The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) is an American non-profit parapsychological research institute. It was co-founded in 1973 by former astronaut Edgar Mitchell,Pfeffer, Elizabeth
''Stars aligned: Astronaut's mission seeks to answer life's big questions''
''

Contra Costa Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the East ...

'', 21 February 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2015.Allen, Mik
''Space explorer touches down this weekend in Southwest Virginia''

The Roanoke Times ''The Roanoke Times'' is the primary newspaper in Southwestern Virginia and is based in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It is published by Lee Enterprises. In addition to its headquarters in Roanoke, it maintains a bureau in Christiansburg, ...

, 18 September 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2013. the sixth man to walk on the Moon, along with investor Paul N. Temple and others interested in purported

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

phenomena, in order to encourage and conduct research on

noetics In philosophy, noetics is a purposed branch of metaphysics concerned with the study of mind as well as intellect. There is also a reference to the science of noetics, which covers the field of thinking and knowing, thought and knowledge, as well as ...

and human potentials. The Institute conducts research on topics such as

spontaneous remission Spontaneous remission, also called spontaneous healing or spontaneous regression, is an unexpected improvement or cure from a disease that usually progresses. These terms are commonly used for unexpected transient or final improvements in cancer. S ...

,McTaggart, Lynne
''The Intention Experiment: Using Your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World''

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

, New York (2007).

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...

alternative healing Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...

practices, consciousness-based healthcare, spirituality, human potential,

psychic abilities This is a list of alleged psychic abilities that have been attributed to real-world people. Many of these abilities pertain to variations of extrasensory perception or the ''sixth sense''. Superhuman abilities from fiction are not included. Psyc ...

psychokinesis Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...

and survival of consciousness after bodily death.Institute of Noetic Sciences. Research: Programs from the Institute of Noetic Sciences
Vieten, Cassandra

Huffington Post, 21 September 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2013. The Institute maintains a free database, available on the Internet, with citations to more than 6,500 articles about whether physical and mental health benefits might be connected to meditation and yoga. Radin, Dean
''Supernormal: Science, Yoga, and the Evidence for Extraordinary Psychic Abilities''

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

, New York (2013). Headquartered outside

Petaluma, California Petaluma (Miwok: ''Péta Lúuma'') is a city in Sonoma County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 census. Petaluma's name comes from the Miwok village na ...

, the IONS is situated on a campus that includes offices, a research laboratory and a retreat center (originally the campus of

World College West World College West was an undergraduate liberal arts college in Marin County, California. Founded by Dr. Richard M. Gray, it offered a program that integrated a grounding in the liberal arts with work-study and a required two-quarter "World Stud ...

). Its current director is Claire Lachance. Other researchers associated with it include

Dean Radin Dean Radin (; born February 29, 1952) investigates phenomena in parapsychology. Following a bachelor and master's degree in electrical engineering and a PhD in educational psychology Radin worked at Bell Labs, as a researcher at Princeton Universi ...

and

Rupert Sheldrake Alfred Rupert Sheldrake (born 28 June 1942) is an English author and parapsychology researcher who proposed the concept of morphic resonance, a conjecture which lacks mainstream acceptance and has been criticized as pseudoscience. He has worke ...

History

Edgar Mitchell has reported that on his return to Earth, after the 1971 Apollo 14 Moon landing, he had an experience comparable to savikalpa samādhi. He also says that he conducted

ESP ESP most commonly refers to: * Extrasensory perception, a paranormal ability ESP may also refer to: Arts, entertainment Music * ESP Guitars, a manufacturer of electric guitars * E.S. Posthumus, an independent music group formed in 2000, ...

experiments with earthbound friends during spaceflight. In 1973, along with investor Paul N. Temple and some others, Mitchell co-founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS). It was founded as a

501(c)(3) non-profit organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

in 1973.

Willis Harman Willis W. Harman (August 16, 1918 – January 30, 1997) was an American engineer, futurist, and author associated with the human potential movement. He was convinced that late industrial civilization faced a period of major cultural crisis which ...

served as president from 1975 until his death in 1997. The word ''noetic'' derives from the Greek '' nous'', meaning "mind or ways of knowing."Murphy, Michael and Stephen Donovan
''The Physical and Psychological Effects of Meditation: A Review of Contemporary Research With a Comprehensive Bibliography, 1931-1996''
Institute of Noetic Sciences, Petaluma, CA (1997), p. 282. . Writing in ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', the Institute's director of research pointed to philosopher

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...

