Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 22:05, 28 September 2009

Research

(Rewritten changes from original in the mainspace article are in bold. Text that I moved but did not rewrite looks like this)

During his time at CERN, SLAC, and Maharishi University of Management (MUM), Hagelin worked on supersymmetric extensions of the standard model and grand unification theories and also collaborated with many of the leading figures in his field. . In the years 1979-1996, Hagelin published 73 papers in the fields of particle physics and cosmology, most of them in prestigious scientific journals. Several were described as “core papers” that were among the 20 most cited references in physics in their respective years, according to Current Contents magazine. This includes his work on the "flipped SU(5), heterotic superstring theory” that is considered one of the more successful unified field theories or “theories of everything” and was highlighted in the cover story of Discover magazine.

Hagelin co-authored a 1983 paper entitled, "Weak symmetry breaking by radiative corrections in broken supergravity",that is included in a list of the 103 articles in the physical sciences cited the most times during the years 1983 and 1984. As of 2007, the article has been cited over 500 times.

In 1987 and 1989, Hagelin published two papers in the MUM's Journal of Modern Science and Vedic Science on the relationship between physics and consciousness. These papers discuss the Vedic understanding of consciousness as a field and compare it with theories of the unified field derived by modern physics. Hagelin argues that these two fields have almost identical properties and quantitative structure, and he presents other theoretical and empirical arguments that the two fields are actually one and the same—specifically, that the experience of unity at the basis of the mind achieved during the meditative state is the subjective experience of the very same fundamental unity of existence revealed by unified field theories.

Part of the evidence Hagelin presents for this explanation is the body of research on the effects that practitioners of the Transcendental Meditation technique, and of the more advanced TM-Sidhi program (that includes a practice called "Yogic Flying") have on measured parameters in society. This phenomenon is called the "Maharishi Effect". In these two papers he cites numerous studies of such effects, and in the summer of 1993, he conducted a large scale study of this type. Hagelin recruited approximately 4,000 TM-Sidhi program practitioners to the Washington D.C. area, where they practiced the TM Sidhi techniques twice daily in a group. Using data obtained from the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department for 1993 and the preceding five years (1988–1992), Hagelin and collaborators followed the changes in crime rates for the area before, during, and after the 6 weeks the group was gathered in Washington DC. In 1999, the study, which showed a highly statistically significant drop in predicted crime, controlling for effects of temperature changes, was published in Social Indicators Research.

Physicist Robert L. Park called the 1993 Washington D. C. study a "clinic in data manipulation", pointing out that during the weeks of the study the city experienced the highest murder rate ever recorded. Maxwell Rainforth, Assistant Professor of Physiology and Health and Statistics at Maharishi University of Management and a coauthor of the Washington, D.C. study, said that Park's criticisms are "misguided attacks on novel scientific theories based on blind disregard of evidence". Rainforth also says that Park does not support his assertion with either supporting data or analysis, and that Park's objection to the use of time series analysis is not based on any scientific argument. The researchers also questioned whether Park had read the published study, since his criticism focused on a preliminary Interim Report released at a press conference in 1994.

Peter Woit in his book, Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory and The Search for Unity In Physical Law describes Hagelin as having published papers in prestigious journals that would eventually be cited in over a hundred other papers. Christopher Anderson, wrote in a 1992 news article in Nature that Hagelin, co-developer of one of the "better-accepted" unified field theories known as the Flipped SU(5) model, "is by all accounts a gifted researcher well known and respected by his colleagues".

Both Woit and Anderson go on to comment on Hagelin’s later interest and publications. Woit says identifying a unified field of consciousness with a unified filed of superstring theory is wishful thinking. He describes Hagelin as a crackpot. Anderson says Hagelin's investigations into how the extension of grand unified theories of physics to human consciousness could explain how Transcendental Meditation influences world events "disturbs many researchers" and "infuriates his former collaborators". Anderson says that John Ellis, director of CERN, was worried about guilt by association. Anderson quotes Ellis as saying "I was afraid that people might regard as rather flaky, and that might rub off on the theory or on us”

Hagelin's linkage of quantum mechanics and unified field theory with consciousness, and particularly with the "Maharishi Effect", was critiqued in the journal Social Forces. David Orme-Johnson and Robert Oates later replied to this critique in the Journal of Scientific Exploration.

Rationale

This is a compromised version of the Research/ Controversy sections, that can hopefully provided some satisfaction to both sides of the discussion. Despite my own arguments against using "crackpot", I have included it. Since Will Beback suggested expanding Woit, I've done a little of that . Will also suggested integrating controversy into the rest of the article so i've included it in the research section since the content references Hagelin's research.

I've taken out Lopez as part of the compromise since he was never a collaborator and the Discover article inadvertently, I hope, suggests that he was.

