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on May 8, 2014
This detailed tome is a much needed scholastic review of the current state of research of the psychology of the mind. The writers have scoured the resources way back to main developments of the current paradigm which includes complex reviews of long deceased writers. Their goal is to provide a base for much needed research into that complexity we call the mind. They are imaginative and bold going where too few serious writers venture. This text is dense and requires great tenacity to complete but very much worth the time. Keep your dictionary handy.
on August 10, 2015
I'm going to approach this book from a slightly different perspective. In the past year, I've had both a precognition (beyond any doubt) and a mystical experience (meeting all seven criteria for an introverted mystical experience set forth by W.T. Stace, and summarized in Chapter 8 in Irreducible Mind).
Up till December 21st, 2014, I had many things happen to me that I could not explain. They seemed to converge on psi abilities, or any of the related phenomena. I talked to a lot of people, read a lot of books. I was leaning towards belief, but as a raging introvert I needed irrefutable proof to believe any of it. For me, that proof was an out of body experience, so I spent a good bit of time meditating and trying to induce an OBE. No go.
And then December 21st, 2014. Alone at night, driving home from a friend's house, on a two lane road in the country, I come upon a curve at 55 MPH. Suddenly, to my upper left, as if superimposed on a screen overlaying my windshield and roof, I see a deer. It is lit flatly, sort of a dull beige. It is facing left, with its head down. Deer, my brain says. I slow from 55 to 10, for no good reason other than "deer". Five seconds later, as I round the blind corner (it is in the woods, and the sides of the road are banked) I see the EXACT DEER in front of me: lit precisely like my vision, facing the same direction as my vision. The exact same in every single detail as my vision. The deer lifts its head, looks at me, and saunters off the road to my right. I immediately called my wife. You'll never guess what happened to me. She does of course, because she thinks this happens to me all of the time. I am more of a skeptic though. But this time, I can't dodge it. It happened, and I can't explain it away. It happened, and it was precognition.
My mystical event happened on March 25th, 2015. It was in a dream, but it wasn't a dream, I don't think. I could copy and paste the entry from my dream journal, but it would utterly fail to convey the experience. It remains the singular most astounding thing I've ever encountered in my 43 years of (this) existence.
I picked up Irreducible Mind about four years ago in an attempt to explain some things that were happening to me. It was a form of solace, knowing that perhaps you aren't crazy, and that reputable scientists and researchers also believe similar things, and that others have experienced the very same things you have. I was still doubtful four years ago (I could explain most things as coincidence, or find a rational explanation) but the book gave me a bit of courage to keep exploring and researching.
Now, on the "other side", Irreducible Mind has given me validation. I believe. I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that F.W.H Myers was completely on the ball. Psi phenomena are real. Trust me, I've been there. Hell, I am there. I'm a fairly smart guy. I refuse to be duped. It took my own personal experiences to convince me. BUT. I just read the chapter on mystical experiences last night, and I cried when I found my experience mapped neatly to Stace's features of introspective mystical experience. (Four years ago, I thought this chapter was a bit far-fetched.) Validation is a beautiful thing. Not being alone is a beautiful thing.
Anyway. Well. I'm not here to convince you one way or another about the reality of psi phenomena. I will say, if you are curious, on the fence, or going through something you can't explain, pick this book up. It can help.
Up till December 21st, 2014, I had many things happen to me that I could not explain. They seemed to converge on psi abilities, or any of the related phenomena. I talked to a lot of people, read a lot of books. I was leaning towards belief, but as a raging introvert I needed irrefutable proof to believe any of it. For me, that proof was an out of body experience, so I spent a good bit of time meditating and trying to induce an OBE. No go.
And then December 21st, 2014. Alone at night, driving home from a friend's house, on a two lane road in the country, I come upon a curve at 55 MPH. Suddenly, to my upper left, as if superimposed on a screen overlaying my windshield and roof, I see a deer. It is lit flatly, sort of a dull beige. It is facing left, with its head down. Deer, my brain says. I slow from 55 to 10, for no good reason other than "deer". Five seconds later, as I round the blind corner (it is in the woods, and the sides of the road are banked) I see the EXACT DEER in front of me: lit precisely like my vision, facing the same direction as my vision. The exact same in every single detail as my vision. The deer lifts its head, looks at me, and saunters off the road to my right. I immediately called my wife. You'll never guess what happened to me. She does of course, because she thinks this happens to me all of the time. I am more of a skeptic though. But this time, I can't dodge it. It happened, and I can't explain it away. It happened, and it was precognition.
