June 2, 2003
The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) June quarterly science magazine, IONS REVIEW, includes an article on terrorism and its link to consciousness and worldviews. In this difficult time of violent chaos and widespread outburst of hatred and destruction, is it possible to search beyond the acts of evil to gain an understanding of these behaviors? Can a search for new knowledge and insight help generate a more just and secure world for future generations?
John E. Mack,M.D., professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, writes in his article, “Deeper Causes: Exploring the Role of Consciousness in Terrorism,” that “terrorism does not arise in a vacuum, or from some inchoate reservoir of evil out of which particular bad people may spontaneously emerge at certain times in history.” A broader, more complex worldview needs to be explored that allows a deeper understanding about the causes of this terrorism. “Without understanding what breeds these acts and drives the terrorists to do what they do … we have little chance of preventing further such actions, let alone of ‘eradicating terrorism.'”
James O’Dea, president of IONS said, “In this courageous and insightful article, Mack quotes former Governor Cuomo: ‘The only way to solve the terrorist problem is to change the minds of those who practice terrorism.’ In order to change their minds and murderous hatred in their hearts, we must demonstrate a greater understanding about how we are perceived by the growing numbers of suicidal terrorists and also better understand the roots of their rage.”
Dr. Mack writes that humanity is “at a turning point…a kind of race to the future between the forces of destruction and creation.” He concludes that what will be required is no less than a worldwide shift of consciousness that “enable the citizens of the Earth to become a genuine family of people…in which each of us can come to feel a responsibility for the welfare of all.”
IONS Noetic Sciences Review, June/August 2003, Issue 64, pp.11-17:
http://www.myions.org/Online Library/nsrev/review_archives/issue64/r64mack.pdf