Worldview
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Posted by Matthew Gilbert on Oct. 22, 2011
East Meets West on Evolution’s Border
The official theme of the third annual Science and Nonduality conference was “On the Edge of Time,” but the unofficial narrative was about time running out on the flat-earth paradigms of our day: the world works like a machine, consciousness follows matter, our lives are essentially meaningless, we are in this thing alone.
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Posted by Cassandra Vieten, PhD on Oct. 1, 2011
Meditation Research: A Bridge between Worldviews…
Research on meditation is not off limits any longer. Scientists are learning from the spiritual traditions without contaminating the scientific method. Spiritual groups are seeking scientific evidence for the role of meditation to better understand their practice and deepen their faith. Health interventions are benefitting from centuries of scientific research as well as millennia of spiritual inquiry. This is something that we get really excited about at IONS. And meditation research paved the way.
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Posted by Marilyn Schlitz, PhD on Sept. 18, 2011
Assisting the Minds that Assist Change
The world is changing before our eyes. As we dip our toes into the 21st century, you and I are watching a full tidal shift in world order... Some may respond by denying the experience and others respond by opening up to further exploration.
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Posted by Marilyn Schlitz, PhD on Aug. 15, 2011
Rejecting Uncommon Beliefs: How Worldview Shapes our Experience
What limits our desire and capacity to take in new ideas – even when we hold an intention to transform and grow? How can we shift a paradigm that we see as flawed and incomplete without understanding the barriers to changing our minds and behaviors? And how can we develop habits that allow us to explore and reveal our own biases and intolerance of ideas that refute our prevailing beliefs and opinions?
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Posted by Tam Hunt on April 2, 2011
Absent-Minded Science, Part V: Sex, Psyche, and Evolution
Many species reproduce without sex, including some complex vertebrates like lizards and fish. So why do we have sex? No one really knows, but there are many theories. I won’t delve much into why our species reproduces sexually; rather, I’m going to delve into what sex is as a general principle and the role of sex in evolution.
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Posted by Tam Hunt on Feb. 3, 2011
Absent-minded Science, Part IV: The “C” Word and Emergence
The “hard problem” of consciousness is figuring out the relationship between mind and matter and why some matter gives rise to unitary subjects and why others don’t? Why am I conscious, and you, and my cat, but not the chair or the rock?
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Posted by Tam Hunt on Dec. 22, 2010
Absent-Minded Science, Part III: What Is Matter?
Whether we call our philosophy “idealism” or “materialism” or “panpsychism,” we are trying to explain the same thing: reality, this. Some approaches are better than others, but our criteria are themselves necessarily subjective. I have highlighted empirical adequacy, logical consistency, and intellectual pedigree here, but other criteria could be used and different conclusions reached.
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Posted by James O'Dea on Nov. 14, 2010
There's Nothing "Magical" about Societal Healing
I know that affirmations, gratefulness, and forgiveness can bring swift benefits, and that sometimes it seems as if we achieve dramatic and miraculous support for our best intentions. But social healing is slow.
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Posted by Marilyn Schlitz, PhD on Nov. 5, 2010
Cultivating Social Consciousness
What does it mean to be part of a greater whole? How does our worldview, or model of reality, impact what we understand about who we are and how we relate to others? And how can we become more aware of all the ways we are part of an interrelated, global community?
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Posted by Tam Hunt on Nov. 4, 2010
Absent-Minded Science, Part II: The Zombie Defense
Can zombies argue that they don’t exist? Empirical evidence suggests they can. Or does it? The philosophy of mind is a thriving field in recent decades, with new books and articles appearing with increasing frequency. This article is the second in an occasional series on the role of mind in the universe and, thus, in science.
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Posted by Dr. William Benda, MD on Nov. 2, 2010
Rustum Roy: Ode to a Contrarian
Very few have heard of Dr. Roy, as his books and lectures focused on geochemistry, glass ceramics, and nanocomposites rather than low-fat diets and the number of steps to optimal health. But he was the consummate unsung hero of healthcare, and he passed away on August 26, 2010, at the age of 86, a true visionary in a realm where the word is applied a bit too freely and often with a taste of self promotion.
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Posted by James O'Dea on Oct. 2, 2010
Social Healing: Rwanda Has Much to Teach Us
On a recent trip to Rwanda to explore how societies heal from massive collective trauma, violent conflict, and human rights abuse, I was shocked to find more evidence of societal healing than I could have imagined possible.
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Posted by Peter Russell, MA, DCS, FSP on Oct. 1, 2010
What is Wisdom?
What is wisdom? We hear the word a lot these days – the need for wisdom, the wisdom traditions, wisdom schools. We each would like to have more wisdom…and for others to have it as well. Too much human hurt and suffering comes from lack of wisdom. There is something about wisdom that we all aspire to. But what is this quality we hold in such high regard?
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Posted by Dean Radin, PhD on Sept. 9, 2010
The Psi Taboo in Action
I have lectured and written about the scientific taboo that prohibits scientists from openly studying psi. One way this prejudice manifests is by being invited to give a lecture at a scientific conference, and then finding yourself disinvited after someone on the conference committee discovers that the invitee has an interest in parapsychology.
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Posted by Marilyn Schlitz, PhD on Sept. 8, 2010
Engaging the Global Consciousness Community
Each day the world seems to grow smaller and more complex. Wars rage. Intolerance breeds contempt across races, ethnicities, and nations. Refugees wander, far from their homes. In too many parts of the planet, children go hungry—ending their days filled with fear and hopelessness. There are plenty of reasons ...
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Posted by Dean Radin, PhD on July 9, 2010
Wikipedia – ‘Reader Beware’ When it Comes to Psi Research
The Wikipedia entry on Masaru Emoto is a good example of why no one should trust an encyclopedia written by anonymous amateurs. I know it is possible, at least in principle, to edit Wikipedia pages to make corrections. But it is also possible for pranksters to change information on any page just for fun.
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Posted by Mickael Drouard on June 22, 2010
The Sustainability Movement in Europe
Building a sustainable future? Of course that’s what we all want…but how?
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Posted by Diane Hennacy Powell, MD on June 11, 2010
"Facts" and Their Interpretations
As a scientist and neuropsychiatrist, I agree with the late physicist Sir William Lawrence Bragg’s statement that, “The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them.” One problem with research on anomalous phenomena such as out-of-body ...
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Posted by Cassandra Vieten, PhD on June 3, 2010
Restoring the Balance
When people ask me what I do for a living, I answer that I direct the research program at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. What follows are a range of responses. For some, a light of recognition is ignited in their eyes: “Oh, I love that place…cool!” For a few, there is the “Never-heard-of-it” glaze. And ...
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Posted by Dean Radin, PhD on May 31, 2010
Make Ignorance your Friend
Non-scientists may not realize that most of the time in scientific research – especially research at the edge of the known, where all the excitement is – we really don’t know what we’re doing. Those few things we think we do understand are taught in elementary college textbooks.
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Posted by Marilyn Schlitz, PhD on May 10, 2010
The Brain and Beyond
Scientists from across the world fill the meeting hall at the Bial Conference in Porto, Portugal. Movement toward scientific precision around mind and brain defines this exceptional gathering. Tables, graphs, data – all transport the participants toward deeper engagement with a sense of proof...
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Posted by James O'Dea on May 10, 2010
Social Healing: Sri Lanka at a Tipping Point
Social—or societal—healing is an emerging field. It seeks to bring learning in a variety of adjacent fields such as peacemaking, peace building, conflict resolution, trauma recovery, and restorative justice together with insights from the new sciences including consciousness studies, neuroscience, and an integral approach to mind-body medicine...
