Is the field of Consciousness Studies legitimate? Or is this a fraud?

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The discussion centers on the legitimacy of "Consciousness Studies," particularly in relation to a talk given at a college science fest by a speaker affiliated with the Bhaktivedanta Institute. Attendees reported that the talk was filled with pseudo-scientific claims, including a denial of evolution and a dismissal of mathematics, which raised concerns about the speaker's grasp of basic scientific concepts. The Bhaktivedanta Institute, described as a think tank rather than a legitimate educational institution, promotes a blend of science and religious ideas, specifically Vedanta. While some participants acknowledge that cognitive science is a valid field studying consciousness, they criticize the Bhaktivedanta Institute for its focus on spirituality over empirical science. The overall sentiment is skepticism regarding the credibility of consciousness studies as presented by this institute, viewing it as a mix of misguided philosophy and religious agenda rather than a legitimate scientific discipline.
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Is the field of "Consciousness Studies" legitimate? Or is this a fraud?

Hi everyone!

First of all, I wasn't entirely sure whether this should be posted here or in General Discussion. If this is the wrong forum,please accept my apologies.

Now to topic: Recently, in our college's science fest, there was a talk titled "Consciousness: The next frontier of Science". It was to be given by a person affiliated to http://www.voicepune.com/" . Now, we have had these people come to our hostel before and try to convince us that evolution is not real and further their own religious agenda. I unfortunately missed the talk (its fun tearing up their arguments:biggrin:). From what I heard from my friends, the talk went as expected- full of pseudo-scientific jibber-jabber and stuff like how numbers aren't real so we shouldn't waste our time studying them.

The most interesting part of it all was that the speaker claimed to have an http://www.bvinst.edu/gradstudies/index.html" , again one of the best research institutes in the country.

Now, I wouldn't have cared if this was a philosophy course- but this just looks like bad philosophy in the garb of science. The speaker who gave that talk demonstrated absolutely ZERO knowledge of even the basic concepts of science- he not only denied evolution but outright dismissed mathematics as not worth studying, because "numbers aren't real(his words)"(This is based on second person sources, but how many ways are there of saying evolution is wrong without actually saying it?). Note that this person had already finished his MS Program.

While i would usually dismiss this kind of stuff as pseudo-science, but the presence of so many big names really puzzles me. Also,some of the http://www.bvinst.edu/gradstudies/index.html" seem to actually think this will help them in their careers. So i guess my question is "Consciousness studies" or whatever it is that they teach a legitimate branch of science, or is it some wild speculations of a few people that some misguided students are being made to study?
 
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It is complete and total ********, as I suspect you know. The Bhaktivedanta Institute isn't even a college -- it's properly regarded as a think tank. It openly promotes religious concepts in place of science.

"[...] the Bhaktivedanta Institute which promotes the study of the relationship between science and Vedanta. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami was a pioneer in "advancing the dialogue on synthesis of science and spirituality throughout the world.""

From here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhaktisvarupa_Damodar_Swami
 


Well Cognitive Science, which studies mental information and consciousness and stuff, is a real field. There are people in that field trying to figure out neural correlates of consciousness and stuff like that.

Philosophers have studied it for centuries but nothing ever gets done in philosophy anyway.
 


Angry Citizen said:
It is complete and total ********, as I suspect you know. The Bhaktivedanta Institute isn't even a college -- it's properly regarded as a think tank. It openly promotes religious concepts in place of science.

"[...] the Bhaktivedanta Institute which promotes the study of the relationship between science and Vedanta. Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami was a pioneer in "advancing the dialogue on synthesis of science and spirituality throughout the world.""

From here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhaktisvarupa_Damodar_Swami

I knew the guy who we met was full of crap- but wasn't sure about the Institute in general, tho.
 
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