Afleveringen
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Show Notes
Season 2 Episode 4 ‘Being, Time and Altered States’
Today’s podcast is the last of a trilogy on consciousness and time. My guest is Marc Wittmann, Ph.D. Marc is a research fellow at the Institute for Frontier Areas in Psychology and Mental Health in Freiburg, Germany. He studied psychology and philosophy at the Universities of Fribourg, Switzerland, and Munich, Germany. He received his Ph.D. at the Institute of Medical Psychology, University of Munich. From 2000 to 2004 he was head of the Generation Research Program, Bad Tölz, University of Munich. Between 2004 to 2009 he was a research fellow in the department of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.
In today’s interview, we discuss Marc’s book Altered States of Consciousness, from MIT press. We begin with a discussion of the history of psychedelic research. Then we move onto the central issue: the intimate relationship between time, consciousness and the self. We look at the phenomenon of time expansion experiences in meditation. We touch upon a famous controversy on the nature of time between Albert Einstein and the philosopher, Henri Bergson. We discuss the disturbing disintegration of the present moment in conditions like schizophrenia. And we finish by considering the implications of mystical states, which commonly feature a profound sense of unity with the cosmos.
Resources
Marc’s book:
Wittmann, M. (2018). Altered States of Consciousness: Experiences Out of Time and Self. MIT Press.
First flotation tank study:
Hruby, H., Schmidt, S., Feinstein, J.S. et al. Induction of altered states of consciousness during Floatation-REST is associated with the dissolution of body boundaries and the distortion of subjective time. Sci Rep 14, 9316 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-59642-y
Marc’s website:
https://sites.google.com/site/webmarcwittmann/
Institute for Frontier Areas of Psychology and Mental Health (IGPP):
https://www.igpp.de/allg/welcome_EN.htm
Marc on the Psi Encyclopaedia
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Topics discussed
Essential Foundation’s Time and Mind conference( first talks)
Hans Bender’s entry on the Psi encyclopaedia.
The life and work of John Lilly, who invented floatation tanks.
Roland Griffiths
Steve Taylor on time expansion
Physicist Carlo Rovelli on time (YouTube)
Bergson versus Einstein:
Cancales, J. (2015). The Physicist and the Philosopher: Einstein, Bergson, and the Debate That Changed Our Understanding of Time. Princeton University Press.
Wittmann, M. & Montemayer, C. (2022). Reinterpreting the Einstein-Bergson Debate through Contemporary Neuroscience, De Gruyter, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110753707-019
Philip K. Dick’s novel involving schizophrenia and time:
Dick,P.K. (1964). Martian Time Slip. Ballantine.
Iain McGilchrist’s website
William James’ Varieties of Religious Experience (discusses mystical experiences):
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/621
Title Music: ‘Stranger things’ by Music Unlimited on Pixabey.
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Show Notes
Season 2 Episode 3 ‘Contact with the Future’
Today’s podcast is the second of a trilogy on consciousness and time. Jon Taylor is an interdisciplinary scientist dedicated to the study of anomalous phenomena related to cognition. He graduated from the University of Cambridge with an MA in Natural Sciences. A long-time enthusiast of parapsychology, Taylor returned to Spain in 1992 to embark on a 25-year investigation into the physical and biological principles underlying precognition. In August 2024, a revised edition of his book Contact with the Future: The Astonishing Power of Intuition and Precognition, featuring a foreword by Stanley Krippner, was published on Amazon. Jon is also a Professional Member of the Parapsychological Association.
In this fascinating interview, Jon discusses his theory that precognition is the major form of Extra Sensory Perception. He also thinks that there might be a physical explanation for seeing the future, basing his theory on ideas from quantum physics developed by the late David Bohm. He questions the assumption that psi is linked to consciousness. He also questions the claim that the acceptance of precognition would also mean the acceptance of a post-material view of consciousness. He believes that the priority is to develop a physical theory for parapsychological effects because this might lead to a more general acceptance of the field in mainstream science.
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Resources
Jon Taylor’s website:
https://jontaylor.org
His book:
Taylor, J. (2024). Contact with the Future: The Astonishing Power of Intuition and Precognition. Amazon.
Other precognition books
J.W. Dunne’s book:
Dunne, J.W. (1927). An Experiment with Time. A. & C. Black
Eric Wargo’s book:
Wargo, E. (2018). Time Loops: Precognition, Retrocausation, and the Unconscious. Anomalist Books.
Danah Zohar’s book:
Zohar, D. (1982). Through the Time Barrier. Heineman.
Experimental Evidence for ESP/Precognition
Guy Lyon Playfair’s work on twin telepathy:
https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/twin-telepathy
Honorton, C., & Ferrari, D. C. (1989). “Future telling”: A meta-analysis of forced-choice precognition experiments, 1935-1987. Journal of Parapsychology, 53, 281–
308.
