 Robert Todd Carroll
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cryptomnesiaCryptomnesia is, literally, hidden memory. The term Was coined by psychology professor Théodore Flournoy (1854-1921) and is used to explain the origin of experiences that people believe to be original but which are actually based on memories of events they've forgotten. It seems likely that most so-called past life regressions induced through hypnosis are confabulations fed by cryptomnesia. For example, Virginia Tighe's hypnotic recollections of Bridey Murphy of Cork, Ireland (Bridie Murphey Corkell), if not deliberately fraudulent, are most likely recollections of events that happened in this life but which she had forgotten. Likewise, the "past-life" memories of Ann Evans, produced while under hypnosis by Arnall Bloxham, were almost certainly unconsciously produced confabulations. Cryptomnesia may also explain how the apparent plagiarism of such people as Helen Keller or George Harrison of the Beatles might actually be cases of hidden memory. Harrison didn't intend to plagiarize the Chiffon's "He's So Fine" in "My Sweet Lord." Nor did Keller intend to plagiarize Margaret Canby's "The Frost Fairies" when she wrote "The Frost King." Both may simply be cases of not having a conscious memory of their experiences of the works in question. The first recorded instance of cryptomnesia occured in 1874 and involved William Stanton Moses, a medium who, during a séance, claimed to be in contact with the spirits if two brothers who had recently died in India. The deaths were verified, but "further research showed that the obituary ran in a newspaper six days before the séance and all information in the obituary was given in the séance and nothing more was added."* See also automatic writing. further reading Brown, Alan S. and Dana R. Murphy. (1989). "Cryptomnesia: Delineating Inadvertent Plagiarism," Journal of Experimental Psychology 15.3: 432-42. |
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©copyright 2007 Robert Todd Carroll |
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updated 12/03/07 |
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Aleister Crowley