I recently had an eerie experience of art imitating life. The art in this case is Dan Brown’s new novel, “The Secret of Secrets,” and the life is mine. Brown is the author of The Da Vinci Code, and his latest book follows the continued adventures of protagonist Robert Langdon. The Secret of Secrets was released in September 2025, and for some reason people kept recommending it to me.
I soon realized why.
The first reason is that the book focuses on the implications of nonlocal consciousness (i.e., consciousness extending beyond the brain) for the future of humanity. This is one of the main themes in my professional work, and when writing the novel Brown dug deep into the types of research that are being conducted by many of my colleagues, such as faculty and students at the Alef Trust, as well as Chris Roe and Michael Daw from the University of Northampton, and scientists at the Institute of Noetic Sciences.
This review of The Secret of Secrets shares how in doing his research, Brown “discovered that we have a model of consciousness that’s outdated in the same way the geocentric model of the universe was outdated. This research will change the way we view our world.”
I couldn’t agree more.
The second reason people keep recommending this book to me has to do with the character who is Robert Langdon’s love interest. Her name is Katherine Solomon, and she is a noetic scientist who studies nonlocal consciousness. Langdon travels to Prague to attend a lecture that Solomon is giving on this topic. Solomon disappears, and Langdon adventures through the mythology and magic of Prague to find her – with a conspiracy lurking in the background about how Solomon’s research might be used in dark ways.
Solomon is described as having olive skin, grey eyes, and a slender build. She has thick, dark hair worn long and often down, and she wears very little makeup. She drives a white Volvo and is around 50 years old.
Sound familiar? If not, check out my bio and photos here. My birthdate and car aren’t listed on my website, but I’m 46 and I do indeed own a white Volvo.
At the risk of sounding self-absorbed and narcissistic, I should say up front that I don’t think Brown actually based this character on me. In fact, some have speculated that the character is based on Marilyn Schlitz, former President of the Institute of Noetic Sciences. But I do think this character points to something interesting about the nonlocal nature of consciousness. In theory, if consciousness is nonlocal, then in some circumstances, we might be able to tap into a field of consciousness that connects us with each other and with all things.
I just can’t help but wonder…when Brown was traveling around Prague researching this book, did the further reaches of his consciousness somehow interact with mine?
How many slender, brunette, almost-50, Prague-based, white-Volvo-driving noetic scientists are there out there anyway?
It is, of course, possible that Brown came across my website, but I doubt it.
Instead, I think that I’m part of a zeitgeist of people who are becoming increasingly interested in the potential of nonlocal consciousness, and Brown is tapping into this zeitgeist. I’m excited that his book will bring our ideas to a wider audience.
Because, as the plot of the novel rightly points out, there are implications of nonlocal consciousness that could take humanity down a dark road. But the main reason that I (and many of my colleagues) focus on this topic is because of its positive implications. If we are connected to each other and to all things, this transpersonal approach could help lift us out of the destructive behaviours that we engage in toward each other and the environment.
As Katherine Solomon shares in the novel: “Imagine a future in which humans start to lower their brain filters and begin to exist with greater understanding of reality. We might truly start to believe that we’re a unified species.”
Now I just need to put my research on nonlocal consciousness down for long enough to read the book!
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