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Making Sense of Nonsense: The Logical Bridge Between Science & Spirituality
What do the whimsical writings of Dr. Seuss have in common with near-death experiences? The answer is that nonsense writing and spiritual experiences seem to defy all logic and yet they both can make a powerful personal impact. In this book, New York Times bestselling author Dr. Raymond Moody shares the groundbreaking results of five decades of research into the philosophy of nonsense, revealing dynamic new perspectives on language, logic, and the mystical side of life. Explore the meaningful feelings that accompany nonsense language and learn how engaging with nonsense can help you on your own spiritual path. Discover how nonsense transcends classical logic, opening the doorway to new spiritual and philosophical breakthroughs. With dozens of examples from literature, comedy, music, and the history of religion, this book presents a unique new approach to the mysteries of the human spirit.
264 pages, Paperback
First published January 8, 2020
47 people are currently reading
230 people want to read
About the author
Raymond A. Moody Jr.
98 books241 followersRaymond Moody, M.D., Ph.D. is the bestselling author of eleven books which have sold over 20 million copies. His seminal work, Life After Life, has completely changed the way we view death and dying and has sold over 13 million copies worldwide. His latest book is GLIMPSES OF ETERNITY: Sharing a Loved One's Passage from this Life to the Next.
Dr. Moody is the leading authority on the "near-death experience"--a phrase he coined in the late seventies. He is best known for his ground-breaking work on the near-death experience and what happens when we die. The New York Times calls Dr. Moody "the father of the near-death experience."
Dr. Moody has enlightened and entertained audiences all over the world for over three decades. He lectures on such topics as: Near Death Experiences, Death With Dignity, Life After Loss, Surviving Grief & Finding Hope, Reunions: Visionary Encounters With Departed Loved Ones, The Healing Power of Humor, The Loss of Children, The Logic of Nonsense, and Catastrophic Tragedies & Events causing collective grief response.
In addition to his writing and lecturing, he is in the private practice of philosophical counseling and consulting on dying. Dr. Moody also trains hospice workers, clergy, psychologists, nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals on matters of grief recovery and dying. He helps people to identify systems of support and to cope with their anxiety, grief, and loss through better understanding of mourning and bereavement.
Dr. Moody received his medical degree from the College of Georgia and his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Virginia where he also received his M.A. and B.A.
He is the recipient of many awards including the World Humanitarian Award and a bronze medal in the Human Relations category at the New York Film Festival for the movie version of Life After Life.
Dr. Moody is a frequent media guest and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show three times, as well as on hundreds of other local and nationally syndicated programs such as MSNBC: Grief Recovery, Today, ABC's Turning Point, and hundreds more.
Dr. Moody is the leading authority on the "near-death experience"--a phrase he coined in the late seventies. He is best known for his ground-breaking work on the near-death experience and what happens when we die. The New York Times calls Dr. Moody "the father of the near-death experience."
Dr. Moody has enlightened and entertained audiences all over the world for over three decades. He lectures on such topics as: Near Death Experiences, Death With Dignity, Life After Loss, Surviving Grief & Finding Hope, Reunions: Visionary Encounters With Departed Loved Ones, The Healing Power of Humor, The Loss of Children, The Logic of Nonsense, and Catastrophic Tragedies & Events causing collective grief response.
In addition to his writing and lecturing, he is in the private practice of philosophical counseling and consulting on dying. Dr. Moody also trains hospice workers, clergy, psychologists, nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals on matters of grief recovery and dying. He helps people to identify systems of support and to cope with their anxiety, grief, and loss through better understanding of mourning and bereavement.
Dr. Moody received his medical degree from the College of Georgia and his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Virginia where he also received his M.A. and B.A.
He is the recipient of many awards including the World Humanitarian Award and a bronze medal in the Human Relations category at the New York Film Festival for the movie version of Life After Life.
