Recently, I posted about the development of consciousness in our distant human ancestors, and the parallels between that development and how our modern children develop. I wasn't expecting to be considering how there might be a parallel to be drawn from the gradual loss of access to consciousness as a consequence of the debilitating effects … Continue reading Consciousness in the World: Between Life and Death
As a new life begins, in the swirling chaos and excitement of birth, the immediate impact on the consciousness of the parents and extended families is profound, although we often don't recognize the radiant waves that ripple across our immediate world of consciousness, since we are caught up in the web of newborn childcare and … Continue reading Consciousness in the World: A Thirty Something Son
Life is Never Nil I heard the autumn winds this morning; I know what is to come. I cannot halt the tides of life; I calculate the sum. There is no hiding place to find; There is no turning back. There is no changing lane this time; There is no fade to black. My heart … Continue reading Life is Never Nil
"Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth -- more than ruin -- more even than death.... Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habit. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Thought is great and swift and … Continue reading Consciousness in the World: Connections
As an attentive consumer of various scientific publications available in the world today, particularly those concerning the science of mind and brain, while the information is often intriguing and illuminating in regards to how the physiology of the brain results in the extraordinary variety of symptoms, characteristics, and behavior of modern humans, what is often … Continue reading A World of Consciousness and Consciousness in the World
shaper of dreams.by ~Sea-of-Ice http://sea-of-ice.deviantart.com/gallery/ In response to one of my recent posts, my good friend and fellow blogger from The Heartbreak of Invention, (http://patricemj.wordpress.com/) posed several important questions regarding some of the issues surrounding the nature of human consciousness. While these issues are the subject of intense study over a number of neuroscientific disciplines, … Continue reading The Nature of Consciousness
The Beginning Life, for me, began rather precariously and very nearly ended as soon as it began. As I entered the world, all of the normal techniques for encouraging a baby to breathe were not succeeding. I was, in the terminology of the day, a “blue baby.” According to my parents, in a last desperate … Continue reading Life: Mysterious or Mystical?
Vase of Irises, c.1890 By Vincent van Gogh Recently, for personal reasons, I have been digging through the memory archives in search of some understanding of my formative experiences, and the search brought me upon a written recollection of my experiences of my maternal grandmother. Many of my memories of visits with her are shared … Continue reading A Grandmother’s Love
The cherries in the bowl above were picked just outside the kitchen window in the back of my apartment in Germany years ago, but for me they have come to symbolize a great deal more than just a pleasing subject for photography. It was during this period of my life that I truly began to … Continue reading Another Bowl of Cherries
Back in 1976, I was living in what used to be called West Germany, in a quiet little town called Kaiserslautern, in an apartment on a quiet street which had a cherry tree in the backyard, right outside of the kitchen window. When the cherries were in full bloom, I could pick them off the … Continue reading Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries…sometimes.
John's Consciousness 