~ 1 ~7'f 'Arrow of time' solution stirs up old issues Ilya Prigogine's new formulation of physics, as reported in our last issue, This issue (June/July) contains has generated a strong response­ 12 pages rather than eight in order mostly favorable-from many quarters to do justice to the torrent of reac­ and stimulated a host of questions. tion to Ilya Prigogine's recent Some of the reaction is summarized work (May issue). The August in this issue; some is reprinted in the Brain/Mind will also be a 12- Commentary and a four-page special pager. For extra copies of this insert, with additional comments to issue, call (800) 553-MIND or I appear in future issues. (213) 223-2500. Prigogine's reformulation addresses the question of the "arrow of time," a ciplines such as biology and geology problem that has made science schizo­ take time into consideration. Physicists A BULLETIN Of BREAKTHROUGHS phrenic. are indeed able to show this "time­ According to physics, time is irrele­ symmetry" experimentally, but Prigo­ June/ July 1994 Volume 19, Numbers 9/10 vant-even reversible-whereas dis- gine says these are special cases involving isolated points. More from Tucson An "ensemble of points" behaves differently, however. Resonance Microtubules link mind, physics among the points creates genuine nov­ Perhaps the hottest topic of the around cells, dissolving and re-forming elty. After working on the problem for recent consciousness conference in in other places. many years, Prigogine expressed Tucson (Brain/Mind, April) was the Microtubule networks serve as a mathematically our common-sense ex­ potential relation- sort of skeleton for a cell, lending it perience of a forward movement of ship between con- structure and creating pathways for events. ------sd1flIsfie-s--s - ~nia - the transport of chemical signals. They This-- refor-m ut-atioB-does -not attempt m i c rot u b u I e s, ~oi appear to serve as "cellular pathfind- to account for sUbjective experiences very tiny tubes of ~ ers," dissolving as cells prepare to of time, although Prigogine talks about protein found in e divide, then reemerging in perfect "inner time" (musical time, for ex­ :t the cellular cyto- E position after mitosis. ample) as well as "external time." plasm throughout ,g They may also lie at the heart of a He does not address time anomalies c the body. - ~ monumental union of physics and con- such as precognition, but neither does Microtubules, -~ sciousness. his model preclude them. (See related which form along- ~ Stuart Hameroff, an anesthesiologist story, page 8.) side each other to ~ at the University of Arizona, became Ingo Swann, who designed the create bundles intrigued by microtubules when he pivotal' 'remote viewing" experiments averaging one- learned in the 1970's that they were in the 1970' s, pointed out that by millionth of an inch think, behave in temporarily immobilized by anesthet- showing how complex systems produce distinctive and unusual ways-moving Continued on Page 6 Continued on Page 8 Sense of well--being tied to 'male,' 'female' traits Both "masculine" and "feminine" traits can work Though her findings may not seem a surprise, most independently to promote psychological well-being, ac­ previous research has portrayed the instrumental, "male" cording to a researcher whose work is bumping up against traits as healthier. Hunt thinks this discrepancy may stem science's conventional wisdom. largely from inaccurate methodology in previous studies. University of Pennsylvania psychologist Melissa Hunt Her latest project investigates the cognitive processes has found that although women are more inclined to involved in well-being and depression. Though some stud­ depression, traditionally feminine virtues seem to predict a ies have suggested that focusing on negative feelings sense of well-being as effectively as characteristics more makes them worse, Hunt's new research is supporting the often linked to men. notion that consciously exploring one's gloom is the best Hunt found in a study of 159 students that those strong in way to transcend it. "expressive" traits like affection, compassion, under­ She told Brain/Mind that as long as people are' mentally standing and nurturance were as psychologically fit as prepared to work through painful events toward a new per­ those long on "instrumental" traits-independence, as­ spective (as opposed to merely brooding), they probably sertiveness, willingness to take risks. Women tended to be are better off delving right into their feelings. While this more expressive, men more instrumental. emotional processing initially can increase the pain, it ~ay What's more, the intensity of positive affect-feeling well be the healthiest option for the long run, Hunt said. joy, for example, as opposed to contentedness-related The study of traits was reported in Sex Roles 29: 147-169. only to the expressive traits. Subjects scoring high on both Hunt: Psychology Dept., U.-Pennsylvania, 3815 Walnut scales were the happiest of all. St., Philadelphia 19104. 