A great 40 minute interview with a scientist about the paranormal

[WASD]

Edit: the video was removed but uploaded again by the same user but this time it was 40 minutes instead of 50.
New link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frJpThIims8
It seems like the same video but a edited a bit.

He talks about NDE, LD, OBE, AP, all the good stuff we like It's a very scientific point of view and he seems to think that most of it is real.

[Volgerle]

Sheldrake is a well-known man. He is "Mr Morphgenetic Fields". The sceptics hate him like they hate all open-minded scientists researching the paranormal and metaphysics.
When he first published a book on M. Fields in the 80ies, some scientists proposed that his books should be burnt. (No joke, they did, at least one).

[Volgerle]

... of course... I meant, they did propose it, not that they did burn it. 
(but I guess they would have liked to  )

[WASD]

Alright, never heard of him. It's quote ironic that scientists does stuff like that. Science is all about researching everything and find new ways to look at things. An important part in the scientific method is to try and disprove yourself, and if you fail your evidence becomes stronger.

[Xanth]

The problem is that they usually only look to find new ways of looking at things through the same paradigm that they've always used.

Nobody ever brings anything fresh to the table for fear of losing their funding... or worse, their credibility.

[Summerlander]

Sheldrake is a well-known man. He is "Mr Morphgenetic Fields". The sceptics hate him like they hate all open-minded scientists researching the paranormal and metaphysics.
When he first published a book on M. Fields in the 80ies, some scientists proposed that his books should be burnt. (No joke, they did, at least one).

I've read about the M fields theory...fascinating stuff. It could explain the course of evolution. The theory could also explain why no traces of memory or thoughts for that matter are found in the brain. But then again we have the synaptic explanation...

[CFTraveler]

I actually have his first book and liked it very much.  That is, until he coined the term "chreodes".  Other than that, I interpret reality based on his theories a lot.
FWTW.

[Volgerle]

But then again we have the synaptic explanation...

what should that explain?

[Summerlander]

Well, certain experiments seem to back synaptic modification like in the Aplysia experiments because their synapses change during the process of habituation:

http://teachline.ls.huji.ac.il/72369/LocalSynthesis.pdf

The synapses are connections between the nerve cells and the idea is that they somehow become modified as electric pulses through which nerve signals pass and making it very likely that the same signals pass through them again...hence memory "explained". The more often the same signal current flows, the more open the "pore" will be. But it is still only a theory as valid as the one that states that, somehow, memories are stored in molecules of ribonucleic acid (RNA). It is not yet clear how a chemical or chemicals inside the brain can encode memory either.

Still, it's a good theory that remains if no concrete evidence for the M fields turns up.

[personalreality]

the synaptic memory is like a river.  as the river flows over flat ground it dig out a channel and then breaks off into tributaries which dig out more channels and so on into infinitely small fractals.  in much the same way, the idea is that the as signals are sent through particular neural pathways over and over, they form "channels" that are more "permanent" (not really permanent at all) than a synaptic pathway that has only been opened a few times.  so the idea is that memories are stored in the form of neural "rivers".

[Volgerle]

so this is just about memory storage, not consciousness itself? otherwise it would be like buying into materialistic beliefs (matter over mind, all-the-brain-mainstream-'science', etc.)

[personalreality]

is your consciousness any more than your memories?  that's what the materialists say anyhow. 

[kurtykurt42]

Oh boy a real Scientist talking about the paranormal!? The video is too long for me to watch but I'm sure it's nothing new.

[Summerlander]

so this is just about memory storage, not consciousness itself? otherwise it would be like buying into materialistic beliefs (matter over mind, all-the-brain-mainstream-'science', etc.)

Not necessarily. Not for me anyway. It doesn't have to support the materialistic view and let's not forget that even the materialistic view is a creed. Perhaps consciousness manifests the physical world and thus brain included. The more we use our brains the more it evolves. Consciousness could have the potential to accumulate an infinite number of memories, and, as we go through this life, it could force the brain to grow and evolve in order to be be able to adapt to this environment and become grounded during the lifetime using the constantly developing synaptic mechanism. If we suffer brain damage and we lose memory, it could just mean that in the waking state we have suddenly become unconscious to vital or "usual" memories because of the damage but, alter the state of consciousness like the phase (OOBEs/AP/Lucid Dreaming) and that info may become available to you again...like you can suddenly tune into them without the physical...like having a different memory in a dream that doesn't apply to waking life and we don't realise how irrelevant and "absurd" the memory is until we wake up...

In my opinion, I think the brain is only a collapsed and finite expression of consciousness itself if you catch my drift.

[Volgerle]

alter the state of consciousness like the phase (OOBEs/AP/Lucid Dreaming) and that info may become available to you again...like you can suddenly tune into them..

I see what you mean. This part (quoted) reminds me nicely of the alcohol-anecdote by Parapsychologist C. Tart's article on 'state specific memory', actually a pretty old article, but I think it's still a good piece of early research on these topics.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/6572493/Charles-Tart-Psi-Functioning-and-Altered-States

"State-specific memory is illustrated in the old folk advice that if you lose something while you're very
drunk and can't find it the next day, one way to increase your chances of finding it is to get very drunk again. Recent laboratory research is now confirming the existence of such state-specific memory for alcohol intoxication (Godwin and Powell, 1969), and experiential reports suggest it exists for many other d-ASCs."

Haven't been able to test it so far. 

Btw, I think that DNA plays a vital role indeed in memory, not as a direct 'storage device', but maybe rather like a computer RAM-device in receiving and transmitting to/from so-called 'non-local' databases (or information/consciousness fields).

[Summerlander]

Yes! That is exactly what I meant! Great analogy with RAM-device receiving and transmitting by the way. I also like the name "consciousness fields", or as Einestein would have it, "the field" which is the canvas of existence or the ground of all being.

No need to do the alcohol test, btw!