Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with consciousness

Is lizard brain consciousness real?

Not Supplied — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 12:38:03 -0800

Can human beings achieve a 'lizard brain consciousness? Is it scientifically documented? What techniques can one use to access this. I've have heard anecdotally in martial arts circles and from hippies about people achieving a lizard consciousness. They think that it's accessing the 'hindbrain' or reptilian parts of the human brain.

Is this documented in any way as some meditation stuff is - like scans showing that mainly this part of the brain is active or whatever?

Do any medications or psychoactive drugs have this effect? (for interest only, I don't eat that kind of thing)

Are there any techniques one can use to do it that I can try?

Shine on, you crazy diamonds!

mjao — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:56:58 -0800

Favourite psychedelic / drug / shaman / consciousness related books? My brother met a shaman in South American and has given me his credit card and asked me to order him a bunch of books. Think Terence McKenna, Alex Grey, Alexander Shulgin, Carlos Castaneda, DMT, Ayahuasca... *Documentary/DVD recommendations welcome as well. Out of the authors listed above, I'd like to know which are the best works of each, or the best ones to start with. Particularly Castaneda, I don't know where my brother should begin. Which books are the most interesting?

Further info: he also has budding obsessions with Zeitgeist, Jacques Fresco, George Carlin and Bill Hicks so anything even loosely related is good - lateral thinking is encouraged here!
He's also suddenly into dreaming and sensory deprivation tanks and quantum physics.

Please give me the titles of anything related to these topics - please only recommendations of books you've personally read and liked :)

Thanks for helping my brother :)

Alcohol Ethicists, do they exist?

vegetableagony — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:50:57 -0800

What are some definitive scholarly sources on the ethics of alcohol? I have been wondering over the past few weeks about what scholarly work has been done on the topic of the ethics/morality of inebriation and other altered states of consciousness.

e.g.
Do actions carry different moral weights depending on whether or not the were done under the influence of alcohol?

In what ethical framework should we view actions carried out while someone has (intentionally) drunk enough to not remember their actions?

How should we analyze the initial choice to drink to excess?

(I am not trying to analyze any one situation in particular; these are just a spattering of questions on the tropic I had wondered about.)

I am not interested in alarmist articles with little backing evidence about how evil alcohol is. I am more looking for scholarly philosophical analysis (i.e. more phd's and fewer pop ethicists). Still would be interested if the analysis were not specific to alcohol, but instead analyzed states of (voluntarily-induced) altered consciousness.

I realize that this is a topic that many people feel strongly about, but I am less interested in peoples' personal opinions, than in influential published articles/books.

Beardman seeks information about another beardman

Beardman — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:10:22 -0800

William James-Filter: does anybody know who said this particular thing about him, and where? I thought I read an article some time ago that basically said the following (paraphrasing from memory):

William James puzzled for much of his life about the relationship between two senses of the word "I": on one hand, "I" refers to something that is a present subject of experience but which seems transient, while on the other hand, "I" refers to a persisting person, the sort of entity that one could write a biography of.

I find this relationship puzzling, and I was hoping to be able to find a nice little quote that says James did too.

The article that I thought mentioned this was "The Self and the SESMET" by Galen Strawson. But I've looked it over carefully and it doesn't seem to be there. So my question: does anybody know of any place where James' puzzlement about this problematic relationship is discussed? Or, any specific place where James more or less expicitly says, "Now this is a puzzle!"?

The phenomenology of text

0bvious — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:21:33 -0800

The phenomenology / ontology of text: has anyone examined this issue directly in philosophical, literary and/or critical terms? I am interested in the experience and perception of text, both within readership and on an abstract (more holistic level perhaps) as the archetypical mediator and virtual-archive of human culture. I wish to explore it via its mediums (e.g. book, computer screen), its modes (e.g. semiotics, translation) and its means (e.g. poetry, fiction, encryption).

I came at this problem through Heidegger (most specifically in his re-appropriation of the term 'techné'), looking at text as a technology.

I have since come upon the writings of D.C. Greetham and a couple of other bits and pieces.

I feel that this is an area not much covered by the critical fields, especially in these times of ever encompassing digital/web-based mediums. I'm interested in following through some of this to a PhD proposal.

What paths should I be taking?

Your help, as always, is much appreciated.

"Are you sure you want to answer this question, Dave?"

np312 — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:22:43 -0800

I'm looking for examples of sci fi films that focus primarily on a conflict/relationship between a human and a self-aware computer/artificial intelligence (such as HAL in "2001," but NOT the computer in "War Games" because it wasn't self-aware.) I'm more interested in computers or life forces living within the confines of reasonably possible technology, than I am in humanoid robots, techno-aliens, or "Terminator"-type stuff. Please send me all the movies that satisfy the above criteria! Thanks!

