C- | PsychologyZenFreedom

GIVE REALITY A GREAT BIG HUG

Careful! It may hug you back.

I'm not crazy about reality,

but it's still the only place to get a decent meal.

Groucho Marx

Have fun exploring the high level abstractions. My high abstract puzzlements have been very useful in my everyday life. I have become more tentative in my beliefs---resulting in much more freedom and creativity.

And, it was very important for me to realize that my conscious awareness does not create my thoughts, emotions and actions. The enormous processing power of my brain flows the most relevant into my conscious awareness. That realization increased the quantity and quality of the flow.

1. Is the Buddha correct?

2. Is science the only source of valid information?

3. How about extra-sensory perception?

4. Why do you have conscious awareness?---what’s it good for?

Dr. Seuss

Think left and think right

and think low and think high.

Oh, the thinks you can think if only you try.

IS THE BUDDHA CORRECT?

The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground.

The Buddha

YOUR ANSWER

MY ANSWER

Yes! The Buddha is correct. We do not feel the ground---we feel our feet. The 72,000 or so nerve endings on the bottom of our feet send information through the spinal cord to our brain. The information is processed and we “feel” the ground.

Feel is put in quotes because there is a critical difference in the two ways the word is being used.

It is true we do not literally feel the ground---we are only aware of the end result of the activation of nerve endings on the bottom of our feet as processed by our brain. But we do “feel” the ground in the sense that whatever is “out there” is deferentially activating those nerve endings---resulting in our brain flowing into our awareness that we are “feeling" the ground, not a rug.

We have no direct contact with anything outside the surface of our body. Whatever is “out there” activates the sensory organs. Our marvelous world is created from all that incredibly complex information flowing into our brain.

Through the Darwinian process our ancestors developed a sensory system and brain structures that provides an excellent version of Reality for human survival on planet earth. The version of Reality developed by bats, bees, whales or wombats to ensure their survival is very different.

Humans make a fundamental mistake. They assume their version of Reality, IS Reality.

_________________

I don't think reality is limited to what our senses tell us. Our senses are just an assortment of filters that have us respond to certain stimuli. But is that all there really is?? Again I don't know. I have a feeling we couldn't make sense of what reality really is.

TClaeys

_________________

Whatever Reality is,

it's not that.

Herman Frye

_________________

IS SCIENCE THE ONLY SOURCE

OF VALID INFORMATION?

Is objective science the only valid source of information about the nature of Reality, or can subjective experiences also provide valid information?

The arguments back and forth revolve around the definition of “valid”, often implicit. Changing the definition automatically changes the answer. How do you define “valid”?

Is there one correct definition, or are there many? A Christian would likely consider her subjective experiences in church at least as valid as a scientist’s objective data.

YOUR ANSWER

MY ANSWER

At the moment I have three definitions of valid. The hard definition is the one used by the hard sciences like physics and chemistry. A measurement is valid if it has a high correlation with whatever it purports to measure. For instance, the number on my bathroom scale correlates highly with other objective measurements of my weight.

I use the soft definition when doing a soft science, such as psychology or sociology. Does the content of my subjective experience correlate well with objective data? Is the letter A I see on the eye chart really a letter A on the eye chart?

My third definition of “valid” is everything I experience. The content may or may not be valid given the other two definitions but the experience itself just is---and the primary source of everything I am and know.

_________________

A hallucination is a fact, not an error;

what is erroneous is a judgment based upon it.

Bertrand Russell

_________________

Which definition of valid is best depends on what I’m doing. Best use the hard definition when doing a hard science or repairing my car. The soft definition when doing a soft science, or driving my car. Best go experience eating Key lime pie made with real Key limes, or in the back seat with my girlfriend.

HOW ABOUT EXTRA-SENSORY PERCEPTION?

Is it possible to obtain valid information about Reality without using the five senses?

Throughout the long history of humankind there have always been people who believed they obtained valid information about the nature of Reality using extra-sensory perception.

What they brought back from their explorations was often difficult if not impossible to communicate to those who had not had the experience. Imagine trying to communicate the wonderful experience of listening to Beethoven’s Ode to Joy to someone born deaf.

The explorers had to use words and logic derived from the five senses and structure of the human brain. They usually used metaphor.

Do you believe that extra-sensory perception exists? If so, can it provide valid information about the nature of Reality? Would you like to give the definition of valid another try?

YOUR ANSWER

MY ANSWER

I don’t believe there is an absolute division between sensory and extra-sensory. As humans evolve and gain knowledge, what was considered extra-sensory will become redefined as sensory.

So it is rash and profoundly anti-science to automatically dismiss the experiences of people because they cannot at this time be attributed to knowledge obtained from the five senses.

I believe that extra-sensory experiences exist because of a small number of very extraordinary ones I have had. I’ve talked to others who describe their unusual experiences in much the same way.

I was hiking down to three lakes on Cut Bank creek in Glacier National Park. As I came to the middle lake I “knew” with absolute certainty that shaman had conducted ceremonies on the far bank. A Blackfoot shaman later told me that the site was a shaman circle---used in the old days for war parties going over the pass.

Material fundamentalists will rush forward with ways to explain away such experiences. They may be right! I have no problem seriously considering sensory based explanations. I have a serious problem when the fundamentalists allow no other.

WHY DO YOU HAVE CONSCIOUS AWARENESS?

What’s it good for?

YOUR ANSWER

MY ANSWER

You snap your head around to focus on a sudden movement over by the tree. If it's your cat your attention will likely increase. The words Pretty Kitty and warm feelings flow into your awareness and you walk over and pick her up.

The more times something flows into your conscious awareness the higher the probability it will flow into your conscious awareness under similar circumstances. The name Pretty Kitty and your cat have appeared many times together. The two words quickly flow into your awareness when your head snaps around to focus on the movement by the tree.

Back in the old days we had to memorize the times tables. We repeated them over and over in our conscious awareness. The more times I said 6 X 7 is 46 to myself the more likely I gave the teacher the wrong answer.

Just before going to sleep at night my brain often flows some of the events of the day into my conscious awareness. The probability is increased that they will flow back into my awareness when needed.

The special quality of being consciously aware is also used by the rest of my brain to aid in the evaluation of thoughts and actions. I write a sentence and a negative feeling toward a word flows into my awareness. A replacement word flows into my awareness and my fingers type. Another negative feeling. I type a third word and become aware of wonderful feelings of satisfaction and completion.

Those so satisfying moments of creativity have given me some of the greatest highs of my life.

_________________

Your conscious awareness is needed:

1. To provide the rest of your brain with the ability to sharply focus on the environment and the condition of your body.

2. To reinforce material by flowing them into your conscious awareness.

3. To aid in the evaluation of thoughts, feelings, and actions.

ere to add your own text and edit me. It's easy.