2 - Brain/Mind, June/July 1994 InterView: Huffington sees a 'hunger to reconnect' Arianna Stassinopolous Buffington, fourth. Through the fourth instinct, some kind of "hands-on" service. I born in Greece, moved to England at which is uniquely human, we can make think that anyone who can do so should age 16 and earned a degree in econom- the most of the try some simple volunteer work. You ics from Cambridge. Along the way first three-we have to balance "looking in" with she served as president of the univer- can regain our "reaching out." I've seen enough sity's debating society, the Cambridge center, we can get remarkable results to say with confi- Union. past identifying dence that almost anyone who volun- She vaulted to prominence in her ourselves by our teers consistently for a period of time early 20's with the 1974 publication of s u c c e sse san d will powerfully experience the fourth her first book, The Female Woman. failures, and we instinct. Later she wrote an exploration of the can learn to be Writing a check can be helpful, but spiritual roots of Western politics, truly intimate to really achieve change we need some After Reason, The Gods of Greece and with each other. "compassionate conversions." We widely reviewed biographies of Maria Perhaps this instinct has been need firsthand experience. It's true: Callas and Pablo Picasso. warped by the cynicism some We make a living by what we get, but In her new book, The Fourth Instinct, people feel about religion. we make a life by what we give. Buffington persuasively argues that - - This message is that of every spiri- we have-yet often deny-a powerful It has been said that the corruption tual language and tradition; the mes- urge to find spirituality and meaning of the best is the worst, and we have to sage is independent of the messenger. in our lives. It is this force that can a certain extent allowed what is best You could get it from Viktor Frankl, elevate and transform the pull of the about us-our spirituality-to be cor- who described how it felt to be stripped other three instincts-survival, power rupted. Anytime we talk today about of everything in a concentration camp, and sexuality. The instinct for the spirituality, there tends to be an im- or from Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, feeling spiritual, she maintains, can guide us mediate assumption of hypocrisy. This his essential humanity while lying on through our volatile times into a new assemption is often legitimate, yet it's rotten straw in the Gulag. era oifjiulfillment. dangerous. Stephen Carter, the author 'L C It if D' b Z' if, tl You seem eager to bridge the In addition to lecturing and hosting 0 f Tne U ure 0 lS e le , recen y 'f d 't b' G d gap between the practical and the a TV talk show, "Critical Mass," comment e d th a t I we on rmg 0 · tl . t bl' d' philosophical. Buffington is assisting the U.S. Senate dlrec y In 0 our pu IC lscourse, we campaign of her husband, Michael relegate Him to the status of a mar- Yes. I want to show that this grand Buffington. She was interviewed by ginal hobby. discussion is directly related to the Brain/Mind editors Marilyn Ferguson In The Fourth Instinct you give choices we make in ordinary, everyday and Eric Ferguson. the reader a sense of "traveling" life. Every time we choose laughter with you. over anger or forgiveness over vin- What is the essence of this dictiveness, we are remembering the fourth instinct? Yes. Since I see the process of Bible verse, "He who is in you is It's what Blaise Pascal referred to as developing the fourth instinct as a greater than he who is in the world." "the God-shaped vacuum"-the hun- lifelong challenge, I wanted to talk I'm particularly encouraged that ger to reconnect with God and live in about my own journey and my own more and more people seem willing to the recognition that we are spiritual as pain-the things that brought me to overcome their reluctance and take the well as material beings. The theme of these realizations. I wanted to stress first step. Independent of their per­ the book is that if we try to find happi- that this is a journey and that neither I sonal circumstances, many people are ness solely through the first three in- nor anyone else who talks about these finding that the time is ripe for change. stincts, we fail. issues has reached some perfected Huffington: Box 5657, Washington, The evidence of our failure is un- state of being. No one is perfectly D.C. 20016. mistakable. When we ignore the realized. After all, even the greatest B' spiritual dimensions of ourselves, we saints who ever lived continued to be ral fall victim to a triptych of pathologies tempted, to stray off course. end - depression, aggression and addic­ You've taken this message to a tion. We've tried to solve social prob­ Brain/Mind (ISSN 1072- 3927) is published monthly by lems by throwing money at them, yet lot of different audiences. How Interface Press, Box 42211,4717 N. Figueroa St., Los do people react? Angeles, Calif. 90042. Telephone: (800) 553-MIND or they keep getting worse. I think the (213) 223-2500. Subscription rates: $45 per year ($50 fact that we're nearing the year 2000 is Well, there now seems to be a first-class mail) in North America, all other $55 (air­ giving us a certain psychological ex­ strong sense of the need to move mail). Back issues $4 each with self-addressed envelope. pectancy. Various routes of spiritual Publisher: Marilyn Ferguson beyond words. I've been planning to Managing Editor: Eric Ferguson inquiry are converging: We definitely write about the fourth instinct for 17 Operations Manager: Jason Keehn seem to be arriving at a moment of years, and I worked on it for 10. I Art: Kristin Ferguson, Susanne Ferguson truth. Accounting: June DeWitt finally had to ask myself, How do I live Research: Gregory Wright The first three instincts are wonder­ it? How can I become - and help Copyright 1994 by Interface Press. All rights reserved. No ful in their own right. They become others become-more spiritual? That's part may be reproduced without permission. SEC0N.D corrupted only when we try to make CLASS POSTAGE PAID AT Los Angeles, Calif. why I talked about my own experiences. 90042. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to them stand as substitutes for the As a practical step, I recommended Brain/Mind, Box 42211, Los Angeles, Calif. 