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"I Know I'm Right, So Why Be Fair?"

posted by Deepak Chopra on January 11, 2008 at 09:25 AM

Below is an article forwarded to me by its author, the noted biologist and evolutionary thinker, Rupert Sheldrake. It's about an encounter with the equally noted biologist and evolutionary thinker, Richard Dawkins. The subject isn't atheism, Dawkins' last hobby horse, but reason and science. Under the guise of an interview for a television series, Sheldrake found himself sandbagged by Dawkins' personal polemics (an experience more than one of us has had when called upon to represent views contrary to Dawkins, only to find them distorted and mocked once the film has been edited, and without a chance for rebuttal, of course).

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What is Enlightenment? A Scientific Perspective

posted by Avtar Singh on January 02, 2008 at 06:10 PM

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL AT IB!!

The question – “What is Enlightenment?” has often been asked during the recent IB posts. Because of the subjective nature of the process of enlightenment, the manifold existing answers or paths to enlightenment remain subjective to varying religious and mystic interpretations. The consciousness-integrated Holistic Relativity provides some illuminating answers.

Continue reading "What is Enlightenment? A Scientific Perspective"

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The War To End All Wars (For Real This Time)

posted by Deepak Chopra on December 31, 2007 at 02:35 PM

In the aftermath of World War I, the horror of that conflict gave rise to a slogan that quickly turned into a bitter irony. "The war to end all wars" was only a prelude to more of the same, if not worse, with the arrival of World War II. Now there's reason to resurrect the phrase, not as applied to the so-called war on terror but to global warming. If the war against climate change is to be won, it will require an era of unprecedented cooperation and the dropping of national boundaries. Some might say it would require a change in human nature itself. Conventional war isn't compatible with any of these things and must come to an end.

Continue reading "The War To End All Wars (For Real This Time)"

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The Brain Without Wires (Part 2)

posted by Deepak Chopra on December 28, 2007 at 10:18 AM

In popular understanding blind people are said to develop more acute senses in other areas, but recent research indicates that the brain may actually be able to substitute one sense for another. In the previous post the Brain Port device invented by Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita enables blind subjects to "see" by receiving pictures on their tongues. This substitution of touch for sight activates the visual cortex in their brains, so it's not a trick of mind over matter. Mind is altering matter.

Continue reading "The Brain Without Wires (Part 2)"

Continue reading "The Brain Without Wires"

The Brain Without Wires

posted by Deepak Chopra on December 24, 2007 at 09:34 AM

The notion that the human brain is "hard-wired" was a favorite theme even up to recently, because it helped explain how certain behaviors were determined by genes. We were told that depression, addiction, even obesity were not the result of choice or environment. Rather, these and a host of other behaviors were rooted in the brain and ultimately in a person's DNA.

Continue reading "Mother Earth: When Volcanoes Ruled the World"

Mother Earth: When Volcanoes Ruled the World

posted by Environmental Graffiti on December 19, 2007 at 01:51 AM

Welcome to the second post in Environmental Graffiti’s Mother Earth series.

volcano

Yesterday, we discussed the big bang to the formation of Earth as a planet. If you missed that article, check it out here. Today we travel back billions of years to a time when the Earth was young and volcanoes ruled the world.

Continue reading "Are Science & Spirituality Two Mutually Exclusive Pursuits? Part 3 Faith, Belief, and Rituals versus Enlightenment"

Are Science & Spirituality Two Mutually Exclusive Pursuits? Part 3 Faith, Belief, and Rituals versus Enlightenment

posted by Avtar Singh on December 16, 2007 at 09:53 AM

What is the difference between faith and belief? Are rituals and the so-called paths to enlightenments necessary? Are they effective? Consciousness-integrated science provides some answers.

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Are Science & Spirituality Two Mutually Exclusive Pursuits? Part 1

posted by Avtar Singh on December 09, 2007 at 05:48 PM

Probably a majority of people including the mainstream science as well as mainstream religion/spirituality would answer “Yes” to the question above. There is a widespread (mis)understanding that science is a pursuit of the mind while spirituality is a pursuit of the heart or soul. A consciousness-integrated science provides the answer that any presumed or perceived differences in science and religion/spirituality pursuits are mere artifacts of their respective incomplete mainstream approaches that ignore universal consciousness.

Continue reading "Are Science & Spirituality Two Mutually Exclusive Pursuits? Part 1"

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The Future of the Body (Part 4)

posted by Deepak Chopra on December 03, 2007 at 02:31 PM

Western medicine has proceeded on the assumption that the mind is intelligent but that the body isn't. In effect the body is a machine made of meat. This machine needs fixing at times, and being deviously complicated, with billions of interconnected parts, it has innumerable ways to break down. Medical research doesn't so much deny the body's intelligence as ignore it.

