ON A RESONANCE THEORY OF THOUGHT AND SPIRITUALITY

Karl Jaspers Forum ^ | August 21, 2001 | Varadaraja V. Raman

[betty boop]

Am writing an article on the physical basis of consciousness, and invite FReeper input in regard to all questions of evidence and method.

This article from Prof. Raman is an extraordinarily elegant outline of where I think I want to go with this. Your feedback is invited and much appreciated!

[betty boop]

Your help with this is so appreciated!

[tet68]

Just remember the Mantra, and you'll be fine.

Don't have a Mantra?
No need to worry, we have all kinds. Come on down to
USED MANTRA WAREHOUSE. TM tm.personel continually
bring their old mantras in and get new ones,
Take advantage of this naturally occuring process.
Their loss is YOUR gain!
Just follow this thread back down to the primal depths
of your conscience, there somewhere between this life and the last you'll find,.....USED MANTRA WAREHOUSE !!

Actually this is a good thread, I'll follow it.

[JimVT]

But a PTF cannot be transmitted from one brain to another without a material medium, such as sound, writing, signs, etc.

An excellent treatise.

I have to disagree with the quote above.

I have had more than one experience of knowing what someone else was thinking...relatives, friends and strangers.

[The Radical Capitalist]

"(b) Every thought generated in the brain creates its own particular thought field (PTF)."

Which is why I never go anywhere without my tin-foil hat.

[VadeRetro]

My sister would like this, but then she liked the sixties better than I did. She named one of her cats "Arjuna" after the Baghavad Gita character.

[mfulstone]

Try this http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/hameroff/

[RightWhale]

Thought is one aspect of the mental phenomena. What else is there to confuse the issue? Memory, consciousness, reflection, self-awareness, forethought, opinion, intention, feelings, and a little, probably unimportant sub-phenomenon: thought eventually moves muscles and machines.

[RightWhale]

I have had more than one experience of knowing what someone else was thinking

We all have. But you knew I would state that.

[ALS]

Impressive work and sure to change the face of science forever! Because of that, expect swift resistance to change from the industry.

After-thoughts: The Uncertainty Principle meets her long lost cousin? The fly in the I-Thought-I-ment? Propagation of the id?

[betty boop]

....thought eventually moves muscles and machines.

Hold that thought, RightWhale. May God bless you for noticing that what we think can have actual physical impact on the world around us, natural/physical and social/special.

IMHO FWIW this is precisely the question that thinking people need to be thinking about, these days.

[Ichneumon]

Impressive work and sure to change the face of science forever!

Your confidence in new-agey suppositions is awe-inspiring.

If you like that one there are at least a hundred more like it in any New Age "library", including variations pinning their imaginations on crystals, photons, quantum fields, ghosts, karma, Universal spirit, chakras, chi, psi, Akashic record, magick, archetypes, the stars, auras, etc.

So far, they've all been remarkably unsuccessful at "changing the face of science forever".

[betty boop]

Actually this is a good thread, I'll follow it.

Truly I hope you will tet68. You are an important presence at this table, and I welcome your thoughts and the benefit of your experience at all times.

[Shanty Shaker]

Only to the extent of the parameters defined by previous experience could you know these things.

[js1138]

I keep wondering what possible difference there could be between something that can interact with the physical and something that is physical.

[ALS]

Let me get this straight. You are telling us you suddenly found Jesus?

Or is it more like you see another threat to your evo-religion. You should embrace all science, and if you really were interested in true science, you would be ecstatic to see your theory of choice be subjected to any and all falsifications.

History is strewn with beard tugging scoffers that held up the progress of humanity because they were so entrenched in their own industry they viewed anything else as a threat.

That ain't science, bud.

[betty boop]

But a PTF cannot be transmitted from one brain to another without a material medium, such as sound, writing, signs, etc.

You wrote you didn't like this, Jim; though you were inclined to be sympathetic with the statement of the argument "up 'til then".

When I read this piece for the first time, instantly (just as you did), I flashed on the problem of brain-to-brain trasnmission, as presently described by state-of-the-art science. Yet suffice it to say that presently the public record reports a vast variety of "brain experiences" that cannot be explained at all by present scientific methods.

Thinking the problem through further, the man did say "sign" is as valid a mode of communication as language, writing, et al. He hasn't shut the door on your concern at all.

I hope we can explore such questions on this thread, and that you would be willing to contribute your insights.

[wwcj]

Can you clarify the connection of "spirituality", in "ON A RESONANCE THEORY OF THOUGHT AND SPIRITUALITY." I'm not sure if you use the word to explain the "unseen" or what?

[betty boop]

I keep wondering what possible difference there could be between something that can interact with the physical and something that is physical.

Because not to see the difference between them is to deny a fundamental truth of reality -- which is, the two terms never were equivalent in the first place. They describe two distinct, fundamental orders of being, whose mutual relation makes possible the universe in which we live and move and have our being.

Since the ancient Greeks, the two orders have been described as the "physical" and the "noetic" (from nous, mind, reason). To certain Greeks, mind was omnipresent in all aspects of universal nature.

I regard that as a classical cultural clue that it might be profitable for us humans to revisit and consider these days. Especially given the presently-prevailing objective condition of general cultural disorder and mayhem.

Can't say more now. Thanks so much for sharing your view, js1138.

[wwcj]

BettyBoop, there is one key element that is missing here. But it hinges on your reply to my first response.