Comments on Dr. J. Slawinski's paper

Rupert Sheldrake
1987 Journal of Near-Death Studies  
I agree with Janusz Slawinski in thinking that concepts of the soul may eventually be formulated in terms of scientific hypotheses. But I think it unlikely that the current concepts of science, including electromagnetism, are adequate for this purpose. These are the main obstacles I find in the way of following his approach: 1. Not only does "all living matter from cell organelles to man" create electromagnetic (EM) fields, but so does all matter, living and nonliving. Not only does "some part
more » ... f the field extend beyond the material boundaries of the organism, creating the so-called electromagnetic aura," but part of the field extends around everything, living and nonliving. Not only do living organisms give off EM radiation, but so do inanimate objects such as light bulbs and even rocks. For example, the latter can be photographed at night on the basis of their infrared photon emission. So the presence of EM fields in and around organisms and the emission of photons do not necessarily reveal anything special about life, nor imply that EM fields are associated with consciousness. EM fields are associated with all matter; all material systems can emit photons; and all material changes are associated with changes in the EM field. That is what the standard theories of physics tell us, and so it is not surprising or especially significant that changes in organisms and brains are associated with EM effects, including photon emission. 2. Patterns of change in any material system, be it a DNA molecule or a motor car, are associated with patterns of EM change that could be considered to contain spatiotemporal information. The patterns of EM radiation from the bonnet of a car depend on the activities of the Dr. Sheldrake was formerly
doi:10.1007/bf01073394 fatcat:dvvn5jqes5bmpga7cv3vsubwzi