Continue reading "The Future of the Body (Part 4)"

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The Future of the Body (Part 3)

posted by Deepak Chopra on November 30, 2007 at 12:27 PM

Even as alternative medicine becomes more popular, it faces a huge challenge. Can it reliably replace or enhance conventional medicine? In earlier posts I sketched in the faults of conventional medicine, which are well known, in any case. I don't want to gloss over its triumphs, however.

Continue reading "The Future of the Body (Part 3)"

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The Future of the Body

posted by Deepak Chopra on November 23, 2007 at 11:20 AM

A tide of media articles over the past few years has made it clear that medicine is putting almost all its future hopes on genetics. But a small study from UCLA offers an intriguing alternative, one that could be just the tip of the iceberg. Researchers found that children and teenagers who described themselves as positive thinkers had higher thresholds of tolerance for pain. On the other hand, young subjects who had learned less positive coping skills (such as worrying about problems or turning to someone else for help) were less able to tolerate the application of pressure or heat to the skin, which was how pain was measured in the laboratory.

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Futile Pursuit of Material Happiness: Science of Happiness - Part 4

posted by Avtar Singh on November 18, 2007 at 05:38 PM

As the mind adapts to a newly acquired and desired level of material happiness, it no longer draws any happiness from the status quo and begins looking for more elsewhere. Material happiness is a mirage of the mind that never quenches the ultimate thirst.

Continue reading "Futile Pursuit of Material Happiness: Science of Happiness - Part 4"

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A CAT-Scan of the Global Brain (Part 4)

posted by Deepak Chopra on November 09, 2007 at 11:04 AM

If it's true that every individual brain is like a single neuron in the global brain, we are all connected at an invisible level. In itself this isn't a radical statement: scholars of art and myth have discovered countless similarities between cultures that were historically isolated from one another. The hero's quest, for example, cannot be claimed as unique to any one civilization. On a more mundane level, there is the sudden emergence of copper mining and smelting in parts of the world that occurred at the same time in widely diverse locations. The old assumption that a new technology started in one region and spread in a linear fashion to other regions seems not to be true. The global brain has always been thinking on a world scale.

Continue reading "A CAT-Scan of the Global Brain (Part 4)"

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A CAT-Scan of the Global Brain (Part 2)

posted by Deepak Chopra on November 02, 2007 at 01:55 PM

When it first came into usage, "the global brain" seemed like only a metaphor. But the more we learn about how the human brain functions, the more convincing the parallels are in real life. In many ways each of us is participating in a brain without borders, one that encompasses humankind. I'd like to focus on several striking similarities between individual and collective intelligence.

Continue reading "A CAT-Scan of the Global Brain (Part 2)"

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Science vs. Wisdom

posted by Deepak Chopra on October 26, 2007 at 12:52 PM

James D. Watson, arguably the most eminent geneticist in the world because of his discovery, with Francis Crick, of DNA, has been causing a flap. Intent bloggers have also taken notice of these racial charged remarks . In the wake of his latest comments yesterday he resigned from his positions at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The Nobel laureate, now 79, ventured to connect race, genes, and intelligence. Specifically, he was quoted in the Times of London saying that while “there are many people of color who are very talented,” he is “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa.”

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Mayberry RFiD

posted by Renee Reeser Zelnick on October 25, 2007 at 01:13 AM

I vant to be alone!
I love my privacy! Hell, I love YOUR privacy. And chips.
Casino chips, poker chips, tortilla chips, potato chips.
But I draw the line at Radio Frequency IDentification chips!
They suck with salsa! And I don’t want one in my body!
If I wanted implants, I'd call Dr. 90210!

Continue reading "Mayberry RFiD"

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(Pseudo) Scientific? Racism

posted by Mallika Chopra on October 17, 2007 at 07:59 PM

The Independent writes that Nobel Science Prize winner, James Watson, proclaimed he is "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really".

Continue reading "(Pseudo) Scientific? Racism"

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Genes and the Black Box (Part 3)

posted by Deepak Chopra on October 15, 2007 at 09:44 AM

To date, genetics has been acclaimed for discovering "the code of life," and by taking significant steps like mapping the human genome, every detail of the code will inevitably come into view. However, one crucial link remains almost completely unexplained. That link connects the material and the intangible.

Continue reading "Genes and the Black Box (Part 3)"

Continue reading "Genes and the Black Box (Part 2)"

Genes and the Black Box (Part 2)

posted by Deepak Chopra on October 08, 2007 at 12:25 PM

The field of genetics is rapidly maturing -- it attracts more attention and excitement than any other field of science today. As part of this maturation, it has become necessary to consider both nurture an nature. This is easier said than done, however, especially when it comes to the brain and human behavior. In a classic black box experiment, input and output are a given, while the contents of the black box -- the unknown quantity in between input and output -- must be figured out. Let's say that the black box is actually a gene. If you possess a certain gene, can its output be predicted and controlled?