Storm, L. & Tressoldi, P. (2023). Assessing 36 Years of the Forced Choice Design in Extra Sensory Perception Research: A Meta-Analysis, 1987 to 2022. Journal of Scientific Exploration, 37,3, 517-535.
Summary of Bem precognition controversy:
https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/feeling-future-precognition-experiments
It is also worth reviewing my talk with skeptic Chris French on problems with replication in precognition experiments, especially in the context of the Transparent Psi project.
Main paper for Transparent Psi project:
Kekecs, Z., Palfi, B., Szaszi, B., Szecsi, P., Zrubka, M., Kovacs, M., ... & Aczel, B. (2023). Raising the value of research studies in psychological science by increasing the credibility of research reports: the transparent Psi Project. Royal Society Open Science, 10, 2, 191375; doi: 10.1098/rsos.191375
Patrizio Tressoldi’s nonlocal perception papers, including meta-analyses, can be found here:
http://www.patriziotressoldi.it/cmssimpled/index.php?page=nonlocal-perception
Maimonides Dream Laboratory:
https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/maimonides-dream-telepathy-research
Dean Radin’s presentiment experiments:
https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/presentiment
Gertrude Schmeidler (coined term ‘sheep-goat’ effect in parapsychology):
https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/gertrude-schmeidler
Physics
Physicist David Bohm’s book on the implicate order (available in full):
Bohm, D. (1980/20020. Wholeness and the implicate order. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Physicist Carlo Rovelli on time lecture here.
Title Music: ‘Stranger things’ by Music Unlimited on Pixabey.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Show Notes
Season 2 Episode 2 ‘Dreaming Ahead of Time’
Today’s podcast is the first of a loose trilogy on consciousness and time. My guest is the writer and musician Gary Lachman. Gary is the author of many books on topics ranging from the evolution of consciousness to literary suicides, popular culture and the history of the occult. He has written a rock and roll memoir of the 1970s, biographies of Aleister Crowley, Rudolf Steiner, C. G. Jung, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Emanuel Swedenborg, P. D. Ouspensky, and Colin Wilson. He also written histories of Hermeticism and the Western Inner Tradition, studies in existentialism and the philosophy of consciousness, and about the influence of esotericism on politics and society. As Gary Valentine he was a founding member of the pop group Blondie and in 2006 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Gary was born in New Jersey, but since 1996 has lived in London, UK.
We begin our talk discussing the persistent and remarkable phenomenon of dreaming the future. This leads to a discussion of the writer and existential philosopher Colin Wilson, who associated future dreaming with something he called Faculty X. We discuss the phenomenon of ‘peak experiences’, times when life seems replete with meaning. And we talk about how general lack of meaning might have contributed to the rise of extreme politics in the US and elsewhere.
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Resources
Gary Lachman’s website:
https://www.gary-lachman.com
Some of his books:
Lachman, G. (2022). Dreaming Ahead of Time: Experiences with Precognitive Dreams, Synchronicity and Coincidence. Floris Books.
Lachman, G. (2016). Beyond the Robot: The Life and Work of Colin Wilson. Tarcherperigee. (Out of Print).
Lachman, G. (2016). The Caretakers of the Cosmos: Living Responsibly in an Unfinished World. Floris Books. (Contains a critique of philosopher John Gray and ‘everything is pointless’ philosophies).
Lachman, G. (2018). Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump. TarcherPerigee.
J.W. Dunne’s book on precognitive dreaming:
Dunne, J.W. (1927). An Experiment with time. A. & C. Black
Colin Wilson Books mentioned:
Wilson, C. (1956). The Outsider. Gollancz.
Wilson, C. (1959). The Age of Defeat. Gollancz.
Wilson, C. (1971). The Occult: A history. Random house
Wilson, C. (2009). Super Consciousness. Watkins books.
The Essential Colin Wilson LP (YouTube) (Discusses psychologist Abraham Maslow).
Title Music: ‘Stranger things’ by Music Unlimited on Pixabey.
Aldous Huxley’s essay “Beliefs” is in the HarperPerrenial edition of The Perennial Philosophy.
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Show Notes
Season 2 Episode 1 ‘The Case for Skepticism’
Today’s episode is about skeptical perspectives on the paranormal. My first guest is Professor Chris French. Chris is the Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and also a Patron of the British Humanist Association. His main current area of research is the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. He frequently appears on radio and television casting a sceptical eye over paranormal claims. His most recent book is The Science of Weird S**t, published by MIT press.
Dr. Cal Cooper appears on What Lies Beyond for the second time. Cal’s a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society, holding postgraduate degrees in psychology, social science research methods and education. He has a long-time association with the University of Northampton, and is based there as a senior lecturer in psychology.
