THE THEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RELATIONS OF FREEDOM AND TIME IN THE SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES: AN EVALUATION OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF DAVID BOHM AND PAULI PYLKKÖ by Michael F. Younker Adviser: Martin Hanna ABSTRACT OF GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCHOF GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH

/pdf/the-theological-significance-of-the-relations-of-freedom-and-l90h43ysi7.pdf

Quantum Questions: Mystical Writings of the World's Great Physicists

The Theological Significance of the Relations of Freedom and Time in the Sciences and Humanities: An Evaluation of the Contributions of David Bohm and Pauli Pylkko

On Good Friday, 1962, before services commenced in Boston University's Marsh Chapel, Walter Pahnke administered small capsules to twenty Protestant divinity students. Thus began the most scientific experiment in the literature designed to investigate the potential of psychedelic drugs to facilitate mystical experience (Pahnke, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1970; Pahnke & Richards, 1969a, 1969b, 1969c). Half the capsules contained psilocybin (30mg), an extract of psychoactive mushrooms, and the other half contained a placebo. According to Pahnke, the experiment determined that "the persons who received psilocybin experienced to a greater extent than did the controls the phenomena described by our typology of mysticism" (Pahnke, 1963, p. 220).

/pdf/pahnke-s-good-friday-experiment-a-long-term-follow-up-and-4p1gc6tqbc.pdf

Pahnke's "good friday experiment' a long-term follow-up and methodological critique

In this chapter, Manulani Aluli-Meyer propounds “the triangulation of meaning” or “holographic epistemology” as an indigenous Hawaiian way of knowing while challenging the 
dominant research worldview based on the Newtonian notion of space. For Aluli-Meyer, the 
triangulation of meaning (i.e., the integration of the body, the mind, and the spirit) recognizes 
(1) the significance of spirituality in knowing, (2) a deep relationship with space as it feeds us and 
shapes our consciousness, (3) a reliance on our uniquely experienced cultural nature of the senses 
to expand our idea of empiricism, (4) the primacy of human relationships because knowledge is 
a product of interaction and dialogue with others, (5) the purposefulness of knowing, namely, to 
heal, to bring together, to challenge, to surprise, to encourage, or to expand our awareness, (6) a 
critical self-reflection with a keen awareness of the consequences of language, and (7) the wholeness or the union of the body and the mind in engaging with deeper reality. Like Sarah Amira de 
la Garza (Chapter 10), Aluli-Meyer calls attention to the spiritual dimension of knowing and the 
unbreakable relationship between humans and nature (land, space, etc.), which are often absent 
in Eurocentric research methodologies.

background

Indigenous and Authentic: Hawaiian Epistemology and the Triangulation of Meaning

In this article I aim to broaden and deepen the evolution of consciousness discourse by integrating the integral theoretic narratives of Rudolf Steiner, Jean Gebser, and Ken Wilber, who each point to the emergence of new ways of thinking that could address the complex, critical challenges of our planetary moment. I undertake a wide scan of the evolution discourse, noting it is dominantly limited to biology-based notions of human origins that are grounded in scientific materialism. I then broaden the discourse by introducing integral evolutionary theories using a transdisciplinary epistemology to work between, across and beyond diverse disciplines. I note the conceptual breadth of Wilber's integral evolutionary narrative in transcending both scientism and epistemological isolationism. I also draw attention to some limitations of Wilber's integral project, notably his undervaluing of Gebser's actual text, and the substantial omission of the pioneering contribution of Steiner, who, as early as 1904 wrote extensively about the evolution of consciousness, including the imminent emergence of a new stage. I enact a deepening of integral evolutionary theory by honoring the significant yet undervalued theoretic components of participation/enactment and aesthetics/artistry via Steiner and Gebser, as a complement to Wilber. To this end, I undertake an in-depth hermeneutic dialogue between their writings utilizing theoretic bricolage, a multi-mode methodology that weaves between and within diverse and overlapping perspectives. The hermeneutic methodology emphasizes interpretive textual analysis with the aim of deepening understanding of the individual works and the relationships among them. This analysis is embedded in an epic but pluralistic narrative that spans the entire human story through various previous movements of consciousness, arriving at a new emergence at the present time. I also discuss the relationship between these narratives and contemporary academic literature, culminating in a substantial consideration of research that identifies and/or enacts new stage(s) or movements of consciousness. In particular, I highlight the extensive adult developmental psychology research that identifies several stages of postformal thinking, and recent critical, ecological and philosophical literature that identifies an emerging planetary consciousness. In summary, my research reveals an interpretation of scientific and other evidence that points beyond the formal, modernist worldview to an emerging postformal-integral-planetary consciousness. I posit that a broader academic consideration of such an integration of integral theoretic narratives could potentially broaden the general evolution discourse beyond its current biological bias. The article concludes with a rewinding of narrative threads, reflecting on the narrators, the journey, and the language of the discourse. Appendixes A and B explore the theoretical implications of the emergence of postformal-integral-planetary consciousness for a reframing of modernist conceptions of time and space. Appendix C holds an aesthetic lens to the evolution of consciousness through examples from the genealogy of writing.

Additional excerpts

http://integral-review.org/documents/Gidley,%20Evolution%20of%20Consciousness%20as%20Planetary%20Imperative%205,%202007.pdf

The Evolution of Consciousness as a Planetary Imperative: An Integration of Integral Views

Climate change is recognized as an urgent societal problem with widespread implications for both natural and human systems, and transforming society at the rate and scale that is mandated by the 2015 Paris Agreement remains a major challenge. Do we need to be open to new paradigms for social change? In this opinion piece, I draw attention to the emerging field of quantum social theory and consider its implications for climate change responses. Quantum social theory considers how concepts, methods and understandings from quantum physics relate to societal issues, and it provides a physically based, holistic perspective on conscious and intentional transformations to sustainability. It is distinct from other social theories in that it raises deep metaphysical and ontological questions about what is really real. I explore the methodological, metaphorical and meaningful significance of quantum social theory for understandings of social change. Quantum concepts such as entanglement, complementarity, uncertainty, and superposition provide a strong basis for recognizing and promoting people as the solution to climate change.



For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.

Quantum Questions: Mystical Writings of the World's Great Physicists

Citations

The Theological Significance of the Relations of Freedom and Time in the Sciences and Humanities: An Evaluation of the Contributions of David Bohm and Pauli Pylkko

Pahnke's "good friday experiment' a long-term follow-up and methodological critique

Indigenous and Authentic: Hawaiian Epistemology and the Triangulation of Meaning

The Evolution of Consciousness as a Planetary Imperative: An Integration of Integral Views

Climate change and social transformations: is it time for a quantum leap?

Related Papers (5)

A Brief History of Everything

A new science of life : the hypothesis of formative causation

Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution

Wholeness and the Implicate Order

The Tao of Physics