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Genes and the Black Box

posted by Deepak Chopra on October 05, 2007 at 12:39 PM

The general public has come to believe that genes control almost everything in the body (including the brain), which is unfortunate, because the mystery of genes is far more complicated. I was reminded of this by a recent study from UCLA on loneliness. It has been known for a while that isolated, lonely people are subject to higher rates of disease and early death, along with psychological problems like depression.

Continue reading "Genes and the Black Box"

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Spoon Bending versus Mind and Consciousness

posted by Avtar Singh on October 04, 2007 at 12:43 PM

This is not to spoil the party and fun Intentbloggers are having on both sides of the ongoing debate on the subject matter that perks up every few weeks like a cyclic universe. The purpose of my post here is to provide a fresh perspective to point out the utter insignificance and irrelevance of this debate to the real issues –

Continue reading "Spoon Bending versus Mind and Consciousness"

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Einstein's God, or The Hopes for a Secular Spirituality (Part 5)

posted by Deepak Chopra on September 10, 2007 at 02:06 PM

If Einstein pointed the way to a new form of spirituality through his comment on Buddhism -- quoted at the end of the last post -- in which he gave the key criteria for a "cosmic religion of the future." Such a religion, he said, should

--Transcend a personal God
--Avoid dogma and theology
--Embrace both the natural and the spiritual
--Establish itself on a personal sense of unity among all things

Continue reading "Einstein's God, or The Hopes for a Secular Spirituality (Part 5)"

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Einstein's God, or The Hopes for a Secular Spirituality (Part 4)

posted by Deepak Chopra on September 07, 2007 at 04:16 PM

Einstein's allegiance has been claimed by both sides of the science vs. religion debate, but in reality his position was too personal and exploratory to be assigned to either camp. He believed in "Spinoza's God" rather than the Judeo-Christian God. His mind was scientific, yet he felt that there was a realm of reality that could only be dimly sensed by the mind, a realm of wonder and mystery.

Continue reading "Einstein's God, or The Hopes for a Secular Spirituality (Part 4)"

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Einstein's God, or The Hopes for Secular Spirituality (Part 3)

posted by Deepak Chopra on September 03, 2007 at 03:48 PM

Einstein was looked upon as the most important voice in science at a time when religion was crumbling before the advances of science. But he did not take the easy way and pronounce God dead. Instead, Einstein went back to the most basic questions about time and space, and beyond that he wanted to know how human intelligence related to the cosmos.

Continue reading "Einstein's God, or The Hopes for Secular Spirituality (Part 3)"

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Einstein's God, or The Hopes for Secular Spirituality

posted by Deepak Chopra on August 27, 2007 at 09:11 AM

It came as a shock when the letters of Mother Teresa, long concealed by the Church, recently came to light. Suddenly it was revealed that this saintly icon -- who is on the way to becoming an official saint -- had anguishing doubts about the existence of God. These doubts tormented her at the beginning, middle, and end of her career.

Continue reading "Einstein's God, or The Hopes for Secular Spirituality"

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Your Genes Didn't Make You Do It (Part 4)

posted by Deepak Chopra on August 24, 2007 at 09:52 AM

This is the final post on how genes influence behavior. On one hand one can look at identical twins separated at birth who lead very similar lives and share many behaviors--this seems to support the dominant role of genes. But you can also point to studies of psychiatric patients with conditions like depression or OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) who improve with talk therapy. that implies that a disorder associated with the brain's "hard wiring" is treatable through changes in "soft" things like behavior, emotions, and thinking.

Continue reading "Your Genes Didn't Make You Do It (Part 4)"

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Cell Phones and Automobiles

posted by Saira Mohan on August 22, 2007 at 10:37 AM

Cell phones "have zero, or perhaps even a mitigating, infuence on car crashes."
...thought so.

Comments (6)

Your Genes Didn't Make You Do It (Part 3)

posted by Deepak Chopra on August 20, 2007 at 12:06 PM

I've been writing about the fallacy that complex behavior is determined by genes, raising the question of whether it is determined at all. Genes should properly be seen as predispositions, the starting gun for a lifelong journey at the level of the brain, a journey with countless twists and turns. As we saw, the arguments for nature versus nurture both have something on their side. But it's not enough simply to split the difference.

