The power of the mind to influence the physical world has long been debated, debunked, studied for military applications, and used in science fiction. This historical and theoretical study of mind-matter interaction, or MMI, explores the phenomena of levitation, stigmata, inedia, paranormal activity, bilocation, fire immunity, luminosity, and the teleportation of matter. The results of more than a century of formal experimental research are discussed, as are resultant training techniques, theories, and controlled experiments used to test or bolster psychokinetic abilities.
The intellectual adventure story of the "double-slit" experiment, showing how a sunbeam split into two paths first challenged our understanding of light and then the nature of reality itself--and continues to almost two hundred years later. Many of science's greatest minds have grappled with the simple yet elusive "double-slit" experiment. Thomas Young devised it in the early 1800s to show that light behaves like a wave, and in doing so opposed Isaac Newton. Nearly a century later, Albert Einstein showed that light comes in quanta, or particles, and the experiment became key to a fierce debate between Einstein and Niels Bohr over the nature of reality. Richard Feynman held that the double slit embodies the central mystery of the quantum world. Decade after decade, hypothesis after hypothesis, scientists have returned to this ingenious experiment to help them answer deeper and deeper questions about the fabric of the universe. How can a single particle behave both like a particle and a wave? Does a particle exist before we look at it, or does the very act of looking create reality? Are there hidden aspects to reality missing from the orthodox view of quantum physics? Is there a place where the quantum world ends and the familiar classical world of our daily lives begins, and if so, can we find it? And if there's no such place, then does the universe split into two each time a particle goes through the double slit? With his extraordinarily gifted eloquence, Anil Ananthaswamy travels around the world and through history, down to the smallest scales of physical reality we have yet fathomed. Through Two Doors at Once is the most fantastic voyage you can take.
Written for students, Mind, Matter, and Nature presumes no prior philosophical training on the part of the reader. The book nevertheless holds the arguments discussed to rigorous standards and is conversant with recent literature, thus making it useful as well to more advanced students and professionals interested in a resource on Thomistic hylomorphism in the philosophy of mind.
This ground-breaking book is about the emerging academic and practical study of subtle energies, which historically, have not been easy to detect. The unique experiments, numerous measurements, and resulting data presented here, have been collected over 30 years of research. The findings have resulted from pioneering discoveries leading to equations, graphs, universal constants, formulae, and laws of nature that eventually connect to cosmology, and the structure of the universe. The book proves, with high scientific and mathematical precision, that consciousness involves more than just the brain, but actually depends on the very fabric of the universe. Some of the discoveries prove that certain information can be communicated across the solar system, not only faster than light, but instantaneously. The book deals with the entanglement of large objects, and the fact that the cosmos possesses a universal consciousness. Also shown is that the mind can detect information from the outer planets, and identifies connections to a five dimensional universe and the mysterious, recently discovered dark energy. This text will be of interest to the considerable number of people worldwide involved in similar studies. These include researchers at universities and colleges currently or wishing to teach and develop this up-and-coming subject, non-professionals, and members of relevant academic societies.
From Aristotle's Physics to quantum teleportation, learn about the scientific pursuit of instantaneous connections in this insightful examination of our world. For millennia, scientists have puzzled over a simple question: Does the universe have a speed limit? If not, some effects could happen at the same instant as the actions that caused them -- and some effects, ludicrously, might even happen before their causes. By one hundred years ago, it seemed clear that the speed of light was the fastest possible speed. Causality was safe. And then quantum mechanics happened, introducing spooky connections that seemed to circumvent the law of cause and effect. Inspired by the new physics, psychologist Carl Jung and physicist Wolfgang Pauli explored a concept called synchronicity, a weird phenomenon they thought could link events without causes. Synchronicity tells that sprawling tale of insight and creativity, and asks where these ideas -- some plain crazy, and others crazy powerful -- are taking the human story next.
The interaction of high-power lasers with matter can generate Terahertz radiations that efficiently contribute to THz Time-Domain Spectroscopy and also would replace X-rays in medical and security applications. When a short intense laser pulse ionizes a gas, it may produce new frequencies even in VUV to XUV domain. The duration of XUV pulses can be confined down to the isolated attosecond pulse levels, required to study the electronic re-arrangement and ultrafast processes. Another important aspect of laser-matter interaction is the laser thermonuclear fusion control where accelerated particles also find an efficient use. This book provides comprehensive coverage of the most essential topics, including Electromagnetic waves and lasers THz radiation using semiconducting materials / nanostructures / gases / plasmas Surface plasmon resonance THz radiation detection Particle acceleration technologies X-ray lasers High harmonics and attosecond lasers Laser based techniques of thermonuclear fusion Controlled fusion devices including NIF and ITER The book comprises of 11 chapters and every chapter starts with a lucid introduction to the main topic. Then sub-topics are sedulously discussed keeping in mind their basics, methodology, state-of-the-art and future perspective that will prove to be salutary for readers. High quality solved examples are appended to the chapters for their deep understanding and relevant applications. In view of the nature of the topics and their level of discussion, this book is expected to have pre-eminent potential for researchers along with postgraduate and undergraduate students all over the world.
An introduction to the mind–body problem, covering all the proposed solutions and offering a powerful new one. Philosophers from Descartes to Kripke have struggled with the glittering prize of modern and contemporary philosophy: the mind-body problem. The brain is physical. If the mind is physical, we cannot see how. If we cannot see how the mind is physical, we cannot see how it can interact with the body. And if the mind is not physical, it cannot interact with the body. Or so it seems. In this book the philosopher Jonathan Westphal examines the mind-body problem in detail, laying out the reasoning behind the solutions that have been offered in the past and presenting his own proposal. The sharp focus on the mind-body problem, a problem that is not about the self, or consciousness, or the soul, or anything other than the mind and the body, helps clarify both problem and solutions. Westphal outlines the history of the mind-body problem, beginning with Descartes. He describes mind-body dualism, which claims that the mind and the body are two different and separate things, nonphysical and physical, and he also examines physicalist theories of mind; antimaterialism, which proposes limits to physicalism and introduces the idea of qualia; and scientific theories of consciousness. Finally, Westphal examines the largely forgotten neutral monist theories of mind and body, held by Ernst Mach, William James, and Bertrand Russell, which attempt neither to extract mind from matter nor to dissolve matter into mind. Westphal proposes his own version of neutral monism. This version is unique among neutral monist theories in offering an account of mind-body interaction.
Physics underlies all complexity, including our own existence: how is this possible? How can our own lives emerge from interactions of electrons, protons, and neutrons? This book considers the interaction of physical and non-physical causation in complex systems such as living beings, and in particular in the human brain, relating this to the emergence of higher levels of complexity with real causal powers. In particular it explores the idea of top-down causation, which is the key effect allowing the emergence of true complexity and also enables the causal efficacy of non-physical entities, including the value of money, social conventions, and ethical choices.
Does the brain create the mind, or is some external entity involved? This book synthesizes ideas borrowed from philosophy, religion, and science. Topics range widely from brain imagining of thought processes to quantum mechanics and the essential role of information in brains and physical systems.
