The Extended Mind: Recent Experimental Evidence

We have been brought up to believe that the mind is located inside the head. But there are good reasons for thinking that this view is much too limited. Recent experimental results show that people can influence others at a distance just by looking at them, even if they look from behind and if all sensory clues are eliminated. And people's intentions can be detected by animals from miles away. Many dogs seem to anticipate their owners returns even when the people are many kilometres away. Experiments show that this response also occurs when people return at non-routine times and in unfamiliar vehicles. But perhaps the commonest kind of non-local mental influence occurs in connection with telephone calls, where most people have had the experience of thinking of someone shortly before they ring, or knowing who is calling when the phone starts ringing. Recent experiments on telephone telepathy have given highly significant positive results. The mind may be extended not only in space but in time. We may all draw upon a collective memory, similar to the collective unconscious postulated by C.G. Jung. Rupert Sheldrake will show how his hypothesis of morphic fields and morphic resonance could provide a new way of understanding the extended mind, going beyond the usual mind/brain problem. His presentation will be illustrated by videos of experiments.