In the clips below, Professor Dean Radin talks about taboos, which at first glance might seem an unusual topic for a scientist to tackle.
But as one of the leading researchers into consciousness and psychic phenomena, he knows quite a bit about them.
Radin is the author of the book The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena.
He’s been studying such things as clairvoyance, psychokinesis, and telepathy from a strictly scientific perspective for years.
And he’s certainly not the only one, as evidenced by the literally thousands of experiments he reviews in his books.
What makes him different is that he’s not afraid to say out loud that he’s seriously interested in such a ‘woo woo’ topic. A topic he describes as ‘taboo’ within the scientific community.
It’s not because there’s a lack of interest. As he points out, studies have consistently shown that there’s plenty, in both the general population, and that of college professors.
Radin believes it comes down to the culture of science itself, where concepts of religion and spirituality are considered completely irrational, and if not useless, potentially harmful to the search for truth.
Radin thinks otherwise, having found in his own work that there’s plenty of worthwhile research to be done in the consciousness and psychic fields. Not to mention, it’s very very interesting.
#15 The Devil
For me, this discussion brought to mind the Devil card from the Tarot deck. It’s the card I most associate with taboos, and with the breaking of them.
The Devil is very physical, maybe not so rational, but very concerned with the material, with what’s in the ‘real’ world.
His biggest challenge is to connect with the spirit and to avoid becoming so obsessed with the sensations around him that he misses the subtler energies that are also there.
When we’re unable to look beyond the purely physical, we risk getting caught up in the Devil’s trap. He convinces us that what we see is all there is, and that it’s dangerous to check for ourselves to make sure he’s right.
It’s a shame if scientists, known for their intelligence and objectivity, tie themselves to this devil-like attitude. It builds taboos around what can and cannot be explored, and does nothing more than hold us all back.
I’ve posted the 1st, 3rd, and 4th clips from Radin’s talk. It was part of the ‘Conversations from the Edge’ 2006 series in San Francisco.
The first part defines what is a taboo, while the second two discuss the scientific taboos around psychic research.