Contemplating recent comments about what it means to be a conscious human, I began to consider what really distinguishes us from all the other inhabitants of our planet. There are some distinctively human traits to be sure, but it seems more like a combination of several important capacities and foundational characteristics that sets us apart. … Continue reading Blossoming of Consciousness
In an article in the April-June 2009 issue of Scientific American Mind called "The Power of Symmetry," by Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and Diane Rogers-Ramachandran, we learned that through our own subjective experience of visual stimuli, we can verify the brain's tendency to impose symmetry on what we see, and through a deliberate method of presenting … Continue reading The Illusions of Neuroscience and the Certainty of the Mysterious
When the stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair last week, people panicked and ran initially, but once the immediate danger had passed, a hundred or so rushed toward the scene to help. Amazing pictures of people trying to lift the fallen structure, and stories of heroic efforts to assist those who were injured gave … Continue reading Little Girl Saved, Little Girl Lost-Triumph of the Human Spirit
In August 1961, a barbed-wire barrier was erected between East and West Berlin. A few days later, workers started building a concrete block wall. Residents of East were no longer allowed to enter the West. The "Iron Curtain" that Winston Churchill had spoken about in a 1946 speech had now come to fruition. (MSN homepage … Continue reading East Germany and the Human Spirit
David Darling has pressed the matter of consciousness into the moment vividly for me, not simply due to his compelling prose, but also because of the immediacy of consciousness and its relationship to the world we inhabit, which often offers us conflicting priorities based on our personal sensitivity to the events which transpire in the … Continue reading Consciousness and the World We Create
John's Consciousness 