Extraordinary Knowing: Science, Skepticism, and the Inexplicable Powers of the H

Description: Extraordinary Knowing by Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer In an attempt to understand her experience with remote perception and to explore what science has to say about such inexplicable phenomena, Mayer has written a book of profound intrigue and optimism, with far-reaching implications for scientific inquiry. FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description A world-famous psychologist offers a revolutionary guide to understanding, appreciating, and validating inexplicable events and intuitions, elegantly reconciling science with spiritual truth.In 1991, when her daughters rare, hand-carved harp was stolen, Lisby Mayers familiar world of science and rational thinking turned upside down. After the police failed to turn up any leads, a friend suggested she call a dowser-a man who specialized in finding lost objects. With nothing to lose-and almost as a joke-Dr. Mayer agreed. Within two days, and without leaving his Arkansas home, the dowser located the exact California street coordinates where the harp was found.Deeply shaken, yet driven to understand what had happened, Mayer began the fourteen-year journey of discovery that she recounts in this mind-opening, brilliantly readable book. Her first surprise- the dozens of colleagues whod been keeping similar experiences secret for years, fearful of being labeled credulous or crazy.Extraordinary Knowing is an attempt to break through the silence imposed by fear and to explore what science has to say about these and countless other "inexplicable" phenomena. From Sigmund Freuds writings on telepathy to secret CIA experiments on remote viewing, from leading-edge neuroscience to the strange world of quantum physics, Dr. Mayer reveals a wealth of credible and fascinating research into the realm where the mind seems to trump the laws of nature.She does not ask us to believe. Rather she brings us a book of profound intrigue and optimism, with far-reaching implications not just for scientific inquiry but also for the ways we go about living in the world. Author Biography Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer, Ph.D., was an internationally known psychoanalyst, researcher, and clinician, the author of groundbreaking papers on female development, the nature of science, and intuition, and a contributor to Consciousness and Healing, published by the Institute of Noetic Sciences. In addition to her private practice, she was associate clinical professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and also taught at UC Medical Center, San Francisco. She died just after completing Extraordinary Knowing. Table of Contents Foreword by Freeman DysonForeword by Carol Gilligan1. The Harp that Came BackMy Journey Begins2. Going Public with Private KnowingBreaking the Silence3. Disavowing the ExtraordinaryPersonal Cost and Public Consequences4. States of MindKnowing That Doesnt Feel Like Knowing5. Intuitive IntelligenceThe Art and Science of Union6. Starting—and Stopping—the ConversationThe Strange History of Paranormal Research7. Tossing Out MeteoritesScience Fear, and Anxiety8. Nighttime EyesLearning to Live with Paradox Review "Experiencing anew the wonder of someone discovering for the first time that the world is not as it seems is a real treasure. [Mayers] challenge to traditional scientists to take these realms seriously is equally refreshing."—Shift, the Magazine of the Institute of Noetic Sciences"Logic meets ESP in a risky, profound, convincing new book. Extraordinary Knowing offers a revolutionary new way of understanding the world"—O, The Oprah Magazine"A remarkable journey of discovery, bringing together personal experiences and scientific experiments, and uncovering and dissolving taboos. Mayer has a unique ability to combine scholarship and sophistication with freshness and curiosity."—Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D., author of The Presence of the Past and The Sense of Being Stared At"This important, paradigm-shifting book beautifully weaves stories of extraordinary knowing with a challenge to science as we know it: to help us honor and understand the true nature of these experiences."—Andrew Newberg, M.D., author of Why God Wont Go Away"An enthralling account, amazing and convincing. Mayers work holds the promise of enabling a new level of dialogue between realms of science and spirit."—Huston Smith, Ph.D., author of The Worlds Religions"Extraordinary Knowing breaks the seal on the stronghold of the cool, logical intellect. Inside, we find exciting and irrefutable evidence that what we call reality is far more magical and exciting than weve ever dreamed. What a fabulous book!"—Christiane Northrup, M.D., author of Mother-Daughter Wisdom, The Wisdom of Menopause, and Womens Bodies, Womens Wisdom"A fascinating exploration of the mind and of what it might be to be human. Mayer opens up intriguing new vistas for thinking about our deeper connectedness."