terça-feira, 14 de dezembro de 2010

Why Consciousness is Not the Brain

Excerpted from The Science of Premonition: How Knowing the Future Can Help Us Avoid Danger, Maximize Opportunities and Create a Better Life by Larry Dossey.



Physicist Freeman Dyson believes the cosmos is suffused with consciousness, from the grandest level to the most minute dimensions. If it is, why aren’t we aware of it?



“We don’t know who first discovered water, but we can be sure that it wasn’t a fish,” the old saw reminds us. Continual exposure to something reduces our awareness of its presence. Over time, we become blind to the obvious. We swim in a sea of consciousness, like a fish swims in water. And like a fish that has become oblivious to his aqueous environment, we have become dulled to the ubiquity of consciousness.

 
In science, we have largely ignored how consciousness manifests in our existence. We’ve done this by assuming that the brain produces consciousness, although how it might do so has never been explained and can hardly be imagined. The polite term for this trick is “emergence.” At a certain stage of biological complexity, evolutionary biologists claim, consciousness pops out of the brain like a rabbit from a magician’s hat. Yet this claim rests on no direct evidence whatsoever. As Rutgers University philosopher Jerry A. Fodo flatly states, “Nobody has the slightest idea how anything material could be conscious. So much for our philosophy of consciousness.”



In spite of the complete absence of evidence, the belief that the brain produces consciousness endures and has ossified into dogma. Many scientists realize the limitations of this belief. One way of getting around the lack of evidence is simply to declare that what we call consciousness is the brain itself. That way, nothing is produced, and the magic of “emergence” is avoided. As astronomer Carl Sagan expressed his position, “My fundamental premise about the brain is that its workings – what we sometimes call mind – are a consequence of anatomy and physiology, and nothing more.” Nobelist Francis Crick agreed, saying “[A] person’s mental activities are entirely due to the behavior of nerve cells, glial cells, and the atoms, ions, and molecules that make up and influence them.”



This “identity theory” – mind equals brain – has led legions of scientists and philosophers to regard consciousness as an unnecessary, superfluous concept. Some go out of their way to deny the existence of consciousness altogether, almost as if they bear a grudge against it. Tufts University cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett says, “We’re all zombies. Nobody is conscious.” Dennett includes himself in this extraordinary claim, and he seems proud of it.



terça-feira, 7 de dezembro de 2010

Excertos I

A nudez das bestas rastejantes não é senão um estado ilusório e estupidamente vulgar. Unicidade? Ah! Perante os alicerces de tais criaturas, negar a sua universal efermidade é uma tentativa frívola que caracteriza a inconsistência das ideias mundanas, e reconhecidamente prematuras.

Ó, bocas insaciáveis e mudas...

quinta-feira, 2 de dezembro de 2010

Dry Salvages

Or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply
That it is not heard at all, but you are the music
While the music lasts.
These are only hints and guesses,
Hints followed by guesses; and the rest is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action.
The hint half guessed, the gift half understood, is Incarnation.

T.S.Eliot
from "Four Quartets"

quinta-feira, 11 de novembro de 2010

What can I do?

«One is always seeking endlessly, going from one book to another, from one philosophy to another, from one teacher to another. And what we are really seeking is not clarity, is not the understanding of the actual state of mind, but rather we are searching for ways and means to escape from ourselves. Religions in different forms throughout the world have offered this escape, and we are satisfied in trying to find out a convenient, pleasurable, satisfying retreat. When one observes all this - the increasing population, the utter callousness of human beings, the utter disregard for others' feelings, for others' lives, the utter neglect of the social structure - one wonders if order out of this chaos can be brought about. Not political order - politics can never bring about order; neither an economic structure nor a different ideology can bring about order. But we do need order. For, there is a great deal of disorder, both outwardly and inwardly, of which one is vaguely, speculatively, casually aware. One feels the problems are too immense. The population is exploding so fast that one asks oneself, "What can I do as a human being living in this chaotic misery, violence, stupidity? What can I do?" Surely, you must have asked this question of yourself if you are at all serious. And if one has asked oneself this very serious question, "What can one do oneself?", the invariable answer is: "I am afraid I can do very little to alter the structure of society, to bring about order, not only within but also outwardly". And generally one asks the question "what can I do?", and invariably the answer is "very little". There one stops. But the problem demands a much deeper answer.»

Krishnamurti

Bombay 1st Public Talk 19th February 1967

quinta-feira, 14 de outubro de 2010

sexta-feira, 8 de outubro de 2010

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.

