John Edward Mack
Encyclopedia
John Edward Mack, M.D. was an American psychiatrist
, writer, and professor at Harvard Medical School
. He was a Pulitzer Prize
-winning biographer, and a leading authority on the spiritual or transformational effects of alleged alien abduction experiences.
, Mack received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School
(Cum Laude, 1955) after undergraduate study at Oberlin
(Phi Beta Kappa, 1951). He was a graduate of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and was certified in child and adult psychoanalysis
.
The dominant theme of his life's work has been the exploration of how one's perceptions of the world affect one's relationships. He addressed this issue of "world view
" on the individual level in his early clinical explorations of dreams, nightmares and teen suicide, and in A Prince of Our Disorder, his biographical study of the life of British officer T. E. Lawrence
, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Biography
in 1977.
), and had seen some limited attention from academic figures (Dr. R. Leo Sprinkle
perhaps being the earliest, in the 1960s). Mack, however, remains probably the most esteemed academic to have studied the subject.
He initially suspected that such persons were suffering from mental illness
, but when no obvious pathologies were present in the persons he interviewed, his interest was piqued. Following encouragement from longtime friend Thomas Kuhn
, who predicted that the subject might be controversial, but urged Mack to collect data and ignore prevailing materialist, dualist and "either/or" analysis, Mack began concerted study and interviews. Many of those he interviewed reported that their encounters had affected the way they regarded the world, including producing a heightened sense of spirituality
and environmental concern.
Mack was somewhat more guarded in his investigations and interpretations of the abduction phenomenon than were earlier researchers. Literature professor Terry Matheson writes that "On balance, Mack does present as fair-minded an account as has been encountered to date, at least as these abduction narratives go." In a 1994 interview, Dr. Jeffrey Mishlove stated that Mack seemed "inclined to take these [abduction] reports at face value". Mack replied by saying "Face value I wouldn't say. I take them seriously. I don't have a way to account for them." Similarly, the BBC quoted Mack as saying, "I would never say, yes, there are aliens taking people. [But] I would say there is a compelling powerful phenomenon here that I can't account for in any other way, that's mysterious. Yet I can't know what it is but it seems to me that it invites a deeper, further inquiry."
Mack noted that there was a worldwide history of visionary experiences, especially in pre-industrial
societies. One example is the vision quest common to some Native American
cultures. Only fairly recently in Western culture
, notes Mack, have such visionary events been interpreted as aberrations or as mental illness
. Mack suggested that abduction accounts might best be considered as part of this larger tradition of visionary encounters.
His interest in the spiritual or transformational aspects of people's alien encounters, and his suggestion that the experience of alien contact itself may be more transcendent than physical in nature—yet nonetheless real—set him apart from many of his contemporaries, such as Budd Hopkins
, who advocated the physical reality of aliens.
His later research broadened into the general consideration of the merits of an expanded notion of reality, one which allows for experiences that may not fit the Western materialist paradigm, yet deeply affect people's lives. His second (and final) book on the alien encounter experience, Passport to the Cosmos: Human Transformation and Alien Encounters (1999), was as much a philosophical treatise connecting the themes of spirituality and modern worldviews as it was the culmination of his work with the "experiencers" of alien encounters, to whom the book is dedicated.
esque": he never quite knew the status of the ongoing investigation, and the nature of his critics' complaints were not revealed to Mack until the committee had prepared a draft report eight months into the process. Because the committee was not a disciplinary committee, it was not governed by any established rules of procedure; the presentation of a defense was therefore difficult and costly for Mack.
Upon the public revelation of the existence of the committee (inadvertently revealed during the solicitation of witnesses for Mack's defense, ten months into the process), questions arose from the academic community (including Harvard Professor of Law Alan Dershowitz
) regarding the validity of an investigation of a tenured professor who was not suspected of ethics violations or professional misconduct. Concluding the fourteen-month investigation, Harvard then issued a statement stating that the Dean had "reaffirmed Dr. Mack's academic freedom to study what he wishes and to state his opinions without impediment," concluding "Dr. Mack remains a member in good standing of the Harvard Faculty of Medicine." (Mack was censure
d in the committee's report for what they believed were methodological errors, but Dean Tosteson took no action based on the committee's assessment.) He had received legal help from Roderick MacLeish and Daniel P. Sheehan, (of the Pentagon Papers
case) and the support of Laurance Rockefeller
, who also funded Mack's non-profit organization for four consecutive years at $250,000 per year.