90042. _. Brain/ Mind, JuneIJuly 1994 - 3 Commentary: 'The Moving Finger Writes .... ' The Moving Finger writes and!. having writ, moves on . ... The bird of time is on the wing. ... The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit Omar Khayyam's English translator, Edward FitzGeral?, Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, may have put his own stamp on The Rub~iy'at, but surel~ 1D Nor all your Tears wash out a word of it. the most famous lines he caught the spirtt of the PersIan - Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam masterpiece. Sometimes we feel a sense of urgency, yet at other That debate attracted a key supporter, Pierre Cardinal de moments time is flexible, like Dali's wavy clocks, and we Berulle, and the die was cast. seem to have all the time in the world. Still, we experience Ingo also points out that early scientists used the word a certain inexorable movement. G. I. Gurdjieff, who laws metaphorically when speaking of nature; they didn't emerged from the Sufi tradition, called time "The Merci­ mean unalterable principles. (Source: an essay, "The less Heropass." Origins of Scientific 'Laws,' " by Jane Ruby in the Journal When we're the masters of time we say things like of History of Ideas.) "Time is relative." When time masters us we say "Time is Now they tell usl money," and so it is in the mindset of our metered culture. * * * So many dollars per hour, so many dollars per gallon to take And in the meantime, what should ride in over the us just so far in so many minutes. telephone waves but yet another Big Theory. This one has AND THEN AGAIN there's time as evolution, a spiral the curious property of being extremely simple to under­ rather than a cycle, a flux with periodicities and novelty, stand yet powerful enough to accommodate just about any and we remember that "you can't step into the same river paradox you'd care to think about. twice." Irving Dardik, a ,noted heart surgeon, founder of the Even so a triggering event or an act of imagination can Olympics Sports Medicine Council, discovered that he bring yesterday's river to mind so sharply that we can feel could relieve the symptoms of chronic illness in his patients the waters past. Imagination, vision and intuition leap by getting their hearts worked up, then relaxed. While ahead at times, sensing the onrushing current and its exercising they "catch the wave," thus resetting heart­ consequences. rhythms that had been shocked out of phase by physical or Yet even these powers of mind are a part of evolution; mental stress. they alter with time. Dardik's study of electrocardiograms and other wave patterns led him to conclude that matter is only a matter of WHEN EDWARD FITZGERALD'S exquisite translation waves waving. In his own way Dardik paraphrased the became the rage in England in the late 1800's it was great doctrine expressed in many spiritual traditions: The interpreted asa kind of romantic sensualism, even hedon­ solidity of the material world is an illusion. It's all "waves ism. Over the years many Sufis, including the contempor­ waving," some more densely than others. ary master Idries Shah, have pointed out the deeper mean­ Many of Dardik's patients have experienced remarkable ings and subtleties of Omar's evocative verse. comebacks from chronic disease. Dardik cured himself of a Now The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Explained, a post­ serious disease he had endured for 30 years. humous volume by Paramahansa Yogananda (Crystal Seeing the wave-like nature of things, he says, he Clarity, Nevada City, Calif., in press) offers the famous gradually made sense of many concepts he had considered yogi's commentary. In Yogananda's view the Moving far-out- acupuncture, homeopathy, spiritual healing, Finger is cosmic law that governs destiny in both the near-death experiences and psychedelic experiences. macrocosm and the microcosm. In our August and September issues we'll explore both But cosmic law' 'is no irrational tyrant whose judgments Dardik's exercise/rest approach and his wave theory ("The are inflicted mindlessly on a cowering and helpless Great Law of the Universe," Cycles, July). If this be humanity." If we get past our self-pitying, pious egos - if placebo, let's make the most of itl we achieve "soul-consciousness"-higher wisdom prevails over the currents of fate. Saintly acts, he says, "spread out­ * * * ward, like ripples of light, in blessing to all mankind." We reprinted the May special issue about Prigogine's It's interesting to compare this view with a Brain/Mind new work. If you'd like quantities to give to friends, col­ reader's dream about determinism and free will (letter leagues or groups, let us know. Call (213) 223-2500 or (800) from Pondurenga Das, page 4-D). 553-MIND. We also welcome your comments. Mail them to MORE ON DESCARTES and the 'laws': Ingo Swann (see Box 42211, Los Angeles 90042, or fax to (213) 223-2519. page 2-A) passed along a passage from The Encyclopedia * * * of Philosophy, edited by Paul Edwards (MacMillan, 1967). WORTHY OF NOTE: research summaries in the July In November 1626 Descartes was in Paris, where he issue of a chock-full little monthly, Clinical Pearls News distinguished himself in a famous confrontation with ($46 yearly from ITS, 3301 Alta Arden #3, Sacramento Chandous, whose view that science could be founded 95825). Folic acid injections cure such neurological ills as only on probabilities he eloquently attacked, claiming organic brain syndrome, spinal degeneration and psychi­ both that absolute certainty could serve as a basis of atric disorders. . . . A high rate of psychiatric illness was human knowledge and that he himself had a method of found in patients with irritable bowel syndrome .... Anger establishing this basis. may double the risk of heart attack. -M.F. 4 - Brain/ Mind, June/July 1994 Books: Education reililagined in 'The Universal Sch , THE UNIVERSAL SCHOOLHOUSE: critical third, personal growth. Spiritual Awakening Through Edu­ "Personal development interests A few decades from now, peo­ cation by James Moffett ($25 from legislators