Imants	Barusš	&	Julia	Mossbridge Transcendent	Mind:	Rethinking	the	Science	of	Consciousness Washington,	DC:	American	Psychological	Association,	2017,	251	pp. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/15957-000 ISBN:	9781433822773 Journal	of	Consciousness	Studies	24	(7-8),	July/Aug	2017,	246-250. Reviewed	by	Gregory	Nixon Prince	George,	BC,	Canada This	book	arrives	with	a	reputation.	Apparently,	it	is	the	first	book	on	psi	and	other	anomalous human	experiences	to	be	published	by	the	rather	traditionalist	APA	(American	Psychological Association).	If	this	is	true,	this	is	likely	due	to	the	fact	that	much	of	the	book	relies	on	carefully monitored	and	repeated	experiments	to	demonstrate	the	statistical	veracity	of	such	things	as precognition,	remote	viewing,	clairvoyance,	mental	telepathy,	and	even	psychokinesis.	This	is	the key	to	the	authors'	claim	of	empirical	testing	and	scientific	proof. Many	of	the	claims,	such	as	the	Ganzfeld	telepathy	experiments	and	remote	viewing	trials,	are	well known	but	have	been	dismissed	as	proving	nothing	because	of	flaws	or	fraud	or	because	the results	were	not	consistent.	However,	in	1996,	an	unbiased	statistician	named	Jessica	Utts	was contracted	by	a	U.S.	government	agency	to	review	the	experiments.	She	stated: Using	the	standards	applied	to	any	other	area	of	science,	it	is	concluded	that	psychic functioning	has	been	well	established.	The	statistical	results	of	the	studies	are	far	beyond what	is	expected	by	chance.	Arguments	that	these	results	could	be	due	to	methodological flaws	in	the	experiments	are	soundly	refuted.	...	Such	consistency	cannot	be	readily explained	by	claims	of	flaws	or	fraud.	(as	cited	by	the	authors,	pp.	36-37) This	is	the	sort	of	evidence	that	allows	the	authors	to	assert	empirical	validity	and	scientific	proof for	the	extraordinary	claims	they	make.	These	statistical	reports	are	made	throughout	the	early chapters	and	do	not	make	for	the	most	spellbinding	reading,	but	later	they	apply	their	findings	to conclusions	about	the	nature	of	consciousness	and	develop	a	transcendent	ontology	of	their	own that	requires	mental	experiences	that	escape	the	net	of	the	physical	in	general	and	brains	in particular. This	is	not	a	long	book,	consisting	of	only	eight	self-contained	chapters	that	work	in	concert	to lead	toward	the	implication	of	a	kind	of	idealist	ultimate	reality.	Despite	its	size,	it	seems	they manage	to	cover	all	aspects	of	psi,	including	post-mortem	communication	with	'discarnate entities',	and	they	cite	nearly	all	the	well-known	authors	in	this	field	over	the	past	decades	and earlier.	Perhaps	a	short	review	is	in	order	before	I	offer	my	own	critique. The	Introduction	and	first	chapter	set	the	tone	and	make	it	clear	that	reductive	materialism	is considered	to	be	moribund,	though	they	resist	an	emotional	polemic	against	it: 2 We	are	in	the	midst	of	a	sea	change.	Receding	from	view	is	materialism,	whereby	physical phenomena	are	assumed	to	be	primary	and	consciousness	is	regarded	as	secondary. Approaching	our	sights	is	a	complete	reversal	of	perspective.	According	to	this	alternative view,	consciousness	is	primary	and	the	physical	is	secondary.	In	other	words,	materialism is	receding	and	giving	way	to	ideas	about	reality	in	which	consciousness	plays	a	key	role.	(p. 3) Since	consciousness	released	from	its	physical	limitations	may	be	unbounded,	the	door	is	opened for	an	examination	of	the	wide	variety	of	experiential	phenomena	that	constitute	what	today	is called	simply	'psi'.	Chapter	1	is	a	critical	examination	of	materialism.	It	contains	an	especially strong	section	noting	how	scientific	materialism	so	dominates	the	academy	that	any	other worldview	is	often	subject	to	mockery,	dismissal,	or	official	censure.	