, co-founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences 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).
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. ...
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. Also, noetic science is a major plot point in Brown's
The Secret of Secrets. The annual Linda G. O'Bryant Noetic Sciences Research Prize awards $100,000 to groundbreaking scientists. ==Research==