Dr. Moody is a frequent media guest and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show three times, as well as on hundreds of other local and nationally syndicated programs such as MSNBC: Grief Recovery, Today, ABC's Turning Point, and hundreds more.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 8, 2020
“A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men.” ― Anonymous
Raymond Moody, renown researcher of near death experiences (NDEs), has spent decades codifying and categorizing nonsense, proving it has a structure. Through his endeavors, Moody hopes nonsense, spoken by those who experience NDEs or upon their death beds, may be analyzed in order to provide another avenue of exploration into humanity's experience after death.
It may sound like a load of nonsense, but I promise it is anything but. :)
"Nonsense itself affects people positively, but the word 'nonsense' affects people negatively. That is, people like nonsense itself, but they dislike the word 'nonsense.' ... they associate the word 'nonsense' with one common negative effect of involuntary nonsense: specifically, errors." pg 13
It is not the accuracy of the utterance that researchers are examining, instead, it is the structure of the language itself.
In a class on this topic, Moody says his students learned to identify and write seventy different types of nonsense. (Who knew there were so many!) Once you know the forms, you'll be able to do the same.
Why is this useful if you're not a NDE researcher? Not only is nonsense regularly utilized in poetry, plays, television shows and other forms of entertainment, Moody shows examples of nonsense in religious texts, alchemical writings, advertising and more.
"My sense of nonsense has been an indispensable asset during my career as a medical doctor and psychiatrist, for it often helps me make sense of someone's unique inner experience." pg 105
And he's right. Since finishing this book, I've become aware of how often nonsense is bandied about in both daily conversations I have with friends and family as well as in the Netflix shows I watch.
It's not only used for communication and art. Moody claims nonsense goes a step further, providing a link to other mystical states of mind.
"Talking nonsense to people makes them experience a curious, hard-to-describe alternate state of consciousness. In sum, nonsense is an alternate state of language that can induce an alternate state of consciousness." pg 125
So, babble away, my friends. If anybody says anything negative about it, tell them you're conducting a science experiment and you won't just be talking nonsense. :)
"It takes a heap of sense to write good nonsense." ― Mark Twain
Raymond Moody, renown researcher of near death experiences (NDEs), has spent decades codifying and categorizing nonsense, proving it has a structure. Through his endeavors, Moody hopes nonsense, spoken by those who experience NDEs or upon their death beds, may be analyzed in order to provide another avenue of exploration into humanity's experience after death.
It may sound like a load of nonsense, but I promise it is anything but. :)
"Nonsense itself affects people positively, but the word 'nonsense' affects people negatively. That is, people like nonsense itself, but they dislike the word 'nonsense.' ... they associate the word 'nonsense' with one common negative effect of involuntary nonsense: specifically, errors." pg 13
It is not the accuracy of the utterance that researchers are examining, instead, it is the structure of the language itself.
In a class on this topic, Moody says his students learned to identify and write seventy different types of nonsense. (Who knew there were so many!) Once you know the forms, you'll be able to do the same.
Why is this useful if you're not a NDE researcher? Not only is nonsense regularly utilized in poetry, plays, television shows and other forms of entertainment, Moody shows examples of nonsense in religious texts, alchemical writings, advertising and more.
"My sense of nonsense has been an indispensable asset during my career as a medical doctor and psychiatrist, for it often helps me make sense of someone's unique inner experience." pg 105
And he's right. Since finishing this book, I've become aware of how often nonsense is bandied about in both daily conversations I have with friends and family as well as in the Netflix shows I watch.
It's not only used for communication and art. Moody claims nonsense goes a step further, providing a link to other mystical states of mind.
"Talking nonsense to people makes them experience a curious, hard-to-describe alternate state of consciousness. In sum, nonsense is an alternate state of language that can induce an alternate state of consciousness." pg 125
So, babble away, my friends. If anybody says anything negative about it, tell them you're conducting a science experiment and you won't just be talking nonsense. :)
"It takes a heap of sense to write good nonsense." ― Mark Twain
December 20, 2019
This book is not what I was expecting when I requested it. I'm familiar with this publisher, having read several of their titles in the past. That, along with the synopsis, plus the fact that it's in the category of religion & spirituality, I was expecting this to be a book about spirituality, but it isn't. This is a book about language. There's one chapter toward the end, where the author relates the previous 80% of the book to religious beliefs, specifically the concept of life after death. What I was looking for when I requested it, was a book that would bridge the gap between my interests in Chakras, Tarot reading, and similar practices with modern science and societal expectations.
