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5 Dec 2002 @ 10:25, by beto. Philosophy
THREE CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHICAL SECTS
Beto Hoisel – Dec. 2002
In this beginning of the 21st century, we still live together with the last remains of Sigmund Freud's, Karl Marx's and Charles Darwin's ideas, three typical products of the 19th century. Undeniably, all these three men were respectable investigators in their respective fields, innovative researchers who dared to challenge the established thought of their time. However, it's time to realize that their outlines and solutions have shown inadequate, not only because they ignored essential factors to elucidate the systems studied, but also because their proposals were harnessed to a Zeitgeist that no more subsists. Darwin, Freud and Marx, with their theories of wide acceptation among scientists and intellectuals affiliated to the materialistic paradigm, in large measure played a role to shape – or to deform – our Western 20th century civilization, which has spread across the Earth, raising understandable reactions among those who don't accept its assumptions. Our Western civilization hardly could be considered as doing well, if evaluated in terms of the human being's most noble aspirations.
The materialistic intermezzo in Western history – about three hundred years only – was necessary for the rapid development of the supporting technologies for material progress. It also had an important role in the breaking, although partial, of chains and cages of the past: the superstition originated from ignorance; the brutal exploration of human work; the oppression of thought and individual freedom by religious authority and the obstruction of creative investigation by that same authority. That materialistic/mechanistic phase reached its peak in the 19th century, leaving those three ghosts – and their thought lineages – as remains that continued haunting the whole 20th century and, if we don't be careful, will still continue on this 21st century blocking the evolution of science on the study of the subjective face of wholeness and hindering the understanding of this new disturbing millennium.
Darwin and the theory of evolution
It is a recognized fact that the mechanism of the random emergence of mutations for "copy errors" followed by subsequent selection due to environmental pressure, as proposed by Darwin, can just explain the appearance of varieties inside a species, but not the emergence of a new species, a fact no one could witness yet. Besides, it's already verified that competition, emphasized by Darwinism, is a minor aspect of a wider context where cooperation prevails. It's already calculated that the elapsed time since the Earth and the universe exist is insufficient so that the random mechanisms discovered by Darwin could produce the genetic code, the molecule of chlorophyll, the molecule of hemoglobin and all the living beings we know.
A cynical interpretation of the "theory of the survival of the most capable" success, in the second half of the 19th century, detaches that period's socioeconomic depiction, dominated by the industrial bourgeoisie's spirit of competition in its expansionist phase that received such a theory as the perfect scientific explanation to justify its predatory practices. According to that interpretation, Darwinism is a product of the bourgeois ideology, in a period of intense competition among companies when the nations vigorously struggled to expand their economical Lebensraum. Hence, a veiled effect of the evolutionist sect that emphasizes the survival of the most capable is its function as a bourgeois conscience's tranquilizer. Darwin represented the main rampart of rationalistic science to combat the authoritarian obscurantism of the Church that imposed the biblical creationism and the immutableness of the species, already unacceptable for the intelligent world of that time. However, as that "liberation" represented one of the largest intellectual leaps of modernity, until today we live together with a persistent neo-Darwinists' "gratefulness to the master". They constantly are prone to reformulate the theories of their "liberator hero" so that he is not put – with all the honors he undeniably deserves – in the historical archives of science.
An irrational fear verified among the defenders of Darwinism – a phobia – is that, if it's abandoned, the only alternative will be the return to creationism, to irrationality and the darkest ecclesiastical obscurantism. Surely, this is not true. If the pre-rational creationism was the knowledge of life in its larval state, Darwinian evolutionism was the pupa, and the new evolutionism post-mechanistic – vide Rupert Sheldrake and the new biology – is the colorful butterfly that already rehearses its maiden flights.
