Our Purpose

Who we are:

Most people are aware of the possibility that our human existence might be larger than the narrow window we think science tells us about.  What is life?  Does it have a purpose?  Does it really end with the collapse of the physical body, and are there things we can do to maximize our experience while our bodies are still working?  Between the cold, harsh world of Skepticism and the fantastical reality of True Believers stand the rest of us - regular people who want to know what's going on.

There is an overwhelming amount of information out there, the majority of it inconsistent, extremely biased, or even blatantly untrue - coming equally from both the opposing poles.  And, mixed quietly in the middle of all that, is hidden some excellent scholarly research, but it's hard to find for all the noise.  What regular people really need is a filter to cut through all the inanity so they can see what the true range of life's possibilties are.  In 2009, the Kitt Research Initiative (KRI) was formed to meet that need.

And what did they find?  That the Skeptics' worst nightmares are likely true - at least some of the claims of the mystics, occultists, metaphysicists, and holistic practitioners are legitimate.  There is very good evidence supporting:

• Duality — that certain parts of the human personality likely have non-physical components (a "soul," if you will).
• Survival — those aspects of human personality may exist with or without a physical body.
• Extrasensory Perception (ESP) — humans can receive (or transmit) knowledge through channels not identified with known sensory inputs.
• Temporal Non-locality of ESP — humans may sometimes experience or react to stimuli before it occurs in linear time.
• Psychokenesis (PK) — humans may be able to affect their external environment without obvious causation.

... and other effects and paradigms as well.  And, in May 2011, the KRI expanded its operation to share that research and those paradigms with the general public. The KRI Center for Consciousness Studies was born.

What we do:

While the KRI continues to work behind the scenes reviewing literature, investigating unusual claims, and conducting observational, ethnographical, and experimental research, through the Center we provide the community at large:

• Verification — with the great number of artificial credentials presented by "experts" in these fields, we confirm those that we can and make that information public.
• Endorsement — not all claims hold up under the rigors of scientific scrutiny, and yet often they do hold up to levels of personal satisfaction.  When such is the case, we make that information known along with our reasons for believing them to be true.
• Validation — as claims become validated through scholastic research efforts, we will make those validations known along with citations to the supporting research.
• Opportunity — when new or untested claims are made, we will present them in an objective and unbiased manner until we feel we have sufficiant grounds to reject or endorse them.
• Filtering — claims and practices that are rejected are removed from our schedules until such time that they can be better supported.

And, probably most importantly, we provide all that we can - from gatherings and classes to presentations and practitioners - in a community environment. When lightwaves are synchronized and focused they become a laser.  The same appears to be true for the human experience. "Like" doesn't merely "attract like," it amplifies it.

We look forward to seeing you here.