Edward’s detractors often use the scientific argument that basically says that if something can’t be measured, felt, recorded or repeated then it cannot be real. It’s not good enough for them that John gains information that could not be obtained from another source. There is no scientific explanation for mediumship, therefore it can’t be happening. Or is there…?

Is your science passé?
Many people are not aware that science has undergone many changes in recent history and the resulting picture of the universe is very different from before. Seen in the light of this new science, John’s abilities do not seem strange at all.

So what is this ‘new science’ and what happened to the old one? In order to answer that question, let’s take a look at one of the greatest scientific figures of all, Albert Einstein. Many people know that Einstein changed the face of science, but what did he actually do? Until Einstein published papers in the early 20th century, the scientific view of the universe was that we were part of a solid, clockwork machine whose cogs ran their course against a backdrop of a constant universal timekeeper. We, too, were seen as cogs in the machine: our bodies as machines of various parts and our thoughts insignificant. Unlike physical objects, thoughts cannot be seen or dissected, so they were largely ignored.

Although this view is old-fashioned in science, it is still common in our society. You probably recognise, for example, that doctors treat patients like machines of many parts and each part of the body gets referred to a different specialist if it ‘breaks down’. It is also this view that fuels most sceptics’s claims that John Edward’s gifts are ‘unscientific’. When seen from this viewpoint, they are right. After all, how is it possible to explain thoughts that apparently come from other worlds when your scientific viewpoint does not really allow for thoughts to even exist?

The New Science
The new science, that is science after Einstein, is starting to filter through to different areas of life, including business and health. People are starting to realise the implications of this new viewpoint. What was previously thought of as ‘paranormal’ and unexplained is starting to be explainable.

One of the things that Einstein said, which was so radical, was that time is different in different parts of the universe, according to your viewpoint. After that, time was no longer seen as a universal, steady timekeeper in a clockwork universe. What is more, some people even concluded that time does not really exist!

If that were not strange enough, the 20th century also saw the birth of quantum theory. This is where things started to get weirder still. Scientists were investigating the nature of matter – the solid stuff that surrounds us everyday. By looking at smaller and smaller levels, scientists were hoping to find the smallest level possible. They were in for a few surprises. Firstly, they found that when broken into much smaller pieces, stuff isn’t very solid at all – it is full of empty space. In the midst of all this empty space are smaller bits – these are particles such as electrons.

So scientists started to study these particles and to their surprise they behaved in a very strange way. They found that particles only behave like particles when they are looked at in a certain way. Otherwise they behave like waves of information – like a map of where that particle might be. It is only when we look at the wave in a certain way that the location of the particle can come clear. It seems that at a deep level the universe is not solid at all. Furthermore, it also became clear that our input into our universe is important, inasmuch as how we view the universe has an impact on how it takes shape.

The scientific view of the universe changed from the clockwork universe to an interconnected web of information that exists out of the constraints of space and time. A whole century of verification and development has confirmed that this is really a more accurate picture than the clockwork one: so, like it or not we cannot go back. We can no longer see objects as fundamentally solid and ourselves as separate observers: according to science we are full participators in our world.

So what does this mean for John Edward, apart from the fact that the arguments of his detractors no longer seem as persuasive? How does this new science explain what he does? Let’s look at aspects of his work from the viewpoint of new science.

We die and that’s it – isn’t it?
Many people believe that when somebody dies that is the end; it is not possible to continue communicating with them. Certainly, this view fits with the old science, hence, many feel justified in feeling this view is scientific. According to the new science however, all matter is fundamentally information, including us. Information cannot be created or destroyed: it simply changes from form to form. Thus, when a person is alive, the information that is fundamental to that person, appears as a physical body: when they die, the information remains but in a different form.

Where does that information exist? One of the latest ideas in science is called superstring theory. This theory says that the universe is made up vibrating energy of different frequencies. These frequencies exist in many dimensions, an idea that is proving to be very useful for many areas of physics.

So we could say that when we die, we simply change vibrational frequencies and enter a dimension that is timeless. Thus, it is possible to access this information for those who have learnt the skill.

How does John get the information?
According to new science, the universe, is an interconnected web of information that exists out of space and time. This applies to us, too. New science also says that the universe behaves like a hologram, which means that each part of the universe contains the information of the whole – i.e., everything that has ever happened, is happening or is about to happen. If you can access a high enough frequency you can gain this information. This is how mediums work.

Some scientists have accumulated evidence that memories are not stored in any particular part of the brain. This has moved scientists to change their views as to what the brain does. The view at the cutting edge is that the brain does not contain memories, but rather, is a receiver for them. Much like a mobile phone, the brain takes the invisible frequencies of information in the air and interprets them. Someone like John Edward can move their own frequency to a higher frequency than normal by practicing some sort of meditation. This brings them into resonance with higher frequencies, which they can then interpret and articulate to the rest of us.

According to the new science, we all have access to information about anything, though what is practically possible depends on the skill of the person. Edgar Cayce, for example was supposedly able to see events many years into the future. Anyone can develop this talent but some will be better than others – a bit like tennis playing: not everyone will be like Andre Agassi but most people can pick up a racquet.

What about spirits?
If the fundamental of who we are is information and information can exist in many dimensions according to its frequency, it makes sense that spirits consist of this fundamental information but in a different frequency dimension to ours.

It is a bit like having many radio signals co-existing. It is only if we have our radios tuned to that frequency do we pick up a particular signal. In the case of higher dimensions, the range is far beyond our normal range and only occasionally do spirits cause a measurable effect in this dimension. This lack of measurement has led many investigators to conclude that spiritual dimensions do not exist. However this is simply a consequence of having equipment which deals with this dimension! Physics now realises that many dimensions are overlaid on top of this one that may be just as complex as our own.

Is the paranormal becoming normal?
We may have a long way to go before we see other dimensional experiences as totally normal, but that is part of the mystery of life. What we can do is realise that paranormal phenomena have been labelled as such through a lens of old-fashioned science. Some of the critics of mediums like John Edward will perhaps never accept the new science as it simply does not fit in with their worldview
(there are some professors of physics who still believe in a universal time clock).

For those who can accept that the universe holds more than meets the eye, they can now embrace the weirdness of the quantum world and the superstring universe of many dimensions. As science finally starts to catch up with human abilities, and the paranormal becomes normal, new possibilities and talents may open up for people. The science of John Edward may become the science of us all, as we realise our multidimensional abilities and experience more of our human potential.

© Manjir Samanta Laughton, MBBS (MD), 2004

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr Manjir Samanta-Laughton MBBS (MD), popularly known as ‘Dr Munchie’, trained as a medical doctor and as an energy medical consultant in Great Britain. She has worked as a medical General Practitioner, at the world-renowned Bristol Cancer Help Centre and in her own holistic healing practice. All throughout her medical career she became curious as to how the principles of theoretical physics can be applied to biology and esoteric traditions. She now has a successful career lecturing and writing for the general public, bringing science to a wider audience. She covers topics such as the science of consciousness, cosmology, healing, and the physics behind ‘paranormal’ phenomena. Dr. Munchie can be contacted by email at drmunchie@drmunchie.com.