Henry David Thoreau

quinta-feira, 16 de setembro de 2010

Evolução versus Egocentrismo

    Pergunta: Então, a evolução consiste num declínio progressivo do egocentrismo.
    Ken Wilber: Sim, um descentramento contínuo. Howard Gardner fornece um resumo perfeito da investigação conduzida nesta área. Vou ler uma citação breve deste autor, porque, na verdade, diz tudo. Começa por notar que o desenvolvimento em geral é marcado pelo "declínio do egocentrismo". E prossegue "A criança pequena é completamente egocêntrica - não significando isto que pensa de forma egoísta acerca de si mesma, mas o contrário: é incapaz de se diferenciar a si mesma do resto do mundo; não se separou ainda dos outros ou dos objectos. Assim, acredita que todos os outros partilham a sua dor ou o seu prazer, que os seus resmungos serão inevitavelmente compreendidos, que a sua perspectiva é partilhada por todas as pessoas, que mesmo os animais e as plantas partilham a sua consciência. Ao jogar às "escondidas", ela "esconder-se-á" à vista de todos, pois o seu egocentrismo não a deixa ver que os outros estão conscientes da sua localização. Todo o curso do desenvolvimento humano pode ser visto como um declínio contínuo do egocentrismo [...]".
    P: Então, o narcisismo ou egocentrismo (...) decresce progressivamente?
    KW: Exactamente. Como a diferenciação está no seu ponto mínimo, o narcisismo encontra-se no seu ponto máximo!
    Esta centralidade do eu vai diminuindo à medida que a identidade da criança se desloca do fisiocêntrico para o biocêntrico (...). A criança não trata o mundo físico como uma extensão de si mesma, pois agora o eu físico e o mundo físico estão diferenciados. Mas o eu emocional e o mundo emocional não se encontram ainda diferenciados e, assim, todo o mundo emocional é uma extensão do eu: narcisismo emocional no seu ponto máximo. Ou eu biocêntrico ou ecológico (...) é, portanto, ainda profundamente egocêntrico. O que ele sente, o mundo sente.
    O narcisismo decresce, ou declina uma vez mais, com a emergência do eu conceptual. O eu é então um ego conceptual, mas esse ego não consegue ainda assumir o papel do outro e, portanto, o ego primitivo é ainda substancialmente narcisista, pré-convencional, egocêntrico.
    Por isso, por vezes resumo este narcisismo decrescente como indo do fisiocêntrico para o biocêntrico e, daí, para o egocêntrico, no entendimento de que todos três são egocêntricos no sentido geral, mas em grau cada vez menor. E toda a perspectiva egocêntrica passa por mais uma deslocação radical com a emergência da capacidade de assumir o papel do outro. Ponto em que o egocêntrico se desloca para o sociocêntrico.


Uma Breve História de Tudo (adaptado)
Ken Wilber

quarta-feira, 15 de setembro de 2010


...all of this appears to me as an impetuous path towards conformity.

Sha-Clack-Clack

If I could find the spot where truth echoes
I would stand there and whisper memories of my children’s future
I would let their future dwell in my past
so that I might live a brighter now
Now is the essence of my domain and it contains
all that was and will be
And I am as I was and will be because I am and always will be
that nigga
I am that nigga
I am that nigga
I am that timeless nigga that swings on pendulums like vines
through mines of boobytrapped minds that are enslaved by time
I am the life that supersedes lifetimes, I am
It was me with serpentine hair and a timeless stare
that with immortal glare turned mortal fear into stone time capsules
They still exist as the walking dead, as I do
The original sulphurhead, symbol of life and matriarchy
severed head Medusa, I am
I am that nigga
I am that nigga!
I am that nigga!!
I am a negro! Yes negro, negro from necro meaning death
I overcame it so they named me after it
And I be spitting at death from behind
and putting “Kick Me” signs on it’s back
because I am not the son of Sha-Clack-Clack
I am before that, I am before
I am before before
Before death is eternity, after death is eternity
There is no death there’s only eternity
And I be riding on the wings of eternity
like HYAH! HYAH! HYAH! Sha-Clack-Clack
but my flight doesn’t go undisturbed
Because time makes dreams defer
And all of my time fears are turning my days into daymares
And I live daymares reliving nightmares
of what taunted my past
Sha-Clack-Clack, time is beatin my ass
And I be havin dreams of chocolate covered watermelons
Filled with fried chickens like pinatas
With little pickaninny sons and daughters
standing up under them with big sticks and aluminum foil
Hittin em, tryin to catch pieces of fallin fried chicken wings
And Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben are standing in the corners
with rifles pointed at the heads of the little children
“Don’t shoot the children,” I shout, “don’t shoot the children!”
but they say it’s too late
They’ve already been infected by time
But that sh** is before my time
I need more time
I need more time
But it’s too late
They start shooting at children and killing them!
One by one, two by two, three by three, four by four
Five by five, six by six, but
my spirit is growing seven by seven
Faster than the speed of light
Cause light only penetrates the darkness that’s already there
and I’m already there
I’m here at the end of the road
which is the beginning of the road beyond time, but
where my niggaz at? (Oh sh**!)

