Blog 4

Blog 4


I really liked how she finished this book with one final look at all of the players and where their research led them... More than that though, I have found that this book is affecting my daily inner monolog. I have found myself really wanting to be apart of some of these studies just to know whether or not I (personally) can do any of these things or at least be there long enough to be taught what I can and figure the rest out on my own. Here are some of my thoughts as I had them while reading:
Chapter 10: The Power of Prayer
I found it interesting that when they did the studies on distance healing that, for one, there was statistical evidence to prove it existed, but more exactly that, it was not any one particular method or thought or prayer that mattered in the healing process, it was the belief behind it. In essence, some guy who believes that praying to a giant head of lettuce and truly believes that this lettuce god will help heal a sick person would have the same effect as a devout individual from an established monotheistic religion. To me that shows that religion itself is an individual thing and that this is concrete evidence (in my mind) that no one is right or wrong when it comes to how they worship. The one ultimate truth is that there is something besides ourselves that is greater than us and is capable of anything. I would love to see how any hard-liner of any religion would interpret this study. Besides being interesting to me, it made me a bit sad for myself... I do not possess an overpowering sense of faith in any one religion or belief and this made me come to the conclusion that I would not make a very good healer since I am ever the sceptic. Hoping is not enough, true faith in something and the release to a higher power are what made this study work. I wonder how the scientists performing the studies would have faired...
Chapter 11: The Power of Group Concentration
"the particular activity didn't really matter. What seemed most important was the intensity of the group. The ability of the activity to keep its audience spellbound... it helped if... some context that was emotionally meaningful to them" That was paraphrased a bit but I can relate to this. We have all been in situations like this, it is what we love so much about having a sense of community. We write epics and stories and movies all dedicated to this idea, in varying forms. Rudy would be one such film that I can think of. The good will, thoughts, hopes, prayers and dreams of an entire campus/small town all sincerely affected by this little runt of a kids desire to be a Notre Dame football player. Any good underdog story has this underlying feeling attached to it. It is, in my opinion what we crave when we build communities, towns, cultures, civilizations. This is how we express openly in our own understanding a need for connection with others. We know that this power exists in us. The idea that a place holds its own power, I can also get behind. I have done my fair share of traveling and I have found myself struck down with awe at a place revered by many over the years even if I had no previous knowledge of its history... It just feels like you are standing in a place that in some small way is the key to it all. Its like a secret knowledge of humanity that has been saved by previous inhabitants in their memories and is some how being transferred to you in this sense that... in order to really know where we are going we have to understand where we have been. I have read that the locations of cities were almost predestined to be, not only for some geographical advantage, but for a more spiritual meaning. Almost as if you just know that this is where your settlement/city belongs and you know it by the grace of God or being or whatever you can use to describe how you are feeling.
I like the fact that the potential for collective coherence can and has been applied to evil doings as well as good. I think that their assumption that Hitler came to power as a result of a massive spurt of negative energy was hitting Europe and especially Germany at the time is pretty accurate. How else can you really explain how good, rational people somehow managed to agree and live with the most god-awful atrocities performed on such a mass of fellow human beings all at the same time? The spurts of creativity is also apparent, a fervor comes over people almost like a wave... the communal mind kicks in in times like this and the energy put off is what can sweep an entire country or even an entire generation to share in an experience. I felt really at ease with these ideas and notions. They make sense to me.
Chapter 12: The Summary
WHAT THE HECK IS A CASIMIR? I did not wrap my head around this, so if anyone can explain it to me in layman's terms, I would appreciate it.
Does anyone else feel like it would have been a big help in understanding the readings if we had read that section on page 225 about the assumptions of established science that all of these scientists had learned and proven false? At least the findings they had about the falseness of the known truths. I think, for me at least, this would have helped to guide me through the technical aspects of the text.

Hannah