less than law and busi­ ple will regard the schooling of Jossey-Bass). ness," he asserts. "But without [it] today with revulsion, as astonish­ The Universal Schoolhouse is both a you cannot hope for the enlightened ingly primitive, in the same way lucid critique of the hidebound U.S. electorate that democracy requires, we now deplore the 18th Century education system nor the maturity and self-fulfillment treatment of the mentally ill. Our and a manifesto that make people responsible, nor the successors will not be able to for sweeping development of talent, intellect and understand how citizens dedi­ change, a book social skills that the workplace is cry­ cated to personal liberty and that is resound­ ing for." democracy could have placed ingly pragmatic In Moffett's view, an ever greater learning on a compulsory basis, yet grounded in focus on the individual is the natural such that citizens had to report to the premise that result of the march of human progress, certain buildings every working education is first and educational reformers must take day of their youth in order to be and foremost a this into account. Since America is not bossed about by agents of the journey of the likely to renounce its deep-seated free­ state. spirit. dom of spirit, simply assigning more The very idea of a state com­ The anti-democratic nature of mod­ homework or lengthening the school pelling people to attend schools ern American education is a central day is no path to revitalization. contradicts the foundations of theme for Moffett, one of the country's So what is the answer? To Moffett, modern democracy .... Far from leading educational consultants and it is an education grounded in an creating an enlightened elector­ the author of Storm in the Mountains understanding of "universal learning ate, compUlsory state-set educa­ and Harmonic Learning. He calls on activities":.. witnessing, attuning, ap­ tion has resu,ltec;l in a populace impressive experien.ce as a long-time prenticing, interacting, collaborating, that is currently throwing democ­ teacher of English in high schools and visiting, game-playing, practicing spir­ racy away. a veteran of reform movements since itual disciplines or the arts. - The Universal Schoolhouse the 1960's. His vision of the "universal school­ Speaking in soaring metaphors and house" is multi-faceted. At its essence, cal reform efforts that are already gritty realities with equal ease, Mof­ it will feature a cascade of ever more under way, Moffett expresses opti­ fett says that to reform education we comprehensive "contexts" for the stu­ mism that a system based on appro­ must first come to grips with the forces dent, ranging from the personal to the priate principles will ultimately emerge that have twisted it-government, big trans personal and from the level of the - even if for no greater reason than business, powerful interest groups and individual mind out into wholeness of desperation. the public itself. the cosmos. . Yet the process of "expanding the Much of the book is given over to his It will be philosophically and physi­ learning arena from classroom to com­ sophisticated insider's analysis of the cally flexible, a metaphorical environ­ munity" will necessarily be incre­ problems: big business influencing ment that can be either broad or mental. As a possible bridge between curriculum through educational phil­ intimate. It will base learning on today's system and tomorrow's, he anthropy, the incentives for state legis­ meaning and purpose, revamping the cites a prototype developed in Wis­ lators to cooperate with the federal teaching of math, English, science and consin in partnership with the Ameri­ government's desire for control, the history and elevating the importance can Association for the Advancement fears and pressures that lead schools of the arts. of Science's Project 2061. to graduate students who can't read, It will be a source of unification, In the McFarland model, as it is the political forces that sabotage ex­ imparting relevance by emphasizing known, students ranging across four perimentation. the interconnectedness of disciplines. years in age would be grouped into Moffett says the most public at­ Teachers will be both tutors and coun­ "clusters" of 12. The educational ex­ tempts at reform will fail because they selors, matching learners with their perience would consist of the pursuit are based on faulty premises: resources, routing them within the of individual projects intertwined with • That curriculum should be set by "learning network," coaching within group activities like music, discussion the state. their own specialties. and physical activity. Once adopted, • That schooling's chief purposes Ideally, different learning methods the model's emphasis on decentralized are economic and nationalistic. will be woven into an environment classrooms and exploration beyond • That testing and competition are dedicated to a technique Moffett con­ school walls could - over time - set useful engines of renewal. siders the most powerful of all. He the stage for the "community-wide Instead, we must ask what we really calls it "rippling" - an informal state learning network" that is the universal want from education. In Moffett's in which everyone is at once learning schoolhouse. view, governments have long empha­ about a subject from those with greater We must reimagine education, says sized two of its aims - instilling social experience and transmitting it on to Moffett. The stakes are too high to responsibility and training people for those who know less. let us settle for the status quo. employment - at the expense of a Describing a number of quietly radi- "After all, native curiosity itself Brain/Mind, June/July 1994 - 5 loolhouse'; 'Life and Work'; 'The Commanding Self' most likely represents a.n innate feeling