Jeff Kripal Introduces Archives of the Impossible

The Archives of the Impossible conference organized by Professor Jeffrey Kripal, was held May 11-13 at Rice University - and what a joy it was to be there. Jeff’s work and writings invite us to bring the paranormal into the academy and his opening remarks, “A Higher, Higher Education” were a potent reminder and challenge to co-create the change we want to see. Jeff characterized “The Phenomena” as the deepest secret of human thought and culture, and therefore what’s key is to “not be outside the box, but to break the box, ”

Some sentences I collected:

• “We are making science fiction movies out of ourselves.”

• “We are talking about everything with everyone.”

• “The intention is to mainstream the Impossible into the heart of the academy.”

• “We have to be intergenerational. (Safe/comfortable for faculty/students to make the impossible heard; funding, grants.)

• “One works where one is; all departments are necessary. ‘The Phenomenon’ is more than any department or category.”

• “The Impossible is the human coming to knowledge. The Impossible emerges in the gaps, the ruptures, in the margins speaking to the center.”

• “ What the Impossible becomes is up to us. We need people to connect the dots and manifest stories and new approaches.”

• “The Impossible intends to be plural.”

• “Change the order of knowledge.”

  there is much more to say about this and the conference. more soon