Don't get me wrong, I found this book interesting. If I had gone into it expecting a book about language, I probably would have been overjoyed! It's a thorough look into the actual definition of nonsense and the role it plays in our culture throughout history. The author examines the writings of Lewis Carrol and Dr. Seuss, among many others who used nonsense language in their works. The writing is dense at times and reads like an academic text.
I'd highly recommend this book for readers of non-fiction with an interest in language, literary history, and even pop culture. I would not recommend it as a book on spirituality.
Many thanks to NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Don't get me wrong, I found this book interesting. If I had gone into it expecting a book about language, I probably would have been overjoyed! It's a thorough look into the actual definition of nonsense and the role it plays in our culture throughout history. The author examines the writings of Lewis Carrol and Dr. Seuss, among many others who used nonsense language in their works. The writing is dense at times and reads like an academic text.
I'd highly recommend this book for readers of non-fiction with an interest in language, literary history, and even pop culture. I would not recommend it as a book on spirituality.
Many thanks to NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
April 26, 2022
I'd say this was a weird read on how our language makes (and at times doesn't make) sense. Like we see with kids, perimortem nonsense and other appearances of language that is not.
Remakrable, when researchers go lateral or even spread their interests to entire irrelevant to their original sphere of expertise fields. And here is a case of such diversification of research. Basically, this is a book about language and the science of language, particularly how language attains sense in our perception. This partially builds on the spiritual part of the human life, ie life after and before death, reincarnation and soul travels in the wide meaning of the world. I think we haven't yet seen all that RM can give its readers and many more illuminating researches are to come from him to our reading menus.
Remakrable, when researchers go lateral or even spread their interests to entire irrelevant to their original sphere of expertise fields. And here is a case of such diversification of research. Basically, this is a book about language and the science of language, particularly how language attains sense in our perception. This partially builds on the spiritual part of the human life, ie life after and before death, reincarnation and soul travels in the wide meaning of the world. I think we haven't yet seen all that RM can give its readers and many more illuminating researches are to come from him to our reading menus.
November 12, 2019
In his forever remarkable book, Dr. Moody helps us to get up close and personal with nonsense – that which makes no sense, and yet wields the power to embellish flat language with its presence or conversely make interesting language slouch with its absence. I cannot begin to tell you how much fun it was to revisit odd poems from Alice in Wonderland and other such tales. If you like to play with logic, I guarantee you lots of fun with this remarkable exercise which comes complete with games you can play with yourself and little experiments to brighten the nonsense in your own world. This is seriously funny business - don’t miss it!
I met this book at Auntie's Bookstore in Spokane, WA
I met this book at Auntie's Bookstore in Spokane, WA
January 3, 2022
An excellent and singular book on the nature of ‘nonsense’, how can we identify it, how do we categorize different kinds of ‘nonsense’, is there an internal structure to it, and what is the context by which it is found (literature, psychology, medical science, metaphysics, philosophy etc.) . Though, this text could best be described as an introductory text, it is the best kind of introductory text, one that will propel your investigation further into the topic, on top of equipping you with the minimal toolkit to begin to grasp it. This text is essentially a foray into the epistemology of nonsense.
With that known, one should realize that the text does use the tools and pureview of logical/analytic-philosophy most when introducing/dealing with this topic, and that is appropriate. At least in the West, the notion of ‘nonsense’ most likely finds its origins with Charles Dodgson a.k.a Lewis Carroll, the 19th century mathematician/logician and author of the Alice books. So the fact that the author takes the view that ‘nonsense’ could be understood, at least in part, as a phenomena of formal language/syntax is apt. However, it isn’t purely a study of ‘nonsense’ in this manner, though when characterizing the typologies of nonsense in chapter 2, the vantage of context-dependent syntax is clearly evident.