Continue reading "Your Genes Didn't Make You Do It (Part 3)"

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Your Genes Didn't Make You Do It (Part 2)

posted by Deepak Chopra on August 17, 2007 at 11:23 AM

In the past few years neurologists have dismantled, piece by piece, the entrenched view that the human brain is fixed and unchanging in adults. It was long believed that once we grow up our brains have a set number of neurons performing functions in a fixed way. After all, if the visual cortex enables a person to see, then that one specialized function has been permanently assigned to one local area of the brain. Yet nothing so definite is at work. Every brain cell contains the ability to perform any function, and it turns out that in blind people, the visual cortex can take on a new job, responding to touch or taste rather than sight.

Continue reading "Your Genes Didn't Make You Do It (Part 2)"

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Your Genes Didn't Make You Do It (Part 1)

posted by Deepak Chopra on August 13, 2007 at 05:01 PM

It's common with exciting breakthroughs in science that perception gets skewed and new facts lead to extreme interpretations. We seem to be in such a phase now with genes, which are being used to explain too many things in ways that are far too simple and mechanistic. It's one thing to say that a child gets her blond hair genetically, but quite another to say that a child who is chronically shy received that trait exclusively by inheritance.

Continue reading "Your Genes Didn't Make You Do It (Part 1)"

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Obesity

posted by Saira Mohan on July 27, 2007 at 12:17 PM

...is contagious?

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A Clue About Aging and the Mind

posted by Deepak Chopra on July 16, 2007 at 10:30 AM

Among several recent articles on medical research, one posed a link between depression and osteoporosis. A team of researchers at Hebrew University in Jerusalem were able to cause reduced bone density in male mice in about four weeks. They did this by first causing depressed behavior in the mice through increased stress. The application of external stress included dirty cages, bright lights, or loud noises.

Continue reading " A Clue About Aging and the Mind"

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How to Live in the Moment? – A Scientific Perspective: Part II

posted by Avtar Singh on July 04, 2007 at 05:27 PM

There are other problems with the concept of the moment of time. In spite of the fact that time is an illusion and no physical experiment can be performed to establish its existence, science has devised atomic clocks that can measure time with an unparalleled accuracy down to nanoseconds. Our everyday experience of time reinforces the feeling that it is an absolute reality rather than a relative (temporal) reality or a stubborn illusion, as Einstein characterized it.

Continue reading "How to Live in the Moment? – A Scientific Perspective: Part II"

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How to Live in the Moment? – A Scientific Perspective: Part I

posted by Avtar Singh on July 02, 2007 at 09:27 PM

Both Einstein and spiritual masters have said that time is an illusion. Then isn’t each moment of time an illusion in itself? How is it possible to live in the moment if it is an illusion?

Continue reading "How to Live in the Moment? – A Scientific Perspective: Part I"

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A Scientific-Spiritual Definition of Success

posted by Avtar Singh on June 25, 2007 at 06:44 PM

A successful life is the one that has fulfilled its purpose.
A fulfilled life is the life filled with contentment and gratitude for what is as is.
A fulfilled life is the one that has no more left to be filled – desire or objective.

Continue reading "A Scientific-Spiritual Definition of Success"

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The Woo Woo Factor

posted by Deepak Chopra on June 25, 2007 at 10:49 AM

I'm pausing at the end of a long series of posts on the mind outside the brain to reflect on science, bad manners and objectivity. Bad manners are the norm in the blogosphere, and no one who dips into that world should bring along a thin skin. Salt air stings but it's refreshing at the same time. There's a raffish lack of respectability to blogs, however, that drive away good people and good minds. Insulting boors abound here, and it's easy enough to go elsewhere and enjoy a civilized debate.

Continue reading "The Woo Woo Factor"

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The Mind Outside the Body (Part 6)

posted by Deepak Chopra on June 22, 2007 at 01:07 PM

Explorations into the mind field will become more fascinating as time unfolds. But at least one finding has its share of entertainment value. A few years ago the adventurous British researcher Rupert Sheldrake received an e-mail from a woman in New York City who said that her African gray parrot not only read her thoughts but responded to them with speech.

Continue reading "The Mind Outside the Body (Part 6)"

Continue reading "Non-locality of Human Mind - Beyond Biology and Paranormal: Part I"

Non-locality of Human Mind - Beyond Biology and Paranormal: Part I

posted by Avtar Singh on June 17, 2007 at 11:40 AM

Einstein said that the most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible by the human mind. If the mind were a local phenomenon, how can it comprehend the laws residing in every point of space and moment of time in the vast universe? Certainly, the answer lies in science beyond biology, quantum mysticism, and paranormal explanations. Holistic Relativity explains.

