Exposing Scientific Dogmas - Banned TED Talk - Rupert Sheldrake | After Skool

Oct 5, 2026

Rupert Sheldrake, biologist and author known for morphic resonance and The Science Delusion. He challenges entrenched scientific dogmas and contrasts science-as-method with science-as-worldview. He questions fixed natural laws and explores morphic resonance as collective memory. He also discusses consciousness beyond the brain and why freeing science from dogma matters.

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INSIGHT

Science As Dogma Limits Inquiry

Science delusion is treating science as a finished worldview rather than an open method of inquiry.
Rupert Sheldrake lists ten dogmas (e.g., matter unconscious, mind inside head, fixed laws) that constrain research and thinking.

INSIGHT

Laws Of Nature As Evolving Habits

The assumption that laws of nature are eternally fixed is a metaphor rooted in human law, not necessarily a scientific fact.
Sheldrake proposes thinking of natural regularities as evolving habits influenced by history and precedent.

ANECDOTE

Morphic Resonance Illustrated With Crystals And Rats

Sheldrake presents his morphic resonance hypothesis: species draw on a collective memory to shape form and behavior.
He cites crystals becoming easier to form after initial occurrences and rats learning tricks faster worldwide as examples.

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Exposing Scientific Dogmas - Banned TED Talk - Rupert Sheldrake Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, is a biologist and author best known for his hypothesis of morphic resonance. At Cambridge University he worked in developmental biology as a Fellow of Clare College. He was Principal Plant Physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Hyderabad, India. From 2005 to 2010 he was Director of the Perrott-Warrick project for research on unexplained human and animal abilities, administered by Trinity College, Cambridge. Sheldrake has published a number of books - A New Science of Life (1981), The Presence of the Past (1988), The Rebirth of Nature (1991), Seven Experiments That Could Change the World (1994), Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home (1999), The Sense of Being Stared At (2003), The Science Delusion (Science Set Free) (2012), Science and Spiritual Practices (2017), Ways of Going Beyond and Why They Work (2019).Rupert gave a talk entitled The Science Delusion at TEDx Whitechapel, Jan 12, 2013. The theme for the night was Visions for Transition: Challenging existing paradigms and redefining values (for a more beautiful world). In response to protests from two materialists in the US, the talk was taken out of circulation by TED, relegated to a corner of their website and stamped with a warning label.To Learn more about Rupert Sheldrake and his research, please visit https://www.sheldrake.org/Subscribe to After Skool for more insightful videos. Follow the podcast for new episodes. We cannot change the world. But we can change ourselves...and that will change the world. The goal of this podcast is to empower the individual and deliver profound ideas through art. Find After Skool on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AfterSkool/videos Disclaimer: This podcast is an independent initiative inspired by the thought-provoking content of After Skool. It is created by a viewer who appreciates the depth of the ideas shared and wants to make them more accessible in an audio format. While every effort is made to preserve the essence of the original content, this is not an official After Skool production, nor is it affiliated with or endorsed by After Skool. All rights to the original material belong to After Skool. If you have any concerns regarding this podcast, please feel free to reach out.

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