7. “WHAT ABOUT NOETICS?”
Yeah, what about noetics!?
No really, what is noetics? I had to look it up to find out. Then I was embarrassed, because apparently it’s a branch of philosophy, and I studied philosophy at university, and I’d never heard of it. Then I was relieved, because I discovered it’s utter bullshit.
It’s proposed as an “alternative theory of mind”. That’s “alternative” in exactly the same sense that creationism is an “alternative” to biology, geology and astrophysics.
It’s essentially an attempt to study the mind that starts with the assumption that the existing approaches such as neuroscience are wrong, and that consciousness is the gift of god, and sees where it can go from there. If you suspect I’m not representing it fairly, here’s what its founder, Edgar Mitchell, said about the experience which inspired him to set up the Institute of Noetic Sciences: “The presence of divinity became almost palpable, and I knew that life in the universe was not just an accident based on random processes… The knowledge came to me directly.”
Here’s what he might as well have said: “I want to study the mind, but I’m too thick, or can’t be bothered, to study neuroscience.” Well, that’s fine, but no-one’s going to pay any attention to what you say on the subject. Oh wait, you have enough money to set up an institute? Shit.
So, what about noetics, the ‘creationism of the mind’? And what about 7, who presumably has read about noetics and thinks it has something to say? Well, at least she’s reading and enquiring about something. That’s a start. Unfortunately, she’s been led down the wrong path by a bogus institute of bollocks. But maybe there’s hope for her yet.