Spirit. Science. Art

Working Essay

Will it not turn out, with further scientific developments, that the study of the universe and the study of consciousness will be inseparably linked, and that, ultimately, progress in the one will be impossible without progress in the other? After the development of a unified geometrical description of the weak, strong, electromagnetic, and gravitational interactions, will the next important step not be the development of a unified approach to our entire world, including the world of consciousness? – Andrei Linde Professor Theoretical Physics Stanford

 

Illusions of the Mind

VISUAL

Take the example of the following painting by Rene Magritte.

“The Blank Check” – Rene Magritte

The artist makes clever use of several perceptual cues including occlusion, blurrying, and sizing.

Occlusion: The tree seems to occlude the horse’s torso giving the perception that the tree is closer to us.

Blurring/Hazing: The size and blurriness of the tree, give the impression that the tree is far away.

TIME

Past. Present. Future.

Exercise:

Inquiry about past, present future.

SPACE

Bodily awareness. Space and boundaries. Henrik Ehrsson’s research¹⁾http://130.237.111.254/ehrsson/pdfs/Abdulkarim&Ehrsson2015inpress.pdf on bodily awareness shows that the felt sense of physical self is fluid. ²⁾http://www.nature.com/polopoly_fs/1.9569!/menu/main/topColumns/topLeftColumn/pdf/480168a.pdf

Neuroscience Term Review

³⁾http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22049421

Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) –

PCC

Default Mode Network

Precuneus

Medial Prefrontal Cortex

Parietals

Thalamus

Common Electroencephalograph (EEG) Banded Frequencies

It’s important to note that descriptions about EEG related behavior are helpful yet often quit misleading. It’s common for beginning neuroscientists to be bombarded with generalizations such as alpha for meditation, beta for alertness, theta for fog, and sensorimotor rhythm(SMR) for calm. It suggest that each EEG bandwith is one dimensional or independent. In reality, these frequency bands make up definitive parts of the whole raw EEG.

BETA(13-21 Hz)

Beta is comprised of fast wave activity, or any rhythmic activity more than 13Hz⁴⁾Blume & Kaibara, 1995, p.39 . It has been associated with focus, analytical thinking, externally oriented, or in a state of relaxed thinking. Others define beta as 13-21, 15-20, or 13-32Hz.

ALPHA(9-12 Hz)

Alpha

Evolution of the Ego

(d3 visualization of ego development)

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Introduction

Natural selection has selected for genes which promote reproduction. The system is not always geared towards seeing the world clearly. Evolutionary biology is has an inherent bias towards fear.

Self Referential Networks

Functional linkages between the medial regions of the precuneus and the anterior cingulate cortex and the angular gyri on the parietal convexity have been implicated in “reflective self awareness”. ⁵⁾

Present Centered Awareness

So close you can’t see it.
So deep you can’t fathom it.
So simple you can’t believe it.
So good you can’t accept it.

Selfing

Developmental stages. Symbolic language.

Reification

Non-essentialism..

The Importance of First Person Verification

Francisco Varela Resources for First Person Methods ⁶⁾http://web.archive.org/web/20050107033506/http://www.ccr.jussieu.fr/varela/human_consciousness/article01.html

Open Questions in Contemplative/Cognitive Neuroscience

1. Neural correlates of awakening
2. Physiology of Central Channel Practices
3. Emotional Coupling – Thought + Bodily Sensation.
4. N.C. of duality vs non-duality
5. N.C. of fixation in attention
6. Applying Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Embodied Awareness
7. Cognitive re-framing nondual awareness

References