This is what you really look like! :-)

[JimOttley]

Nigel is of course right uncomfortable as this may be ....................


http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss...inning--00xx3:

yeah how about Jim Ottley's argument with Father Diamond and the Catholic Church 1973, I was arguing this stuff when I was a child

I have my doubts about the specific references (re books) and their integrity but in principal they have some validity.

[keithAngel]

yeah how about Jim Ottley's argument with Father Diamond and the Catholic Church 1973, I was arguing this stuff when I was a child

I have my doubts about the specific references (re books) and their integrity but in principal they have some validity.

A couple of reviews out of 250 odd on amazon No science fiction here

The Holographic Universe (Paperback) I've read The Holographic Universe often, and have gained new insights into the nature of consciousness and reality from its riches every time. I consider it to be author Michael Talbot's most important work, as well as one of the best books ever written on the subject of so-called paranormal phenomenon. Talbot's fascination for finding scientific explanations for psychic and paranormal activity began when he noticed objects moving inexplicably around him, regardless where he lived. He would sometimes awaken to find socks draped on his houseplants, and occasionally found objects in his apartment that he knew for a fact had been hundreds of miles away. His real-life experiences with such shifts in reality combined with his training in physics led him to explore possible reasons for these and other mysterious happenings.
Talbot begins his book with an excellent introduction to physicist David Bohm's concept of the holographic model of the universe, and combines the physics model with Karl Pribram's work on the holographic model of the brain. The result is a marvelous description of a non-local, interconnected and alive universe that moves in response to our every thought and feeling.
I am very impressed with the clarity with which Talbot presents the concept of a holographic universe and how various paranormal phenomenon can be explained within that model. Talbot's discussion is comprehensive, fascinating, clear, and packed with relevant and intriguing stories of paranormal phenomenon. Out of body experiences (OBEs), near death experiences (NDEs), auric readings, psychokinesis, acupuncture, X-ray vision, healing, and psychic readings are all described and considered for placement into the holographic model.
Talbot presents a wealth of relevant research studies and scientific theories from David Bohm, Helmut Schmidt, Marilyn Schlitz, Robert Monroe, Charles Tart, Larry Dossey, Paul Davies, PMH Atwater, Ian Stevenson, Fred Alan Wolf, Harold Puthoff, Russell Targ, Lyall Watson, Stanislav Grof, and many others.



The Holographic Universe (Paperback) This is one of the most provocative books I have read in years. In the first few chapters Mr. Talbot describes the emerging holographic paradigm in science, drawing on David Bohm's work in quantum physics and Karl Pribam's work in neuroscience. I found both descriptions to be fascinating, and especially enjoyed the historical context for the work of these two seminal thinkers. As a person with a master's degree in neuroscience and chaos/complexity theory, I found a couple of his simplifications misleading, but would give him high marks for his overall comprehension of the conclusions of Pribam and his followers.The remaining 2/3 of the book is a discussion of how the holographic paradigm may provide a rational basis for interpreting a wide variety of phenomenon located around the fringes of established science. He looks at everything from strange historical "miracles" like stigmata and appearances of the Virgin Mary to modern psychic abilities and LSD experiences, from out-of-body and near-death-experiences to UFO abductions. In addition, he compares language used in the modern scientific discussion of holography with the language used by ancient mystical traditions.
Mr. Talbot's writing style is unusually clear and lucid. All of this makes for a highly engaging book. It kept me up late every night for more than a week. I am a person who has had an OBE/NDE (out-of-body, near-death-experience), and can tell you that his description of such events is an astoundingly accurate portrayal of what I experienced.
I am also a scientist, and know that most of my highly rational, empirical colleages would have trouble accepting a majority of Mr. Talbot's conclusions. This work addresses something so completely out of the realm of everyday experience for most people, and probes a world that is normally invisible to the five senses. Hence, objective, empirical science -- as defined by a conventional theorist or practicing technician -- simply cannot address these experiences. They are outside the range of focus of the tool that Western minds currently rely on.
The service that Mr. Talbot provides is a challenge to rethink the conventional definition of science so that it can take into account a much wider range of human experience. What he argues for is the acceptance, as valid scientific data, of the experiences of individual humans, across cultures and throughout history, that are remarkably consistent with one another. These experiences address aspects of reality that are invisible to the skeptical eye, but become obvious to the person who chooses to develop other forms of perception.
As a person who was unwittingly thrown into an OBE/NDE experience, I am naturally inclined to read a book like this one with an open mind, and felt immensely rewarded for doing so. However, if I had reviewed the same book before having my own personal experience of some of the phenomena it describes, I would have reviewed it as a new-age excursion into a realm of fantasy. I am completely sympathetic to some of the reviewers who see it that way, and respectfully disagree.
I believe there is an extraordinary synthesis happening among the realms of human experience, one that can validate each individual's story, however unusual, and also one that honors all the different ways of knowing. I see Mr. Talbot's work as one of the more important bridges yet constructed between traditional science and spirituality, between rational discourse about repeatable, empirically verifiable phenomenon and the quirky, esoteric or mythological elements of personal experience that actually define most people's experience of reality. This book is a "must read" for any passionate seeker of truth.