The most striking part of this book is Kripal's insistence that science and humanities efforts must work together to fully describe the human experience. Through anecdote, and glossed-over physics, Kripal advocates for the study or existence of 'cosmic humanism.' That is, the study or appreciation of humanity as intricately linked to the cosmos. In retrospect, my favorite chapter was definitely when Kripal described the difference between a symbol and a sign. Kripal points out that the symbol participates in that which it signifies while the sign simply points to the thing which it represents. This difference is the relationship between preternatural experiences and the materialist approaches of STEM. Such experiences participate in 'cosmic' humanity while technological or physical knowledge merely points to the existence of the cosmos, and humanity, individually. While this means almost nothing, Kripal convinced me that there are shortcomings in our (scientists') materialist explanations for the entirety of human experience.
At times, Kripal waxes poetic about quantum mechanics with a tone that feels somewhat ignorant to what quantum mechanic theory supposedly states. Yet, overall his claims are not so tied to the actual data as to the idea that the data implies (think wave-particle duality mathematically vs the idea of one thing having two forms).
In summary, here Kripal lays out his idea for why the Humanities disciplines matter for the eventual paradigmatic shift in human knowledge-making.
Once every quarter, I receive a magazine from my alma mater, Rice University. There are usually two sections that recommend books from faculty and alumni. There, I read a synopsis of The Flip and the words 'future of knowledge' piqued my interest. I ordered the book from Amazon as I wasn't sure my local bookstore would carry it.
If you are interested in the origin of consciousness, this book might be a good fit for you. I enjoyed it although it did not turn out to be the book I thought it would be. Do not read if you are expecting an overview of current data acquisition and analysis methods with a forcast for future approaches.