This from philosopher Christian de Quincey, anent Rupert Sheldrake’s censored TEDx talk.
For what it’s worth, Yeats in his old age speculated that there is something in the nature of the times (any given times) that makes certain people unable to entertain certain categories of thought. I suspect that is true. We’re not nearly as free to think our own thoughts as we think we are. I don’t think i could become a physicalist (materialist) if i wanted to. It just strikes me as a superstition.
http://www.christiandequincey.com/?p=2050
‘TED’ Sparks Paradigm War
Internet video site TED has removed presentations by biologist Rupert Sheldrakeand historian Graham Hancock because—according to TED—their ideas are “pseudoscience.”
What does this mean?
Well, simply, it means that one of the leading Internet sites for sharing intellectual ideas has shut out views that challenge deep-rooted dogmas of modern science—a decidedly unscientific act. It means the folks at TED buy into mainstream scientific materialism as the last word on what is “real” or “ideas worth spreading.”
So, what happened?
The TED organizers have decided
[Etc]
“I come to thank TED, not to praise them …”
I’ve followed Rupert Sheldrake’s work for years; he’s not always ‘right’ but usually worth listening to. Now we know TED, while sometime worth listening to is not always right. But they do deserve thanks for ‘fostering’ this dialog, even if unintended, then very reluctantly.
The TED blog page giving the rebuttal from Sheldrake and Hancock to the TED boards ‘reasons’ for pulling the videos is very revealing (http://blog.ted.com/2013/03/14/open-for-discussion-graham-hancock-and-rupert-sheldrake/). The simplistic, puerile, relatively meaningless and often misleading reasons given show an entrenched ‘scientific’ establishment scrabbling to hold on.
Sheldrake and Hancock will not be proven right; the (presently) unknown areas they point to are too big and complicated for that. But more and more people (and scientists) are seeing that the materialist scientific mainstream has no answers either, and at the same time pretends the questions are not there. The repost by TED (http://blog.ted.com/2013/03/18/graham-hancock-and-rupert-sheldrake-a-fresh-take/) shows a slight movement; stay tuned for more to come!
Jim
Wondering why there is no link to the rest of this entry and hoping that is added soon.
You should have been able to get the rest of it by clicking on the following link. Try copying it and pasting it into your browser.
http://www.christiandequincey.com/?p=2050
Just finished listening to your interview with Miriam Knight on New Conscious Radio. I don’t yet know if I’d put you in the “fruits and nuts” bin, but willing to suspend judgement based on a feeling that I get that “you may have something.” Thanks for being so genuine and unafraid to say what know. I’m on a new path and dazzled by so many interesting ideas. Can’t wait to retire and devote my energies to being a fruit or nut.