Entangled Minds

Graphic artist Teka Luttrell sent me the following curious coincidence: "About 10 days ago ... around May 11th (2006) ... all members of IONS received your book and the intro DVD to "Down the Rabbit Hole" ...which largely was about Entangled Minds . I shared the DVD with a small meditation group, too, and we all thought that your research is very cool. "On the Saturday that followed -- May 13th -- I created a very unusual piece of art for a project I'm developing. (As shown, an iris with stars inside the pupil.) "Then, last Friday, I received the new Shift magazine from IONS. I instantly noticed that the central piece of art on the cover was very similar to the artwork that I had created 6 days earlier. Of course, the magazine cover was artistically developed a couple months before it was printed. But the point is that I developed my piece without any knowledge of the Shift cover ... and these two "seemingly" separate pieces came together ... they...

A fascinating story from a reader who gave permission to use his real name. - - - - Dear Dr. Radin, I have had a psychic experience of my own which involves your book, which I think you will find interesting. My wife had been ill with cancer for about a year and was confined to bed. I had bought the book and left it on the living room table hoping to read it when I had the time. Freda died and in my grief I tried to contact her, simply by holding the belief that this was indeed possible and visualising her while asking questions. I started to get very relevant answers and I was very intrigued. I realised that the answers might be products of my imagination so I asked Freda to give me some proof that I really was in contact with her. After a while an inner voice said "Page 4". I replied "Page 4"of what?. The voice eventually came back "Entangled Minds". So (this was in the middle of the night) I got up and went downstairs to retrieve the book and turned to ...

People often write or call me seeking advice in how to deal psychic or spiritual awakenings, or other transformative experiences. I'm not a counselor, so I cannot offer such advice. I recommend visiting the Center for Psychological & Spiritual Health for assistance. For those who are interested in learning more about their transformational experiences, I recommend a survey project that IONS is running at www.transformationsurvey.com .

A reviewer named "Short Dog" provides a two-star review of Entangled Minds . I'll intersperse my responses in blue; the review is in black: "I hate to rain on the party of previous reviewers who gave positive comments but I do not recommend this book. For starters, the book falls under the same spell that trapped a long list of other, prior books that attempted (unsuccesfully, mind you) to make a connection between quantum mechanics and parapsychology. Talk about moth to the flame. There's nothing really new here. The mistake they make is to use one mystery, quantum mechanics, to explain another, ie, psi." I address this in the book's Introduction: "Some may object that linking the elegance of quantum theory to the spookiness of psychic phenomena is illegitimate, that it’s a mistake to claim a connection exists simply because these two domains are permeated with uncanny effects. This objection is certainly understandable. Quantum theory is a mathema...

I'm often asked about how one pursues a career in psi research, meaning how does one earn a living doing this sort of research. Here's how one person asked this question (I've changed a few minor details to maintain the writer's anonymity): - - - - - - - - "I'm writing for your advice and opinion regarding a career in this type of research. I've been casually interested in the study of consciousness and extrasensory research for many years, but would like to pursue this path full-time. I have a BS in engineering and have worked in technical research for 5 years. I was able to learn and contribute to my field, publish a few manuscripts in peer reviewed journals, etc. but have decided that I need to focus my energy on something that I have a sincere interest and passion for." "I'd also like to work with researchers such as yourself who are taking a scientific approach to consciousness, ESP, etc. I think the results of this research are importa...

Here's a nice synchronicity that happened to me recently. I'll preface this by saying that while I study these experiences for a living, my daily life is as mundane as anyone else's, and I tend not to be permeated by wildly improbable psychic events. (Except in the lab sometimes.) My wife and I tend to work on our PCs at night while watching TV. Most TV is so banal that it takes 1% of our attention to track a show. The other 99% is devoted to email and other PC-related work (and the dogs, and each other). Our PCs are setup in such a way that we can't see each other's screens. So I'm scanning through dozens of emails, and I see one from a colleague who says he's updating a book he's written on deja vu, and he's calling it Deja Vu Revisited . I'm thinking that's a clever title when suddenly my wife says out loud, "I'm having the strongest deja vu." I laugh in amusement at this beautifully recursive moment. A synchronicity about a ...

Friends often ask, how is your new book doing? They're asking about sales, as though there's a magical courier that whispers hourly updates in my ear. I don't believe in magic of the supernatural type (psi is not that sort of magic), but we do have a modern version of a quasi-magical courier -- the sales ratings on Amazon.com. On that front I see a nice trend developing. I requested that Entangled Minds be cross-listed as both a Science book and as a Religion-Spirituality book . The first category is appropriate because this book is ultimately about science. The second category is necessary because topics like psi are historically associated with the occult, so in existing book categories there's nowhere else to place it. Within these two categories, as of this posting the book is rated #2 among Science/General books, and #2 in Religion-Spirituality/Occult . I'm pleased to see this, because the wall between science and the occult is a vestige of old prejudices th...

I often receive emails from readers about their psi experiences. Here's one I received today from Paul H: - - - Let me relate some interesting things that have happened to me in my 46 years. On at least two occasions I had a dream of a plane crash, every last detail, airline, city, etc. Two days before the crash I told my friends at work (I work in aviation ...) about the details. Sure enough it happened exactly as I described it. Or when I was in the Air Force ..., I showed the guys a trick that freaked them out so badly I actually LOST friends. What I did was have myself and a friend sit facing each other with his left middle fingertip touching my right. Then I told him to shuffle a deck of cards. Then I told him to set it down and just think of the card. I got all 52 correct. It was NOT a trick, I could SEE the card in my mind like it was on a TV screen! Those guys never treated me the same. Or, I had premonitions all four times when my grandparents died. I told my wife ahead of...

A sharp-eyed reader found a mistake in a figure caption in Entangled Minds . The caption for Figure 3-1 had the genders reversed. The caption should read: "Average responses to questions about belief in unusual experiences, for women (black squares) and men (white diamonds), with error bars indicating the likely range of the 'true' average value."

I received an interesting email from a reader. I've heard many similar stories over the years about the "Library Angel" (also referred to as a gremlin, demon or fairy, depending on your prediliction). This Trickster-like gremlin causes books to fall out of shelves in front of you, or on top of you, apparently to force you to pay attention to something that you are seeking but keep overlooking. The reader writes: "You and I were introduced in a most unusual way today. I was in Barnes and Nobles today in San Diego. I was standing in front of the shelves of books in the new age section. I saw a couple of books fall from the shelf and in very quick automatic response I held my right hand out to catch them. "You can imagine my surprise when I realized there were no books falling. I was left with a feeling of where the heck are these books. I KNOW I saw it fall. "I studied this event for a few minutes trying to figure out what happened. I traced my arm movements ...