Before joining the conversation, please read and accept this Invitation to a Conversation.

A Press Release from Living the Field organisation. Please spread the word!

The Global Peace Intention Experiment

Join Us for September 14^th. Other dates to be announced

A “Live Aid” of scientific experiments will test the power of group mind to lower violence around the world

See www.theintentionexperiment.com for more information.

The Intention Experiment – a highly popular ‘global laboratory’, involving an international consortium of scientists in prestigious academic centers and thousands of participants around the world – is planning an ambitious series of scientific studies to determine whether ‘group mind’ has the power to lower violence in areas chosen for high crime and violence levels.  More >

Before joining the conversation, please read and accept this Invitation to a Conversation.

Clarifying Contexts to Avoid Confusion
and Develop Mutual Understanding

This article is intended to hopefully help minimise the likelihood of unnecessary confusion and conflict. When we communicate we use words and therefore ideas. This leads to many misunderstandings even amongst people who fundamentally agree, let alone between people who are coming from entirely different perspectives.

The aim of my work isn't to just bring together people with a particular perspective, but to bring together many different perspectives and to work together towards mutual understanding. In light of this please contemplate these issues...  More >

Before joining the conversation, please read and accept this Invitation to a Conversation.

For those interested in a deeper understanding of the I Ching, I.e. how does it work? What is it really? And what effect does it have in the world? I will here endeavour to provide some assistance. First I give information on in depth scientific research, which has been ongoing over the past three decades, into the interplay between consciousness and 'physical' processes. Then I quote extracts from recent studies, by Ervin Laszlo, into what some call the Akashic Field or the Unified Quantum Vacuum. Then finally I quote from an introductory text into the I Ching and invite you to contemplate all of these ideas in light of each other. This may help you come to a deeper understanding, not only of the I Ching, but of consciousness, the physical universe, the process of change and transformation and the journey of life...  More >

Before joining the conversation, please read and accept this Invitation to a Conversation.

I have noticed that there is a degree of anti-rationalism in the collective discourse, where people identify rationalism as a major problem in the world. This is quite understandable due to the injustices perpetrated throughout history in the name of rationalism, but the entire situation is based on a misconception, which I will endeavour to clarify here.

The cause of the many problems that are blamed on rationalism is actually “narrow context rationalism”, which is really a form of pseudo-rationalism because when it is applied in the wider context it is entirely irrational. But pseudo-rationalists often label rationalists as pseudo-rationalist so the terms are quite confused in the collective discourse. But an analysis of their contexts can distinguish them from each other...  More >

Before joining the conversation, please read and accept this Invitation to a Conversation.

To some people it may seem to be an obvious contradiction to claim to be a rationalist and a sceptic (open minded enquiry without pre-conceptions) and yet to call upon “the wisdom of the I Ching” as I do in various places. But this perception is based on a subtle misconception, which I will endeavour to clear up here.

I will first give some background on the general type of rationalist enquiry used, then on my own enquiry and its results, and finishing with some wisdom from the I Ching.

Consider the case of the Turing test, designed by Alan Turing around 1950. What was at issue was whether an AI program was merely a set of mechanistic responses or whether it was reasonable to accept that it was engaging in conscious thought processes or more generally 'sentience', the “state of elementary or undifferentiated consciousness” *

But these terms were too difficult to quantify. “However, if we consider the more precise—and somehow related—question whether a digital computer can do well in a certain kind of game that Turing describes (“The Imitation Game”), then—at least in Turing's eyes—we do have a question that admits of precise discussion... The phrase “The Turing Test” is sometimes used more generally to refer to some kinds of behavioural tests for the presence of mind, or thought, or intelligence in putatively minded entities. So, for example, it is sometimes suggested that The Turing Test is prefigured in Descartes' Discourse on the Method.” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

Genuine thought as opposed to mechanistic response is not something that we can just surgically open the brain to distinguish in an objective manner. It is impossible to objectively prove one's own sentience to another, let alone objectively prove the sentience of another. We only ever take these things for granted in each other, but merely assuming this without questioning it is not a sceptical, rationalist position to take. But through constant interactions with others we have in a sense performed an ongoing Turing test of our own in order to come to trust that other human beings are indeed sentient and are not merely inert mechanisms engaging in programmed responses. We directly experience our own sentience (thinking, feeling, perceptual awareness, etc) and we observe from birth that others behave in a manner that is strongly suggestive that they too 'experience' sentience. From this we infer that they too are sentient.

