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on November 1, 2010
As an advanced graduate student in cognitive psychology, and one very much interested in expanding academic psychology's rather limited approach to the mind (yes, irony), I find this book to be, well, quite amazing. I've read a number of other books on similar topics, but nowhere have I found such an even-handed, fair, and thorough commitment to the truth.
Chapters 3 and 5-8 are wonderful for truly fascinating phenomena, though that is not to say the other chapters are uninteresting. The whole book is exceptional.
There is a consistent emphasis on supporting F.W.H. Myer's views--the book is a tribute to his work, and modeled after Myers's Human Personality--which at times might seem a little much, but shouldn't. Myers is indeed a neglected genius, and deserves to be far more well-known than he is. Re-establishing him is an important task and aspect of the book.
It should definitely be required reading for anyone in or near psychology. For those not in academia, I think it's still worth reading, though is certainly not paced like a popular science book. But this is because it is far more rich and densely rewarding than most popular science books.
Chapters 3 and 5-8 are wonderful for truly fascinating phenomena, though that is not to say the other chapters are uninteresting. The whole book is exceptional.
There is a consistent emphasis on supporting F.W.H. Myer's views--the book is a tribute to his work, and modeled after Myers's Human Personality--which at times might seem a little much, but shouldn't. Myers is indeed a neglected genius, and deserves to be far more well-known than he is. Re-establishing him is an important task and aspect of the book.
It should definitely be required reading for anyone in or near psychology. For those not in academia, I think it's still worth reading, though is certainly not paced like a popular science book. But this is because it is far more rich and densely rewarding than most popular science books.
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 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".
on June 12, 2013
In their massive (800 page, very small type) 2007 book, "Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century" Edward Kelly and five coauthors argue for a framework for psychology, originally articulated by F.W.H. Meyers and William James in the waning years of the 19th century. In this framework the mind (nearly identical to the "soul" to those in a different intellectual tradition) as the seat of conscious behavior, exists outside of the body (brain) and the brain only partially recovers its contents for a particular human being. They posit that this framework is the only one compatible with the growing body of experimental evidence concerning phenomena like hypnosis, multiple personalities, genius, stigmata, out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, a variety of mystical experiences, psychics, remote viewing and the like. This is an academic research book with the attributes of scholarly writings: extensive references, careful attention to historical detail for the purpose of allocating credit, and an extensive bibliography, reference list and index.
The book begins with two chapters reviewing contemporary cognitive neuroscience and the empirical study of the mind-body problem by F.W.H. Meyers in the late 19th century. This idea is not new to readers of several other books featured on Amazon,com. E.g., in "The Holographic Universe" Michael Talbot constructs a narrative that the mind is outside the body, distinct from the brain, in frequency space (think radio waves and optical frequency light) accessed by tuning into the right frequency, analogous to accessing the right URL on the internet. The next chapter reviews the literature on the mind's influence on physical bodies: both ones own and those of others. The following chapter considers the problem of memory. E.g., what does it mean to "remember" past lives or the interstices between lives as reported in the works of Michael Newton (e.g., "Journey of Souls") and Brian Weiss (e.g., "Same Soul, Many Bodies"). The next explores the experimental evidence for alternative states of consciousness than our normal waking state (as observed e.g., in individuals with multiple personality disorders or under hypnosis). A major issue explored in this chapter is "what is thought?". Some thoughts cause actions directly (e.g., raise your arm), others are concentrated efforts to learn (e.g., to play a musical instrument), still others are reveries. The traditional medical view is that your thoughts are created by electrical impulses in your brain and affect only yourself, but the experimental evidence to the contrary is compelling (e.g., Agnes Sanford's healing ministry as described in her autobiography "Sealed Orders"). Experimental evidence is that thought accompanies and under appropriate circumstances creates physical action, like Jesus' feeding the multitudes with loaves and fishes or his healing of the sick and raising of the dead. The following chapter reviews the evidence for and implications of out-of-body and near-death experiences, familiar topics from "The Holographic Universe" and "Fingerprints of God" by Barbara Bradley Hagerty. The next chapter deals with "genius": the intuitive and almost unconscious ability of certain individuals to compose great works of art or paradigm shifts in science (e.g., Charles Darwin). Next is a chapter on the literature on mystical experiences. The book concludes with a synopsis of what must be explained by a satisfactory psychology "for the 21st century".