My mystical event happened on March 25th, 2015. It was in a dream, but it wasn't a dream, I don't think. I could copy and paste the entry from my dream journal, but it would utterly fail to convey the experience. It remains the singular most astounding thing I've ever encountered in my 43 years of (this) existence.
I picked up Irreducible Mind about four years ago in an attempt to explain some things that were happening to me. It was a form of solace, knowing that perhaps you aren't crazy, and that reputable scientists and researchers also believe similar things, and that others have experienced the very same things you have. I was still doubtful four years ago (I could explain most things as coincidence, or find a rational explanation) but the book gave me a bit of courage to keep exploring and researching.
Now, on the "other side", Irreducible Mind has given me validation. I believe. I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that F.W.H Myers was completely on the ball. Psi phenomena are real. Trust me, I've been there. Hell, I am there. I'm a fairly smart guy. I refuse to be duped. It took my own personal experiences to convince me. BUT. I just read the chapter on mystical experiences last night, and I cried when I found my experience mapped neatly to Stace's features of introspective mystical experience. (Four years ago, I thought this chapter was a bit far-fetched.) Validation is a beautiful thing. Not being alone is a beautiful thing.
Anyway. Well. I'm not here to convince you one way or another about the reality of psi phenomena. I will say, if you are curious, on the fence, or going through something you can't explain, pick this book up. It can help.
on May 4, 2013
The authors' thesis may be found in two excerpts from Chapter 6: Near Death Experience and Related Phenomena, to wit:
"[W]e [have] noted that the current mainstream doctrine of biological naturalism has coalesced neuroscientifically around the family of "global workspace" theories. Despite differences of detail and interpretation, all of these theories have in common the view that the essential substrate for conscious experience--the neuroelectric activities that make it possible and that constitute or directly reflect the necessary and sufficient conditions for its occurrence--consist of synchronous or at least coherent high-frequency (gamma-band, roughly 30-70 Hz) EEG oscillations linking widely separated, computationally specialized, regions of the brain. An enormous amount of empirical evidence supports the existence of these mind-brain correlations under normal conditions of mental life, and we do not dispute this evidence. The conventional theoretical interpretation of this correlation, however--that the observed neuroelectric activity itself generates or constitutes the conscious experience--must be incorrect, because in both general anesthesia and cardiac arrest, the specific neuroelectric conditions that are held to be necessary and sufficient for conscious experience are abolished--and yet vivid, even heightened, awareness, thinking, and memory formation can still occur.
...
[H]ow [can] these complex states of consciousness, including vivid mentation, sensory perception, and memory ... occur under conditions in which current neurophysiological models of the production of mind by brain deem such states impossible[?]"
The foregoing, as I understand, is the mantra of this book. Whether their point has been made I leave to the professional community. The more perplexing questions arise if their thesis is correct. The field appears wide open for new and profound discoveries if this is the case.
"[W]e [have] noted that the current mainstream doctrine of biological naturalism has coalesced neuroscientifically around the family of "global workspace" theories. Despite differences of detail and interpretation, all of these theories have in common the view that the essential substrate for conscious experience--the neuroelectric activities that make it possible and that constitute or directly reflect the necessary and sufficient conditions for its occurrence--consist of synchronous or at least coherent high-frequency (gamma-band, roughly 30-70 Hz) EEG oscillations linking widely separated, computationally specialized, regions of the brain. An enormous amount of empirical evidence supports the existence of these mind-brain correlations under normal conditions of mental life, and we do not dispute this evidence. The conventional theoretical interpretation of this correlation, however--that the observed neuroelectric activity itself generates or constitutes the conscious experience--must be incorrect, because in both general anesthesia and cardiac arrest, the specific neuroelectric conditions that are held to be necessary and sufficient for conscious experience are abolished--and yet vivid, even heightened, awareness, thinking, and memory formation can still occur.
...
[H]ow [can] these complex states of consciousness, including vivid mentation, sensory perception, and memory ... occur under conditions in which current neurophysiological models of the production of mind by brain deem such states impossible[?]"
The foregoing, as I understand, is the mantra of this book. Whether their point has been made I leave to the professional community. The more perplexing questions arise if their thesis is correct. The field appears wide open for new and profound discoveries if this is the case.
on September 2, 2015
This is a well written & well documented synopsis of the clinical and research rigorous disciplines of psychology of the 19th & 20th centuries, morphing into the 21st century academics of psychology as seen from the discipline of cognitive neuroscience.
The discussion evolves into the rigorous study of the physical, chemical and functional attributes of the ephemeral mind and conscience, in contrast to the organic physical brain. Very heavy reading, but extremely thought provoking.
