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The Science Delusion – Reexamining our Worldview Mindset
The Science Delusion – Reexamining our Worldview Mindset
By
Cognitive Dissonance
If you are anywhere near a window or door why don’t you stop reading right now, get up, walk over and take five or ten seconds to look outside and absorb what you see. Hell, if that’s asking too much of you then just imagine what you would see if you were to look out your window. Go ahead and take a few seconds. I’ll wait.
Regardless of whether your (imagined) view outside was of lawn, woods, mountains, animals or other humans, homes or out buildings, a road or highway, tall office buildings or even skyscrapers, if I were to ask you to describe in detail what you (thought you) saw, what you (thought you) perceived, everyone would pretty much describe it using similar words, phrases, subtext and connotation.
This is because even though we all saw different things, we all employ pretty much the same basis of understanding or belief in how our natural world works and functions, of what ‘it’ is that we think we actually see. In short, we see, perceive and thereby ‘know’ through the (distorting) lens of our worldview and the individual/collective mindset that forms that point of view.
This in turn determines how we perceive, then interpret and finally describe what we see. Contrary to common belief we do not simply ‘see’ what is there. No one sees and perceives everything exactly the same way as anyone else and I’m not just talking about differences in visible color, clarity or contrast nor just through the distortion provided by a political or religious frame of reference.
Our mindset (selectively) interprets what our senses receive based upon our preconceived notions and beliefs. In short, all that we ‘see’ and perceive in every form is run through our worldview mindset for identification, interpretation and then integration. This means that there is great latitude for error when our mindset has been both created and distorted by prior beliefs, propaganda and bias.
If we don’t believe (in) what we ‘see’ or perceive, quite simply it is dismissed as unreal and nonsensical………if it is even ‘seen’ in the first place. For all intents and purposes from our perspective fully or partially accepted perception is reality, everything else is not. As I will outline below this is our deeply flawed personal and collective mindset and I contend that this is the basis for many, if not all, of our individual and global social problems.

Our point of view determines much of what we perceive
Where we stand depends entirely upon where we sit. This wonderfully enlightening phrase works on both the micro and macro level because our basis of understanding and perception, our worldview, determines how we ‘see’ and perceive reality. Since all we know and all we think we know is right >here< in time and space, unless we make an honest, sincere and sustained effort to see beyond these artificial boundaries, to remove the self imposed limitations we all experience when we view everything through our worldview prism, we are personally and collectively condemned to a life of external and internal (self) manipulation and control.
In my opinion it is essential to understand that everything is a construct of our consciousness, so >here< is essentially non local, meaning even though for nearly all of us >here< is perceived as located between the ears, this is simply not the case. This perspective altering concept, that of non-local consciousness, is a wonderful example of our collective mindset since the vast majority will quickly and completely reject this notion simply because their present day belief system and worldview tells them otherwise. I will touch on this further down when I list some of the beliefs that form our collective worldview, but if just this one alternative view were widely embraced by the general population consider for a few moments how dramatically different the world we just viewed would seem to be.
If we fail to seek our inner knowing to effectively counterbalance the obviously subversive and manipulative external forces that are busily (re)constructing our ever changing, but still very narrow worldview, we become entirely dependent upon that external affirmation to confirm and inflame the internal dysfunction that results from our constant immersion within the insanity. Simply put we go mad, but still remain quite functional in an insane asylum sort of way. Just because I’m crazy doesn’t mean I’m stupid or unable to productively interact with others in our mad world.
This internal dysfunction, our inner insanity, aggravates and perpetuates the external manipulation by way of our collective actions in an endless positive feedback loop of escalating collective madness until finally it exhausts itself in a crescendo of war, starvation, deprivation and death. Our inner madness feeds the external madness which feeds the internal and so on.
We moan and groan about the obvious insanity of our increasingly psychotic world, about the financial, political and corporate corruption, the blatant greed and endless lies and manipulation, all while remaining comfortably blind to its inner source. Wash, rinse and repeat as needed generation after generation after generation. It simply does not need to be this way. But then again maybe it does since to accept that the source of our torment springs from within means not only that we are the problem, but that we are the solution. No one left to blame then.
A perfect example of a thoroughly dysfunctional social feedback loop is the closed society that is present day North Korea. While we do not know exactly what is happening inside that country we do understand that many if not all of its inhabitants do not receive much in the way of a ‘reality check’ to contrast what they are being told by their leadership. Their worldview mindset is horribly distorted by controlling external forces. While our egos might not like to hear this, we here in the West are under similar assault, though the techniques used are much more subtle and extremely effective.

Our entire cognitive spectrum is distorted by our worldview prism
On a micro mindset level our personal stand on gun control depends upon how we view guns, personal responsibility, local, state and federal government and so on. As well, our opinion of the stock markets’ relentless rise over the last four years depends upon our views and understanding (or not) of statistical manipulation, corporate and governmental corruption and self dealing, unlimited fiat creation and so on.
Expanding outward a bit more, on a personal level we believe that our (little patch of the) universe can be fully experienced and understood with just our oftentimes electronically leveraged five senses. Except for a few fuzzy undefined exceptions we believe that nothing further is required in order to fully understand and experience our world other than what we have not yet learned and experienced through our five senses. Man beheld what he cognitively created and it was good.
On a more macro mindset level how we view animals, plants, rocks, rivers and roads depends upon if we think of ‘them’ as sentient and conscious or dead and without awareness. For example, many believe that ‘feed’ animals should be ‘humanely’ raised and slaughtered (or at least they should be blissfully unaware of it when they are not) suggesting that we perceive animals as somewhat sentient. Perhaps this is because animals express emotions such as care and nurturing for their young and distress and panic when their young are threatened. Ask most cat and dog ‘owners’ if their animals are aware and emotional, human like in some respects, and the affirmative will come through loud and clear.