the globe, addresses similar concerns. New Consumer Institute, rates manu­ that we are here to learn," he says. Liebig, a former executive and the facturers, products and supermarket "Suppose growth is the master goal. author of Business Ethics, begins with chains for various environmental quali­ Then the focus of public education and the premise that business, now "the ties. Other chapters cover recyclability, the purpose of life would be one and most pervasive and influential insti­ labeling, household toxicity and how to the same-inner growth for mean­ tution in world society," must take its become a "green" consumer activist. ing .... full share of socio-cultural responsi- lie lie lie "Perhaps we develop ourselves not bility. THE COMMANDING SELF by Id- only because it is the most practical His "merchants of vision," most of ries Shah (Octagon Press, S27). The way to live on Earth but because it is whom have succeeded without becom- latest book from the eminent Sufi how we find out who we really are­ ing famous, clearly agree. Though of writer expands upon the familiar for­ which might be more than we think." widely varying backgrounds and in- mat of his previous works. The usual Moffett's commanding idealism volved in vastly different endeavors, parables and stories alternate with should make any concerned reader they speak and act from a basic set of Shah's responses to illustrativeques­ take heart. -E.F. principles. tions. Instead of expounding a fixed * * * From a freight executive in India to system, he shows up the assumptions an Argentine health -food -company and conditioning that block perception LIFE AND WORK: A Manager's founder to aU. S. businesswoman- of truth. Search for Meaning by James A. turned-teacher, Liebig's visionaries "The commanding self" is a term Autry ($21 from Morrow). tend to promote social progress and used by Sufis to describe the mixture Autry, who retired in 1992 as presi­ environmental protection, to place a of crude emotion and automatism that dent of the Meredith magazine pub­ high value on creativity and spiritual governs much of our thinking and lishing group, follows up on his 1991 purpose and to emphasize ethics and behavior. Shah relates it to the ten­ book Love and Profit with this eloquent personal transformation. dency to set oneself up as an authority new volume of reflections on business "Over a broad expanse of the world, without the necessary capacity to fulfill and its place in our lives. visionary businesswomen and men see the role. He believes the degeneration Like the earlier book, Life and Work similar things occurring regardless of of many past esoteric teachings can be is a stylistic potpourri, consisting of local conditions," Liebig summarizes. ascribed to this condition. essays in the form of letters, brief Beyond the natural unifying forces of . Through his deft use of analogy and notes, straight text and more of Aut- "globalization" and technology, these personal anecdote, Shah helps readers ry's distinctive poetry. . men and women sense that "more ' become aware of their blinders even as Going beyond his 30-year manage­ profound dynamics, at once more they search for wisdom. ment career to find insight into com­ fundamental and more transcendental, lie lie lie passionate leadership, Autry also are at work here." The charter issue of THE ECO· draws on the lessons of his rural In RE·EDUCATING THE CORPOR. PSYCHOLOGY NEWSLETIER (Box childhood, military service and family ATION: Foundations for the Learning : 7487, Berkeley, Calif. 94707; Sl0/three life. The result is an engaging take on Organization ($25 from Of!lneo, 85 issues) features a lead editorial by such disparate subjects as sexual Allen Martin Dr., Essex Junction, Vt. Theodore Roszak on "The Greening of harassment in the workplace, the fu-' 05452), Daniel Tobin says that it is a Psychology." ture of capitalism, business's responsi­ hick of a proper "learning environ- Its purpose: to inspire dialogue from bility to culture and the concept of ment" for employees that blocks the all sides on "the convergence of psy­ quality. revolutions promised by such new chological insight and environmental At bottom, Life and Work is a techniques as Total Quality Manage- concern." Roszak says: "Ecopsychol­ reminder that business, like the rest of ment. ogy is an exciting intellectual chal- life, centers on human values and Drawing on experience as a con- . lenge, but it may be more than that. relationships. Describing what he sees sultant and former high-tech executive, Briefly put, an environmentally based as a new corporate willingness to Tobin reminds business to "invest in definition of 'mental health' could play embrace change, Autry says business people." He offers a detailed blueprint a significant role in our society's search is discovering that creating a dignified for a' 'virtual training organization," for measures of ecologically enlight­ and meaning-oriented work climate is in which learning activities are tied ened policy." the only real path to renewal. directly to company projects and goals. "Morsels of Knowledge, Banquets "Without such an environment, _ E.F. of Ignorance" is an essay in ~hbe mo~t [everything else] is doomed," he as­ * lie lie recent issue of Richard HelD erg s ~erts. "Within such an environment, a THE GREEN SUPERMARKET MUSELETTER (1433 Olivet Road, company can achieve the impossible." SHOPPING GUIDE by John F. Wasik Santa Rosa, Calif. 95401, monthly / MERCHANTS OF VISION: People (Warner, $5.99). Which environmental $15). With eloquence and insight, Bringing New Purpose and Values to claims on supermarket shelves can you . Heinberg scans the history of science to Business by James Liebig ($24.95 from believe? What is the best way to sup­ illustrate how much we don't know. Berrett-Koehler), a colledion of inter­ port ecologically conscious business? Museletteroffers explorations of myth, views arid profiles of some 40 influ­ John Wasik, senior editor for Con- . deep ecology, primitivism, spirituality ential business visionaries from around sumer's Digest and founder of the and cultural renewal. -J.K. 6 - Brain/Mind. June/July 1994

