Part of the Casswiki article series Books
The Science Delusion: Freeing the Spirit of Enquiry or Science Set Free is a book by Rupert Sheldrake, first published in 2012, which is concerned with the problem of materialist doctrines in mainstream science and the need to take consciousness into account.
The blurb on Amazon gives a good overall description of the contents:
The science delusion is the belief that science already understands the nature of reality. The fundamental questions are answered, leaving only the details to be filled in. In this book (published in the US as Science Set Free), Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, one of the world’s most innovative scientists, shows that science is being constricted by assumptions that have hardened into dogmas. The “scientific worldview” has become a belief system. All reality is material or physical. The world is a machine, made up of dead matter. Nature is purposeless. Consciousness is nothing but the physical activity of the brain. Free will is an illusion. God exists only as an idea in human minds, imprisoned within our skulls.
Sheldrake examines these dogmas scientifically, and shows persuasively that science would be better off without them: freer, more interesting, and more fun. In The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins used science to bash God, but here Rupert Sheldrake shows that Dawkins’ understanding of what science can do is old-fashioned and itself a delusion.
External links
- Cassiopaea Forum: The Science Delusion - Rupert Sheldrake
- SotT: Dark Ages and Inquisitions, Ancient and Modern - Or Why Things are Such a Mess On Our Planet and Humanity is on the Verge of Extinction
- YouTube: Rupert Sheldrake - The Science Delusion
- Rupert Sheldrake’s website