In other words we perceive (certain) animals as somewhat similar to humans principally because they show similar emotions and reactions, not because we have actually measured consciousness within them………or within humans for that matter. But we give little thought to ‘slaughtering’ woods, rivers and meadows, the very Earth itself, other than possibly holding some concern for the loss of the utility or esthetic value. I am, of course, speaking of the loss to us humans; not so much to those dumb, but still somewhat sentient animals……right?
Forget about seeing this as a moral judgment so much as just an irrefutable and near universal belief born of a decidedly narrow perceptional belief, or an iron clad fact some would say. In order for it to be a moral judgment all sides must at least be (carefully) considered, if only to be quickly discarded when it doesn’t square with that delicious steak on the table. It is one of those ‘Duh, that’s obvious’ moments where we roll our eyes and look at the questioner as if he just stepped in dog doo and is stinking up the joint. Humans are at the top of the food chain, alive and conscious. Animals are lower down and maybe conscious, depending on if our view squares with what’s for supper, while rocks and rivers are not at all. That’s just a fact Jack.
Our damned delusional unanimity
There is near universal agreement (among the ‘civilized’ world that is) that the fundamental basis for our worldview is essentially correct and quite obvious, though there are a few nagging details to be worked out here and there. So obvious in fact that rarely if ever do we talk about these concepts and even less often, either as a culture or as individuals, do we invest our time and/or money to study alternatives to these concepts, except maybe as <snicker snicker> career ending fringe science.
After all everyone knows that rocks are composed of dead inorganic material and are certainly not alive or conscious by any stretch of the imagination. This and other beliefs form our most basic assumptions about life and the world we live in and they are so firmly embedded within our way of life, within our worldview mindset, that we don’t even consider them to be assumptions at all, but rather as irrefutable and self evident facts.
And yet if these beliefs were to change, if our perception were to alter and evolve, how different would the world seem even though it did not change, only our prism. Then again, if this were to occur we could no longer be blissfully ignorant in our ravenous and insatiable consumption. It sounds to me like we are deeply conflicted and compromised sentient beings who really don’t wish to look too deep for fear of what we might see. Oops, did I just say sentient beings? I guess the answer to that would depend upon our worldview and perception. ‘We’, meaning the insane, never perceive ourselves to be anything other than sane, normal and very well adjusted to the insane asylum.
We are taught these most basic assumptions and beliefs first by our parents and primary caregivers, then by the state and corporate controlled primary and secondary education system, and finally by our corporate overlords. One is allowed, encouraged in fact, to examine the effects and intricacies of our material world in order to further ourselves personally and professionally as well as to contribute ‘economic value’ to the whole (meaning the overlords) as well as the self. After all I must march to the corporate machine because I owe, I owe, so off to work I go.
But one must never question the very basis of our worldview belief system unless one wishes to be declared a heretic and summarily expelled from the paternal patronage system of advancement and achievement. Only the wacko’s and crazies unnecessarily think so far out of the box that they must be declared permanently off reservation and dead to the academic and scientific world. You know, for their own good lest they rock the boat, spill the beans and hurt themselves and others. So we hitch up our pants, carefully adjust our blinders and then join the collective worldview of the hive mind.

All hail the mighty kings of material science
The modern day material sciences, the new global religion adored by nearly the entire world’s ‘civilized’ population, are thoroughly infiltrated and infused with carefully guarded dogma, blind beliefs, long held assumptions and blatantly obvious taboos. Obvious at least to anyone who steps outside the castle walls and gazes back with a clear and steady eye, not to those still deeply embedded within the meme.
The world’s declared religions must regard with envy and awe the degree of blind faith and revered belief the scientific community exhibits in service to the holy scientific grail, that of provable and repeatable scientific ‘truth’ and ‘fact’. Not to mention the degree of blind adoration we plebs exhibit in servitude to all things materially scientific, the ultimate effect of manufacturing consent.
If it can’t be measured and quantified using repeatable and verifiable experimentation, it just ain’t real folks. But since our measuring instruments are often limited by our own imagination to measuring only that which we are trained and conditioned to perceive, there is an obvious closed loop positive feedback cycle here very similar to a dog chasing its own tail. Good luck getting a government or corporate research grant to examine concepts that might just force us all to reexamine everything, then dismantle much of what we have built in order to preserve what little we still have left……our souls and self survival to name just two.
Since I was a young child I have always been a materials science geek so my love affair has not died, just switched from blind belief to critical thinker. For those of us who wish to look beyond the surface layer and ask the really tough questions that threaten to rock our socks off, these days of heightened awareness and self discovery are actually much more exciting than you might think. But only if one is willing to look beyond our pre-conditioned minds and discover a huge wealth of alternative science waiting to be (re)discovered and perused. In other words, only if we are ready and willing to question everything beginning with ourselves and what we ‘know’ to be true.

The agony of the arrogance
If I were limited to just one word to describe the ‘civilized’ western world (and rapidly the developing eastern world) it would have to be ‘arrogance’. We are so completely sure of our correctness, of our absolute certainty that the world, nay the universe, is pretty much constructed as, of and how we believe it to be because……..well, because our high priests of material science say it is so. See, it says so right here in our cleric approved indoctrination texts with all their pretty pictures, graphs and diagrams. No critical thinking needed since it has already been done for us. Just gaze at the flickering monitor and repeat after me.