In this episode, Chris talks about his transition from paranormal believer to skeptic. We then discuss Anomalistic Psychology, which attempts to find ordinary psychological explanations for the apparently paranormal. We also discuss problems with replication in parapsychology, which means that some researchers seem to find positive results in their experiments, but others don’t. Our discussion demonstrates why multiple perspectives are important, and why anomalistic psychology can make a crucial contribution to our understanding of paranormal experience.
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Resources
Website of Chris French:
http://profchrisfrench.com
Website of Cal Cooper:
https://www.callumecooper.com
Chris French’s book:
French, C. (2024). The science of weird S**t: Why our mind conjure the paranormal. MIT Press.
Jim Matlock’s reincarnation course:
https://jamesgmatlock.com/signs-of-reincarnation-course/
Chris French and Chris Roe British Psychological Society debate:
Will the debate over psi ever be settled?
Transparent psi project:
https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/transparent-psi-project
Title Music: ‘Stranger things’ by Music Unlimited on Pixabey.
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Welcome to 2025! Here’s a short video on my book What Lies Beyond, which is out in May and now available to preorder on Amazon. In the video, I talk a little about my motivation for writing What Lies Beyond: consciousness science, the paranormal and the post-materialist future. I say a little about my intended readership, which is basically anyone who feels the need to re-think basic assumptions about consciousness, mind and the world. It’s for anyone who’s concerned about our dysfunctional responses to things like climate breakdown. Anyone who’s curious about controversies over psi phenomena and mystical or transpersonal experience. Anyone who is tired of dehumanising and disempowering visions of the future. And it’s for people who are experiencing a crisis of meaning and purpose in their lives. What Lies Beyond is an invitation to explore, re-discover and re-think, for a more humane future.
Season 2 of the What Lies Beyond Podcast is coming in February 2025.
WHAT LIES BEYOND is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
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My book What Lies Beyond: Consciousness, Science, the Paranormal, and the Post-Material Future is now available on Amazon to preorder! Available 27th June 2025. Thank you to all my followers, and Merry Christmas.
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Psychedelic muse for the full immersion reading experience:
https://www.youtube.com/@ThePsychedelicMuse
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Show notes
This is the final episode of season one. Today’s guest is Dr Jennifer Gidley. Jennifer is an Author, Climate Educator, Psychologist, and International Futurist. She’s a global thought leader and advocate for human-centred futures in an era of hi-tech hype.
Jennifer is an Adjunct Professor, Institute for Sustainable Futures (UTS) Sydney, and has held academic posts in four Australian universities. She is a Fellow at the Botin Centre, Santander, Spain, and a non-Resident Fellow of TRENDS Research & Advisory in Abu Dhabi. She’s held a Visiting Professorship at Olomouc University, Czech Republic and a Visiting Research Fellowship at SciencesPo, Paris, France. She was also the longest serving elected President of the World Futures Studies Federation from 2009 to 2017.
Jennifer's most recent project is the founding of Global Futures Education, as a platform to provide high-level online education for professionals and executives. Over several years she has created a series of executive-level online courses on 'Grand Global Futures Challenges and Solutions'. She’s also the author of 2016’s The Future: A very short introduction from Oxford University Press.
In this interview, recorded September 2024, we discuss the difference between what Jennifer calls a technocentric future and a human-centred one. Advocates of technocentric futures tend to assume that technology can solve everything. These sorts of futures are also based in a strongly materialist worldview. By contrast, Jennifer advocates human-centred futures, which see human beings as kind, fair, consciously evolving agents with a responsibility to maintain ecological balance between humans, world and cosmos.
If you’re feeling disempowered about the future, then I hope you’ll find our dialogue as inspiring as I did. And I’d like to thank all my audience for listening this season.
What Lies Beyond will be back in February 2025 for season 2!
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Jennifer’s official site:
https://www.jennifergidley.com
Her book:
Gidley, J. (2016). The Future: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press.
Site for Grand Global Challenges:
https://www.globalfutureseducation.com
Resources
Some of the books discussed:
Erlich, P.H. & Erlich, A.H. (1968). The population bomb. Sierra Club.
Herbert, F. (2018). The Great Dune Trilogy (Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune). Gollancz. (Denis Villeneuve’s movie series is pretty excellent too!)
Jungk, Robert & Johan Galtung, eds, (1969) Mankind 2000. Oslo & London: Norwegian University Press & Allen & Unwin. Future Research Monographs (1).
Meadows, D.H., Meadows,D.L., Randers, J., Behrens, W. (1972). The Limits to Growth. https://www.clubofrome.org/publication/the-limits-to-growth/
MacAskill, W. (2022). What we owe the future. Oneworld. (Longtermism).
Murphy, M. (1992). The Future of the Body. Tarcher Putnam.
Reubenstein, M. (2022). Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race. University of Chicago Press.
