Real Magic

Radin’s argument that phenomena traditionally filed under magic — intention affecting matter, precognition — are what a science that took consciousness as fundamental would study, and that parapsychology’s own data already supports them.

Context: Radin is chief scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. This is the outlier on Packy’s 2024 list, which is otherwise business history and biography, and it is a genuinely contested book — its claims sit outside scientific consensus and the meta-analyses it relies on are disputed. Carded as a recommendation received, not as an endorsement. The quote Packy chose is the mild version of the thesis: that consciousness is becoming acceptable to discuss within science.

Connections

• Some of my favorite books… (tweet) — where this was recommended.
• Dean Radin — the author.
• Consciousness — the concept the book is arguing about.