I	have	seen	this	myself	when seeking	promotion	in	my	university:	my	consciousness	studies	publications	(rarely	involving	psi) were	still	archly	interrogated	for	lack	of	experimental	proofs. Chapter	2	explores	'shared	mind',	that	is,	a	concept	that	will	allow	for	'anomalous	information transfer',	once	known	as	ESP,	including	remote	viewing.	There	are	a	great	many	experimental proofs	of	a	statistical	nature	explored,	and	they	certainly	make	the	case	that	something	is	missing from	the	skeptical	materialist	worldview	since	there	are	so	many	phenomena	that	cannot	be explained	within	it.	Chapter	3	questions	our	daily	sense	of	the	passage	of	time	by	bringing	up strong	evidence	for	precognition.	They	note	that	unconscious	precognition	is	common	but	most	of us	fail	to	bring	it	to	consciousness	or	forget	it	once	we	have	done	so.	They	suggest	actual	time	is deep	time,	a	reversible	ordering	of	events	beyond	our	daily	sense	of	apparent	time. Chapter	4	was	the	most	difficult	chapter	for	me	to	take	seriously,	but	I	strove	for	an	open	mind while	reading	their	anecdotes	or	evidence.	The	authors	make	the	claim	that	'discarnate	beings' seem	to	exist	in	some	realm	of	their	own	and	communications	with	them	are	possible.	This	leads to	the	question	posed	in	chapter	5:	can	the	mind	exist	outside	of	the	brain?	Here	their	empirical evidence	centres	on	near-death	studies.	They	claim	impartiality	by	listing	what	they	see	as	all possible	objections	to	the	evidence,	but	in	the	end	they	embrace	most	such	claims.	Mental	control over	physical	processes	(related	to	psychokinesis)	is	examined	in	chapter	6,	and	here	they	come up	with	strong	scientific	evidence	(which	will	no	doubt	be	just	as	strongly	refuted). This	leads	to	their	conclusions	and	applications	in	the	two	final	chapters.	Chapter	7,	'Reintegrating Subjectivity	Into	Consciousness	Research',	suggests	that	we	need	to	pay	more	attention	to	our	own psychological	biases	in	consciousness	studies.	In	this	way,	an	open-minded	logic	will	help	us	to more	honestly	evaluate	the	empirical	evidence,	which	they	suggest	will	lead	to	knowledge	of anomalous	ways	of	gaining	knowledge.	These	insights	could	be	transformative	for	the	researcher, and	lead	to	transcendent	states	of	consciousness.	'Assuming	the	existence	of	something	like	what we	have	loosely	identified	as	deep	consciousness,	extended	mind,	shared	mind,	the	prephysical substrate,	and	so	on,	we	are	likely	a	long	way	from	understanding	consciousness.	What	is	needed is	a	surge	of	creative	research	taking	the	investigation	of	consciousness	in	new	directions'	(p.	184). They	then	list	10	explicit	steps	that	should	open	consciousness	studies	to	the	deeper	truths	of	psi and	transcendent	experience	that	they	have	affirmed.	They	seem	to	back	the	second-person phenomenological	perspective	as	outlined	in	The	View	from	Within	issues	of	JCS	6	(2-3),	1999,	and JCS	16	(10-12),	2009,	when	they	state,	'Again,	we	emphasize	that	keen	self-observation	as	well	as 3 comparing	notes	with	others	can	help	inform	a	determination	about	whether	information	is	being fabricated	or	accurately	received'	(p.	189). If	such	transcendence	of	the	physical	is	really	possible	–	and	the	authors	claim	that's	exactly	what they	have	discovered	–	then	a	new	model	of	consciousness	(really	a	new	ontology)	is	necessary, and	that's	what	they	describe	in	chapter	8,	'Transcendent	Mind'.	Their	choice	is	called	the	'flickerfilter'	theory.	The	filter	part	sees	the	brain	as	what	Aldous	Huxley	called	a	reducing	valve,	which basically	limits	or	filters	access	to	transcendent	experiences,	leaving	only	daily	functional consciousness.	The	flicker	part	is	the	stroboscopic	image	of	reality	described	in	both	Buddhist meditation	texts	and	in	some	'stochastic'	quantum	explanations	of	consciousness:	'The	idea	is	that physical	manifestation	comes	into	existence	and	disappears,	over	and	over	again,	producing	the appearance	of	a	continuous	stream	of	consciousness	from	a	series	of	discrete	"nows"'	(p.	181). Between	these	flashing	'nows'	is	the	'total	aliveness'	of	a	'timeless,	spaceless	void',	which	implies the	world	is	born	anew	in	each	new	flashing	'now'	appearance.	