Extraordinary Knowing: Science, Skepticism, and the Inexplicable Powers of the Human Mind - Softcover

"Experiencing anew the wonder of someone discovering for the first time that the world is not as it seems is a real treasure. [Mayer's] challenge to traditional scientists to take these realms seriously is equally refreshing."--Shift, the Magazine of the Institute of Noetic Sciences

"Logic meets ESP in a risky, profound, convincing new book. Extraordinary Knowing offers a revolutionary new way of understanding the world"--O, The Oprah Magazine

"A remarkable journey of discovery, bringing together personal experiences and scientific experiments, and uncovering and dissolving taboos. Mayer has a unique ability to combine scholarship and sophistication with freshness and curiosity."--Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D., author of The Presence of the Past and The Sense of Being Stared At

"This important, paradigm-shifting book beautifully weaves stories of extraordinary knowing with a challenge to science as we know it: to help us honor and understand the true nature of these experiences."--Andrew Newberg, M.D., author of Why God Won't Go Away

"An enthralling account, amazing and convincing. Mayer's work holds the promise of enabling a new level of dialogue between realms of science and spirit."--Huston Smith, Ph.D., author of The World's Religions

"Extraordinary Knowing breaks the seal on the stronghold of the cool, logical intellect. Inside, we find exciting and irrefutable evidence that what we call 'reality' is far more magical and exciting than we've ever dreamed. What a fabulous book!"--Christiane Northrup, M.D., author of Mother-Daughter Wisdom, The Wisdom of Menopause, and Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom

"A fascinating exploration of the mind and of what it might be to be human. Mayer opens up intriguing new vistas for thinking about our deeper connectedness."--Adam Phillips, author of Going Sane and Side Effects

"A book to rejoice in. Mayer opens thrilling new possibilities for science and its applications."--Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Healing Words

"A fascinating look at the power of non-local awareness to transcend the limits of the linear mind. Dr. Mayer writes with a sense of awe and fierce intelligence."--Judith Orloff, MD., author, Positive Energy

"Marvelous...the most exciting and important work I've seen in a long time. Mayer has courage as well as brilliance."--Louis Sander, M.D., Professor Emeritus, Boston University School of Medicine

In 1991, when her daughter’s rare, hand-carved harp was stolen, Lisby Mayer’s familiar world of science and rational thinking turned upside down. After the police failed to turn up any leads, a friend suggested she call a dowser—a man who specialized in finding lost objects. With nothing to lose—and almost as a joke—Dr. Mayer agreed. Within two days, and without leaving his Arkansas home, the dowser located the exact California street coordinates where the harp was found.

Deeply shaken, yet driven to understand what had happened, Mayer began the fourteen-year journey of discovery that she recounts in this mind-opening, brilliantly readable book. Her first surprise: the dozens of colleagues who’d been keeping similar experiences secret for years, fearful of being labeled credulous or crazy.

Extraordinary Knowing is an attempt to break through the silence imposed by fear and to explore what science has to say about these and countless other “inexplicable” phenomena. From Sigmund Freud’s writings on telepathy to secret CIA experiments on remote viewing, from leading-edge neuroscience to the strange world of quantum physics, Dr. Mayer reveals a wealth of credible and fascinating research into the realm where the mind seems to trump the laws of nature.

She does not ask us to believe. Rather she brings us a book of profound intrigue and optimism, with far-reaching implications not just for scientific inquiry but also for the ways we go about living in the world.
From the Hardcover edition.