—Adam Phillips, author of Going Sane and Side Effects"A book to rejoice in. Mayer opens thrilling new possibilities for science and its applications."—Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Healing Words"A fascinating look at the power of non-local awareness to transcend the limits of the linear mind. Dr. Mayer writes with a sense of awe and fierce intelligence."—Judith Orloff, MD., author, Positive Energy"Marvelous…the most exciting and important work Ive seen in a long time. Mayer has courage as well as brilliance."—Louis Sander, M.D., Professor Emeritus, Boston University School of Medicine Long Description In 1991, when her daughters rare, hand-carved harp was stolen, Lisby Mayers familiar world of science and rational thinking turned upside down. After the police failed to turn up any leads, a friend suggested she call a dowser-a man who specialized in finding lost objects. With nothing to lose-and almost as a joke-Dr. Mayer agreed. Within two days, and without leaving his Arkansas home, the dowser located the exact California street coordinates where the harp was found. Deeply shaken, yet driven to understand what had happened, Mayer began the fourteen-year journey of discovery that she recounts in this mind-opening, brilliantly readable book. Her first surprise: the dozens of colleagues whod been keeping similar experiences secret for years, fearful of being labeled credulous or crazy. Extraordinary Knowing is an attempt to break through the silence imposed by fear and to explore what science has to say about these and countless other "inexplicable" phenomena. From Sigmund Freuds writings on telepathy to secret CIA experiments on remote viewing, from leading-edge neuroscience to the strange world of quantum physics, Dr. Mayer reveals a wealth of credible and fascinating research into the realm where the mind seems to trump the laws of nature. She does not ask us to believe. Rather she brings us a book of profound intrigue and optimism, with far-reaching implications not just for scientific inquiry but also for the ways we go about living in the world. "From the Hardcover edition." Review Quote "Logic meets ESP in a risky, profound, convincing new book.Extraordinary Knowingoffers a revolutionary new way of understanding the world"-O, The Oprah Magazine "A remarkable journey of discovery, bringing together personal experiences and scientific experiments, and uncovering and dissolving taboos. Mayer has a unique ability to combine scholarship and sophistication with freshness and curiosity."-Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D., author ofThe Presence of the PastandThe Sense of Being Stared At "This important, paradigm-shifting book beautifully weaves stories of extraordinary knowing with a challenge to science as we know it: to help us honor and understand the true nature of these experiences."-Andrew Newberg, M.D., author ofWhy God Wont Go Away "An enthralling account, amazing and convincing. Mayers work holds the promise of enabling a new level of dialogue between realms of science and spirit."-Huston Smith, Ph.D., author ofThe Worlds Religions "Extraordinary Knowingbreaks the seal on the stronghold of the cool, logical intellect. Inside, we find exciting and irrefutable evidence that what we call reality is far more magical and exciting than weve ever dreamed. What a fabulous book!"-Christiane Northrup, M.D., author ofMother-Daughter Wisdom, The Wisdom of Menopause,andWomens Bodies, Womens Wisdom "A fascinating exploration of the mind and of what it might be to be human. Mayer opens up intriguing new vistas for thinking about our deeper connectedness."-Adam Phillips, author ofGoing SaneandSide Effects "A book to rejoice in. Mayer opens thrilling new possibilities for science and its applications."-Larry Dossey, M.D., author ofHealing Words "A fascinating look at the power of non-local awareness to transcend the limits of the linear mind. Dr. Mayer writes with a sense of awe and fierce intelligence."-Judith Orloff, MD., author,Positive Energy "Marvelous…the most exciting and important work Ive seen in a long time. Mayer has courage as well as brilliance."