Last month I read Mario Beauregard's Brain Wars (HarperOne 2012).
Chaps 6-8 provide further corroboration for Braude and Sheldrake. It's a useful
weapon against scientific materialism.
As usual, I think it's important to distinguish between the
raw evidence and the theoretical explanation. His book is useful for his
documentation. He often quotes from research scientists at Ivy League
institutions. The value of the book lies in the case studies.
The weakness of the book lies in his theoretical
explanation. He favors a quasi-Buddhist panpsychism, where our "little
selves" tap into the cosmic mind or collective consciousness or whatever.
Ironically, his explanation isn't even consistent with his
material on NDEs and OBEs, where, according to his own description, the subject
retains personal identity, a first-person viewpoint. The "little
self" is the real self, and not a drop in the ocean.
Just out of curiosity, how would you explain some of the phenomena the book mentions, e.g., the increased brain activity in one person when another is shown a bright light (cf. pp 152-153)?
ReplyDeleteThat would be a case of telepathy, manifesting itself in brain activity–which is the only thing our instruments can measure.
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