[D66] The Science Delusion

[René Oudeweg]

Here’s a detailed, long-form summary of The Science Delusion: Freeing 
the Spirit of Enquiry by Rupert Sheldrake (published in the US as 
Science Set Free), capturing its main arguments, structure, and 
controversial ideas:

📘 Overview: What the Book Is About

Rupert Sheldrake’s The Science Delusion is a bold philosophical critique 
of the dominant worldview in modern science. Sheldrake argues that much 
of what is widely accepted as scientific truth is actually based on 
unexamined assumptions or “dogmas” rather than open-ended inquiry. 
According to him, these beliefs have hardened into a kind of materialist 
orthodoxy that limits scientific imagination and exploration.
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The term “science delusion” refers to the misbelief that science already 
understands the fundamental nature of reality—and that only the details 
remain to be discovered. Sheldrake sees this as akin to religious dogma 
because it goes largely unquestioned within mainstream scientific culture.
Wikipedia

🧠 Ten Core Dogmas of Modern Science

A central organizing principle of the book is a list of 10 basic 
assumptions that Sheldrake claims most scientists take for granted 
without questioning. He labels them dogmas to highlight that they 
function more like belief system principles than open scientific 
hypotheses.
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* Nature Is Mechanical
Reality is nothing more than interacting matter and energy—living beings 
are no more than machines.
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* Matter Is Unconscious
Physical stuff has no subjective experience; consciousness is just an 
emergent by-product of brain activity.
bereanbibleclass.com

* The Total Amount of Matter and Energy Is Constant
The belief that matter and energy cannot change fundamentally (apart 
from the Big Bang).
bereanbibleclass.com

* Natural Laws Are Fixed
The constants and laws of physics were set at the beginning and never 
change.
Unearned Wisdom

* Evolution Has No Purpose
Life arises and evolves without any intrinsic direction or goal.
Deconstruction of Reality

* Inheritance Is Entirely Material
All biological inheritance is carried in DNA and material structures; 
there’s no non-material aspect to heredity.
Deconstruction of Reality

* Memory Is Stored Only in Brains
Individual memories are encoded in physical traces in neural tissues and 
are lost at death.

Deconstruction of Reality

*The Mind Is Inside the Brain
Consciousness is confined to neural activity; there is no mind beyond 
the skull.
Deconstruction of Reality

* Parapsychological Phenomena Are Illusory
Telepathy, precognition, and similar phenomena are dismissed as 
impossible or false.
Deconstruction of Reality

* Mechanistic Medicine Is the Only Effective Kind
Conventional, reductionist medicine is assumed to be the only 
scientifically valid system.
Deconstruction of Reality

Sheldrake’s main claim is that these are not proven truths but working 
assumptions that constrain scientific thought and research. He urges 
they be treated as hypotheses—open to challenge and empirical testing.
Deconstruction of Reality

🔍 Core Themes and Arguments
🧠 1. Science as Dogma Rather Than Inquiry

Sheldrake contends that modern science has become institutionalized and 
doctrinal. Rather than challenging foundational assumptions about 
reality, many scientists defend them vigorously and dismiss challenges 
without fair investigation. The pressure for conformity comes through 
publication bias, funding systems, peer review, and academic norms.
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He distinguishes between methodological naturalism (a neutral approach 
focusing on testable explanations) and philosophical materialism (the 
belief that only physical matter exists). The latter, Sheldrake argues, 
has been wrongly elevated to unquestioned status.
Wikipedia

🌌 2. Morphic Resonance and Collective Memory

One of the book’s most controversial contributions is the hypothesis of 
morphic resonance. Sheldrake proposes that natural systems—including 
biological organisms—are influenced by “morphic fields” formed by the 
accumulated patterns of past similar systems. This means that once a 
biological form or behavior has occurred, future occurrences are more 
likely through a non-material resonance across space and time.
middlewaysociety.org

This hypothesis is proposed to explain phenomena that conventional 
biology struggles with, such as:

Why learning spreads in animal populations faster than expected

Why certain crystal forms emerge more easily in locations they have 
appeared before

The rise in performance on IQ tests over generations (the Flynn effect)
middlewaysociety.org

Sheldrake suggests that memory and instinct might be better understood 
as collective, non-localized phenomena rather than stored material 
traces in individual brains.
middlewaysociety.org

🧠 3. Consciousness Beyond the Brain

Sheldrake challenges the materialist notion that consciousness is a 
by-product of brain processes. Drawing on both philosophical arguments 
and certain anomalous phenomena, he argues that consciousness appears to 
extend beyond the physical boundaries of the skull.
Unearned Wisdom

For example, he points to human experiences of knowing when someone is 
looking at you from behind—a phenomenon some interpret as telepathy or 
an extended mind effect. He argues that standard reductionist 
neuroscience cannot fully account for such experiences.
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🧪 4. Critique of Fixed Natural Laws and Mechanistic Assumptions

According to Sheldrake, the belief that natural laws are eternally fixed 
is an assumption, not an observation. He suggests that what we call 
“laws” might be more like habits of nature that evolve over time, shaped 
by regularities reinforced through morphic resonance.
Deconstruction of Reality

He also critiques mechanistic metaphors in biology (e.g., organisms as 
machines or DNA as a program), pointing out that life’s complexity and 
adaptability exceed what simple machine analogies can adequately explain.
Unearned Wisdom

🧬 5. Expanding the Scope of Scientific Inquiry

Sheldrake argues that science should expand its boundaries to include 
phenomena currently labeled “paranormal” or “anomalous” (telepathy, 
precognition, etc.) if they withstand rigorous investigation. He does 
not dismiss materialist science where it works well, but insists it 
should not be the only valid framework.
Deconstruction of Reality

He promotes a pluralistic science that embraces not only the physical 
but the mental, intentional, and possibly spiritual dimensions of reality.

🧠 Why the Book Is Controversial

Sheldrake’s ideas have been widely criticized within mainstream science. 
Critics point out that his concepts—especially morphic resonance—lack 
replicable empirical evidence and that many supposed anomalies have been 
explained by conventional methods. These controversies underline the 
tension between orthodox scientific methodology and more speculative, 
boundary-challenging ideas.
Reddit

Even so, the book has resonated with readers who feel that science has 
become too narrow, dogmatic, or dismissive of phenomena that don’t fit 
within traditional frameworks.

🧾 In Summary

The Science Delusion is:

A critique of materialist science and its unexamined assumptions.
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A call for a more open-minded scientific inquiry that treats 
foundational principles as testable hypotheses.
Deconstruction of Reality

A presentation of alternative ideas like morphic resonance and extended 
consciousness.
middlewaysociety.org

A philosophical exploration of how science can evolve by embracing 
complexity, purpose, and subjective experience.
Unearned Wisdom

Whether one agrees with Sheldrake or not, his book pushes readers to 
question how much “science” reflects faith in current paradigms versus 
open-ended investigation of reality.

--
  abebooks.it
The Science Delusion: Feeling the Spirit of Enquiry - Sheldrake, Rupert: 
9781444727937
Sheldrake, Rupert
7–10 minutes

9781444727937: The Science Delusion: Feeling the Spirit of Enquiry

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Sinossi

Feeling the Spirit of Enquiry
The science delusion is the belief that science already understands the 
nature of reality. The fundamental questions are answered, leaving only 
the details to be filled in. In this book, Dr Rupert Sheldrake, one of 
the world's most innovative scientists, shows that science is being 
constricted by assumptions that have hardened into dogmas. The 
'scientific worldview' has become a belief system. All reality is 
material or physical. The world is a machine, made up of dead matter. 
Nature is purposeless. Consciousness is nothing but the physical 
activity of the brain. Free will is an illusion. God exists only as an 
idea in human minds, imprisoned within our skulls. Sheldrake examines 
these dogmas scientifically, and shows persuasively that science would 
be better off without them: freer, more interesting, and more fun. In 
The God Delusion Richard Dawkins used science to bash God, but here 
Rupert Sheldrake shows that Dawkins' understanding of what science can 
do is old-fashioned and itself a delusion. 'Rupert Sheldrake does 
science, humanity and the world at large a considerable favour.' The 
Independent 'Certainly we need to accept the limitations of much current 
dogma and keep our minds open as we reasonably can. Sheldrake may help 
us do so through this well-written, challenging and always interesting 
book.' Financial Times

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Editore
     Coronet Books
Data di pubblicazione
     2010
Lingua
     Inglese
ISBN 10
     1444727931
ISBN 13
     9781444727937
Rilegatura
     Copertina flessibile
Numero di pagine
     400