Project Trinity: I-I, SDi, Neurotechnology

WIE: Is God All In Your Head?

"Perhaps the most promising and ultimately satisfying theories are the integral ones that acknowledge the essential reality of different levels and dimensions of existence, allowing interiors and exteriors, consciousness and matter, to be seen as different sides of the same event, neither reducible to the other. Where mind and brain are concerned, however, even the most integral theories have thus far been unable to explain how the two interconnect, leaving the mind/body problem a mystery for another day." - WIE: Is God All In Your Head

In the latest issue of What Is Enlightement? -- Who Are You? Science's quest to solve the mystery of consciousness, Craig Hamilton interviewed a number of leading-edge scientists (including parasychologists), and theorists, who are working on the the hardest problems known to man: consciousness and the brain-mind interconnection.

Mapping The Physical And Mental? What about beyond Mental?

Saw this article via KurzweilAI --

Consciousness and awareness are essentially local phenomenon, generated by activated neurons, said Crick. He did concede, however, that with our present (limited) understanding of neural correlates, it would be impossible to prove it scientifically. Crick also admitted that it would be difficult to explain to others the nature of any conscious experience, without talking about it in relation to other such experiences. But since consciousness is subjective, science alone — which is objective — cannot fully explain the inner life of the mind.

Um, yes, most of the time consciousness seem local. But is it local in dreams, in "higher"/expanded psychic functioning, and in deep sleep? Of course, it can also be argued that consciousness is local yet nothing is outside of it.

The synapse does not explain everything. Whether artificial intelligence can evolve to the extent of human consciousness or not, the fact remains that the many conflicting theories of the universe are not confined to the physical: We live in individual universes of the mind, too. If retraction or reversal of cosmological principles — Stephen Hawking recently revised his theory of black holes — are acceptable in the objective realm of science, so too should it be in the subjective mental universe.

Um, that's why the phenomena of consciousness cannot be reduced to either the interior or the exterior. And so I find the Integral Theory of Conciousness more embracing and very useful for mapping the physical, mental, and beyond mental (dare I say spiritual) universes. But then again, the map is not the territory.

The Green Goo

From Wired, Green Goo: The New Nano-Threat --

First it was "gray goo," the threat of self-replicating machines populating the planet. Now an environmental think tank is raising the specter of "green goo," where biology is used to create new materials and new artificial life forms.

In its report, published on July 8, the Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration said the risks from green goo demand the most urgent foresight and caution. "With nanobiotech, researchers have the power to create completely new organisms that have never existed on Earth," said the ETC release accompanying its report.

There will always be threats posed by emerging technology. The risks get bigger as each techno-economic wave builds upon its predecessors. So the more reason we have to pay extra attention to the upcoming Nano and/or Neuro. "The higher that we climb, the more the ladder sways."

(Note: The Green Goo has no relation to the Mean Green Meme. Or is there?)

This is your Brain on Art

The recent special feature of Journal of Consciousness Studies (JCS), Art and the Brain Part III, touches some of the controversies in science and humanites. Although most of the abstracts are about the subjective dimension of art, there is an available full text on the topic of Art and Reductionism, by Erich Harth, which discusses "reductionism" in both art and the sciences.

All thinking is done by our brains. They are also responsible for our feelings of love and hate, and for our ability to make and appreciate art. But there is a popular reluctance to credit the brain with some of these so-called higher functions. We have difficulty associating our appreciation of beauty with electrical impulses propagating down nerve fibres. We don’t see love as residing in the organ that is hidden away inside the skull, where it sits, shaped like a boxing glove, grey, motionless, and seemingly inert. Instead, the icon of love is that fist-sized muscle in your chest.

Toward a Science of Consciousness 2004

The sixth "Toward a Science of Consciousness" conference will be held at the Tucson Convention Center from April 7-11, 2004. This continues a series of major conferences held every two years since 1994. The conference will bring together researchers from throughout the sciences and the humanities, as well as interested members of the general public. The full program is now available.

The Plenary Sessions are very interesting.

Thank Neurons It's Friday!

