The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) was co-founded in 1973 by former astronaut Edgar Mitchell and industrialist Paul N. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. Edgar Dean Mitchell DSc (born September 17, 1930) is an American pilot and Astronaut. Temple[11] to encourage and conduct research and education programs on mind-body relationships for the purpose of expanding "human possibility by investigating aspects of reality—mind, consciousness, and spirit. "[1] Institute programs include research in what they call "extended human capacities," "integral health and healing," and "emerging worldviews". This includes research into spiritual energy, meditation, consciousness, alternative healing, spirituality, human potential, psychic abilities and life after death, among others. The term energy has been widely adopted into the fields of spirituality complementary medicine etc Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness Consciousness has been defined loosely as a constellation of attributes of Mind such as Subjectivity, Self-awareness, Sentience, and the The term alternative medicine, as used in the modern western world encompasses any healing practice "that does not fall within the realm of conventional Medicine. Spirituality, in a narrow sense concerns itself with matters of the Spirit, a concept closely tied to religious belief and Faith, a transcendent reality The Human Potential Movement (HPM arose out of the social and intellectual milieu of the 1960s and formed around the concept of cultivating extraordinary potential that The word psychic (ˈsaɪkɨk from the Greek psychikos—"of the soul mental" refers to the claimed ability to perceive things hidden from the normal senses AfterLife is a film drama set in Scotland directed by Alison Peebles made in 2003 about an ambitious Scottish journalist forced to choose between [2]
Headquartered in Petaluma, California, the Institute's membership is approximately 35,000. Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. [3] The organization is situated on a 200-acre (80 hectare) campus housing an active retreat and learning center. The acre is a unit of Area in a number of different systems including the imperial and U Explanation The hectare is commonly used in most countries around the world especially in domains concerned with land planning and management such as Agriculture, [4]
The institutes name is derrived from noetic theory, which is concerned with intellectual or rational activity, and proposes the idea of an evolutionary shift in humans to a new species called Homo noeticus, possessing paranormal abilities. Noetic theory (from Greek word noûs) is a branch of metaphysical Philosophy concerned with the study of nature the operation of Intellect
The Institute publishes a quarterly review called Shift: At the Frontiers of Consciousness. However, the Institute lacks accreditation for scientific peer review. Accreditation is a process in which is Certification of competency authority or credibility is presented Peer review (also known as refereeing) is the process of subjecting an author's scholarly work research or Ideas to the scrutiny of others who are [5]
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History
The Institute of Noetic Sciences was co-founded in 1973 by Edgar Mitchell, an astronaut who was part of the Apollo 14 mission and wealthy industrialist Paul N. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. Edgar Dean Mitchell DSc (born September 17, 1930) is an American pilot and Astronaut. Temple. [12] During the three-day journey back to Earth aboard Apollo 14, Mitchell had an epiphany while looking down on the earth from space. An epiphany is the sudden realization or comprehension of the (larger essence or meaning of something "The presence of divinity became almost palpable, and I knew that life in the universe was not just an accident based on random processes . . . The knowledge came to me directly," Mitchell said of that experience. Following his spaceflight, Mitchell and others founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences. [6]
Among the projects the Institute have sponsored include a bibliography on the physical and psychological effects of meditation, a spontaneous remission bibliography, and studies on the efficacy of compassionate intention on healing in AIDS patients. Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness In Medicine, spontaneous remission is recovery without known reason or cause [7] They have also conducted a number of parapsychological studies into extra-sensory perception, lucid dreaming, and presentiment. Parapsychology is a discipline that seeks to demonstrate the existence and causes of Psychic abilities and life after death using the Scientific method Extrasensory perception (ESP is the apparent ability to acquire information by Paranormal means independent of any known physical Senses or deduction from previous [8]