Oh, and bonus points if the computer has an end goal that is bad news for humans...

Please halp me grok

drgonzo — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:52:20 -0800

[spoilers within] Please help me understand the ending of Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. Specifically I'm wondering about the choice he had to escape the town with his shadow (which means returning to reality right?) or stay in the Town with the librarian and read dreams. Why did he choose corporeal death and eternity in the lifeless town over reality? won't his mind fade once the shadow is dead? he alludes that he thinks he can hold on, but then what is the point of the shadow anyway? maybe he was choosing to turn on tune in and drop out, opting out of the materialistic society, especially since his job with the System was probably not his to go back to? he was disaffected, but his life wasn't THAT bad...

I did just read Accelerando. Why do you ask?

prunes — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:38:47 -0800

What kind of computing power would be needed to simulate consciousness? My question to you all is inspired by the news of Roadrunner smashing the supercomputing record. Roadrunner, of course, will simulate the behavior of the weapons in the first fraction of a second during an explosion. We also have supercomputers designed to simulate the global weather systems. All this surely is quite complicated.

And so I wonder: what type of computing power would be required to simulate human consciousness (or, perhaps if we wish to avoid walking before we can run, the consciousness of a lesser mammal/primate? In so doing I mean creating a nearly perfect physical model of every atom, its momentum, etc. of both the subject and it's environment.

Of course, actually determining the composition, location, and momentum of every atom poses its own challenges. This feeds nicely into my second question. What about something more simple: building a physical model of human egg and sperm, or a zygote, plus the surrounding environment and then growing the simulated embryo to maturity?

Is the clear cut dichotomy true?

jouke — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 05:50:01 -0800

Jill Bolte Taylor uses a very clear cut dichotomy when explaining the respective roles of the left and right hemisphere: one is oriented towards parrallel processing of sense data, the other towards serial, conscious, target-oriented processing. Is this reflective of the modern state of the art neurological schientific knowledge? It's an intuitively attractive explanation. But is it true? It sounds simplistic. I'm telling her theory from memory since I can't watch the video right now

Examples of Mise en Abyme (in form)

0bvious — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 06:57:37 -0800

Recursion filter: I recently came across the phrase 'Mise en Abyme' and have become fascinated by recursion in literature, language and film. What writings have used these themes in their form to address the questions they posed? The idea of presenting the form of a text/film/critique so that it exemplifies the question posed fascinates me (so for instance, if I asked 'what is recursion?' and my essay contained a footnote which refered back to the text which then refered back to the footnote, then in some simple sense I have a form of recursion in my essay).

What writers, film-makers etc. have integrated aspects of Mise en Abyme into their work in this exemplary manner? (I am more interested in non-fiction pieces, but realise that a lot of fiction out there which has used this technique are formally very unique.)

I have a copy of Gödel, Escher, Bach sitting on my bookshelf, staring at me. I am also well versed in the works of Foucault, Barthes and Derrida.

Thanks for reading

Help Me Name My Major

dmaterialized — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:53:04 -0800

Name-my-major, Hivemind. So I go to an unusual school in that we don't have clear-cut majors, and we basically pick an area of "focus". I'm actually currently (unofficially) studying my own brain, because it's strangely hampered in certain capacities (like the process of reading music, despite being very musical and understanding cognitively exactly what's going on), or performing basic math (despite endless repetition). It's also weirdly bolstered in other regards: I have an unbelievable propensity for forming the visual "distortions" one might associate with hallucinogens. I was also recently diagnosed as having an "inattentive" ADD (as opposed to hyperactivity) but I actually think I've got a different and less generalized issue-- certain cognitive activities simply shut my brain off completely, as if I'm asleep; I'll have very little memory of things that happen during this time (Ritalin does help, but it really doesn't feel like "the right thing"). Visual stimuli, on the other hand, is unbelievably compelling.

But, long story short, this stuff FASCINATES me. That's an understatement-- I really want to understand how this all works, and how it works in other people. I'm interested in the ways in which perception and consciousness interact (why I see things my way and you see things your way, and how they relate). Neuroscience fascinates me (especially the effects of drugs and the ways the brain responds to stimuli), but so do deeper levels of psychology (things like memory distortion, feedback loops, and psychosis).There just needs to be some kind of focal point-- this isn't purely neuroscience, because the psychological dimension is very significant. But what is it?

For an idea of where I'm headed: my favorite books recently are Proust Was a Neuroscientist, Musicophilia, Timothy Leary's "The Psychedelic Experience", and Rita Carson's awesome "Exploring Consciousness". What kind of connection can you make of that? What is this specific field called? Does it even exist? I just need a reference point, somewhere I can branch from. I'm going to be doing a final project in this area next term, but without knowing what kind of research I should be looking at, it's hard to know what to do.

