The Conscious Mind and the Material World: On Psi, the Soul and the Self [Paperback]

In the interest of full disclosure, this review may not be entirely unbiased, as I am the author.

This book examines the possible nature of the soul or self in light of modern scientific research, including neuroscience, quantum mechanics and cosmology. It also contains a critical review of parapsychological research into such psi phenomena as ESP and psychokinesis.

Most people identify themselves with the person that they are, in the sense of a biological organism that exists from conception until death, as well as the associated train of thoughts, memories, and emotions that forms one's personality. However, the view that you are your physical body cannot be correct, as you have existed for many years, while your present physical body shares few, if any, molecules with your body of ten years ago. Somehow, you seem to have survived the death of that previous body. Also the probability that the exact set of genes that formed your body would have arisen is virtually zero. Your lifetime of several decades is infinitesimal when compared to the 13.7 billion year history of the (observable) universe. Yet, the moment in time that has somehow been mysteriously selected as the present just happens to fall within the lifetime of your body. Thus, your existence at the present moment would seem to be an incredible coincidence. Perhaps the explanation is that you have always existed.

Similarly, you are not the onrush of emotions, memories and thoughts that constitute your personality. These also change from moment to moment, while you persist. Someone (in the future) might be able download your personality into several androids at once. It is not intuitively plausible that your consciousness would inhabit all the androids simultaneously. You are not your stream of consciousness but the vessel through which it flows. You are not your personality.

The book argues that your essential self is a field of pure consciousness. Further, it notes that the results of research on split-brain patients, hypnosis and "blindsight" suggest that each human brain may be inhabited by multiple selves, with each self under the illusion that it is in sole control of the body.

The book also contains a thorough review of parapsychological research into such phenomena as telepathy and precognition. Such phenomena suggest that minds or consciousnesses are at least in part "nonphysical" (in the sense of not being readily explainable by current theories of physics). It also reviews research into phenomena that suggest the human personality may survive the death of the physical body, such as apparitions, hauntings, mediumship, near-death experiences, and seemingly accurate memories of past lives reported by children.

In view of the intimate dependence of mental phenomena on the activity and structure of the physical brain, it is argued that personality traits and memories are not likely to survive the destruction of the entire physical brain at death. A center of pure consciousness, however, could survive. In fact, the widespread belief that your consciousness enters the body in the womb and does not leave until death is mired in the identification of the self with the Person. It is not inconceivable that you entered your brain only recently (with the memories of your previous existence perhaps still stored in the brain of the crow outside your bedroom window).

The book also considers the implications of quantum mechanics for a theory of mind, the evidence for intelligent design, and the anthropic principle in physics (the notion that the laws of the physical universe seem fine-tuned to support the presence of conscious observers).

My qualifications for writing the book are as follows. I have a BA (magna cum laude) in psychology from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Michigan. I have contributed to the literature relating to parapsychology and the mind-body problem for over three decades. Not only have I served on the editorial board of the Journal of Parapsychology, but I have contributed articles to such skeptical outlets as the Skeptical Inquirer and the Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology. My previous book, The Nature of Mind, was highly praised for providing about the only available fair and impartial review of parapsychological research.

This is excellent book!It's written in very thorough manner,easy to read,and cover as much as possible information related to consciousness,psychical research,different theories about psi-phenomena.Really encyclopedia!Definately worth a read

This is really a good book. The most important chapters in the light of the existing literature are, in my opinion, the introduction, Mind and Matter, the Nature of the Self, the Self Writ Large, and the Summing Up. Some of the most interesting ideas are summarized in the author's own review (of his own book - review here on Amazon). The weaknesses are that in places it is repetitive. It needs a good proofreader (but the problems are no more than a very minor annoyance) and there are many rather long run-on sentences (I'm guilty of this myself). The biggest issue for anyone widely read in this area will be that much of the material on ESP (as the author says, unnecessary to the central theses anyway) has already been covered in more depth by other authors - see for example "The ESP Enigma"; Diane Powell. The afterlife evidence (with many of the same examples and more) have been covered in David Fontana's comprehensive overview of the evidence "Is There an Afterlife". Neither of these books appear in the bibliography. The strengths of the book are: its very comprehensive bibliography (even though I'd recommend the addition of the books mentioned in this review!) and its coverage of split-brain phenomena. Many of the philosophical ideas are expressed in eye-opening ways. I won't spoil it for the potential reader, but the idea expressed by the author himself in his review - that an experiencing soul could move from animal to animal are profound. It is this part of the book and the material on psychoneurology that I found most interesting. I'd really have liked to see the book focus on the philosophical ramifications of neurology and psychology - areas of expertize of the author - as much of the other material has been covered in more depth elsewhere and could be summarized in a few paragraphs with references. I'd also recommend Christian de Quicy's book "Radical Nature" - a book on process philosophy and consciousness, which is relevant to the author's arguments and also not referenced. The book loses a star for repeating much material found elsewhere, but if the reader has not read in these areas (afterlife, ESP) then s/he will find their inclusion useful - like the rest of the book the evidence is well-summarized. A second version of the book with the sections on psychology, neuroscience, and their philosophical ramifications expanded and perhaps including some process philosophy would be even better. However, as is, this book is well worth the read, even for one widely-read in the subject of consciousness. A very good book.

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