Monthly Archives: August 2014

Awareness (A Poem for Michael Graziano)

Posted on August 25, 2014 by

Still pond of attention. Frog speaks to it, announces it, jumps in. Reverberations. Loops. Interferences. A deep dive. Frog’s breath bubbles. Pops. Poet sees it, represents it, announces it, jumps in.

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Uncertainty v. Certainty (or Bayes’ Rule v. the Bible)

Posted on August 24, 2014 by

What’s the major premise I live my life from? I’m not outside the system I’m trying to explain, I’m inside it; I’m an evolved primate in a vast and ancient cosmos. That’s my existential situation. I can’t get a God’s … Continue reading →

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Michael Graziano: Awareness Is “A Schematic Description Of Attention”

Posted on August 19, 2014 by

Michael Graziano teaches neuroscience at Princeton, and his theory of consciousness sounds plausible to me. No woo, with a sound explanation for how and why evolution would have brought it into existence in the first place (as a schematic modeling device … Continue reading →

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A Very Zennie Ad Slogan: “You’re Here. The Hard Part is Over.”

Posted on August 16, 2014 by

Saw an ad slogan this morning that said, “You’re here. The hard part is over,” and thought, “Wow, that strikes me as very Zen!” What I was thinking of is what zennies (Zen hippies) call “spontaneous Buddha mind.” The groovy … Continue reading →

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What I Believe

Posted on August 10, 2014 by

I’m an agnostic. No superstitions. No spooks. I think there’s one world. No evidence for minds apart from brains. The form of theism that seems vaguely plausible to me is simple deism. I think it’s logically possible that there is … Continue reading →

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The Stockholm Syndrome and Religion

Posted on August 9, 2014 by

The Stockholm Syndrome is where love and threat are coming from the same source; it’s a form of hostage taking, and it’s what religions do emotionally with people when they make God the source of love and acceptance if you … Continue reading →

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Two Pens Are Better Than One: Why I Write

Posted on August 4, 2014 by

For me, I get writing energy from other people, responding to what they have to say (or to questions they might pose). If they respond again in turn, I hope to be surprised by the angle they take in the … Continue reading →

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