I composed the photograph at the top of this post in the late Spring of last year, but the image came powerfully to mind as I began my day, braving the sting of winter's breath on my way to my annual physical, as the sun poked its nose over the tips of the trees, with … Continue reading Consciousness, Empathy, and Love
painting by untitled blue on flickr - Acrylic on 4 Canvas: 125x90cm On a recent errand to acquire a bottle of aspirin from the neighborhood drug store, (never actually having set foot in the place previously,) as I walked through the door, I was immediately seized by an overwhelming desire to check the sign out … Continue reading Madness and the Demise of Common Sense
“I am anxiously waiting For the secret of eternal life to be discovered By an obscure practitioner.” From the poem, “I Am Waiting,” by Lawrence Ferlinghetti While I certainly qualify as an “obscure practitioner,” in spite of many years of tenacious contemplation and unrelenting reflection on the nature of human consciousness, I cannot claim to … Continue reading Mortality and Madness – Part 2
"That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet." --Emily Dickinson According to an article in the Los Angeles Times from September 17, 2011 "Propelled by an increase in prescription narcotic overdoses, drug deaths now outnumber traffic fatalities in the United States, a Times analysis of government data has found. Drugs exceeded … Continue reading Mortality, Mozart, and Madness
I know something of emotional distress. It has been my companion over the years more often than I would have chosen myself. Each person experiences life from a unique vantage point, but as human beings, we experience many similar circumstances. Our common experiences, however closely related in a general sense, are frequently colored by our … Continue reading Thoughts on a Snowy Evening
In the introduction to Jonah Lehrer's "Proust Was a Neuroscientist," he sums up the problem with only considering brain physiology as the means to come to terms with consciousness: "Scientists describe our brain in terms of its physical details; they say we are nothing but a loom of electrical cells and synaptic spaces. What science … Continue reading Neuroscience and the Arts
“Books on physics are full of complicated mathematical formulas, but thought and ideas are the beginning of every physical theory.” - Albert Einstein The Standard Model of particle physics did not predict the existence of the dark matter that constitutes the overwhelming majority of matter in the cosmos. The Standard Model describes heuristically the "foam … Continue reading The Foam on Top of the Ocean
While slowly awakening this morning, drifting between brief wakefulness and lapses back into sleep, I found myself suddenly in a dimly lit hallway, searching for a stairwell or exit, when I noticed a television monitor suspended from the wall. Thinking that it might be useful in some way, I went toward it in an attempt … Continue reading Dissonance within Resonance
Recent contemplation of the many facets of our inner experience as sentient beings has stirred my heart and mind to reflect more deeply on the foundations of my interest in the subject, and sent me into the archives of my own ancient writings, which I store in a large overseas shipping trunk from my travels … Continue reading Writing About The World Within
[image credit: St. Jude Medical; North East Vision Magazine] I recently reviewed a publication I received a while back from Scientific American entitled, "Mind and Brain," written by Gerald D. Fischbach, who served as Chairman of the Department of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School from 1990 - 2000. The complexity of the human brain as … Continue reading Human Brain, Human Mind, Human Consciousness, Human Spirit
John's Consciousness 