The Nature of Reality

Beyond the Quantum

by Talbot

Average Rating:

"Having previously read Talbot's Holographic Universe, I just happened upon a used copy of this now out-of-print classic, Beyond the Quantum. This book very clearly and provocatively explores the science and the theoretical implications that are developing in the fields of physics and consciousness. From Bohm to Sheldrake to the Eastern mystics, Talbot has written an excellent overview of this mind-expanding field of study. In 2004 this book still seems fresh with ideas and insight, and explains things clearly for a general audience, not just those with a scientific background."

Publisher: Scribner | More reviews: amazon.com

Transgression

by Chris Jenks

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"Really, I did. I found this book by following up on recommendations from other books I'd liked, and I wanted to like it too. But it really doesn't deliver. It gets the third star solely because of Ingermanson's believable, sympathetic, and downright fascinating--though frustratingly brief--portrait of Paul. At the same time, it has three major problems.

First, don't look for much science here. The discussion of the theological implication of the arrangement of quarks is great, but only about two sentences long. Other than that, you mostly get high-sounding jargon.

Second, the theology is just plain weird. Ingermanson takes fiendish delight in trying to prove that most everything you ever learned about the early church is biased and wrong, and that obvious agenda gets REALLY ANNOYING after a while. Plus, he succumbs to the temptation, unfortunately pretty common in this subgenre, to present Jewish people as a sort of para-church group who retain something of their Old Covenant status as the chosen people of God under the New Covenant, without reference to a relationship to Christ as Redeemer. This is a pretty ironic weakness considering that Paul himself tried hard to correct this misconception. Maybe Ingermanson corrects this impression in his following books?

Third, unfortunately, Ingermanson's writing is weak. Character development in this story, when it happens at all, is oddly sporadic and has little connection to the events of the plot. Common sense is in woefully short supply among all the characters, from our hero who jaunts back into the past with an unbelievably small supply of his vital allergy medication, to our villain who was incredibly slipshod in his prep work, to our heroine with her remarkable cluelessness about gender norms in the period she should know so well. Some plot elements test your patience more than they should, too. Excuse me--even if you really could build a wormhole in your local physics lab, could you really use a cell phone while standing in it? In my building, cell phones won't even work in the elevators, folks! Also, assuming you build said wormhole, do you really think the Israeli government's immediately going to believe you can use it for time travel? (The whole government was apparently pretty blase here.) And even if they do believe you, do you really think their first concern is going to be whether your cool new technology should be shut down for the Sabbath? I wish!

Other minor gripes: this book is short on physical description of any kind. Also, the two and a half romances which meander along through its pages proceed so strangely that you'll occasionally feel you MUST have skipped fifty pages in there somewhere. Most everything is left hideously (NOT tantilizingly) unresolved at the end. And the sad fact is that if you don't speak a fair to middling amount of basic Hebrew, you will miss some detail. Exasperating.

So do what I did. Check this book out from the library, but don't buy it. If you can ignore a little strangeness for a big payoff, read (or re-read) A Man Called Blessed, instead."

Publisher: Taylor & Francis | More reviews: amazon.com

About Religion: Economies of Faith in Virtual Culture (Religion and Postmodernism Series)

by Mark C. Taylor

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"Religion," Mark C. Taylor maintains, "is most interesting where it is least obvious." From global financial networks to the casinos of Las Vegas, from images flickering on computer terminals to steel sculpture, material culture bears unexpected traces of the divine. In a world where the economies of faith are obscure, yet pervasive, Taylor shows that approaching religion directly is less instructive than thinking about it.

Traveling from high culture to pop culture and back again, About Religion approaches cyberspace and Las Vegas through Hegel and Kant and reads Melville's The Confidence-Man through the film Wall Street. As astonishing juxtapositions and associations proliferate, formerly uncharted territories of virtual culture disclose theological vestiges, showing that faith in contemporary culture is as unavoidable as it is elusive.

The most accessible presentation of Taylor's revolutionary ideas to date, About Religion gives us a dazzling and disturbing vision of life at the end of the old and beginning of the new millennium.

Publisher: University Of Chicago Press | More reviews: amazon.com

Approaches to Consciousness: The Marriage of Science and Mysticism

by Brian L. Lancaster

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Consciousness and the relation between mind and brain are topics of contentious debate, and increasing interest amongst both academics and students of psychology. In this text, Lancaster takes a refreshingly balanced look at consciousness, bringing in approaches from neuroscience, cognitive science, depth psychology, philosophy and mysticism. With a distinctive "transpersonal" orientation, this text will be an invaluable authoritative overview of this subject, integrating scholarship and research from diverse areas.

