Susan Blackmore

From Philosopedia

Susan Jane Blackmore (29 July 1951 - )

Blackmore, who was born in London, is a freelance writer, lecturer and broadcaster, and a Visiting Lecturer at the University of the West of England, Bristol. She has a degree in psychology and physiology from Oxford University (1973) and a PhD in parapsychology from the University of Surrey (1980).

Her research interests include memes, evolutionary theory, consciousness, and meditation. She practices Zen, campaigns for drug legalization, and no longer works on the paranormal.

Blackmore writes for several magazines and newspapers, has a blog for the Guardian, and is a frequent contributor and presenter on radio and television. She is author of over sixty academic articles, about forty book contributions, and many book reviews. Her books include Beyond the Body (1982), Dying to Live (on near-death experiences, 1993), In Search of the Light (autobiography, 1996), and Test Your Psychic Powers (with Adam Hart-Davis, 1997).

The Meme Machine (1999) has been translated into 13 other languages. Her textbook, Consciousness: An Introduction, was published in June 2003 (Hodder UK; Oxford U Press, New York), and A Very Short Introduction to Consciousness in 2005 (Oxford University Press).

Her latest book is Conversations on Consciousness (November 2006, Oxford University Press, in hardcover and also paperback).

"I am not a Buddhist," she has made clear, adding

I have not signed up to any beliefs, joined any groups, or taken any formal vows. This is mainly because I fear that the memes of Buddhism can be as pernicious as those of any religion and because I dislike dogma in any form. I mention this because nothing I have written should be taken as having the authority of a Buddhist. I do, however, value the Buddha's insight, the teachings that have been handed down, and the practices I have been taught.

I have been practising Zen for over twenty years. My main training is in Chan, the tradition founded in China in the first century CE when Buddhism arrived from India. Chan subsequently spread to Japan where it became Zen.

I have done many retreats at the Maenllwyd, John Crook's retreat house in mid Wales. I presented a half-hour documentary "A Place of Silence" for Radio 4 about it in February 1998. I have also done some training in tantra and mahamudra (Tibetan Buddhism). I have worked with the Bristol Chan Group, Western Chan Fellowship and have led retreats on meditation and memes.

Over the years I have found that my Zen practice and my scientific work have converged in many ways. This connection is probably obvious in my books, The Meme Machine, and Consciousness. I also wrote about its effects in the updated version of the Adventures published as In Search of the Light in 1996.

Dr. Blackmore married Tom Troscianko in 1977, and they have two children - Emily Troscianko (20 February 1982) and Jolyon Tomasz Troscianko (17 May 1984). She lives with her partner, Adam Hart-Davis, a freelance writer, photographer, and broadcaster on radio and television.

Excerpts from Blackmore's Guardian Blog

(See the complete articles):

Dr. Blackmore, called "spunky and clever" by Nature, January 2006

THE FAITHFUL HAVE DEPARTED: If you listen to our government, or even much of the media, you could easily assume that nearly everyone belongs to a "faith community", and that anyone who doesn't (like me) is in the minority. But a new survey, commissioned by the British Humanist Association, suggests just the opposite. In fact we British are an independent minded lot who don't want to take things on faith and would rather base our lives on science and evidence than on religious doctrine. What a relief!

FREEDOM OF BELIEF: It's refreshing to find that people didn't rush to sign up to a religion in China as soon as they had the freedom to do so.

BEYOND DISCOMFORT: I feel a sense of revulsion at the sight of a woman covered head to toe. Should I suppress that feeling?

LEAN, MEAN, MEME MACHINES: Mobile phones are devices for spreading our culture's obsessions ever more quickly. But are they making us any happier?

HOMEOPATHY IS BUNKUM: If any money is going spare for the National Health System, let's spend it on real medicine that actually works.

SHOULD WE TELL OUR PARENTS THEY'RE DEMENTED? Would elderly people with vascular dementia or Alzheimer's disease be better off being told exactly what is happening?

SLEEPING GIANT: Freud's theory of dreams, which ought to have slipped quietly into oblivion, still provokes serious scientists into heated debate.

BREAKING THE SPELL OF FAITH: What's the pay-off for religion? That's what philosopher Dan Dennett wants us to investigate.

(Dr. Blackmore's website includes many photographs and other details about her work. Her obituary for John Beloff is noteworthy for its thoroughness.)