With the benefit of hindsight we roll on the floor in delirious laugher at some of the obviously silly notions that were held as gospel decades, centuries, even millennium ago while rarely if ever considering that we presently labor under our own woefully wrong flat world perspectives so deeply engrained within our present day mindset that we are completely and utterly blind to how wrong we might be.
The amount of self absorbed naval gazing narcissistic hubris it takes to think that we are so much smarter, so much more enlightened than our mothers and fathers of just 20, 50 or 100 years ago is simply staggering to consider. In short we are afflicted with a severe and possibly fatal case of cranial rectal inversion and things don’t look good for a recovery anytime soon.
As Mrs. Cog and I continue our journey down the rabbit hole I can’t tell you how many times we have discovered books written fifty, a hundred, two hundred years ago that nail concepts (or just open the mind to other possibilities) that have all been summarily dismissed by the modern day material science priests as deluded and utterly wrongheaded. But after an open minded and thorough reading, we can often see that they clearly and creatively explain so much about the perplexities of our natural world.
At the risk of insulting many of my readers I find little difference in motives and methods between the high priests of central banking & high finance and those so-called scientific authorities who are found in various in-house corporate think tanks and labs, government and corporate run research and development centers and the heart of the beast, glorious academia, with its deeply dug in keepers of the holy thought relics and rituals. For the most part true scientific advancement (rather than just ‘material’ science) only creeps forward when a few more of the old guard dies off and the discipline lurches another step or two ahead before the new crop at the top starts protecting turf while permanently closing their minds to non conforming thought.
Sadly our present day worldview is seemingly confirmed by so much of what material science gets right, at least when it comes to consumer products, electronic gadgets and fiat printing computers, that we can all safely ignore what it gets spectacularly wrong. Just as long as we can get Wi-Fi, or at least a decent cell signal, all is right in the world and we can remain blissfully asleep at the wheel. Even when it does get it wrong, it ain’t wrong for long thanks to a bucket full of scientific superstition, supposition and sensationalism as they announce the latest greatest wild ass guess disguised as scientific fact-theory, all designed to paper over their last wild ass guess gone horribly wrong.
One should rightfully ask a basic question at this point. What difference does it make if science gets a few things wrong here and there? The answer would be ‘not much’ if the errors were at the end of the scientific process rather than at the beginning where they compound over and over again. As anyone who has added, subtracted and multiplied a long stretch of numbers will tell you, while a mistake anywhere along the way will produce an error, mistakes made at the beginning send the resulting sum so far out of the ballpark as to worse than useless, but potentially dangerous. Especially if those errors in thinking and supposition are then used as the basis for other equations, which in turn form our worldview. The result is the insanity that is Earth 2013.

Bridging the ice floes
I have been writing about our disastrously distorted worldview for several years now, though never in detail and always as part of my ongoing theme of looking within for the answers we all seek. I rarely provide direct answers to specific questions (something that tends to infuriate my readers) because I wish the questioner to first ask better questions as part of their own search within, then to seek and find their own answers so that they may own them as their truth.
If I provide specific answers I am not much better than those who peddle snake oil, if for no other reason than I am expecting others to believe me, or at least believe that what I am saying is truth as I believe I know it. In my opinion it is much better for the questioner to seek out and find their own answers so that they may embody them as their own, leaving them better able to integrate that information within themselves. The ultimate authority is found within and the only way to break our dependence upon the external authority is to stop relying upon it for ‘answers’.
I feel the same way about recommending books, particularly books that claim to have answers. All writers, including myself, are ultimately propagandists since it is nearly impossible to write on a subject without holding an opinion on that subject. We wish to influence the reader to adopt our way of thinking and the conclusions that spring from it, thus we will present our best argument in favor of the position we are discussing even when we make a genuine effort to be impartial. This is why I prefer to ask open ended questions that appear to have multiple answers (or worse, only one answer) and then present my thinking.
However from time to time I will point in a specific book because it does present open ended questions or dramatically points to our cognitive dissonances, then it asks the hard ‘why’ questions while trying to fill in the blanks. Or I will recommend it because it pushes the cognitive boundaries well past the accepted norm. This time I seem to have found a book that does many of these, Rupert Sheldrake’s “Science Set Free: 10 Paths to New Discovery”. The UK edition is titled “The Science Delusion.
In his book Rupert Sheldrake discusses in great detail ten fundamentally flawed assumptions or dogma that have infiltrated the western world’s worldview. He then explores possible answers to his own questions. Below is Sheldrake’s summary of modern science’s materialist ideology which I transcribed from an interview of Sheldrake on Red Ice Radio.
Number one; there is the assumption that nature is mechanical or machine like. That everything in nature, plants, animals and humans are machine like. Or as Richard Dawkins famously said, we are just lumbering robots and our brains are like genetically programmed computers.
Number two; that matter is unconscious. The entire universe is made up of unconscious matter which includes everything in nature including our bodies, but strangely our minds are somehow conscious. This illustrates one of the biggest problems in materialist science, that consciousness should not exist at all and yet it does, but exclusively within humans and maybe some animals and possibly a few other species.
Number three; the laws of nature are fixed, that they are the same as they were at the big bang and they will be the same forever. This infers that the “constants” such as the speed of light or the gravitational constant never change or vary.
Number four; that the total amount of matter and energy has always and will always remain the same beginning with the big bang and extending forward into infinity.
Number five; that nature is purposeless, that there is no purpose in animals and plants or in life as a whole. The entire evolutionary process has no purpose; it has just come about by blind chance and the laws of nature.
Number six; biological inheritance is material, it is all genetic or epigenetic or possibly in cytoplasmic inheritance, but in any case material.
Number seven; memories are stored as material traces inside the brain. All your memories are inside your head in some way stored in nerve endings or phosphorylated proteins or some other way. No one knows how, but the assumption is that they are there.
