"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
Recently, knowing of my passion for poetry, my nephew and his intended bride invited me to share in their celebration of love by composing and reciting an original poem about Love and Marriage. It was a wonderful gesture on their part to acknowledge my poetic inclinations, and to invite me to perform an original work … Continue reading The Divine Light of Love
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
A recent article in the New York Times, ("Decoding the Brain’s Cacophony" by Benedict Carey-Published: October 31, 2011) reports on research by Dr. Michael Gazzaniga, professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, which suggests that the functioning of our left brain hemisphere is responsible our familiar view of ourselves--an interpreter--and that what … Continue reading Exploring Below the Surface
"Certain moments from the dream stand out sharply. The moment the vehicle I was traveling in pulled up to the long row of stone steps leading up to the building and I first saw you. We nearly collided as we embraced. We only spoke briefly when you abruptly went back inside the building, as I … Continue reading Dreaming Through a Window
John's Consciousness 