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Institute of Noetic Sciences
The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) is an American non-profit parapsychological research institute. It was co-founded in 1973 by former astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the Moon, along with investor Paul N. Temple and others interested in psychic phenomena, in order to encourage and conduct research on noetics and human potentials.
The Institute conducts research on topics such as psychic abilities, channeling, mind matter interaction, energy healing, intention, consciousness, and spontaneous remission. They have a long history of studying meditation, alternative healing practices, consciousness-based healthcare, spirituality, human potential, psychokinesis and survival of consciousness after bodily death. The Institute maintains a free database, available on the Internet, with citations to more than 6,500 articles about whether physical and mental health benefits might be connected to meditation and yoga.
IONS is now headquartered in Novato, California, after previously being situated on a 200-acre (81 ha) campus in Petaluma that included offices, a research laboratory and a retreat center. Researchers associated with it include Dean Radin, Helané Wahbeh and Rupert Sheldrake.
Edgar Mitchell has reported that on his return to Earth, after the 1971 Apollo 14 Moon landing, he had an experience comparable to savikalpa samādhi. He also says that he conducted ESP experiments with earthbound friends during spaceflight. In 1973, along with investor Paul N. Temple and some others, Mitchell co-founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS). It was founded as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 1973. Willis Harman served as president from 1975 until his death in 1997.
The word noetic derives from the Greek nous, meaning "mind or ways of knowing." Writing in The Huffington Post, the Institute's director of research pointed to philosopher William James' 1902 definition of the word as:
... states of insight into depths of truth unplumbed by the discursive intellect. They are illuminations, revelations, full of significance and importance, all inarticulate though they remain; and as a rule they carry with them a curious sense of authority. ...
The Institute figures prominently in The Lost Symbol, a 2009 work of fiction by best-selling author Dan Brown. Twitter postings on the day before the book's release led Institute director Marilyn Schlitz to purchase the book and read it in one sitting. She told NPR that she found ten experiments conducted by the real-world Institute referred to in Brown's fictional account. NPR reported that after its publication "traffic to [the institute's] website ... increased twelvefold", applications for membership increased and "journalists from places like Dateline NBC — not to mention NPR ..." were seeking interviews with Schlitz. "Noetic science" remains a major plot point in Brown's 2025 novel The Secret of Secrets.
The annual Linda G. O'Bryant Noetic Sciences Research Prize awards $100,000 to groundbreaking scientists.
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Institute of Noetic Sciences
The Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) is an American non-profit parapsychological research institute. It was co-founded in 1973 by former astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the Moon, along with investor Paul N. Temple and others interested in psychic phenomena, in order to encourage and conduct research on noetics and human potentials.
The Institute conducts research on topics such as psychic abilities, channeling, mind matter interaction, energy healing, intention, consciousness, and spontaneous remission. They have a long history of studying meditation, alternative healing practices, consciousness-based healthcare, spirituality, human potential, psychokinesis and survival of consciousness after bodily death. The Institute maintains a free database, available on the Internet, with citations to more than 6,500 articles about whether physical and mental health benefits might be connected to meditation and yoga.
IONS is now headquartered in Novato, California, after previously being situated on a 200-acre (81 ha) campus in Petaluma that included offices, a research laboratory and a retreat center. Researchers associated with it include Dean Radin, Helané Wahbeh and Rupert Sheldrake.
Edgar Mitchell has reported that on his return to Earth, after the 1971 Apollo 14 Moon landing, he had an experience comparable to savikalpa samādhi. He also says that he conducted ESP experiments with earthbound friends during spaceflight. In 1973, along with investor Paul N. Temple and some others, Mitchell co-founded the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS). It was founded as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 1973. Willis Harman served as president from 1975 until his death in 1997.
The word noetic derives from the Greek nous, meaning "mind or ways of knowing." Writing in The Huffington Post, the Institute's director of research pointed to philosopher William James' 1902 definition of the word as:
... states of insight into depths of truth unplumbed by the discursive intellect. They are illuminations, revelations, full of significance and importance, all inarticulate though they remain; and as a rule they carry with them a curious sense of authority. ...
The Institute figures prominently in The Lost Symbol, a 2009 work of fiction by best-selling author Dan Brown. Twitter postings on the day before the book's release led Institute director Marilyn Schlitz to purchase the book and read it in one sitting. She told NPR that she found ten experiments conducted by the real-world Institute referred to in Brown's fictional account. NPR reported that after its publication "traffic to [the institute's] website ... increased twelvefold", applications for membership increased and "journalists from places like Dateline NBC — not to mention NPR ..." were seeking interviews with Schlitz. "Noetic science" remains a major plot point in Brown's 2025 novel The Secret of Secrets.
The annual Linda G. O'Bryant Noetic Sciences Research Prize awards $100,000 to groundbreaking scientists.