Neurotheology is no doubt one of the most exciting cutting-edge endeavors in consciousness studies. How it handles the mind-body problem remains to be seen. In my opinion, if it is to succeed in integrating the mind and body (and even Spirit itself), instead of just theology it should have a solid yet open-ended philosophy. A philosophy that does not reduce inner experiences to its outer correlates, and vice-versa.

God means different things to different people depending on their worldviews. Proving (or debating) whether or not God exists is a waste of resources and energy. I humbly suggest that experiments and research should focus more on practical applications on the psychological and physiological developments of individuals as well as the collective. So that maybe someday the question whether "God is in the brain or not" will not be as mysterious as "why the sky is blue" and "Who the heck is asking such stupid questions."

The Dark Secret of Hendrik Schön - transcript

"NARRATOR (JACK FORTUNE): This is the story of the man behind the most remarkable discovery. His breakthrough seemed so revolutionary it could have created an extraordinary new world. A world where disease could be destroyed before the first symptoms appear. Where nothing would be beyond the boundaries of human knowledge. But others thought it could also be a world where the darkest evil could be unleashed. Where microscopic machines would link up to destroy us all." - from BBCi Science Horizon

Another one of those nanotech "scares." Very informative though.

See the abstract of the controversial paper, Self-assembled monolayer organic field-effect transistors on Nature.com.

Can you read my mind?

"As neuroscientists hone new technologies for probing our brains, predicting our behavior and perhaps even altering our thoughts, ethicists wrestle with some troubling questions." This is the opening of the a very informative article entitled If They Could Read Your Mind from the Stanford Magazine.

In the article, author Joan O'C. Hamilton wrote fictitious, but plausible, scenarios of ethical dilemmas that we'll face in the future. In my opinion, the root of the problem is not only technology but the "consciousness" that weilds the technology. The biggest challenge is how our ethics could catch up with the "hard" sciences. The approach so far is to "slow down" science through banning and legislation with the hope that our morals would someday catch up. But this will only delay the inevitable.

A supplementary approach is to "speed up" the development of ethics and "awareness" using the technology of both "soft" and "hard" sciences while slowing down potential technologies that endanger our concept of humanity. Easier said than done of course, because this requires "wisdom" on the part of the leaders and the scientific community. And so far, the "wisdom gene" is nowhere to be found. It exists as potential. A potential that is everyone's birthright. A potential that is everyone's responsibility to cultivate.

"Longest-running murder mystery of them all"

"It is possibly the longest-running murder mystery of them all. What, or even who, killed humankind's nearest relatives, the Neanderthals who once roamed Europe before dying out almost 30,000 years ago?"

In the NewScientist article entitled Big chill killed off the Neanderthals, "Suspects have ranged from the climate to humans themselves, and the mystery has deeply divided experts. Now 30 scientists have come together to publish the most definitive answer yet to this enigma."

The early modern humans who survived had one big advantage: their technological prowess -- ""to reorganise the way the kitchen was used." Today, our technology has come a long way, insuring the survival of our species for generations to come. Not only we can adapt to our environment, but now we can also change, to a certain extent, our own environment, and even visit other planets.

We have become experts in "reorganizing the way we use the kitchen." However, instead of just keeping on "reorganizing the kitchen" by making it bigger and better, maybe we should put more efforts in using technology to study (subjectively and objectively) the longest running mystery of them all: "the cooks in the kitchen."

The Spirit has landed

Image linked from Mars Exploration Rover Mission

NASA's Rover Rolls Onto Mars Surface
"The Spirit rover successfully rolled onto Mars early Thursday, placing its six wheels on solid martian ground for the first time since the robot bounced down on the Red Planet nearly two weeks ago."

Image linked from Mars Exploration Rover Mission

The conquest of the Right-Hand Quads continues. And while it is good, if only we, as individuals and society, would do the same and conquer the moon, Mars, and other planets within ourselves, then Spirit will not only be present on Mars but will also be awakened in our hearts, heads, and in every atom in our precious earthly vessels. And Thoreau would be smiling in his grave.

"Be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought."
- Henry David Thoreau

ADDENDUM:

ILLUSTRATION FOR TIME BY PETER KUPER
Image Linked from TIME.COM

01/24/2004 - Time Magazine featured the mission to Mars. The cover story and related articles are very informative. But I find myself agreeing on most points raised by the article Why We Shouldn't Go to Mars.

