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Category: Douglas Hofstadter (Page 1 of 2)

Tales of Wonder: Adventures Chasing the Divine – Huston Smith

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On March 7, 2014

In alan watts, aldous huxley, biography, book, buddhism, China, Douglas Hofstadter, eastern, francisco varela, huston smith, joseph campbell, mystery, religion, science, stuart Kauffman, thich nhat hanh, universe

I was introduced to the works of Alan Watts by a meditation teacher about three years ago. Since then, I have been interested in mysticism, cognition, Buddhism, and scientism. Don’t ask me why, but these subjects just captivate me. I have been reading the works of various authors such as Douglas Hofstadter, Thich Nhat Hanh, Joseph Campbell, Stuart Kauffman, Francisco Varela, and Jiddu Krishnamurti; but what am I trying to learn; WHY?

Probably, this question will never be answered, but being only 23, I have barely began to experience the reality these authors seek to understand. I can live this reality and hopefully discover something worth telling others. Anyway, besides reading, Yoga and meditation have been my most direct experiences with the spiritual nature of the mind and universe. And just a few days ago I watched a video with Huston Smith. He makes me want to travel the world and experience other cultures. I have started reading his autobiography, Tales of Wonder: Adventures Chasing the Divine. Smith appears to be a fascinating individual and I think that I have much to learn from him. Perhaps you have read Smith? If not, I highly suggest that you do.

Jason Silva Videos

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On March 27, 2013

In art, Bach, consciousness, cosmic, cosmos, Douglas Hofstadter, escher, Godel, infinity imagined, jason silva, philosophy, strange loop, timothy leary, universe, video, youtube

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

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On March 20, 2013

In Bach, biology, buddhism, consciousness, cosmic, cosmos, Douglas Hofstadter, escher, Godel, india, information theory, religion, samadhi, thoughts, universe

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?

Inherited Consciousness?

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On February 15, 2013

In consciousness, Douglas Hofstadter, edward wilson, philosophy, thoughts, universe

After reading Edward O. Wilson‘s On Human Nature, several opinions and ideas formed; I think the spiritual and universal awareness/wisdom of humans follows a distribution function (perhaps Gaussian). In other words all humans are not born with the same potential to be aware of deeper concepts and principles. Some individuals are not able to comprehend universal ideas and principles of life; while others are deeply in tune with the essence of the universe. This awareness would seem to be genetic. I say that because there have been people in all cultures throughout history who have possessed such spiritual and universal wisdom. Also, no amount of cultural teaching will allow one to obtain such wisdom. We are simply born with a high potential or low potential and this expresses itself naturally.

Thus, there is not an object equally inherited by all humans which we could call a “soul” or consciousness. Individual humans are conscious or aware of the universe in varying degrees. This is related to the origin of consciousness. Was there an Adam, i.e. a first human who was conscious? Have organisms always been conscious to a certain degree, depending on various factors? Could we consider the universe itself conscious? Interesting ideas. I would suggest reading Douglas Hofstadter‘s book about strange loops and other books on consciousness here.

How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed – Ray Kurzweil

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On January 8, 2013

In artificial intelligence, biology, book, brain, computer, consciousness, dna, Douglas Hofstadter, evolution, ray kurzweil, science

I think one of the next books I read will be Ray Kurzweil’s How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed. The book was recently published and Kurzweil has been known to produce some interesting ideas. In fact, I am planning to read a few of his other books as well.

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