Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, through force of personal habit, has come to be known as an authority in the rather more speculative areas of the biological sciences. It was a love of pets and household plants that had helped steer Dr. Sheldrake towards an extensive study of biology.This film documents seven experiments which may help change the way we think about the world and about the rather limited scientific knowledge that can be found in the more concrete sciences of chemistry and physics. Perhaps it is true, that the biological sciences indeed involve a higher level of theoretical complexity, so remain a greater challenge to knowledge and the 'idea of a universal truth' that is found within the range of sciences.
The experiments include: The relationship between pets and their human companions, The sense of being stared at, How pigeons home, The variability of fundamental physical constants, How termites organize a home, The reality of phantom limbs, The effects of experimenters expectations on an experiment.
Details surrounding the first three experiments are the subject of the majority of the film. There is a range of anecdotal evidence given for why each experiment should be performed, then a specific experiment is documented and the results are discussed. The remaining four experiments are discussed in brief.
The tapes closes with John Roche in conversation with Dr. Sheldrake. Here they discuss Dr. Sheldrake's philosophical position with regards to contemporary science. Sheldrake feels we should move from a machine or physics based paradigm to a thought model based on living organisms. It is posited that the scientific heresy of today may become the orthodoxy of tomorrow's world and that scientific inquiry may be a useful activity towards the end of questioning the basis of our shared reality.
