CT OM EEG TM MIU 12/14

Most of the freshmen and a great number of MIU seniors answered that they have personally experienced these unusual abilities in their own lives. Both freshmen and seniors felt that the development of these "supernormal" abilities was very important.

These results present an interesting paradox. in light of the high scores in critical thinking  ability and open-mindedness. Although seniors tended to perform very well in the ability to think logically, the seniors taking the HPQ tended to believe in, and claim they experience things which to the majority of the human population may seem quite illogical.

The results of the HPQ certainly warrant further revision of the questionnaire, a research study correlating answers on the HPQ with CT and OM, and a comparison study of MIU students with another university.

The purpose of this study was to determine if a significant correlation exists between EEG phase coherence, critical thinking ability, and open-mindedness. This study also investigated how these variables vary with class and sex of students at MIU.

Seven out of fifteen hypotheses were confirmed. The study did investigate all hypotheses, and stated objectives, and led to new ideas for further research. This study did find that freshmen at MIU were more open-minded than expected, but did not find a correlation between critical thinking ability, open-mindedness, or EEG coherence, as expected. Other possible neurophysiological correlates of critical thinking ability, and open-mindedness need to be sought, perhaps H-reflex.

A follow up study on the 64 freshmen taking the WGCTA should be undertaken. It may be desirable to see if the second semester freshmen are any different from the first semester freshmen in any of the variables before grouping them together.

There may be a "floor effect" on a longitudinal RADS study involving the MIU freshmen, as their scores were already very low, in dogmatism (high in open-mindedness). Perhaps a new dogmatism/open-mindedness scale could be developed to be more discriminating among very open-minded people.

An Item analysis of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal would be useful, to see if MIU students found the

It would be interesting to see if the WGCTA scores correlate with SAT scores in MIU students. Scores in mathematics, and logic-oriented classes would be illuminating. Differences in critical thinking ability and open-mindedness between art and science majors could also be investigated. Perhaps most of all a truly experimental study, comparing
peop1e's CT and OM before and after learning the TM program would be useful to help isolate the effect of developing "higher states of consciousness” on these variables.

As ability to perform deductions did correlate .40 with class, it appears that MIU upperclassmen are proficient at applying general rules to specific situations. Practitioners of the TM program report experiences of abstract levels of the thinking process, which become integrated with every-day concrete levels of thought. The existence of experienceable abstract ideas, or innate universals would run counter to David Hume's that deduction would not involve experience of abstract levels of thought. Thus it would be especially interesting to see whether MIU freshmen improve in deductive abilities.

Immanuel Kant asserted that experience of  transcendental ideas was possible, which formed the basis of his Transcendental

Logic. Domash (1977} describes the experience of transcendental consciousness during the TM program as contacting a field of pure orderliness, or zero entropy. The TM program apparently makes use of the Third Law of  Thermodynamics in bringing the activity of the mind to a more settled, and orderly state.  This most orderly state of the mind seems to be an experience of contacting a transcendental field of pure logic.

The Science gf Creative Intelligence (SCI) describes this state as a field of pure knowledge, the eternal Veda.  Vedic Science is the science of the Veda, and is the fulfillment of SCI. It is predicted that through the practice of the experiential aspect of Vedic Science, the TM program, knowledge of the entire field of knowledge, Veda, grows in one‘s awareness.

Vedic Science outlines the general structure of knowledge itself. One branch of the Veda, one of the "Upangas“, is Nyaya. Nyaya is "the science of reasoning“ which "presents sixteen points by which to test the procedure of gaining knowledge" (Maharishi, 1967, p.4?3).  Apparently, the MIU seniors especially have the Nyaya aspect of the Veda well structured in their awareness.

The results of this research paper on open-mindedness provide empirical insight into the nature and meaning of dogmatism. Cornman and Lehrer write (1972) that "If religious revelation was the dogmatism of the past, scientific empiricism is the dogma of today" and that "the plain man, we have suggested,
 

is a dogmatist. He dogmatically assumes his perceptual beliefs, many of them, at any rate, constitute knowledge" (p.61).

It is interesting to note that the motto of MIU is that "Knowledge is structured in consciousness“, and that MIU's curriculum adds to objective, perceptual knowledge, the value of subjective, intuitive knowledge.  The MIU students would, through the development of their intuitive faculties which the TM program presumable cultures, be able to integrate the subjective and objective means to gain knowledge. This ability to see knowledge from both subjective and objective perspectives may be an explanatory factor in their low scores in dogmatism, and high scores for open-mindedness..

The research results in this paper are not opposed to the possibility that the Science of Creative Intelligence, and its practical aspect, the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi program, develop critical thinking ability and open-mindedness. This may be better determined through a longitudinal study on students practicing the TM program.

The theoretical foundation of SCI concerning the development of discriminating intellect and expanded awareness, indicates that the TM program has the potential to develop critical consciousness, and open-awareness.  If this proves possible, and if the practice of the TM program becomes implemented in more educational curricula,  we may be able to look forward to students who are greater purifiers of

 

knowledge, through critical thinking, and pioneers in exploring new possibilities in knowledge and cultural harmony, through increased open-mindedness to other views.