Is This Your Brain On God?
Since this is a short week, I'm going to pull a few posts out that I never got up. There is no time limit sensitive material in this post and it really isn't that old anyway. And we close by declaring our independence from the tyranny of political idiots and the corporatocracy.
I saw this on NPR some time ago - Is This Your Brain on God and decided to build a post around it. The human mind is the most amazing "thing" within our known universe. I say "thing" because I really don't know what it is. And neither do you nor does any scientist. The human mind interests me more than any other topic. That interest extends well beyond the obvious to the esoteric and unknown. Mind you, there is much more unknown than is known on this topic regardless of what science believes. I don't really talk about this topic on here except for wise cracks about Buddha or seeking truth because that's not the intent of this blog. But it is an incredibly fascinating topic.
I saw this on NPR some time ago - Is This Your Brain on God and decided to build a post around it. The human mind is the most amazing "thing" within our known universe. I say "thing" because I really don't know what it is. And neither do you nor does any scientist. The human mind interests me more than any other topic. That interest extends well beyond the obvious to the esoteric and unknown. Mind you, there is much more unknown than is known on this topic regardless of what science believes. I don't really talk about this topic on here except for wise cracks about Buddha or seeking truth because that's not the intent of this blog. But it is an incredibly fascinating topic.
The NPR visual focuses on new scientific interests in the brain and some of its esoteric workings. People who discount spirituality, unexplainable human experiences and the powers that make up the mind and the world around us are very, very small-minded. Their egos have convinced them they understand something that is truly not understandable at humanity's current level of knowledge. And, frankly, may never be understandable to humanity. I'm not talking about religion either. Specific religious beliefs or dogma are based substantially in manifestations of the ego. I'm talking about the unknown powers of the universe and the mind, whatever they may be. If that is God, then it is God. But whatever it is, we clearly don't understand it. Yet, contrary to popular belief, we do get many glimpses of its amazing abilities quite regularly.
The medical community's view of the human mind has historically been one of logic, reason and how the mind works. Trying to apply rigorous science to the human mind and our ailments by digging deeper and deeper into its measurable intricacies. Or at least what we currently have the ability to measure. Yet, holistically the human mind is far more complex than these intricacies or any view held by science. I guess we could apply the saying the whole is greater than the sum of its parts when talking about the human mind. And I believe it is quite plausible that the current attempts at delving deeper and deeper into the minutiae on a variety of scientific topics may lead to further breakthroughs but fail to deliver the larger picture context and understanding we seek. I believe this could possibly hold true for the human mind.
There are dozens of states of consciousness we are aware of yet cannot explain on any level. (Measurable by changes in brain activity and wave patterns.) Well, current explanation for many of these states is that people who experience them or read more into them are kooks or crackpots. I think we've seen this type of labeling of those with unique abilities more than a few times before. Anyone who is ever different is ridiculed or marginalized by society (the herd, the status quo or whatnot). Every new scientific theory or major advancement of humanity was generally treated as a heretic. Even Albert Einstein. And I do mean heretic because the vast majority of supposed human knowledge is relative at best and conjecture at worst. Almost none of it is incontrovertible truth but instead is a form of ideological religion or dogma.
The primary state of consciousness, or the ego, is our manufactured self-image of who we are and what we believe. Most of it being the lies our mind unconsciously creates to fool ourselves into an acceptable state of being of the world around us and who we are individually. The manufactured self-image or ego is ever present and undefeatable within all of us. It controls most everything we do within every second of every day. That is, unless we are conscious of its impact on our life and consciously fight against it. A near impossibility. Is it ironic that the human ego is often all consuming with mental illness and certain addictive behaviors? Do people seek alternative states of consciousness through substance abuse as a way of relieving the overpowering burden of our primary state of consciousness aka the human ego. The ego is completely manifested through the sensory perceptions of our world. Might we then conclude that altered states of consciousness are able to extend beyond the physical world around us? And it is this state that substance abuse often affords people? A reprieve from our ego or manufactured self-image? A reprieve from the physical world?
