New Thinking Allowed

When I record video conversations with members of the P.A. for the New Thinking Allowed channel on YouTube, I also post here. Many other interviews, relevant to parapsychology, with non-members can be viewed at www.newthinkingallowed.com

Monday, January 30, 2017   3:25 PM

The Philosophy of Physicalism, an Interview with Paul H. Smith

Paul H. Smith, PhD, serves as president of the International Remote Viewing Association an organization of which he is a founder. A former Army intelligence officer, he served for seven years as part of the military’s top-secret remote viewing program. He is author of Reading the Enemy’s Mind and The Essential Guide to Remote Viewing. He currently serves as president and chief trainer for Remote Viewing Instructional Services.

Here he notes that physicalism is the current term for what was once known as materialism. It has somewhat broader implications, so that it includes phenomena that have originated in the physical world. It is a metaphysical philosophy and can be thought of as the dominant paradigm within the scientific and academic communities. Smith raises the question of whether physicalism will be able to accommodate all of the empirical observations that have been reported in the parapsychological literature over the past 150 years. Until an explanation has been offered for these phenomena, they are likely to remain on the fringes of mainstream thought.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980).

(Recorded June 15, 2016) 

Friday, January 27, 2017   6:00 PM

Theories of Everything, An Interview with Vernon Neppe

Vernon Neppe, MD, PhD, FRSSAf, is a neuropsychiatrist and head of the Pacific Neuropsychiatric Institute in Seattle. He is author, with physicist Edward Close, of Reality Begins with Consciousness: A Paradigm Shift that Works. He is also author of Déjà Vu Revisited, Déjà Vu: A Second Look, Déjà Vu: Glossary and Library, Cry the Beloved Mind: A Voyage of Hope, and Innovative Psychopharmacotherapy. His professional publications number over 700. Dr Neppe has amplified many of his concepts in two of the websites linked with his work. On www.Brainvoyage.com, his books are amplified. www.VernonNeppe.org is his gateway and includes more information on the Neppe-Close model of the Triadic Distinction Vortical Paradigm.

Here, Dr. Neppe describes his criteria for a theory that can explain consciousness in terms of modern science. He challenges the skeptical, or naturalist, position that the a priori probability of psychic phenomena is close to zero. Instead, he maintains that a true theory of everything must include what parapsychologists call psi. He also claims that theories of consciousness must include the infinite. He draws upon infinity as a way of resolving the incompleteness theorem of Kurt Friedrich Gödel. He also differentiates between feasibility and falsification regarding theories of everything.

(Recorded on April 17, 2016) 

Thursday, January 26, 2017   5:18 AM

Defending Physicalism, an Interview with Edwin C. May

Edwin C. May, PhD, was involved in the military intelligence psychic spying program, popularly referred to as Stargate, for over twenty years. During the last decade, he was the director of research for that program. In this context, he produced over a hundred scientific publications. His academic training was in experimental nuclear physics. He is coauthor of ESP Wars: East and West and also Anomalous Cognition: Remote Viewing Research and Theory. He is the coeditor of a two volume anthology titled Extrasensory Perception: Support, Skepticism, and Science.

Here he maintains that the materialist or physicalist position regarding the mind-body problem could, in principle, be falsified – if evidence for post-mortem survival or reincarnation can be produced that significantly overcomes the alternative explanation of living agent psi. He points out that the dualist position suffers from the problem of explaining how anything non-material can interact with the brain. Even physical particles such as neutrinos do not interact with the brain at all. As something of a digression, he explains how research on Decision Augmentation Theory has shown that purported experiments on micro-PK actually offer evidence of precognition.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980).

(Recorded on June 17, 2016) 

Monday, January 23, 2017   5:17 AM

Fear of Psi, an Interview with Charles T. Tart

Charles T. Tart, PhD, is emeritus professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, as well as the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. He is a past-president of the Parapsychological Association. He has published over 100 scientific papers in parapsychology. He is editor of several anthologies including Altered States of Consciousness, Transpersonal Psychologies, Mind at Large, and Body Mind Spirit: Exploring the Parapsychology of Spirituality. Books that he has authored include Psi: Scientific Studies in the Psychic Realm, States of Consciousness, The End of Materialism, Learning to Use Extrasensory Perception, On Being Stoned, Waking Up, and Open Mind – Discriminating Mind.

Here he observes that, in previous generations, people suspected of using psi abilities for harmful purposes (i.e., witches) were burned at the stake. Fear of psi is akin to religious fear of the devil. It is also akin to what scoffers refer to as their fear of the “rising tide of superstition”. Many in academia fear that, if their interest in parapsychology were to become public, their colleagues would view them with disdain. This can affect research funding and tenure; it is a legitimate fear. Others who experience psi sometimes express the fear that they might be going insane; or that they will become overwhelmed by unwanted psi-related imagery.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is past-vice-president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology, and is the recipient of the Pathfinder Award from that association for his contributions to the study of consciousness. He is also past-president of the non-profit Intuition Network, an organization dedicated to creating a world in which all people are encouraged to cultivate and apply their inner, intuitive abilities.

(Recorded on November 9, 2016) 

Thursday, January 19, 2017   5:34 AM

Remote Viewing Psychology, an Interview with Charles T. Tart

Charles T. Tart, PhD, is emeritus professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis, as well as the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. He is a past-president of the Parapsychological Association. He has published over 100 scientific papers in parapsychology. He is editor of several anthologies including Altered States of Consciousness, Transpersonal Psychologies, Mind at Large, and Body Mind Spirit: Exploring the Parapsychology of Spirituality. Books that he has authored include Psi: Scientific Studies in the Psychic Realm, States of Consciousness, The End of Materialism, Learning to Use Extrasensory Perception, On Being Stoned, Waking Up, and Open Mind – Discriminating Mind.

Here he discusses the events that took place during his year long work as a consultant to the remote viewing program of Hal Puthoff and Russell Targ at SRI International, funded by the U.S. military intelligence community. He describes the unique psychological conditions at SRI that seemed to be extremely conducive to psi functioning. He notes that judging remote viewing transcripts is just as important as the viewing itself; and he offers details regarding different judging protocols. He also points out the care to which the researchers took to improve their work when methodological criticisms were offered.

New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980). He is past-vice-president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology, and is the recipient of the Pathfinder Award from that association for his contributions to the study of consciousness. He is also past-president of the non-profit Intuition Network, an organization dedicated to creating a world in which all people are encouraged to cultivate and apply their inner, intuitive abilities.

(Recorded on November 9, 2016)

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