John E. Mack

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John E. Mack ( John Edward Mack; born October 4, 1929 in New York City , † September 27, 2004 in London , England ) was an American psychiatrist and author . He worked as a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School , which is part of Harvard University .

Mack became internationally known for receiving the Pulitzer Prize in 1977 for his book A Prince of Our Disorder, a biography about TE Lawrence . His work with people who report abductions by non-human beings, so-called alien abductions, also caused a stir .

Career until 1990

The son of Edward C. Mack and Ruth (Hamdullah) Mack attended Oberlin College and graduated in 1951 with a bachelor's degree . He then moved to Harvard Medical School and received his doctorate in 1955 as a doctor of medicine (Doctor of Medicine). Mack then worked as an assistant doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital and trained as a psychiatrist at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center. 1959 Mack made military service in Japan with the US Air Force where he rose to the rank of Captain ( captain on). In 1961 he returned from military service, deepened his education at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center and the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and completed this training as a qualified psychoanalyst for children and adults.

From 1964 Mack worked at Harvard Medical School and became a professor there in 1972. For his psychoanalytic biography of Lawrence of Arabia, A Prince of Our Disorder: The Life of TE Lawrence , Mack received the 1977 Pulitzer Prize in the autobiography / biography category . In 1983 he founded the Center for Psychology and Social Change, which was renamed the John E. Mack Institute after his death .

In the first half of his career, Mack worked on, among other things, the psychological effects and causes of the Cold War , the global ecological crisis, ethnonationalism and other collective phenomena. In this context, Mack worked actively with the organization International Doctors for the Prevention of Nuclear War . This organization received a collective Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 for its work .

Another focus of his work was dealing with children and adolescents at risk of suicide and exploring dreams , especially nightmares.

From 1990: work on the kidnapping phenomenon

Since the early 1990s, Mack has dedicated himself to people who report that they were abducted by non-human beings and subjected to various "medical examinations". Mack initially suspected a mental defect in the person concerned, but could not find any signs of a disorder.

He began with extensive scientific studies, for which a total of over 200 people were used. In addition to the usual techniques of psychoanalysis , Mack also used hypnosis , examined the respective environment and, in some cases, consulted polygraph tests. Mack came to the conclusion that the reports were real, that is, the people actually experienced what they described. According to Mack, reasons for this conclusion are:

  • All persons involved in the studies seem psychologically "normal"
  • However, some people show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder
  • The people did not know each other, often had not told anyone else about their experiences and made no profit from their stories
  • Matches in narrative details not known to the public
  • Repetition of the story or closing of memory gaps under hypnosis
  • Confirmation from the people's environment (person could not be found at the time of the alleged kidnapping, UFO sightings in the area)

In 1992, together with physicist David E. Pritchard , he chaired a conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that dealt with the abduction phenomenon.

In the following year, Mack founded the Program for Extraordinary Experience Research (PEER) to deepen these results and examine them in a larger context. In April 1994, he published a book on the subject ( Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens, German edition: Entführung von Aliens ), which quickly climbed to 1st place on the US bestseller lists.

This book sparked controversial public discussion and increased interest in Mack and his work. While those affected and those openly opposed to the UFO phenomenon and parapsychology reacted positively, the established scientists in particular rejected his conclusions. Also, and especially within Harvard University , Mack's work met with rejection. Already in 1993 he was awarded the Ig Nobel Prize (from English: ignoble: unworthy, shameful, shameful ) at Harvard University . After his book was published, a lawsuit against Mack was opened with the aim of removing him from his post. After 14 months of investigation, however, the proceedings and all allegations against Mack were dropped: No technical errors or violations of Harvard's ethical and moral principles could be proven.

In 1999, Mack published his second book, Passport to the Cosmos: Human Transformation and Alien Encounters, in which Mack intensified a philosophical-spiritual aspect of kidnappings and its connection to modern worldviews.

death

Mack died on September 27, 2004 in a car accident in London. A drunk driver caught Mack walking alone from a friend's dinner. Mack published over 150 scientific articles and eleven books in his academic career.

Quotes

  • "After working with 20 or so [alien] abductees, ... it became clear to me that I was dealing with a phenomenon that could not be explained psychiatrically."
  • "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. "
  • "I have this innocent confidence that if you do your work in a comprehensive and objective way, it stands on its own." (1994, Globe interview)

Publications

  • Nightmares and Human Conflict. Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1970, ISBN 0-700-00188-3
  • Borderline States In Psychiatry. Grune & Stratton, New York 1975, ISBN 0-8089-0878-2
  • A Prince of Our Disorder. The life of TE Lawrence. Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1976, ISBN 0-316-54232-6
  • Abduction. Human Encounters With Aliens. Scribner, Boston 1994, ISBN 0-684-19539-9
  • with Andrea Pritchard, David E. Pritchard , Pam Kasey & Claudia Yapp (Eds.): Alien Discussions. Proceedings of the Abduction Study Conference held at MIT, Cambridge, MA. North Cambridge Press, 1995
    • Alien Discussions / Abducted by aliens. Research reports and discussion contributions to the conference at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, on the abduction phenomenon. Zweiausendeins, Frankfurt 1996, ISBN 3-86150-174-0
  • Passport to the Cosmos. Human Transformation and Alien Encounters. Crown, Boston 1999, ISBN 0-517-70568-0

literature

  • CDB Bryan : Postconference Interview: John E. Mack, MD In: Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind: A Reporter's Notebook on Alien Abduction, UFOs, and the Conference at MIT Penguin Books, 1996, ISBN 0140195270 , pp. 254-278
    • UFO files. Close encounters of the fourth kind. Alien abductions. Goldmann, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-442-12748-3

Movie

Radio broadcast

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Mack, John E.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mack, John Edward
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American psychiatrist
DATE OF BIRTH October 4, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 2004
Place of death London