Freud and psychoanalysis
Something similar – however more serious, as it involves people said patients – happens with Sigmund Freud, a typical creature of the 19th century's materialism, in spite of having lived up to 1939. Virtually obsolete as a cartographer of the psyche since his former disciple and prince heir Carl Gustav Jung's far-reaching formulations, Freud continues to have his theory of psychoanalysis religiously followed and readapted by new prophets and devotees, always thankful to their hero for having liberated them from the Victorian moral hypocrisy and oppressive ethics.
Psychoanalysis, that was not the largest fallacy of the 20th century only because in this aspect it was overcome by Marxism-Leninism, is shallow in the approach and ineffective as therapeutics of human problems. Nonetheless, it got to uphold on the surface a lot of decades because of the plentiful related literary production, mounted on a web of misleading creative concepts that mimic the dynamics of the psychological processes. The unconscious discerned by Freud – "just the basement of the human building", in Aldous Huxley's saying – has the characteristics of a dirty deposit of repressed material, frustrations and congenital fetishes. A poor conception very different from the wide, rich and unfathomable collective unconscious that Jung identified and studied, where live together with our remote past, our pains, inquietudes, aspirations and greatness. The Jungian unconscious transcends the limits of the individual psyche, extending their long roots until the humanity's origins.
Besides that image of hero liberator, the devotion to Freud is also explained by the easiness psychoanalysts find in simply to "apply a theory" to their patients' problems, instead of diving in the difficult affectionate involvement the Jungian approach demands, and psychoanalysts cannot understand, still intoxicated by the surviving philosophical materialism of mechanistic science. To apply a theory is much simpler than to pawn in understanding the customer's spiritual life which cannot just be understood by his or her biographical record and genetic configuration only. Building with the patients' collaboration a convincing legend – almost always fictitious – to explain their problems, psychoanalysis goes on forming a captive clientele and manages to prolong the treatment for years without resolve anything. However, these clients mostly stay thankful to the analyst for the received "orientation", even in night consultations via telephone calls. After all, one of the more disseminated human weaknesses in our Western Jewish-Christian Greco-Roman civilization is the individuals' incapacity to take a personal responsibility for their own decisions, the unhealthy need to transfer the daily life doubts to somebody else, a priest or pastor, an occasional guru or an expensive psychoanalyst. It is very sad to verify that the analyst is little more than a paid confidant – a rented friend in a society of false values where true friends are rare or inexistent – a "scientific" version of the priest they smartly replaced.
Marx and marxists
Departing from correct critical analysis of the working class' exploration by the European capitalism, Marx and Engels developed the socialist ideas of their time for a model they labeled "scientific" since it was based on the materialism in fashion, as opposed to idealism and intended to identify with everything that expected to be called scientific. But, from the strict socioeconomic analysis to the propositions of a revolutionary praxis, many of their theories were denied by history, whose dynamics invariably slips outside of the forecasts. Since Karl Marx, Hermann Kahn and Bill Gates all of the "scientific" prophets failed, taking for the discredit all intended science of futurology in scale macro.
In spite of the successive theoretical reformulations from the laborious work of dedicated new prophets, Marxist socialism was revealed an intellectual construct that didn't account for the human being's complexity, irreducible to its economical expression of material needs satisfaction – even if this degradation was admitted only as a transitory phase. The Marxist experience of the Soviet Union sacrificed dozens of millions of people and only persisted for more than seventy years because it served as doctrinaire justification for an inhuman, totalitarian and ineffective regime, even in the economical matters, its chief feature.
Communism is a construct of the rational mind as it extrapolates its applicability beyond the exclusive field of the practical and technical elaborations, supposed capable to set out wide-reaching propositions involving the meaning of life and human destiny. Communism is a philosophy that seduces people with premature glimpses of a harmonious future society, a premonition of everyone's always longed utopia, however anachronistic as a proposal for the current human being's ethical patterns. Consequently, the socialism/communism becomes nothing else than an appropriate political flag for those who just dispute the power, invariably deprived of the necessary ethical base to well exercise it. Hence the sanguinary character of the revolutions intended to establish it and the totalitarian face of the regimes that follow them, denying radically all its principles as intended beforehand.
