cosmic – An Autonomous Agent

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

Cosmic Apprentice: Dispatches from the Edges of Science – Dorion Sagan

anautonomousagent — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 23:31:00 +0000

Being a huge fan of Carl Sagan’s books, I was delightfully surprised when I found that his son, Dorion Sagan, is a prolific writer on the subjects of science, philosophy, and evolution. The first of his works which I decided to read is entitled Cosmic Apprentice: Dispatches from the Edges of Science. For a good review see Maria Popova’s review here. I loved reading the book and I look forward to reading more of Sagan’s writings.

Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe – Robert Lanza and Bob Berman

anautonomousagent — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 21:57:00 +0000

I recently finished Robert Lanza’s book, Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe. While understanding the true nature of the universe is a bold claim, I think there is validity to the perspective of biocentrism based on my own experiences and knowledge. The book kept me thinking and my head spinning. My mind constantly wondered, thinking about the consequences and possible applications of the principles of biocentrism.

Lanza’s theory of biocentrism has seven principles (source):

What we perceive as reality is a process that involves our consciousness. An “external” reality, if it existed, would by definition have to exist in space. But this is meaningless, because space and time are not absolute realities but rather tools of the human and animal mind.

Our external and internal perceptions are inextricably intertwined. They are different sides of the same coin and cannot be divorced from one another.

The behavior of subatomic particles, indeed all particles and objects, is inextricably linked to the presence of an observer. Without the presence of a conscious observer, they at best exist in an undetermined state of probability waves.

Without consciousness, “matter” dwells in an undetermined state of probability. Any universe that could have preceded consciousness only existed in a probability state.

The structure of the universe is explainable only through biocentrism. The universe is fine-tuned for life, which makes perfect sense as life creates the universe, not the other way around. The “universe” is simply the complete spatio-temporal logic of the self.

Time does not have a real existence outside of animal-sense perception. It is the process by which we perceive changes in the universe.

Space, like time, is not an object or a thing. Space is another form of our animal understanding and does not have an independent reality. We carry space and time around with us like turtles with shells. Thus, there is no absolute self-existing matrix in which physical events occur independent of life.

Jason Silva Videos

anautonomousagent — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:49:00 +0000

Jason Silva creates some incredible philosophical videos. He is noted for reiterating Timothy Leary’s description of the computer and internet as the LSD of the 90’s. And his short clips are intended to be such a psychedelic experience. Really great; as most of them are based on many of the books and ideas posted in this blog. Be sure to watch his videos:

Jason Silva on Vimeo

Jason Silva on YouTube

Here is Jason Silva’s film rendition of the strange loop from Hofstadter’s Godel, Escher, Bach.

Energy – Stardust – Consciousness

anautonomousagent — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 02:58:00 +0000

Quote from Edgar Mitchell:

“I realized that the molecules of my body and the molecules of the spacecraft had been manufactured in an ancient generation of stars. It wasn’t just intellectual knowledge — it was a subjective visceral experience accompanied by ecstasy — a transformational experience.

(…)

The experience in space was so powerful that when I got back to Earth I started digging into various literatures to try to understand what had happened. I found nothing in science literature but eventually discovered it in the Sanskrit of ancient India. The descriptions of samadhi, Savikalpa samadhi, were exactly what I felt: it is described as seeing things in their separateness, but experiencing them viscerally as a unity, as oneness, accompanied by ecstasy.”

The previous quote from Mitchell reminded me that what we see, hear, feel, taste, and smell originated in a stellar explosion more than five billion years ago. However, I think we can look back even further; when all matter in the universe was in a single sea of energy. We are all of such form and substance. Can we look back even further?

But tracing back our origins to the first stars suffers as a mental process. The neurons in our brain store such information and understanding as electrical impulses. Neurons acting in complex patterns inside our brain produce such visions of the past. Our emotions stimulate their acceptance and development. In effect, these thought processes only show our continual ignorance. Me, writing about this very idea seems to be in direct opposition to what I am trying to say. There seems to be an infinitude of ignorance and a strange loop of never ending information. For it seems simple to imagine the universe as only a manifestation of these information patterns. Perhaps the only solution is to accept ignorance and live. Or maybe there is a single source of information from which all information flows which we will eventually discover. Or, as I suggest, the only answer is to read Godel, Escher, Bach over and over until your eyes are sore. But, throughout history, spiritual enlightenment has been the provider of such answers. Living through a religion in ignorance provides the simple answer to the universe. A religion allows us to stop asking questions; to stop searching for the answer. This raises the question: Can science be considered a religion?

Threyda Picture

anautonomousagent — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:09:00 +0000

Interesting website called Threyda with some wild and cosmic pictures available for sale.

The Way of Zen – Alan Watts

anautonomousagent — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:14:00 +0000

The Way of Zen, by Alan Watts, introduces the western mind to the ideas of Zen. The book does a great job, almost as good as any Zen master. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Zen and its history.

Alan Watts

anautonomousagent — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 22:08:00 +0000

I want to share a bunch of video/audio recordings of Alan Watts. Here are the links:

Playlist 1

Playlist 2

Hofstadter’s Butterfly

anautonomousagent — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 21:08:00 +0000

Hofstadter’s Butterfly, what a beautiful self-repeating pattern! Discovered by Douglas Hofstadter.

Credit

The God Particle – Leon Lederman

anautonomousagent — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 20:39:00 +0000

Probably my favorite book by Leon Lederman, The God Particle provides a fascinating summary of modern physics accessible to all readers. Anyone interested in understanding the Standard Model should check out this book. In fact, this book should be read by any student beginning a course in physics.

Standard Model: