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The Consciousness Presentation Series, presented by the brand-new Science of Self Club, starts off with a colloquim on August 2nd. This event will bring together researchers from the University of New Haven (CT) Paranormal Investigations and Research Organization, Pennsylvania State University Paranormal Research Society, the International Academy of Conscientiology - Miami, the Monroe Institute (VA), and the International Association on Near-Death Studies (Panama City). The fundamental aim is to shine light on recent breakthroughs and to stimulate healthy debate on the studies and their possible earth-shattering implications in other fields of physical and social science, spirituality, and hotly debated current issues (e.g. artificial intelligence, cloning, alternative medicine, abortion, teen suicide, racism, criminal justice, spiritual well-being, ethics, military intelligence, missing individual searches).
Tens of surveys in different countries throughout the world indicate that 8 to 20% (10% overall estimate) of individuals report having at least one out-of-body experience in their lifetime. On December 15, 2001, the highly respected international medical journal, The Lancet, published a 13-year study of Near Death Experiences (NDEs) observed in 10 different Dutch hospitals. In one of very few NDE studies to be conducted prospectively, meaning that a large group of people experiencing cessation of their heart and/or breathing function were resuscitated during a fixed period of time, 18% of the patients reported NDEs.
The American Psychology Association recently published Varieties of Anomalous Experience, a move towards taking the more rigorous, scientific parapsychological studies more seriously. Laboratorial instrumentation clearly show the change in consciousness states (observed through brain-wave activity) induced with the help of the sound-based Hemi-Synch process, which could have important clinical applications.
This medley of consciousness-related subjects should appeal to individuals curious about more scientific studies on anomalous phenomena and altered states of consciousness (the interest is clearly strong with a wealth of popular paranormal thrillers, TV, radio shows; informal surveying at UF); psychology (esp. clinical and cognitive) and health industry (Shands Hospital, Center for Spirituality and Health, Brain Institute). This event has the potential to generate some of the most lively discussions this summer as it covers non-conventional but scientifically-sound research on an epistemologically-challenging, controvertial subject: "what is the consciousness (what are we)?", the age-old "hard question" of both science and spirituality.
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