As a politics proposal, the socialist and communist state is a project designed for altruistic beings, loosened of personal interests and generously dedicated to the future, that don't exist as collectivity nor can be produced in some decades of authoritarian regime. Such human beings can only develop starting from laborious moral improvement, a difficult individual conquest postponed by the materialistic paradigm, where the spiritual dimension is not recognized. But the intellectual fallacy was not extinguished and even remainders of dialectic materialism – a laughable caricature of science – can still be found trying to seduce the new generations, with their characteristic jargon and tedious proselytism, although they are in extinction process since the end of the Soviet Union.
Simulating religions
Uniting in itself the archetypes of the saving hero and of the old wise man, Darwin's image as much as the one of Freud and Marx are flags seized by disciples' hierarchies – or simple devotees – that still resist to abate due to the failure of their idols' theories when confronted with real facts that deny them. Successive adaptations, revisions and rationalizations are diligently elaborated by intelligent and erudite men – some of them exceptionally capable – that don't feel to be driven by archetypes of the unconscious and urged to defend their tribes with each book they write, each course they give, each conference they pronounce fighting for the memory and for the honor of their heroes against the infidels.
One of the most unequivocal symptoms of the presence of an archetype, or that a complex was constellated, is the members' of those sects emotional reaction when confronted with tuneless voices and arguments contrary to their doctrines. It is true that those groups are more and more reduced, in face of drawbacks suffered lately all over the world, but we shouldn't underestimate the weight they still represent on the premises of conservative universities. And the idolatry is extended until a new paradigm comes finally to prevail. Each one of those three theories has the pretension – due more to their followers than to the creators themselves – of extrapolating its applicability field and turn into a general explanation for the entire world. In fact, this is the never admitted pretension of every theory. It is in that aspect that their face of imitations of religions, or sects is revealed. Almost every theory of wide inclusion on a certain segment of the human experience suffers of a congenital hubris and intends to overflow of its area to turn a vade mecum able to explain everything. That's what happens with competitive evolutionism, with psychoanalysis and with Marxism.
That pretension of the theories in general reached the fit in a mistaken segment of the contemporary physics – still linked to the old paradigm – in the nineties, with the idea of discussing the possibility of a "theory of everything" that should explain all of the phenomena of the universe. The most bizarre is that, in the circles where that was discussed, everything is a concept limited to the physical universe, since among the scientists linked to the old paradigm, what doesn't go physical is not scientific nor is entitled to be recognized as existent. Many of those men even deny the evidence of their own soul and consider the psyche a mere secretion of the cerebral biochemistry.
The presence of those three 19th century's ghosts – still active in the "cults" rendered to them – castrated a large part of the 20th century's intellectuality, as they inhibited the production of new approaches and prolonged the lifetime of worn out ideas, already unable to explain facts and experiments. All the intelligentsia segments that stayed on the margins of the silent epistemological revolution fermented at the quantum physics laboratories and in the newest demonstrations of mathematics – that subverted the relationship subject/object and the notion of reality itself, defining the limits of rational knowledge – became isolated of the most innovative and seminal knowledge of the 20th century. Ignoring that vast areas they still consider object of philosophical speculation were swallowed by demonstrated theorems of mathematics and the quantum conception of the reality they produced tons of books and papers, influential but innocuous, whose probable destination may be a future "museum of erudite disinformation". Most of those anachronistic segments of the intellectuality are linked to an outdated philosophical materialism, unable to see the sovereignty of the spirit and the mythical vastness of our inner world, against all evidence that the new science makes available.
Quantum physics is the greatest theoretical conquest of today's science, whose consequences overflows into philosophical disputes and supports the resolution of age old problems. To understand its implications is a task that no scientist or responsible intellectual of any field should avoid, nor that anyone who intends to be inserted in the present time of the human adventure can leave behind.
