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Howard Robinson, University Professor in Philosophy, Central European University I supervised
Celia Green from 1992 to 1994, and have discussed her work regularly with her
since then, whenever I have been in England. Her doctorate was examined and
accepted in December 1996. It was a very interesting discussion of how the
problem of mind-body interactionism is affected by
different conceptions of causation. In particular, she argued that modern
physics is, in a sense, 'post causal' and that this removes many of the
standard difficulties which interaction is supposed to face, for these rest
on a traditional understanding of causation. The thesis included a variety of
discussions relevant to the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of science,
and general metaphysics. It has since been published as a book to which I
contributed a Foreword. Dr Green's
published work on lucid dreaming and 'out of the body' experiences
is concerned with abnormal psychological states. It is not about the 'paranormal', in the
sense of that term which is often taken as pejorative. Rather it is about
forms of hallucinatory condition, and links closely with both empirical
psychology and the philosophy of mind. Her work on these subjects was
ground-breaking, and has been taken up by others in a variety of university
psychology departments. It is philosophically interesting because of its
consequences for our understanding of sense-experience. Dr Green has
an unusual history, but she is someone with a very powerful and original
intelligence, as her influential published work on abnormal perceptual states
shows. I believe that Dr Green has not so far received from the official
academic community the recognition that either her ability or achievements
merit. In response to this, she is attempting to develop an independent
academic institution. This, of course, is an enormous financial challenge and
shows extreme fortitude and determination. In this endeavour she is supported
by a small group of committed and well qualified colleagues. I think that she
merits support in her attempt to develop her research activity and to realize
more of her potential. from Professor Harry Hunt, Department
of Psychology, Brock University As a
researcher and writer in the fields of dreaming and transpersonal psychology,
I can strongly endorse the importance of financial support for the deeply
innovative and pioneering research of Celia Green and her associates. The
considerable research done in the past fifteen years on lucid dreaming and
related states rests almost entirely on the meticulous descriptions and
original classifications of types and subtypes put forward by Green in her
initial publications. Her work guided this burgeoning research area into a
fruitful empirical mould and away from the sensationalism that so often
blights research into states of consciousness. All of us 'second generation'
researchers have found ourselves continuously in her debt. There is wide
agreement among us in how unfortunate it is that the continuing development
of her work has been slowed, but thankfully not stopped, by the lack of the
sort of financial support appropriate to such originality. New financial
support is fully and obviously warranted for the extension of these studies
into out-of-body experience, near-death experience, and related states. The
possibility that her meticulous classifications and sensitivity to relations
between seemingly disparate experiences could be further extended would help to
prevent these newer studies from being taken over by media hype. Properly
supported, her new work will doubtless inspire the next generation of serious
researchers to further develop a genuine science of consciousness. The need for
monies for research assistants and electrophysiological equipment is obvious.
Any person or organization that can offer support for this work is truly
extending the frontiers of modern science. It is high time that Green be
enabled to pursue her work at the pace and extent of others with far less
originality and perseverance. from
the late H.J. Eysenck, Professor Emeritus of
Psychology, University of London In my recent
book Genius - A Natural History of
Creativity, I reviewed the history of scientific and artistic genius, and
discovered that society frowns on originality, and does its best to prevent a
creative person from achieving success. I should imagine that recognition a
hundred years later is not of any great consolation to those suffering from
this lack of recognition. Lack of financial support is one of the major
drawbacks of being creative, and I would like to suggest the importance of
such financial sponsorship for the very original and creative research of
Celia Green. She has made a breakthrough in the important field of dream
investigation, beginning with her early book on lucid dreams, and in her more
recent publications all based on descriptive analyses of such dreams, which
are defined as dreams in which the dreamer is aware of the fact that he or
she is dreaming. Stimulated by her earlier investigations many serious
academic researchers have taken up the study of these phenomena, all
essentially basing their work on Green's original system of classification. To enable her
to continue this work, and make more original contributions to the field,
some financial support is urgently required; it is very unlikely that
recognised funding agencies will support truly original work in this day and
age! Celia Green has always been interested in areas that present great
difficulties to serious researchers, or who require new and original but
nevertheless rigorous approaches to make an apparently odd type of phenomenon
respectable and safe for academic workers. I feel that she deserves
recognition of her pioneering ventures, and also believe that adequate
financial and professional sponsorship is fully justified in view of her past
record. |