Ever since the hominid brain evolved sufficiently to provide modern humans with a degree of cognitive talent that still surpasses any other known species, the blossoming of conscious awareness slowly provided Homo sapiens with the ability to not only be aware that they exist, but to utilize this new ability deliberately and with purpose. It … Continue reading The Voice of Thought
The apprehension of knowledge and the accumulation of experience, when it is applied to some fruitful goal can be a labor of love which produces beneficial results and extraordinary achievements. New experience is an essential component of progress and in spite of being potentially fraught with unanticipated consequences and unforeseen dangers may uncover key elements … Continue reading Shared Experience
James Taylor wrote a song called, "Carolina In My Mind," asking two questions: "Can't you feel the sunshine? Can't you just see the moonshine?" The chorus ends with the words, "I'm goin' to Carolina in my mind." Have you ever been transported to another time as you became lost in a powerfully written book, or … Continue reading Experience of Imagination
With all of the shouting and media coverage of the demise of Osama bin Laden, perhaps the most poignant and important response after the announcement by President Obama, came from a woman named Carie Lemack, whose mother, Judy Larocque, was on American Airlines Flight 11, which hit the North Tower between the 94th and 99th … Continue reading Compassion versus Terrorism
Vaughn Williams knew something about the early morning by the time he composed "The Lark Ascending," and for me it is nearly impossible to hear this piece without imagining myself at some observation point in the early morning as the day begins. The following posting by Barbara Heninger briefly describes the orchestral version: The work … Continue reading As April Ends…The Lark Ascends
Recent criticism of the Templeton Organization by science writer John Horgan in his blog on Scientific American, “Cross Check” asked the question, “Is there such a thing as a spiritual fact? This question is brought to mind by the Templeton Prize, which was given last week to the British astrophysicist Martin Rees.” Horgan states his … Continue reading Spiritual Information
Conventional wisdom these days isn't much help when we look ahead to the future of life on earth, since life is fairly unconventional these days by most reckonings, and even what might previously have been described as common sense hardly seems common at all anymore. If there is any consolation to the currently prevailing uncertainty … Continue reading Human Intelligence, Computers, and Consciousness
Ever since the invention of languages and the realization of a deeper meaning to our existence, human beings have felt the need to express what they find within. Our inner worlds, far richer and profoundly more expansive than the world without, permit the creative expression of that world, but in terms that must attempt to … Continue reading The Spirit of Poetry
Stepping out on the back porch this morning, I was greeted by brilliant sunlight and a most welcome change to a milder air temperature, and the experience of the moment prompted me to open the window in my office for the first time since the air turned chilly last autumn. The trees outside the window … Continue reading Making Sense of Experience
During a spoken tribute that I delivered at a recent family gathering to celebrate my brother's birthday, I expressed the following sentiment: There are many changes that take place in a lifetime, some are fleeting and some lasting, which can alter us in ways we did not expect or want, but which, nonetheless, result in … Continue reading Changes Through Time
John's Consciousness 