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The Common-Sense World

posted by Deepak Chopra on June 11, 2007 at 11:31 AM

In a series of recent posts I've been offering evidence of the possibility that the mind exists outside the brain. This isn't a concept that pleases materialists and skeptics of various stripes. The cruder ones howl that this is all "woo woo." The ad hominem ones deride my inability to understand basic science (this isn't to be taken personally--I assume anyone who thinks outside their rigid parameters would be equally scorned). The sophisticated ones invoke statistical errors and dubious research methods. But

Continue reading "The Common-Sense World"

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A Scientific Understanding of Buddha & Spiritual Masters: Part I

posted by Avtar Singh on June 02, 2007 at 08:32 AM

Is there an objective and credible way to learn and benefit from the true wisdom of the Buddha and spiritual masters? How to find the needle of the essence of the wisdom in the haystack of countless interpretations marred with individual spins and biases?

Continue reading "A Scientific Understanding of Buddha & Spiritual Masters: Part I"

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The Mind Outside The Brain (Part 1)

posted by Deepak Chopra on June 01, 2007 at 02:19 PM

By now everyone is familiar with advances in brain imaging and the fascinating insights being produced in many areas of brain research. Much less known are advances in locating the mind outside the brain. Long considered paranormal and therefore easy to dismiss, the reality of many phenomena is being verified. For a long time there has been a popular belief in ESP, clairvoyance, and related abilities. I thought it would be interesting to devote a series of posts to some intriguing studies, but more importantly, there is a major discovery waiting around the corner.

Continue reading "The Mind Outside The Brain (Part 1)"

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Is there any purpose to the universe and life in it?

posted by Avtar Singh on May 21, 2007 at 04:00 PM

The famous cosmologist Steven Weinberg says - “The more the universe seems comprehensible, the more it also seems pointless.” Is there any purpose to the universe and life in it? If yes, what is it? If no, why do they exist at all?

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When Science Becomes Religion or Pseudoscience

posted by Avtar Singh on May 09, 2007 at 07:33 PM

The purpose of science is to reveal the universal reality. Knowing this reality helps improving not only the material quality of life but also achieving fulfillment of being human. Even if science

Continue reading "When Science Becomes Religion or Pseudoscience"

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HQR* Alberti: Art, Architecture, Beauty & Perfection

posted by DK Matai on May 03, 2007 at 12:42 PM

Alberti's famous statement on Art, Architecture, Beauty and Perfection...

Leone Battista Alberti (1404-1472)

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Answers to Some Key Questions relating Science & Spirituality

posted by Avtar Singh on April 27, 2007 at 08:11 PM

As part of my previous post – “Quantum Mechanics vs. Consciousness”, some key questions were raised that could be important to a scientific understanding of spirituality. These questions are also the heart and soul of the current Cosmological Conundrum that includes paradoxes of quantum mechanics and its unexplained weirdness. Potential answers are provided based on Holistic Relativity (HR) theory.

Continue reading "Answers to Some Key Questions relating Science & Spirituality"

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HQR*: HRH: Greater Harmony between Man-Nature

posted by DK Matai on April 27, 2007 at 04:42 PM

His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales calls for greater Harmony between Man and Nature

Continue reading "HQR*: HRH: Greater Harmony between Man-Nature"

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Quantum Mechanics vs. Consciousness – A Perspective

posted by Avtar Singh on April 24, 2007 at 11:44 AM

Does quantum mechanics (QM) represent reality? Can QM explain consciousness, free will, and spirituality?
So long as the inner workings of QM remain a black box devoid of a mechanistic/physical understanding, its mysteries, paradoxes, and internal inconsistencies would keep it paralyzed to represent the ultimate reality and consciousness/spirituality.

Continue reading "Quantum Mechanics vs. Consciousness – A Perspective"

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Reports from the Edge of Evolution. Or Something.

posted by Renee Reeser Zelnick on April 23, 2007 at 07:49 AM

"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."
-Arthur Schopenhauer

I am amused and shocked @ what ire was raised, simply by stating I'm attending the SCIENCE & CONSCIOUSNESS conference in Sante Fe.

Continue reading "Reports from the Edge of Evolution. Or Something."

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Greetings from the Science and Consciousness Conference in Sante Fe!

posted by Renee Reeser Zelnick on April 20, 2007 at 08:30 PM

A paradigm-shifting gathering of minds is commencing this evening,
4/20
in Sante Fe, New Mexico.

The exploration of consciousness is a new frontier for the psychonaut. The conference is bringing together a multi-disciplinary team of experts who will share their knowledge through lecture, discussion and experiential sessions.

Continue reading "Greetings from the Science and Consciousness Conference in Sante Fe!"

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Science, Experience, & Reality

posted by Avtar Singh on April 16, 2007 at 11:59 AM

It is hard to disagree with most of the comments forwarded by Dr. Parmjit Singh in his IB weekly intent post - God as a Mental Construct on April 15, 2007. However, his post misses some important and deeper insights embedded in my earlier IB post – Science vs. God on April 6, 2007, which I would like to reiterate in this post.

