Susan Blackmore facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Susan Blackmore
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Blackmore in 2014
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| Born |
Susan Jane Blackmore
29 July 1951 |
| Education | St Hilda's College, Oxford University of Surrey |
| Occupation | Freelance writer, lecturer, broadcaster |
| Spouse(s) |
Tom Troscianko
(m. 1977; div. 2009)Adam Hart-Davis
(m. 2010) |
| Children | 2 |
Susan Jane Blackmore (born July 29, 1951) is a British writer, teacher, and broadcaster. She is also a visiting professor at the University of Plymouth. She studies topics like how ideas spread (called memetics), the mind and consciousness, and unusual mental abilities (called parapsychology). She is famous for her book The Meme Machine. Susan Blackmore has written or helped with over 40 books and 60 articles for experts. She also writes for The Guardian newspaper.
Contents
Susan Blackmore's Career and Studies
Early Education and Research
In 1973, Susan Blackmore finished her studies at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She earned a degree in psychology and physiology. In 1974, she received a master's degree in environmental psychology from the University of Surrey. Later, in 1980, she earned her PhD in parapsychology from the same university. Her PhD paper was about how people might sense things beyond normal perception.
In the 1980s, Blackmore did experiments on psychokinesis. This is the idea that the mind can move or affect things. She wanted to see if her baby daughter, Emily, could influence a machine that created random numbers. These experiments were even mentioned in a book for a TV show called Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers.
From Believer to Skeptic
Blackmore taught at the University of the West of England in Bristol until 2001. She spent time researching parapsychology and the paranormal. Over time, her views changed from believing in these things to being a skeptic. A skeptic is someone who questions things and needs strong evidence before believing them.
In 1987, Blackmore wrote about an interesting experience she had. It was an out-of-body experience (OBE) that happened shortly after she started leading a group at Oxford University that studied psychic research.
She described it as feeling very real, like she was floating outside her body. She said everything looked clear and vivid. Even though it felt real, she later realized that the idea of "astral projection" (where a spirit leaves the body) didn't make sense scientifically.
In 2000, she wrote in New Scientist about how her views changed:
It was just over thirty years ago that I had the dramatic out-of-body experience that convinced me of the reality of psychic phenomena and launched me on a crusade to show those closed-minded scientists that consciousness could reach beyond the body and that death was not the end. Just a few years of careful experiments changed all that. I found no psychic phenomena—only wishful thinking, self-deception, experimental error and, occasionally, fraud. I became a sceptic.
She is now a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. In 1991, she received an award from them for being a distinguished skeptic.
Research on Sleep and Ideas
Susan Blackmore has also researched sleep paralysis. This is when a person wakes up but cannot move or speak. Sometimes, people have strange experiences during sleep paralysis that they think are paranormal. Blackmore studied many of these "paranormal" experiences between 1996 and 1999 and found that most fit the description of sleep paralysis.
Blackmore has done a lot of research on memes. Memes are like ideas, behaviors, or styles that spread from person to person within a culture. She wrote about this in her famous book The Meme Machine. She also studies evolutionary theory. Her book Consciousness: An Introduction (2004) is a textbook that covers the study of consciousness, which is about what it means to be aware and think.
She was on the team that edited the Journal of Memetics from 1997 to 2001. Since 1998, she has been a consulting editor for the Skeptical Inquirer magazine.
Public Appearances and Debates
Blackmore was one of the psychologists featured on the British TV show Big Brother. She talked about the mental state of the people living in the house. She is also a supporter of Humanists UK.
She has taken part in debates about big questions. In 2007, she debated Christian apologist Alister McGrath about whether God exists. In 2018, she debated Jordan Peterson about whether God is needed to understand life.
In 2017, Blackmore spoke at the 17th European Skeptics Congress in Poland. At this event, she joined other experts for a discussion about skeptical psychology.
Memetics and Culture
What are Memes?
Susan Blackmore has made important contributions to the study of memetics. The word meme was first used by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene. Dawkins wrote the introduction to Blackmore's book The Meme Machine (1999). He said that Blackmore gave the idea of the meme its "best shot." Other books about memes, like The Electric Meme by Robert Aunger, also mention Blackmore's work.
Blackmore believes that memes are like genes for ideas. They are "replicators" that spread and change over time, just like genes do in evolution. She thinks that imitation is very important for how ideas spread in culture. Recent research on mirror neurons (special brain cells) supports her ideas about how humans learn by copying others.
In 2008, at a TED conference, Blackmore talked about a new kind of meme she calls temes. Temes are memes that live in technology, not just in human minds.
Views on Religion
Blackmore has written about both the good and bad sides of religion. She has said that many ideas in religions, even if they are not true, can spread easily. These include ideas like a creator god or virgin births. She notes that religions often tell people to have faith and not doubt, and they promise big rewards or punishments.
However, Blackmore also believes that religions have good parts. She likes the deep truths found in their spiritual traditions, such as ideas about who we are and that things don't last forever. She also thinks that humans need rituals for important life events like birth, death, and celebrations. She finds that Humanism offers non-religious ways to have these ceremonies. She enjoys old hymns from her childhood and believes we should build on traditions instead of throwing everything away.
In 2010, Blackmore wrote in The Guardian that she no longer calls religion simply a "virus of the mind." She changed her mind because she saw that religion can have good effects. For example, studies show that religious people might have more children and are often more generous and cooperative.
Personal Life
Blackmore supports secular spirituality, which means finding meaning in life without religion. She is an atheist, meaning she does not believe in God. She is also a humanist, focusing on human values and reason. She practices Zen, a type of meditation, but she says she is "not a Buddhist" because she doesn't follow all the rules of that religion. She is a supporter of Humanists UK and an honorary member of the National Secular Society.
In 2010, Blackmore and 54 other public figures signed a letter against Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the UK.
Regarding her scientific understanding of consciousness, she believes that our feeling of being aware is an "illusion." She thinks it's a "grand delusion."
She is married to the writer Adam Hart-Davis. In 1995, Blackmore had chronic fatigue syndrome, a long-term illness that causes extreme tiredness.
Images for kids
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Blackmore in 2014
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Blackmore at The Amaz!ng Meeting workshop in 2013
See also
In Spanish: Susan Blackmore para niños
