New science” or “the consciousness revolution” are two terms that refer to the premise that our consciousness, or point of focus, physically impacts the brain and vice versa that the brain can effect consciousness. While this is a relatively new concept in which only about 5% of scientists prescribe to, it is making some significant waves in the sea of behavioral and social sciences and most significantly in cognitive psychology, which emphasizes the relevance of mental processes such as intuition, insight and visual intelligence as more important than external behavior. While behaviorists prescribe to the theory that behavior can be treated without regard to the mental state, cognitive psychologists argue that mental states organize and control behavior. Evolutionary theorists, scientists who work in biology and related sciences, are getting on board with the cognitive psychologist by accepting that consciousness can indeed cause physical change.
So, how does new science compare to conventional science? Conventional science approaches theory from three different perspectives:
1. Positivism, which asserts that only that which can be physically seen is real.
2. Reductionism, which reduces phenomena into smaller pieces from which to study.
3. Objectivism, which asserts that all things–the universe and everything in it–is capably of being quantified.
New science asserts the theory that the sum is always greater than its parts, and therefore cannot be isolated into smaller pieces.
In her article, “The Science of Consciousness,” Laurie Nadel, Ph.D. explains, “The new science, on the other hand, rejects the use of quantum physics to explain the mind because it does not believe that everything can be explained in physical terms. That belief is, in itself, a revolutionary idea. In looking at mind in all its complexity as a biological fact, the new science asks us to reexamine our own thoughts, feelings, values and beliefs, and to take them seriously as agents of change.”
So, what is the message to walk away with? Our consciousness, the state or focal point of our mind, is the point from which our physical matter originates. My good friend Laura Lewis often says, “Change your mind, change your matter.” If you want to create change in your physical being, new science asserts that it all begins in your mind, which make you the ultimate creator of your life and your being.
Learn more about the New Science of Consciousness at The Global Intelligencer.
