The study of
consciousness is becoming a mainstream endeavor as both it should and
must. Yet to be fair to the past, there
was no theoretical framework available to understand consciousness itself and
this made any speculative work almost hopeless.
Yet the empirical continued to beckon and no true scientist should ever,
ever look away from the evidence.
I want to add
something here. The first movement
creating the universe was an act of consciousness as we know it. I have come to understand something utterly
important. It is that the impressed logic of our universe includes the sixth
operator to gate output. This is why it
is so difficult to introduce a new idea in the first place. Our internal logic rejects automatically what
has not been understood before.
Application of logical process allows one to work past that resistance
but it is still there.
Thus the gate operator
actually forces us to look forward and to naturally seek to correct error. This is never a lagging phenomenon.
I wholeheartedly
support this initiative.
A call for an open,
informed study of all aspects of consciousness
Department
of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Science
thrives when there is an open, informed discussion of all evidence, and
recognition that scientific knowledge is provisional and subject to revision.
This attitude is in stark contrast with reaching conclusions based solely on a
previous set of beliefs or on the assertions of authority figures. Indeed, the
search for knowledge wherever it may lead inspired a group of notable
scientists and philosophers to found in 1882 the Society for Psychical Research
in London. Its purpose was “to investigate that large body of debatable
phenomena… without prejudice or prepossession of any kind, and in the same
spirit of exact and unimpassioned inquiry which has enabled Science to solve so
many problems.” Some of the areas in consciousness they investigated such as
psychological dissociation, hypnosis, and preconscious cognition are now well
integrated into mainstream science. That has not been the case with research on
phenomena such as purported telepathy or precognition, which some scientists (a
clear minority according to the surveys conducted
dis-miss a priori as
pseudoscience or illegitimate.
Contrary
to the negative impression given by some critics, we would like to stress the
following:
(1)
Research
on parapsychological phenomena (psi) is being carried
out in various accredited
universities and research centers throughout the
world by academics in different disciplines trained in the scientific method
(e.g., circa 80 Ph.D.s have been awarded in psi-related topics in the UK in
recent years). This research has continued for over a century despite the
taboo against investigating the topic, almost complete lack of funding, and
professional and personal attacks (Cardeña, 201). The Parapsychological Association has
been an affiliate of the AAAS since 1969, and more than 20 Nobel prizewinners
and many other eminent scientists have supported the study of psi or even
conducted research themselves (Cardeña, 2013).
(2)
Despite a negative attitude by some editors
and reviewers, results supporting the validity of psi phenomena continue to
be published in peer-reviewed, academic journals in relevant fields, from
psychology to neuroscience to physics e.g., (Storm
et al., 2010; Bem, 2011; Hameroff, 2012; Radin et al., 2012).
(3)
Increased
experimental controls have not eliminated or even decreased significant support
for the existence of psi phenomena, as suggested by various recent
meta-analyses (Sherwood
and Roe, 2003; Schmidt
et al., 2004; Bösch et al., 2006; Radin et al., 2006; Storm
et al., 2010, 2012,2013; Tressoldi, 2011; Mossbridge et al., 2012; Schmidt,
2012).
(4)
These meta-analyses and other studies (Blackmore,
1980) suggest that data supportive of psi
phenomena cannot reasonably be accounted for by chance or by a “file drawer”
effect. Indeed, contrary to most disciplines, parapsychology journals have
for decades encouraged publication of null results and of papers critical of a
psi explanation (Wiseman
et al., 1996;Schönwetter et al., 2011). A psi trial registry has
been established to improve research practice http://www.koestler-parapsychology.psy.ed.ac.uk/TrialRegistryDetails.html.
(5)
The effect sizes reported in most
meta-analyses are relatively small and the phenomena cannot be produced on
demand, but this also characterizes various phenomena found in other disciplines
that focus on complex human behavior and performance such as psychology and
medicine (Utts, 1991;Richard and Bond, 2003).
(6)
Although more conclusive explanations for psi
phenomena await further theoretical and research developments, they do
not prima facie violate
known laws of nature given modern theories in physics that transcend classical
restrictions of time and space, combined with growing evidence for quantum
effects in biological systems (Sheehan,
2011; Lambert
et al., 2013).
With
respect to the proposal that “exceptional claims require exceptional evidence,”
the original intention of the phrase is typically misunderstood (Truzzi, 1978). Even in its inaccurate interpretation
what counts as an “exceptional claim” is far from clear. For instance, many
phenomena now accepted in science such as the existence of meteorites, the germ
theory of disease, or, more recently, adult neurogenesis, were originally
considered so exceptional that evidence for their existence was ignored or
dismissed by contemporaneous scientists. It is also far from clear what would
count as “exceptional evidence” or who would set that threshold.