Continue reading "Science, Experience, & Reality"

Continue reading "HQR*: Wisdom based Global Economy Dialogue"

HQR*: Wisdom based Global Economy Dialogue

posted by DK Matai on April 15, 2007 at 12:24 AM

Dr Paramjit Singh's think piece on IntentBlog, "God as a Mental Construct" has prompted "The Wisdom based Global Economy" dialogue within HQR*.

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HQR*: Einstein and Faith by Walter Isaacson

posted by DK Matai on April 08, 2007 at 02:52 PM

Dear Friends, the following article -- Einstein and Faith -- by Walter Isaacson is worth noting in regard to Holistic Quantum Relativity*, which recently appeared in Time.

Continue reading "HQR*: Einstein and Faith by Walter Isaacson"

Continue reading "From Ectoplasm to EVP: a skeptic's seance"

From Ectoplasm to EVP: a skeptic's seance

posted by Renee Reeser Zelnick on April 06, 2007 at 08:56 PM

My skepticism in contact with the afterlife started as a child over a piece of silky, black fabric.
Snatching it off my parent’s dresser, I asked what it was. My father, local magistrate and upstanding real estate broker had acquired the cloth sample as “evidence”.

“That, my dear, is ectoplasm” he said.

Ectoplasm?!

It was the seventies.

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Science vs. God – Is God a Delusion?

posted by Avtar Singh on April 06, 2007 at 02:16 AM

The God is a delusion by the very definition imposed upon it by religion as a personal god or a deity with a personality – Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim or other.

Continue reading "Science vs. God – Is God a Delusion?"

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population 2050

posted by Sandeep Sood on March 26, 2007 at 11:05 AM

Worldmapper.org warps world maps based on factors such as birth rates, GDP, and population. It amazes me how much more significant it feels to see a visual representation of something rather than to read facts and figures (which is why Al Gore climbing a ladder to show the rise of global warming in an Inconvenient Truth was an excellent touch).

Check out how fat India looks based on its population in 2050.

Continue reading "population 2050"

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HQR: E8, String Theory, Sahasrara, Spirituality

posted by DK Matai on March 25, 2007 at 10:21 AM

We are grateful to Mieke van der Poll from Holland for pointing to the similarity in visualisation of the 200 billion parameters, formulae of the most complicated symmetrical object - E₈ - utilised in String Theory, to Sahasrara Lotus within Spirituality!

Continue reading "HQR: E8, String Theory, Sahasrara, Spirituality"

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West must meet East & Threat to Lowlands, Islands

posted by ATCA on March 19, 2007 at 11:17 AM

We are grateful to Ashutosh Sheshabalaya from Brussels and Bassilly, Belgium, for "West must meet East -- Climate Sermons, Innovation and Poverty"; and Elizabeth Marshall from the northern extremity of the United Kingdom, based in Wick, Caithness, for "Climate Chaos: The Threat to Islands & Lowlands."

Continue reading "West must meet East & Threat to Lowlands, Islands"

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Holistic Quantum Relativity Project: Glossary v0.5

posted by DK Matai on March 17, 2007 at 02:17 PM

The excellent HQR Socratic Dialogue in regard to Glossary v0.4 has shaped the latest version v0.5. Yet there are key terms missing as the HQR project accelerates. Please assist via definitions. Thanks!

Continue reading "Holistic Quantum Relativity Project: Glossary v0.5"

Continue reading "HQR: Burden of Proof, Synchronicity & Applications"

HQR: Burden of Proof, Synchronicity & Applications

posted by DK Matai on March 16, 2007 at 12:12 PM

Further to the Socratic Dialogue with Pure & Applied Scientists, Philosophers and Spiritualists across the world as well as IntentBloggers over the last few months, it seems that one of the key ways in which there could be the burden of proof for Holistic Quantum Relativity lies in building pilot applications...

Bubble Chamber Event, CERN, Geneva, Switzerland

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DEATHYOGA II-A humble continuation of DEATH YOGA IN THE KALI YUGA

posted by Renee Reeser Zelnick on March 05, 2007 at 11:53 PM

For a donation of $5.00 per word (5 word minimum), Afterlifetelegrams.com claims to deliver telegrams to people who have passed away. Terminally ill volunteers are recruited to memorize telegrams before death, and then deliver said telegrams to the recipient on the other side. Apparently, Afterlifetelegrams.com does not keep any of the fees or their unusual service. The money, depending on the wishes of the sender, is either given to a relative, donated to charity or used to pay medical bills.