However, one cannot wait for an easy adhesion of old philosophers, intellectuals and men of science to a new paradigm, already exorcised from the ghosts of the past. To set free from a scientific/philosophical paradigm is not as simple as to change of spouse, to emigrate to a distant country or to convert into a new religion. A paradigm is a constellation of commitments and interests from which one cannot escape for a merely rational deliberation, for a courageous decision or for the simple approval of some form of rational argument.
It was already said that a new paradigm only raises to prevail in a certain culture when the substitution of the old generations is completed by non polluted youth's new blood. Therefore, to the segments more conscious of the process macro into which we are involved, is very important to care for the new generations, showing them where are the impediments that limit and block the wings of the spirit in its effort to raise flight towards the infinite horizons of the new human conquests. More >
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17 Oct 2002 @ 10:27, by rishi. Philosophy
Implementing Natural Software
(SFM series #3)
"Logic" is a primary means for the refinement of the mental vehicle in particular. A common view of logic is that it is merely a system of reasoning that is in itself without direction. This view holds that logic is only a framework of parameters through which conclusions may be mathematically drawn, yet not necessarily for any ultimate purpose. This view of logic is not the one presented here. In this context, logic is a system of reasoning that resembles the scientific method, yet for the ultimate purpose of the revelation of Truth and right living. Therefore it may be said that Truth, and that which renders progressive benefit for life and Nature, is implicitly logical. By this definition modern society is almost completely illogical, since it neither recognizes nor embraces the Truth of its own destructive condition. Spiritual practices which uplift the human condition are extremely logical, since they enhance every aspect of life. Logic is therefore progressive by nature since its purpose is to,
define and crystallize the best applications of Truth,
to determine which ways of living are the most beneficial, using the criteria of Truth/demonstrable fact and,
to remove all personal bias from the clear perception of self and existence, so that a matter of fact evaluation of these may be had.
Logic may thus be called "the science of fact and its right application", and thus it is related to that quality known as "matter-of-factness ". To be logical is to be matter of fact, or to simply deal with the facts at hand, in a manner which yields the most progressive results. Logic is a means to objectify, clarify and therefore remedy social and personal obstacles. It is a determiner of Truth through reasoning, in that it applies known facts to a truthful process of thinking, rendering right conclusion. "Right conclusion" in this context is that endpoint of reasoning in the asking of any question, which reveals the "bottom line" of fact, truth and Natural Law. A logical conclusion in a matter of fact review of modern society, is that there is a very real possibility for the extinction of humanity as a species. Another logical conclusion is that to avoid extinction, change must be had on both the personal and world levels.
Logic is a tool with a specific purpose, and in the most progressive sense. That purpose is to determine the best possible course of action to be taken for the welfare of the practitioner and humanity. To use logic effectively, the following steps should be followed;
The facts regarding any question must be known. If no facts are known then they must be obtained. Observation of the inner workings of the self, (especially through meditation) provides the needed information to answer any personal question logically. Simple observation of daily circumstance also yields a wealth of information, as does the careful study of a given subject matter through reading and discussion.
Known facts regarding an inquiry are reviewed, and a theory is created which attempts to satisfy the questions at hand, by providing the best explanation for them. Such a theory should be one which is supported by all the facts known, and if known facts contradict this theory then it should be revised to accommodate them.
When a theory is found which is supported by all known information, it should then be checked to see if it is the best possible explanation for all pertinent facts. The theory made should be a conclusion which leaves no further questions unanswered if possible, as the "bottom line" explanation for what is known and observed.
To theorize or speculate about the answer to a question is an important process of inquiry. The progressive mind should question everything which comes before it, to determine if what is presented is logical. A working knowledge of the principles of physics, human interactions and Consciousness are especially useful in the formation of "bottom line" theories and conclusions. All conclusions made should be left subject to continued validation by newly discovered facts, especially those revealed through inner experiences. If they do not accommodate the new information, first validate that the "facts" are indeed true. If they are, then go through the above process again to find a more comprehensive conclusion.
