Introduction The problem posed by the discovery in 1911 of Ishi, the last of the Yahi tribe in California, is one I like to call the ‘The Ishi Challenge’. In a short space of time Ishi learned English and took a job in a museum, which also became his home […]
consciousness
48 posts
These days there’s no shortage of conspiracy theories. Many people still believe that the moon landings were faked, that climate change is a hoax, nuclear power is available at low temperatures or that the 9/11 attacks were staged by the US military. While some conspiracy theories do end up being […]
Depth Psychology has never had it easy. Most articles in New Scientist and other scientific journals denounce psychoanalysis as pseudoscience, a collection of disproved and discredited techniques for curing mental illness. At worst, a scam. A long review article by Oliver Burkeman recently published in the Guardian takes a different view that […]
This paper explores varieties of spiritual emergency as a process of profound psychospiritual transformation. “I’ll be talking about myself! I’ll probably go mad after giving this paper.”1 This refrain went round and round in his head. The paper was on the ‘Importance of the Unconscious in Psychopathology’. The year was […]
In a recent talk to IONS, just posted on youtube, Dean Radin, a researcher known best for his work in parapsychology speculates on the future of consciousness research. Today new techniques are available for expanding our consciousness, not only new drugs but electromagnetic devices that affect the brain’s activity; enhance […]
The existence of “free will” was thrown into question in a famous study conducted by Benjamin Libet in the 1980s in which he demonstrated that his subjects responded to stimuli before they were even aware of them. A person’s brain records precursor activity to moving an arm before that person […]
The debate on the nature and origin of consciousness has lately taken an unexpected turn. Rather than restricting consciousness to the human species, the new theories such as Integrated Information Consciousness (IIC) are expanding the notion of consciousness to many material entities, non-biological included. After a long detour into the […]
Man, afraid to be alive, Shuts his soul in senses five; From fields of uncreated light Into the crystal tower of sight; And from the roaring songs of space Into the small flesh-carven place Of the ear whose cave impounds Only small and broken sounds; And to his narrow sense […]
(The points are numbered to aid quick reference and refutation.) 1. The argument of this paper is that if we actually admit that we are self-conscious, and that when we are doing consciousness research we are actually thinking about thinking, then a great deal, if not the whole […]
The modern focus on topics such as the power of now, cosmic ordering, quantum mysticism and cosmic consciousness has led many people towards a spiritual view that places the emphasis on the idea that we are all One. But what of the persuasive evidence that we are also individual, reincarnating souls? How can we bring […]