So, here we have another book from Rupert Sheldrake, recounting his years of research into mind phenomenon like telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, and the sense of being stared at. Sheldrake comes to this inquiry as a Cambridge trained biologist. His work is based on solid science, but it does not support the ‘materialistic’ explanation for reality that remains the foundation for modern science.
Here are a couple of facts that one cannot get around when considering things like consciousness, memories, information processing, and individual creativity.
Fact#1 – As hard as scientists have tried, they have never found any physical structures in the brain that can account for consciousness. The nature of human awareness remains a mystery
Fact#2 – There are no structures in the brain that can account for storage of memories.
Fact#3 – There are no structures in the brain that can account for thinking.
Fact#4 – There are no structures in the brain that can account for creativity.
The actual existence of these human capabilities is not in dispute. We are conscious. We do have memories. We do think, and at least some of us are pretty damned creative. But there is nothing in the physical brain that can account for any of it. Traditional science ignores that reality and simply assumes that these abilities are there in the physical brain in some mysterious, yet undiscovered way.
Sheldrake offers another view. He believes that a person’s conscious mind, memories, thought processes, and creativity exist separate from the physical body, in another dimensional form that remains elusive and beyond direct perception.
In this book, Sheldrake focuses on the unexplained capabilities that some people have for connecting with the past, the future, and with people, even at great distances. He reviews the scientific literature and shows that statistically, there is compelling evidence that these seemingly bizarre mental capabilities that some human beings have do exist.
I am big fan of Sheldrake. I think he is on to something very profound about life and how we humans happen to be conscious, and how we are able to think, and to have memories, and to show amazing flashes of creativity.
Here is a link to Sheldrake’s webpage… http://www.sheldrake.org/
Original book review published in www.ecstatictruthpdx.blogspot.com on 10/14/2014