Here I consider a variation of the Turing test, which does not involve an imitation game where the subject under enquiry is required to mimic a typical human being, but rather, the subject (I Ching) is instead required to mimic a wise and perceptive sage, one who can cut through the unessential complications and penetrate to the core of an issue and then provide succinct and holistically appropriate advice and insight into a situation. This will help discern whether it is just a random process that credulous fools are deceived by, or whether there is some measure of intelligent response in the process. Exactly where and how this intelligence operates is not considered here, but merely its presence or absence...  More >

I cordially invite all interested readers to engage in a conversation about the issues raised on this blog.

[Note (2008-11-10): Comments have been deactivated for now. The conversation continues in private, feel free to email me.]

In this article I first explain my motivations for the invitation. Secondly, I identify some potential pitfalls in collective communication that we must seek to avoid. And finally I provide a flow-chart for a rational discourse that serves as a clear and binding guarantee / commitment that all participants will be civil, rational, impersonal and detached.  More >

Before joining the conversation, please read and accept this Invitation to a Conversation.

Is there a world beyond the mind?

Your body, other people, places, objects, planet Earth, the physical universe, the sciences, the perennial wisdom, all the traditions old and new and the whole of history and future hopes, do you not experience them or come to know of them only through the mind? Could you ever know these things other than through the mind? You may believe there is a world beyond the mind or someone or some text may say there is, but that belief, person and text, are they not only experienced through the mind? If you realised who you truly are here and now, would the contents of the mind still enthral you?

Without understanding the mind can you truly understand anything?

If you unconsciously assume that there is a world beyond the mind and you also unconsciously assume that you are an individual being within that world. Given these assumptions, questions such as those above cannot be seen as anything other than solipsism.

But what if there is no world beyond the mind and you are not the worldly being that you have assumed that you are? What if there is only an unconsciously intersubjective co-creation of a collective 'dream' that gives rise to occasions of experience by seemingly individual, ego-oriented conscious minds? Naïve realism leads us to assume the unequivocal reality of the world that is portrayed by the contents of the mind, but if we do away with this naïve assumption and remain truly sceptical, what can we know about the world? The most direct way is to come to know yourself because that is the only part of reality that you have direct access to. Hence “Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakes.” (Carl Jung). This is the path of yoga and all forms of mysticism. But there are other approaches...  More >

Before joining the conversation, please read and accept this Invitation to a Conversation.

I am writing from the southern hemisphere and here we are approaching the winter solstice, so to mark this occasion I will relay some wisdom from the I Ching that talks about the winter solstice. At the time of first publishing my website (www.anandavala.info) in October 2005, I asked the I Ching for a message of reassurance that will accompany the work as a whole.

Question: What message do you have for the people with which to reassure them, here in this work?  More >

Before joining the conversation, please read and accept this Invitation to a Conversation.

Thoughts on the Outline of a Unified Science

Firstly, what does “unified science” mean?

Unified: (1) formed or united into a whole ... (2) operating as a unit; e.g. "a unified utility system" [1]

Science: (from the Latin scientia, 'knowledge'), in the broadest sense, refers to any systematic knowledge or practice...

The word science comes through the Old French, and is derived from the Latin word scientia for knowledge, which in turn comes from scio. 'I know'. The Indo-European root means to discern or to separate, akin to Sanskrit chyati, he cuts off, Greek schizein, to split, Latin scindere, to split. From the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, science or scientia meant any systematic recorded knowledge. Science therefore had the same sort of very broad meaning that philosophy had at that time. In other languages, including French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, the word corresponding to science also carries this meaning. [2]

Thus “unified science” refers to “any systematic knowledge or practice” that is “formed or united into a whole” and “operating as a unit”.

How does this relate to empirical science?  More >

Before joining the conversation, please read and accept this Invitation to a Conversation.

Also see Thoughts on the Outline of a Unified Science.

In previous articles I briefly addressed the issue of the memetic war between politicised-science and politicised-religion (Naïve Realism and Empiricism), and also provided a little information that may help lead us in the direction of reclaiming genuine science for humanity (Scientistic Heresy). But what about reclaiming genuine religion for humanity?

