anthropology – An Autonomous Agent

Massive Crater and Younger Dryas

anautonomousagent — Wed, 02 Jan 2019 03:58:52 +0000

Bright Insight did a concise summary of this news and its potential implications. Worth the watch. Staggering, can you even imagine what an object ten billion tons traveling at 12 miles per second… does to an ice sheet two miles thick. Also consider this article on meteorite strew fields in order to understand that this event could have had multiple impact sites which could be related to the formation of the Carolina Bays.

The 12,000 Year old Comet that Landed on TEDTalks…and Erased Ancient Civilization – Greenland Crater

Casual Randall Carlson

anautonomousagent — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 04:41:03 +0000

Randall Carlson does a nice job explaining subjects which would otherwise be incredibly dense. I especially enjoyed this entire series: Cosmography 101. In this series he points out that ancient humans around the time of the last ice age appear to have been cosmographists. With this in mind he explores various scenarios of what might have occurred based on geological evidence. Once you finish hearing what Carlson presents I am certain you will know more than you wanted about the Younger Dryas. You will also encounter many comprehensive descriptions of comets and asteroids. Unfortunately for Carlson, his ideas on the events of the last ice age are an anathema to some of the worlds popular ideologies: those who hold a religious based on the Bible’s account of a supernatural guiding force and those who hold a scientific view based on gradualism. If you maintain a religious understanding, then the proof that these historical events occurred through purely physical interactions between material things following mathematical laws, then you will most likely close your attention to the evidence immediately. The same refusal will occur by those scientifically oriented who think their already correct view of this time era is true and scientifically valid. Dare to be challenged?

Randall Carlson YouTube Lectures

Paul Stamets Videos

anautonomousagent — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 01:42:54 +0000

Paul Stamets speaks about the power and importance of mushrooms:

Younger Stamets talking about Psilocybin Mushrooms:

Great Lecture about Fungi:

Mushrooms as medicine for humans (and bees!):

Steps to an Ecology of Mind – Gregory Bateson

anautonomousagent — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 17:24:53 +0000

The papers, essays, and lectures contained in Steps to an Ecology of Mind showcase Gregory Bateson’s incredibly unique perspective. Due to the wide range of discussion within this collection, it is very difficult to write a concise summary. There are a few points which made a lasting impact in my mind.

He explains the levels of learning and how the animal mind can “learn about learning” and “think about thinking”; concerning humans – they can reach a third and possibly fourth level in this learning recursion hierarchy. He discusses this in the context of various subjects: anthropology, psychology, evolution, information, ecology, cybernetics and epistomoglogy in general.

He emphasizes that western science should adjust the way it thinks about relationship and form and discusses how these are relavant to the study of matter and energy. He questions the western conception of mammalian emotions, aesthetics, and the ego-self. On several occasions I found myself with the desire to re-read Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter. Both books I think contain some overlap in their treatment of information and the mind. Overall, Bateson was an incredible thinker and you will improve your intellect by reading this collection of work.

Millennium – David Maybury-Lewis

anautonomousagent — Sun, 21 Feb 2016 04:13:05 +0000

Millennium is a powerful and inspiring documentary series with David Maybury-Lewis.

Magicians of the Gods – Graham Hancock

anautonomousagent — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 02:02:14 +0000

In Magicians of the Gods, Graham Hancock presents the hypothesis that a civilization existed and prospered sometime either before or during the Younger Dryas. Whoever these people were, their society was wiped out due to the cataclysm of The Flood. The same flood mentioned by almost every historical culture on every continent. This comet struck the polar ice cap in the northern hemisphere; the resulting impact vaporized an enormous amount of water, leading to flooding and climate disruption. It was either this initial impact or perhaps related events which caused massive worldwide displacement in the ocean’s sea levels. The reason we have little archaeological evidence, as Hancock suggests, is due to the rise in sea level which totally submerged all structures. Additionally, there have been few thorough searches in likely locations due to the disbelief of modern institutions. Hancock proposes that a likely location would be the Indonesian subcontinent, which around the Younger Dryas time was vastly larger and contained numerous river basins and plains.