However, when it comes to applications, there is a clear preference given to its use in understanding various psychological (or dare I say parapsychological) phenomena. These include human behavior with respect to religious experiences, near-death experiences, and other quasi/para-religious experiences modern humans may encounter, which could include those that purport contact with some paranormal/supernatural being. Here, the author assesses the ability of nonsense in syntax to imbibe in it’s reader a kind of transcendental ‘feeling’, exactly because the mind is attempting to reckon what it’s reading with its context to understand with known symbols/semantics. Thus, a particular opaque/abstract philosophical/meta-physical text could induce a sense of being “inspired” by some “out there” force, even if the inducement has entirely arisen from the mind’s ordinary (or ‘usual’) functioning.
It’s also interesting to note that from a formal study of ‘nonsense’, the author makes clear
to delineate it with fallacy or something that conveys ‘no information’ which it is not (even if that is what it may be synonymous with in colloquial use). Here, the author mentions (but does not explicitly show), that the syntactical/semantical structure of ‘nonsense’ is often of a higher order to ‘sensical’ language, exactly because it requires one to have a mapping between a formal ‘sensible’ language and the nonsense domain for one to discern the structure to it. This is an interesting phenomena, and is relevant to subjects beyond just the study of nonsense (including formal/frontier logic from my understanding, the so-called meta-language/language issue that arises in the foundations of mathematics).
This book is very interesting, and I wish there were more books released on this topic. I hope the author extends this work with a more detailed/sophisticated work. Highly recommended to those interested in philosophy, language, meta-physics, cognitive science, and para-social phenomena (i.e.purported religious/supernatural experiences in myth and contemporary society)
With that known, one should realize that the text does use the tools and pureview of logical/analytic-philosophy most when introducing/dealing with this topic, and that is appropriate. At least in the West, the notion of ‘nonsense’ most likely finds its origins with Charles Dodgson a.k.a Lewis Carroll, the 19th century mathematician/logician and author of the Alice books. So the fact that the author takes the view that ‘nonsense’ could be understood, at least in part, as a phenomena of formal language/syntax is apt. However, it isn’t purely a study of ‘nonsense’ in this manner, though when characterizing the typologies of nonsense in chapter 2, the vantage of context-dependent syntax is clearly evident.
However, when it comes to applications, there is a clear preference given to its use in understanding various psychological (or dare I say parapsychological) phenomena. These include human behavior with respect to religious experiences, near-death experiences, and other quasi/para-religious experiences modern humans may encounter, which could include those that purport contact with some paranormal/supernatural being. Here, the author assesses the ability of nonsense in syntax to imbibe in it’s reader a kind of transcendental ‘feeling’, exactly because the mind is attempting to reckon what it’s reading with its context to understand with known symbols/semantics. Thus, a particular opaque/abstract philosophical/meta-physical text could induce a sense of being “inspired” by some “out there” force, even if the inducement has entirely arisen from the mind’s ordinary (or ‘usual’) functioning.
It’s also interesting to note that from a formal study of ‘nonsense’, the author makes clear
to delineate it with fallacy or something that conveys ‘no information’ which it is not (even if that is what it may be synonymous with in colloquial use). Here, the author mentions (but does not explicitly show), that the syntactical/semantical structure of ‘nonsense’ is often of a higher order to ‘sensical’ language, exactly because it requires one to have a mapping between a formal ‘sensible’ language and the nonsense domain for one to discern the structure to it. This is an interesting phenomena, and is relevant to subjects beyond just the study of nonsense (including formal/frontier logic from my understanding, the so-called meta-language/language issue that arises in the foundations of mathematics).
This book is very interesting, and I wish there were more books released on this topic. I hope the author extends this work with a more detailed/sophisticated work. Highly recommended to those interested in philosophy, language, meta-physics, cognitive science, and para-social phenomena (i.e.purported religious/supernatural experiences in myth and contemporary society)
April 30, 2020
A surface skimming of nonsense. Good for a longlist of possible ways to perform nonsense, but perhaps something to do with your children or with your undergraduate class maybe.
It neither goes into science nor spirituality. There is no bridging of science and only a surface understanding of what is meant by spirituality. I have a better sense of how others use nonsense as a way of seeing the world or accessing the divine.