Rushkoff, D. (2022). Survival of the Richest: escape fantasies of the tech billionaires. Scribe.
Zuboff,S. (2019). The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. Profile Books.
Some of the people mentioned:
Henri Bergson
Teilhard De Chardin
Jean Gebser
Tristan Harris and Humane technology movement
Thomas Malthus
Marshall McLuhan. “Any invention or technology is an extension or self-amputation of our physical bodies.”
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Show Notes
Today my guest is Paul Devereux. Paul is an independent scholar, writer, lecturer and researcher. He has authored over 20 published books since 1980, including his latest, The Powers of Ancient and Sacred Places. Paul is a trained artist and photographer and the former editor of a peer-reviewed journal, Time and Mind. He has a long-standing interest in consciousness and prehistory.
This show begins with a long description of Paul’s powerful experience on the psychedelic drug LSD in the 1960s. Paul took LSD a number of months before the drug was criminalised in the UK. Today in Britain psychedelics are schedule 1 drugs which means you can get 7 years in prison, an unlimited fine or both for possession. Because of this I feel it’s important to offer a disclaimer for this episode.
Here goes: The information presented in this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice or endorse the use of illegal substances. We strongly advise against engaging in any activities that are illegal or harmful to yourself or others.
There are also mental health dangers with the illicit and uncontrolled use of psychedelics. Paul himself reports having to face significant psychological issues in the wake of his experience. One problem is that because of criminalisation, there was, and is, no safe social framework in the UK to take these drugs.
However, I’m far from alone in finding the legal situation in the UK regarding psychedelics totally unsatisfactory. Human beings have been taking psychedelics since prehistoric times. Paul himself suggests, in his book The Long Trip, that the yearning to reach other states of consciousness may be as strong as the sexual drive.
So I remain strongly supportive of legal reform in this area. I believe that adults have the right to alter their consciousness in any way they see fit, and there is by now good evidence that psychedelics have a positive use as therapeutic tools and in the context of personal development. However, they do need to be taken in supervised, legal clinical settings. This is possible in places like the Netherlands. There are also good quality retreats in South America.
Paul’s opening description of his powerful LSD experience is also important for anyone interested in consciousness. He reports a worldview shattering, full-blown mystical experience of the kind reported repeatedly in Hindu, Buddhist and Christian contemplative writings.
His trip also seemed to leave him open to anomalous experience. Paul later describes the shared experience of a strange aerial light phenomenon at Art College, which eventually led, somewhat tangentially, to an abiding fascination with the intersection of prehistory and consciousness.
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Paul’s website:
https://pauldevereux.co.uk
Books by Paul:
Devereux, P. (2022). The Powers of Ancient and Sacred Places. Daily Grail.
Devereux, P. (2001). Stone Age Soundtracks. Vega Books.
Devereux, P. (1997). The long trip: A prehistory of psychedelia. Penguin Arkana.
Devereux, P. (1996). Revisioning the Earth: A Guide to Opening the Healing Channels Between Mind and Nature. Fireside.
Devereux, P. (1982). Earthlights: Towards an understanding of the UFO enigma. Book Club Associates London.
Resources
Aldous Huxley’s books:
Huxley, A. (2004). The Doors of Perception: And Heaven and Hell. Vintage.
Huxley, A. (2005). Island. Vintage.
Mysticism:
Underhill, E. (2002). Mysticism: A study in the nature and development of spiritual consciousness. Dover.
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Show Notes
Today my guest is Professor Ed Kelly. Ed has a BA in psychology from Yale and a Phd in psycholinguistics and cognitive science from Harvard. From 2002 to the present he has been a research professor in the Division of Perceptual Studies, which is part of the department of psychiatry and neurobiological sciences at the University of Virginia. His research interests are psychical research and functional neuroimaging.
Ed is also a member of the survival seminar or ‘Sursem’ group at Esalen. The Sursem group was formed in 1998 to examine and collate evidence suggestive of the survival of human personality beyond bodily death. The group ended up producing three large volumes exploring post-materialist theories of consciousness. These were Irreducible Mind in 2007, Beyond Physicalism in 2015 and Consciousness Unbound in 2021. Each of these volumes is co-edited by Ed.
In today’s talk we discussed Ed’s early disillusion with the theory of computer-as-mind, and his lab work with a psychic ‘star’ that convinced him of the reality of psi phenomena. We go on to discuss his work with the Sursem group, developing an alternative to mainstream, materialist theories of mind and consciousness. We finish looking at signs that a major revolution might be underway in terms of our understanding of life and consciousness.
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The Division of Perceptual Studies
https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/
Sursem group
Kelly, E.F. (2015b). ‘Toward reconciliation of science and spirituality: A brief history of the “Sursem” project’, Edgescience No. 22, pp. 3— 7. Available here.
