Erlendur Haraldsson
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Erlendur Haraldsson (November 3, 1931 – November 22, 2020) was a professor emeritus of
psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...
on the faculty of
social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...
at the
University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( is, Háskóli Íslands ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' s ...
. He published in various psychology and psychiatry journals. In addition, he published
parapsychology Parapsychology is the study of alleged psychic phenomena (extrasensory perception, telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis (also called telekinesis), and psychometry) and other paranormal claims, for example, those related to near ...
books and authored a number of papers for parapsychology journals.


Education

Erlendur studied philosophy at the universities of Iceland,
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
and
Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
from 1954 to 1958 and supported himself as a writer and journalist from 1959 to 1963. He studied psychology at Freiburg and at the
University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...
, where he obtained the Dipl. Psych. in 1969. He was a research fellow at the Institute of Parapsychology in Durham, N. C. 1969–70 and did an internship in clinical psychology at the Department of Psychiatry,
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
in Charlottesville, 1970–71. He received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Freiburg under parapsychologist
Hans Bender Hans Bender (5 February 1907 – 7 May 1991) was a German lecturer on the subject of parapsychology, who was also responsible for establishing the parapsychological institute ''Institut für Grenzgebiete der Psychologie und Psychohygiene'' in F ...
in 1972.


Teaching and research career

Erlendur worked as a research associate at the
American Society for Psychical Research The American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR) is the oldest psychical research organization in the United States dedicated to parapsychology. It maintains offices and a library, in New York City, which are open to both members and the gener ...
from 1972 to 1974. In 1973 he became a faculty member at the
University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( is, Háskóli Íslands ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' s ...
, where he advanced to Professor of Psychology in 1989. He retired from teaching in 1999. He has conducted surveys of religious and folk beliefs; for example in a survey of randomly selected Icelanders conducted in 1974–75 and published in 1977 and 1978, he established that an unusually high proportion believe in the paranormal, in particular in supernatural figures such as
huldufólk or hidden people are elves in Icelandic and Faroese folklore. They are supernatural beings that live in nature. They look and behave similarly to humans, but live in a parallel world. They can make themselves visible at will. cites a 19th- ...
and draugar, research built on in the 2000s by
Terry Gunnell Terry is a unisex given name, derived from French Thierry and Theodoric. It can also be used as a diminutive nickname for the names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence or Terrier (masculine). People Male * Terry Albritton (1955–2005), A ...
; in a 1978 survey he examined the prevalence of belief in Iceland in precognitive dreams; and in a study published in 1985 he found proportionally more reports of encounters with dead people from Iceland than any other European country. He has also contributed to the cross-cultural standardization of
psychological testing Psychological testing is the administration of psychological tests. Psychological tests are administered by trained evaluators. A person's responses are evaluated according to carefully prescribed guidelines. Scores are thought to reflect individ ...
instruments. In addition, in 1982–83 he worked with
Ian Stevenson Ian Pretyman Stevenson (October 31, 1918 – February 8, 2007) was a Canadian-born American psychiatrist, the founder and director of the Division of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He was a professor at th ...
at the
University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
on
reincarnation research Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...
. He spent a year with
J. B. Rhine Joseph Banks Rhine (September 29, 1895 – February 20, 1980), usually known as J. B. Rhine, was an American botanist who founded parapsychology as a branch of psychology, founding the parapsychology lab at Duke University, the ''Journ ...
in Durham, North Carolina. He has coauthored studies of the personality, abilities and psychological characteristics of children who claim memories of a previous life in Sri Lanka, comparing them with paired children who did not claim such memories. Erlendur received the Outstanding Career Award from the
Parapsychological Association The Parapsychological Association (PA) was formed in 1957 as a professional society for parapsychologists following an initiative by Joseph B. Rhine. Its purpose has been "to advance parapsychology as a science, to disseminate knowledge of the fie ...
and the Myers Memorial Award from the
Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to co ...
. His 2005 book ''Látnir í heimi lifenda'' (English translation ''The Departed Among the Living'', 2012) describes surveys and follow-up investigations he conducted into alleged apparitions and related phenomena in Iceland.


Deathbed phenomena

In 1971, Erlendur co-authored with
Karlis Osis Karlis Osis (26 December 1917 – 26 December 1997) was a Latvian-born parapsychologist who specialised in exploring deathbed phenomena and life after death. Biography Karlis' first research, conducted in the 1940s, was inspired by the w ...
the book ''At the Hour of Death'', describing research into deathbed visions in the United States and India that they interpreted as more consistent with the hypothesis of a transition experience than with the "extinction hypothesis". Their data collection methods drew criticism from the scientific community. According to
Terence Hines Terence Hines (born 22 March 1951) is a professor of psychology at Pace University, New York, and adjunct professor of neurology at the New York Medical College; he is also a science writer. Hines has a BA from Duke University, and an MA and P ...
:
Osis and Haraldsson’s (1977) study was based on replies received from ten thousand questionnaires sent to doctors and nurses in the United States and India. Only 6.4 percent were returned. Since it was the doctors and nurses who were giving the reports, not the patients who had, presumably, actually had the experience, the reports were secondhand. This means they had passed through two highly fallible and constructive human memory systems (the doctor’s or nurse’s and the actual patient’s) before reaching Osis and Haraldsson.
The psychologist
James Alcock James E. Alcock (born 24 December 1942) is a Canadian educator. He has been a Professor of Psychology at York University (Canada) since 1973. Alcock is a noted critic of parapsychology and is a Fellow and Member of the Executive Council for the C ...
criticized the study as it was anecdotal and described their results as "unreliable and uninterpretable."
Paul Kurtz Paul Kurtz (December 21, 1925 – October 20, 2012) was an American scientific skeptic and secular humanist. He has been called "the father of secular humanism". He was Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at B ...
also criticized the study, saying all of the data was second-hand and influenced by cultural expectations.