Collaborations:
He was editor or co-editor of:
Unpublished:
He also wrote the foreword to Paths Beyond Ego: The Transpersonal Vision (1993), the introductions to The PK Man: A True Story of Mind Over Matter (2000) by Jeffrey Mishlove and Secret Life (1992) by David Jacobs
, and he contributed chapters to several books including The Long Darkness: Psychological and Moral Perspectives on Nuclear Winter (1986), The Psychology of Terrorism Vol. 1: A Public Understanding (2002), and The Psychospiritual Clinician's Handbook (2005).
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
, writer, and professor at Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
. He was a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning biographer, and a leading authority on the spiritual or transformational effects of alleged alien abduction experiences.
Early career
Born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Mack received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
(Cum Laude, 1955) after undergraduate study at Oberlin
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
(Phi Beta Kappa, 1951). He was a graduate of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and was certified in child and adult psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
.
The dominant theme of his life's work has been the exploration of how one's perceptions of the world affect one's relationships. He addressed this issue of "world view
World view
A comprehensive world view is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the entirety of the individual or society's knowledge and point-of-view, including natural philosophy; fundamental, existential, and normative postulates; or themes, values, emotions, and...
" on the individual level in his early clinical explorations of dreams, nightmares and teen suicide, and in A Prince of Our Disorder, his biographical study of the life of British officer T. E. Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18...
, for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Biography
Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography
The Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography has been presented since 1917 for a distinguished biography or autobiography by an American author.-1910s:* 1917: Julia Ward Howe by Laura E...
in 1977.
Alien abduction phenomenon
This theme was taken to a controversial extreme in the early 1990s when Mack commenced his decade-plus study of 200 men and women who reported recurrent alien encounter experiences. Such encounters had been reported since at least the 1950s (the account of Antonio Villas BoasAntonio Villas Boas
Antonio Villas Boas was a Brazilian farmer who claimed to have been abducted by extraterrestrials in 1957...
), and had seen some limited attention from academic figures (Dr. R. Leo Sprinkle
R. Leo Sprinkle
Ronald Leo Sprinkle is an American psychologist. He studied at the University of Colorado and earned his Ph.D. at the University of Missouri....
perhaps being the earliest, in the 1960s). Mack, however, remains probably the most esteemed academic to have studied the subject.
He initially suspected that such persons were suffering from mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
, but when no obvious pathologies were present in the persons he interviewed, his interest was piqued. Following encouragement from longtime friend Thomas Kuhn
Thomas Kuhn
Thomas Samuel Kuhn was an American historian and philosopher of science whose controversial 1962 book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was deeply influential in both academic and popular circles, introducing the term "paradigm shift," which has since become an English-language staple.Kuhn...
, who predicted that the subject might be controversial, but urged Mack to collect data and ignore prevailing materialist, dualist and "either/or" analysis, Mack began concerted study and interviews. Many of those he interviewed reported that their encounters had affected the way they regarded the world, including producing a heightened sense of spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
and environmental concern.
Mack was somewhat more guarded in his investigations and interpretations of the abduction phenomenon than were earlier researchers. Literature professor Terry Matheson writes that "On balance, Mack does present as fair-minded an account as has been encountered to date, at least as these abduction narratives go." In a 1994 interview, Dr. Jeffrey Mishlove stated that Mack seemed "inclined to take these [abduction] reports at face value". Mack replied by saying "Face value I wouldn't say. I take them seriously. I don't have a way to account for them." Similarly, the BBC quoted Mack as saying, "I would never say, yes, there are aliens taking people. [But] I would say there is a compelling powerful phenomenon here that I can't account for in any other way, that's mysterious. Yet I can't know what it is but it seems to me that it invites a deeper, further inquiry."
