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Here’s a clearer summary of Dr Marjorie Woollacott’s post-materialist perspective on consciousness:

🧠 Background & Credentials

• Emeritus Professor of Human Physiology at University of Oregon (30+ years in neuroscience).
• Longtime meditator with an M.A. in Asian Studies.
• President of the Academy for the Advancement of Post-Materialist Sciences (AAPS) and Research Director at IANDS (International Association for Near-Death Studies)  .
• Published over 200 peer-reviewed papers on meditation, balance, attention, and near-death or spiritually transformative experiences  .

Post-Materialist & Nonlocal Consciousness Views

1. Consciousness as Fundamental
   In her edited volume Is Consciousness Primary? (Oct 2020), Woollacott gathers research and experiences from scientists who believe consciousness isn’t produced by the brain, but rather is causal and fundamental—supporting the idea of nonlocal consciousness  .
2. Panpsychism/Panentheism
   She endorses views where consciousness permeates all matter—from rocks to humans—while also transcending it in some states, aligning with thinkers like David Chalmers and Christof Koch  .
3. Meditation & Mystical Experience
   Her book Infinite Awareness maps levels of consciousness from everyday mind, to silent awareness, and onto non-local unitary states of light and joy  .

Bridging First‑ and Third‑Person Science

• Woollacott advocates reconciling third-person (neuroscientific, brain-based) and first-person (subjective, meditative) perspectives.
• At a 2016 Tucson workshop, she explored how meditation, energy healing, and Near‑Death Experiences place consciousness beyond mere brain activity  .

Key Concepts & Contributions

Concept	Description
Distant intentionality	Studies where focused mental intention (mind-to-object) causes measurable effects—challenging strict materialism
Paradigm shift	Argues scientific materialism is shifting toward a paradigm where consciousness is seen as foundational and causal ()

Appreciating Woollacott’s View

Dr. Woollacott is a credible voice who combines rigorous neuroscience with deep meditation insights to support a post-materialist view of consciousness—one that embraces both panpsychism (mind in all matter) and non-local, transcendent states experienced through meditation, psi phenomena, or NDEs.

🔎 Want to Explore More?

• Her books: Infinite Awareness (2015) and the edited volume Is Consciousness Primary? (2020)
• A 2018 podcast on meditation, psi, and neuroscience  
• Papers on spiritually transformative experiences and consciousness unbound  
• Workshops and conferences—e.g., International Consciousness Festival 2025 ()

A

I think on the cosmic scale of consciousness, human beings are smack dab in the middle of computational power and capabilities. I think we are at the top if the animals in that regard.