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The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) was co-founded in 1973 by former astronaut Edgar Mitchell and industrialist Paul N. Temple to encourage and conduct research and education programs on mind-body relationships for the purpose of expanding "human possibility by investigating aspects of reality—mind, consciousness, and spirit." Institute programs include research in what they call "extended human capacities," "integral health and healing," and "emerging worldviews".






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The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) was co-founded in 1973 by former astronaut Edgar Mitchell and industrialist Paul N. Temple to encourage and conduct research and education programs on mind-body relationships for the purpose of expanding "human possibility by investigating aspects of reality—mind, consciousness, and spirit." Institute programs include research in what they call "extended human capacities," "integral health and healing," and "emerging worldviews". This includes research into spiritual energy, meditation
Meditation

Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the reflexive, "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness....
, consciousness
Consciousness

Consciousness is a difficult term to define, because the word is used and understood in a wide variety of ways, so that it frequently happens that what one person sees as a definition of consciousness is seen by others as about something else altogether....
, alternative healing, spirituality
Spirituality

Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit, a concept closely tied to religion and faith, transcendence , or one or more Deity....
, human potential, psychic abilities
Psychic

The word psychic refers to a proposed ability to perception information hidden from the senses through what is described as extrasensory perception, or to those people said to have such abilities....
 and life after death
Afterlife

The afterlife is the concept of a continued existence for the soul, spirit or mind of a being after biological death. The major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics....
, among others.

Headquartered in Petaluma, California
Petaluma, California

Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, California, in the United States. It is estimated that the 2006 population was 54,660Located in Petaluma is the Rancho Petaluma Adobe, a National Historic Landmark....
, the Institute's membership is approximately 35,000. The organization is situated on a 200-acre
Acre

The acre is a Units of measurement of area in a number of different systems, including the Imperial unit#Measures of area and United States customary units#Units of area systems....
 (80 hectare
Hectare

A hectare is a unit of area equal to , or one square hectometre , and commonly used for surveying.The hectare is used in most countries around the world, especially in domains concerned with land ownership, land planning, and land management, including law , agriculture, forestry, and town planning....
) campus housing an active retreat and learning center.

The institute's name is derived from noetic theory
Noetic theory

Noetic theory , is a branch of metaphysics philosophy concerned with the study of nature, the operation of intellect, and the relationship between human and divine intellect....
, which is concerned with intellectual or rational activity, and proposes the idea of an evolutionary shift in humans to a new species called Homo noeticus, possessing paranormal
Paranormal

Paranormal is a general term that describes unusual experiences that lack a scientific explanation, or phenomena alleged to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure....
 abilities.

The Institute publishes a quarterly review called Shift: At the Frontiers of Consciousness. However, the Institute lacks accreditation
Accreditation

Accreditation is a process in which certification of competency, authority, or credibility is presented.Organizations that issue credentials or certify third parties against official standards are themselves formally accredited by accreditation bodies ; hence they are sometimes known as "accredited certification bodies"....
 for scientific peer review
Peer review

Peer review is the process of subjecting an author's Scholarly method work, research, or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field....
.

History

The Institute of Noetic Sciences was co-founded in 1973 by Edgar Mitchell, an astronaut who was part of the Apollo 14
Apollo 14

Apollo 14 was the eighth manned mission in the Apollo program and the third mission to land on the Moon. The 9 day mission was launched on January 31 1971, with lunar touch down on February 5....
 mission, wealthy industrialist Paul N. Temple and some others. During the three-day journey back to Earth aboard Apollo 14, Mitchell had an epiphany
Epiphany (feeling)

An epiphany is the sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something. Or also known as a big moment of EUREKA! The term is used in either a Philosophy or Literal and figurative language sense to signify that the claimant has "found the last piece of the puzzle and now sees the whole picture," or has new information o...
 while looking down on the earth from space. "The presence of divinity became almost palpable, and I knew that life in the universe was not just an accident based on random processes ... The knowledge came to me directly," Mitchell said of that experience. Following his spaceflight, Mitchell and others founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences.

Among the projects the Institute has sponsored include a bibliography on the physical and psychological effects of meditation
Meditation

Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the reflexive, "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness....
, a spontaneous remission
Spontaneous remission

In medicine, spontaneous remission is recovery without known reason or cause. Spontaneous remission are usual in many health disorders and are more commonplace than it is generally assumed, principally in young people....
 bibliography, and studies on the efficacy of compassionate intention on healing in AIDS
AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the HIV ....
 patients. They have also conducted a number of parapsychological
Parapsychology

Parapsychology is a discipline that seeks to investigate the existence and causes of psychic abilities and Survivalism using the scientific method....
 studies into extra-sensory perception
Extra-sensory perception

Extrasensory perception is the apparent ability to acquire information by paranormal means independent of any known physical senses or deduction from previous experience....
, lucid dreaming
Lucid dreaming

A lucid dream is a dream in which the person is aware that they are dreaming while the dream is in progress, also known as a conscious dream....
, and presentiment.

