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Measuring the Immeasurable: The Scientific Case for Spirituality
Can your thoughts heal another person, even from across the globe? Does meditation create "superhuman" levels of perception? Can prayer and intention actually affect reality?
A few decades ago, scientists would have dismissed such ideas as superstition. Today, a growing body of persuasive research has turned many skeptics into believers when it comes to the power of spirituality. Measuring the Immeasurable brings together some of the most prominent authorities on the new frontier where science and spirit intersect,
Bruce H. Lipton ( The Biology of Belief ) on the science of epigenetics, and how consciousness shapes our health, genetics, and evolution
• Lynne McTaggart ( The Field ) with the latest findings on the power of mind over matter from her ongoing "Intention Experiment"
• Gregg Braden ( The Divine Matrix and The God Code ) on how how prayer and intention can affect events on a global scale
• Gary Small ( The Longevity Bible ) on lifestyle changes that improve brain function
• Daniel Goleman ( Social Intelligence ) on the "brain’s melody" and our moment-to-moment perceptions
• Candace Pert ( Molecules of Emotion ) on the intimate relationship between mind and body
• Thought-provoking articles from other modern luminaries, including Peter Russell, Larry Dossey, Andrew Newberg, Dean Radin, Suzanne C. Segerstrom, Jeanne Achterberg, Marilyn Schlitz, Peter Levine , and more
As we use the methods of science to examine spiritual practices such as meditation, yoga, and energy healing, not only do we see evidence for the tangible benefits of these "technologies of the mind," but we are also beginning to illuminate the missing links in our understanding of evolution, physics, and our role in the universe.
Filled with leading-edge research, startling discoveries, and the breakthrough ideas of some of today’s most innovative thinkers, Measuring the Immeasurable is an invaluable resource for exploring the mysteries of the quantum age―and what this new science will mean for your life.
Winner of the 2009 Nautilus Award
A few decades ago, scientists would have dismissed such ideas as superstition. Today, a growing body of persuasive research has turned many skeptics into believers when it comes to the power of spirituality. Measuring the Immeasurable brings together some of the most prominent authorities on the new frontier where science and spirit intersect,
Bruce H. Lipton ( The Biology of Belief ) on the science of epigenetics, and how consciousness shapes our health, genetics, and evolution
• Lynne McTaggart ( The Field ) with the latest findings on the power of mind over matter from her ongoing "Intention Experiment"
• Gregg Braden ( The Divine Matrix and The God Code ) on how how prayer and intention can affect events on a global scale
• Gary Small ( The Longevity Bible ) on lifestyle changes that improve brain function
• Daniel Goleman ( Social Intelligence ) on the "brain’s melody" and our moment-to-moment perceptions
• Candace Pert ( Molecules of Emotion ) on the intimate relationship between mind and body
• Thought-provoking articles from other modern luminaries, including Peter Russell, Larry Dossey, Andrew Newberg, Dean Radin, Suzanne C. Segerstrom, Jeanne Achterberg, Marilyn Schlitz, Peter Levine , and more
As we use the methods of science to examine spiritual practices such as meditation, yoga, and energy healing, not only do we see evidence for the tangible benefits of these "technologies of the mind," but we are also beginning to illuminate the missing links in our understanding of evolution, physics, and our role in the universe.
Filled with leading-edge research, startling discoveries, and the breakthrough ideas of some of today’s most innovative thinkers, Measuring the Immeasurable is an invaluable resource for exploring the mysteries of the quantum age―and what this new science will mean for your life.
Winner of the 2009 Nautilus Award
- GenresPsychology
568 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2008
14 people are currently reading
205 people want to read
About the author
Daniel Goleman
386 books5,475 followersAuthor of Emotional Intelligence and psychologist Daniel Goleman has transformed the way the world educates children, relates to family and friends, and conducts business. The Wall Street Journal ranked him one of the 10 most influential business thinkers.
Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence was on The New York Times best sellers list for a year-and-a-half. Named one of the 25 "Most Influential Business Management Books" by TIME, it has been translated into 40 languages. The Harvard Business Review called emotional intelligence (EI) “a revolutionary, paradigm-shattering idea.”
Goleman’s new book, Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, argues that attention — a fundamental mental ability for success — has come under siege. Leadership that gets results demands a triple focus: on our inner world so we can manage ourselves; on others, for our relationships; and on the outer forces that shape our organizations and society itself.
His more recent books include The Brain and Emotional Intelligence, and Leadership: The Power of Emotional Intelligence - Selected Writings.
Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence was on The New York Times best sellers list for a year-and-a-half. Named one of the 25 "Most Influential Business Management Books" by TIME, it has been translated into 40 languages. The Harvard Business Review called emotional intelligence (EI) “a revolutionary, paradigm-shattering idea.”
Goleman’s new book, Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence, argues that attention — a fundamental mental ability for success — has come under siege. Leadership that gets results demands a triple focus: on our inner world so we can manage ourselves; on others, for our relationships; and on the outer forces that shape our organizations and society itself.
His more recent books include The Brain and Emotional Intelligence, and Leadership: The Power of Emotional Intelligence - Selected Writings.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 20, 2008
Not exactly an easy and fun read. Very interesting, but lots of scientific jargon and details on experiments, which pretty much all say "maybe it works, maybe it doesn't". I think I'll just stick with faith, it works, I don't really care how or whether it's proven or not, but I did enjoy reading about the methods being employed for exploration into spirituality.
March 21, 2015
Tami Simon, in her introduction, sets the stage for this landmark compilation, as follows:
“Why is Sounds True publishing this book? Why do we need to measure the benefits of spirituality, if they are so clear to those who seek the truth through direct experience?
…As a society, we value what we can count. Without qualitative proof that a system or practice offers benefits, it’s an uphill battle toward social acceptance….….many people on the spiritual path may draw strength and validation from having their subjective experience confirmed by objective tools of science…..moreover, what if research- the specifically the emerging field of neuroscience – can help spiritual practitioners refine and hone the way we approach traditional contemplative practices?
This book introduces the reader to this new field of scientific inquiry through the writings of forty-three different scientific researchers, journalists, healers and visionaries. Our hope is that it furthers the dialogue in this important new area of inquiry, utilizing the best of our scientific understanding of what matters most- our moment-to-moment connection with each other and the wholeness of life.’’
The following nuggets stand out for me in living up to that intention:
1. Candace Pert’s ‘molecules of emotion’ which impact memory, learning and identity and can be ‘used’ to alter pain thresholds. ‘Change your mind and change your pain’ is a more helpful aphorism than ‘No pain, no gain’.
2. Dean Radin’s suggestion of quantum entanglement as a macro-level hypothesis for non-local, paranormal and psi-type events, supported by Jeanne Achtenberg’s endorsement of DHI/ DI (Distant Healing Intentionality) as ‘the putative connection in the absence of mechanisms of sensory contact’ , testified by EDA observational research (electro-dermal activity).
3. Dan Siegel’s ‘triangle of human experience’ involving the mind (a process that regulates the flow of energy and information), the brain (the distributed nervous wiring and neuronal firing patterns) and relationships ( sharing information and energy with others) interconnected in a tri-directional flow, and the C.O.A.L approach of here-and-now experience (curiosity, openness, acceptance and love).
4. Peter Levine’s four pathways of radical opening – Meditation, Sex, Death and Trauma, supported adequately by the homoeostasis of the ANS between the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches. Which, as per Andrew Newberg could lead to the mystical experience of ‘active bliss’ due to the simultaneous sense of arousal and quiescence.
5. Emmons / Diener’s AIM model of gratitude – attention is noticing and becoming aware of blessings that we normally take for granted, interpretation is the conscious decision to see contributions instead of curses, and memory is used for reinforcement of what the heart remembers as a recipient of benevolence.
6. Bruce Lipton’s reminder that as an information processor, the subconscious mind is a million times more powerful than the self-conscious mind, and is responsible for 95-99% of our cognitive activity including decisions, actions, emotions and behaviors. And the possibility of our rewriting these auto-pilot programs through energy psychology and contemplative practice.
7. James H. Austin’s distinctions and inter-operative dynamics of our two attention systems – the dorsal attention system for top-down attention and the ventral attention system for bottom-up attention. And our two processing streams – the ego-centric, self-relational stream and the allocentric other-relational stream. Leading to a neuro-scientific appreciation of what Buddhist meditators call the Kensho – a state of selfless insight and wisdom.
8. Biofeedback techniques for generating Open-Focus attention and phase-synchronous alpha states by Les Fehmi, best induced by ‘objectless imagery’ – the multi-sensory experience of space, nothingness or absence, such as imagining the space between one’s eyes or ears.
9. The astonishing description by Jim Robbins of the Low Energy Neuro-feedback System (LENS) pioneered by Len Ochs which uses a kind of dis-entrainment therapy for treating intractable disorders like fibromyalgia, PTSD, insomnia, ADHD, Asperger’s, autism etc. with incredible speed and efficiency. The stimulation to the brain is just off the dominant frequency which breaks up existing neuronal patterns and resets them. In essence, the brain is nudged out of its default frequency, or moved ‘out of its parking lot’. Ochs thinks the subtlety and timing of the signal catches the brain and the go off guard and a person’s defenses never have a chance.