In conclusion I offer three observations of potential relevance to frequent users of Amazon.com. First, this work is an academic tome, poorly suited for a general audience. The authors assert that it could serve as a suitable text for an advanced undergraduate or graduate text in psychology. If you want far more readable descriptions of the phenomena discussed in this offering, consult the books cited above by Michael Talbot, Michael Newton, Brian Weiss, Barbara Bradley Hagerty, and Agnes Sanford, all readily available on Amazon.com. The second is that this reviewer finds it astonishing that in the waning years of the 19th century F.W.H. Meyers published ideas along the lines of these modern popular works that support the notion that the mind (soul) is distinct from the body and persists independent of the body. This is a little publicized fact, suggesting that Dr. Meyers' contributions rival those of the greatest intellects of all time. Finally, this book reveals that the psychology profession is finally awakening to the use of documented experimental data rather than the speculations of academics to create a comprehensive view of human nature and its place in the universe. This is a wonderful book for serious students of the mind(soul)/body problem. Otherwise, seek insight else where.
The book begins with two chapters reviewing contemporary cognitive neuroscience and the empirical study of the mind-body problem by F.W.H. Meyers in the late 19th century. This idea is not new to readers of several other books featured on Amazon,com. E.g., in "The Holographic Universe" Michael Talbot constructs a narrative that the mind is outside the body, distinct from the brain, in frequency space (think radio waves and optical frequency light) accessed by tuning into the right frequency, analogous to accessing the right URL on the internet. The next chapter reviews the literature on the mind's influence on physical bodies: both ones own and those of others. The following chapter considers the problem of memory. E.g., what does it mean to "remember" past lives or the interstices between lives as reported in the works of Michael Newton (e.g., "Journey of Souls") and Brian Weiss (e.g., "Same Soul, Many Bodies"). The next explores the experimental evidence for alternative states of consciousness than our normal waking state (as observed e.g., in individuals with multiple personality disorders or under hypnosis). A major issue explored in this chapter is "what is thought?". Some thoughts cause actions directly (e.g., raise your arm), others are concentrated efforts to learn (e.g., to play a musical instrument), still others are reveries. The traditional medical view is that your thoughts are created by electrical impulses in your brain and affect only yourself, but the experimental evidence to the contrary is compelling (e.g., Agnes Sanford's healing ministry as described in her autobiography "Sealed Orders"). Experimental evidence is that thought accompanies and under appropriate circumstances creates physical action, like Jesus' feeding the multitudes with loaves and fishes or his healing of the sick and raising of the dead. The following chapter reviews the evidence for and implications of out-of-body and near-death experiences, familiar topics from "The Holographic Universe" and "Fingerprints of God" by Barbara Bradley Hagerty. The next chapter deals with "genius": the intuitive and almost unconscious ability of certain individuals to compose great works of art or paradigm shifts in science (e.g., Charles Darwin). Next is a chapter on the literature on mystical experiences. The book concludes with a synopsis of what must be explained by a satisfactory psychology "for the 21st century".
In conclusion I offer three observations of potential relevance to frequent users of Amazon.com. First, this work is an academic tome, poorly suited for a general audience. The authors assert that it could serve as a suitable text for an advanced undergraduate or graduate text in psychology. If you want far more readable descriptions of the phenomena discussed in this offering, consult the books cited above by Michael Talbot, Michael Newton, Brian Weiss, Barbara Bradley Hagerty, and Agnes Sanford, all readily available on Amazon.com. The second is that this reviewer finds it astonishing that in the waning years of the 19th century F.W.H. Meyers published ideas along the lines of these modern popular works that support the notion that the mind (soul) is distinct from the body and persists independent of the body. This is a little publicized fact, suggesting that Dr. Meyers' contributions rival those of the greatest intellects of all time. Finally, this book reveals that the psychology profession is finally awakening to the use of documented experimental data rather than the speculations of academics to create a comprehensive view of human nature and its place in the universe. This is a wonderful book for serious students of the mind(soul)/body problem. Otherwise, seek insight else where.
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 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 June 22, 2013
And the many page, detailed, Table of Contents is much needed for following the organization of this big book. I would not have bought the Kindle version if I had realized Amazon would neglect to include such an essential part of the book. My 4 stars are for what the authors wrote. For cheating its customers Amazon deserves at most one star for its Kindle version of this important book.
