Thought Police - The Battle for your Mind

Krishna persuades Arjuna, that although both sides are his family, he has to fight.

We are in the middle of a war. It is undeclared, but very real. And it is for your mind.

Have you noticed that certain ideas are allowed and certain ideas put you outside of what is taken as 'common sense'? Those who are the guardians of the Common Sense perspective will often quote science and scientists, as though there is one scientific view and it is always correct. They will direct the unwary to sites devoted to self-proclaimed rationality to 'debunk' any ideas that do not form part of the acceptable reality.

This war is every bit as real as the great battles, real and philosophical, between the Catholic church and the Reformed church. The stakes are just as high (only now we do not burn people at them - but we can completely burn reputations).

Not long ago, two remarkable thinkers were invited to share their ideas on TED. This site, Ted.com invites people at the top of their game, to share their ideas on the arts, science, psychology and so forth. They do so in around 15 to 20 minutes; many of these presentations are electric and some have been seen by millions.

The idea behind TED was excellent. And then the thought police arrived.

Rupert Sheldrake

Graham Hancock

Both Rupert Sheldrake and Graham Hancock, separately, had been asked to talk about the ideas engaging them at the present time. Both men have diverged from mainstream thought, but have done so with ideas based on deep research. Sheldrake is a Cambridge graduate with a double first, and a PhD in science; Hancock is a highly successful author, journalist and TV presenter, who has done deep research into Ancient Societies.

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Rupert Sheldrake

Rupert Sheldrake had started a brilliant career at Cambridge University, involving plant biology, when he came up with the idea of Morphic Resonance. This idea suggested that within species, information could be passed non-locally.

One example he used was Blue Tits learning to peck through the foil tops of milk bottles (back in the day when milk was delivered in bottles on the doorstep). He pointed out that for years no bird had ever pecked through to the cream at the top of the milk. Then one did. And then the phenomenon spread, rapidly, and was occurring over a wide geographical area. He suggested that what one bird had learned, passed – through morphic resonance - to the others of that species.

This idea threatened his tenure at Cambridge, and in the end he left, but published his views in books that have been very widely read, but never accepted through main-stream science.

The reason his ideas have not been acceptable is because they suggest a non-local consciousness and parapsychological aspect to reality that is anathema to the acceptable consensus view of the world, monitored by the thought police.

His TED talk - removed at the request of fellow scientists - can be found below, and is well worth watching. Paradoxically, it has now been viewed on this one You Tube posting, by over one million people.

Graham Hancock

Graham Hancock has had a particular interest in Ancient Egypt. His work with Robert Bauval in this context deserves a post of its own. But in his banned TED talk, he was speculating on the effects of psychotropic drugs (and why these are banned - drugs like LSD and Marijuana) whereas the pharmaceuticals that are not banned have a profoundly deleterious effect on consciousness. 
As it happens, the current writer disagrees with Hancock's take on spirituality and the 'reality' discovered through hallucinogens, but his views should be heard.

He, like Sheldrake, was banned from TED because he challenged powerful interest groups as well as the very active thought police in the scientific community. His talk has also been seen now by well over one million people.