10. Dawson Church’s description of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) which is the most commonly used form of energy psychology, and remarkably effective is dislodging stuck psycho-somatic patterns. ‘When you change the position of a magnet, the iron filings move immediately. You don’t have to push them around with a finger to achieve this effect; matter conforms to the energy patterns in which it exists. Your cells are the same way; change your energy field and the molecules of your body are affected.’
11. Rick Hanson’s powerful reminder of how deliberate internalization of positive experiences (energetic soaking) enables the mind to change the brain. Happiness, thus, is a wonderful undertaking of skillful means, which undertaking is aligned with our deepest nature: already awake, benign and quietly inclined towards joy.
12. William Tiller’s ‘Ladder of Understanding’ and multiple rungs, starting with traditional science (mass and energy) moving through psycho-energetic science (mass, energy, information) into deltrons ( a higher dimensional level of substance falling outside the constraints of relativity theory and able to move at velocities greater than c, which acts as a coupling agent between the electric monopole and magnetic monopole type of substances) which are activated by human consciousness and specifically human intention. Sandra Ingerman’s experiments of changing the pH of water by intention only, is also corroborated by Tiller is what he calls ‘the coupled state’ of physical reality where the magnetic information wave substance is interacting with the electric particulate substance. Tiller’s profound conclusion is that since the acupuncture meridian-chakra system is already at the coupled state, in principle, all humans have the inherent capability to convert themselves to adepts, masters and avatars!
13. Charles Tart’s enumeration and detailed descriptions of the five types of psychology – ordinary psychology with behaviorism and psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology, transpersonal psychology and parapsychology.
14. The complementary approaches of Anuraga, a sense of constant fresh perception leading to magnified outer focus, and Zen which produces heightened inner absorption or magnified inner awareness, outlined by Lynne McTaggart
15. Marilyn Schlitz’s description of the five ways in which practice informs the transformative process – cultivate insight; build a complete self-structure, clear out impurities that are out of sync with the authentic self, dwell in the present, embrace the unknown. Ultimately leading to what she calls a ‘quantum event’ – a radical broadening of worldview and redefinition of identity, purpose and meaning.
“Why is Sounds True publishing this book? Why do we need to measure the benefits of spirituality, if they are so clear to those who seek the truth through direct experience?
…As a society, we value what we can count. Without qualitative proof that a system or practice offers benefits, it’s an uphill battle toward social acceptance….….many people on the spiritual path may draw strength and validation from having their subjective experience confirmed by objective tools of science…..moreover, what if research- the specifically the emerging field of neuroscience – can help spiritual practitioners refine and hone the way we approach traditional contemplative practices?
This book introduces the reader to this new field of scientific inquiry through the writings of forty-three different scientific researchers, journalists, healers and visionaries. Our hope is that it furthers the dialogue in this important new area of inquiry, utilizing the best of our scientific understanding of what matters most- our moment-to-moment connection with each other and the wholeness of life.’’
The following nuggets stand out for me in living up to that intention:
1. Candace Pert’s ‘molecules of emotion’ which impact memory, learning and identity and can be ‘used’ to alter pain thresholds. ‘Change your mind and change your pain’ is a more helpful aphorism than ‘No pain, no gain’.
2. Dean Radin’s suggestion of quantum entanglement as a macro-level hypothesis for non-local, paranormal and psi-type events, supported by Jeanne Achtenberg’s endorsement of DHI/ DI (Distant Healing Intentionality) as ‘the putative connection in the absence of mechanisms of sensory contact’ , testified by EDA observational research (electro-dermal activity).
3. Dan Siegel’s ‘triangle of human experience’ involving the mind (a process that regulates the flow of energy and information), the brain (the distributed nervous wiring and neuronal firing patterns) and relationships ( sharing information and energy with others) interconnected in a tri-directional flow, and the C.O.A.L approach of here-and-now experience (curiosity, openness, acceptance and love).
4. Peter Levine’s four pathways of radical opening – Meditation, Sex, Death and Trauma, supported adequately by the homoeostasis of the ANS between the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches. Which, as per Andrew Newberg could lead to the mystical experience of ‘active bliss’ due to the simultaneous sense of arousal and quiescence.
