Description

Dorian Schmidt describes a series of practical exercises that can help us extend our ability to perceive the nature of living things. He offers a clear account of the methodology behind this work and describes several findings illustrative of observations in the realm of living forces.

Scientists are currently bringing a whole series of new ideas to bear on our understanding of life. These range from very refined models based on Neo-Darwinism through Creationist ideas that adhere closely to biblical texts. Within this broad spectrum, Intelligent Design (ID) occupies a religiously neutral middle position.

Dorian Schmidt's approach likewise seeks insight into the nature of living things, and his theoretical explorations are certainly close to ID. However, his ideas differ fundamentally from all these approaches, since they seek to reveal new facts by developing new capacities of perception rather than resting on classic models of scientific cognition.

The development and use of organs of perception that extend beyond the ordinary senses is nevertheless taken up in a rigorously scientific way--that is, in a conscious realm of critical reflection and thinking. In-depth scrutiny of the specific nature of critical thinking is, in fact, precisely what cultivates necessary progress in this area. Thus, we can broaden our perceptual capacities to encompass a hitherto generally unknown or unperceived level of living, formative forces.