Oh sh**, don’t tell me my niggaz got lost in time
My niggaz are dying before their time
My niggaz are serving unjust time
My niggaz are dying because of.. time


terça-feira, 14 de setembro de 2010


Não importa o que digam os relógios ou as atitudes e os labores dos homens. De manhã é quando estou desperto e há uma alvorada em mim. A reforma moral é o esforço de se desenvencilhar do sono. Por que razão dão os homens um balanço tão pobre do seu dia, senão pelo facto de que estiveram atordoados pelo sono? Eles não são assim tão mal calculadores. Se não estivessem tomados pela sonolência, teriam realizado algo. Milhões estão suficientemente despertos para o trabalho físico; mas somente um em um milhão está suficientemente esperto para um trabalho intlectual efectivo, e só um em cem milhões para uma vida poética ou divina. Estar desperto é estar vivo. Nunca até hoje encontrei um homem suficientemente desperto. Como poderia eu olhá-lo de frente? [...] Afectar a qualidade do dia, eis a mais elevada das artes. Todo o homem recebe a tarefa de tornar a sua vida, até mesmo nos seus detalhes, digna de contemplação da sua hora mais crítica e elevada.


Henry Thoreau (1854)

sábado, 11 de setembro de 2010

Este humor líquido, que em tempos esteve entorpecido, revela-se agora sob o esboço de um sorriso. É, indubitavelmente, a antecipação de uma possibilidade, de uma ideia, e o conhecimento fragmentário de uma paixão. É um inefável fascínio - de ir... e de ser.

Empty

I'm beginning to know myself. I don't exist.
I'm the gap between what I'd like to be and what others have made me,
Or half of this gap, since there's also life...
That's me. Period.
Turn off the light, shut the door, and quit that slipper noise in the hallway.
Leave me alone in my room with the vast peace of myself.
It's a shoddy universe.

Álvaro de Campos

sexta-feira, 20 de agosto de 2010

Dreams - what men are made of.

'I accept as truth that everything has its own time. This is the right moment for me to make this decision (...) This is a moment to make a pure choice and reject conformity. It’s a moment to fight against the anaesthetizing of the soul and to let myself be passionate about life.'

When I wrote this personal letter I was so hopeful, expectant about the future and aware of the hardships a new life brings on. I was not without fear and yet, I didn't allow the menace of my misgiving stop me from trying. I did try. However, what I had planned didn't turn out the way I expected... That fact devastated me and made me second guess myself because I used to think that if I didn't do it at that moment (when I had the will, the courage) I would probably miss my chance.

We have to realize that when we take the plunge, we always endanger something. I understand that by raising my expectations I took the risk of being dashed... Despite all the frustration and disappointment my decision brought on, I still believe it couldn't have been in any other way.

I believe we have to innovate ourselves and rediscover passion towards life, even if it means not to play safe.


"When a dream takes hold of you, what can you do? You can run with it, let it run your life, or let it go and think for the rest of your life about what might have been." - Patch Adams, M.D.

About that dream I fought for in the letter... maybe it just wasn't the right moment. Nevertheless, it will come.

quinta-feira, 19 de agosto de 2010

'for even a heretic must believe in something, if nothing more than the truth of his own doubt'

Quoted from Barack Obama's biography - DREAMS FROM MY FATHER

quarta-feira, 18 de agosto de 2010

Heterónimo

Caminha comigo - sob a promessa mútua de nunca sermos estranhas.




'What we had in common - our restlessness, our impassioned spirits, and a love for the open road.' Ernesto Guevara de la Serna

domingo, 13 de junho de 2010


So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservatism, all of which may appear to give one piece of mind, but in reality nothing is more dangerous to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.

Que mal há em ser-se louco?

sábado, 8 de maio de 2010

"(...) o que acham, meus senhores, e se déssemos um valente pontapé em todo este bom senso de uma vez por todas, unicamente para que todos estes logaritmos fossem para o raio que os parta e para voltarmos a viver segundo a nossa estúpida vontade?"

f. dostoiévski

sábado, 2 de janeiro de 2010

NADA. NOTHING.

Quoted from Pascal Mercier's "Night Train to Lisbon":

'NADA. NOTHING. Aneurysm. Every moment can be the last. Without the slightest premonition, in total ignorance, I will walk through an invisible wall, behind which is nothing, not even darkness. My next step can be the step through this wall. Isn't it illogical to be afraid of it, knowing that I shall no longer experience this sudden extinction?'