The practitioner uses logic to determine if any of their long held views are in fact correct. In so doing they are given the opportunity to discover errors or "viruses" in their “mental software", (mind) which may then be corrected. Checking old conclusions held, and changing those which are in error, (not in accord with Truth) is the action of the progressive mind. This process is absolutely necessary in successful spiritual practice. To do so without the intrusion of ego, as an interference with the process of self change, indicates a good amount of personal strength. Such strength is very necessary for the expansion of Consciousness and spiritual activity in general.
"Spiritual Intent", of the nine modes above, is perhaps the most valuable of all. It is the one mode of the mind that is ultimately progressive, providing maximum gains for the practitioner. This mode may be defined as "the will to live according to spiritual principles". This implies that,
the practitioner with this Intent seeks to recognize and embody Truth as a first priority in life, and
to apply the principles of Truth, or the Will of God, in daily affairs.
It is in this mode that the directives and purposes of the soul are carried out. Through this Intent the true purposes of life, self and humanity may be progressively revealed. With this focus the value of love is seen, as are the merits of positivity and service. Each of these contribute to the welfare of humanity and ultimately the practitioner themselves. Through spiritual Intent the teacher of Truth arises, perhaps even the Master, who becomes the very vessel through which the Will of God/Nature is manifest on the physical plane.
To employ the mode of spiritual Intent is to apply the underlying themes of existence. Although the outer eyes may be focused on the physical world, the inner eye of the mind and soul are ever affixed upon the truly important issues of all time. Through spiritual Intent all of the other eight modes of the mind are kept in balance and correct focus, for it guides them all in the direction of right action. The practitioner makes use of this mode in spiritual ministry, finding every opportunity for the expression of good will, the establishment of trust, wisdom, understanding and the promulgation of the principles of Truth for the welfare of the world in general. Inwardly this mode provides the practitioner with true satisfaction, stability, noble purpose, improved personal karma, clarity and greater wisdom. Those who adopt spiritual Intent as a mode of living become "their brother’s keeper", and may be relied upon to support and promote the enlightenment of humanity.
“Simplicity”, the final mode of “software for the mind”, is one which reduces unnecessary complexity in daily living.. Through the simplicity of a natural lifestyle, the practitioner finds ease of living through the elimination of nonessential considerations. Truth is in essence simple, and in most cases so are effective solutions. Simplicity keeps one in tune with the bottom line of life, in the employment of attributes we naturally possess. For instance, the natural intelligence possessed by our own bodies can be relied upon to keep us healthy, providing an alternative to elaborate medical procedures. A knowledge of the universal force of Intent gives the mind a means to bring about any desired personal change, eliminating the need for extensive psychological processing. An identification of the self with consciousness, brings spiritual fulfillment as a direct inner link with God is established. This negates the felt need to seek illumination in philosophical, religious or worldly affairs, outside of the self.
A simplicity of inner focus reflects the state of natural designs upon which we are based. Therefore, living in accord with the laws of nature is inherently more effective than trying to become or create something of oneself that is unnatural. [Social image and status are examples of unnatural considerations which do not contribute to quality living.] In simplicity is found genius, because the 90% of the brain we normally cannot use due to the clutter stored there, is freed up to function naturally. Even a modern computer can only process and store a limited amount of data before its speed and efficiency are compromised. The human mind is no exception to this rule. The modern need is to determine what is truly needed for quality living, and what is merely a distraction from the reality of life. Through a focus on simple living, the mind is cleaned of artificial considerations that act to hinder and destroy natural genius.