Esalen’s website:
https://www.esalen.org
The Sursem Group books:
Kelly, E.F., Kelly, E.W., Crabtree, A., Gauld, A., Grosso, M., Greyson, B. (2007). Irreducible mind: toward a psychology for the 21st century. Rowman & Littlefield.
Kelly, E.F., Crabtree, A. & Marshall, P. (eds) Beyond Physicalism: Toward Reconciliation of Science and Spirituality. Rowman & Littlefield.
Kelly, E.F. & Marshall, P. (2021). Consciousness unbound: Liberating mind from the tyranny of materialism. Rowman & Littlefield.
My essay review of Irreducible Mind can be downloaded here.
Parapsychology
Cardeña, E. (2018) ‘The experimental evidence for parapsychological phenomena: A review, American Psychologist Vol. 73 No. 5, 663–677. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000236
Skeptical response:
Reber, A. S., & Alcock, J. E. (2020) ‘Searching for the impossible: Parapsychology’s elusive quest,’ American Psychologist 75(3), 391–399. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31192620/
Stigmata:
Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers - Ep. 4 - Stigmata: The Wounds of Christ
‘Voodoo death’:
Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers - Ep. 11 - The Roots of Evil
Consciousness and Life
Eastman, T. (2021). Untying the Gordian Knot: Process, Reality, and Context (Contemporary Whitehead Studies). Lexington Books.
Faggin, F. (2024). Irreducible: Consciousness, Life, Computers, and Human Nature. Essential Books.
Nagel, T. (2012). Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False. Oxford University Press.
A video of the biologist Dennis Noble discussing the current revolution in biology is available here.
The great biologist Lynn Margulis’ last interview can be heard here. Includes an introduction to her work.
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Show Notes
Today’s guest is Craig Weiler. Craig is a San Francisco Bay Area based author. He covers controversies in parapsychology, such as the Wikipedia controversy and the TED controversy of 2013, which we discuss today. He’s an associate member of the Parapsychological Association and author of Psi Wars: TED, Wikipedia and the battle for the Internet. He pays the bills with his small construction business on the peninsula in northern California, where he lives with his wife and just enough cats.
Today we discuss some key campaigns of organised skepticism in the last decade. In the interview we make clear that there is a distinction between the kind of skepticism we might called informed critique and what sociologist Thomas Gieryn calls boundary work. Informed critiques in parapsychology might point to flaws in experiments, or important weaknesses in eyewitness testimony. They’re very important and part of the scientific process. Boundary work in this context means dismissing parapsychology as pseudoscience or ‘woo-woo,’ and trying to shut down debate. This second often problematic strategy is the main focus of this fascinating talk.
Resources
Craig’s book:
Weiler, C. (2020). PSI WARS: TED, Wikipedia and the Battle for the Internet (2nd ed). White Crow.
Craig’s page at the Parapsychological Association:
https://www.parapsych.org/users/cweiler/profile.aspx
Craig at the Paranormal Daily News:
https://paranormaldailynews.com/author/craig-weiler/
On Linked In:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-weiler-5288b616/
Link to Graham Hancock’s banned TED talk.
Link to Rupert Sheldrake’s banned TED talk.
Rupert Sheldrake’s website.
Graham Hancock’s website.
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Show Notes
Today’s guest is Dr. Serena Roney-Dougal. Serena is one of the few people in Britain to have obtained a PhD for parapsychology, exploring the relationship between subliminal perception and psychic awareness. She has had over 40 years of study and experience in scientific, magical and spiritual explorations of the psyche, has lectured and taught courses, seminars and workshops in America, Britain, Europe, Japan and India; has written numerous articles both technical and popular, and two books; Where Science and Magic Meet and The Faery Faith. She is currently a green councillor in Glastonbury, England.
In today’s conversation, we discussed Serena’s early work comparing psi to subliminal perception and also her work linking the pineal gland in the brain to psychic experience. We spoke about her experiments with meditation and psi, which were conducted in India and included a life-changing visit to Ladakh, or ‘Little Tibet’. We discussed the Tibetan view of consciousness and rebirth, and the experiences of some the Tibetans with whom she worked. We also briefly spoke about an experiment at Samye Ling Monastery in Scotland, linking psi performance with geomagnetic cycles. We finished off with some discussion of the links between environmental awareness and consciousness.
Serena’s website and Books
https://www.psi-researchcentre.co.uk
Roney-Dougal, S. (2010). Where Science and Magic Meet. Green Magic.
Roney-Dougal, S. (2003). The Faery Faith: An Integration of Science with Spirit. Green Magic.
Referenced books
David-Neel, A. (2007). Magic and Mystery in Tibet. Souvenir Press.
Meadows, D.H, Meadows,D.L., Randers,J, Behrens III, W. (1972). The Limits to Growth. Universe Books.
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Show Notes
Today’s guest is Cal Cooper. Callum is a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society (BPS) holding postgraduate degrees in psychology, social science research methods and education. He has a long time association with the University of Northampton, and is based there as a senior lecturer in psychology. He also conducts research on amongst other things Death and Bereavement and Parapsychology.
In today’s Halloween special, Cal and I discussed a number of suitably spooky topics. We talked about Cal’s early experiences as a ghost hunter and his move into professional psychology and parapsychology. We talked about classic ghost hunters, some of the interesting results from Northampton’s parapsychology experiments and finished up with phone calls from the dead. So light your Jack O’Lantern, hang up your rubber bats, kick back and enjoy this foray into the unknown.
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Resources
Cal’s website & a guide to his work:
https://www.callumecooper.com
Duggan, M. (2020). ‘Callum E Cooper’. Psi Encyclopedia. London: The Society for Psychical Research.
(Includes details of Cal’s research).
Video: statistician Jessica Utts on taking psi seriously.
Ghost Hunters
Fraser, J. (2017). ‘Harry Price’. Psi Encyclopedia. London: The Society for Psychical Research.
Borley Rectory
Willin, M. (2015). ‘Borley Rectory’. Psi Encyclopedia. London: The Society for Psychical Research.
Ganzfeld & Remote Viewing
Parker, A. (2017). ‘Ganzfeld ESP’. Psi Encyclopedia. London: The Society for Psychical Research.
Schwartz, S. (2017). ‘Remote Viewing’. Psi Encyclopedia. London: The Society for Psychical Research.
Chris Roe’s chapter in the following book:
Smith, M. (eds). (2009). Anomalous Experiences: Essays from Parapsychological and Psychological Perspectives. McFarland & Co.
Phone Calls from the Dead:
Cooper, C. (2012). Telephone calls from the dead. Tricorn books.
Scott-Rogo, D. & Bayliss, R. Phone calls from the dead (2nd ed.) White Crow Books.
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Welcome to What Lies Beyond with your host Matt Colborn. Conversations on consciousness science, the paranormal and the post-material future. Visit us and subscribe on whatliesbeyond.substack.com
Today my guest is Dr. Jack Hunter. Jack is an anthropologist exploring the borderlands of consciousness, religion, ecology and the paranormal. He lives in the hills of Mid-Wales with his family. He is a tutor with the Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture, University of Wales Trinity Saint David. He is also a tutor with the Alef Trust on their MSc in Consciousness, Spirituality and Transpersonal Psychology. His PhD at the University of Bristol took the form of an ethnographic study of contemporary trance and physical mediumship. He is also a musician and an ordained Dudeist Priest.
In today’s conversation, we discussed the anthropology of high strangeness experiences and why we need to take them seriously. Jack has himself experienced a number of strange things, including a vision in Bristol Spirit lodge while he was researching his doctorate. We discussed how strange experiences might feed into and enrich consciousness studies, and how a rejection of animistic worldviews is connected to the exploitation of the Earth.
WARNING: This episode contains some discussion of illicit drug use.
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Website
https://jack-hunter.yourwebsitespace.com
Jack’s article on anthropology and psi research:
https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/anthropology-and-psi-research
Recent books by Jack
Hunter, J. (ed). (2023). Deep Weird: The Varieties of High Strangeness Experience. August Night Press.
Hunter, J. (2023). Ecology and Spirituality: A Brief Introduction. Sophia Centre Press.
Hunter, J. (ed). (2019). Greening the Paranormal: Exploring the Ecology of Extraordinary Experience. August Night Press.
Hunter, J. & Ironside, R. (eds). (2023).Folklore, People, and Places: International Perspectives on Tourism and Tradition in Storied Places. Routledge.
Resources
The Oz Factor was first described in the following book:
Randles, J. (1983). UFO Reality: A critical look at the physical evidence. Hale.
Numinosity:
Otto, R. (1917). The Idea of the Holy: An Inquiry into the Non-Rational Factor in the Idea of the Divine and its Relation to the Rational. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22259
Edith Turner’s webpage:
https://anthropology.as.virginia.edu/people/edith-turner
The Bristol Spirit Lodge:
http://the-bristol-spirit-lodge.blogspot.com
Andrew Lang:
https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/andrew-lang
Declarations on Animal and Insect consciousness:
2012 Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness
2024 New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness.
The ecological perspective:
White, L. (1967). The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis. Science 155(3767), pp. 1203-1207. https://www.kuleuven.be/thomas/uploads/file/hoger_onderwijs/modules/Lynn%20White%20Historical%20Roots(1).pdf
Roszak, T. (1992). The voice of the Earth. Phanes Press.
Transformative effect of paranormal experience:
Kripal,J. (2020). The Flip: Who You Really Are and Why It Matters. Penguin.