It neither goes into science nor spirituality. There is no bridging of science and only a surface understanding of what is meant by spirituality. I have a better sense of how others use nonsense as a way of seeing the world or accessing the divine.
December 19, 2024
“Making Sense of Nonsense: The Logical Bridge Between Science & Spirituality” is not what I thought it would be. It was more a book about the history of nonsense than explaining about the logical bridge between science & spirituality. I thought it was too much nonsense and I DNF. I hate not completing a book, but after 1/4 way through it, I gave up when all he spoke about was nonsense. Not at all like any of his other books that I read and loved.
January 30, 2021
Double-talk is created by a simple formula: Begin sentences with phrases like, “Do you know—?”or “Will you please tell me—?”or “Do you have any idea where—?”to get listeners’attention. Their wheels start turning as they prepare to come up with an answer. Then toss in a liberal quantity of made-up, meaningless near-English nonsense words. The process results in double-talk such as, “Would you please tell me where I can find some spanagloap for the tarkerblay?”As listeners, we bring multiple meanings and associations to the act of listening, assuming that in every act of communication, the speaker’s intent is to communicate meaningfully. In the case of double-talk, the listener’s expectations are not met, and this can lead to people questioning both their senses and sanity. Nonsense can powerfully attract and hold people’s attention. Nonsense often captures and holds attention more effectively than humdrum, prosaic language that is perfectly meaningful and intelligible. For example, advertising is all about getting attention. That is the reason why nonsense shows up frequently in ads. A television ad for KPMG, a corporate finance firm, was built around categorical nonsense. The ad incomprehensibly mixed the phraseology of motherly admonitions with the terminology of international finance. In the ad, cranky mother figures offered meaningless advice like, “Don’t go out with wet hair. You might catch a case of involuntary international corporate rightsizing.”Another cranky mother insisted, “Always construct a mass utilization model before crossing the street.”
This book made me look at scriptures in a new light. I now realize most of these are trash. Sample this
Nonsense appears in scriptures and holy writings of various religions. The Yoga Vasistha is a compendium of Hindu sacred writings. This ancient holy text includes enigmatic stories such as “The Story of the Three Non-Existent Princes.”Four types of nonsense that we discussed previously are discernable in this story: Once upon a time in a city which did not exist, there were three princes who were brave and happy. Of them two were unborn and the third had not been conceived. Unfortunately all their relatives died. The princes left their native city to go elsewhere. During their journey the sun was very hot, and the three princes found shade under three trees: “Two did not exist and the third had not even been planted.”They also discovered three rivers: “Two were dry and in the third there was no water. The princes had a refreshing bath and quenched their thirst in them.”They eventually reached a city that had three beautiful palaces: “Two had not been built at all, and the third had no walls.”The princes cooked rice and gave it to three holy men: “Two had no body and the third had no mouth.”The princes then ate the remainder of the food. “They were greatly pleased. Thus they lived in that city for a long, long time in peace and joy.”54 This story exemplifies erasure. G. C. Lichtenberg, the German physicist and satirist, created nonsense of this type and apparently discovered it independently. Then surrealist artists like Dali followed Lichtenberg’s pattern to write their own original erasures. Erasure appeared independently in two different cultures thousands of years apart. Here is another case, then, that shows that patterns of nonsense are somehow inherent in language. The Hindu story also contains an element of numerative nonsense, another type we also discussed previously. Specifically, “cooking 99 minus 100 grams of rice”uses number terms unintelligibly in a nonsensical recipe. Numerative nonsense also occurs in the Ramayana, a sacred epic of Hinduism. In one passage, for example, “He kept the five, obtained the triad, took the triad, conquered the pair and then discarded the pair.”Yet the work never establishes any context that would enable readers to determine what the number words are supposed to enumerate. Even so, the number terminology in the unintelligible passage somehow evokes a mysterious supernatural presence, and it does so without conveying definite coherent thoughts to the mind. In overall structure, “The Story of the Three Non-Existent Princes”is a nonsensical travel narrative. Accordingly, we have now identified four types of nonsense that we discussed before in this one ancient Hindu story. Namely, we found erasure, numerative nonsense, a nonsensical recipe and a nonsensical travel narrative. That makes it plain that the typology of nonsense set out in Chapter 3 is a useful instrument for analyzing and comprehending some holy texts.