When practiced, the above modes of action become personal qualities of great value in all aspects of living. These nine are given as a general guideline for "running the mind" on a day to day basis, in addition to the practice of meditation. Each mode is mutually complimentary in function to all of the others, making their simultaneous practice very desirable. It is recommended that the reader post them in a place where they can be reviewed every day, using the Intent of reconfiguring and upgrading the mind with their essence. These nine qualities enhance each other’s function as follows:
1) In Truth all other modes are universally revealed,
2) In efficiency all other modes are accomplished.
3) In progressiveness all other modes are improved.
4) In practicality all other modes are made manifest.
5) In logic all other modes are determined and made coherently applicable.
6) In honesty all other modes are made possible.
7) In prioritization all other modes are given order and sequence.
8) In spiritual Intent all other modes are given highest value and acted upon.
9) In simplicity all other modes are made accessible and easily employed.
To more rapidly acquire greater benefit and realization from these valuable qualities, the practitioner is encouraged to employ the technique of contemplation. To contemplate any given subject is to engage in an inner exploration of its aspects and qualities with the mind. In many ways this activity resembles meditation, but its objective is not necessarily the establishment of the state of Awareness of Awareness. Its objective is the revelation of the subtleties of any subject matter, to a greater depth than is currently understood.
CONTEMPLATION
To begin the practice of contemplation, like the Mantra meditation, it is recommended that a three step process be used, (initially). These steps are known as; 1) preparation, 2) breathing focus and 3) the meditation itself. To accomplish step one simply find for yourself a quiet place that will not be disturbed. Sit comfortably with both feet on the floor, a straight though relaxed spine and eyes closed.
Step two consists of a breathing exercise in which deep relaxed breaths are taken in for a given duration, as follows;
A) Breathe in deeply and slowly for a period of about five seconds, until the lungs are completely filled.
B) Hold this breath for approximately five seconds more.
C) Exhale slowly, taking five seconds to do so, until the lungs are completely emptied,
D) After exhalation, wait another five second period before inhaling once again.
E) Repeat steps A, B and C ten times, or until you feel calmed and refreshed.
After the breathing exercise of step two, let the body breathe as it wants to normally for about a minute. Relax.
Choose a single word or at most, two or three words which represent the subject to be contemplated. For example, the mode of efficiency may be investigated in this way. Repeat the word "efficiency" over and over again in the mind, until thought processes and/or imagery are engaged upon it. Thoughts and images about efficiency will begin to appear. Encourage and explore these. Visualize what the state of efficiency looks like in action, and in various settings. Review how that mode would feel throughout the body when it is fully embodied, and in subtle detail. Picture and consider the personal results of greater efficiency in all areas of life. When thoughts not related to the idea being contemplated appear, simply return to its repetition until the mind resumes its exploration of that subject matter.
As this inner action is performed, new and more in-depth information regarding the subject will likely appear, and in greater and greater detail. Encourage this process and explore new avenues of information as they pass before the mind’s eye, so long as they are related to the subject matter desired. Stay relaxed and quietly focused upon the subject of contemplation. Particularly useful is the visualization of oneself in the performance of the contemplated subject, (such as efficiency) as a mode of living. Let the mind imagine all the ways in which the greater manifestation of efficiency may be lived out day to day. Visualizing this will begin the process of embodying that desired quality. This process will be greatly enhanced if it is also Intended into place by the practitioner, (See GM series #6). There is no suggested time limit for the practice of contemplation, it should simply be done as long as desired. Perform this exercise just before sleep for particularly potent results. As with meditation, longer periods of inner focus tend to produce more profound results, as do repeated contemplations of the same subject matter.
Any subject or group of subjects may be so contemplated. It is recommended that the practitioner contemplate all nine modes of Truth, honesty, practicality, progressiveness, logic, prioritization, efficiency, spiritual Intent, and simplicity, so as to cultivate their qualities within. More than one subject matter may be contemplated simultaneously, but in general, better results will be had if only one subject at a time is so focused upon.