We have no enemies in this world. Our only enemies are manufactured within the ego. The greater the ego, the further removed we are from the core state of being and our natural desire to seek truth and acceptance of our fellow man and the world around us.
Were we able to defeat the ego, even temporarily, as the Buddha attempted and some have done temporarily within an altered state of consciousness, we would realize we all share two common realities in our core state of being. Those are acceptance or what we call love and an intent to learn or to seek truth. Is this core state of being of the human mind that exists beyond the ego what would be defined by religion as heaven? Where there is no pain, no fear of death, no anxiety, no war, no lies, no hatred, no bigotry and only love and acceptance of ourselves and the universe around us? Is heaven a place or a state of mind? Is heaven achievable within an altered state of consciousness by permanently defeating the ego via some abilities we are yet unable to tap? Well, wouldn't we all like to know? I would.
This is a good time to remark on another topic; artificial intelligence. AI is always a sexy buzz topic given science fiction movies like Terminator. Every once in a while we see people predicting true AI in the not too distant future. In other words, artificial intelligence on the plane of human consciousness or the melding of the two. One is futurist Ray Kurzweil who often talks of singularity. Recently, this topic has come to the forefront again with IBM's natural language processor; Watson. AI as glamorized in science fiction is pure fantasy and I see no basic breakthroughs that have the potential to change that any time soon. Frankly, I'm extremely dubious we will ever have that level of knowledge of the human mind or the biology around us to create artificial life with an ability equal to or superior to our own. History is littered with bold claims by science. An example is the nuclear physics community. In the 1950s many scientists arrogantly proclaimed we would see the commercialization of nuclear fusion within a decade. There is a lot of you don't know what you don't know in science. Better known as ignorance is bliss. Or ignorance causes many to make hubristic statements about what they clearly don't understand. Sixty years later one could argue we are still in the infancy of understanding and harnessing the forces of the universe which govern viable commercial fusion. The more we spend and the more we learn, the more complex the issue becomes. The same holds true for artificial intelligence and mimicking the human mind. Our ignorance encourages many to often make bodacious claims that simply aren't based on sound science or reality.
The altered state of consciousness of dreaming and the associated creativity are key elements to innovation and technological advancement. Dreaming and altered states of consciousness feed the curiosity of science. But because something is dreamed doesn't mean a scientific breakthrough is just around the corner. So, let's side track a moment here into the world of the bizarre. Is dreaming really dreaming per se as defined by humanity? Of imagining what isn't so? Or does dreaming, an altered state of consciousness, open ourselves up to recoverable knowledge that the human mind has always known? Potentially even before our physical manifestation here on earth? If there is really no real concept of time as Einstein suspected, in other words, there was no beginning and there will be no end, has human consciousness existed beyond our physical manifestation here on earth? Is this the secret behind the musical savant or Einstein's dreams or the great advances created by great human minds? That people are tapping altered states of consciousness to retrieve existing human knowledge? And, if so, what unlocks our abilities to probe into alternative levels of consciousness? And even beyond that, does the recovery of human knowledge possibly mean that our future is really a recovery of our past? A self-fulfilling prophecy that is predetermined on some level? Many of these concepts and others are consistent with many forms of religion that have existed for thousands of years.
The altered state of consciousness of dreaming and the associated creativity are key elements to innovation and technological advancement. Dreaming and altered states of consciousness feed the curiosity of science. But because something is dreamed doesn't mean a scientific breakthrough is just around the corner. So, let's side track a moment here into the world of the bizarre. Is dreaming really dreaming per se as defined by humanity? Of imagining what isn't so? Or does dreaming, an altered state of consciousness, open ourselves up to recoverable knowledge that the human mind has always known? Potentially even before our physical manifestation here on earth? If there is really no real concept of time as Einstein suspected, in other words, there was no beginning and there will be no end, has human consciousness existed beyond our physical manifestation here on earth? Is this the secret behind the musical savant or Einstein's dreams or the great advances created by great human minds? That people are tapping altered states of consciousness to retrieve existing human knowledge? And, if so, what unlocks our abilities to probe into alternative levels of consciousness? And even beyond that, does the recovery of human knowledge possibly mean that our future is really a recovery of our past? A self-fulfilling prophecy that is predetermined on some level? Many of these concepts and others are consistent with many forms of religion that have existed for thousands of years.
