telekinesis

Extraordinary Psychic: Proven Techniques to Master Your Natural Psychic Abilities
$17.95
I can't say enough about this authors books. I read the first one and if you practice the techniques as she dscribes you will begin to have more psychic abilities. It is truly amazing. I've read other books on this subject which were good, but her books give you in depth techniques and a well rounded view on the whole issue. She makes it so normal and down to earth but the techniques are specific and well explored. You realise your attempting things most people believe can't be done by everyone.I'm waiting for her next book about manifesting which I know will be great.

Debunked!: ESP, Telekinesis, and Other Pseudoscience
$28.50
Georges Charpak, the 1992 Nobel Prize winner in physics, and Henri Broch, winner of the Distinguished Skeptic Award from The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), have together written a book about the art of being a skeptic.

It's not the first book in the genre, but it's a quite pleasant read, even though it's not by far the best book ever written about the specific topic. Objectively and thoroughly (and once in a while quite funny), the authors discuss different topics and phenomena that for the Believers are truly paranormal, but the skeptic are nothing but lies, illusions, fakes, or simply very normal matters that through a messed up media are given the impression to be more remarkably than they really are.

They willingly admit that they, despite their great knowledge and long experience, do not have all the answers. But, they are indeed hardcore skeptics; and rationally explain things such as astrology, telepathy, spoon bending, levitation, et cetera.

Which is all nice and dandy, but, something is still wrong with the book. Once in a while it's just plain boring with endless mathematical formulas and calculations, and certain topics are thoroughly described while others are more or less only mentioned briefly. The largest problem is, however, how the authors completely forget one factor: namely the human.

Many people relying on, for instance, astrology, live perfectly happy lives doing so. But the authors appear to be completely ignorant to that. Instead, they mercilessly ridicule every single one who believe in matters that established science cannot or will not rationally explain, and at the end of the book they start talking about terrible nightmare scenarios which are certain to happen if more and more people start believing in irrational and unscientific ideas. The end of the world is near (the authors seem to think), unless mankind starts acting like devoted skeptics, and the only religion worth believing is Science.

This more or less fanatical propaganda for critical thinking and the excellence of science destroys what could instead have been a great book.

Psychic Development for Beginners: An Easy Guide to Developing & Releasing Your Psychic Abilities (For Beginners (Llewellyn's))
$11.95
this book was very easy to read, and gave concrete examples of psychic exercises that were fun to do, I actually found myself being able to relax deeply with some of the exercises even helped me sleep better

The Conscious Mind and the Material World: On Psi, the Soul and the Self
$39.95
In the interest of full disclosure, this review may not be entirely unbiased, as I am the author.

This book examines the possible nature of the soul or self in light of modern scientific research, including neuroscience, quantum mechanics and cosmology. It also contains a critical review of parapsychological research into such psi phenomena as ESP and psychokinesis.

Most people identify themselves with the person that they are, in the sense of a biological organism that exists from conception until death, as well as the associated train of thoughts, memories, and emotions that forms one's personality. However, the view that you are your physical body cannot be correct, as you have existed for many years, while your present physical body shares few, if any, molecules with your body of ten years ago. Somehow, you seem to have survived the death of that previous body. Also the probability that the exact set of genes that formed your body would have arisen is virtually zero. Your lifetime of several decades is infinitesimal when compared to the 13.7 billion year history of the (observable) universe. Yet, the moment in time that has somehow been mysteriously selected as the present just happens to fall within the lifetime of your body. Thus, your existence at the present moment would seem to be an incredible coincidence. Perhaps the explanation is that you have always existed.

Similarly, you are not the onrush of emotions, memories and thoughts that constitute your personality. These also change from moment to moment, while you persist. Someone (in the future) might be able download your personality into several androids at once. It is not intuitively plausible that your consciousness would inhabit all the androids simultaneously. You are not your stream of consciousness but the vessel through which it flows. You are not your personality.

The book argues that your essential self is a field of pure consciousness. Further, it notes that the results of research on split-brain patients, hypnosis and "blindsight" suggest that each human brain may be inhabited by multiple selves, with each self under the illusion that it is in sole control of the body.

The book also contains a thorough review of parapsychological research into such phenomena as telepathy and precognition. Such phenomena suggest that minds or consciousnesses are at least in part "nonphysical" (in the sense of not being readily explainable by current theories of physics). It also reviews research into phenomena that suggest the human personality may survive the death of the physical body, such as apparitions, hauntings, mediumship, near-death experiences, and seemingly accurate memories of past lives reported by children.

In view of the intimate dependence of mental phenomena on the activity and structure of the physical brain, it is argued that personality traits and memories are not likely to survive the destruction of the entire physical brain at death. A center of pure consciousness, however, could survive. In fact, the widespread belief that your consciousness enters the body in the womb and does not leave until death is mired in the identification of the self with the Person. It is not inconceivable that you entered your brain only recently (with the memories of your previous existence perhaps still stored in the brain of the crow outside your bedroom window).

The book also considers the implications of quantum mechanics for a theory of mind, the evidence for intelligent design, and the anthropic principle in physics (the notion that the laws of the physical universe seem fine-tuned to support the presence of conscious observers).

My qualifications for writing the book are as follows. I have a BA (magna cum laude) in psychology from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Michigan. I have contributed to the literature relating to parapsychology and the mind-body problem for over three decades. Not only have I served on the editorial board of the Journal of Parapsychology, but I have contributed articles to such skeptical outlets as the Skeptical Inquirer and the Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology. My previous book, The Nature of Mind, was highly praised for providing about the only available fair and impartial review of parapsychological research.