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2008-06-24
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 >
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2008-06-23
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 >
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2008-06-23
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 >
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2008-06-22
I cordially invite all interested readers to engage in a
conversation about the issues raised on this blog.
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 >
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2008-06-21
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 >
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2008-06-20
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 >
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2008-06-19
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 >
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2008-06-18
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 >
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2008-06-17
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. 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 memetic 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 >
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2008-06-15
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:
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Computational Metaphysics
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Vedic Metaphysics
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Computation
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Brahman
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Computational Logic
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Prakriti
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Computational Stream
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Purusha
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Computational Space
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Isvara
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Information System
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Atman
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SMN Information Process
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Hiranyagarbha
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Sea of Interactions
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Akasha
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Virtual Reality
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Virat
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AI
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Jagrat
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Virtual System
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Jiva
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Virtual (Empirical) World
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Maya
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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 >
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2008-05-27
In a recent
conversation here on NCN I indirectly learnt a great deal. Even
though it was not what one would call a functional conversation it
was nevertheless a very interesting experience...
Below is an article compiled from my part in the conversation. It
addresses many issues that are central to the conduct of a
progressive discourse, which can result in cooperative solution
seeking that is grounded in reality and can be genuinely effective
even in the face of cynical attacks and denial. These are just
thoughts on the matter. More >
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2008-05-26
I have been thinking a lot about Naïve Realism lately. It is a profoundly important concept to understand if people wish to safe-guard both their individual and collective sanity.
It came to my notice that the Wikipedia article on Naïve Realism was only a few paragraphs long, not referenced, quite biased and VERY misleading. So I rewrote the article using many quotes from philosophical and scientific sources with full references to map out the progression of our understanding of what it is and how it applies to our lives, the world and everything that we experience.
The new article is posted below but it will keep evolving (wikipedia version). More >
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2008-05-17
Here are some informative and uplifting insights about the current
process of global transformation, in the form of excerpts from an
article
in a recent World
Goodwill newsletter.
It is also related to articles of my own about
global awakening. More >
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