Why I Believe In Some Form of ESP

Here's some more "back story".

But, before we begin today's lesson in what makes me tick, let me say that anyone who really knows me would say that I am a very pragmatic fellow. Which is to say that I don't take a lot on faith, and that I need to see some real convincing proof before I can say "This is what I think about that!" in regards to many things.

Slow and steady wins the race.

That sort of thing, if you get my drift.

But this ESP thing; even though there has been very little scientific proof to date that it isn't all a bunch of hooey, I still have strong reasons for telling you that it is real.

I can even sum up why it is possible that ESP can be real:

The universe is far stranger than we can ever know, so we cannot really rule out anything as being impossible, now can we?

But I don't expect such generalities—no matter how lucidly they might be expressed—to carry my argument. But no matter.

I can do better than that!

Now I swear to you on my parent's graves (or I would if they hadn't both chosen cremation)—and I swear to you on whatever both you and I hold most holy—that what follows is the honest truth.

When Julie and I lived back east we often visited a couple we were friends with, a couple whose last name is Jester.

On the day of this story we were leaving our place to go see them, as we'd done any number of times before, and I had this great thought which I passed along to Julie: "Hey," I said, "wouldn't it be great if they someday had a baby girl and named her Courtney? Then she could be known as Court Jester!"

As usual, I got "the dirty look for trying to be funny" (a look I got often, even though I never saw the problem being at the transmission site, but rather on the receiveing end, if you know what I'm talking about.)

Well we head over to the Jester residence, and what is the first thing they show us when we get there?

Their new border collie, that's what.

"We named her Courtney," they said. "We call her Court Jester for short!"

Now, mind you, we'd been to this couple's house many times before.

Why, then, did I suddenly, that day, decide to make that wonderful joke?

It's because there is more going on in the universe than we're aware of.