This book made me look at scriptures in a new light. I now realize most of these are trash. Sample this
Nonsense appears in scriptures and holy writings of various religions. The Yoga Vasistha is a compendium of Hindu sacred writings. This ancient holy text includes enigmatic stories such as “The Story of the Three Non-Existent Princes.”Four types of nonsense that we discussed previously are discernable in this story: Once upon a time in a city which did not exist, there were three princes who were brave and happy. Of them two were unborn and the third had not been conceived. Unfortunately all their relatives died. The princes left their native city to go elsewhere. During their journey the sun was very hot, and the three princes found shade under three trees: “Two did not exist and the third had not even been planted.”They also discovered three rivers: “Two were dry and in the third there was no water. The princes had a refreshing bath and quenched their thirst in them.”They eventually reached a city that had three beautiful palaces: “Two had not been built at all, and the third had no walls.”The princes cooked rice and gave it to three holy men: “Two had no body and the third had no mouth.”The princes then ate the remainder of the food. “They were greatly pleased. Thus they lived in that city for a long, long time in peace and joy.”54 This story exemplifies erasure. G. C. Lichtenberg, the German physicist and satirist, created nonsense of this type and apparently discovered it independently. Then surrealist artists like Dali followed Lichtenberg’s pattern to write their own original erasures. Erasure appeared independently in two different cultures thousands of years apart. Here is another case, then, that shows that patterns of nonsense are somehow inherent in language. The Hindu story also contains an element of numerative nonsense, another type we also discussed previously. Specifically, “cooking 99 minus 100 grams of rice”uses number terms unintelligibly in a nonsensical recipe. Numerative nonsense also occurs in the Ramayana, a sacred epic of Hinduism. In one passage, for example, “He kept the five, obtained the triad, took the triad, conquered the pair and then discarded the pair.”Yet the work never establishes any context that would enable readers to determine what the number words are supposed to enumerate. Even so, the number terminology in the unintelligible passage somehow evokes a mysterious supernatural presence, and it does so without conveying definite coherent thoughts to the mind. In overall structure, “The Story of the Three Non-Existent Princes”is a nonsensical travel narrative. Accordingly, we have now identified four types of nonsense that we discussed before in this one ancient Hindu story. Namely, we found erasure, numerative nonsense, a nonsensical recipe and a nonsensical travel narrative. That makes it plain that the typology of nonsense set out in Chapter 3 is a useful instrument for analyzing and comprehending some holy texts.
March 5, 2024
This unique and ground breaking work has inspired me like no other. Moody has dared to walk into a world of mind expanding muddle to embark on a potential opening into realms otherwise untouched. Nonsense could possible be the key to opening our understanding of the other world. Praise and thanks to Raymond!
Read
December 8, 2024Abandoned.
I had to abandon this book. I was expecting this to be similar to other books of his that I read. I couldn't even make it through the first chapter. He kept repeating the word Nonsense so much that I felt it was a test of how often he could say it & have it make sense. LOL! I guess I'm just not a nonsense kind of person. 😁
I had to abandon this book. I was expecting this to be similar to other books of his that I read. I couldn't even make it through the first chapter. He kept repeating the word Nonsense so much that I felt it was a test of how often he could say it & have it make sense. LOL! I guess I'm just not a nonsense kind of person. 😁
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 26, 2019
An entertaining, well written and thought provoking book.
I loved the style of writing and how the book is organised.
I can't wait to read other book by this author.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I loved the style of writing and how the book is organised.
I can't wait to read other book by this author.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
Want to read
November 29, 2020Note: I received a paperback copy of this book at ALA Midwinter 2020.
January 3, 2021
Very interesting and makes complete sense. Helped me to understand our government and the news.
September 7, 2022
Very interesting perspective, a little repetitive but it made me think and I liked it.
June 29, 2023
A book about nonsense. I didn't get much out of this but someone interested in the topic might.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews