The Bond

February 21, 2011
McTaggart (The Intention Experiment) straddles the line between science and pseudoscience, intending to help readers live fuller lives by understanding something she terms "The Bond." "In every way individual things live life attached and bonded to ‘another,' " she argues. "The idea of the individual," McTaggart says, "is a fallacy." Her discussion of the Bond encompasses quantum physics, genetics, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, astronomy, sociology, psychology, and a host of other disciplines. While she provides ample and fascinating examples of "holistic," altruistic, and uplifting behaviors, her work fails to build a coherent theory from the hugely diverse body of anecdotes she provides. Second, she misapplies much of the science she discusses. Regarding quantum physics, for example, she implies incorrectly that quantum forces operate similarly on all levels, from the microscopic to the macroscopic. She makes the not fully supported claim that most disease results from the lack of a sense of belonging. It may well be better individually and collectively to cooperate rather than compete, as McTaggart says, but her explanations lack substance.