Explore the 'group mind' phenomenon and uncover its influences on religious and political experiences. This book investigates the idea that human groups, under certain conditions, can develop distinct personalities and possess 'minds' characterized by quasi-rational decision-making processes, emotions, intentional states, and actions in the world. Utilizing expert research, Patrick McNamara applies the explosion of findings in collective cognition to topics in evolutionary psychology, soci...

This book provides a complete introduction to the neuroscience of sleep and dreams in plain language. In it, Patrick McNamara outlines new discoveries in the science of sleep and dreams, places them within an evolutionary context, and brings them together with existing scientific findings and implications for sleep medicine. Unlike other introductory texts, the important evolutionary background and social nature of sleep and dreams is emphasized. Major advances in sleep medicine, sleep and...

The Neuroscience of Sleep and Dreams provides comprehensive coverage of the basic neuroscience of both sleep and dreams for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students. It details new scientific discoveries, places those discoveries within evolutionary context, and links established findings with implications for sleep medicine. This second edition focuses on recent developments in the social nature of sleep and dreams. Coverage includes the neuroscience of all stages of sleep; the lif...

Anything can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. Wouldnt you rather know that you had done everything in your power to have prepared yourself for that moment when something goes wrong? None of us plan to fail, but we may fail to plan.In Sentinel, author Patrick McNamara provides an instructional guide filled with survival techniques for the family. Drawing from his background as a special-operations agent for twenty-two years, McNamara discusses the importance of bein...

The Cognitive Neuroscience of Religious Experience, now updated and expanded in a new edition, updates key topics covered in the first edition including: decentering and self-transformation, supernatural agent cognitions, mystical states, religious language, ritualization, and religious group agency. It expands upon the first edition to include major findings on brain and religious experience over the past decade, focusing on methodology, future thinking, and psychedelics. It provides an u...

Technical advances in the life and medical sciences have revolutionised our understanding of the brain, while the emerging disciplines of social, cognitive, and affective neuroscience continue to reveal the connections of the higher cognitive functions and emotional states associated with religious experience to underlying brain states. At the same time, a host of developing theories in psychology and anthropology posit evolutionary explanations for the ubiquity and persistence of religiou...

The inspiration for this book came to the author after he purchased Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's wallet, untouched since the day he died in 1930, at a Christie's auction in London. This true story is based upon the unique contents, which led the author to begin spiritually communicating with Doyle. Sir Arthur's wish was to enlighten those who have lost their loved ones or feel they are lacking direction in their lives. Through Patrick McNamara, Doyle explains that how we live our lives here on...

The purpose of this book is to use neuroscience discoveries concerning religious experiences, the Self and personhood to deepen, enhance and interrogate the theological and philosophical set of ideas known as Personalism. McNamara proposes a new eschatological form of personalism that is consistent with current neuroscience models of relevant brain functions concerning the self and personhood and that can meet the catastrophic challenges of the 21st century.Eschatological Personali...

Based on extensive research, this volume offers insight and help on the key fiscal topics confronting church leaders today, including: Why is the church so uneasy with the topic of money? Is there a difference between stewardship and fundraising? How can we motivate giving? Should we invest church funds? It tackles the resistance, fears, and difficulties about money common in congregations. The book is must reading for lay leaders and anyone in pastoral ministry today.

A standout resource on the emerging field of applying neuropsychology and the latest findings in sleep and dream research to religious experience, this book investigates the proven biological links between REM dreams and religious ideas, covering past and current schools of thought in both the science of dreams and the science of religion.Across time and around the world, billions of people with highly dissimilar backgrounds and cultures have felt spiritual or reli...

A comedy sketch show recreating the bygone eras of radio, featuring the hilarious work of Marcus Brigstocke, Danny Robbins, Dan Tetsell and othersIf you thought radio started with Marconi, you were wrong, and here’s the proof – twelve extraordinary archive recordings from the past two millennia of the wireless. Join DJs Steve in the Afternoon and Suzanne Canker for some historical humour and hot takes on the Roman invasion, the First World War, the Crusades, the or...

The period following Mexico's war with the United States in 1847 was characterized by violent conflicts, as liberal and conservative factions battled for control of the national government. The civil strife was particularly bloody in south central Mexico, including the southern state of Oaxaca. In Sons of the Sierra, Patrick McNamara explores events in the Oaxaca district of Ixtlan, where Zapotec Indians supported the liberal cause and sought to exercise influence over statewide a...