Number eight; your mind is inside your head, that it is an aspect of the activity of your brain.
Number nine; psychic phenomenon such as telepathy is illusory. They appear to exist, but they are not real. That’s because the mind is inside the head and can’t have any effects at a distance.
Number ten; mechanistic medicine is the only kind that really works. Alternative and complementary therapies may appear to work, but that’s just because people would have got better anyway or it’s the placebo effect. That’s why governments, pharmaceutical companies, medical research organizations and universities funds only mechanistic medicine based upon the principal that the body is a machine working on chemistry and physics so it can only be treated by the same processes such as drugs or surgery. While that can be very effective up to a point, it’s just part of medicine.

Please recognize that the purpose of my continuous exercise in cognitive discombobulation, of questioning everything beginning with myself, is not intended to form new conclusions or even to modify my present day belief system mindset. Rather the desired effect is to expand my perceptive capacity, to push my self constrained thought boundaries far beyond my well manicured cognitive back yard and deep into the wooded forest beyond.
In other words it is the journey, not the destination that matters. By challenging our core beliefs, by demanding of ourselves that we look where the emotional and intellectual pain lay, once we honestly begin to do so sweeping new vistas open up. I have no idea what you will find when you look, only that you will find what you are looking for if you are sincere and persistent in your search.
Please note that I have not thoroughly read this book, only skimmed, though it is on my must read list to be perused over time. However I have carefully listened to four of Sheldrake’s interviews and I was impressed with his originality and fearless thought process. While he is a classically trained scientist he seems to have found a way to bridge both ice floes, that of a contrarian and of a traditionalist. If nothing else you might want to take a closer look at this one. I most certainly will.
There is nothing more exciting, or frightening, than breaking from the herd and crawling way out onto the end of the limb. Provided I continue to seek the courage to maintain my own personal journey I suspect I shall find many of you out there where it all begins.
03-03-2013
Cognitive Dissonance

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TL:DR
So what? Big deal. Sounds boring. I'm happy with what I do or don't know, and whatever else I assume. I can't even action a fraction of what I know, it's just some shit I got from somewhere. Saying we don't know what we think we know, now how would you know that? One thing I do know, is that everyone is full of shit, Lance Armstrong confirmed it for me, if I needed confirmation. So telling me I am full of shit should not actually come as a suprise.
#9 is definately wrong, but the physical mechanisms of such phenomena are completely unknown.
Dark Matter does exist as we can detect its gravity, but its nature and the nature of any interactions it has with Standard Model matter is completely unknown.
Thoughtful article.
It should be noted that the high priests have no inhibitions in applying their methodologies where they don't belong, as though they have bridged the gulf between mind and matter, an act of faith.
Very often the high priests are actually high whores.
Mixed feelings.
One, glad there is critique of "arrogance of science", not science per se. It is spot on, and is the reason that liberal global movement has the urge to manage population, resources, the planet. And they will keep fighting for more and more control.
Because " the world depends on it", how long that delusion remains unchecked no one knows. But its cracking, and this brings me to point number 2.
Two, in christian community we saw the age of "neo-paganism" coming for quite some time now and people like you are ushering it in.
There are things of consciousness outside of our human experience, but they have names and agendas. Be sure to be on the right side.
"There are things of consciousness outside of our human experience, but they have names and agendas. Be sure to be on the right side."
One of the approaches I try to take is not to dismiss religion just because it is religion. Oftentimes there is great wisdom hidden within the teachings if one is willing to cross reference the similarities between different religions and then understand that if you wish to communicate across hundreds of generations one way to do so effectively is with symbolism.
Thanks for stopping by.
Cross reference the similarities between different religions? I don't even know what that means. You contradict your first sentence with the rest of your 'point'.
"Cross reference the similarities between different religions?"
Comparative religion and Comparative mythology are two examples of what I am talking about.
There are many different theories as to who shot JFK, what happened on 9/11, where Jimmy Hoffa is buried, etc. But in each case, there is only one truth. Comparing the theories to sift out their contrasts and similarities doesn't offer wisdom unless it reveals the truth.
Same goes with your comparative religion exercise. And science is a great tool for bearing out that truth, but it is riddled with it's own myths in key places.
that,
is true - the One Truth includes all religions, all their perspectives. any Thing that is EXclusive cannot be Truth.
hierarchical relationships and arrangements cannot be Truth.
concentric rings of inclusive understanding, leading to exanding awareness.
This.
Although there may be "one truth" ... that is practically meaningless since it will always be impossible to ever be completely sure what that truth may be.
Indeed, the "one truth" that I prefer is the meta-truth that human realities are always organized lies, operating organized robberies. Thus, the existential dilemma, that we exist, and go on existing, but, due to inherent limits to measurement, can never know for sure what we are doing, or which bets to make regarding what we believe is true. Instead, we are always forced to gamble with our lives, and, in that context, there are endless levels of Oedipal dilemmas, since whatever we guess and bet upon can then change what others do, in a feedback loops. The paradoxical "one truth" is that there are infinite tunnels of deceits.
Now ain't that the truth. :)
It is evident to all who have eyes to see that the one true God is Ganeesha, the blue elephant.