When the practitioner begins to actively embody the above nine qualities, (for instance) their status in the mind changes. At first, any quality is just a subject matter to be studied and explored. As such it remains apart from the mind and from the daily practice of it. But as soon as the mind is actively seeking to embody that quality, such as through the process of contemplation or daily practice, it then becomes an Intent. What this means is that the subject of focus changes in character, from one that is passive and static, to a state of dynamism and action within. An analogy of this is found in language, in the difference between nouns and verbs. Sometimes a given word can be a static constant noun, (person, place or thing) and on other occasions it can be a verb, (a dynamic state of action). The word "plant" for example, can refer to a given vegetable, or it can refer to an action such as in the phrase, "to plant a crop". In one case the word is a static thing, a subject matter only. In another case the same word becomes something that represents action and dynamic change. The same is true in the personal sense when first considering a subject for contemplation, such as efficiency. Initially, efficiency is only for the mind a static subject matter to be reviewed, and as such remains only a "noun". But when an individual determines that they "will now be efficient", the term takes on new meaning. It becomes instead a state of action or "verb" in the mind, having surpassed the stage of mere theoretical consideration, moving to a phase of action. When an inner focus becomes the focal point for inner or outer action, it is then said to be an "Intent". The process of action taken is referred to as "employing" that Intent. Therefore, when the above nine modes for the mind are acted upon, they become "Intents" rather than just subject matters, as follows;
1) The subject Truth, becomes the Intent to realize and live the principles of existence.
2) The subject honesty, becomes the Intent to adopt truthfulness moment to moment.
3) The subject efficiency, becomes the Intent to act with the greatest effectiveness.
4) The subject practicality, becomes the Intent to "do what works".
5) The subject progressiveness, becomes the Intent to improve.
6) The subject logic, becomes the Intent to conclude truthfully, using fact.
7) The subject prioritization, becomes the Intent to determine relative importance.
8) The subject spiritual Intent, becomes right action and spiritual ministry in daily life.
9) The subject simplicity, becomes the Intent of inner effectiveness through essential focus.
Each of these examples of Intent are as "verbs", in that they imply action taken through the embodiment and application of the above qualities in daily life. Other examples of Intents which act to expand personal Consciousness are as follows: The Intents of greater mastery, clarity, love, intelligence, wisdom, physical strength, good will, Earthmind connection, Divine connection, etc. Truly any desirable quality can be "Intended into place", or "made manifest" in the self. By the same token, any quality or mental image may be "made manifest" in the environment, through the use of Intent. A review of the qualities of Intent reveals how this is so.
Matthew Webb Catalyst@harborside.com
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29 Aug 2002 @ 03:02, by alchemist. Philosophy
Do schemata control the world? What are schemata anyway?
In the centre of the page, a 10 year-old boy is pictured looking down the sights of an AK-47 rifle. This marks the start of the 'World' section in a throw-away copy of the Sydney Morning Herald dated Wednesday July 24th, a newspaper considered to be one of Australia's most intelligent broadsheets. More >
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 10 Jul 2002 @ 22:17, by quidnovi. Philosophy
"It was the wind that gave them life. It is the wind that comes out of our mouths now that gives us life. When this ceases to blow we die. In the skin at the tips of our fingers we see the trail of the wind; it shows us were the wind blows...."
-----Translated from the Navajo by Washington Matthews, 1897
Thoughts of the wind come easily to mind as I think of that past Saturday which was somewhat of a "forum butterfly" day for me as I took some time fluttering around from board to board, feeling where the wind blows (taking the pulse of the web, if you will.) And sometimes, just like a butterfly, I do bring back something with me... pollen...the fertilizing element of the blossoming web. More >
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7 May 2002 @ 13:00, by sharie. Philosophy
Does Consciousness have a dark side?
If so, what is the Dark Side of Consciousness?
Anyone know?
To look deeper, I'm looking more closely at Consciousness:
" ... beneath all our scientific paradigms lies an even deeper and more pervasive assumption. It is the belief in the primacy of the material world...