I've removed Stenger since he never outright connects Hagelin to the myths of unicorns , etc. Whether he meant to i don't know ... that's the problem with implications and then synthesiszing material.

i want to remind us all that this is a compromise for both sides .... if we don't compromise this discussion could be unending. I hope we can all be somewhat satisfied that this places the criticism of Hagelin's few papers linking consciousness in the context of his whole body of research. (olive (talk) 19:17, 25 September 2009 (UTC))

Comments

I think this is great, Olive. It resolves many of the issues. It's uses summary style, flows better, is more in accord with NPOV. I'd say it's a good compromise. TimidGuy (talk) 01:09, 26 September 2009 (UTC)

I also think this is a good compromised version and I like the way you have minimized the quotes while maintaining key words and the meaning of the original quote. It is well written in an encyclopedic style.-- — Kbob • Talk • 11:47, 26 September 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I think this is very good - balanced, neutral but yet conveying the main points of the good, the bad and the ugly. --BwB (talk) 18:19, 26 September 2009 (UTC)

Changes to rewrite #1

I am making changes to the Rewrite as suggested by Will Beback, and supported Timid Guy and BigWeeBoy. I don't necessarily agree but will go along with the group. Fladrif does not agree with the rewrite.Discussion on article talk page here:

change discussed:

But I have a suggestion. The "sticking point here seems to be that Hagelin is being called a "crackpot". But Woit also says that his views are seen nonsense. Would it be more acceptable to say that "Woit asserts that most physicists think Hagelin's views are nonsense." ? Will Beback talk 02:41, 26 September 2009 (UTC)

References

1. Woit, Peter, Not even wrong: The failure of string theory and the search for unity in physical law Basic Books (2006) ISBN 0465092756, 9780465092758 pp 205-206
2. Woit, Peter, Not even wrong: The failure of string theory and the search for unity in physical law Basic Books (2006) ISBN 0465092756, 9780465092758 pp 205-206
3. SLAC page at Stanford
4. Woit, Peter, Not even wrong: The failure of string theory and the search for unity in physical law Basic Books (2006) ISBN 0465092756, 9780465092758 pp 205-206
5. Current Contents, p. 485
6. Freedman, David H., "The new theory of everything", Discover, 1991, pp 54-61
7. Hagelin J S, Nanoupolos D V & Taruvakis K., . Phys. .Lett. B 125:275-81, 1983
8. Physical Science papers cited most in 1983/84
9. Hagelin's most cited paper Ellis, J. (1984-06-11). "Supersymmetric relics from the big bang". Nucl. Phys. B. 238: 453–476. doi:10.1016/0550-3213(84)90461-9. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) had 589 citations as of mid-2007."[[Web of Science]] (access requires subscription)". Retrieved 2007-06-30. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
10. ^ Hagelin, J., "Is consciousness the unified field? A field theorist’s perspective", Modern Science and Vedic Science 1, 1987, pp 29-87
11. Hagelin, J.S., "Restructuring physics from its foundation in light of Maharishi’s Vedic Science", Modern Science and Vedic Science 3, 1989, pp 3-72
12. Maharishi University of Management
13. Hagelin, J. S., Orme-Johnson, D. W., Rainforth, M., Cavanaugh, K., & Alexander, C. N., "Results of the National Demonstration Project to Reduce Violent Crime and Improve Governmental Effectiveness in Washington, D.C.", Social Indicators Research, 47(1999) pp. 153–201
14. Park, Robert, Voodoo Science: The road from foolishness to fraud, Oxford University Press (2002)
15. This chapter of Park's book was also published as "Voodoo Science and the Belief Gene" in the Skeptical Inquirer (September 2000)
16. Rainforth, Maxwell "A Rebuttal to "Voodoo Science", Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy, Maharishi University of Management
17. Woit, Peter, Not even wrong: The failure of string theory and the search for unity in physical law Basic Books (2006) ISBN 0465092756, 9780465092758 pp 205-206
18. Woit, Peter, Not even wrong: The failure of string theory and the search for unity in physical law Basic Books (2006) ISBN 0465092756, 9780465092758 pp 205-206
19. Anderson, Christopher, "Hagelin & Quantum Theory: Holding on by a superstring", Nature Vol 359 (September 10, 1992)
20. Fales, E., Markovsky, B. Evaluating Heterodox Theories, Social Forces, 76, 511-525
21. David Orme-Johnson and Robert Oates, A Field-Theoretic View of Consciousness: Reply to Critics," Journal of Scientific Exploration," volume 22, number 3, fall 2008, pp. 139-66
22. ^ Stenger, Victor J., "The myth of quantum consciousness", The Humanist Vol 53 No 3 (May-June 1992) pp 13-15.