I do not seek "the" truth because there is rarely ever one truth. There are often only firmly held beliefs. I only wish to expand my understanding of the truths I am not aware of and to question why I believe what I believe. Whenever I do so I find that often I am simply regurgitating what I have been told by others. And often what they told me is not based upon truth, but supposition, propaganda and faith/belief.
ha! I see RadMaryJ beat me to the line that immediately jumped out when reading,
to which I'll just say, drop the "our" (identity) and things may fall into an easier space. . .
if every thing is consciousness, all of all, it certainly becomes harder to arrange hierarchies, and that's a function of the High Priests of Science, to maintain the mystery to all but a few ordained in the art, whether by peer review or funding. as you say in your article, they are guarding their territory, and sharing information dilutes their status. and of course, science is co-opted by corporate gov/military dictates, be they uniformed in white coats or otherwise, and it is not in their interest to enlighten.
as always, your most recent posts are your best - that's how the pebble dropped in water works, the original action resonates in every ripple, inclusive, expansive, infinite.
all there is, is consciousness.
That everything has its source in consciousness, of course, is as paradoxical as "energy is spirit." If one takes the principle of the conservation of energy seriously, then no particular things ever begin, have a middle, and then end. Instead, the indestructible energy just flows through and through.
Of course, that is why it is so theoretically imperative for a civilization that has atomic energy capacity to better understand that spirit is energy, and to go through so many more levels of the philosophy of science, in order to cope with the existence of atomic bombs.
The special theory of relatively is not the last word on possibly understanding the world. However, the FACT THAT ATOM BOMBS GO BOOM, means we should take that theory much more seriously, which our civilization is nowhere remotely close to doing.
Einstein's theories make time and space a relative continuum, NOT independent absolutes. Therefore, since entropy is the distribution of energy in time and space, entropy is NOTHING like what our culture presumed entropy "is!" (Another comment I posted to this article discussed that more.)
The idea that all there is, is consciousness, should be appreciated through more creative syntheses of ancient mysticism within postmodernizing sciences. That is quite THEORETICALLY imperative, inside a global society based on technologies which made made our realities become electronic fiat money, backed by atomic bombs, that we SHOULD understand electronics, and atomic energy. However, of course, the overwhelming vast majority of us do not, and do not want to. Instead, we use those astronomically amplified powers in the same old-fashioned stupid ways, to be "better" at being dishonest and violent, and we do not understand that, and do not want to understand that, either.
If we make energy be our best approach to understanding spirit, then, of course, everything is consciousness. All energy systems are also information systems. There are vast realms which are subconscious and supraconscious, as inside our bodies, and inside our ecologies. There is no doubt that everything is consciousness, because everything is energy. However, there is also no doubt that there is an on-going war against consciousness, which the banksters are winning, even against themselves! The worst paradox is that society ends up being controlled by those who were best at deceits, who therefore wage a permanent war against the consciousness of others, in order to keep them being incompetent, so that they can be controlled and exploited.
Given the relative, on-going, almost total triumph of the banksters in dominating our whole civilization, through systems of lies, backed up with violence, we are in extreme danger, and there appears to be no practical hope, other than to learn the hard way, by most people being slaughtered due to their stupidity, while, maybe a few of the survivors learn by surviving through that.
Many of the comments and replies to this article above only confirm, once again, the degree to which, even on Zero Hedge, which is relatively more enlightened, too many people are Zombie Sheeple, and urban barbarians, who do not understand, and do not want to understand, almost anything to do with the philosophy and history of science. Now that scientific progress is driving civilization, the effect of that primarily appears to be driving us off an cliff. Basically, I now believe there is no reasonable hope. The banksters are almost totally triumphant in controlling our society through financial frauds, and the deeper truths within that situation are almost nowhere to be found in the consciousness of people.
As far as I can tell, almost everyone is losing in the war against consciousness, even including those who are waging that war.
*smiles*
you write "the idea that all there is, is consciousness" - from my perspective, the idea is consciousness, in action - no separation between the idea and the thinker, and the next thinker, even if it disagrees.
my understanding of the statement is that every Thing is consciousness, experiencing itself via infinite perspectives, infinite points-of-viewing, same source.
and, of course, we all identify as individuals, and maybe with other individuals who appear to think similarly, but in the end, it's all the same Source. I like these words,
just think, all that "science" has dreamed up, was dreamed centuries before, by supposedly "simple" primitive cultures. . . you have to laugh!!
"just think, all that "science" has dreamed up, was dreamed centuries before, by supposedly "simple" primitive cultures. . . you have to laugh!! "
I am always amazed that just because we have metal flying machines, computers and central heat we think we are so much more superior to everyone else who came before us. Intellectual arrogance writ large.
Knowledge is power and the art of massive mind control is tied to the ability to selectively disseminate knowledge. And the best way to do so is by way of misdirection.
Only the inner core ever sees the big picture and even then it is on a need to know basis.
science is moving in the right direction, just not the science obama enjoys. but he is a just a mortal tong in the fiery furnace of immortality... oooeee, i like that....
I discovered something very interesting, the 1871 "Chicago Fire" was not just a fire in Chicago, there were actually around 17 MAJOR fires across the Midwest over a period of days.
This is undoubtedly an "asteroid attack". I just discovered this today, although others have combined The Chicago, the Peshtigo, and Michigan fires. At least I discovered that today after my own research.
Check it out, this is cool, but a little scary.
http://nukeprofessional.blogspot.com/2013/03/meteor-coincidence-methinks...
And the bottom line, just like the Asteroid fly by and Russia meteor blowup, the powers that be WILL NOT warn you.
rocks flying through space are the powers to be, i like that
Thanks.
Good stuff.
I came across Edgar Cayce's writings and work when I was much younger.
50 years ago.
It speaks to the root of what you are getting at without being oriented from the direction you are approaching the subject.
A man's and a society's belief in the underlying reality of life colors everything.
Reality can't be changed but it can be denied.
This applies in all aspects, wouldn't you say?
It is self avident to those that are honest enough to admit it.
Whether it be politics, economics, science,religion etc.....