Dismissing
empirical observations a priori,
based solely on biases or theoretical assumptions, underlies a distrust of the
ability of the scientific process to discuss and evaluate evidence on its own
merits. The undersigned differ in the extent to which
we are convinced that the case for psi phenomena has already been made, but not
in our view of science as a non-dogmatic, open, critical but respectful process
that requires thorough consideration of all evidence as well as skepticism
toward both the assumptions we already hold and those that challenge them.
Daryl Bem, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, Cornell University,
USA
Etzel Cardeña, Thorsen Professor of Psychology, Lund University,
Sweden
Bernard Carr, Professor in Mathematics and Astronomy, University
of London, UK
C. Robert Cloninger, Renard Professor of Psychiatry, Genetics,
and Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis, USA
Robert G. Jahn, Past Dean of Engineering, Princeton University,
USA
Brian Josephson, Emeritus Professor of Physics, University of
Cambridge, UK (Nobel prizewinner in physics, 1973)
Menas C. Kafatos, Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor of
Computational Physics, Chapman University, USA
Irving Kirsch, Professor of Psychology, University of Plymouth,
Lecturer in Medicine, Harvard Medical School, USA, UK
Mark Leary, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Duke
University, USA
Dean Radin, Chief Scientist, Institute of Noetic Sciences,
Adjunct Faculty in Psychology, Sonoma State University, USA
Robert Rosenthal, Distinguished Professor, University of
California, Riverside, Edgar Pierce Professor Emeritus, Harvard University, USA
Lothar Schäfer, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Physical
Chemistry, University of Arkansas, USA
Raymond Tallis, Emeritus Professor of Geriatric Medicine,
University of Manchester, UK
Charles T. Tart, Professor in Psychology Emeritus, University of
California, Davis, USA
Simon Thorpe, Director of Research CNRS (Brain and Cognition),
University of Toulouse, France
Patrizio Tressoldi, Researcher in Psychology, Università degli
Studi di Padova, Italy
Jessica Utts, Professor and Chair of Statistics, University of
California, Irvine, USA
Max Velmans, Professor Emeritus in Psychology, Goldsmiths,
University of London, UK
Caroline Watt, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Edinburgh
University, UK
Phil Zimbardo, Professor in Psychology Emeritus, Stanford
University, USA
And…
P. Baseilhac, Researcher in Theoretical Physics, University of
Tours, France
Eberhard Bauer, Dept. Head, Institute of Border Areas of
Psychology and Mental Hygiene, Freiburg, Germany
Julie Beischel, Adjunct Faculty in Psychology and Integrated
Inquity, Saybrook University, USA
Hans Bengtsson, Professor of Psychology, Lund University, Sweden
Michael Bloch, Associate Professor of Psychology, University of
San Francisco, USA
Stephen Braude, Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, University of
Maryland Baltimore County, USA
Richard Broughton, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences,
University of Northampton, UK
Antonio Capafons, Professor of Psychology, University of
Valencia, Spain
James C. Carpenter, Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry, University
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA
Allan Leslie Combs, Doshi Professor of Consciousness Studies,
California Institute of Integral Studies, USA
Deborah Delanoy, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of
Northampton, UK
Arnaud Delorme, Professor of Neuroscience, Paul Sabatier
University, France
Vilfredo De Pascalis, Professor of General Psychology, “La
Sapienza” University of Rome, Italy
Kurt Dressler, Professor in Molecular Spectroscopy Emeritus,
Eidg. Techn. Hochschule Zürich, Switzerland
Hoyt Edge, Hugh H. and Jeannette G. McKean Professor of
Philosophy, Rollins College, USA
Suitbert Ertel, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of
Göttingen, Germany
Franco Fabbro, Professor in Child Neuropsychiatry, University of
Udine, Italy
Enrico Facco, Professor of Anesthesia and Intensive Care,
University of Padua, Italy
Wolfgang Fach, Researcher, Institute of Border Areas of
Psychology and Mental Hygiene, Freiburg, Germany
Harris L. Friedman, Former Research Professor of Psychology,
University of Florida, USA
Alan Gauld, Former Reader in Psychology, University of
Nottingham, UK
Antoon Geels, Professor in the Psychology of Religion Emeritus,
Lund University, Sweden
Bruce Greyson, Carlson Professor of Psychiatry and
Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA
Erlendur Haraldsson, Professor Emeritus of Psychology,
University of Iceland, Iceland
Richard Conn Henry, Academy Professor (Physics and Astronomy),
The Johns Hopkins University, USA
David J. Hufford, University Professor Emeritus, Penn State
College of Medicine, USA
Oscar Iborra, Researcher, Department of Experimental Psychology,
Granada University, Spain
Harvey Irwin, former Associate Professor, University of New
England, Australia
Graham Jamieson, Lecturer in Human Neuropsychology, University
of New England, Australia
Erick Janssen, Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychology,
Indiana University, USA
Per Johnsson, Head, Department of Psychology, Lund University,
Sweden
Edward F. Kelly, Research Professor in the Department of
Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville,
USA
Emily Williams Kelly, Research Assistant Professor in the
Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia,
Charlottesville, USA
Hideyuki Kokubo, Researcher, Institute for Informatics of
Consciousness, Meiji University, Japan
Jeffrey J. Kripal, J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religious
Studies, Rice University, USA
Stanley Krippner, Professor of Psychology and Integrated
Inquiry, Saybrook University, USA
David Luke, Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychology and Counselling,
University of Greenwich, UK
Fatima Regina Machado, Researcher, Universidade de São Paulo,
Brasil
Markus Maier, Professor in Psychology, University of Munich,
Germany
Gerhard Mayer, Researcher, Institute of Border Areas of
Psychology and Mental Hygiene, Freiburg, Germany
Antonia Mills, Professor First Nations Studies, University of
Northern British Columbia, Canada
Garret Moddel, Professor in Electrical, Computer, & Energy
Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA
Alexander Moreira-Almeida, Professor of Psychiatry, Universidade
Federal de Juiz de Fora, Brasil
Andrew Moskowitz, Professor in Psychology and Behavioral
Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark
Julia Mossbridge, Fellow in Psychology, Northwestern University,
USA
Judi Neal, Professor Emeritus of Management, University of New
Haven, USA
Roger Nelson, Retired Research Staff, Princeton University, USA
Fotini Pallikari, Professor of Physics, University of Athens,
Greece
Alejandro Parra, Researcher in Psychology, Universidad Abierta Interamericana,
Argentina
José Miguel Pérez Navarro, Lecturer in Education, International
University of La Rioja, Spain
Gerald H. Pollack, Professor in Bioengineering. University of
Washington, Seattle, USA
John Poynton, Professor Emeritus in Biology, University of
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
David Presti, Senior Lecturer, Neurobiology and Cognitive
Science, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Thomas Rabeyron, Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, Nantes
University, France
Inmaculada Ramos Lerate, Researcher in Physics, Alba Synchrotron
Light Source, Barcelona, Spain.
Chris Roe, Professor of Psychology, University of Northampton,
UK
Stefan Schmidt, Professor, Europa Universität Viadrina, Germany
Gary E. Schwartz, Professor of Psychology, Medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry,
and Surgery, University of Arizona, USA
Daniel P. Sheehan, Professor of Physics, University of San
Diego, USA
Simon Sherwood, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of
Greenwich, UK
Christine Simmonds-Moore, Assistant Professor of Psychology,
University of West Georgia, USA
Mário Simões, Professor in Psychiatry. University of Lisbon,
Portugal
Huston Smith, Prof. of Philosophy Emeritus, Syracuse University,
USA
Jerry Solfvin, Associate Professor in Indic Studies, University
of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, USA
Lance Storm, Visiting Research Fellow, University of Adelaide,
Australia
Jeffrey Allan Sugar, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry,
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
Neil Theise, Professor of Pathology and Medicine, The Icahn
School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA
Jim Tucker, Bonner-Lowry Associate Professor of Psychiatry and
Neurobehavioral Sciences, University of Virginia, USA
Yulia Ustinova, Associate Professor in History, Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev, Israel
Walter von Lucadou, Senior Lecturer at the Furtwangen Technical
University, Germany
Maurits van den Noort, Senior Researcher, Free University of
Brussels, Belgium
David Vernon, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Canterbury Christ
Church University, UK
Harald Walach, Professor, Europa Universität Viadrina, Germany
Helmut Wautischer, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, Sonoma State
University, USA
Donald West, Emeritus Professor of Clinical Criminology,
University of Cambridge, UK
N.C. Wickramasinghe, Professor in Astrobiology, Cardiff
University, UK
Fred Alan Wolf, formerly Professor in physics at San Diego State
University, the Universities of Paris, London, and the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem
Robin Wooffitt, Professor of Sociology, University of York, UK
Wellington Zangari, Professor in Psychology, University of Sao
Paulo, Brazil
Aldo
Zucco, Professor, Dipartimento di Psicologia Generale, Università di Padova,
Italy
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Keywords: consciousness,
scientific method, parapsychology, PSI, psychical research
Citation: Cardeña
E (2014) A call for an open, informed study of all aspects of consciousness.Front.
Hum. Neurosci. 8:17. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00017
Received: 10
December 2013; Accepted: 08 January 2014;
Published online: 27 January 2014.
Published online: 27 January 2014.
Edited by:
Christian Agrillo,
University of Padova, Italy
Reviewed by:
Imants Baruss,
King's University College at The University of Western Ontario, Canada
Copyright ©
2014 Cardeña. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of theCreative
Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution
or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s)
or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is
cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or
reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: etzel.cardena@psy.lu.se
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