Scientists theorize about tiny brain structures. • • Continued from Page 1 function. It has been assumed by many lcs. Over the years he discovered nu­ researchers that the brain's functions A surprising number of speak­ merous other curious'properties in the can eventually be replicated by com­ ers at Tucson-including some tiny structures, including their un­ puters-so-called artificial intelligence neuroscientists and cognitive canny ability to act in synchrony and (AI). An opposing school of thought, .psychologists - raised the spec­ what appeared to be a surprising which now counts Penrose and Hamer­ ter of relationships between con­ readiness to carry electrical signals. off among its members, holds that sciousness and psi phenomena. As he recounts in the June issue of many of the brain's mechanisms are While it was not a major confer­ Discover, Hameroff eventually came to not replicable because they do not ence theme, several contended suspect that the little bundles were involve straightforward computation. that no theory of consciousness "switches" that helped guide impulses In fact, neural networks and artificial will be complete until it can e.long intricat~ pathways within and intelligence have met with mixed suc- account for ESP, psychokinesis, between cells. This could help explain . cess. Some aspects of mind have been telepathy and other anomalous why the brain has powers far beyond well mimicked; others-those we tend events. what might be predicted solely from to consider uniquely human, such as One of the strongest defenses the switching capacity of neurons. appreciating humor or discerning of psi was made by Mario Var­ Eventually it dawned on him that he beauty-are elusive. voglis of' France's KAOS Insti­ might have stumbled on to nothing "Brains are dynamic systems, not tute. Reporting recent research less than the pathway of consciousness information processors," declared mo­ . involving random-number gener­ - but he had no accompanying theory lecular biologist Walter Freeman of ators, Varvoglis said his and other of consciousness to tether his idea to. the University of California, Berkeley. studies strongly suggest that Meanwhile, Oxford University physi­ He believes that the past two centuries non-local "exchanges" occur be­ cist and mathematician Roger Pen­ of brain research have been riddled tween human beings and other rose was exploring the possibility that with invalid assumptions. people, organisms and mechani­ consciousness relates to quantum me­ "Neuroscientists have drawn heavily cal processes. chanical "coherence" in the brain, as on the physical sciences to provide a "Most contemporary models he proposed in his 1989 book, The Em­ theoretical framework in which to in­ of mental events are based upon peror's New Mind. But he was still terpret their results and observations. 'classical' views of physical and groping for plausible biological struc­ In the process there has been a strong information exchange," he said. tures to accommodate the theory. tendency to attribute the properties of He added that such models Hameroff chanced to read Penrose's physical variables to neural activity. "cannot adequately deal with psi book, and the two eventually met. Many have confused nerve activity phenomena, which involve 'non­ They quickly realized that they might with electric · current.... " local' exchanges between con­ have unknowingly collaborated on a Freeman argued that the concepts of sciousness and external events." breakthrough, and their partnership information storage and processing encouraged Hameroff to organize the used by AI researchers are "meta­ quantum theory points to some new­ conference. phorical and lacking in measurability. that is, holistic-mode of represen­ Though linking the mind to quantum Much of the failure of computational tation." processes is not new, Penrose, Hamer­ neuroscience and AI to simulate bio­ In addition to their other properties, off and others think an understanding logical intelligence can be attributed to some evidence now suggests that of microtubules will lend considerable the confusion of neural activity with microtubules are miniature biological new weight to the idea. information. "resonators" that amplify ultraviolet Penrose speculated that nerve sig­ "The problem remains: How to de­ light. nals underlying consciousness begin in fine neural activity? It is not directly Such a discovery could explain nu­ a quantum mechanical stew so vast observable, and it is not force, energy, merous phenomena surrounding acu­ that it houses countless billions of electric current or a flow of infor­ puncture and healing, which suggest different patterns. The question then mation." that something in the body responds in is how they pass into and through the The view of consciousness as non­ resonance to outside stimulation. Reso­ structure of the brain. computational is disputed even by nance is also a factor in the funda­ "We must look for aspects of brain some quantum physicists. Though he mentally unpredictable behavior of structure where the quantum/classical did express some second thoughts lat~ ensembles of particles (see Brain/ interface has a significant input to in life, for most of his career the late Mind, May). brain action if we are to locate a plausi­ David Bohm maintained that all such Tapes of the Tucson conference are ble site for the non-computable physi­ processes are at least theoretically available from Conference Recording cal action responsible for conscious­ computable. Service, 1308 Gilman St., Berkeley, ness," he told the audience. Finnish physicist Paavo Pylkkanen, Calif. 