I have been interested in anomalies since childhood. Like many, I began by largely believing the (sometimes counter-) cultural explanations for a lot of these phenomenon. For a brief while, I felt sympatico with those who usually accept the ‘traditional’ non-traditional explanations. Eventually, I left their company for reasons best detailed elsewhere.

I remain extremely curious about these phenomenon and relatively skeptical about the explanations people have for them.

My point is this: anomalous events sometimes act as windows leading beyond the perceptual blindfolds our habits and ideas comprise. Some of them lead into phenomenon that have largely to do with our own minds and/or activity, and others into the (usually astonishing) nature of reality.

I have always felt instinctively that the world was the kind of mystery whose occasional anomalies might convey hints about her secrets to those who understood how to observe. Not just the world… but ourselves; even the common function of our own minds. Perhaps more peculiarly there, than anywhere else…

Eventually, amongst other discoveries, I realized that many of the most astonishing anomalies were those related to the peculiar character and activity of consciousness… and this led me into our relationships with language… where I found an endless forest of staggering anomalies.

But that, too, is best detailed elsewhere.

— A Feral Anomalist