The Institute currently conducts research programs in three principal areas:

Extended Human Capacities
  • Creativity
  • Meditation
  • Psi Studies
  • Wisdom Capacities
  • Subtle Energies
  • States of Consciousness
  • Death, Dying, and Beyond


Integral Health and Healing
  • Biofields
  • Distant Healing
  • Global Medicine
  • Integral Medicine
  • Mind Body Medicine
  • Extended Survival
  • Placebo Expectancy Effects


Emerging Worldviews
  • Integral Intelligence
  • Science of Wisdom
  • Gaia Theory
  • Transformative Practices
  • Cultivating Spiritual Awareness
  • East/West/Indigenous Practices


Criticism

Research supported by the Institute of Noetic Sciences has been criticized as lacking in strict "peer-reviewed empiricism". In an article that critiqued the New Age movement
New Age

New Age is a decentralized western culture social movement and new religious movement that seeks universality Truth and the attainment of the highest individual human potential....
's detachment from the mainstream
Mainstream

Mainstream is, generally, the common current of thought of the majority. It is a term most often applied in the The Arts . This includes:* something that is available to the general public;...
 scientific community
Scientific community

The scientific community consists of the total body of scientists, its relationships and interactions. It is normally divided into "sub-communities" each working on a particular field within science....
, Thomas W. Clark, founder of the Center for Naturalism, referenced work supported by the Institute as suffering from "what humanist philosopher Paul Kurtz
Paul Kurtz

Paul Kurtz is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo, but is best known for his prominent role in the United States Scientific skepticism community....
 calls the 'transcendental temptation' [that] drives the flight from standard, peer-reviewed
Peer review

Peer review is the process of subjecting an author's Scholarly method work, research, or ideas to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field....
 empiricism
Empiricism

In philosophy, empiricism is a theory of knowledge which asserts that knowledge arises from experience. Empiricism is one of several competing views about how we know "things," part of the branch of philosophy called epistemology, or "theory of knowledge"....
 into the arms of a dualism
Dualism

Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The word's origin is the Latin duo, "two" . The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general usage....
 that privileges the mental over the physical, the teleological over the non-purposive."

The skeptical organization Quackwatch
Quackwatch

Quackwatch, Inc., is an United states non-profit organization founded by Stephen Barrett that aims to "combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct" with a primary focus on providing "quackery-related information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere." Since 1996 it has operated a website, quackwatch.org, wh...
 includes the Institute of Noetic Sciences on its list of questionable organizations. The list outlines nine criteria they feel are useful in determining the reliability of groups offering health-related information.

The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry have also criticized distance healing research supported by the Institute of Noetic Sciences, citing a ten-week study in their critique of parapsychologist
Parapsychology

Parapsychology is a discipline that seeks to investigate the existence and causes of psychic abilities and Survivalism using the scientific method....
 Elisabeth Targ
Elisabeth Targ

Elisabeth Fischer Targ was a Psychiatry specializing in Parapsychology and the role of spirituality in health and healing. She died of a brain tumor on July 18th, 2002....
 where "healers directed their psi
Psi (parapsychology)

Psi is a term from parapsychology derived from the Greek language, ? psi, 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet; from the Greek ???? psyche, "mind, soul"....
 energy to the [AIDS] patients by using prayer or meditation."

External links

  • community & archive website
  • entry in the University of Virginia
    University of Virginia

    The University of Virginia is a public university research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson. Conceived by 1800 and established in 1819, it is the only university in the United States to be designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, an honor it shares with nearby Monticello....
     course guide for "New Religious Movements"


See also

  • Gaia
    Gaia hypothesis

    The Gaia hypothesis is an ecology hypothesis proposing that the biosphere and the physical components of the Earth are closely integrated to form a complex system that maintains the climate and biogeochemistry conditions on Earth in a preferred homeostasis....
  • Parapsychology
    Parapsychology

    Parapsychology is a discipline that seeks to investigate the existence and causes of psychic abilities and Survivalism using the scientific method....
  • Near-death experience
  • Energy (esotericism)
  • Placebo
    Placebo

    The placebo effect is a phenomenon in medicine where the results of a medical treatment are affected by their symbolism, and not just their medical value....