The discussion evolves into the rigorous study of the physical, chemical and functional attributes of the ephemeral mind and conscience, in contrast to the organic physical brain. Very heavy reading, but extremely thought provoking.
Very detailed and academic, but a fabulous argument for the notion that consciousness exists outside of the brain.
on November 14, 2013
I am a physician and had been thinking about these ideas for some time. Prior to reading this publication, I found my way to other related books, such as The Mind and The Brain, by Jeffrey M. Schwartz MD and Sharon Begley; as well as Ghost Hunters: William James and the Hunt for Scientific Proof of Life After Death, by Deborah Blum. Although the title is hokey, you would might also be interested in Proof of Heaven, by neurosurgeon Eben Alexander. In addition, you can find an enjoyable introduction to this line of thinking in Chapter 3 ( titled "Out of Our Heads? Off with Their Heads- Consciousness Outside of the Brain" ) in Fringology by Steve Volk. He describes the work of Dr. Stuart Hameroff of the University of Arizona and Roger Penrose of Cambridge University and their investigation of the possible relationship of quantum mechanics to consciousness. I started with some of these titles before progressing to Irreducible Mind.
on June 9, 2014
This is a sophisticated scientific analysis of where we stand regarding the mind-body problem. The initial 15 % of the text more or less retell the views of Myers before concentrating on the presentation of a massive amount of evidence making it very difficult indeed to continue believing that mind/conciousness is merely the result of neurons firing in the brain. The body may revert to dust, but there seems hope that the mind will persist. This is a thourougly serious book, not pop psychology like many others.
M. Creydt
M. Creydt
on October 16, 2015
If you have a serious interest in the questions surrounding the mind and the brain this is the book for you. It may tell you more than you ever wanted to know, but it misses very little. It presents a strong case for the primacy of mind and therefor the evidence for survival the the death of the physical body.
on March 27, 2014
I'd give this thoroughly researched, bold and demanding book nine or then stars if I could. It is nothing short of a full fledged battle-call for a paradigm change in psychology and maybe in some other natural sciences too. And it does so by methodically demanding for a methodology of science that takes into consideration all phenomena at hand, not just stuff that happens to yield itself to current in-lab work. Taking a refreshing step back to appreciate the openminded and ingenious categerorization of psychological phenomena as worked out by by the F.W.H. Myers an William James at the start of last century this book takes its reader on an erudite intellectual joyride trough a centurylong variety of conflicting theorizing aiming at a profound paradigm shift in cognitive sciences. For me this was one of the best scientific books on consciousness I've ever encountered. Maybe the best.
on June 24, 2013
I was refeered to this book by a very interesting comment by Diane Hennacy Powell, MD, publised on June 1, 2007 in Shift Magazine, as follows:
“The authors of this book emphatically do not believe in ‘miracles,’ conceived as breaches of natural law . . . these seemingly anomalous phenomena occur not in contradiction to nature itself, but only in contradiction to what is presently known to us of nature . . . they not only invite, but should command the attention of anyone seriously interested in the mind.” The authors’ statement summarizes the major intent behind this book.
Although any complete theory needs to be able to account for all associated phenomena, twentieth-century academic psychology developed its paradigm while ignoring anomalous phenomena: out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, psi phenomena, visions of deceased relatives, mystical experiences, automatic writing, stigmata, and cases suggestive of reincarnation. Instead, psychology teamed up with the nascent fields of neuroscience and artificial intelligence to derive a Computational Theory of the Mind (CTM) in which the mind was reduced to being the byproduct of a highly sophisticated, biological computer—the brain.
Irreducible Mind skillfully argues that CTM is empirically false and provides detailed documentation of what CTM cannot explain. For example, CTM never addresses how consciousness could arise from the brain, and anomalous experiences suggest otherwise. CTM can’t even account for some of our everyday experiences, such as volition, or free will. CTM is a theory that reflects its origins rather than the richness of human experience.
This 800-page tome is the result of a collaborative effort of six authors whose qualifications enable them to provide an authoritative and comprehensive review and analysis of the relevant literature. Principal authors Edward Kelly and Emily Kelly are both in the Department of Psychiatric Medicine at the University of Virginia. Edward Kelly has a background as an experimental parapsychologist and as a neuroscientist using high-resolution EEG and functional MRI. Emily Kelly worked with the recently deceased Ian Stevenson on cases of “the reincarnation type,” near-death experiences, apparitions, and mediumship.
A CD of F.W. H. Myers’s hard-to-find, two-volume classic, Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death (1903), is included with the book. The authors describe Myers as the “neglected genius of scientific psychology” whose work influenced them, as well as the Harvard psychologist William James. Myers’s contributions are discussed throughout the book and continue to be of tremendous relevance today.