I know the topic of AI has been debated amongst many scientists but there is absolutely no way we shall see any type of intelligent (comparative to the human mind) man-made life out of anything on the horizon of today's conscious human knowledge. We aren't close to being overrun by Terminators. We need an exponential and enormous leap in knowledge that may never develop. Our grasp of the universe is ignorantly simple at this point in time. Although it is expanding rapidly from one grain of sand to two and then three. The human mind, creativity, intelligence and consciousness are vastly more complicated than anyone claiming imminent success at human-comparable artificial intelligence could ever comprehend. And the more we learn about nature and the universe, the more awe-inspiring its ability, complexity and elegance truly are. In other words, the forces that shape the universe and life are nearly unimaginable. Well, in fact they are unimaginable because as humans we still have not and can not imagine them.
A perfect example we see every day but never really questioned is the completely unknown energy force that germinates a simple seed into the spontaneous mutations and multiplications that creates a complex life form - a Redwood tree or takes a single cell and from it mutates and multiplies into the millions upon millions of specialized components, consciousness and intelligence that makes up the person reading this.
Might anyone explain this small miracle to me? A small miracle that completely defines the world around us but which has no explanation.
Great advances in human knowledge were always unlocked beyond the level of existing consciousness of the crowd, of society, of humanity as a whole. And it was always accomplished within the mind of a single individual. One who was often heckled and ostracized. An individual able to reach into their altered state of consciousness to create something profoundly new. Our country is great because we have allowed people to lead self-determined lives. It is that dynamic which creates the never-ending ingenuity of Americans.
We should do anything and everything to encourage this type of dynamic within the constructs of democracy. We were not made great by sitting in the corner office of a corporation doing mindless office work or slaving away on rote college coursework, or spending our time worrying about the fact that millions of Americans don't have health insurance. These are but distractions to the self-determined mind.
Self-determination is best accomplished by creating a social and economic structure which meets the basic needs of humanity. For example, of providing for Maslow's hierarchy of human needs: pensions, affordable health care, stable work conditions, a stable community and extended emotional support structure, etc. all within the constructs of personal responsibility and self-determination. In fact, the concept of money and capitalism isn't even necessary under such a construct. Our society needs neither money nor capitalism to be a free and prosperous democracy. These are the dynamics which create a self-determined society and foster the self-esteem, self-actualization and creativity needed to build a dynamic economy and enriched society. For a dynamic economy and enriched society is created by a dynamic mind. In order to have a dynamic mind, our human needs must be met.
Great advances in human knowledge were always unlocked beyond the level of existing consciousness of the crowd, of society, of humanity as a whole. And it was always accomplished within the mind of a single individual. One who was often heckled and ostracized. An individual able to reach into their altered state of consciousness to create something profoundly new. Our country is great because we have allowed people to lead self-determined lives. It is that dynamic which creates the never-ending ingenuity of Americans.
We should do anything and everything to encourage this type of dynamic within the constructs of democracy. We were not made great by sitting in the corner office of a corporation doing mindless office work or slaving away on rote college coursework, or spending our time worrying about the fact that millions of Americans don't have health insurance. These are but distractions to the self-determined mind.
Self-determination is best accomplished by creating a social and economic structure which meets the basic needs of humanity. For example, of providing for Maslow's hierarchy of human needs: pensions, affordable health care, stable work conditions, a stable community and extended emotional support structure, etc. all within the constructs of personal responsibility and self-determination. In fact, the concept of money and capitalism isn't even necessary under such a construct. Our society needs neither money nor capitalism to be a free and prosperous democracy. These are the dynamics which create a self-determined society and foster the self-esteem, self-actualization and creativity needed to build a dynamic economy and enriched society. For a dynamic economy and enriched society is created by a dynamic mind. In order to have a dynamic mind, our human needs must be met.
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