5. Emmons / Diener’s AIM model of gratitude – attention is noticing and becoming aware of blessings that we normally take for granted, interpretation is the conscious decision to see contributions instead of curses, and memory is used for reinforcement of what the heart remembers as a recipient of benevolence.
6. Bruce Lipton’s reminder that as an information processor, the subconscious mind is a million times more powerful than the self-conscious mind, and is responsible for 95-99% of our cognitive activity including decisions, actions, emotions and behaviors. And the possibility of our rewriting these auto-pilot programs through energy psychology and contemplative practice.
7. James H. Austin’s distinctions and inter-operative dynamics of our two attention systems – the dorsal attention system for top-down attention and the ventral attention system for bottom-up attention. And our two processing streams – the ego-centric, self-relational stream and the allocentric other-relational stream. Leading to a neuro-scientific appreciation of what Buddhist meditators call the Kensho – a state of selfless insight and wisdom.
8. Biofeedback techniques for generating Open-Focus attention and phase-synchronous alpha states by Les Fehmi, best induced by ‘objectless imagery’ – the multi-sensory experience of space, nothingness or absence, such as imagining the space between one’s eyes or ears.
9. The astonishing description by Jim Robbins of the Low Energy Neuro-feedback System (LENS) pioneered by Len Ochs which uses a kind of dis-entrainment therapy for treating intractable disorders like fibromyalgia, PTSD, insomnia, ADHD, Asperger’s, autism etc. with incredible speed and efficiency. The stimulation to the brain is just off the dominant frequency which breaks up existing neuronal patterns and resets them. In essence, the brain is nudged out of its default frequency, or moved ‘out of its parking lot’. Ochs thinks the subtlety and timing of the signal catches the brain and the go off guard and a person’s defenses never have a chance.
10. Dawson Church’s description of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) which is the most commonly used form of energy psychology, and remarkably effective is dislodging stuck psycho-somatic patterns. ‘When you change the position of a magnet, the iron filings move immediately. You don’t have to push them around with a finger to achieve this effect; matter conforms to the energy patterns in which it exists. Your cells are the same way; change your energy field and the molecules of your body are affected.’
11. Rick Hanson’s powerful reminder of how deliberate internalization of positive experiences (energetic soaking) enables the mind to change the brain. Happiness, thus, is a wonderful undertaking of skillful means, which undertaking is aligned with our deepest nature: already awake, benign and quietly inclined towards joy.
12. William Tiller’s ‘Ladder of Understanding’ and multiple rungs, starting with traditional science (mass and energy) moving through psycho-energetic science (mass, energy, information) into deltrons ( a higher dimensional level of substance falling outside the constraints of relativity theory and able to move at velocities greater than c, which acts as a coupling agent between the electric monopole and magnetic monopole type of substances) which are activated by human consciousness and specifically human intention. Sandra Ingerman’s experiments of changing the pH of water by intention only, is also corroborated by Tiller is what he calls ‘the coupled state’ of physical reality where the magnetic information wave substance is interacting with the electric particulate substance. Tiller’s profound conclusion is that since the acupuncture meridian-chakra system is already at the coupled state, in principle, all humans have the inherent capability to convert themselves to adepts, masters and avatars!
13. Charles Tart’s enumeration and detailed descriptions of the five types of psychology – ordinary psychology with behaviorism and psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology, transpersonal psychology and parapsychology.
14. The complementary approaches of Anuraga, a sense of constant fresh perception leading to magnified outer focus, and Zen which produces heightened inner absorption or magnified inner awareness, outlined by Lynne McTaggart
15. Marilyn Schlitz’s description of the five ways in which practice informs the transformative process – cultivate insight; build a complete self-structure, clear out impurities that are out of sync with the authentic self, dwell in the present, embrace the unknown. Ultimately leading to what she calls a ‘quantum event’ – a radical broadening of worldview and redefinition of identity, purpose and meaning.
January 21, 2022
Contains various studies and practical advice pertaining to human consciousness, ranging from sound meditation technique instruction to dubious pseudoscientific agendas.
March 12, 2017
It's a long book and based on a collection of essays from doctors, PhD's and practitioners. I still have no clue how to describe what consciousness is and whether or not robots will be able to mimic it (not part of the book). I was hoping to get a deeper understanding for what aspects of humans will not be replicated by machines by understanding the immeasurable.
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November 21, 2008I didn't read all the essays in this book, but what I did read was rather interesting.
November 14, 2015
Articles of varying quality - from very good to mediocre and even questinable. Because of the many really splendid articles, and despite my medium rating, I highly recoomend reading it.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews