If there is one point of agreement between science and philosophy it is the role the mind plays in creating the world we
live in. The first step then is to
understand the mind and its workings. And this is where the book begins. Looked at closely consciousness appears quite mysterious. Science has now begun to understand the physiology of the brain in some detail. It can tell where in the brain many functions occur and has begun to tease out the chemical processes underlying these functions. How all of this electro-chemical activity becomes a thought is less well understood . In fact, when it comes to knowing what a thought is science is not very much ahead of Aristotle.
Understanding the universe took a quantum leap forward in the Twentieth Century with the two great discoveries of Relativity Theory and Quantum Theory. And what they are both showing quite clearly is that this solid everyday world we think we know so well is an illusion. Quantum mechanics has shown the basis of reality to be waves of probability that the addition of a mind turns into the relative universe that we live in. The fruits of these finding culminated in the Copenhagen Interpretation, the idea that the mind must always be included as a function of any experiment. What this means and how it works is explained in some detail.
What science discovered in the last century philosophers have known for many centuries. Culminating in the work of Immanuel Kant philosophers have always appreciated that the mind has a role to play in our daily lives. It was Kant who gave the most detailed description of what this means and of how it works. When set side by side the philosophy of Kant and the Copenhagen Interpretation can be seen as two sides of the same coin.
Human beings have two ways of looking for truth. These two ways are empirical knowledge an intuitive knowledge. Why this is so can be found in the very structure of the mind. The brain has a bicameral structure. There is the rational, talkative left side and the intuitive, silent right side. Each of these sides has its own understanding of what constitutes true knowledge. Our understanding of the world is build out of the interaction of these two paths too knowledge.
The fact that no two peoples experience is identical means that their understanding of the world will be different. Like-minded people will get together and form an understanding of the world based on those beliefs. These understandings are called paradigms. A paradigm is a mutually agreed upon way of seeing the world. Paradigms break down into four basic classes or modes of being. These are science, mysticism, magic and theology. And each paradigm hold different possibilities, thing that it can do and things that it cannot do. When you understand this your understanding of the way the world works and with it the number of choices you have in that world will go up wonderfully.
Such a view throws new light on our understanding of the paranormal. It is true that psi events are not possible in the view of science but science is just one of four ways to look at reality. By moving between the modes of being it becomes possible to find a mode where psi is possible.
This also holds promise for understanding so called fortean beings, that is Bigfoot, Nessie, UFO’s, ghosts and their like. If one understands that the world has a subjective nature and sticks only to the facts then a solution presents itself. Like the true nature of light it does not conform to any answer that either side was expecting but it is an answer that conforms to the rules of logic. Then, using only those powers that the brain is know to possess, a fortean being will be created..
The book finishes off with a little free-wheeling speculation on such subjects as hidden variables, multiple universes and holographic worlds and what the nature of light has to say about the world we live in. Written in a clear and simple style that anyone can understand learn how the mind creates different paradigms, what they can do and what they can't do, and what this means to you in your daily life. While, at the same time, throwing light on the nature of God, immortality and the paranormal.
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