Right. I did a bit of research. First, I'd like to make a small contribution by posting some of the things Dr. Hawkins claimed in an interview. The link to this interview was posted on a previous page, and it can be found at
http://www.miraclescenter.us/audio/Hawkins051110.mp3 :
- Dr. Hawkins claims that human activity only influences climate to a minor degree, and points towards variations in the Sun's magnetic field as more relevant to the climate on earth
- he claims that people with a higher level of consciousness are more likely to be intelligent
- he claims that people who have split personalities are more attracted to crime and espionage, owing to the duplicity inherent in these practices
- in answering a question about causality (whose existence he denies in Power Vs. Force), he makes a case for the evolution of the universe from one state to another, this evolution taking place because of changing "differences in potentiality".
Now the above statements are things he has actually said in the interview. My opinions thus far (having only listened to half of the interview) are:
- uses a lot of big words but does not explain things clearly
- does make some claims that appear to be true, but which are intermixed with many that I disagree with
- he does not seem to have very good rhetoric skills
- I could not understand how he can deny causality and accept the process of evolution
I will listen to the rest of the interview, and then I will listen to all of it again, and I will post some more on it.
With regard to my previous post, I have found the following reasons to distrust Dr. Hawkins's work:
- provides truths mixed with lies
- the lies contained in his work may be dangerous
- Dr. Hawkins could easily distribute his work freely if he wanted to. The argument that he only needs enough money to pay for the expenses of producing his materials does not stand - he could probably make enough money from lectures alone
- upon more consideration it seems that his work does not have universally good effects, and I do not believe that practising his teachings will turn one into a better person.
I'd be grateful to anyone who could point out things I've missed. Now, given that I no longer think the work of Dr. Hawkins to be innocuous, I'd like to ask this:
How do you know how deeply someone is involved in this?How do you make the difference between a person who likes Dr. Hawkins' work but still has an open mind and can by way of rational argument be persuaded that he is in error, and another person who is deeply involved in his belief, and who might require "deprogramming"?