Imagination, Consciousness, and Human Potential

IONS Member Event!

IONS members, check your email on May 20 for your invitation link!
To become a member and join this event, see below.

How does imagination shape the way we perceive reality, access intuition, and explore human potential?

In this Global Gathering for Members, we’ll explore the theme of Imagination, Consciousness, and Human Potential, inspired by the recent IONS ConnectIONS Live event featuring Cassandra Vieten, former IONS President and CEO.

Cassi’s work explores how imagination shapes perception, decision-making, and our ability to envision possible futures. Rather than seeing imagination as simply creativity or fantasy, her research suggests it is a core cognitive system through which consciousness navigates reality. She also introduces the idea of imagination neurodiversity – the insight that people imagine in different ways, such as through images, words, emotions, or sensations. Together, we’ll reflect on what these ideas reveal about imagination, intuition, and human potential.

You don’t need to have attended the ConnectIONS Live event to participate today. We’ll offer a brief overview and then open discussion groups to reflect on how inquiry into death can deepen meaning, connection, and purpose in daily living.

The Global Gatherings Structure

Our Global Gatherings feature a formal program (60 min) of context setting and discussion, and a bonus 30 minutes at the end of the program for those who would like to stay on Zoom to continue the conversation with each other. Global Gatherings are lively and safe spaces for our members to share personal insight. To protect personal privacy and to provide a safe and comfortable space to share, the session will not be recorded.

We Hope You will Join Us!

If you are not yet a member, become one today! If you join by Sunday, May 24, you will receive a Global Gathering invitation prior to the event. As a member, you will not only support pioneering consciousness research and programs but also have access to an extensive media library, exclusive content, and members-only webinars—such as our Noetic Global Gatherings!

We hope to see you there!

Evidence & Encounters – Two Paths to Exploring the Unexplained

The Society for Scientific Exploration (SSE) invites you to join us in Westminster, Colorado—located between Denver and Boulder—for our 44th Annual Conference. This year’s theme, Evidence & Encounters, explores two complementary approaches to frontier science:

Evidence – grounded in empirical data, rigorous analysis, and theoretical insight
Encounters – based on personal experiences that challenge conventional scientific paradigms

Together, these tracks aim to deepen our understanding of anomalous phenomena, their cross-disciplinary relevance, and their potential real-world impact.

Dean Radin is this year’s Dinsdale Award recipient and Helané Wahbeh will present Qualitative Structure and Meaning in Prospective Trance-Channeled Communications Attributed to Extraterrestrial Intelligences.

Evidence & Encounters
Two Paths to Exploring the Unexplained

Westminster, CO, USA
June 17 – 21, 2026

LEARN MORE ON SSE’S WEBSITE

This event is hosted by the The Society for Scientific Exploration. Please visit their page for more information.

Dean Radin, MS, PhD

Dean Radin, MS, PhD, is Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences and Associated Distinguished Professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies. He was awarded an Honorary DSc in yoga research from S-VYASA. Before joining the research staff at IONS in 2001, he held appointments at AT&T Bell Labs, Princeton University, University of Edinburgh, and SRI International. Dr. Radin is author or coauthor of hundreds of technical articles, some 145 peer-reviewed journal articles, four dozen book chapters, and four best-selling, popular books. He has given over 750 invited presentations and interviews for government, military, business, scientific, and other groups around the world.

Helané Wahbeh, ND, MCR

Helané Wahbeh, ND, MCR, is the Director of Research at the Institute of Noetic Sciences and an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Neurology at Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Wahbeh is clinically trained as a naturopathic physician and research trained with a Master of Clinical Research and two post-doctoral research fellowships. She has published on and spoken internationally about her studies on complementary and alternative medicine, mind-body medicine, extended human capacities, stress, posttraumatic stress disorder and their relationships to physiology, health, and healing. Dr. Wahbeh is especially known for her research around — and noetic approach to — channeling.

Aura-Reading Technologies: Behind the Curtain

This presentation offers a high-level, accessible examination of commercially available aura-reading technologies that are currently attracting interest (e.g., BioWell), with the underlying science explained clearly and without jargon. It outlines how these devices operate, the types of signals they actually capture, and how software algorithms transform those signals into visual representations often described as auras.

A central theme is the distinction between what these devices measure and what practitioners of intuitive approaches report. The technologies rely on indirect measurements—physiological and environmental variables that are subsequently interpreted algorithmically—whereas human sensitives describe direct perceptual experiences. Importantly, this distinction does not diminish the potential value or utility of the device-based measurements; rather, it helps situate them accurately within a broader framework of sensing, interpretation, and meaning-making.

The presentation emphasizes placing these technologies in their proper scientific and conceptual context, clarifying both their capabilities and their limits. The final segment is dedicated to discussion with students, with particular attention to how device-based measures and human perception differ, how they might complement one another, and how to engage thoughtfully with critiques.