94706, (800) 647-1110. Enter the neuronal microtubules, a student of Bohm's, noted that new This article is based on contributions "where large-scale quantum coherence interpretations of quantum theory pro­ by biophysicist Scott Hill (profiled in is feasible." vide "a radically new way of character­ April). A bibliography of relevant pub­ The microtubule debate is entwined izing the mind in nature .... The lications is available from Hill at 804 with a central question about brain crucial question here is whether the Sydnor St., Ridgecrest, Calif. 93555. Brain/Mind, June/ July 1994-7 News: the mystery of meditation; antidote to hate MEDITATION: One form of medita­ best predictor of acceptance. tion appears to produce widelr. differ­ In all, subjects who said they knew ent effects in different practItIoners, .an openly gay person - about a third according to an Indian study that illus­ of the sample - had an average score trates meditation's complexity. of 4.08 on a scale of anti-gay attitudes. Shirley Telles and T. Desiraju of the Those without contact averaged 6.96. National Institute of Mental Health Women and young people tended to and Neurosciences in Bangalore found have the most tolerant attitudes, rural that subjects practicing Brahmaku­ political and religious conservatives maris Raja meditation often showed the least. Political conservatives were in Napa Valley found in May that consistent changes in skin response the only group for whom contact therapist Marche Isabella and psychia­ and respiration - but often in opposite seemed to make little difference. trist Richard Rose had falsely im­ directions from each other. Herek and Glunt's study was re­ planted memories of sexual abuse in a Contrary to patterns seen in other ported in the Journal of Sex Research young woman. The woman's father, a meditative techniques, Brahmaku­ 30: 239-244. Herek: Psychology Dept., former top executive at a winery, was maris Raja also consistently caused U.-California, Davis 95616. awarded $500,000 in damages. He had heart rate to increase, rather than to been seeking $8 million. decline. * * * Swayed by the testimony of expert In BR meditation, practitioners fix THE BIBLE AND THE BOTTLE: witnesses, the jury concluded that Isa­ their gaze on a meaningful symbol and Whatever way religion may shape bella had implanted memories of incest imagine a bright, peaceful universal social attitudes, faithful church at­ in the woman after she sought help for force. The findings contrast with pre­ tendance appears linked to one clear depression and eating disorders in vious results for Transcendental, Zen aspect of health: a lower incidence of 1990. The jurors held Rose and West­ and Tantric meditation, which differ in alcoholism. ern Medical Center in Anaheim liable practice and purpose and have gen­ A group headed by Duke University for administering the drug sodium erally been linked to reductions in psychiatrist Harold Koenig found in a amy tal to aid the woman's recollec­ heart rate and respiration. Telles and survey of 2,969 North Carolinians that tions. Desiraju said the results indicate that those who attended church every week The contentious issue of recovered meditation's effects are a function of were the least likely to be alcoholics. memory has been much in the news of both the practice and the individual. Alcohol dependence was somewhat late (see Brain/Mind, April). Describ­ Meanwhile, a second Indian study higher than normal among those who ing the verdict as a "wake-up call," offers a new twist: Meditation may be tended to watch religious TV broad­ one observer said it may spur a search useful for epileptics. K. K. Deepak's casts rather than go to church, sug­ for better ways of identifying and con­ group in New Delhi found that drug­ gesting that the social aspects of church firming molestation. resistant epilepsy patients who prac­ services may be as important as the religious message. * * * ticed mantra (word repetition) medita­ BODILY DEPRESSION: A large­ tion twice daily for a year showed Koenig's group found that main-line scale study has connected depression significant reductions in seizure fre­ and conservative Protestants had the to higher risk of numerous physical quency and duration. lowest overall vulnerability of the six disorders. Telles and Desiraju reported in the groups studied, but the researchers Using data on more than 2,500 sub­ International Journal of Psycho­ did not distinguish between denomin­ jects gathered as part of an earlier physiology 15: 147-152. The second ations that proscribe drinking and National Institute of Mental Health study appeared in Biofeedback and those that do not. Pentecostals had the study, Steven Moldin's group con­ Self-Regulation 19: 25-40. Telles: highest lifetime rates. The other groups firmed a previously noted connection Vivekenanda Kendra Yoga Research examined were Catholic/Greek Ortho­ between serious depression - treated Foundation #9, Appajappa Agrahara, dox, "other" (Jewish, Mormon, etc.) or untreated - and migraine headache. and the unaffiliated. Bangalore 560018, India. Deepak: His team also linked lifetime inci­ Physiology Dept., All India Institute of The findings appeared in Hospital dence of depression to skin infections, Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029. and Community Psychiatry 45: 127- respiratory illness, ulcers, low blood * * * 132. Koenig: Box 3400, Duke Univer­ pressure and diabetes. The links were FAMILIARITY BREEDS ACCEP­ sity Medical Center, Durham, N.C. generally stronger among women. TANCE: Personal acquaintance with 27710. * * * - Moldin's group acknowledged that gays and lesbians leads to a powerful SETBACK FOR RECOVERED their data do not show whether depres- decline in prejudicial attitudes, accord­ MEMORY: In a case with potentially sion generally predates illness or vice/, ing to a study at the University of dramatic repercussions for psycho­ versa. California, Davis. therapy, a California jury has held two The findings were reported in Psy­ Gregory Herek and Eric Glunt found therapists liable for negligence in a chological Medicine 23: 755-761. Mol­ in a survey of 937 adults that although high -profile "recovered memory" din: Psychiatry Dept., Washington anti - gay sentiments remain wide­ case. University School of Medicine, 4940 spread, personal contact was the single Bya 10-2 vote, a superior court jury Children's Place, St. Louis 63110. •

