ROBERT J.R. GRAHAM: Rupert Sheldrake

Showing posts with label Rupert Sheldrake. Show all posts

Tuesday, 2 September 2014

The Feeling of Being Watched

By Chris Capps

Isn’t it strange that we have an actual sensation or feeling equated to being watched? For centuries people have reported an eerie feeling when they feel like someone they can’t see is observing them. And this phenomenon would be added to the laundry list of other strange but ultimately baseless occurrences if it wasn’t for the research of one man when he decided to put the feeling of “being watched” to the next level.

Rupert Sheldrake, a researcher and parapsychologist came across evidence while conducting trial research on the matter that people had a definite impression of when they were and were not being watched. The experiments he conducted gave a whole new level of controversy to the subject and finally gave some level of credibility to the phenomenon of scopaesthesia, or “feeling like you’re being watched.” In the experiment, Sheldrake lurked in the background of a quiz show in the UK while it was being taped by the BBC. At random intervals Sheldrake would designate a time to stare at people in the audience behind their backs. He and his research assistants then videotaped the event and looked back on their results. What they found was astounding.

While the audience members did look back into the shadows where Sheldrake and his group were sitting, after a few moments of being stared at a number of audience members would turn and look back at the “observers” as if to try to find the source of an eerie but not quite entirely explained feeling. Almost as though they were being watched. When the video of the event was looked back at they found astonishing evidence that something was indeed going on when the audience members were under the impression they were being watched. Just how they knew precisely was not well understood, but they did somehow.

The experiment concluded that there was some mechanism, although not one that was entirely understood, that would allow test subjects to determine whether they were being watched or not by someone that didn’t want to themselves be seen. While no one ventured to explain just how this happened or why, believers in the theories behind Sheldrake’s findings soon found themselves embroiled in a battle over evolution with skeptics. The discovery did indeed seem to have some advantageous benefits to the fittest. In the wild if a predator is staring at you, it would be quite beneficial if you could by some unseen mechanism determine if they were somewhere nearby and yet hidden. If there was some mechanism by which this could happen, then it seems to follow that in time it would eventually become more common as the survivors passed the trait on to their offspring.

So is there something to the phenomenon of scopaesthesia? In the recorded history of mankind there have been hundreds of accounts where the phenomenon has either saved a life or somehow influenced the outcome of some sort of conflict. But when we attempt to explain just how it works there’s no real way other than to suggest it is an outright psychic phenomenon. Is this proof of psychic ability? What else may we discover in time?

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Wednesday, 20 August 2014

Habits Of Mind

Habits Of Mind – A Key To Brainpower

by: Steve Gillman

Develop good habits of mind and you will have not just intelligence, but brainpower – the ability to use that intelligence effectively. Life is easier and your actions more effective when these subconscious “programs” are installed in your head.

Your mind is already programmed in many ways. You may have consciously learned how to type, for example, but now the process is largely unconscious. In fact, if you were to think about what you were going to do with each finger before you did it, your typing would be far slower. Developing these unconscious programs, then, starts with conscious effort, but eventually pays off with essentially effortless and effective action.

Habits of mind are more like “meta-programs.” They determine how your mind operates in various circumstances. They are created unconsciously throughout your life. For example, you may unconsciously look for a way to escape any situation that becomes uncomfortable.

The good news is that these habits can also be much more beneficial. Habitually stopping to assess a situation from an objective perspective would be an example of this. Even more hopeful, is the fact that these habits of mind can be consciously developed.

Developing Good Habits Of Mind

Many “experts” will tell you that it takes three weeks to develop a new habit. Repeat the actions or thoughts you want to become habitual every day for three weeks and they become programmed in your mind. Whether or not the three-week rule is accurate isn’t important. If it takes four weeks, that’s okay too. The important point is that by consciously repeating certain actions and thoughts, you can program yourself for success.

For example, if you want to bet a more effective problem solver, you can consciously change your approach and practice new ways of thinking. Less effective problem solvers look at problems as an annoyance to be avoided or dealt with only as far as necessary. A more effective approach is to look at problems as an opportunity to create new solutions.

Suppose you want to think this way, however. How do you make it a habit? Start by looking for problems instead of avoiding them. Keep a list of problems you see each day, ranging from personal problems like not enough exercise to business-related problems, like expenses being too high, to any random problems you can identify.

Carry a list of simple questions to ask for each problem. These are questions that are designed to give you a more productive frame of mind. “How could this problem be useful to me?” is a good start. Others might include. “What are the benefits of finding a solution?” and “What do i know about this situation that can help me find a solution.”

Using your motivations might help as well. If you imagine the praise you’ll get for finding a solution to a problem, this could make you want to confront and resolve problems rather than avoid them. Whatever works, do it consciously and daily for several weeks.

Once you have done this enough times over a long enough period of time, the thinking patterns become unconscious. You’ll find yourself looking at problems differently, and trying to solve them spontaneously. Then you can repeat this process with other mental programming you want to have.

Mind Mapping (Photo credit: sirwiseowl)

One last example: Suppose every time you needed greater brainpower, you unconsciously sat up straight and took a deep breath? Both of these actions have been shown to improve brain function. Of course it takes conscious effort and discipline at first to develop good habits of mind, but the eventual result is greater brain power for less effort.

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