' 1902 definition of the word as:

... states of insight into depths of truth unplumbed by the discursive intellect. They are illuminations, revelations, full of significance and importance, all inarticulate though they remain; and as a rule they carry with them a curious sense of authority. ...

The Institute figures prominently in ''

The Lost Symbol ''The Lost Symbol'' is a 2009 novel written by American writer Dan Brown. It is a thriller set in Washington, D.C., after the events of ''The Da Vinci Code'', and relies on Freemasonry for both its recurring theme and its major characters. Rel ...

'', a 2009 work of fiction by best-selling author

Dan Brown Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), '' The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), ''The Lost Symbol'' (2009), '' Inferno'' (2013), ...

. Brown, Dan
''The Lost Symbol''

, New York (2009).

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

postings on the day before the book's release led Institute director Marilyn Schlitz to purchase the book and read it in one sitting. She told

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

that she found ten experiments conducted by the real-world Institute referred to in Brown's fictional account. NPR reported that after its publication "traffic to

he institute's He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

website ... increased twelvefold", applications for membership increased and "journalists from places like Dateline NBC — not to mention NPR ..." were seeking interviews with Schlitz.Hagerty, Barbara Bradley
''Woman Reads Dan Brown Novel, Discovers Herself''

, 12 October 2009. Retrieved 6 October 2013. The Institute confers the Temple Award for Creative Altruism,''Political author, social activist to speak at SJU''
College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University "Campus News" web page. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2013.''Distinguished Visiting Professor: Bill Milliken, Communities in Schools Founder''

Marymount University Marymount University is a private Catholic university with its main campus in Arlington, Virginia. Marymount offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. It has approximately 3,897 students enrolled, representing approximately 45 states an ...

Campus News and Events webpage. Retrieved 6 October 2013, biennially.IONS Grants and Awards web page
Retrieved 6 October 2013. The $25,000 award fund is divided among recipients selected by an independent jury.

Research

Projects sponsored by the Institute include a bibliography on the physical and psychological effects of

and

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consci ...

, and a

bibliography. The Institute has also conducted a number of parapsychological studies into

extra-sensory perception Extrasensory perception or ESP, also called sixth sense, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was adopted by Duke Universi ...

lucid dreaming A lucid dream is a type of dream in which the dreamer becomes aware that they are dreaming while dreaming. During a lucid dream, the dreamer may gain some amount of control over the dream characters, narrative, or environment; however, this is n ...

telekinesis Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...

, and presentiment. According to ''

,'' the Institute is "... devoted to exploring psychic phenomena and the role of consciousness in the cosmos." ''

'' also noted that co-founder Mitchell's assertions "... have often been criticized by skeptics." Told "your research goes into a number of territories that are regarded with skepticism in some circles", Mitchell replied:

That's what's fun about it. We're breaking down barriers and finding things. That's what science is all about: new discovery. ... There's nothing that we have done or have demonstrated that doesn't have good science behind it. Skeptics be damned.

The Institute is listed on Stephen Barrett's

Quackwatch Quackwatch is a United States-based website, self-described as a "network of people" founded by Stephen Barrett, which aims to "combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct" and to focus on "quackery-related information th ...

website, for its research on fringe topics.

Documentaries and publications

In 1994, TBS broadcast a three-part, six-hour documentary based on work at the Institute, entitled ''The Heart of Healing'' and narrated by actress

Jane Seymour Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne ...

.McVicar, Nancy
''More Than Medicine''
'' Sun-Sentinel'', 26 October 1993. Retrieved 6 October 2013.''Heart Healing''
Turner Publishing (1993) Since 2009, the Institute has published a semi-annual bulletin, ''The Noetic Post''. From 2003 to 2009, it published a quarterly magazine, ''Shift: At the Frontiers of Consciousness''.

References

External links

Institute of Noetic Sciences official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Institute Of Noetic Sciences Noetic Sciences, Institute of Buildings and structures in Marin County, California Noetic Sciences, Institute of Parapsychology Noetic Sciences, Institute of 1973 establishments in California Organizations based in Marin County, California pseudoscience Edgar Mitchell

History

Research

Documentaries and publications

See also

References

External links