Mack noted that there was a worldwide history of visionary experiences, especially in pre-industrial
Industrialisation
Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one...
societies. One example is the vision quest common to some Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
cultures. Only fairly recently in Western culture
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
, notes Mack, have such visionary events been interpreted as aberrations or as mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
. Mack suggested that abduction accounts might best be considered as part of this larger tradition of visionary encounters.
His interest in the spiritual or transformational aspects of people's alien encounters, and his suggestion that the experience of alien contact itself may be more transcendent than physical in nature—yet nonetheless real—set him apart from many of his contemporaries, such as Budd Hopkins
Budd Hopkins
Budd Hopkins was an American painter, sculptor, and prominent figure in abduction phenomenon, and related UFO research.-Life:Born in 1931 and raised in Wheeling, West Virginia...
, who advocated the physical reality of aliens.
His later research broadened into the general consideration of the merits of an expanded notion of reality, one which allows for experiences that may not fit the Western materialist paradigm, yet deeply affect people's lives. His second (and final) book on the alien encounter experience, Passport to the Cosmos: Human Transformation and Alien Encounters (1999), was as much a philosophical treatise connecting the themes of spirituality and modern worldviews as it was the culmination of his work with the "experiencers" of alien encounters, to whom the book is dedicated.
Investigation
In May 1994, the Dean of Harvard Medical School, Daniel C. Tosteson, appointed a committee of peers to confidentially review Mack's clinical care and clinical investigation of the people who had shared their alien encounters with him (some of their cases were written of in Mack's 1994 book Abduction). In the same BBC article cited above, Angela Hind wrote, "It was the first time in Harvard's history that a tenured professor was subjected to such an investigation." Mack described the investigation as "KafkaFranz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
esque": he never quite knew the status of the ongoing investigation, and the nature of his critics' complaints were not revealed to Mack until the committee had prepared a draft report eight months into the process. Because the committee was not a disciplinary committee, it was not governed by any established rules of procedure; the presentation of a defense was therefore difficult and costly for Mack.
Upon the public revelation of the existence of the committee (inadvertently revealed during the solicitation of witnesses for Mack's defense, ten months into the process), questions arose from the academic community (including Harvard Professor of Law Alan Dershowitz
Alan Dershowitz
Alan Morton Dershowitz is an American lawyer, jurist, and political commentator. He has spent most of his career at Harvard Law School where in 1967, at the age of 28, he became the youngest full professor of law in its history...
) regarding the validity of an investigation of a tenured professor who was not suspected of ethics violations or professional misconduct. Concluding the fourteen-month investigation, Harvard then issued a statement stating that the Dean had "reaffirmed Dr. Mack's academic freedom to study what he wishes and to state his opinions without impediment," concluding "Dr. Mack remains a member in good standing of the Harvard Faculty of Medicine." (Mack was censure
Censure
A censure is an expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism. Among the forms that it can take are a stern rebuke by a legislature, a spiritual penalty imposed by a church, and a negative judgment pronounced on a theological proposition.-Politics:...
d in the committee's report for what they believed were methodological errors, but Dean Tosteson took no action based on the committee's assessment.) He had received legal help from Roderick MacLeish and Daniel P. Sheehan, (of the Pentagon Papers
New York Times Co. v. United States
New York Times Co. v. United States, 403 U.S. 713 , was a United States Supreme Court per curiam decision. The ruling made it possible for the New York Times and Washington Post newspapers to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers without risk of government censure.President Richard Nixon had...
case) and the support of Laurance Rockefeller
Laurance Rockefeller
Laurance Spelman Rockefeller was a venture capitalist, financier, philanthropist, a major conservationist and a prominent third-generation member of the Rockefeller family. He was the fourth child of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and brother to John D...
, who also funded Mack's non-profit organization for four consecutive years at $250,000 per year.
Works
He wrote the following books:- Passport to the Cosmos: Human Transformation and Alien Encounters (1999)
- Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens (1994)
- A Prince of Our Disorder: The Life of T.E. Lawrence (1976)
- Nightmares and Human Conflict (1970)
Collaborations:
- The Alchemy of Survival: One Woman's Journey (1988)
- Vivienne: The Life and Suicide of an Adolescent School Girl (1977)
He was editor or co-editor of:
- Mind Before Matter: Vision of a New Science of Consciousness (2007; replaced by Paul DevereuxPaul DevereuxPaul Devereux is an author, researcher, lecturer, broadcaster, artist and photographer based in the Cotswolds, England. Devereux is a Research Fellow with the International Consciousness Research Laboratories group at Princeton University....
