About the book "Entangled Minds" by Dean Radin, PhD (taken from www.DeanRadin.com)
One of the most surprising discoveries of modern physics is that
objects aren't as separate as they may seem. When you drill down into
the core of even the most solid-looking material, separateness
dissolves. All that remains, like the smile of the Cheshire Cat from
Alice in Wonderland, are relationships extending curiously throughout
space and time. These connections were predicted by quantum theory and
were called "spooky action at a distance" by Albert Einstein. One of
the founders of quantum theory, Erwin Schrödinger, dubbed this
peculiarity entanglement, saying "I would not call that one but rather the characteristic trait of quantum mechanics."
The deeper reality suggested by the existence of entanglement is so
unlike the world of everyday experience that until recently, many
physicists believed it was interesting only for abstract theoretical
reasons. They accepted that the microscopic world of elementary
particles could become curiously entangled, but those entangled states
were assumed to be fleeting and have no practical consequences for the
world as we experience it. That view is rapidly changing.
Scientists are now finding that there are ways in which
the effects of microscopic entanglements "scale up" into our
macroscopic world. Entangled connections between carefully prepared
atomic-sized objects can persist over many miles. There are theoretical
descriptions showing how tasks can be accomplished by entangled groups
without the members of the group communicating with each other in any
conventional way. Some scientists suggest that the remarkable degree of
coherence displayed in living systems might depend in some fundamental
way on quantum effects like entanglement. Others suggest that conscious
awareness is caused or related in some important way to entangled
particles in the brain. Some even propose that the entire universe is a
single, self-entangled object.
What if these speculations are correct? What would
human experience be like in such an interconnected universe? Would we
occasionally have numinous feelings of connectedness with loved ones at
a distance? Would such experiences evoke a feeling of awe that there's
more to reality than common sense implies? Could "entangled minds"
result in the experience of your hearing the telephone ring and somehow
knowing - instantly - who's calling? If we did have such experiences,
could they be due to real information that somehow bypassed the usual
sensory channels, or are such reports mere delusions? Can psychic or
"psi" experiences be studied by science, or are they beyond the reach
of rational understanding?
These are the questions explored in this book. In a
nutshell, we'll find that there's substantial experimental evidence
indicating that some psi experiences are genuine. We'll also learn that
one reason for persistent scientific skepticism about psi is due to
outdated assumptions about the nature of reality. For centuries,
scientists assumed that everything can be explained by mechanisms
analogous to clockworks. But over the course of the 20th century, we've
learned that this common sense assumption is wrong. When the fabric of
reality is examined very closely, nothing resembling clockworks can be
found. Instead, reality is woven from strange, "holistic" threads that
aren't located precisely in space or time. Tug on a dangling loose end
from this fabric of reality, and the whole cloth twitches, instantly,
throughout all space and time.
Science is at the very earliest stages of understanding
entanglement, and there is much yet to learn. But what we've seen so
far provides a new way of thinking about psi. No longer are psi
experiences regarded as rare human talents, divine gifts, or "powers"
that magically transcend ordinary physical boundaries. Instead, psi
becomes an unavoidable consequence of living in an interconnected,
entangled physical reality. Psi is reframed from a bizarre anomaly that
doesn't fit into the normal world - and hence labeled paranormal - into
a natural phenomenon of physics.
The idea of the universe as an interconnected whole is
not new; for millennia it's been one of the core assumptions of Eastern
philosophies. What is new is that Western science is slowly beginning
to realize that some elements of that ancient lore might be correct. Of
course, adopting a new ontology is not to be taken lightly. When it
comes to serious topics like the nature of reality, it's sensible to
adopt the conservative maxim, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." So
we're obliged to carefully examine whether psi is a real phenomenon. If
the conclusion is positive, then one or more of our previous
assumptions may be broken and we'll need to come up with alternatives.
As we explore the concept of psi as "entangled minds,"
we'll consider examples of psi experiences in life and lab, we'll
review the origins of psi research, we'll explore the results of
thousands of controlled laboratory tests, and we'll debunk skeptical
myths about psi. Then we'll explore the fabric of reality as revealed
by modern physics and see why it's becoming increasingly relevant to
understanding why and how psi exists. At the end, we'll find that the
19th century English poet, Francis Thompson, may have said it best:
All things by immortal power,
Near and Far
Hiddenly
To each other linked are,
That thou canst not stir a flower
Without troubling of a star.