Ben Alderson-day
Presence
The strange science of the unseen other
We all know the feeling: you’re alone but it’s like there’s someone there with you – a mysterious presence lurking just out of sight. Throughout history this experience has been the subject of religious and supernatural speculation. But does science have the answer?
In Presence, psychologist Ben Alderson-Day digs into historical accounts and contemporary cases of ‘felt presence’, hunting for the key to unlock this strange phenomenon. He interviews ultrarunners and ocean rowers, who often report the sensation of being accompanied on their journeys, and examines the latest work on sleep paralysis, dementia and Parkinson’s, conditions closely associated with feeling the presence of someone or something that isn’t there.
Ben Alderson-Day
Ben Alderson-Day is a Professor of Psychology and the Co-Director of the Discovery Research Platform for Medical Humanities at Durham University. He is the co-founder of the Early Career Hallucinations Research group and the Scientific Chair of the International Consortium on Hallucinations Research. A specialist in atypical cognition and mental health, his work spans cognitive neuroscience, psychiatry, philosophy and child development. He has written for The Guardian, TIME Magazine, Aeon, and Reader’s Digest. He lives in Newcastle upon Tyne with his wife and two daughters.
News
March 25, 2025
Presence: The Strange Science of the Unseen Other released in paperback
Presence is released in paperback by Manchester University Press with a new cover design by Jonathan Pelham.
janUARY 21, 2025
Presence on “Presence”
Ben watched Stephen Soderbergh’s claustrophobic new film “Presence” for the Guardian Film section.
FEBRUARY 22, 2024
The Five Best Books on Hallucinations
Ben spoke to Sophie McBain (New Statesman/Guardian) for Five Books about the writers that inspired Presence, including RD Laing, Oliver Sacks, and Ruth Ozeki.
December 15, 2023
Presence wins BPS Book Award
Ben was delighted to receive a British Psychological Society Book Award (2023) in their Popular Science category. For more details of the award and other BPS awards, see here.