I am afraid that the world eventually forces men to be humble enough to admit these things and that humility often comes from hard times.
Anyway,
Thank you.
Thank you for your feedback.
The more I know the more I know that I do not know. And if my thinking does not raise more questions than it answers then I need better questions and much better thinking.
and if your thinking does not raise questions, you are not a Jeopardy contestant
"We moan and groan about the obvious insanity of our increasingly psychotic world, about the financial, political and corporate corruption, the blatant greed and endless lies and manipulation, all while remaining comfortably blind to its inner source. Wash, rinse and repeat as needed generation after generation after generation. It simply does not need to be this way. But then again maybe it does since to accept that the source of our torment springs from within means not only that we are the problem, but that we are the solution. No one left to blame then."
"In other words it is the journey, not the destination that matters. By challenging our core beliefs, by demanding of ourselves that we look where the emotional and intellectual pain lay, once we honestly begin to do so sweeping new vistas open up. I have no idea what you will find when you look, only that you will find what you are looking for if you are sincere and persistent in your search."
It has always been about the journey, touching others as you go by and allowing them to touch you...but what comes after, is the ultimate personal reward for a life well lived and what is left behind for others comfort & reflection.
Thoroughly enjoyed it CD.
"It has always been about the journey, touching others as you go by and allowing them to touch you...but what comes after, is the ultimate personal reward for a life well lived and what is left behind for others comfort & reflection."
When I was younger I thought I knew everything. Now I know that I know nothing and I'm hopefully a bit wiser for it. I am grateful to have been given a second chance to begin the journey all over again along with just enough humility to maybe make some progress this time. :)
Thanks for stopping by nmewn and leaving your touch behind.
Double post-my bad!
CD,
Your comment above reminded me of this quote:
"Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know -- and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. It is better to know -- even if the knowledge endures only for the moment that comes before destruction -- than to gain eternal life at the price of a dull and swinish lack of comprehension of a universe that swirls unseen before us in all its wonder. That was the choice of Achilles, and it is mine, too."
Isaac Asimov
I appreciate and enjoy your sharing with us this unique and keen perspective. Your progression through this "second journey" can be measured by the many who are impacted or inspired by their interaction with you. I can comfortably tell you that your writings have expanded my horizons, and for that I am grateful.
I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing. - Socrates
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdHp0FmEr78
You are most kind. I write to help flesh out my thoughts. While it is all in my mind everything is possible and nothing needs to be discounted. But once I begin to put it down on electronic paper the deep flaws and gaps are obvious. This is where I try to refine my thinking and find greater understanding.
Then the best part happens. I post on Zero Hedge and I obtain a large variety of feedback. No longer is there just the echo chamber of my mind. My best learning takes place in the comment section here on ZH.
"In my opinion it is essential to understand that everything is a construct of our consciousness ..."
My favourite way to approach that is through a simple reversal of the mistaken presumption which is at the foundation of ALL of our current scientific world view, namely, the basic ways that we understand almost everything these days is as energy systems, since the original science of thermodynamics was extrapolated into information theory, and throughout that range almost everything that is anything is included. The two basic principles of thermodynamics were discovered to be energy is conserved while entropy appears to be constantly increasing. Almost everything within our current scientific understanding is perceived within that frame of reference.
So here is the catch:
When the original entropy equations were formulated, an ARBITRARY MINUS SIGN WAS INSERTED, SO THAT THE VALUES WOULD END UP BEING POSITIVE, INSTEAD OF NEGATIVE.
Since thermodynamics extends through information theory, the same FUNDAMENTAL PHILOSOPHICAL ERROR extends throughout ALL our ideas about power and information! The mathematics itself says that all power and information are negative values. Some people did not like that, especially the original people doing the thermodynamics regarding the generation of power, and so, they ARBITRARILY inserted a minus sign in the entropy equation, so the measurements of power would have positive values, instead of negative values.
I invite the reader to contemplate the philosophical meaning of that ARROGANCE. I also will try to briefly hint at the ways that a reconciliation, or creative synthesis, of ancient mysticism within postmodernizing science becomes much more possible, after we correct that error within our entropy equations. After we do that, then, as ancient mystics always attempted to point out, (although this point may be too paradoxical for language), EVERYTHING WE "KNOW" IS ALWAYS A RELATIVE ILLUSION, OR A "LIE." Everything we do, using the power of some force to do it, we tend to understand BACKWARDS. Collectively we are currently inside of a Bizarro Mirror World Fun House, which we call our civilization. That civilization has reified some of the biggest epistemological errors possible, as well as systematized them.
I have amused myself for several decades with recasting science into forms that are more consistent with ancient mystical world views. All of my theories about monetary systems and economics have their roots back in that kind of synthesis. I find it interesting that the more advanced our sciences become, the more they become like ancient mysticism was. I tend to believe that we need much more of that kind of scientific spirituality in order to change our paradigms sufficiently, so that we could survive the other kinds of progress in various sciences and technologies, which are so obvious because the machines which were built on the basis of that understanding WORK! Of course, I feel that the absolutely most important areas that we ought to do that are with respect to militarism, which backs up the monetary system, which are the most important domains wherein we SHOULD BE "Reexamining our Worldview Mindset!"
After all, we DO have electronic fiat money, backed by atomic bombs, and therefore, it ought to be plainly obvious that nothing is more important to a technologically based society than the philosophy of science! The mainstream philosophy of science that is mostly taken for granted these days IS ARROGANT AND BACKWARDS!
