The Sheldrake theory of the memory lies outside of the body.

I used to tend to the feeding of wild crows where I lived since I had access to out of date candy,cake and sandwich vending machines' products(rotation of stock so the consumer has fresh snacks). The animals became very friendly and even spoiled and I could approach large ,old crows as a friend without them flying away. The rookery nearby had over a thousand crows (about a block away). One day they decided to move the whole rookery:At 3:00 pm in the Fall some years ago all of them formed a silent, square black cloud about 500 feet over my house ,each crow packed together as closely as possible in the massive cloud slowly moving to the NE. Occassionally one or two would drop quickly to the ground and disappear(they never flew back up to the cloud-unless those that fell had died in flight in the cloud. Radar from the Philadelphia International Airport (7 miles away) must have seen this perfectly ,square black cloud composed of crows packed closely together. I call it a rookery (but I forgot the technical name) . Do large groups of crows suddenly move their roosting place in a square ,black cloud?( since pest control was trying to remove them at the time(they roosted or had their rookery behind a police station,a block away.))? Do dead crows drop out of this silent, peacefully moving square cloud? Sheldrake has a theory(s) on how birds coordinate in a swarm-the swarm acting like one moving entity.How do they know how to make this swarm after the older generation died off?.
Sheldrake says that our memory is not in the brain but outside of our heads( somewhere nearby the body). What do you think.?

reply to post by siluriancryptic


I think memory at its core is part of the incorporeal piece of ourselves, along with personality and mind. The brain itself is a kind of intermediary IMO. A receiver and transmitter of information, but neither the final destination nor the origin of the information.

The middleman, really.

I believe Ive read there is no actual location in the brain where memory can be pin-pointed as being stored. Its just kinda all over and no where, simultaneously. To me thats kind of a confirmation about what Ive always believed; that memory is stored "off site".

Yes, I have come to believe that the brain is just a transducer for the mind, and that the mind is in another place we have no knowledge of. It is expressed in the introduction to a short story I posted once on ATS:

When I began the following story, I thought it was all about walking and finding a way out, but now I know it is, even more, about water. As the reader will perhaps also come to see, this story is about the transformative water described by Jesus to the woman at the well, or as described by the prophet Ezekiel in Chapter 47, verses 1-12 of his book. This story is based on a series of dreams that have occurred to me over many years of my life. The first scene, set in a place much resembling Kansas City’s West Bottoms, I dreamed of over and over when I was young. Other scenes are based on dreams I had after the story was begun, as the story completed itself, filled itself out. My task has been to cut-and-paste dreams and scenes into a fairly coherent narrative. It is autobiographical only in the distorted way that dreams reflect our waking lives. We accept these distortions when we are in the dream because we exist there under the Law of Dreaming. While we are under this Law, we never stop to think (and I have come to believe we cannot think) of where we really are. And where is that? Of course! We are, generally, snug in our beds. When we awaken, we say “Oh, it was only a dream!” and we get on with our lives, under the Law of Waking. We think, if we think about it at all, that we now know where we are – right here and now – but I cannot help but wonder if “where we are” is yet another place, still unknown to us.

Centuries ago, early anatomists dissected cadavers, looking for the “seat of the soul.” They failed. If you read the story of the creation of Adam/Man in Genesis, and really understand it, you will know that man was not given a soul, but BECAME a living soul when the Breath of Life was breathed into an otherwise dead body. Naturally, by the time the dissectors got their hands on the corpse, the soul was non-existent, and the breath/spirit was long gone. More recently, the theory was concocted that consciousness is a product of chemical reactions in the brain. As far as I know, this theory has failed, as has the one which postulated that consciousness is produced by electrical activity in the brain. What are we left with, then? Are we looking for something ephemeral or even ineffable? There is a school of thought which speculates that the brain is merely a transducer for the Mind, and that implies that our minds may well be in another place, but the nature of that place we have no knowledge of, being as we are, under the Law of Waking. Be aware that I am Philosophizing, not Scientificating here…

I have come to believe that when we move on into the “far country,” or rather, step over that barrier which we must all step over, we will awaken and say, “Oh, that too, was just a dream!” I hope this all makes sense to the reader, many of whom will be making, some without knowing it, the sort of journey I have written about here. For those who are, may you find your exit, and your Destination.

What if the brain is just a transmitter and receiver?

reply to post by siluriancryptic


I too have fed crows for a time and I couldnt believe how they attempted to communicate with me when walking in the area....Ive never seen any kind of animal so aware of me besides maybe a dog. Crows are surprisingly fascinating as I really don't think much of birds.

