BICS Essay Review:

Robert T. Bigelow sponsored an essay writing contest asking “What is the best available evidence for the Survival of Human Consciousness after Permanent Bodily Death?” Bigelow noted in an SPR interview that “When I formed the Bigelow Institute of Consciousness Studies last June, we looked into the number of organizations and the number of researchers in this field and it seemed as though the field needed some energizing.”

and

“Proving whether the other side exists or not is actually just the first step. The research community going back to the 1800s has been dominated by the effort to prove the existence in one way or another, or another, or another… so it has been dominated by the necessity of trying to prove the other side exists and that has gone on for almost two centuries, so at some point here, I want to move on and go to the next level up, which is probably much more profound than simply whether or not some aspect of your consciousness is going to survive your bodily death.”

Twenty-nine essays were selected as 3 grand prizes 0f $500K, $300K, $150K, 11 “Winners” of $50K and 15 Honorable Mentions for $20K.

My objective in reviewing the essays is to help you understand what each includes and its value for furthering our understanding. Six questions come to mind as to the usefulness of the essay and whether it seemed to prove survival. Perhaps most important, I also considered how well the essay met Bigelow’s objective to “Move on and go to the next level up” for parapsychology. The questions are:

1. Is the essay easily understood by a lay audience?
2. Does essay account for alternative explanation?
3. Does the essay include support for why the proof is evidential?
4. Does the essay further the reader’s understanding of survival?
5. Does the essay meet Bigelow’s objective?
6. Overall value for the paranormalist community?

All will be graded on a scale of 1 to 10 based on the world according to Tom. With one exception, in the 21 years since I began helping lead the ATransC, I can think of no instance in which the academic community has considered our point of view. With that in mind, be clear that I speak only for myself. However, your input is always welcome.

I will make a blog entry for each essay as I come to them. I will also maintain a chart ion this entry.