) - Alien Discussions: Proceedings of the Abduction Study Conference Held at M.I.T. Cambridge, MA (1995)
- Human Feelings: Explorations in Affect Development and Meaning (1993)
- Development and Sustenance of Self-Esteem in Childhood (1984)
- Borderline States in Psychiatry - Seminars in Psychiatry (1975)
Unpublished:
- When Worldviews Collide: A Paradigmatic Passion Play, a manuscript about the Harvard inquiry, was largely complete at the time of his death.
He also wrote the foreword to Paths Beyond Ego: The Transpersonal Vision (1993), the introductions to The PK Man: A True Story of Mind Over Matter (2000) by Jeffrey Mishlove and Secret Life (1992) by David Jacobs
David Michael Jacobs
David Michael Jacobs is an American historian and recently retired Associate Professor of History at Temple University, specializing in twentieth century American history and culture. He is well known in the field of Ufology for his research into alleged alien abductions and UFOs.-Career:Jacobs...
, and he contributed chapters to several books including The Long Darkness: Psychological and Moral Perspectives on Nuclear Winter (1986), The Psychology of Terrorism Vol. 1: A Public Understanding (2002), and The Psychospiritual Clinician's Handbook (2005).
Death
On Monday, September 27, 2004 while in London to lecture at a T. E. Lawrence Society-sponsored conference, Mack was killed by a drunken driver heading west on Totteridge Lane. He was walking home alone, after a dinner with friends, when he was struck at 11:25 p.m. near the junction of Totteridge Lane and Longland Drive. He lost consciousness at the scene of the accident and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. The driver was arrested at the scene, and later entered a plea of guilty by careless driving whilst under the influence of alcohol. Mack's family requested leniency for the suspect in a letter to the Wood Green Crown Court. "Although this was a tragic event for our family," the letter reads, "we feel [the accused's] behavior was neither malicious nor intentional, and we have no ill will toward him since we learned of the circumstances of the collision."Popular culture
- He was illustrated by cartoonist Roz ChastRoz ChastRosalind "Roz" Chast is an American cartoonist and a staff cartoonist for The New Yorker. She grew up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, the only child of an assistant principal and a high school teacher who subscribed to The New Yorker. Her earliest cartoons were published in Christopher Street...
in a four-page color strip, Aliens, Ahoy!, published in Duke UniversityDuke UniversityDuke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
's DoubleTake magazine, Winter 1999 issue. - He appears as a character in William BaerWilliam BaerWilliam Baer is an award-winning American writer, editor, translator, and educator.The author of sixteen books, he's a former Fulbright and a Guggenheim fellow, as well as the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts creative writing grant....
's book of poetry, The Unfortunates (1997). - He was interviewed for the documentary film about the Dalai Lama, Dalai Lama RenaissanceDalai Lama RenaissanceDalai Lama Renaissance is a feature length documentary film, produced and directed by Khashyar Darvich, and narrated by actor Harrison Ford. The film documents the Dalai Lama's meeting with the self-titled "Synthesis" group, made up of 40 Western "renaissance" thinkers who hope to use the meeting...
, where he spoke about his conversations with the Dalai Lama about aliens, but the interview was not included in the final edit of the film. - Life Story Rights secured in 2011 by MakeMagic Productions, for feature film development.
External links
- The John E. Mack Institute, an organization in Cambridge, MA
- Obituaries and media reports of Mack's death
- Video of John Mack with the Dalai Lama during filming of the documentary "Dalai Lama Renaissance"
- PBS/Nova episode featuring Mack
- John Mack biography from Ufopsi, a website promoting UFO/paranormal topics in Pedrinate, SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
- Touched, from Blinddog Films
- BBC Radio 4 documentary about Mack
- experiencers.com, official author website originally created for John Mack's final book, Passport to the Cosmos – Human Transformation and Alien Encounters (1999).