Anyway, I regard that insight as being basic to understanding that human realities are ALWAYS organized systems of lies, operating organized robberies. That is the view which is consistent with a truer science, which has not had its meaning arbitrarily inverted. Almost all of the ideas inside our sciences stay the same, but the covers of the whole book were on backward, and upside down. Of course, that kind of paradigm shift then runs throughout the understanding of our monetary system, which has become triumphant legalized fraud, backed by force. ALL of that is understood by our mainstream society in ways which are profoundly backwards. If we perceive energy as spirit, and that all divisions of that are relative subtractions, and then we have the concepts to approach understanding the unfinished processes of robberies, which are all our economic activities.
P.S.
While I have found Sheldrake's ideas very interesting, I still find them relatively superficial. What I believe science should do is reconverge back with ancient mysticism, from which it began. Of course, that means we accept grand paradoxes as being inherent in the nature of language itself.
P.P.S.
I have spent decades collecting all the radical paradigm shifts in these respects that I have ever been able to find, and here is a link to one of my current favourites:
http://www.thunderbolts.info/wp/
(Which I just noticed that CogD. just also linked above, in a reply.)
Time to be a cognitive dissident.
killer meme right there.
I think the original meaning of 'science' was 'that which is known.
This makes it absolutely separate from religion.
I think the article had no numbers in it, which is both how and why it is inelegant, and therefore wrong, and unworthy of sentient beings' attention.
"...The third and currently accepted explanation is an extension of this second one. Feynman proposed that the photon-as-probability traveled every possible path, and therefore through both slits. Each path is given an equation, and we “sum over” all these equations. If we sum over in the correct way, we achieve interference.
Now, admittedly this is a clever mathematical solution. Feynman was a master of clever mathematical solutions, and this is one of his best. Mathematically it works. But it is not a physical or mechanical solution. It is a mathematical solution. Feynman was not so much a physicist as he was a mathematician that had invaded the physics department (the same could be said of most modern physicists). In his own way, Feynman admitted this. He did not admit to being an invader, but he admitted that his solution was only mathematical. He knew as well as anyone that it wasn’t physical, by the old definition of physics. He got around this by claiming that new physics was and must be mathematical only, since there was no possible mechanical solution.
He was wrong, as I will prove very quickly. His math works precisely because there is a physical reality underlying his probabilities. Probabilities are not the causa sui, the cause of themselves. It is illogical—even as a piece of mathematics—to propose that probabilities are spontaneously generated, or that they are primary generators. No, they must be generated by a real field. Even in pure mathematics, probabilities are always secondary numbers, produced by an underlying field of numbers. A field of probabilities cannot be a foundational field. They therefore cannot take the place of a physical field.
What foundational field of numbers is creating the probabilities in this experiment? The answer is: the foundational E/M field. In every analysis of this problem and this experiment to date, the analysts have over-simplified the problem. They have assumed, without even putting the assumption into words, that the experiment is taking place in a sort of void or vacuum.
" ... miles mathis.
http://milesmathis.com/double.html
You make me laugh, logicalman! The history of science was it started as mutant religion, like religion started as mutant mysticism.
There are no fundamental dichotomies. We are always only dreaming with data. Those dreams are our axioms, which are expanded by the data, but which otherwise are basic, like poetry being human itself. Anyone who thinks science is separate from religion should look more at Thomas Kuhn's book on the Structure of Scientific Revolutions, and similar works.
Logic only works within an established story, to solve the intellectual puzzles presented within that story. Changing stories, or having a different dream, is necessary before data can enter that dreaming process. There are no literal truths, only different degrees of metaphorical truths.
There are no literal truths ...
If you ever need a doctor to help save your life after a serious heart-attack, you will hope feverently then that the doctor is very well acquainted with a number of literal truths. Metaphorical truths can't save your life in such a situation. Only literal truths can. Like, you are literally bleeding to death and they need some very literal clamps to place on your blood vessels to literally stop the literal flow of blood out of your body.
It looks like you did not understand or agree with anything this article said, RichardP?
There are no literal truths because there can be no independent observer. The flow of energy and matter develops through a relative series of toroidal vortices, which have relative boundaries, although those manifest from infinite loops. Your "literal truths" require a whole bunch of common sense, not the least of which is having learned the English language. The ideas that "you" have body, which circulated blood, are all overwhelming common sense to us, here and now. But nevertheless, those are still just dreams, with data. Of course, the much more relatively reinforced dreams appear to become literal truths. The strongest of metaphorical truths tend to be those about our own body. However, those are still just phenomena, manifesting through an unknowable noumenon.
Everything we "know," including anything about ourselves, are parts subtracted from a Whole we can not know.
Things we take for granted now were NOT by other people in other times.
E.g.
The heart-as-pump theory started with William Harvey 1627 or so, who came up with theory that the reason that blood circulates is that the heart pumps it through circulation. (He's been known as the “Father of Cardiology” ever since.)
http://www.lifeisapalindrome.com/content/heart-not-pump-tom-cowan-md
To throw out just one factoid, the heart has the strongest center of magnetic field in the human body. ... One can easily go down that rabbit hole as far as mentioned by Sheldrake, in the article above, and then may go on much further, as hinted at in that article I linked just above. The ideas that people had about the heart, as well as still in most common use of language regarding the word "heart," were quite different for different people, living in different places and times. The common sense English language that you use regarding the "heart" are constructions made during your life, in your situation. Even the most basic common sense things, that most people would agree are literally true, are still nothing more than that.
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Stuart_Mill
As John Stuart Mill was famous for pointing out:
"Ages are no more infallible than individuals; every age having held many opinions which subsequent ages have deemed not only false but absurd; and it is as certain that many opinions, now general, will be rejected by future ages, as it is that many, once general, are rejected by the present."
