Read Choices and Illusions Online
Authors: Eldon Taylor
Some people seem to reason only with the tools of their
language. In other words, their reason is limited by the rules and
definitions of their language. Plus, there is some argument in favor of certain language structure as having greater or lesser faculties for developing logical thinking. literal languages such as German, for
example, tend to encourage the development of logical thinkers.
However intriguing this may be, it still seems reasonable that
reason preceded the conceptualization and development of speech.
As such, one is hard-pressed to limit the consciousness of a species on the basis of sound patterns called speech.
It gets still tougher. Sound patterns that resemble speech are
uttered by so-called nonconscious animals, such as whales and
dolphins. So, what is consciousness?
Is it a matter of wakefulness? no, it can’t be just that, for one can be a conscious being and still be asleep. Is consciousness memory?
According to the experiments of Cleve Baxter, plants exhibit
memory. Since science abandoned the study of consciousness
years ago, the problems inherent in describing consciousness
have proliferated during the interim. The advent of animal
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greatly complicated the matters of consciousness . . . or perhaps
simplified them.
For most people, parts of the left brain handle language. Brain
hemispheric studies, including the now popular positron-emission
tomography (PET) scans show that the right ear sends acoustic
information to the left hemisphere. According to Marc Hauser
(formerly of Harvard University) and Karin Andersson of Radcliff
College in Cambridge, rhesus monkeys “display a similar cerebral
setup, with the left half of the brain often taking responsibility for vocalizations intended to signal aggression.”2 If that is true, does it mean that the anatomical evidence for language processing is
evidence for consciousness in the sense that we normally think of
humankind’s consciousness. If not, what are the differences?
For some,
mind
equals
brain.
But for many,
mind
is a more general term that refers to the processes handled by the brain.
Therefore, mind is often used interchangeably with
consciousness.
Is
mind
equal to
brain?
The chief area of inquiry offering evidence one way or another to answer this question is a discipline often
held in low regard. Still, literally thousands of laboratory experiments in scientific parapsychology demonstrate that many aspects
of mind cannot be reduced to anatomical or material brain. For
example, data clearly supports the “reality” of telepathy, clairvoyance, and psychokinesis. Indeed, although controversial, recent
Russian dnA research explains much of this phenomena (clair-
voyance, intuition, spontaneous healing, and so on) and proposes
that dnA can be influenced by words and frequencies, not unlike
the claim of Rossi.3
The biographies of some of the world’s most respected people
also provide a richer picture than can be found even in science.
Famous individuals throughout history have provided numer-
ous reports of their experiences with the so-called paranormal.
Throughout the world and even in America’s capital, Washington,
d.C., there exist numerous reports, ranging from Abraham lin-
coln’s ghost wandering the White House to the Reagan administra-
tion’s use of psychics. The point is simple. Whether it is from the genius of Einstein or the laboratory of a modern parapsychologist,
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Mind Is Not a Local event
mind is not equal to brain! What does that mean with respect
to consciousness?
Consciousness Evolving
A wonderful
Star Trek
adventure I can remember had the
Enter-prise
actually forming its own consciousness and then creating a new life-form. Somehow, as Mr. data explained, the activity of the
starship’s computers and records began to take on a “more than
the sum of the parts” activity, form its own neural network and so
forth. Will machines ever become conscious?
This was the headline in a
Science News
publication: “Simulated Creatures Evolve and learn.” The article, by Richard lipkin, cited
the work of Karl Sims, who “devised a simulated evolutionary sys-
tem in which virtual creatures compete for resources in a three-
dimensional arena. . . . The creatures, resembling toy-block robots, enter one-on-one contests in which they vie for control of a desired object—an extra cube. Winners—deemed more fit—reproduce,
while losers bear no offspring. Sims endows the virtual environ-
ment with physical parameters, such as gravity and friction, and
restricts behaviors to plausible physical actions.”4 Sims believes that it may be easier to evolve virtual entities with intelligent behavior than to create them from scratch. Artificial-intelligence researchers have long sought to develop the so-called thinking machine.
Unlike Sims, most begin by attempting to model the computer
after the patterns of man. For some, this is the neural model of
the brain, while for others it is the deductive/inductive model of
reason. Perhaps Sims’s method is more humanlike than the other
two. Humankind is thought to have evolved. does this help us
understand consciousness? What about the collective conscious-
ness? Will machines soon be contributing to this field of consciousness? Will a machine ever dream?
The “Genius Hypothesis,” advanced by Ervin laszlo,5 asserts
that the minds “of unusually creative people are in spontane-
ous, direct, though usually not conscious, interaction with other
minds
in the creative process itself.
” laszlo’s paper sheds light on the 131
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“archetypal experience” described by Carl Jung while using history, physics, psychology, artistic production, and cultural development
to clearly suggest the strong possibility (in my opinion, the only
real possibility) that not only do minds communicate, but they do
so at a distance as well!
Not only do minds communicate,
but they do so at a distance as well!
