Abstract
British academic freelancer Susan Blackmore talks to Witkowski about the reasons for choosing her unusual career path, its consequences and the challenges of pursuing a similar career today. Next the interlocutors talk about her research in parapsychology, her reasons for abandoning that field after 30 years despite her continuing support for paranormal research. Later discussion is devoted to her concept of memetics, its reception by scientists and the possibility for memetics to become a unifying theory. The two also discuss the problems resulting from memetics, such as mind reprogramming, the possibilities of using meditation for this purpose, psychotherapy as a form of memetic engineering and its similarities with religion and science as a memeplex. At the end, Blackmore speaks on the challenges of psychology and the importance of artificial intelligence for psychology. Her biographical data and past research are described in this chapter.
What could be more interesting than trying to understand the mind that is trying to understand itself?
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Selected Readings
Blackmore, S. (1982). Beyond the body: An investigation into out-of-body experiences. London: Heinemann.
Blackmore, S. (1993). Dying to live: Science and the near death experience. London: Grafton.
Blackmore, S. (1996). In search of the light: The adventures of a parapsychologist. Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books.
Blackmore, S. (1999). The meme machine. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Blackmore, S. (1999). Waking from the meme dream. In G. Watson, S. Batchelor, & G. Claxton (Eds.), The psychology of awakening: Buddhism, science and our day-to-day lives (pp. 112–122). London: Rider.
Blackmore, S. (2001). Evolution and memes: The human brain as a selective imitation device. Cybernetics and Systems, 32, 225–255.
Blackmore, S. (2005). Conversations on consciousness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Blackmore, S. (2010). Dangerous memes; or what the Pandorans let loose. In S. Dick & M. Lupisella (Eds.), Cosmos and culture: Cultural evolution in a Cosmic Context (pp. 297–318). Washington, DC: NASA.
Blackmore, S. (2011). Zen and the Art of consciousness. Oxford: Oneworld Publications.
Blackmore, S. (2012). Turning on the light to see how the darkness looks. In E. S. Kreitler & O. Maimon (Eds.), Consciousness: Its nature and functions (pp. 1–22). New York: Nova.
Blackmore, S. (2013). Living without free will. In G. Caruso (Ed.), Exploring the illusion of free will and moral responsibility (pp. 161–175). New York: Lexington Books.
Blackmore, S. (2016). Delusions of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 23(11–12), 52–64. Also reprinted in Illusionism as a theory of consciousness, Ed. Keith Frankish, 2017.
Blackmore, S. (2017). Seeing myself: The new science of out-of-body experiences. London: Robinson.
Blackmore, S., & Hart-Davis, A. (1995). Test your psychic powers. London: Thorsons.
Blackmore, S., & Troscianko, E. (2018). Consciousness: An introduction (3rd ed.). London: Routledge.
References
Blackmore, S. (1987). The elusive open mind. Skeptical Inquirer, 11(3), 125–135.
Blackmore, S. (1999). The meme machine (2nd ed.). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.
Dawkins, R. (1989). The selfish gene (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Dennett, D. C. (1995). Darwin’s dangerous idea: Evolution and the meaning of life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Henrich, J. P. (2016). The secret of our success: How culture is driving human evolution, domesticating our species, and making us smarter. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
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Witkowski, T. (2020). Susan J. Blackmore: Parapsychology, Memetics and Consciousness. In: Shaping Psychology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50003-0_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50003-0_8
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