Madam, - The evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has pointed out the survival value of naïve credulity in childhood. However, persistence of this trait into adulthood can be problematic, causing us to unquestioningly accept claims made by others, especially if they are perceived as authorities.
Sylvia Thompson's piece "Getting in touch with your chakras?", despite the question mark, seems to me to give credence to Walter Makichen's claims that he possesses clairvoyant powers, can visualise people at a distance and that police will make arrests on the basis of such visions.
We are also asked to accept the physical reality of auras, chakras and non-physical energy systems. I am aware of no objective evidence for any of these.
Michael Corry, a psychiatrist, and Áine Tubridy, a psychotherapist, are quoted in support of Makichen. Their book Going Mad? Understanding Mental Illness, which is referred to in the article, is replete with unproven claims similar to those made by Makichen. For example they state that "[the chakra system] is where karmic imprints are stored from previous lives".
I sincerely hope that the readers of your newspaper possess a more sceptical attitude than is implied in Makichen's comments comparing Irish people with Americans and can recognise nonsense when they see it. Reports of material such as this belong on the pages of papers such as the National Enquirer or Sunday Sport, not in The Irish Times.
We have outgrown the banshees, ghosts and leprechauns of our childhood. Let us not replace them with clairvoyance, psychic visions and magical energy systems. - Yours, etc.,
PAUL O'DONOGHUE, (Clinical Psychologist), Highfield Road, Dublin 6.