24 June 2013. Since I wrote this comment Amazon has added a much simplified Table of Contents, listing only the chapter titles and starting pages, but with none of the chapter section details that the printed versions of this book include. This bare bones Table of Contents is better than nothing, but far short of what the printed books provide. What could be so difficult about including all the pages from the Table of Contents for the Kindle version?
24 June 2013. Since I wrote this comment Amazon has added a much simplified Table of Contents, listing only the chapter titles and starting pages, but with none of the chapter section details that the printed versions of this book include. This bare bones Table of Contents is better than nothing, but far short of what the printed books provide. What could be so difficult about including all the pages from the Table of Contents for the Kindle version?
on January 23, 2010
I bought, read, rated, and reviewed this affordable paperback version of Irreducible Mind quite a while ago. I just noticed that it was mistakenly printed under the very expensive hardback version. Instead of being the first to review the affordable version I appeared to be the eighth reviewer of the expensive version I would never buy. I don't know if or how I could have made the mistake which got my review in the wrong place.
I think it is the best book about psychology, the field from which I am retired after a long, successful, and happy career, that I have ever read. I want all members of APA and APS [the American Psychology Association and the Association for Psychological Science] to read it, at least in its affordable form, so please look for my review under the expensive hardback version and then buy a copy of the cheaper one even if you hate my positive review. If you're a psychologist, it may motivate you to stop trying to keep up with physicists where they were nearly a century ago and think about the fact that some of them are moving faster now toward how to move information into matter/energy systems than we are, and without that doubtful "emergence" of mind from brain idea. I would have thought we psychologists might have done better than they! Oh well ...
I think it is the best book about psychology, the field from which I am retired after a long, successful, and happy career, that I have ever read. I want all members of APA and APS [the American Psychology Association and the Association for Psychological Science] to read it, at least in its affordable form, so please look for my review under the expensive hardback version and then buy a copy of the cheaper one even if you hate my positive review. If you're a psychologist, it may motivate you to stop trying to keep up with physicists where they were nearly a century ago and think about the fact that some of them are moving faster now toward how to move information into matter/energy systems than we are, and without that doubtful "emergence" of mind from brain idea. I would have thought we psychologists might have done better than they! Oh well ...
on June 25, 2013
Let me start by saying that this is a difficult book for anybody who is not acquainted with current psychological literature. And that is a good thing. Although the authors may toy with the idea of popularizing the themes discussed here, you will need some background in psychology and neurosciences to fully wrestle with the topics discussed here.
Which leads me to the second point: Even when I'm trained as neuroscientist and have 20 years of research and teaching under my belt, I still find some of the content difficult to deal with. However, that is the result of being trained in a purely materialistic point of view (Thanks Dennett!). This book does a magnificent job of recasting William James as the real father of American psychology and doing more than that by following F.W.H. Myers' groundbreaking ideas. James was profoundly influenced by Myers and that seems to be a fact commonly overlooked in current psychological thinking.
Needless to say, this book begs to be read with an open mind and a different set of assumptions about what science can be or not. If you think that science can only discuss and study the natural world, well, this book may be a real challenge to that philosophy. The problem with that assumption is that it leaves a whole realm of human experience untouched and unexplained. Granted, I still have real qualms about embracing many of the topics discussed here, such as mediums and ghosts, but I applaud the underlying idea of bringing the discussion into the light and proposing a strong scientific approach to these issues.
Highly recommended if you are up for a philosophical challenge or simply have questions that nobody dare to answer.
Which leads me to the second point: Even when I'm trained as neuroscientist and have 20 years of research and teaching under my belt, I still find some of the content difficult to deal with. However, that is the result of being trained in a purely materialistic point of view (Thanks Dennett!). This book does a magnificent job of recasting William James as the real father of American psychology and doing more than that by following F.W.H. Myers' groundbreaking ideas. James was profoundly influenced by Myers and that seems to be a fact commonly overlooked in current psychological thinking.
Needless to say, this book begs to be read with an open mind and a different set of assumptions about what science can be or not. If you think that science can only discuss and study the natural world, well, this book may be a real challenge to that philosophy. The problem with that assumption is that it leaves a whole realm of human experience untouched and unexplained. Granted, I still have real qualms about embracing many of the topics discussed here, such as mediums and ghosts, but I applaud the underlying idea of bringing the discussion into the light and proposing a strong scientific approach to these issues.
Highly recommended if you are up for a philosophical challenge or simply have questions that nobody dare to answer.
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.
