The Field (Lynne McTaggart)

An icebreaker

A journalist argues in her bestselling book that a 'Zero Point Field' of background quantum energy connects all matter and can be influenced by human thought. Physicists whose work she draws on say the field is real; whether it does what she claims remains contested.

Ask one of these · tap to take it

Can a real physics term be stretched to cover something it never meant?
Does a journalist's enthusiasm for a subject earn or cost credibility?
Should group thought experiments count as science without peer review?
What happens when alternative-health advice reaches thousands of trusting readers?

copy the questions

Worth knowing · 1 of 5

What is the book's central claim?

The book argues that a 'Zero Point Field,' a real physics term for background quantum vacuum energy, acts as a cobweb-like medium linking all matter, and that focused human intention can act through it to affect the physical world.

Worth knowing · 2 of 5

What is the author's background?

She is an American-born investigative journalist, not a physicist or biologist, who has spent much of her career writing about alternative and complementary medicine rather than conducting laboratory research.

Worth knowing · 3 of 5

What physics did she build the book around?

She drew heavily on a physicist's published research into zero-point energy and his experiments on claimed psychic perception, presenting his fringe interpretation of the concept as the scientific foundation for her wider claims.

Worth knowing · 4 of 5

What do critics say about the science in the book?

Critics argue the book reads established physics terms well beyond what they mean, and presents contested and fringe findings as if they were settled science.

Worth knowing · 5 of 5

Has her wider publishing work drawn formal complaints?

Yes. A health newsletter she has edited since 1989 has faced upheld advertising-standards rulings in the United Kingdom over specific health claims, which she has disputed as a campaign against her.

Words to know

Zero Point FieldIn physics, the lowest-energy background state of a quantum field; in her book, extended to mean a universal medium of connection and memory.

Zero-point energyThe minimum energy a quantum mechanical system retains even at absolute zero temperature, an established but narrow concept in physics.

Intention experimentA group exercise in which participants focus thought toward a target, framed by the author as a test of the field's influence.

More words

Remote viewingA claimed ability to perceive distant places or events without physical means, studied by a physicist whose work she cites approvingly.

A voice · 1 of 4

Lynne McTaggart · Journalist and author of the book

Since her 2001 book, she has argued that a Zero Point Field of background quantum energy connects all matter and that focused group intention can act through it, later organizing large-scale intention experiments to test the idea.

A voice · 2 of 4

Hal Puthoff · Physicist whose zero-point work she cites

In his published physics research and his earlier funded studies of claimed psychic perception, he explored zero-point energy and fringe perception experiments that the author presents as the scientific grounding for her book's wider claims.

A voice · 3 of 4

Edzard Ernst · Professor emeritus of complementary medicine

Reviewing the health newsletter she edits, he argued that its claims routinely misrepresent the medical evidence and could steer readers away from effective care.

A voice · 4 of 4

Margaret McCartney · General practitioner and health columnist

In a broadcast interview about the same newsletter, she said she was astounded it was described as evidence-based, arguing its health claims did not hold up against the medical literature.

A line to leave them with

The field she describes is disputed. The question behind it is older than the book.