Marshall's Reviews > The Biology Of Belief: Unleashing The Power Of Consciousness, Matter And Miracles

Pretty typical pseudoscience BS. You know pseudoscience by its label "New Science." Is that like New Coke? There is no New Science. There's just Science. Imagine a book labeled New Science Fiction or New Fiction. Of course it's new. Everything is new when it comes out, until it's not new. I'd expect a new book on science to contain the latest research. Otherwise, it would probably be called History of Science. So the fact that this book isn't called Science but New Science is a dead giveaway that it's not actually Science but Pseudoscience. And if that isn't a dead giveaway, then surely the subtitle is: "Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles." Um, Miracles? Those phenomena attributed to supernatural powers? Science is the study of nature. Supernatural means above nature. Ergo: Miracles are not science.

Pseudoscience is very compelling for people with no background in science. People have always wanted answers, and are easily entertained by outrageous answers. That's the purpose religion has served, but now that science is considered a more legitimate form of inquiry, people expect modern answers to have the scientific stamp of approval. So pseudoscience includes enough legitimate science to seem authentic, but comes to outrageous conclusions, which the evidence doesn't actually support. End result: People who don't know better are wowed, which sells books while diluting real science and confusing public understanding of it.

This particular book is by a nut who was suicidal and had a spiritual awakening through his research. He claims that he submitted his research to journals, but they were rejected because Science is an old boys club. Translation: His research was rejected because of insufficient evidence and/or repeatability. Real scientists are used to failure, and they learn from it. Pseudoscientists write books about it and call it New Science.

Just a taste of some of the silliness in this book: Cells membranes help them function, therefore we're not limited by our genetics; matter and energy become interchangeable as the speed of light is approached (Relativity), therefore all matter is therefore just energy, and we can pick up on one another's "vibes"; at the subatomic level, traditional Newtonian physics no longer applies, therefore traditional physics is done for and quantum physics can be applied at the cellular level; beliefs can affect a medication's potency (Placebo effect), therefore we can radically change our bodies just by thinking differently; and my favorite: HLAs are effectively unique to each individual, therefore our "selves" are spirits which are reincarnated to whomever acquires our HLAs.

Trust me, if scientists found evidence for any of this, you'll know about it. It will be published in journals, the scientific community would be embroiled in controversy (controversy doesn't imply falsehood in science; it's part of the process, with healthy debate among scientists who try to prove and disprove each other's works, eventually leading to a consensus), and the media would be having a field day with it. You won't need to read about it in some suicidal scientist's pop science book.