First we need to understand what religion is. For many people in nominally Christian or Islamic cultures this is a very confused issue due to centuries of political-abuses of religion.

To explain what religion is we will need to first go back to its source, which is mysticism. The term 'mysticism' first arose in relation to the Eleusinian Mysteries however it has become a blanket term for all spiritual paths that revolve around personal contact with and direct communion with the deeper reality. This direct personal connection is the root of all religion. (see Virtual Reality Analogy Alongside Science and Mysticism)  More >

Before joining the conversation, please read and accept this Invitation to a Conversation.

Virtual Reality Analogy Alongside Science and Mysticism

For some background context see the articles: Computational Metaphysics and Vedic Metaphysics,   Hiranyagarbha,   Scientistic Heresy,   Reclaiming Genuine Religion for Humanity,   Thoughts on the Outline of a Unified Science and also see Metaphysical Context.

I very briefly describe some aspects of the virtual reality analogy and then give quotes from sources of scientific and mystic wisdom that can be seen in a new light when interpreted through this analogy. I will leave the interpretation up to you.  More >

Before joining the conversation, please read and accept this Invitation to a Conversation.

Scientistic Heresy

Also see Thoughts on the Outline of a Unified Science.

The value and power of the scientific method when applied properly is plain to see, however too often it is used for political purposes, to suppress enquiry into areas that challenge unquestioned beliefs and to push certain agendas. This is a clear abuse of the scientific method, one that not only the scientific community must address, but the whole of humanity because science has become a fundamental guiding principle in our civilisation.

There is a prevailing belief that science is somehow immune to human weakness, that scientists somehow have "minds washed clean from opinions" (Francis Bacon) but this is a very unscientific approach to science. Such an obvious self-deception at the core of the scientific community leaves it (and our entire civilisation) open to disaster.

This obvious contradiction in science is largely a result of the particulars of the origins of modern western science, as a reaction to the trauma of previous abuses of reason (see Naïve Realism and Empiricism). But one cannot fight un-reason with un-reason, and science must question the motives behind its entrenched position in regards to many subjects. There is no place for the politics of manipulation within a genuine scientific method.

There has been for some time a propaganda-war between politicised-science (Scientism) and politicised-Christianity and many minds have been caught in the cross-fire. For those who have been deceived into believing that science is actually what it claims to be, below are a few links that illustrate some of the cracks in the otherwise smooth façade of self-deceptive propaganda.

If we are to reclaim genuine science for humanity then we must slip through cracks such as these and escape the fools debate. (also see Reclaiming Genuine Religion for Humanity and Virtual Reality Analogy Alongside Science and Mysticism)

To help those that are willing to help themselves, this is just a brief sample of documents on the subject to serve as a jumping off point for further research.  More >

Before joining the conversation, please read and accept this Invitation to a Conversation.

For some background context see the articles: Virtual Reality Analogy Alongside Science and Mysticism,   Computational Metaphysics and Vedic Metaphysics,   Correspondences with Ancient Metaphysical Paradigms,   Survey of Ancient Traditions and also see Metaphysical Context. In the table in the first mentioned article we see that Hiranyagarbha may be analogous to the SMN information process itself, which is the simulation program, that manages all information flows, which underlie all interactions within the virtual reality. From the perspective of virtual systems the flow of transcendent information is “the sight within seeing and the qualities of the seen”. So what is Hiranyagarbha in the Vedic tradition?

Below is some information on Hiranyagarbha, collected from the internet.  More >

Before joining the conversation, please read and accept this Invitation to a Conversation.

For some background context see the articles: Virtual Reality Analogy Alongside Science and Mysticism,   Correspondences with Ancient Metaphysical Paradigms,   Survey of Ancient Traditions and also see Metaphysical Context.

Some possible parallels between the computational metaphysical analogy and Vedic metaphysics could be summarised as:

In this table we see that Hiranyagarbha may be analogous to the SMN information process itself, which is the simulation program, that manages all information flows, which underlie all interactions within the virtual reality.  More >

Before joining the conversation, please read and accept this Invitation to a Conversation.

I refer to the mathematical foundations as System Matrix Notation (SMN) and I refer to the theoretical extrapolation of the mathematics into a metaphysical philosophy as Information System Theory (IST). But in light of the terms given in the article What is Knowledge, Science and Reasoning? how can I describe the approach?  More >