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Show Notes
Todays’ guest is Bernardo Kastrup. Bernardo is the executive director of the Essentia Foundation and a promoter of a philosophy called metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy and another in computer engineering. As a scientist he worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research at CERN and the Philips Research Laboratories. He’s also been active in the high-tech industry for almost 30 years. His ideas have been featured on the Scientific American, the magazine of The Institute of Art and Ideas, the Big Think, and many other places.
We had a wide-ranging conversation that began with his experiences as a computer engineer working on physics problems. We explored his Idealist philosophy and its impact on Artificial Intelligence, understanding consciousness and psychedelic experience. As we spoke, it became clear that idealism is a worldview that has world-shaking implications.
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Bernardo’s website and the Essentia Foundation
https://www.bernardokastrup.com
https://www.essentiafoundation.org
Some key books
Kastrup, B. (2024). Analytic Idealism in a Nutshell: A straightforward summary of the 21st century’s only plausible metaphysics. Iff Books.
Kastrup, B. (2014). Why Materialism Is Baloney: How True Skeptics Know There Is No Death and Fathom Answers to life, the Universe, and Everything. Iff Books.
Kastrup, B. (2012). Meaning in Absurdity: What Bizarre Phenomena Can Tell Us About the Nature of Reality. Iff Books.
Additional Resources
AI & Consciousness:
Searle’s Chinese Room.
David Chalmer’s Hard Problem of Consciousness.
Bernardo’s full lecture on AI.
Quantum Theory
Article introducing non-locality or ‘spooky action at a distance.’
Micro-psychokinesis experiments:
https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/psychokinesis-research
Bernardo on Psychedelics….
https://www.bernardokastrup.com/2014/08/magic-mushrooms-and-brain-activity.html
https://www.bernardokastrup.com/2018/10/the-fix-is-worse-than-problem-reply-to.html
https://www.bernardokastrup.com/2016/04/the-lsd-study-youre-being-subtly.html
And NDEs….
https://philarchive.org/rec/KASRIF
And High Strangeness:
https://www.bernardokastrup.com/2024/01/uaps-and-non-human-intelligence-what-is.html
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Show Notes
Today’s guest is Professor Brian Les Lancaster. Les has been instrumental in the growth of Transpersonal Psychology in the UK and internationally. He is one of the founding directors of the Alef Trust. He has previously served as Chair of the Transpersonal Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society, President of the International Transpersonal Association, and a Board member of the Association for Transpersonal Psychology. He is Emeritus Professor of Transpersonal Psychology at Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), where with colleague Michael Daniels, he initiated postgraduate programmes in Consciousness and Transpersonal Psychology.
In today’s talk, Les and I discussed the fundamental divide in consciousness studies between those who think consciousness can be understood in terms in brain function and those who think it is somehow fundamental to the universe. Les spoke about why there is a need for consciousness studies today, and why he thinks that we are in an age of transition that might be labelled a New Renaissance.
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Resources
Alef Trust:
https://www.aleftrust.org
Les’ key book on consciousness:
Lancaster, B.L. (2004). Approaches to Consciousness: The Marriage of Science and Mysticism. Palgrave.
The landscape of consciousness paper:
Kuhn, R.L. (2024). A landscape of consciousness: Toward a taxonomy of explanations and implications. Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, 190, 28–169.
Evidence for psi phenomena like telepathy and others:
https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/categories
Materialist writers
Dennett, D. C. (1991) Consciousness explained. Allen Lane.
Seth, A. (2021). Being you: A new science of consciousness. Faber & Faber.
‘Metaphysics is dead’ discussed in:
Gardner, H. (1985). The mind’s new science. Basic Books.
New Renaissance
Italian Renaissance:
https://www.history.com/topics/renaissance/italian-renaissance
Kabbalah and Renaissance discussed in chapter 5 of:
Dan, J. (2007). Kabbalah a very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
Overview effect:
https://overviewinstitute.org
New Horizons probe to Pluto:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/new-horizons/
Kim Stanley Robinson’s book that starts with a heatwave:
Robinson, K.S. (2020). The Ministry for the Future. Orbit.
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Show Notes
Welcome to episode 1 of season 1 of the What Lies Beyond podcast. In this season, which is ten episodes, I’m focussing mainly on what we might call post-materialist perspectives. This is to introduce the broad themes of the show, which concern the nature of consciousness, and how that might impact crises of ecology, health and meaning. It’s an exploration of extraordinary experience — and here my guests do have some fascinating stories to tell. What Lies beyond also explores what kind of a world we might want to live in tomorrow. This is because diverging theories of consciousness imply very different possible futures.
Finally, I’m a big believer in viewpoint diversity and avoiding echo chambers. Voices from mainstream, specifically materialist perspectives and from the skeptical community are on the way, but for mainly logistical reasons these will be in season 2. In the meantime, buckle up for some fascinating and thought-provoking conversations!