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan | More reviews: amazon.com

The Science of the Soul: On Consciousness and the Structure of Reality

by Geoffrey D. Falk

Numerous books have been published over the past few decades on the subject of the apparent similarities between Eastern philosophy and the ideas of the "New Physics." However, without exception, these writings have failed to address the real meaning of "As above, so below": that the macrocosm of the universe is mirrored in the microcosm of the human body, and that the archetypal patterns of structure on the causal and astral levels of reality have their lower reflections on the physical level of being. In The Science of the Soul, Geoffrey D. Falk corrects this significant oversight. Drawing equally from yogic, Buddhist, Christian and Taoist sources, Falk shows that it is only by considering the detailed structure of the cosmos and the microcosmos that we can understand both the unified message which the scriptures have tried to convey, and their precise relation to the physicists' understanding of the physical level of reality - in particular, the ideas of David Bohm and Itzhak Bentov.

Publisher: Blue Dolphin Publishing, Inc | More reviews: amazon.com

Outlaw's Gold (Brouwer, Sigmund, Cyberquest, #4.)

by Sigmund Brouwer

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Mok continues his virtual reality mission in the old West, where he encounters a false preacher who is selling Pawnee children into servitude.

Publisher: W Pub Group | More reviews: amazon.com

Pirate's Cross (Cyberquest , No 3)

by Sigmund Brouwer

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Following the great Water Wars, the Earth is a hstile place and Christianity is out-lawed...Mok faces the threat of a cyber-assassin aboard a pirate ship on the high seas in this third adventure in the CyberQuest series. Unknown to Mok, if he goes overboard, his life will cease to exist!

Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc | More reviews: amazon.com

Knight's Honor (Cyberquest , No 2)

by Sigmund Brouwer

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Following the Great Water Wars, the Earth is a hostile place and Christianity is outlawed. Two classed of people have emerged--wealthy Technocrats and poverty-stricken Welfaros. The World Government intends to destroy the Welfaros, but a secret community of twelve has a plan to stop the slaughter and bring hope to the world. All they need is a hero. So far, none of their candidates have survived. Mok is their last hope. And time is running out.

Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc | More reviews: amazon.com

Pharaoh's Tomb (Cyberquest , No 1)

by Sigmund Brouwer

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"Pharaoh's Tomb is the first book of a awesome series called Cyber Quest. It is a very mysterious and full of adventure. It is also a good book to reinforce your christian beliefs. I would recommend this book to anyone especially for those who like adventure and mystery."

Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers | More reviews: amazon.com

Cyberspace: First Steps

by Michael Benedikt

Cyberspace, a term first coined by the writer William Gibson in his award-winning 1984 novel "Neuromancer", has been described as "an infinite artificial world where humans navigate in information-based space" and as "the ultimate computer-human interface". However one defines it, the "virtual reality" known as cyberspace is one of the most radically innovative of computer developments. These original contributions by leading thinkers in computer science, architecture, the visual arts, philosophy, anthropology, and industry, provide an insider's view of this new technology. "Cyberspace - First Steps" focuses on the theoretical and conceptual issues involved in the design, use, and effects of virtual environments, offering fictions, predictions, and proposals, forming a collective search for appropriate metaphors and possible structures that might provide the basis for future virtual worlds. Contributions discuss the philosophical basis for cyberspace in ancient thought, the relevance of the body in virtual realities, basic communications principles for cyberspace, the coming dematerialization of architecture, the logic of graphic representation into the third dimension, the design of a noncentralized system for multiparticipant cyberspaces and the ramifications of cybespace for future workplaces. The contributors to this volume are: Michael Benedikt; William Gibson, writer; David Tomas, University of Toronto; Nicole Stenger, MIT; Michael Heim; California State University, Long Beach; Allucquere Rosanne Stone, University of California, Santa Cruz and San Diego; Marcos Novak, Univesity of Texas and UCLA; Alan Wexelblat, Bull Worldwide Information Systems; Chip Morningstar, F.Randall Farmer, Lucasfilm Ltd; Carl Tollander; Autodesk, Inc; Tim McFadden, Altos Computer Systems; Meredith Bricken, University of Washington; Steve Pruitt, Tom Barrett, Texas Instruments and Electronic Data Systems; Wendy A. Kellog, John M. Carroll, John T. Richards, IBM.

Publisher: MIT Press (MA) | More reviews: amazon.com