[quote]22:12
Mishlove:
'...one of the foremost proponents of this idea that consciousness is a product of the brain was the great philosopher Bertrand Russell and as I read your book I see you've written favorably about Russell he was a social activist he was on the forefront of ethical thinking and at the same time he was leading the resistance against the idea of post-mortem survival ...
Lorimer:
Yes he was but there's an interesting um sort of sequel to this in my book Survival the last chapter I talk about the instances of people who have come back to say they survived and among these is Bertrand Russell and ... the irony is not lost on him which is part of the amusement because he says that if he had read the account of what he's trying to convey during his physical lifetime he wouldn't have believed it and so he finds himself in this this paradoxical situation of having found that his consciousness and mind still existed not only that he said that it was working his mental faculties working far better than they were when he died because his body was very tired you know he was 98 ...but he now realizes that the physical existence is almost like a dream ...'[/quote]
David Lorimer is the Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network. He has edited several books, including The Spirit of Science: From Experiment to Experience, Thinking Beyond the Brain: A Wider Science of Consciousness, and The Circle of Sacred Dance: Peter Deunov's Paneurythmy. He has also authored a number of books including Survival: Death As a Transition, Resonant Mind: Life Review in the Near-Death Experience, and A Quest for Wisdom: Inspiring Purpose on the Path of Life.
In this wide-ranging conversation, he describes the history and work of the Scientific and Medical Network, emphasizing the need for scientists to see beyond the limits of a pure materialist metaphysics. He describes the work of the eighteenth century scientist/mystic, Emmanuel Swedenborg – with a particular focus on Swedenborg's vivid descriptions of the afterlife. He explains the ethical implications of research on near-death experiences.
New Thinking Allowed host, Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, is author of The Roots of Consciousness, Psi Development Systems, and The PK Man. Between 1986 and 2002 he hosted and co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series. He is the recipient of the only doctoral diploma in "parapsychology" ever awarded by an accredited university (University of California, Berkeley, 1980).
(Recorded on April 16, 2021)