-Louis Sander, M.D., Professor Emeritus, Boston University School of Medicine From the Hardcover edition. Excerpt from Book Chapter One The Harp That Came Back: My Journey Begins In December of 1991, my daughters harp was stolen; we got it back. But it came back in a way that irrevocably changed my familiar world of science and rational thinking. It changed the way I go about living in that world. It changed the way I perceive the world and try to make sense out of it. This book is about what unfolded as I attempted to explain what happened. I encountered questions: huge and disconcerting questions about the world as we know it. They held radical import not just for science but for the ways we live our everyday lives. This is a book about those questions and some of the surprising answers I encountered along the way. In 1991 I was teaching in the psychology department of the University of California at Berkeley and at the University Medical Center in San Francisco. I was doing research on female development and seeing patients in my psychoanalysis practice. I was a member of numerous professional associations, doing committee work, attending international meetings, functioning on editorial boards, and lecturing all over the country. I was a training and supervising analyst in the American Psychoanalytic Association. I was busy and fulfilled, and life was running along the way it does. My eleven-year-old daughter, Meg, whod fallen in love with the harp at age six, had begun performing. She wasnt playing a classical pedal harp but a smaller, extremely valuable instrument built and carved by a master harp maker. After a Christmas concert, her harp was stolen from the theater where she was playing. For two months we went through every conceivable channel trying to locate it: the police, instrument dealers across the country, the American Harp Society newsletters--even a CBS TV news story. Nothing worked. Finally, a wise and devoted friend told me, "If you really want that harp back, you should be willing to try anything. Try calling a dowser." The only thing I knew about dowsers were that they were that strange breed who locate underground water with forked sticks. But according to my friend, the "really good" dowsers can locate not just water but lost objects as well. Finding lost objects with forked sticks? Well, nothing was happening on the police front, and my daughter, spoiled by several years of playing an extraordinary instrument, had found the series of commercial harps wed rented simply unplayable. So, half-embarrassed but desperate, I decided to take my friends dare. I asked her if she could locate a really good dowser--the best, I said. She promptly called the American Society of Dowsers and came back with the phone number of the societys current president: Harold McCoy, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. I called him that day. Harold picked up the phone--friendly, cheerful, heavy Arkansas accent. I told him Id heard he could dowse for lost objects and that Id had a valuable harp stolen in Oakland, California. Could he help locate it? "Give me a second," he said. "Ill tell you if its still in Oakland." He paused, then: "Well, its still there. Send me a street map of Oakland and Ill locate that harp for you." Skeptical--but what, after all, did I have to lose?--I promptly overnighted him a map. Two days later, he called back. "Well, I got that harp located," he said. "Its in the second house on the right on D-- Street, just off L-- Avenue." Id never heard of either street. But I did like the sound of the mans voice--whoever he was. And I dont like backing down on a dare. Why not drive to the house hed identified? At least Id get the address. I looked on an Oakland map and found the neighborhood. It was miles from anywhere Id ever been. I got in my car, drove into Oakland, located the house, wrote down the number, called the police, and told them Id gotten a tip that the harp might be at that house. Not good enough for a search warrant, they said. They were going to close the case--there was no way this unique, portable, and highly marketable item hadnt already been sold; it was gone forever. But I found I couldnt quite let it go. Was it the dare? Was it my admiration for the friend whod instigated the whole thing? Was it my devastated daughter? Or was it just that I had genuinely liked the sound of that voice on the other end of the line? I decided to post flyers in a two-block area around the house, offering a reward for the harps return. It was a crazy idea, but why not? I put up flyers in those two blocks, and only those two blocks. I was embarrassed enough about what I was doing to tell just a couple of close friends about it. Three days later, my phone rang. A mans voice told me hed seen a flyer outside his house describing a stolen harp. He said it was exactly the harp his next-door neighbor had recently obtained and showed him. He wouldnt give me his name or number, but offered to get the harp returned to me. And two weeks later, after a series of circuitous telephone calls, he told me to meet a teenage boy at 10:00 p.m., in the rear parking lot of an all-night Safeway. I arrived to find a young man loitering in the lot. He looked at me, and said, "The harp?" I nodded. Within minutes, the harp was in the back of my station wagon and I drove off. Twenty-five minutes later, as I turned into my driveway, I had the thought, This changes everything. I was right. The harp changed how I work as a clinician and psychoanalyst. It changed the nature of the research I pursued. It changed my sense of whats ordinary and whats extraordinary. Most of all, it changed my relatively established, relatively contented, relatively secure sense of how the world adds up. If Harold McCoy did what he appeared to have done, I had to face the fact that my notions of space, time, reality, and the nature of the human mind were stunningly inadequate. Disturbing as that recognition was, there was something intriguing, even exciting, about it as well. Over the ensuing months I spent a lot of sleepless nights. I argued with myself a lot. I regularly woke up at 3:00 a.m. certain that with just a little more effort, a little more clear thinking, Id come up with some comfortably rational way to explain how that harp had ended up back in my living room where it belonged. Finally a friend of mine, a statistics professor at Berkeley, listened to my conflicted ranting and said in exasperation, "Get over it and get some sleep, Lisby. As a statistician, I can promise you the odds that dowsing works are a lot greater than the odds that this could have been coincidence." I decided it was time to consider what it might mean if I started taking the whole thing seriously. What if , I began wondering. What if I stopped trying to explain it all away but instead tried to consider how on earth a dowser, over the phone and from two thousand miles away, could pinpoint the exact location of my stolen harp within the vast metropolitan San Francisco Bay Area? I began to look into the scientific evidence for dowsing. That quickly led to reports from some very respectable scientific minds about all kinds of other, possibly related anomalous phenomena. I was discovering a vast, strange new territory of research regarding anomalous mind-matter interactions--interactions between mind and matter that simply cannot be contained inside what we call normal science. Of course, I also discovered that the world of anomalous mind-matter interactions is filled with shoddy research, flaky research, and research based on questions that are neither particularly interesting nor rooted in a solid grasp of science, scientific method, or scientific thinking. Yet as I delved more deeply, what most impressed me was the significant bank of well-conducted, scientifically impeccable research that imposes enormous questions on anyone interested in making sense of the world from a Western scientific point of view. I began to wonder, why had so much of this excellent research been overlooked, its conclusions dismissed? Weeks after Id published my first tentative foray into exploring mind-matter anomalies, a physician I barely knew came up to me at a professional meeting. Hed read my article and wanted to tell me something. The story poured out. Hed been diagnosed twenty years earlier with fatal bone cancer and had become deeply depressed. As a marathon runner, hed found relief from despair only while he ran. Early one morning, two hours into his run, hed been suddenly overcome by what he described as "a sensation of light--clear, soft light, as though light was filling my bones, as though light and air were infusing each bone. I saw it--light penetrating those bones, right through to the marrow." The next week his X-rays were clean. "Ive never told another colleague," he said. "I told my wife when it happened--no one else. And this part I didnt tell anyone: I know thats what cured me. The light crowded out the cancer cells. I dont know how, but I know it did." As word of my new interest spread, my medical and psychoanalytic colleagues began to inundate me with accounts of their own anomalous experiences, personal as well as clinical. As with the physician, the stories they shared with me were often ones theyd never revealed to another professional associate. Their accounts--by e-mail, snail mail, at conferences, in seminars, in hall corridors or at dinner--made as little sense to me as they did to the colleagues telling me about them. The stories were all about knowing things in bizarrely inexplicable ways: "My patient walked in and I knew her mother had died--no clues--I just k Details ISBN0553382233 Author Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer Short Title EXTRAORDINARY KNOWING Language English ISBN-10 0553382233 ISBN-13 9780553382235 Media Book Format Paperback DEWEY 133.8 Year 2008 Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States DOI 10.1604/9780553382235 UK Release Date 2008-02-26 AU Release Date 2008-02-26 NZ Release Date 2008-02-26 US Release Date 2008-02-26 Subtitle Science, Skepticism, and the Inexplicable Powers of the Human Mind Birth 1930 Affiliation Oxford University Position Author Qualifications BA, MED Pages 320 Publisher Random House USA Inc Publication Date 2008-02-26 Imprint Bantam Dell Publishing Group, Div of Random House, Inc Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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