IT IS BACKWARDS TO BELIEVE THERE CAN BE ANY FINITE LITERAL TRUTH.
The only "TRUTH" is the whole universe, of universes, at once, which is infinitely overwhelming white noise and white light.
Any finite, literal truth, such at that you or I exist, and have bodies, which contain blood, etc., are all relative subtractions. All those relative subtractions, no matter how much data ever informs that dream, are still relative metaphorical truths. Common sense, experienced and expressed through the English language, is merely more relative metaphorical truths, which have relatively more data to inform those dreams.
The only absolute truths are always paradoxical, as the frontiers of science have found out.
No better languages, such as found in some better mathematics, ever can get on past that!
the heart is not a pump, the nucleus is not a brain.
(remember that one, blindman?)
nice quote by Rudolf Steiner in that link:
“Central governments will kill us all.”
damn, i don't remember it, but i like the sound of it
and agree, "the heart is not a pump, the nucleus is not a brain."
from that bruce lipton youtube you linked way back when
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnmaiWWZ3fc
the biology of perception
There is no denying the practical applications of materials science. No doubt whatsoever. I most definitely want a very competent doctor when blood is gushing or the heart ain't pumping.
Where 'we' go wrong is when we wish to believe that materials science must be applied in all aspects of our lives, when it becomes the fundamental basis for our worldview mindset.
Use math please. It is the language of science.
there is no greater "scientific experiment" than this one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle#Heisenberg.27s_micros...
while certainly appearing difficult to understand my view of the Uncertainty Principle is that "since humans are doing the recognizing there will be error"...and at the microscopic level indeed Heisenberg's "theory" (more of an empirical "fact" or "observation of human observation techniques") has been proven to be true. my one and only interest in the study of the arts and sciences begins...and ends...Rousseau. He posited simply "if humans discover a more effective way for something to work/function/be then the less of a moral component to such an activity the better." In other words "if the purposes is to do bad the human race will be all for it." Everything else "is merely propaganda." (aka "the easy part.) those following that "vein" to which i subscribe to talk in terms of "excesses" and "extremes" (what Hegel called a "Dialectical Approach") the human race will go to in order to find what is clearly to all a faulty theory "in order to make the theory actually work." For this we have Kant, Hegel, Marx...ultimately Nietze and the "ubermensch" or "Super Man." in short "if it's a grand delusion that we are made to believe in it sure is a good one." the one item verboten in this modern "lingua electronica" is GUILT. one is not to portray FEELING--bad, sorry, indifferent-- for then people might begin to question the whole "reality of the un-reality" of it all. (in other words the images on the screen are designed to make YOU feel something...and NOT to let the viewer know what you think/feel/are ashamed to say/etc...etc) Now let me be specific and relate it to "the science of bubble creation" since there seems an ethos afoot that "one need only wave a wand and PRESTO...what we got here is another wonderful tulip mania only this time in Light Bulbs!" nay, veerily...certain constructs must exist for there to be an "internet 3.0" our financializers in chief so much want to us have in order "to pay for everything." one thing they do have going for them is an economic system built, designed, geared and DRIVEN towards creating such a reality in the first place. (I phone anyone?) my view is simple: without God from whence come the growth to fuel your Vast Speculations? You see "once you seek refuge in Government" the buck truly does stop there. this is a great article...love it, look forward to more....but when you ask people "what they want" they tell you: REALITY. I'll tell you what they REALLY want though...they want OBJECTIVE reality...so indeed "there is no greater truth in science than confirmation bias" as "how does one set one's "self" out of one's self? That's why "go with the crowd" is how Wall Street actually works/doesn't work. I don't know why i love this clip from Star Trek so much..."the personalization of financial catastrophe"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3c9wtbQTZ4 especially with the predictable "arrival of the authorities to set us all straight in our logic" having said that it all ends the same way too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1xdGCvNMEY if only we had as good a soundtrack to that destruction of our Enterprise. Nay, veerily..."we seem dumbfounded buy/by/bye it all" this time around. What in Japan they famously called "Shocku" back when their "bubble economy" was "blown away." the Bible says "don't ever look back" lest we be turned into sand. and so we go...Forward...into "our next vast speculation"...with the refrain this time around "where's the money in it"? i mean the purpose of bursting the bubble in the first place is to create a more "sensible" basis for the economy "going forward" is it not? Well Alan Greenspan..."where is it"? I mean history does take note "your predecessor is doing the exact opposite of what you did...and you aren't complaining." if you're searching for the words...the MEANing of it all...well...here's a good example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g25G1M4EXrQ
The uncertainty principle pops out of solving the fundamental equation of modern physics, the schoedinger equation, for any given physical situation. It also bears out 100% of the time, even making seemingly preposterous predictions turn out to be right, and sometimes very useful, to humans. Got a transistor? Thank quantum physics. And so on and on. It explains the periodic table. And chemistry.
It involves math. The solutions look like probabality amplitude waves. The simplest physical systems systems involve solving a second order partial differential equation in three dimensions of space plus one of time. The math wraps together some of the nasty bits of vector calculus, probabiliity and statistics, and differential equations.
Talking about it is folly. You have to do the math.
Never forget that the Universe doesn't do math - only humans, who cleverly discovered that math provides an aproximation to what seems to be occuring in nature...
The huge error in scientific arrogance is to conflate mathematics to reality - math is only a tool, a weak tool at that. God did not say "E=mc2" and there was light - Einstein did and he is dead now.
doing the math, as you say, leads to a conclusion i want to ignore (as in intentional ignorance).
i do need to get through the day...
We all practice some form of select collective denial in order to exist within the insanity. This helps to perpetuate the insanity and it makes us ever more insane ourselves.