The ESP Enigma

The Scientific Case for Psychic Phenomena

By: Diane Hennacy Powell

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

Although much is now known about the brain, relatively little has been determined about where consciousness comes from: What is the source of the "I" in our internal monologue? How does something as nonmaterial as consciousness arise from something material like the brain?

Dr. Diane Powell, a Johns Hopkins-trained neuroscientist, has brilliantly reassessed the meaning and nature of consciousness by exploring research on the workings of psychic phenomena.

Over the past few decades, several well-designed and rigorously supervised experiments have documented the existence of telepathic interconnection, clairvoyance, precognition, psychokinesis, and out-of-body experiences. Mainstream science has largely ignored these data, because they all defy the traditional model of consciousness as being solely the product of brain chemistry. Building from these experiments, Powell constructs a new theory of consciousness. Integrating concepts from physics, neuroscience, and other disciplines, she offers an insightful and intriguing explanation of ESP, provocatively claiming that the existence of psychic abilities expands our understanding and appreciation of consciousness. Psychic abilities are also consistent with findings in modern physics: For example, psychokinesis implies that consciousness is a type of force field, while precognition suggests that the past, present, and future exist concurrently.

Eye-opening in its conclusions and exciting in its implications, The ESP Enigma will challenge your preconceived notions and expand your mind.

©2008 Diane Hennacy Powell (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Psychic power has had trouble gaining scientific respectability, but Powell makes a game effort to propose serious consideration of its existence.... Incorporating Powell's knowledge of neuroscience, this work should appeal to those open to the idea that ESP exists." (Booklist)

Finally a Woo Woo free Psychic discussion

One of the few books that I will reread. So many books related to Psychic material are just anecdotal fairy tales. This nicely relates various phonomenon to related science based references.

Fascinating

I am almost done with listing to this the second time. This book explains so much about what we call psychic phenomenon. There has been a tremendous amount of research on the subject over the years. This research was performed in top universities and by the US government.

good book about how the brain relates to ESP

Very interesting book with many good examples. Goes into a lot of detail on the science of the brain.

Drags on and on

premise is good, but way way way too detailed and the dictation is very stilted and sounds awkward, if that makes sense. she reminds me a little bit of my high school drama teacher who spoke in a bizarre, over the top mannet with precise enunciation as if she were a Broadway director, lol. I can't Hartley recommend this book, but the information is somewhat interesting. could be really edited down though.

A fanscinating revelation

Like a crash course in neuroscience for the layman, that includes an inspiring account of how powerful the human mind is and can be. It could almost be a beginners manual to "freeing the mind". The first half describes the myraid scientific and government studies that have been done on the mind and phsycic phenomina (near-death exp, pre-cognition, out-of-body exp., future memory, remote viewing, ect.). The second half describes the most current theories of the mind and how its newly "discovered" functions have brought us closer to explaining, understanding, and even validating much of the phsycic phenomena decribed in the first half of the book. Some of the most incredible revelations to me were: the theory of consciousness as a force, the Theory of Everything & String Theory, LIGHT, Resonance, the Zero Point Field, the arguments for more than 3 dimensions, the fractality of universe, and the underlying fabric of the universe as a mass storage field.
I am going to listen to it again right away! Its the most interesting and educational material I have ever heard - as far as I think I know....right now.

Very insightful to a complicated topic

It's not easy to explain cases and topics related to ESP... and to be able to find scientific meanings and arguments would be very difficult.... and yet here we are :)

The Book is well planned, and well written with enough explanation covering relatively a complex topic.

The low end is that at some points, the discussion went too technical that I lost focus, but then got back to the flow... (happened multiple times with me).

If you're into ESP... This book is really interesting for you!

good but dense

parts of this book are easy peasy to follow and others are thicker. if you have a physics background it'll be all rainbows for you to get through. still useful, albeit biased. the author is fair about pointing out her bias though.

Monism vs. Dualism, a modern scientific analysis

Very well written and enlightening. Secular leaning scientists may disagree with this modern analysis of consciousness and the mind-body relationship debate. Dr Howell presents solid arguments as to why we are getting closer to finding out the truth about this evrlasting debate.
As a psychology teacher I found that her arguments were quite similar to my own personal theory about the role of religion/spirituality in our conscious interpretation of the world we perceive.

Sadly, very questionable science.

The ESP Enigma attempts to put psychic phenomena in a scientific context. As an exploration into the more plausible psychic events it works, but there is little hard science here. The writer is a Medical Doctor, which does not make her an expert on research of any sort and its unclear if she has researched psychic phenomena (or anything else) herself. The book is also full of logical fallacies, the most glaring is the presentation of questionable ideas as fact and the bandwagon approach of introducing a truly scientific principle (such as quantum theory) and tacking an unproven idea such as precognition as if it had as strong a factual foundation. The main idea of consciousness as a field or force is intriguing but don't try to fool the reader into thinking there is strong scientific evidence for it. I believe in this, but I know there's little scientific evidence for it. The author's faulty reasoning does not change that fact.

WELL BALANCED

What did you love best about The ESP Enigma?

I love the way the book balances scientific studies with stories of peoples experiences.

What does Suzanne Toren bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Its great having someone read the book who understands it.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not so much moved but gave me goosebumps. After reading the part about animals sensing there owners my partner made comment about how not only my dog but chickens as well come to the front round the same time i leave work in anticipation for my return.

Any additional comments?

Overall i thought this book was easy to follow and covered a wide range of topics in this field. This has allowed me to identify an area i am particularly interested in and follow up with a bit more research.