Mind Over Matter?
Miracles happen, not in opposition to Nature,
but in opposition to what we know of Nature.
-- St. Augustine --
World class Soviet athletes are divided into four groups. The first group spends 100% of their time in training. The second group spends 25% of their time visualizing doing their sport correctly and 75% of their time actually physically training. The third group spends 50% of their time visualizing and 50% training. The fourth group does 75% visualizing and 25% training. Guess which group performed the best in the 1980 Winter Olympic Games? That's right Bucko, the fourth group. [1]
In an experiment in the 1950's, a doctor had a patient with angina pecotoris (a recurring pain in the left arm and chest due to restricted blood flow to the heart) and decided to try something different. The surgery was so risky, involving tying off the mammary artery, that he decided to just make an incision and sew the patient back up without doing anything. He didn't tell the patient that in fact he did nothing. The patient got better after the sham surgery, just as if the surgery had been real. The doctor went ahead and did this with a number of other patients, and found just as high a success rate with the sham surgery as without. Apparently, what mattered was if the patients thought they would get better. they would get better. [2]
At Hebrew University, Shlomo Breznitz did an experiment involved with having several groups of Israeli soldiers march 40 kilometers. However, each group was given different information about their march. One group was told they only marched 30 kilometers, after actually going 40, and that they had 10 to go. Another was told they were going to march 60 kilometers but they only marched 40. They were given blood tests to measure their stress hormone levels. In all cases, the blood levels of the hormones reflected what they believed to be true, not what they real situation was.[3]
This is just the tip of the iceberg concerning documented evidence that what one perceives to be true for himself is more important that other's perceive as 'reality'. Michael Talbot, in his book The Holographic Universe[4] gives literally hundreds of examples of studies, historical references, documented anecdotes of instances where the mind has much more power than we are led to believe. The model to explain all these otherwise unexplained mind-benders is the scientifically backed theory of the holographic nature of the universe.
One final story told from a personal experiences of Michael Talbot. His father hired a hypnotist for a birthday party. The hypnotist screened the audience for a susceptible subject, as is their usual procedure, and picked Tom, a friend of the family. Tom had never met the hypnotist before. He went under easily, and the hypnotist proceeded to run Tom through some typical tricks, like telling him was eating an apple when it was a potato. "Yum yum", said Tom. Finally, the hypnotist told Tom that when he came out of trance that he would not be able to see his teenage daughter, Laura. Sure enough, when Tom was out of trance, he was asked if he could see his daughter, and he looked around the room and said, "No". Even as Laura stood directly in front of the chair Tom was sitting in, it was as if she was invisible. Then, with Laura standing in front of Tom, and Tom sitting in the chair, the hypnotist stood behind Laura, and carefully pulled a pocket watch out of his pocket, with Laura between himself and Tom. He asked Tom what he was holding in his hand. Tom leaned forward, as if staring at Laura's stomach, and said a watch. With the watch still held behind the small of the back of Laura, he asked Tom if he could read the inscription. Tom sort of squinted at the small print and read the inscription. What the ....
For many more fascinating documented stories, studies, and ideas about the mind in relation to the nature of the universe, the The Holographic Universe is a must read.
References
but in opposition to what we know of Nature.
-- St. Augustine --
World class Soviet athletes are divided into four groups. The first group spends 100% of their time in training. The second group spends 25% of their time visualizing doing their sport correctly and 75% of their time actually physically training. The third group spends 50% of their time visualizing and 50% training. The fourth group does 75% visualizing and 25% training. Guess which group performed the best in the 1980 Winter Olympic Games? That's right Bucko, the fourth group. [1]
In an experiment in the 1950's, a doctor had a patient with angina pecotoris (a recurring pain in the left arm and chest due to restricted blood flow to the heart) and decided to try something different. The surgery was so risky, involving tying off the mammary artery, that he decided to just make an incision and sew the patient back up without doing anything. He didn't tell the patient that in fact he did nothing. The patient got better after the sham surgery, just as if the surgery had been real. The doctor went ahead and did this with a number of other patients, and found just as high a success rate with the sham surgery as without. Apparently, what mattered was if the patients thought they would get better. they would get better. [2]
At Hebrew University, Shlomo Breznitz did an experiment involved with having several groups of Israeli soldiers march 40 kilometers. However, each group was given different information about their march. One group was told they only marched 30 kilometers, after actually going 40, and that they had 10 to go. Another was told they were going to march 60 kilometers but they only marched 40. They were given blood tests to measure their stress hormone levels. In all cases, the blood levels of the hormones reflected what they believed to be true, not what they real situation was.[3]
This is just the tip of the iceberg concerning documented evidence that what one perceives to be true for himself is more important that other's perceive as 'reality'. Michael Talbot, in his book The Holographic Universe[4] gives literally hundreds of examples of studies, historical references, documented anecdotes of instances where the mind has much more power than we are led to believe. The model to explain all these otherwise unexplained mind-benders is the scientifically backed theory of the holographic nature of the universe.
One final story told from a personal experiences of Michael Talbot. His father hired a hypnotist for a birthday party. The hypnotist screened the audience for a susceptible subject, as is their usual procedure, and picked Tom, a friend of the family. Tom had never met the hypnotist before. He went under easily, and the hypnotist proceeded to run Tom through some typical tricks, like telling him was eating an apple when it was a potato. "Yum yum", said Tom. Finally, the hypnotist told Tom that when he came out of trance that he would not be able to see his teenage daughter, Laura. Sure enough, when Tom was out of trance, he was asked if he could see his daughter, and he looked around the room and said, "No". Even as Laura stood directly in front of the chair Tom was sitting in, it was as if she was invisible. Then, with Laura standing in front of Tom, and Tom sitting in the chair, the hypnotist stood behind Laura, and carefully pulled a pocket watch out of his pocket, with Laura between himself and Tom. He asked Tom what he was holding in his hand. Tom leaned forward, as if staring at Laura's stomach, and said a watch. With the watch still held behind the small of the back of Laura, he asked Tom if he could read the inscription. Tom sort of squinted at the small print and read the inscription. What the ....
For many more fascinating documented stories, studies, and ideas about the mind in relation to the nature of the universe, the The Holographic Universe is a must read.
References
- Charles A. Garfield, Peak Performance: Mental Training Techniques of the World's Greatest Athletes (New York: Warner Books, 1984), p. 60
- Brendan O'Regan, "Healing, Remission, and Miracle Cures," Institute of Noetic Sciences Special Report (May 1987), p. 3
- Bernie S. Siegel, Love, Medicine and Miracles: Lessons Learned about Self-Healing from a Surgeon's Experience with Exceptional Patients, Harper Paperbacks (May 4, 1990), p.29
- Michael Talbot, The Hologrphic Universe, Harper Perennial (May 6, 1992)
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