Mindapps: Multistate Theory and Tools for Mind Design by Thomas B. Roberts (review)

Mindapps is the neologism coined by Thomas Roberts as an umbrella term for what most people call methods of altering consciousness. Roberts rejects the concept of states of consciousness, however, proposing a "multistate theory" to explain the multitude of "mindbody" states the human organism can experience. Our culture's epistemological mistake, he suggests, is to assume that only one mindbody state, waking consciousness, is valid for acquiring knowledge and understanding. His multistate theory proposes that many other states may provide authentic insights into reality. Even if we ultimately determine that some of these states—meditative, dreaming, psychedelic, etc.—are not valuable, we have an obligation to investigate them first before passing judgment.

While in theory, yoga, meditation, biofeedback, martial arts, and many other techniques of consciousness alteration are all valid mindapps, Roberts' overriding interest is in psychedelics—LSD, MDA, psilocybin, mescaline, ayahuasca, and more. We are in the midst of a Psychedelic Reformation, Roberts claims. All fields of knowledge—and especially philosophy and religious studies—stand to be enriched and transformed.

The book's structure is as unconventional as its content, exuberantly combining into a semi-cohesive collection autobiography; a brief history of psychedelic use; a new lexicon/proposed vocabulary for discussing entheogens, ideagens, aesthetigens, empathogens, and the like; a theory of mind; proposals for research; an extensive syllabus for a course on psychedelics; a proposal for "rescuing" the humanities; advice for dealing with curriculum committees and deans; exhortations for academics to explore mindbody states; an impressive bibliography of psychedelic resources; what appear to be fragmentary lecture notes; and more. Whatever readers think of Roberts' many optimistic agendas, it would be hard to deny his enthusiasm.

Mindapps' primary value for readers of Nova Religio may be the entr é it provides into the vast underground of psychedelic researchers and explorers, a thriving subculture that has become increasingly public and respectable in recent years. This milieu has long stimulated the emergence of new religious movements. If Roberts is right, we can expect far greater impacts in the future.