrifices and the torture of infants. She even remembered being placed in a coffin with live snakes during these "devil parties". Thinking of those horrors as an adult, Jennifer was astounded that years ago no one in her family seemed aware she was being abused. Similarly bizarre tales of alien abductions, satanic possessions, channeling of spirits, and memories of past lives are not only reported, but also promoted in the media each day. But are these "memories" reliable, and should they be used as credible evidence in courts? -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Paperback: 390 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573920940
• ISBN-13: 978-1573920940
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,266,446 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cryptomnesia, September 20, 2000

By 

Gwendolyn Dowds-Nash (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hidden Memories: Voices and Visions from Within (Paperback)

Baker has, in this work, taken an in-depth look at "cryptomnesia," a relatively little-known malfunction of human memory. In essence, cryptomnesia is the remembering of information, without remembering exactly where that information came from. I am sure that most people, if they put their minds to it, can dredge up things that they know that they don't know exactly how they know.

Along with the discussion and explanation of cryptomnesia itself, Baker goes on to explain how this very well could explain many of the paranormal beliefs shared by many people, including reincarnation, alien abduction, and ritual satanic abuse.

In addition, this book has one of the best explanations for the layman of the current knowledge about how human memory works. Even if you are not interested in how our memories can delude us into believing things that are simply not true, the discussion of memory itself is quite informative. This book also goes on to explain that delusions, hallucinations, and influence by the power of suggestion is much more common than many people think, and are not indicative of mental illness.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, March 5, 2004

By 

D. E. W. Turner "dewt" (Hereford, AZ, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Hidden Memories: Voices and Visions from Within (Paperback)

The book was well-written and raised some interesting questions. How many of these accusations against Catholic priests are real and how many are memories that have been created by over-zealous psychiatrists/psychologists/therapists? The same must be asked about Michael Jackson. I don't know of many of these accusations made while the abuse was an on-going event -- which is what causes the author to question accusations made years after the fact. Although, I also question the some of what the author says. I myself have a year missing from my memory but I have never made an attempt to fill that year with anything that might make logical/illogical sense. I know many others that have large gaps in their memories -- one inparticular whose childhood I remember better than he does. What would happen if we went to therapists that believed in the hynosis analysis of that missing time? Would we also be dredging up memories of abuse? Interestingly enough, I have little doubt that we would, especially as we both have active imaginations without help of hypnosis. Interesting book.

3 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Who's Stranger the Doctor, the Patient, or the Writer?, May 7, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Hidden Memories: Voices and Visions from Within (Paperback)

Out of all three, I don't know which one had more problems. The Doctor who brought all this stuff out, after hypnotizing the Patient, and giving her suggestions while under, the Patient, who fell for it all, the Writer who put this book together. Maybe off all three it was actually Me, for paying for the book, and reading it, even giving some creedence to it, until I saw the women on TV, and realized it was, "Totally Unbelievable" from begging to end. Wish I had of thought of Library first.