The aim is to invite thoughtful dialogue and equip students with a scientifically informed understanding of aura-reading technologies, so they can engage client questions with clarity, accuracy, and professional confidence.

Aura-Reading Technologies: Behind the Curtain

Online
July 10, 2026 | 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm PT

LEARN MORE ON intuition medicine’s WEBSITE

This event is hosted by the Academy of Intuition Medicine. Please visit their page for more information.

Garret Yount, PhD

Garret Yount, PhD, is a molecular neurobiologist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) where his research focuses on laboratory-based models of exceptional human abilities. He obtained his BS from the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology at the Pennsylvania State University and his PhD from the Department of Neurobiology & Behavior at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He began his formal studies in consciousness research with a small grant from the Institute of Noetic Sciences in 1995, which allowed him to work with biofield practitioners and spiritual healers in the laboratory. Since then, Dr. Yount has conducted carefully controlled laboratory experiments with spiritual healers and biofield practitioners from around the world, including China, Brazil, Canada, USA, Japan, India, Russia, Hungary, and Sri Lanka, and was fortunate to be among the first scientists to be awarded a Research Project Grant (R01) from the National Institutes of Health to study energy healing. He is the author of many peer-reviewed scientific papers and the book Why Vibes Matter: Understand Your Energy and Learn How to Use it Wisely.

Pure Human: The Hidden Truth of Our Divinity, Power, and Destiny

ConnectIONS Live!

REGISTER FOR FREE

What does it mean to be human in an age of accelerating technological transformation?

Join acclaimed author and researcher Gregg Braden in conversation with David Lorimer for a timely and thought-provoking dialogue inspired by Gregg’s newest book, Pure Human. Together, they will explore the deeper questions emerging at the intersection of consciousness, technology, and the future of our species.

As developments in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and visions of human enhancement continue to accelerate, we are invited to reflect more deeply on the essential qualities that define our humanity. In this conversation, Gregg considers the possibility that the future of human evolution may not lie in technological augmentation, but rather in awakening the innate capacities that already exist within us. These include our ability for empathy, emotional depth, connection, and the cultivation of heart-centered awareness.

Drawing from both scientific insight and spiritual inquiry, Gregg will share his perspective on what he calls our “pure human” potential—an inherent intelligence that supports healing, resilience, and coherence within both individuals and communities. David Lorimer will guide the conversation to explore how these ideas relate to the broader cultural moment, inviting reflection on how we navigate rapid change with discernment, agency, and a grounded sense of what we value most.

Rather than offering simple answers, this dialogue opens a space for inquiry into the kind of future we are shaping, and the role that consciousness, ethics, and human connection will play in that unfolding. It is an invitation to consider how we might remain rooted in the depth and dignity of our humanity while engaging thoughtfully with the possibilities and challenges of our time.

Pure Human: The Hidden Truth of Our Divinity, Power, and Destiny

Friday, May 8
11:00am – 12:00pm PDT

REGISTER FOR FREE

All registrants will receive a link to the recording. Please register even if you can’t attend live.

PRESENTERS

David Lorimer is a writer, lecturer, poet, and editor who is a Founder of Character Education Scotland, Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network, and former President of Wrekin Trust and the Swedenborg Society. He has also been editor of Paradigm Explorer since 1986 and completed his 100th issue in 2019. He is the author and editor of over a dozen books, including Survival? Death as Transition, Resonant Mind (originally Whole in One), The Spirit of Science, Thinking Beyond the Brain, and Radical Prince about the ideas and work of the Prince of Wales. He is the originator of the Inspiring Purpose Values Poster Programmes, which has reached over 350,000 young people. He is also Chair of the Galileo Commission which seeks to widen science beyond a materialistic worldview. Visit his website, LinkedIn, and YouTube to learn more.

Gregg Braden is a five-time New York Times best-selling author, scientist and pioneer inthe emerging paradigm bridging science, social policy and human potential. From 1979 to 1991 Gregg worked as a problem solver during times of crisis for Fortune 500 companies including Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin) where he worked as a Senior Computer Systems Designer, and Cisco Systems, where he became the first Technical Operations Manager in 1991. He continues problem-solving today and his research resulted in the 2003 discovery of intelligent information coded into the human genome, and the 2010 application of fractal time to predict future occurrences of past events. Gregg’s work has led to 26 film credits, 15 award-winning books now published in over 40 languages, and he was a 2020 nominee for the prestigious Templeton Prize established by Sir John Templeton to honor “outstanding individuals who have devoted their talents to expanding our vision of human purpose and ultimate reality.” He has presented his discoveries in 35 countries on six continents, and has been invited to speak to The United Nations, Fortune 500 companies and the U. S. military. More about Gregg Braden can be found at his website, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

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