Rather than being confined to the insides of our heads, our minds seem to extend out beyond our brains both through attention and intention, and underlie the sense of being stared at, or scopaesthesia, and many so-called psychic phenomena. They also extend beyond our brain in spiritual experiences, linking us to more inclusive forms of consciousness than our own. Rupert Sheldrake will summarize some of the experimental evidence for extended minds in humans and in non-human animals, discuss the evolution of minds beyond brains, and explore some of the scientific, personal and spiritual implications.

Dr Rupert Sheldrake is a biologist and author of more than a hundred technical papers and nine books, including The Science Delusion and Science and Spiritual Practices. As a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, he was Director of Studies in Cell Biology, and was also a Research Fellow of the Royal Society. He worked in Hyderabad, India, as Principal Plant Physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and also lived for two years in the ashram of Fr Bede Griffiths in Tamil Nadu. From 2005-2010, he was Director of the Perrott-Warrick Project for the study of unexplained human and animal abilities, funded by Trinity College, Cambridge. He is currently a Fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Petaluma, California and of Schumacher College in Dartington, Devon. He lives in London and is married to Jill Purce, with whom he has two sons. His web site is www.sheldrake.org.

Registrations are closed

Extended Minds