Sunday Lecture: The Science Delusion

Rupert Sheldrake shows how the sciences are being constricted by assumptions that have hardened into dogmas.

The science delusion is the belief that science already understands the nature of reality, in principle. The fundamental questions are answered, leaving only the details to be filled in. The impressive achievements of science seemed to support this confident attitude. But recent research has revealed unexpected problems at the heart of physics, cosmology, biology, medicine and psychology.

Should science be a belief-system, or a method of enquiry? In the sceptical spirit of true scientific enquiry, Sheldrake turns the ten fundamental dogmas of science into questions, opening up startling new possibilities. For example, the “laws of nature” may be habits that change and evolve. The Gravitational Constant may not be constant. Minds may extend far beyond brains. The total amount of matter and energy may be increasing. Memories may not be stored as traces in our brains. Sheldrake argues that science would be better off without its dogmas: freer, more interesting and more fun. 

Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D. is a biologist and author of more than 80 scientific papers and 10 books, including The Science Delusion (January 2012). He was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge University, a Research Fellow of the Royal Society, and from 2005-2010 the Director of the Perrott-Warrick Project, funded from Trinity College, Cambridge. His web site is www.sheldrake.org.

£3 on the door/free to SPES members.