Rupert Sheldrake : morphogenetic resonance

[Matthew Cissell]

>From what little I have read, I am skeptical. 
Mr. Sheldrake's new book "The Science Delusion: Freeing the Spirit of Enquiry" was also covered in the April issue of the Fortean Times. FT quotes him:  "The formation of habits depends on a process called morphic resonance. Similar patterns of activity resonate across space and time with subsequent patterns. This hypothesis applies to all self-reorganising systems, including atoms, molecules, crystals, cells, plants, animals, and animal societies. All draw upon a collective memory and in turn contribute to it... A growing oak seedling follows the habits of growth and development of previous oaks... The more people who learn a new skill, such as snowboarding, the easier it will be for others to learn it because of morphic resonance from previous snowboarders." Apparently, Sheldrake  thinks memories are not located in the brain but rather outside of it. He also has doubts about the speed of light as a constant.
Now, Sheldrake may be a Cambridge-trained biochemist with a PhD ,as the article informs the reader, but does that qualify him to doubt universal constants in physics?

 Although I haven't read any of his books, the article brought out my skeptical side. Of course, Sheldrake is not responsible for the article, but it gives pause. The author of the article states that "any modern research programmme is under a good deal of pressure to not produce unexpected or unwanted results." This is simply not true, look at the hullabaloo about the faster-than-light neutrinos. In fact scientists yearn to find something unexpected since it will get them recognition.

I appreciate what thinkers like Kuhn, Feyerabend and Latour have done to shake up the way we think about science and the questions we ask of and about it. However, it has helped a school of thought that says that science is dogmatically constrained or, worse, that it is not open-minded, fair and unbiased. This can in turn play into the hands of climate change doubters or evolutionists.

Sheldrake does sound like a nice fellow, but until he establishes "a testable hypothesis with predictions and effects that could be falsified" he only has my respectful disbelief.

mc otis
 

________________________________
 From: Dave Monroe <against.the.dave at gmail.com>
To: Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net> 
Cc: P-list List <pynchon-l at waste.org> 
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2012 6:20 PM
Subject: Re: Rupert Sheldrake : morphogenetic resonance
 
On Tue, Mar 27, 2012 at 10:49 AM, Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net> wrote:

> Slowly working my way through Sheldrake's" A New Science of Life: Hypotheses of Morpophogenetic Resonance.  I t is a radical hypotheses about fields somewhat like  Newtonian gravitation or electromagnetic fields, or quantum fields,  that proposes a  morphogenetic field that is generated by and resonates through space time from forms- forms meaning everything from molecules to crystals to complete organisms and their constituent forms.  One of his goals is to make a testable hypothesis with predictions and effects that could be falsified. One of his obvious  tasks is to establish that there are serious gaps in current theory and data, and that those gaps require such a new hypothesis. He takes that on through the first third of the book and as a recurrent theme, and iterates many questions in depth concerning genetics and physics as predictors of form. About 2/3rds along now and wonder who has read any of his work?
>
> Part of my attraction to Sheldrake is his persona. He is very modest, very humane, and incredibly brilliant but never a show off.  His search is a search for testable scientific truth that covers some of the gaps in our current science, and not a personal pursuit of fame. He is personally a Christian but was a friend and lecturer with Terrance McKenna and Ralph Abraham, so very open minded fellow. though seeming to be considerably more practical than McKenna.
>
> Any P-listers familiar? thoughts?

I might even have reread it @ least in part, way back when, + maybe ts
"sequel' (The Presence of the Past) as well.  He's back, by the way:

http://www.sheldrake.org/homepage.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupert_Sheldrake

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jan/27/science-delusion-rupert-sheldrake-review

For full-on SF:

http://www.davidbrin.com/practiceeffect1.htm

http://www.davidbrin.com/othersfbooks.htm#practice

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Practice_Effect
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