When Newton proposed his laws of motion, he turned the problem of what made things move into the foundation stone of his new paradigm; objects continued to move unless acted upon by some external force....
When I look at a tree, light reflected from its leaves is focused onto cells in the retina of my eye, where it triggers a cascading chemical reaction releasing a flow of electrons. Neurons connected to the cells convey these electrical impulses to the brain’s visual cortex, where the raw data is processed and integrated. Then—in ways that are still a complete mystery—an image of the tree appears in my consciousness. It may seem that I am directly perceiving the tree in the physical world, but what I am actually experiencing is an image generated in my mind. The same is true of every other experience. All that I see, hear, taste, touch, smell and feel has been created from the data received by my sensory organs. All I ever know of the world around are the mental images constructed from that data. However real and external they may seem, they are all phenomena within my mind...
This simple fact is very hard to grasp; it goes against all our experience. If there is anything about which we feel sure, it is that the world we experience is real. We can see, touch and hear it. We can lift heavy and solid objects; hurt ourselves, if we're not careful, against their unyielding immobility. It seems undeniable that out there, around us, independent and apart from us, stands a physical world, utterly real, solid and tangible.
But the world of our experience is no more "out there" than are our dreams... But when we awaken we realize everything in the dream was actually a creation of our own mind...
This same process of reality generation occurs in waking consciousness. The difference is that now the reality that is created is based on sensory data and bears a closer relationship to what is taking place in the real world. Nevertheless, however real it may seem, it is not actually "the real world". It is still an image of that world created in the mind.
When, two centuries ago, Bishop Berkeley proposed that we know only what we perceive, his contemporaries debated whether or not a tree falling in a forest made a sound if no one was there to hear it. From what we now know of the psychophysiology of perception, we can say the answer is "No". Sound is not a quality of the underlying reality. There may be movements in the air, but the interpretation of those movements as sound is something that happens in the mind—whether it be the mind of a human being, a dog or a woodpecker.
Similarly with light. Whatever the tree is in physical reality, it is not green. Light of various frequencies is reflected from the tree to the retina of the eye, where cells respond to the amount of light in three frequency ranges (the three primary colors). But all that is passed back to the brain are electro-chemical impulses; there is no color here. The green I see is a quality created in consciousness. It exists only in the mind.
The same is true of our perception of distance. The pattern of light that falls on the retina creates a two-dimensional image of the world. The brain estimates distance by detecting slight differences between data from the left and right eyes, the focus of the eyes, relative movement, and past experience as to the likely size of a tree. From this data it calculates that the tree is fifty feet away. A three-dimensional image of the world is then created with the tree placed "out there" in that world, fifty feet away. Yet, however real it may seem, the quality of space and distance that we experience is created in the mind."
Could everything be here now in the hologram of the one mind
I am?
"It seems absolutely obvious to us that time and space are real and fundamental qualities of the physical world, entirely independent of my, or your, consciousness—as obvious as it seemed to people five hundred years ago that the sun moves round the earth. This, said Kant, is only because we cannot see the world any other way. The human mind is so constituted that it is forced to impose the framework of space and time on the raw sensory data in order to make any sense of it all."
But are perceptions created because we *cannot* see the world any other way, or because we *choose* to perceive time, space, dimension?
Clearly we are choosing to perceive everything we perceive.
Are there two people who completely agree on even one little detail?
"Space and time, and hence speed, are aspects of the phenomenal world; they have no meaning, it turns out, for light itself."
If space and time are aspects of the phenomenal world, and light is not subjected to the phenomenal world...
"To speak of light as pure action is both appropriate and strange..."
This is going to take some more looking into.
It's a continuation of my very first News Log Entry titled "What is Reality?"
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10 Apr 2002 @ 10:08, by biophilos. Philosophy
Biophilos/Friends of Wisdom More >
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