AWAKENING
HEALTH
REVIEW & INTERVIEW
Arguing Science:
A Dialogue on the Future of
Science and Spirit
by Rupert Sheldrake and Michael Shermer
D
O
Debating the nature of the ineffable is always a
chancy proposition. In “Arguing Science” we have
two scientists, respected in their fields, face off
in a debate over whether there can be a spiritual
dimension to science.
n the side of belief in a divine
source is Rupert Sheldrake, the
biologist best known for his
hypothesis of morphic fields
and morphic resonance. On
the side of materialism and
evolution dictated by physical
parameters alone is Michael Shermer, Scientific
American’s skeptic-in-chief and well-known debunker of the paranormal.
The book starts with a discussion of the scientific method and whether paranormal phenomena
can be investigated in ways that would satisfy the
rigorous standards acceptable to peer-reviewed
scientific journals. As the dialogues progress back
and forth, a middle ground of agreement emerges in which the paranormal becomes defined as
natural phenomena for which science does not
yet have an explanation. Sheldrake spends a lot of
time quoting his books on psychic dogs who know
when their masters are coming home and people
who know who will be telephoning them next. I
thought the whole exchange on “mental action at a
distance” could have been much more persuasive
on Sheldrake’s part had he gone into the extensively documented reports on near-death experiences
and out of body experiences.
40 | New Consciousness Review