Philip Experiment

In 1970s Toronto, a group decided to try contacting a man they had invented. They gave “Philip” a seventeenth-century life, an unhappy marriage, a tragic love affair and a death. They drew his portrait and learned his biography. Everyone knew there had been no such person. According to their account, after an initially unproductive period, sessions eventually produced table movements and raps used to answer questions. “Philip” appeared able to discuss the life they had written for him. He als...