Continue reading "DEATHYOGA II-A humble continuation of DEATH YOGA IN THE KALI YUGA"

Continue reading "Why Robots Love Music (Part 2)"

Why Robots Love Music (Part 2)

posted by Deepak Chopra on March 02, 2007 at 08:56 AM

Music is a perfect example of why the current model of the brain, useful as it may be in some areas, is empty and useless in others. Where brain research is useful, as in treating Parkinson's disease, for example, or aiding in the recovery of stroke victims, is when the following factors pertain:

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Why Robots Love Music (Part 1)

posted by Deepak Chopra on February 26, 2007 at 08:56 AM

The media have been eagerly reporting on advances in brain research and genetics, in part because everyone is hungry for scraps of good news. In a larger sense these areas of science are also immensely confident and hopeful. They are the finger posts to a future without disease, a time when age-old mysteries about human nature will be explained once and for all. I recently saw a television report on neurologists investigating the mystery of music, why it exists and how we respond to it.

Continue reading "Why Robots Love Music (Part 1)"

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Why Evolutionary Biology Embraces the Bogus (Part 2)

posted by Deepak Chopra on February 19, 2007 at 09:07 AM

Evolutionary biology isn't a magic science or a privileged one. It brings a preconceived model to a problem. It applies that model without looking to the right or the left. It has a strong bias in favor of material fact instead of abstract philosophy. As I pointed out in Part 1 of this post, those very qualities have caused the embrace of bogus explanations and false truths. The following should seem obvious:

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The Real Evolution Debate -- Part 3

posted by Carter Phipps on February 19, 2007 at 09:04 AM

In my last post which featured another in a series of different views and theories regarding the nature of evolution, one of the responders asked an interesting question. Do I believe there is evidence for a supernatural God?

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Death Yoga in the Kali Yuga

posted by Renee Reeser Zelnick on February 18, 2007 at 12:22 AM

"I'll be fine." she said.
"You don't have to worry about me."
"Do you hurt?" I asked.
"No." she replied, smiling.

Her lips never moved with her speech, however. The conversation was telepathic.

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The Real Evolution Debate cont.

posted by Carter Phipps on February 14, 2007 at 01:34 PM

As the evolution debate these days in the media seems to be as hot as ever, I thought I would continue the thread I started regarding alternative ways in which to view evolution.

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The Nuisance of Magical Thinking

posted by Deepak Chopra on January 29, 2007 at 06:02 AM

Recently the New York Times ran a front-age article on the phenomenon of magical thinking. Originally this was a fairly narrow psychological term, applied to schizophrenics and other mentally disturbed patients who believed that their thoughts could alter reality. In its most abnormal form, magical thinking makes paranoids believe that they rule the world or that if they fall asleep space aliens will invade the earth. More harmlessly, magical thinking gives rise to lucky rabbit's feet, game-day shirts, and small rituals of protection like knocking on wood.

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Faces of Meth

posted by Saira Mohan on January 26, 2007 at 06:38 AM

Bret King, a deputy in the Corrections Division Classification Unit of the Sheriff's Office, created the "Faces of Meth" project to show the physical toll of methamphetamine use.

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Click Here for one intense intellectual experience...

Must Know Terms for the 21st Century

posted by Saira Mohan on January 13, 2007 at 06:32 AM

Continue reading "Survival of the Wisest Part 3"

Survival of the Wisest Part 3

posted by Deepak Chopra on January 08, 2007 at 07:02 AM

I remain fascinated by orthodox defenders of Darwinism, who believe that the success of a scientific theory proves its infallibility. As a passing note, I have never denied natural selection, but the holes in current evolutionary theory are glaring. Mitch and others can catch up on earlier posts where I detail these holes, or they can consult many other writers on the subject.

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The Pulse

posted by Saira Mohan on January 05, 2007 at 04:14 AM

HP Labs recently analyzed the fully-anonymized headers of over 362 million messages exchanged by 4.2 million users of Facebook (an online social network of college students) during a 26 month interval....

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Shermer-Chopra Afterlife Debate

posted by Deepak Chopra on January 03, 2007 at 07:46 PM

Is There Life After Death?
Michael Shermer vs. Deepak Chopra

The following is a double post. First, Michael Shermer of Skeptic magazine and Scientific American reviews Deepak Chopra's 2006 book "Life After Death: The Burden of Proof." Second is Deepak's rebuttal.

For those who would like to read the debate in its entirety, please use the links below:

www.skeptic.com

Hope Springs Eternal:
Science, the Afterlife, and the Meaning of Life

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The Real Evolution Debate

posted by Carter Phipps on December 11, 2006 at 07:20 PM

For those of you who are interested in the ongoing and ever more heated science vs. religion debates unfolding in our culture, the latest edition of What Is Enlightenment? magazine might be of interest. This one is titled The Mystery of Evolution, and one of the feature articles is called The Real Evolution Debate. It is an effort to present a broader, more interesting view of this popular and controversial subject, one that covers a wider spectrum of thought—from the fascinating diversity and complexity of modern science to the visionary depths of spiritual insight and intuition. I will be posting some of the highlights from that article on this site over the next few days, beginning with the introduction.

