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
Making Sense of Experience
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
Changes Through Time
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
Echoes of Humanity
It is human life. We are blown upon the world; we float buoyantly upon the summer air a little while, complacently showing off our grace of form and our dainty iridescent colors; then we vanish with a little puff, leaving nothing behind but a memory--and sometimes not even that. I suppose that at those solemn … Continue reading Echoes of Humanity
The Human Spirit
Twenty-five years ago, on January 28, 1986, the world lost seven of its best and brightest citizens when the space shuttle Challenger was destroyed as it launched into space. Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Christa McAuliffe, and Gregory Jarvis were lost when their spacecraft exploded 73 seconds after liftoff on … Continue reading The Human Spirit
Absence of Evidence is Not Evidence of Absence
One of the central issues in science today is the search for a comprehensive explanation for the subjective experience of consciousness, and what role “non-physical components” might play in coming to terms with the precise nature of consciousness. A good place to begin is with our own very human emotions. In spite of having a … Continue reading Absence of Evidence is Not Evidence of Absence
A Wistful Winter Morning
As I press my hand to the brass knob Level with my blurred line of sight, Releasing the bolt which holds the door firmly closed, Streaks of brilliant light flood the foyer Through the beveled prisms Of my uncertainty. A mechanical clack announces the release Of the lock as I step tentatively backward, To allow … Continue reading A Wistful Winter Morning
Welcome!
According to most specialists in cognitive studies, there is a stream of consciousness within each of us that never ceases, regardless of whether we are awake or asleep. Exactly what is responsible for our experience of consciousness and a comprehensive explanation of its functioning are still subjects of considerable speculation and study. Assuming that we … Continue reading Welcome!
Experience and The Self
“Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than material force, that thoughts rule the world.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson Although Woolf knew that experience is made out of a "shower of innumerable atoms," she believed that the elusive self bound those atoms into a whole. It took the "shivering fragments" of sensation … Continue reading Experience and The Self
First Month Review – Getting There Slowly
Getting There Slowly With only a handful of opportunities so far to spend time here developing the site, I have made some progress in fine tuning my original ideas, and making choices with regard to the content. I would like to concentrate on providing at least a foundation of basic information on … Continue reading First Month Review – Getting There Slowly
John's Consciousness 