Sheldrake is a great author..im assuming you mean Rupert Sheldrake. The guy has done some phenomenal research and I unfortunately forgot about him until today. I would argue he is the lead expert on exactly what you are talking about and many other outside of the box ideas with animals.

I would suggest that we are made up of a soul, a body and a brain.

We end up in this life of a blending of the three.

Our soul or spirit contains our true self. This remains as is from rebirth to rebirth, continually learning and growing .

The brain gives us certain qualities to try out such as IQ, EQ and other basic parameters.

The body also gives us parameters to try out such as how good you will be at sport and how healthy or otherwise you will be during this lifetime.

The experiences during your life, your surroundings play a part. Born into money, born into squalor all play a part.

At each rebirth we learn different things.

Human Ego prevents us from seeing animals and the gifts they possess that we do not. Humans generally see themselves at the top of the pyramid while in truth we are anything but.

I have seen many things that I can only accept as a group consciousness be it flocks of birds, herds of animals or schools of fishes.

Just my interpretation.

P

Well a star and a flag form me, I feed I few generations of crows myself.

It's interesting how intereting they are ,how interested it letting us know they are interested in us is eh?

Cheers!

Yep, me too, I am convinced the brain is just a receiver of consciousness, not a producer of it.

Hi there.

I am just about halfway through the third book by Chris Carter about Science and Consciousness. The first book had a preface by Sheldrake; it was the first I'd heard of him.

I highly recommend Carter's three books - read in order, they explain very well the current neuroscientific/quantum physics evidence for consciousness being "not in the brain." As stated in a couple of posts above, the brain is thought to be both a transmitter and a receiver; while the mind/soul is not "housed" there.

Carters books:
Science and Psychic Phenomena: The Fall of the House of Skeptics

Exploring the scandalous history of parapsychology and citing decades of research, Chris Carter shows that, contrary to mainstream belief, replicable evidence of psi phenomena exists.

The controversy over parapsychology continues not because ESP and other abilities cannot be verified but because their existence challenges deeply held worldviews more strongly rooted in religious and philosophical beliefs than in hard science. Carter reveals how the doctrine of materialism--in which nothing matters but matter--has become an infallible article of faith for many scientists and philosophers, much like the convictions of religious fundamentalists.

Consequently, the possibility of psychic abilities cannot be tolerated [by the skeptics] because their existence would refute materialism and contradict a deeply ingrained ideology. By outlining the origin of this passionate debate, Carter calls on all open-minded individuals to disregard the church of skepticism and reach their own conclusions by looking at the vast body of evidence.

Science and the Near-Death Experience: How Consciousness Survives Death

Using evidence from scientific studies, quantum mechanics, and consciousness research, Carter reveals how consciousness does not depend on the brain and may, in fact, survive the death of our bodies. Examining ancient and modern accounts of NDEs from around the world, including China, India, and tribal societies such as the Native American and the Maori, he explains how NDEs provide evidence of consciousness surviving the death of our bodies.

He looks at the many psychological and physiological explanations for NDEs raised by skeptics--such as stress, birth memories, or oxygen starvation--and clearly shows why each of them fails to truly explain the NDE. Exploring the similarities between NDEs and visions experienced during actual death and the intersection of physics and consciousness, Carter uncovers the truth about mind, matter, and life after death.

Science and the Afterlife Experience: Evidence for the Immortality of Consciousness

The author examines historic and modern accounts of detailed past-life memories, visits from the deceased, and communications with the dead via medium and automatic writing as well as the scientific methods used to confirm these experiences.

He explains how these findings on the afterlife have been ignored and denied because they are incompatible with the prevailing doctrine of materialism. Sharing messages from the dead themselves describing the afterlife, Carter reveals how consciousness exists outside the parameters of biological evolution and emerges through the medium of the brain to use the physical world as a springboard for growth.

After death, souls can advance to higher planes of consciousness or manifest once again on Earth. Carter’s rigorous argument proves--beyond any reasonable doubt--not only that consciousness survives death and continues in the afterlife, but that it precedes birth as well.

Some have scoffed at this young man's work, but I have found his writing to be very open-minded; he presents both sides of the debate, and works point by point through the arguments - giving credit where it is due, acknowledging 'sketchy' studies as well as 'sketchy' criticisms (such as how critics of the theories use only the weakest studies to shore up their fanatical skepticism, while ignoring completely very well-done statistical studies and cases).

Highly informative. Won't make the hard-science materialists very happy, but it's worth a read. Not heavy (except at the very beginning; if one doesn't have a grasp on quantum physics it might be slow going), and quite entertaining. LOTS of case studies as well as scientifically valid research is presented.

Enjoy!