"Space-exploration proponents deride as lack of vision the mention of technical barriers or the insistence that needs on Earth come first. Not so. The former is rationality, the latter the setting of priorities."

Very well put.

01/31/2004 - If the Mars Rovers were sentient (maybe they are) they would do blogging. Hey, they do blog! See this funny creative Mars Rover Blog.

Your Nonlocal Mind

"Ten years ago, 3 out of 125 medical schools in this country had courses on spiritual practice and health. Today, 90 of them do, in no small measure due to the work of Dr. Larry Dossey.

In this dialogue, Dr. Dossey explores the extensive scientific research showing the profound effects of "distant intentionality" (such as prayer) on health and healing."

Enjoy your Paycheck this Holiday!

Image linked from Yahoo Movies

Project Trinity blogging resumes next year... In the meantime, checkout this holiday blog. Take care and stay lucid.

"Orgasmatron" vs. Teledildonics

No, these are not robotic characters in The Transformers. These are the latest technology aimed to illicit sexual pleasures, locally, and/or remotely.

The "Orgasmatron" is a "machine that delivers an orgasm at the push of a button [that] has been patented in the US. The implant could help women whose lives have been blighted by an inability to achieve orgasms naturally." As of this writing, volunteers are needed. "Women who cannot have orgasms can now have a device implanted in their spines that will trigger the sensation for them. Clinical trials of the 'orgasmatron' have begun in the US, with the approval of the Food and Drug Administration."

Image linked from NewScientist.com

Teledildonics is a different approach. The technology makes possible sexual stimulation across cyberspace. "In the original conception, this technology could be used for 'remote' sex (or, at least, remote mutual masturbation), where the physical sensations of touch could be transmitted over a data link between the participants."

Although Orgasmatron and Teledildonics are two different technology, it's not hard to imagine plugging future versions of Orgasmatron to cyberspace, complete with user interface and a virtual world for a richer experience.

So will Cybersex be better than real sex? I guess we just have to imagine, wait, and see.

A Map of Cyberspace

"Yesterday morning Opte.org announced that they have successfully mapped the entire internet. They are currently compiling a LGL map for all to see. Currently they have a LGL map that has 'over 5 million edges and has an estimated 50 million hop count'. Also only took them 252.68 hours to complete." - posted by CmdrTaco on slashdot.org
Very nice.

"This project was created to make a visual representation of a space that is very much one-dimensional, a metaphysical universe. The data represented and collected here serves a multitude of purposes: Modeling the Internet, analyzing wasted IP space, IP space distribution, detecting the result of natural disasters, weather, war, and esthetics/art. This project is free and represents a lot of donated time, please enjoy." - Opte.org

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Hypernote: A new map is generated each week. So visit Opte.org regularly to witness the cyber galaxy unfolds.

Skype's the Limit!

The Information Wave is soon to explode again.

"The Swedish duo, who became (in)famous as two of the original programmers behind the peer-to-peer file sharing program Kazaa, are currently at work preparing the world for the first official, non-beta release of their new baby: an application that uses peer-to-peer technology to allow users to make phone calls over the Internet for free. They call it Skype, a nonsensical word they chose for its simplicity and catchiness."

Ever increasing the inevitable dawning of the Sixth Wave.

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Addendum:

12/02/2003 - "CNET News.com recently spoke to Zennstrom, Skype's chief executive, in Stockholm about VoIP, privacy, security, and the lessons he's learned from his other start-ups." See Skype's VoIP ambitions.

Who is Ramona?

The Human Body as Wireless Network

Aside from network marketing and pyramid scheme, the human body can be used to transmit information--wireless.

"The human body is capable of many things, including acting as an information conduit—quite literally.

"Researchers from NTT Docomo Multimedia Labs and NTT Microsystem Integration Labs in Japan have demonstrated a 10-megabits-per-second indoor network that uses human bodies as portable ethernet cables.

"The network, dubbed ElectAura-Net, is wireless, but instead of using radio waves, infrared light, or microwaves to transmit information it uses a combination of the electric field that emanates from humans and a similar field emanating from special floor tiles." - see full article here

So long Bluetooth :)