Christian de Quincey - BlindSpots: 21 Good Reasons to Think before You Talk

To everyone who has ever shone a light on blindspotsespecially mine.

BlindSpots

In BlindSpots, Christian de Quincey pulls back the veil on the thoughtless, delusional ways we too often communicate. Its not just that these shortcuts are wrong, they are also dangerous because they lead to behaviors and beliefs that our fragile species can no longer afford. This very wise, engaging book should be at the top of the reading list of everyone who is concerned about our future.

LARRY DOSSEY, M.D., AUTHOR OF ONE MIND: HOW OUR INDIVIDUAL MIND IS PART OF A GREATER CONSCIOUSNESS AND WHY IT MATTERS

In this book, Christian de Quincey illuminates some of the biggest blindspots that keep people stuck. Be prepared to be challenged about ideas you probably take for granted. Be prepared to be amused and inspired.

MARILYN SCHLITZ, PH.D., PRESIDENT EMERITUS/SENIOR FELLOW AT THE INSTITUTE OF NOETIC SCIENCES

This important book by Christian de Quincey shows that by questioning our own assumptions more carefully we can arrive at a deeper and more accurate understanding of lifes complexities. De Quincey brings vitality and excitement to scientific, philosophical, metaphysical, and spiritual issues. I recommend this book for almost everyone.

JEFFREY MISHLOVE, PH.D., DEAN OF TRANSFORMATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH

BlindSpots will make your brain hurt, but in a good way, like the aftereffects of exercise. De Quincey deftly unpacks 21 ideas that are often taken for granted to reveal why deep thought philosophy remains a vital approach to understanding our complex world. You may agree with some of the ideas and disagree with others, but in all cases you will be invited to reconsider your core assumptions.

DEAN RADIN, PH.D., CHIEF SCIENTIST AT THE INSTITUTE OF NOETIC SCIENCES AND COEDITOR IN CHIEF OF EXPLORE

In his new book, Christian de Quincey focuses our attention on the ways in which erroneous or flabby or incoherent thoughts have become embedded in our everyday clichs. It is a delight to reflect upon these invisible clunkers in a critical way, and even if one ends up disagreeing with de Quincey, the end result is an improvement in ones verbal expressions; ones language feels brighter, fresher, and more alive.

BRIAN THOMAS SWIMME, PH.D., AUTHOR OF THE UNIVERSE IS A GREEN DRAGON AND CANTICLE TO THE COSMOS

... this book will help you think more clearly and converse more fruitfully on a wide range of subjects. BlindSpots is an excellent field guide for exploring some of the twenty-first centurys most challenging conceptual terrain.

MICHAEL DOWD, AUTHOR OF THANK GOD FOR EVOLUTION

Professor de Quincey has a jewelers eye for questions concerning the nature of consciousness and its position in the world of nature. I always find his clear thinking and writing a pleasure to read.

ALLAN COMBS, PH.D., DIRECTOR OF CONSCIOUSNESS STUDIES AT THE CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF INTEGRAL STUDIES

Reading de Quinceys BlindSpots is a profoundly liberating experience. All of us absorb beliefs from the culture around us, and we limit ourselves by acting as if those beliefs are true. De Quincey subjects those ideas to his brilliant philosophical critique. We are left with our minds open, free to engage with the world in new and interesting ways. This is my favorite kind of philosophyphilosophy that frees us from limitations and opens us more richly to our participation in the universe!

ERIC WEISS, PH.D., AUTHOR OF THE LONG TRAJECTORY

A provocative book that challenges many popular assertions about consciousness and the nature of reality. De Quincey encourages us to think for ourselves and base our beliefs on our own experience rather than hearsay or others opinions. Much food for thought in here for everyone.

PETER RUSSELL, AUTHOR OF THE GLOBAL BRAIN AND FROM SCIENCE TO GOD

Acknowledgments

The ideas for this book came to me over many years and from a wide variety of sources. Whenever I heard or read something that struck me as odd, I jotted a note to myself to investigate the idea further.

Many of these odd ideas, or what I call blindspots, showed up in conversations Ive had with colleagues in academia, from my students, from readers of my books, blogs, and websites, and from fellow philosophers and scientists. Ive also seen some of these strange notions repeated over and over in the mass media, apparently without a second thought. And I took note.

I organized my growing collection of odd notes into folders on my laptop, and as they accumulated I realized one day I had enough material for a book. Many of these notes grew from remarks someonea friend, a colleague, a student, a readermade in e-mails to me. I like to take time to respond and so, in many cases, a dialogue was born. Many of the chapters in this book grew out of these exchanges. Others began as recordings or transcripts of conversations Ive had with colleagues in science, philosophy, and spirituality. Whenever I have identified someone by name in these pages, I asked their permission to include parts of our discussions. Others preferred to remain anonymous.

As is often the case, this book, then, is the product of many mindsseparated by time and distance, but connected through the magic of modern digital archiving and communications. While most of the people who have stimulated the ideas presented here are my contemporaries, others are voices from the past, writers and scholars who have inspired and influenced my own thinking on these topics.

I cannot name or acknowledge everyone who, now or down the centuries, has contributed, in one way or another, to this book. But I do want to give special mention to a few whose contributions have been particularly significant.

For many years, I have met with close friends and colleagues at my home or theirs for rich and deep conversations. We often record these meetings and sometimes, if we feel weve struck a vein, we get the recordings transcribed and then rework the text to post on blogs or Facebook, or later to weave into articles or books. Two friends stand out: Peter Russell and Eric Weiss, both of whom have contributed significantly to the development of ideas in this volume.

I want to acknowledge Peter Russell because in one of our meetings a couple of years ago on his boat in Sausalito, California, he mentioned his plan to write about what he considered one of the most serious blindspots afflicting the world today: the reality of accelerating change and the relationship between technology and the climate crisis. For as long as I have known him, Pete has researched, lectured on, and written about the looming environmental point of no returnand the need for humanity to wake up before we disappear into a white hole in time. He was one of the first to alert me to the data that highlight the dire situation facing our planet. Clearly, the eco-crisis is a crisis of consciousness.

When I told Pete I was working on this book, he reminded me of our conversation and that he, too, was planning to write a book with the title Blind Spot. I had completely forgotten that meeting. We agreed there would be room for both booksthey would be very different and, in fact, could complement each other. I look forward to reading Petes when it appears. In the meantime, inspired by another lengthy dialogue we recorded, I wrote a piece called Final Exit, a version of which shows up here as the epilogue, while Pete published his version as a long essay on his website.