Both Myers and James regarded the brain as something that limited our experience of consciousness rather than something that generated it. Some of this perspective came from studying anomalous phenomena, but it also came from the study of clinical phenomena such as hysterical symptoms: for example, blindness, anesthesia and/or paralysis that had no anatomical cause and were curable by suggestion or hypnosis.“This apparent ability of the hysteric’s subliminal consciousness to initiate and control, at some level, physiological processes that are normally beyond conscious control seemed to Myers to be a gain rather than a loss of function and to have important implications for an understanding of the relationship of mind and body.”
Myers also looked at genius, which he believed to involve access to deeper subliminal or "unconscious” levels. To Myers, the subliminal was something that was restrained and could be released in all of us as a result of adjustments in the permeability of whatever it was that regulated its expression. More than one hundred years old, his theory is entirely in keeping with recent research on autistic savants.
The book’s title refers to the need for psychology to recognize that the mind cannot be understood by reductionistic, materialistic science. It is written primarily for advanced undergraduate and young graduate students in fields such as psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, who have sufficient backgrounds to understand its arguments yet are new enough to the field to still have an open mind. The book will also be a valuable addition to the library of all serious students of consciousness, particularly if they are interested in understanding the mysteries of the mind".
“The authors of this book emphatically do not believe in ‘miracles,’ conceived as breaches of natural law . . . these seemingly anomalous phenomena occur not in contradiction to nature itself, but only in contradiction to what is presently known to us of nature . . . they not only invite, but should command the attention of anyone seriously interested in the mind.” The authors’ statement summarizes the major intent behind this book.
Although any complete theory needs to be able to account for all associated phenomena, twentieth-century academic psychology developed its paradigm while ignoring anomalous phenomena: out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, psi phenomena, visions of deceased relatives, mystical experiences, automatic writing, stigmata, and cases suggestive of reincarnation. Instead, psychology teamed up with the nascent fields of neuroscience and artificial intelligence to derive a Computational Theory of the Mind (CTM) in which the mind was reduced to being the byproduct of a highly sophisticated, biological computer—the brain.
Irreducible Mind skillfully argues that CTM is empirically false and provides detailed documentation of what CTM cannot explain. For example, CTM never addresses how consciousness could arise from the brain, and anomalous experiences suggest otherwise. CTM can’t even account for some of our everyday experiences, such as volition, or free will. CTM is a theory that reflects its origins rather than the richness of human experience.
This 800-page tome is the result of a collaborative effort of six authors whose qualifications enable them to provide an authoritative and comprehensive review and analysis of the relevant literature. Principal authors Edward Kelly and Emily Kelly are both in the Department of Psychiatric Medicine at the University of Virginia. Edward Kelly has a background as an experimental parapsychologist and as a neuroscientist using high-resolution EEG and functional MRI. Emily Kelly worked with the recently deceased Ian Stevenson on cases of “the reincarnation type,” near-death experiences, apparitions, and mediumship.
A CD of F.W. H. Myers’s hard-to-find, two-volume classic, Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death (1903), is included with the book. The authors describe Myers as the “neglected genius of scientific psychology” whose work influenced them, as well as the Harvard psychologist William James. Myers’s contributions are discussed throughout the book and continue to be of tremendous relevance today.
Both Myers and James regarded the brain as something that limited our experience of consciousness rather than something that generated it. Some of this perspective came from studying anomalous phenomena, but it also came from the study of clinical phenomena such as hysterical symptoms: for example, blindness, anesthesia and/or paralysis that had no anatomical cause and were curable by suggestion or hypnosis.“This apparent ability of the hysteric’s subliminal consciousness to initiate and control, at some level, physiological processes that are normally beyond conscious control seemed to Myers to be a gain rather than a loss of function and to have important implications for an understanding of the relationship of mind and body.”
Myers also looked at genius, which he believed to involve access to deeper subliminal or "unconscious” levels. To Myers, the subliminal was something that was restrained and could be released in all of us as a result of adjustments in the permeability of whatever it was that regulated its expression. More than one hundred years old, his theory is entirely in keeping with recent research on autistic savants.
The book’s title refers to the need for psychology to recognize that the mind cannot be understood by reductionistic, materialistic science. It is written primarily for advanced undergraduate and young graduate students in fields such as psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, who have sufficient backgrounds to understand its arguments yet are new enough to the field to still have an open mind. The book will also be a valuable addition to the library of all serious students of consciousness, particularly if they are interested in understanding the mysteries of the mind".