Sathya Sai Baba

Erlendur with
Karlis Osis Karlis Osis (26 December 1917 – 26 December 1997) was a Latvian-born parapsychologist who specialised in exploring deathbed phenomena and life after death. Biography Karlis' first research, conducted in the 1940s, was inspired by the w ...
investigated the alleged
miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...
s and
paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...
powers of Sathya Sai Baba in the 1980s. He wrote the book ''Miracles Are My Visiting Cards'' (1988), also published as ''Modern Miracles'' (1997) and republished in 2013 as ''Modern Miracles: The Story of Sathya Sai Baba: A Modern Day Prophet'' which documented his investigation and research.Haraldsson, Erlendur (1988). ''Miracles Are My Visiting Cards''. Sai Towers Publishing. pp. 25, 26, 63, 173. The book has been described as a "generally sympathetic treatment of Sai Baba". In the late 1980s the
philosopher of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...
David C. Lane wrote that Erlendur's book ''Modern Miracles'' "approaches the alleged miracles of Sai Baba with a critical, but open outlook" and recommended it as "the most balanced book ever written" on the subject. Sathya Sai Baba refused to submit to testing in a controlled environment, so Erlendur instead interviewed witnesses. Nevertheless, he debunked some of his alleged miracles, such as the resurrection of Walter Cowan. Note: originally written by David C. Lane in the journal "Understanding Cults and Spiritual Movements", 1988. Philosopher Paul Edwards noted how Erlendur did not come to any definite conclusion about the authenticity of Baba's miracles but regarded fraud as unlikely. Psychologist Janak Pandey wrote that Erlendur was impressed by Baba but could not get him to produce any paranormal phenomena under controlled conditions. The parapsychologist Martin Johnson claimed Erlendur had published some "remarkably naïve eyewitness-accounts of the Indian saint's feats" and was surprised Erlendur was taking the possibility that Baba was not a fraud. Daniel Bassuk Professor of Religious Studies at the
University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, and other campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. It is one of 12 members of the State University System of Florida. USF i ...
wrote "Haraldsson and Osis conclude that they were unable to detect any evidence of fraud, and were led to regard Satya Sai Baba's materializations as 'possibly paranormal'." The Indian skeptic
Basava Premanand Basava Premanand (17 February 1930 – 4 October 2009) was an Indian skeptic and rationalist from Kerala, India. He organised many tours around rural India for the promotion of scientific thinking, exposing alleged miracles and scams carried o ...
criticized the book as a collection of anecdotes rather than an objective scientific report, and the humanist Babu Gogineni found it credulous, saying Erlendur was "more predisposed to believe than to investigate", concluding: "The only lesson one can learn from Erlendur Haraldsson is how not to study the paranormal events."


Retirement

Since his retirement, Erlendur has continued to conduct research and publish articles. In 2007 he brought about the establishment of an endowment at the University of Iceland to support research "into paranormal phenomena and alleged psychic experiences in the spirit of the research econducted during his career". In 2012 with Hafliði Helgason, he published a memoir, ''Á vit hins ókunna'', in which he discusses the results of his interviews with children who believe they recall past lives. He is a frequent speaker at professional meetings, such as the convention of the
American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...
in Orlando, Florida, in 2012. Moreover, he has given several talks at the Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health (IGPP), Freiburg i.Br., Germany, and -- over the years quite a number of them -- at the Austrian Society for Parapsychology and Frontier Aereas of Science, Vienna.


Books

* * * * * *


References


Further information


Documentaries

* ''Past Lives: Stories of Reincarnation''. Storyhouse Productions, Washington D. C. Producer Andreas Gutzeit. Broadcast in the United States on April 1, 2003 on The Learning Channel (Discovery Communications). Aired on Discovery International on December 29, 2003. * ''Reinkarnation – nur ein Mythos?'' Storyhouse Productions for Learning Channel and Spiegel TV. Spiegel TV in VOX and XXP, October 2002. (German version of Past Lives: Stories of Reincarnation.). A Tamil version was broadcast in Asia. * ''Children's Past Lives''. A Zenith North Production for Channel Four, UK. Producer Laura Granditer. October 2000. * ''In Search of the Dead''. BBC Wales in cooperation with PBS, WXXI-T Rochester, New York. Producer Jeffrey Ieverson. 1992. * ''Með Kúrdum í Irak'' (With Kurds in Iraq). Icelandic State Television. January 1967.


Books

* Hafliði Helgason. ''Á vit hins ókunna: endurminningar Erlendar Haraldssonar''. Reykjavík: Almenna bókafélagið, 2012. . *


External links

*
Journal Publications
(member profile at the Parapsychological Association)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haraldsson, Erlendur 1931 births 2020 deaths Parapsychologists Erlendur Haraldsson Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Reincarnation researchers