abilities that neither they nor others understand how they can have acquired.
In one case, a woman who had no knowledge of Hebrew passed on
messages in that language. So she must have either lived before or been in
contact with a deceased spirit.”
“Which do you think?”
“It turned out that she had had a Jewish nanny when she was little.”
“Ah.”
“Does that disappoint you? It just shows what an incredible capacity
some people have to store experience in their unconscious.”
“I see what you mean.”
“A lot of curious everyday happenings can be explained by Freud’s
theory of the unconscious. I might suddenly get a call from a friend I haven’t
heard from for many years just as I had begun to look for his telephone
number “
“It gives me goose bumps.”
“But the explanation could be that we both heard the same old song on
the radio, a song we heard the last time we were together. The point is, we
are not aware of the underlying connection.”
“So it’s either humbug, or the winning number effect, or else it’s the
unconscious. Right?”
“Well, in any case, it’s healthier to approach such books with a decent
portion of skepticism. Not least if one is a philosopher. There is an association
in England for skeptics. Many years ago they offered a large reward to the
first person who could provide even the slightest proof of something
supernatural. It didn’t need to be a great miracle, a tiny example of telepathy
would do. So far, nobody has come forward “
“Hmm.”
“On the other hand, there is a lot we humans don’t understand. Maybe
we don’t understand the laws of nature either. During the last century there
were a lot of people who thought that phenomena such as magnetism and
electricity were a kind of magic. I’ll bet my own great-grandmother would have
been wide-eyed with amazement if I told her about TV or computers.”
“So you don’t believe in anything supernatural then.”
“We’ve already talked about that. Even the term ‘supernatural’ is a
curious one. No, I suppose I believe that there is only one nature. But that, on
the other hand, is absolutely astonishing.”
“But the sort of mysterious things in those books you just showed me?”
“All true philosophers should keep their eyes open. Even if we have
never seen a white crow, we should never stop looking for it. And one day,
even a skeptic like me could be obliged to accept a phenomenon I did not be-
lieve in before. If I did not keep this possibility open I would be dogmatic, and
not a true philosopher.”
Alberto and Sophie remained seated on the bench without saying
anything. The pigeons craned their necks and cooed, now and then being
startled by a bicycle or a sudden movement.
“I have to go home and prepare for the party,” said Sophie at last.
“But before we part, I’ll show you a white crow. It is nearer than we think,
you see.”
Alberto got up and led the way back into the bookstore. This time they
walked past all the books on supernatural phenomena and stopped by a