– Rupert Sheldrake
You’ve probably heard of TED, a global set of conferences with remarkable people giving talks on a variety of subjects. TED is about ideas, or as they say, “ideas worth spreading.” The name stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. I’ve never attended a TED conference, but have been impressed by videos of talks.
So it was surprising and disappointing to find out that one of my heroes from the world of science, biologist Rupert Sheldrake, has been censored by TED. Sheldrake recognizes that we are more than physical beings and that mainstream science needs to let go of outdated mechanistic view of the universe. He researches the paranormal – specifically telepathy – and his theory of morphic resonance was so controversial when he first introduced it that one science magazine called him brilliant and another – NATURE – called him a “heretic.” NATURE actually said his paper should be burned. But the bottom line is that he’s a scientist with vision, a man whose work is on the fringe, but supported by experimental evidence.
After he gave a talk at a TEDx conference, skeptics of the paranormal attacked Sheldrake for challenging what he sees as dogma in mainstream science. They demanded that TED take down his video and the TED administrators complied.
Here’s what our Australian friend futurist Marcus Anthony says about the matter.
“Unfortunately, TED took down Rupert Sheldrake’s TED talk about ‘science set free.’ Two skeptics complained about the talk, which posited 10 questions which challenge scientific orthodoxy on a number of key questions, including the nature of consciousness.
“Sheldrake merely asked the ten questions, and suggested they be scientifically investigated. This is indeed a rather disturbing development, given that the discussion page on the issue indicated that the general public was heavily on Sheldrake’s side. If one cannot legitimately ask open questions about the way science is conducted, or about discrepancies in data, then science is no longer open inquiry, but a set of unquestionable dogmas.
“Tellingly, this was the central point in Sheldrake’s talk that has been removed. They also removed a talk by Graham Hancock, who openly supported Sheldrake.”
It’s disappointing to see TED caving in to pressure from skeptics. It seems to show that mainstream science has become a ‘religion,’ a dogma, the very type of mindset that science is supposed to shun.
Agree with Terri that this is backfiring spectacularly for TED. That Eddie Huang video that Daz refers to is getting heaps of hits. Seems like power has corrupted the organisation.
Folks,
TED started to license its name and such was born TEDx around 2009 .
Read here the controversy surrounding TED.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TED_(conference)
I stopped listening to TED years ago. No longer a platform for challenge, Nor critical thought, and way to much reliance on beautiful people.
I am a huge fan of Sheldrake. Look for his video with McKenna just before McKenna passed. Also his work with Matthew Fox ( might have the name wrong here) . However, Sheldrake’s biography trumps all others from TED (https://www.sheldrake.org/About/biography/ ) . The Amazing Randi supporters and the atheist brigrade are running amuck in science. To bad, just two voices, extremists.
Be well
Laurencd
Disappointing indeed. We really are in a paradigm shift, and perhaps it’s no wonder that dogma is rearing an ugly head in science as well as many other places. I was very disappointed to see the way the work of Semir Osmanagić, who is excavating the
Bosnian pyramids, has been treated by the “authorities” – read the way Wikipedia’s “experts” sneeringly dismiss him and the idea that these are human made, and inspite of spectacular discoveries made at the site, including concrete laid some 10,000 years ago. To take his discoveries seriously is threatening in every way to conventional archeology’s ideas of ancient Europe.
It seems that whatever threatens mainstream thought is ridiculed, censored or ignored.
Just read the TED discussion page – unbelievable. Censorship is everywhere, though often we aren’t aware of this. Looking for a positive side, controversy does equal publicity.
True, controversy does equal publicity!!
That was shocking and enlightening info. I listened to the tape with the “bad” language. Interesting how he compared it to Scientology. As soon as a group becomes cultish it gets weird and very undesirable. I have known a number of people who were seduced by such groups and they work very hard on getting other people involved. Ultimately they want money. I have watched a lot of good talks on TED so am horrified to hear about this. Thanks for posting.
I think it would be great if first one TED speaker stepped forward and asked that his/her video be removed from the TED archives in solidarity with Sheldrake and Hancock. Then another and another and another all do the same until there is a flood of former speakers standing up against this form of censorship and closed-minded thinking.
It’s so ironic to go on the TED site and the first thing you see at the top left is a video called: DARE TO DISAGREE.
Huh? Really?
It seems more and more the Scientific world keeps caving, whether about Global Warming, TED, Crop Circles. They are obviously feeling threatened.
I look forward to watching all of these links!
That is just wrong. I will register my dismay with TED if I can find a way to do so. All the points you bring up here are totally valid.
My Belgian blogging friend Dedriodify alerted me to not just Sheldrake,but also another hero of mine Graham Hancock were both scraped from TED –
https://dedroidify.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/ted-talks-no-longer-sharing-graham.html
But you think that is outrageous,watch this interview with a TED speaker who tells you how cultish TED really is –
https://dedroidify.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/eddie-huang-on-his-experience-of-ted.html
WARNING: There is a bit of foul language in the above linked interview,especially if the F word offends you.Apart from that it is eyeopening.
Or maybe because of it.-)
https://techcrunch.com/2011/02/27/the-haves-and-have-nots-the-true-story-of-a-reader-suddenly-de-invited-from-ted/
Thanks, Todd. Yuck!
This is extremely disappointing. TED Talks should be about asking questions and pushing boundaries. I have lost a great deal of respect, and probably won’t view them the same way anymore. Who gets to make these calls? Who are the two individuals that have more sway than all of the people interested in the conversation? This is exacly why I no longer see science as any kind of defining voice. Science is becoming corporatized, just like everything else. If we are to learn anything new we have to go outside of the mainstream.
Ah, but in the internet age, just because TEDx may have removed these talks, they already exist. And the backlash of censorship will be shining more buzz. Keep up the good work.
Here’s more commentary. This is a very interesting site on psi research.
https://weilerpsiblog.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/the-psi-wars-come-to-ted/