Transcendent Mind: Rethinking the Science of Consciousness

260 Pages·2016·3.068 MB·English

by  Imants Barušs, Julia Mossbridge

T r a n s c e n d e nT
M i n d
final_Baruss Title.indd 1 5/25/16 10:13 AM

T r a n s c e n d e n T
M i n d
rethinking
the science of
consciousness
imAnts BAruŠs
JuliA mossBridge
AmericAn PsychologicAl AssociAtion
washington, dc
final_Baruss Title.indd 2 5/25/16 10:13 AM
Copyright © 2017 by the American Psychological Association. All rights reserved. Except
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The opinions and statements published are the responsibility of the authors, and such
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Psychological Association.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Barušs, Imants, 1952- author. | Mossbridge, Julia, 1969- author.
Title: Transcendent mind : rethinking the science of consciousness / Imants
Baruss and Julia Mossbridge.
Description: Washington, DC : American Psychological Association, [2017] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016009053 | ISBN 9781433822773 | ISBN 1433822776
Subjects: LCSH: Consciousness.
Classification: LCC BF311 .B3324 2017 | DDC 153—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016009053
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record is available from the British Library.
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/15957-000
One does not have to wait for the advance of neuroscience to know that
one has been stung by a bee!
—Max Velmans (2009, p. 46)
I’m going to describe to you how Nature is—and if you don’t like it,
that’s going to get in the way of your understanding it. It’s a problem
that physicists have learned to deal with: They’ve learned to realize that
whether they like a theory or they don’t like a theory is not the essential
question. Rather, it is whether or not the theory gives predictions that
agree with experiment. It is not a question of whether a theory is philo-
sophically delightful, or easy to understand, or perfectly reasonable from the
point of view of common sense. The theory of quantum electrodynamics
describes Nature as absurd from the point of view of common sense. And
it agrees fully with experiment.
—Richard Feynman (1985/2006, p. 10; emphasis in original)
Not being tied to any particular school of thought, I felt at perfect liberty
to see what I could learn about the subject of psychometry. I was warned
by friends in the world of science that it might be very damaging to my
reputation, but, having no interest in my reputation, I took no notice.
—Thomas Charles Lethbridge (1961, p. 65)

CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ....................................................................................... ix
Introduction .................................................................................................. 3
Chapter 1. Beyond Materialism .......................................................... 7
Chapter 2. Shared Mind .................................................................... 29
Chapter 3. Rethinking Time ............................................................. 53
Chapter 4. Interactions With Discarnate Beings .............................. 83
Chapter 5. Separation of Mind From Brain .................................... 103
Chapter 6. Direct Mental Influence ................................................ 125
Chapter 7. R eintegrating Subjectivity Into
Consciousness Research ................................................ 145
Chapter 8. Transcendent Mind ....................................................... 171
References ................................................................................................. 197
Index ......................................................................................................... 235
About the Authors.....................................................................................249
vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank the following reviewers for reading the prospectus or selec-
tions from the manuscript and providing us with critical comments, listed in
the approximate order of their initial participation: Leslie Combs, Achim
Kempf, Bruce Greyson, Antonio Calcagno, Ram Valluri, Ron Leonard, Julie
Beischel, Patricia Pearson, Gerry McKeon, Rob Werstine, Dean Radin, Bryan
Williams, Natalie Trent, Leanna Standish, Carlos Alvarado, Peter Bancel,
John Kruth, Ed Modestino, Karen Martin, James Barrell, Zoran Josipovic,
Edward Kelly, Jonathan Schooler, and Ben Goertzel. None of our readers are
responsible for any errors or omissions that might remain in the book, nor do
they necessarily agree with anything that we say.
Imants Baruˇss is grateful to King’s University College at Western
University Canada for a paid sabbatical leave that allowed him to work on
this book without interruption. He also thanks King’s University College for
research grants and Medical Technology (WB) Inc. for financial support.
And he appreciates the prompt and supportive response by Claire Callaghan,
the Director of Libraries at King’s University College, and her staff to requests
for various resource materials. Finally, Imants thanks Solveiga Miez¯ıtis, who
always understood the angry young poet and encouraged and mentored him
through 5 decades of career development.
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