In episode 1 I talk with Bethany Butzer, Phd. Bethany writes, teaches, and conducts research in the fields of positive psychology and transpersonal psychology, which emphasize the development of human strength and potential. She received her MA in clinical psychology and her PhD in social psychology from the University of Western Ontario, Canada. From 2013-2015, Bethany was a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School, where she studied yoga and mindfulness for youth. From 2016-2022 Bethany was a Lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of New York in Prague. Bethany is a Lecturer for the Alef Trust MSc program in Consciousness, Spirituality and Transpersonal Psychology. Bethany's research focuses on synchronicity, parapsychology, and ecopsychology. We also both teach on the Trust’s ‘Approaches to Consciousness’ short course, which is part of their Master’s program.
On today’s show we talked about the current state of play in consciousness studies. We also talked a little about materialist and post-materialist approaches to consciousness and Bethany’s special interest in synchronicity. We finished with a discussion of Bethany’s idea that humanity might currently be going through an ecological ‘dark night of the soul’, and how transpersonal psychology might help. This is the first show of the podcast, and it’s a good place to start, as we touch on some of the major recurring themes of coming weeks. Welcome aboard!
Bethany’s Website
https://www.bethanybutzer.com
Consciousness
Bethany’s paper on bias against parapsychology studies:
Butzer, B. (2019). Bias in the evaluation of psychology studies: A comparison of parapsychology versus neuroscience. EXPLORE, 16(6). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2019.12.010
The landscape of consciousness paper Bethany referenced:
Kuhn, R.L. (2024). A landscape of consciousness: Toward a taxonomy of explanations and implications. Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology, 190, 28–169.
Synchronicity
Bethany has contributed a chapter to the following book:
Woollacott, M., Lorimer, D. & Schwartz, G. (2024). The Playful Universe: Synchronicity and the Nature of Consciousness.
Jung, C. (1985). Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle. Routledge.
Ecological ‘dark night of the soul’
Bethany’s paper:
Butzer, B. (2020, August 26). Humans as Midwives for the Earth’s Dark Night of the Soul: A Transpersonal Ecopsychology Perspective. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/ca93y
Referenced books:
deBuys, W. (2022). The Trail to Kanjiroba: Rediscovering Earth in an Age of Loss. Seven Stories Press.
Kimmerer, R.W. (2020). Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants. Penguin.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatliesbeyond.substack.com -
This is an exclusive interview excerpt from What Lies Beyond with Matt Colborn. Conversations on consciousness science, the paranormal and the post-material future. Visit us and subscribe on whatliesbeyond.substack.com
Bernardo Kastrup is the executive director of the Essentia Foundation and a promoter of a philosophy called metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy and another in computer engineering. As a scientist he worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research at CERN and the Philips Research Laboratories. In this clip extract, Bernardo discusses how his work on Artificial Intelligence led him to doubt materialist ideas about consciousness. The full interview is due for release on the 17th October. Like, subscribe, see you there!
Thanks for reading What Lies Beyond! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatliesbeyond.substack.com -
This is an exclusive interview excerpt from What Lies Beyond with Matt Colborn. Conversations on consciousness science, the paranormal and the post-material future. Visit us and subscribe on whatliesbeyond.substack.com
My first guest on What Lies Beyond will be Bethany Butzer, PhD. Bethany writes, teaches, and conducts research in the fields of positive psychology and transpersonal psychology. She is currently the Assistant Director of the Alef Trust PhD program in Applied Transpersonal Psychology. We also both teach on the Trust’s ‘Approaches to Consciousness’ short course, which is part of their Master’s program. In this clip extract, Bethany talks about her educational experiences in psychology and consciousness. We also talk about the current state of play in consciousness studies and how we might reconcile materialist with post-materialist approaches. The full interview will be released on the 3rd of October.
Thanks for reading What Lies Beyond! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatliesbeyond.substack.com -
This is the welcome video for ‘What Lies Beyond,’ the companion site for my forthcoming book from Collective Ink, What Lies Beyond: Consciousness Science, the Paranormal and the Post-Materialist Future. This site will also host a new podcast, season 1 of which is scheduled for this autumn. In the video, I talk a little about the motivation for writing What Lies Beyond and why I think Exceptional Human Experiences are important. This is the place to come for anyone interested in controversies over consciousness, especially debates over psychic phenomena and mystical experience. It’s also the place to come if you’re concerned about the human future. This companion site is about engagement, exploration, dialogue and debate! I’m also simultaneously releasing an introductory essay which includes an audio version.
Thanks for reading What Lies Beyond! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatliesbeyond.substack.com -
This is the audio version of the introductory essay that set out the themes of my forthcoming book What Lies Beyond: Consciousness Science, The Paranormal and the Post-Material Future.
Thanks for reading What Lies Beyond! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whatliesbeyond.substack.com
