Mob Mentality on a Cosmic Scale (continued)

BY HARV BISHOP

A continuing conversation with New Thought historian Mitch Horowitz on collective consciousness – the idea that all minds are connected beyond space and time – and the Law of Attraction. To see the first part of this article,  click here.

In first section of the this article, Horowitz talks about New Thought pioneer Joseph Murphy’s argument that a single thought thousands of years ago can affect our life today. Horowitz rejects this theory as a poor attempt to explain away the randomness of life.

Are there other ways that collective consciousness can be taken seriously? I ask.

“People often speak of the ‘energy’ of crowds” Horowitz says. “From a more materialist perspective, we use the term ‘mob psychology.’ These familiar terms seem to me to get at something very real. In what sense is ‘psychology’  infectious? I think there actually is a kind of energy in crowds; and the collective thoughts and emotions of a mass of people – extending through history – can be immensely powerful.

“This is true not only in terms of psychological conditioning but also through some kind of extra-physical conveyance of an idea or an emotion, especially as regards a sense of disinhibition. A disinhibiting effect can manifest in very good events, such as Woodstock or the crumbing of the Berlin Wall – or very horrific events, which are too numerous require mentioning. This may explain why a ‘mass belief’ can feel so hypnotic, and afterwards people are not sure what even seemed to transpire.”

Birds do it, bees do it, do human beings do it?

There is an amazing story of African cuckoo birds that lay their eggs in other birds’ nests in England. The young birds grow up never meeting their parents. Somehow, the fledglings know to fly thousands of miles, across the Sahara Desert, to their African home without being “taught” by their parents. Author and biologist  Rupert Sheldrake doesn’t believe genes are responsible for getting the cuckoo’s back home. He attributes it to what he what he calls morphic fields: A nonphysical, inherited memory.

Are humans also influenced by something like a morphic field?

“Absolutely,” says Horowitz. “I firmly believe that. I think our culture has to acknowledge, not just in light of spiritual experience but also contemporary science, that there is a non-physical component to intelligence.

“The scientist J.B. Rhine proved as much with his ESP experiments at Duke University in the 1930s. Now, one of
the tragedies of our intellectual
culture – and this relates to the question of mass belief – is that
Rhine’s critics, who are driven by an almost fundamentalist passion, have persuaded many journalists and academics that Rhine’s ESP findings were somehow a ‘mistake’ or a misreading, or some such. Since most people, especially journalists on deadline, are apt to read the first five things that appear in a Google search, those who echo this point of view have no idea that Rhine’s voluminous research has never been overturned, despite decades of scrutiny.”

Rhine’s research includes using college students and specially designed cards to determine if subjects could correctly perceive the shapes on the cards that were being visualized by the sender. The number of correct results often exceeded that which could be predicted by chance.

Horowitz continues, “And this doesn’t even begin to consider what we’ve gleaned from 80 years of quantum physics experiments, or the implications of current studies in the placebo response and neuroplasticity.

“If we understand, as a starting point, that the human intellect includes an extra-physical component, we can begin to explore its effects and relevance. That’s why I’m very supportive of the work that Sheldrake, Dean Radin [a leading parapsychology researcher] and others who are doing in this area.” To see the first part of this article about Collective Consciousness,  click here.

Can the Law of Attraction explain human misfortune and mass tragedies? Click here as Mitch Horowitz weighs in as this exclusive, in-depth interview series continues.

What does death tell us about the Law of Attraction? For the first part of this interview series with Horowitz reconsidering New Thought: what works, what doesn’t and what needs reform click here.

See my interview with Horowitz, “The Hidden History of New Thought,” in the September issue of Science of Mind: Guide for Spiritual Living magazine on sale mid-August at Barnes & Noble.

Horowitz’s book “One Simple Idea: How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life” can be found at Amazon. Check out MitchHorowitz.com for his fascinating articles and videos.