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By Root 881 0

to the world of animals, we find elements of human-like consciousness that indicate we are not unique, as we previously thought.28 For example, self-recognition is not restricted to humans. Great apes, as well as elephants, dolphins, magpie birds, and pigeons, are able to recognize themselves in a mirror.29 A capacity for empathy and feeling for another animal has been observed in primates, dolphins, whales, elephants, dogs, hippos, birds, and even some rodents. Elephants will remain by the body of a deceased member of their group for hours in an apparent gesture of respect, and this suggests the capacity for compassion. Tool making has been observed in crows, chimps, and bonobos (a species of great apes). Dolphins have also shown they can use tools; for example, they will sometimes use the spiny body of a dead scorpion fish to get a moray eel out of its hiding place. The ability to understand language has been observed in dolphins, bonobos, and parrots. Overall, there is a continuum of consciousness and an array of animals has demonstrated an active consciousness and a much richer cognitive life than previously suspected. Although we humans have an advanced capacity for reflective consciousness, we are not a unique and separate form of life; instead, we have simply progressed further along a spectrum of reflective consciousness.

Because we find evidence of primary perception or some form of consciousness operating at the level of atoms, molecules, single-cell organisms, plants, and animals, we should not be surprised that sentience is a basic property of the universe. It is when we move to the human realm that we find the most direct evidence that consciousness is not confined within the brain; it is, instead, a field property of the universe itself.

Although the topic is still controversial among more traditional scientists, the properties of consciousness have been a subject of intensive scientific research for more than forty years. Sometimes called psychic or “psi” research, this field explores a wide range of phenomena and human capacities that allow us to connect with the world beyond our physical bodies. In the previous chapter, I described the exhaustive inquiry of the consciousness researcher Dean Radin. Based upon decades of research, Radin concluded that consciousness is a capacity that includes both “receiving” and “sending” potentials. Let’s consider each aspect of consciousness.

Evidence of the receiving potentials of consciousness comes from experiments on a type of psychic skill sometimes called “remote viewing.” Remote viewing is the ability to gather meaningful information about a remote person or location by intuitive or non-physical means. In remote viewing, the receiver is not expected to acquire exact information, but intuitive impressions regarding, for example, the actions and location of a specific individual. Radin found that remote viewing has been “repeatedly observed by dozens of investigators using different methods.”30 He concluded that a capacity for conscious knowing “operates between minds and through space.”

Evidence of the sending potentials of consciousness comes from experiments dealing with mind-matter interactions, such as the ability to influence the swing of a pendulum clock. Radin concluded that “After sixty years of experiments . . . researchers have produced persuasive, consistent, replicated evidence that mental intention is associated with the behavior of physical systems.”31

I would be reluctant to write so specifically about consciousness as a permeating property of the universe had I not had the opportunity to learn about this first hand in a scientific laboratory. The opportunity to explore our intuitive connections with the cosmos arose unexpectedly. As mentioned in the introduction, in the early 1970s I was working as a senior social scientist at the think tank SRI International doing studies of the long-range future. At that time I was invited to participate in the psychic research experiments that were launched on behalf of NASA by two senior physicists, Harold