The Institute currently conducts research programs in three principal areas:[9]
Extended Human Capacities
| Integral Health and Healing
| Emerging Worldviews
|
Criticism
Research supported by the Institute of Noetic Sciences has been criticized as lacking in strict "peer-reviewed empiricism". In an article that critiqued the New Age movement's detachment from the mainstream scientific community, Thomas W. New Age ( New Age Movement and New Age Spirituality) is a Social Collective Phenomenon and a Spiritual Nature Mainstream is generally the common current of Thought of the Majority. The scientific community consists of the total body of Scientists its relationships and interactions Clark, founder of the Center for Naturalism, referenced work supported by the Institute as suffering from "what humanist philosopher Paul Kurtz calls the 'transcendental temptation' [that] drives the flight from standard, peer-reviewed empiricism into the arms of a dualism that privileges the mental over the physical, the teleological over the non-purposive. Paul Kurtz (born December 21, 1925 in Newark New Jersey) is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo Peer review (also known as refereeing) is the process of subjecting an author's scholarly work research or Ideas to the scrutiny of others who are In Philosophy, empiricism is a theory of Knowledge which asserts that knowledge arises from Experience. Dualism denotes a state of two parts The word's origin is the Latin duo, "two". "[10]
The skeptical organization Quackwatch includes the Institute of Noetic Sciences on its list of questionable organizations. Quackwatch, Inc is an American Non-profit organization founded by Stephen Barrett that aims to "combat health-related frauds myths fads fallacies The list outlines nine criteria they feel are useful in determining the reliability of groups offering health-related information. [11]
The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry have also criticized distance healing research supported by the Institute of Noetic Sciences, citing a ten-week study in their critique of parapsychologist Elisabeth Targ where "healers directed their psi energy to the [AIDS] patients by using prayer or meditation. The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry ( CSI) formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal ( CSICOP) is a Parapsychology is a discipline that seeks to demonstrate the existence and causes of Psychic abilities and life after death using the Scientific method Elisabeth Fischer Targ (1961 - 2002 was a psychiatrist specializing in psychic phenomena and the role of Spirituality in Health and healing Psi is a term from Parapsychology derived from the Greek, ψ psi twenty-third letter of the Greek alphabet; from the Greek ψυχή "[12]
References
- ^ Institute of Noetic Sciences. About: History of the Institute of Noetic Sciences [1]
- ^ Institute of Noetic Sciences. Research: Programs from the Institute of Noetic Sciences [2]
- ^ Institute of Noetic Sciences. Publications: Frontiers of Research Articles[3]
- ^ Institute of Noetic Sciences. About the Institute of Noetic Science [4]
- ^ Gorenfeld, Jon. "Sam Harris's Faith in Eastern Spirituality and Muslim Torture", January 5, 2007.
- ^ Institute of Noetic Sciences. "What the Bleep do we Know?!" [5]
- ^ Institute of Noetic Sciences. Research & Education Projects at the Institute of Noetic Sciences [6]
- ^ Institute of Noetic Sciences. Research & Education Projects at the Institute of Noetic Sciences [7]
- ^ Institute of Noetic Sciences. Research: Extended Human Capacities [8]
- ^ Clark, Thomas W. "The Specter of Brain Science — or — How the New Age Might Lose Consciousness" Center for Naturalism, November, 2005. [9]
- ^ Stephen Barrett, M. Stephen J Barrett (born 1933 is a retired American Psychiatrist, Author, co-founder of the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF D. Questionable Organizations: An Overview. Quackwatch. Quackwatch, Inc is an American Non-profit organization founded by Stephen Barrett that aims to "combat health-related frauds myths fads fallacies Retrieved on 2007-02-12. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1429 - English Forces under Sir John Fastolf defend a supply convoy carrying rations to the army besieging Orleans from attack by the
- ^ Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Distant Healing and Elisabeth Targ, Notes of a Fringe-Watcher (Skeptical Inquirer March 2001) [10]
External links
- Institute of Noetic Sciences official website
- Institute of Noetic Sciences Shift in Action community & archive website
- Institute of Noetic Sciences entry in the University of Virginia course guide for "New Religious Movements"
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