What	does	this	matter	to	us?	'This model	predicts	that	both	the	future	and	past	can	be	changed,	although	it	is	not	clear	how	one would	obtain	evidence	that	that	had	occurred	given	that	one	is	always	in	a	"now"	with	consonant past	and	future	projections'	(p.	183).	In	other	words,	we	would	never	know	if	this	was	true. This	is	strong	stuff	that,	despite	all	the	evidence	and	argumentation	in	the	book,	demands	a	willing suspension	of	disbelief	to	read	with	full	attention	and	an	open	mind.	It	is	certainly	significant	that a	statistician	who	examined	the	pages	of	experimental	evidence	declared	that	the	"statistical results	of	the	studies	are	far	beyond	what	is	expected	by	chance,"	but	for	the	rest	of	us	a	54% success	rate	in	testing,	say,	direct	mental	influence	still	looks	a	lot	like	chance.	The	statistical evidence	proves	mental	influence,	but	the	percentage	indicates	that	conscious	agency	operates only	irregularly	and	may	reveal	that	such	influence	is	often	a	random,	unconscious	event. Barusš	and	Mossbridge	claim	they	approached	their	evidence	objectively	but	with	open	minds that	led	them	to	their	extravagant	conclusions.	I	have	my	doubts.	The	authors	have,	professionally speaking,	a	lifelong	commitment	to	such	research	and,	most	likely,	experiences	of	their	own	they only	hint	at	here,	so	it	seems	likely	they	began	this	book	as	committed	to	their	findings.	I	find much	of	their	data	convincing,	as	data,	but	this	does	not	necessarily	convince	a	critical	thinker	of the	deeper	truths	behind	these	anomalies.	For	example,	I	just	feel	that	discarnate	entities	are impossible.	Why	haven't	they	dispersed	and	in	what	in-between	realm	could	they	possibly	exist? The	authors'	premier	example	of	the	deceased	grandmaster	chess	player	from	the	beginning	of	the last	century	who	played	Victor	Korchnoi	(once	ranked	third	in	the	world)	through	a	non-chess playing	medium	in	a	slow	game	that	lasted	over	seven	years	is	certainly	entertaining.	Even	though the	dead	grandmaster	finally	lost	because	he	had	apparently	not	learned	that	the	"French	Defence" he	used	had	been	penetrated	since	his	death	and	was	now	obsolete,	the	story	finally	stretches credibility.	There	are	so	many	such	stories	(which	may	be	taken	as	support	or	skepticism)! Rather than	dead	discarnate	entities	existing	in	a	non-physical	ether,	it	seems	to	me	much	more	likely they	are	projections	of	living	psyches	that	may	be	having	clairvoyant	experiences	or	not. I	have	not	had	any	conscious	experiences,	so	far	as	I	can	remember,	that	would	incline	me	to believe	in,	say,	discarnate	entities,	so	all	the	statistics	and	anecdotes	in	the	world	cannot	really turn	me	(and	probably	other	readers)	into	channelers	or	transcendentalists.	My	own	mother 4 promised	me	that	she	would	try	to	contact	me	after	her	death,	but,	to	my	relief,	has	not	done	so. The	authors'	noting	that	most	psi	experiences	happen	unconsciously	or	are	soon	forgotten	does not	help	the	problem.	In	that	case,	it's	no	wonder	I	feel	bemused	by	all	the	wonders	revealed	in here. However,	the	evidence	is	there,	and	the	authors	are	obviously	well	versed	in	the	data,	anecdotes, and	their	own	personal	experiences.	I	would	agree	that	their	research	recommendations	to	the conscious	studies	community	and	psychologists	should	be	taken	seriously.	If	we	come	to	recognize that	such	extended	mind	experiences	are	happening	for	others,	they	may	be	more	likely	to	happen for	us.	I	for	one	would	love	to	gain	insight	or	even	directly	experience	the	transcendent	mind,	but in	the	meantime	I	must	accept	the	burden	of	my	mundane	consciousness	and	soldier	on,	as	will most	readers,	though	some	will	likely	considerably	expand	their	worldview.