It is fascinating to learn that the debris stream of this comet could be the source of the Taurid meteor stream. There is even evidence that a bigger chunk of the comet lurks in this Earth crossing debris field.

The entire book is littered with footnotes and source references. Hancock did a lot of research and it shows. Like all human theories, I am sure some parts of it will be dis-proven while other parts shown to be entirely correct. As researchers continue to investigate underwater ruins and the mysterious underwater past of Indonesia becomes unraveled, we may indeed find evidence which requires a total renewal of our understanding of human history.

Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge – Jeremy Narby

anautonomousagent — Wed, 11 Nov 2015 01:47:09 +0000

I learned of Jeremy Narby’s book Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge while reading Graham Hancock’s book, Supernatural. The ideas present within both books are incredible. DNA may be an extra-terrestrial biotechnology. Of course, you don’t have to read these books to come to that conclusion. Narby further suggests that DNA actually has a mysterious way to communicate with the conscious awareness of all life, especially after the consumption of various consciousness altering molecules. It is through this alteration of the brain that life is able to receive a mysterious informational signal from DNA. Even if his hypothesis turns out to be false, the sheer intellectual creativity of Narby’s work deserves praise. As wild as that sounds, it really would not be surprising given the complexity and probability arguments presented by the panspermia supporters (Francis Crick for instance and also see: The “Wow! signal” of the terrestrial genetic code.

Supernatural – Graham Hancock

anautonomousagent — Sat, 07 Nov 2015 11:53:10 +0000

Graham Hancock’s book Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind is a great synthesis of various ideas regarding the origin of religion, the visions of shamans, UFO encounters, DMT, elves, fairies and other supernatural phenomenon. I recently read Rick Strassman’s DMT: The Spirit Molecule and Alan Shoemaker’s Ayahuasca Medicine. Thus, I had background knowledge on some of these subjects. This did not prepare me for the incredible connections made by Hancock.

Some of Hancock’s previous books, like Heavens Mirror, Fingerprints of Gods, Sign and Seal, and Underworld, I read and enjoyed more than seven years ago. I saw Supernatural when it came out in mid 2000’s, but I was not interested. At the time I thought, “Clearly Hancock has gone too far into the abyss of crazy.” It took me more than ten years to mature and discover the greatness of this work. I must say that Hancock does an incredible job and I can not wait to read his newest book, releasing in a few days. Supernatural has the power to shape your perceptions of reality and everything you thought you knew and understood. It is not to be taken lightly and I would suggest first reading Strassman’s DMT: The Spirit Molecule and perhaps even Jeremy Narby’s The Cosmic Serpent.

A Few Talks by Terence McKenna

anautonomousagent — Sun, 13 Sep 2015 01:19:16 +0000

I only recently started listening and reading the ideas of Terence McKenna. His communication skill and talks do a great deal to guide the mind to new planes of thought and his experiences are fascinating to say the least. Do a search on YouTube; a few I enjoyed:

Eros and the Eschaton “What Science Forgot”

Time and the I Ching

Opening the Doors of Creativity

Talk about Cannabis

Terence McKenna’s True Hallucinations

Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes – Savnte Pääbo

anautonomousagent — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 16:20:28 +0000

The ability to take a bone from a Neanderthal who lived tens of thousands of years ago and extract genetic information about that individual boarders on the unbelievable. Yet, if you read Savnte Pääbo’s book, Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes, you will find out how such an achievement was made possible. The book provides a well written account of the journey Pääbo and his team took to ensure that our society would be able to learn about our ancient biological relatives — the Neanderthal, and more recently, the Denisovan.

My own genome, according to 23andMe has an estimated 2.8% from the Neanderthal genome — putting me in the 65th percentile. My father has an estimated 3.0%, which puts him in the 87th percentile. Entire DNA composition posted here. Even though I think I will have a low percentage, I hope 23andMe decides to include the Denisovan estimate in the future.