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Survival of the Wisest

posted by Deepak Chopra on December 11, 2006 at 03:21 PM

There's a sense of crisis in the air over the notion that reason itself is in jeopardy. The attack on reason is coming primarily from religious extremists, but the whole ethos of fundamentalism is seen as irrational. So the alarm goes out to defend science and push back unreason. This urgent call is supposed to salvage future progress for humanity and defeat the wave of barbarity that travels under the name of terrorism.

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How to respond to the crisis of climate change and global warming

posted by Satish Kumar on December 05, 2006 at 10:10 AM

Sir Nicholas Stern has written a lengthy report for the British Government outlining urgent action needed to be taken in response to the imminent climate crisis. Most of his solutions to global warming are technological, based on finding alternative, non-fossil fuel sources of energy. They are all commendable, but it will be some time before we can implement these solutions.

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The God Delusion? Part 7

posted by Deepak Chopra on December 04, 2006 at 09:04 AM

Ultimately, Richard Dawkins can fight with religion all he wants and it will be only a sideshow. He is a color commentator sitting in the bleachers, not a player in the game. Skepticism offers critiques, not discoveries. Ironically, this is a shared fate with religion, which has ceased to play a progressive and vital role in modern society. The two are locked in a sterile embrace. So how can a new conception of God change this situation? The answer centers on the last point from Dawkins in our discussion.

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The God Delusion? Part 6

posted by Deepak Chopra on December 01, 2006 at 09:12 AM

The fact that Dawkins is serving as point man for a broad sense of outrage among scientists who want religion to stay out of the laboratory is admirable. But that is a social issue. The deeper issue is whether God has anything to offer to science. Dawkins emphatically thinks there is no practical use for God, the soul, transcendence, or any other so-called spiritual concept in his field, which is evolutionary biology. This brings us to another main point.

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The God Delusion? Part 1

posted by Deepak Chopra on November 15, 2006 at 12:56 PM

Recently there have been a spate of books about God from scientists responding to the debate over intelligent design that flared up last year. These books raise a chorus of skepticism that God exists, most in no uncertain terms. Science stands for rational thought, faith for superstition and unreason. The latest bestseller in this vein is Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion," and since I had the chance to debate Dawkins on Channel 4 in England, I wanted to pick up the subject here.

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What are you breathing in airplanes?

posted by Rini Das on November 02, 2006 at 02:43 PM

October 22, 2006 Jeff Bailey of New York Times wrote an article about the cleaning of airplanes. It was titled "That Squish Behind the Jet Seat May Be an Open Ketchup Pack".
For those of us who are not amateur travelers, I wonder how many of us are more concerned about tomato ketchup versus the oxygen in the cabin.

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You will Love this...

posted by Saira Mohan on October 29, 2006 at 09:12 AM

I wanted to share with you this recent image from Astronomy Picture of the Day. This website I have visited almost everyday for the past several years. As they describe, each day a different image

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Continue reading "The Trouble With Genes (Part 3)"

The Trouble With Genes (Part 3)

posted by Deepak Chopra on October 16, 2006 at 10:21 AM

Although genes are incapable of explaining human intelligence, or the intricately organized operations within cells, they must be included in any final explanation. We can't call genes themselves intelligent because that leads us to say that molecules are intelligent, and then there's no reason not to say that atoms are intelligent, or quarks. Each step takes us further away from a plausible answer.

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The Trouble With Genes (Part 2)

posted by Deepak Chopra on October 13, 2006 at 08:04 AM

The mystery of life cannot be solved without answering one essential question. Why are human beings intelligent?

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Genes and Hornet's Nests

posted by Deepak Chopra on October 12, 2006 at 11:08 AM

There were many vehement objectors to a recent post on 'The Trouble With Genes.' Tempers grow short in the blogosphere, but it's very healthy to have controversy over the materialistic worldview. I'd like to pursue that line of debate. Most objectors felt that if I could become acquainted with basic science, their uncritical belief in genetics would be validated. However, basic science depends on certain assumptions that may not be tenable. These include:

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"All these areas used to be nothin but trees..."

posted by radhika on September 26, 2006 at 11:48 PM

Environmental Justice for All is coordinating a tour right now that

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Permian labyrinthodonts, and Arctic Bedouins

posted by Rex Weyler on September 13, 2006 at 10:59 PM

Thanks for the critique & comments. In response to my last post about global warming, a colleague wrote to me: “Temperatures and CO2 levels have been much higher in past history. During the Eocene [50 million years ago] the CO2 level reached 2,000 parts per million (ppm),

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