Harris's "Mature Science of The Mind."
Offline Something that caught my attention in Sam Harris's "The End of Faith" was its divergence from the stark scientific asceticism of atheists like Richard Dawkins. Harris, having spent time on meditative retreats, is an advocate of meditation, and admirer of eastern contemplatives. Their writings, he says, reflect a systematic approach, and he views theirs as genuine metaphysical advances.
I've read criticisms of Harris, suggesting he's either being hypocritical to his atheist label, or trying to massage the atheist message into something more palatable and less sterile to the general public. Having dabbled in meditation, Chi Gong, Tai Chi, Yoga, astral projection, telekinetics, lucid dreams, skrying, and ESP (and casually studying things like the "Russian Sleep Machine" and Burroughs's "Dream Machine" ), I'm definitely interested in the "mature science of the mind" eluded to in Harris's work.
I get the impression that this is the pretension aspired to by those drawn to the Scientology cult, which couches its gobbledegook in jargon and electronic gimmickry. So desperate for "scientific" alternatives to religious superstition (forgetting about OT-VIII, and high-level Scientology) have people been, groups have splintered from the main COS, to practice these techniques without the politics and solicitations of the church establishment.
I would guess that Harris's approach would blend comtemplative techniques with some kind of neurological observation, to better understand, and more consistently reproduce, altered states of consciousness.
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Well, I'm not sure I see a question, so I'll assume you're just making an observation.
Although I've never found much of a need for meditative practice, I don't see why atheists couldn't study the mind and learn ways to focus, and perhaps even to ellicit the chemical changes that produce "religious experiences" if it's something they're into.
I suspect I'm a bit like Dawkins in neurological makeup. When they tried to give him a religious experience with electrodes, nothing happened. I would guess he's not susceptible to hypnosis, either. Speaking of hypnosis, as long as science calls itself science, and pseudoscience doesn't ask for higher status, I'm cool with it.
Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin
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I envision a number of states attainable by a "mature science of the mind." Some people could be drawn to the idea of replicating religious experiences, narcotic euphoria, shorter and more restful sleep patterns. Imagine flipping a switch, or using a proven technique, and being able to tap into your most focused state of concentration.
I do a certain amount of meditation (not as much as I used to), and don't relate it to anything related to the supernatural. I wouldn't say they are intrinsically associated, I see it more as a form of exploring and diciplining the mind. While I've had many strange experiences, they've led me to the opposite conclusions that theists or mystics reach. I came to these realizations by simply going farther and getting past the illusions, which is something that many Zen practitioners talk about as well. The point being that there's really no reason to associate it with theism or mysticism in any way.
There is a neuro-scientist from MIT that studied the effects of meditation and altered states of consciousness in the brain, and wrote the book "Zen and the Brain". It's very heavy reading in parts, but fascinating. Maybe someday I'll have the time to finish it; unfortunately it's not the kind of book that you really relax with unless, perhpas, you already have a background in neuroscience.
I would agree that the recently de-converted that feel the need for such things as "spirituality" may find benefit, and do not need mysticism or mythology, in any way, to satisfy it. I have little inclination to do so myself, but I would certainly rather see a secular form of meditation based on science promoted than religion or mysticism. It could well help some to be willing to de-convert, and may help the transition. I certainly don't see any issue with Harris promoting it.
It seems that out-of-body experiences can be scientifically reproduced. Article and thread here.
It's fascinating stuff!
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