Is the collective, or the shared, consciousness experience an
independent consciousness? Is it possible that unique (individual)
conscious entities participate as transceivers, sending and receiv-
ing, and that the total of consciousness is this collective? does the collective have a plan, a will? does it dream? Or is it just a reposi-tory? does it have a neural network or some analogous something
that we might refer to as a nonspatial field? It’s not organic or
silicone, is it?
Conscious of Consciousness?
Perhaps consciousness is something that has to do with being
conscious of consciousness. Are monkeys truly conscious of being
conscious? Could they even entertain the idea of consciousness
without an object? Or consciousness as a character in someone
else’s dream? does a monkey ask itself if it really exists?
Is that a fair direction to take our questions regarding con-
sciousness? After all, are we not likely to be forced to admit the
notion of “devolution” if we do? Are there not altogether too many
homo sapien sapiens on the planet who don’t give the proverbial
“hoot” about who they are or where they came from? How many
of these people ask the question, “do I really exist?” Will silicone ask the question, “Who am I?” The Japanese have already built a
“darwin machine.” The artificial brain uses an evolving neural
network. Hugo de Garis, a researcher in the field of artificial intelligence, says the purpose is to produce a silicone brain with more
than one billion artificial neurons.
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Mind Is Not a Local event
Science News
says this machine “will come in the form of a
neural network and will exist within a massively parallel computer.
To create such a complex system, the researchers will have the net-
work build itself. ‘Cellular automata,’ each one a distinct computer program, will actually forge their own linkages.”
This approach, called “evolutionary engineering,” provides for
the growth of the silicone brain via connections. “The neural net
grows when cellular automata send ‘growth signals’ to each other,
then connect via synapses.”6 (And you thought genetic engineering
was something to wonder about.)
defining consciousness turns out to be a process somewhat
akin to searching for the core of an onion. Revisiting conscious-
ness is more than a philosophical exercise or a scientific inquiry.
It is a duty, even a moral imperative, to reevaluate the nature of
consciousness, for this inherently devises the strategy by which
humankind treats itself and all life. For me, and I suspect for countless others, many changes are necessary for the human race to
actualize the highest of its potentials. As in history, most certainly some of these changes will be brought about by difficult times. I am reminded of something Martin luther King, Jr., said: “I can never
be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be . . .” King pointed out that it is precisely the interrelated fabric of life that each of us is interdependent upon.
“I can never be what I ought to be
until you are what you ought to be . . .”
— m A r t i n l u t h e r k i n g , J r .
Perhaps it is the interrelated nature of all life, consciousness
itself, upon which we are interdependent. Perhaps, just perhaps,
humankind will only know its highest, most noble self when it
offers the deepest respect for all life. Perhaps the invigorated enthusiasm searching for a firm hold on this stuff called consciousness
will eventually give rise to the respect I speak of. Perhaps the Zero Point nature of consciousness now being experimented with by
respectable physicists will yield access, conscious access, to the
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one mind of the universe. (Theoretically, the Zero Point Field is
the unifying force that underlies the potential and existence of the universe. This concept is especially interesting but also somewhat
technical. For a great review of the work, see lynne McTaggart’s
book
The Field.
)
Is it possible that our minds are indeed some
sort of sophisticated transceiver?
Rupert Sheldrake has demonstrated what he calls the M-Field.
People who are taught Morse code in a dedicated room experience
both an easier learning curve and greater retention after previous
groups have studied Morse code in the same room.7 Is it possible
that our minds are indeed some sort of sophisticated transceiver?
If so, is tuning in to love and light versus greed, avarice, and anger just a matter of the station we choose to listen to?
Meditation studies have shown that when groups meditate on
peace, crime rates fall.8 new research into life after death, particularly the work by Gary E. Schwartz, Ph.d. (see his book
The Afterlife
Experiments
), has yielded surprising evidence for life after death.9
near-death experiences have not been adequately explained by the
so-called debunkers, and the data suggesting parapsychological
abilities just keep increasing.
Researching Consciousness
In my lifetime, many of my associates and acquaintances have
challenged the paranormal. Many scientists and sciolistic thinkers
often treat this subject as totally foolish and unscientific. The so-called paranormal or psychic phenomena, the near-death experi-
ences, the reports of reincarnation, astral projection, auras, and so on are all dumped into a bin of laughable irrelevance reported by
delusional people or individuals under the influence of chemistry,
including their own brain chemistry, such as is argued with near-
death experiences.
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not all scientists view the extraordinary with such disdain
and ignorance, however. Indeed, some of the greatest thinkers of
all time, including this century, have conducted solid research
and otherwise made serious scientific inquiries that have led to
conclusions favoring a nonlocal mind interacting in a holographic
universe via principles including thought and belief, and thereby
co-creating what most call reality. It is definitely worth noting that as lynne McTaggart points out in her book
The Intention Experiment,
science has clearly demonstrated that “[t]hought is a tangible thing with the power to affect the physical world!”10 In a private
communication with me, Ms. McTaggart added this: “We’ve played
around with the idea for many hundreds of years that our thoughts
can change the world around us. For most, though, it’s an idea that has been dismissed as so much wishful thinking. But dig a little