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Noetic theory or noëtics (from Greek νοητικός "mental" from νοεῖν "to think" from νοῦς - noûs) is a branch of metaphysical philosophy concerned with the study of mind and intuition, and its relationship with the divine intellect. Among its principal purposes are the study of the effects of perceptions, beliefs, and intentions on human consciousness[1].
The theory of noetics centers around the idea that the human mind is capable of affecting work or events or even doing work in the physical world. It is suggested that thought and spirit are not in fact imaginary, but are Bose or photon based,[2] meaning essentially that the mind can be quantified by formulae which describe quantum materials such as light. This is a radical conclusion where many people think thoughts are weightless. Just as gravity affects all matter, so do thoughts to an apparent lesser degree. Psychokinesis, more often called telekinesis, is concerned with the direct influence of mind on matter.
Noetics is controversial, but research grounded in scientific approach has brought the subject into a more serious light in recent years. Many members of academia in the fields of medicine, biology, psychology, philosophy, and physics believe in and study the effect of thoughts on the physical world, from health effects to throwing dice. Though skepticism has often surrounded this field of science, research aims to both quantify and make known the power of the human mind. It won a special highlight in the Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol, where noetics were a central theme.
- Anaxagoras (c. 500 BCE) - nous. "Nous is infinite and self-ruled." "Nous has power over all things . . ."
- Plato (3rd century BCE) - nous as divine and as the ultimate cause of order in the universe. Identified with the demiurge of the Timaeus, Nous acts through 'persuasion' rather than 'coercion.'
- Plotinus (3rd century C.E.)-nous. as Zeus from an ontological perspective nous or divine intelligence, demiurge as the first emanation of the Monad or one.[3]
- Gnostics (4th century), γνῶσις - gnosis meaning "knowledge" (or in this case "esoteric knowledge"), though as Plotinus points out vilifying the nous, demiurge causes them to not be a valid source nor a Hellenistic one[4] (see Neoplatonism and Gnosticism).
- Nicholas of Cusa (15th century) - "coincidence of opposites" requires non-rational noetic consciousness that embraces paradox.
- Giordano Bruno (15th century) - Noetic monad: "intelligent matter" i.e., matter that contains nous.
- Gottfried Leibniz (16th century) - Universe is composed of "monads," or simply substances.
- William James (19th century) - "radical empiricism" includes noetic, non-rational ways of knowing.
- Henri Bergson (19th/20th century) - "élan vital" life-force pulsing through evolution. A process that can be known only by engaging our noetic, intuitive mind.
- Christian de Quincey (21st century) - combination of all the means of knowing in consciousness studies.
- Traditional philosophy
- New Age
- ^ Institute of Noetic Sciences. 21 February 2010. <http://www.noetic.org/index.cfm>
- ^ Amoroso, Richard. An Introduction to Noetic Field Theory: The Quantization of Mind. Noetic Journal V.2 No.1, Jan 1999. p 33.
- ^ Anti-Gnostic Polemic Francisco Garcia Bazan translated from Spanish by Winifred T. Slater Nous as a "Second God" According to Plotinus In Enneads [1]
- ^ Anti-Gnostic Polemic Francisco Garcia Bazan translated from Spanish by Winifred T. Slater Nous as a "Second God" According to Plotinus In Enneads [2]
- Institute of Noetic Sciences. 21 February 2010. <http://www.noetic.org/index.cfm>
- Amoroso, Richard. An Introduction to Noetic Field Theory: The Quantization of Mind. Noetic Journal V.2 No.1, Jan 1999. p 33.
- Davidson, H.A., Alfarabi, Avicenna, and Averroes, on Intellect. Their Cosmologies, Theories of the Active Intellect, and Theories of Human Intellect, New York-Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1992.
- Kenny, Anthony, Aquinas on Mind, Routledge, 1994.
- Brentano, Franz, Sensory and Noetic Consciousness: Psychology from an Empirical Standpoint III, International Library of Philosophy and Scientific Method, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981.
- de Quincey, C., Radical Knowing: Understanding Consciousness through Relationship, Rochester, VT: Park Street Press, 2005.