8 - Brain/ Mind, June/ July 1994

New theory. • • Prigogine: 'Not opinion, it's Continued from Page I uncertainty through resonance, Prigo­ gine offers a paradigm with space for proofs'; environment counts the "transient resonance" postulated "It's not a question of opinion," Ilya recent work, which looks at the micro­ by many parapsychologists. (See Com­ Prigogine said recently from his insti- scopic level. (See also Commentary, mentary, page 3.) tute in Brussels. "It's proofs." page 3.) Some readers, including manage­ He acknowledges that the mathe- Prigogine takes issue with the stance ment consultant! artist Jim Channon, matics is challenging. "Any new theory · of Nobel physicist Murray Gell-Mann's saw the new formulation as "a blind­ in physics requires a new mathemat- latest book, The Quark and the Jaguar. ing flash of the obvious"; others were ics. The mathematics is not known to "As I see it, either quantum physics is relieved to see scientific validation of many people." not the final science or the arrow of human experience. His main point may not yet have time is an illusion. Gell-Mann takes "Generally, when I hear about a been stated clearly enough, he said. ' the point of view that the quantum is new scientific theory, my reaction -is "The information we need to predict final- every theory has to satisfy it. 'Wow!'" said Clyde Ford, author of the future is more than a point or a "Quantum mechanics is not final. Where Healing Waters Meet. "This wave-function. It is a probability distri- You have to find a larger theory for was different. When I heard about bution. unstable systems that contain irreversi- "When you have unstable dynamic bility. Prigogine's latest, I experienced a deep sense of relief." systems you need to know the environ- "Too many scientists think science In Ford's view the resonance factor ment. This changes both classical dy- is all but finished and that what is not in Prigogine's model helps explain the namics and quantum theory." " [readily] explained must be taken mysterious connectedness between Proof of the "arrow of time" does away," he said ... A more general split particles in two physics models­ not preclude the existence of time science is needed." Bell's Theorem and the earlier anomalies such as precognition or sub- And as for anomalies of time, "an jective alterations of time. "I was arrow can go more or less rapidly. Einstein -Podolsky -Rosen thought ex­ simply addressing how to include the Many things are possible ..': _ .______periment. , 'I think it will eventually be shown direction of time in the fundamental laws." that this resonance accounts for such Psychic phenomena and alternative I I phenomena as psychokinesis," he said. U pea MIN <;l healing therapies such as homeopathy, Breath of Life and Light Aug. 13-14, New Lebanon, ." At the deepest level we're con- he says, should be examined via "non- N.Y., (518) 794-8095 .... Jung and Creativity intensive . nected." workshop Aug. 12-29, Kusnacht, Switzerland, (408) equilibrium macroscopic non-linear dy- 427-6620 .... Turtle Island Bloregloual Gathering Aug. Rupert Sheldrake, who formulated namics, " a field not addressed by his 14-21 near Louisville, Ky., (317) 636-3977 .... UN Prep the theory of morphic resonance, said Committee for World Summit for Social Development Aug. 22-Sept. 2, NYC, (202) 328-6580. . . . Assn. for he is sure Prigogine "is right in Transpersonal Psychology Conference: Sex, Gender, rejecting the illusion of certainty that As an alert reader pointed out, Spirit Aug. 25-28, Monterey, Calif., (415) 327-2066 .... has held science in thrall for more than Karl Pribram's comment about Dreamwork Seminars Aug. 26-Sept. 1, Carpinteria, Calif., (805) 969-3626. three centuries." the brain and biologists (April) Zen and the Art of Business Sept. 3-5; HoUstlc Neuroscientist Karl Pribram, who paraphrased not Charles de Nursing Sept. 8-11 , RhInebeck, N.Y., (800) 944-1001 Gaulle but another French states­ . . . . UN Conference on Population and Development introduced the holographic model of Sept. 5-13, Cairo, (301) 593-4724 .... Ask Your Angels brain function, said that Prigogine man, Georges Clemenceau (1841· and WUd Women Gathering Sept. 5-10; Heallng Illness has "clarified for me the 'how' of 1929). Our mistake. With the Mind and Compassionate Touch Oct. 3-6, time-symmetry breaking.... As a Cortes Island, B.C., (604) 935-6533. consequence of taking a path, time symmetry is broken." Life and mind involve breaking time symmetry, Pribram pointed out. "Biol­ ogy is about birth, growth, procre­ ind ation and death. Psychology is about P.O. Box 42211 learning and memory, intuition and thought. AU these are time-symmetry Los Angeles, Cain. 90042 breaking processes." Jim Autry, poet and business leader, said that Prigogine' s ideas "bring nothing to mind so much as the poem by James Russell Lowell, 'Once to Every Man and Nation,' which con­ tains a line about how ancient truths . \ take on new meanings. This, it seems to me, is true not only of theology but ATTENTION MAIL ROOM: also of every conventional wisdom in This;s a paid subscription­ the world." ple8se expedite.