I've been doing this on my own for a while (I tell people I'm studying "consciousness and human perception"), and amassed some kickass links and great books, but I just hope someone out there has a sense of how to focus it a bit more. Any ideas-- on terminology, on projects, on work that would explore this?

How Things 'Become': The Infinity of Definition

0bvious — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:18:41 -0800

I am looking for writings on the infinity of definition. I am interested in the exponentially divergent curve that is definition.

We create writings and art to better define the world, yet true definition is infinite.

We mediate the universe by erecting borders of definition, i.e. all striped, four-legged, hooved mammals are probably zebras. We categorise the universe into hierarchies, but the more we examine the more pronounced and expansive these hierarchies become.

Language is our greatest defining tool. Yet, the metaphors we evolve to expand the potential of language can themselves only be made to refer back to the language which created them. An infinite loop emerges in most definition.

As new technology emerges we use it to 'add' meaning to artifacts which are already partly defined. By looking at the world with ever more refined microscopes we bring reality into greater clarity. This metaphor can be expanded to refer to texts, art, archaeology, culture etc.

Who has written on the problem of definition? What critical theory has been written on the emergence of infinity?

This question adds on to past questions I have asked at MeFi including (in reverse order):

- Art and artifacts experienced through technology
- The mimetic and narrative capacities of artefacts
- Examples of 'The Infinite' in Myth and Their Effect on Conditions of Truth

Here's hoping you have some ideas...

How to deal with artistic overload?

farishta — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 02:28:47 -0800

Advice or sources for dealing with inspirational overload? There are some interesting AskMe's that have been related to this, but I have a very specific question, for a friend who is going through the following: increasingly common spells of creative inspiration associated with depression and, in some cases, physical and emotional paralysis. They are usually brought on by other works of art, and culminate in intense bouts of inspiration that never gets 'realized' because they are emotionally exhausting and can sometimes bring about depression. Afterwards she can't remember what she was thinking. Lately it's been going on once a week. Does anyone have a similar experience, and if so, how have you dealt with it? She's an artist, so bonus points for turning this state into something productive. Have any artists written about this experience, or provided general and helpful advice about inspiration and the creative process that might be of us? Thanks in advance.

Art and artifacts experienced through technology

0bvious — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:00:33 -0800

How is the meaning of art and artefacts being altered by the methods we use to: Experience, Define and Preserve them... In other words, in what ways have technologies been used to experience, re-define and/or preserve art and artifacts? I came across news on a technique using terahertz radiation to 'see' under the surface of paintings and murals. I know that similar methods have been used before, most especially to see the sketches under (Leonardo da Vinci) paintings or to map the outline of archaeological sites by satellite etc. I am interested in amassing a collection of such techniques, not limited to paintings and certainly from a wide spectrum of scientific and technological applications (for instance: art includes literature or music, artefacts can refer to objects or cultures, a new technology may simply be a new theory of linguistics).

Any links and or examples, books, journals, people you know of would help me immensely. My past questions express quite neatly the kind of reading background I have, please give them a glance if you have time.

Thanks muchly...

Need Resources on Mind Energy Changing DNA

watercarrier — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:16:07 -0800

I need solid scientific evidence that thought can change matter - how consciousness effects DNA structure, patterns and ultimately reality. Charts, studies, videos, all is welcome as a way of viewing and understanding how the mind's energy works in relation to physical matter. Thank you so much.

The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do. -- B. F. Skinner

archae — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:08:27 -0800

What are the all-time best science fiction novels which depict Artificial Intelligence? I don't religiously keep up with the latest in science fiction, but I've got Gibson's Neuromancer, Clark's 2001 and Asimov covered. But what other great novels deal with Artificial Intelligence as the central theme?

I'm looking for especially creative and technical depictions of AI, which present the commonly used concepts in a way that is utterly ingenious. Some tortured, and mostly unrecognized author has to have pieced together the future of how AI is all going to turn out, what its impact on civilization and individuals will be, and where humanity will end up as a result. I am imagining an author who is Lovecraft-meets-Ligotti with a dash of Philip K. Dick and Pynchon, but for AI-themed sci-fi?

I know there's a small mountain of new sci-fi books published every year, and AI is a topic which has been done to death, so I want to cull the lesser quality and hit or miss type of books and recover the true gems destined to become premonitory classics.
Help me hive-mind!

Books to help me be a better person

Brittanie — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 06:46:13 -0800

I want to be a better person (don't we all?). I'm looking for texts and tips to help me on my journey. I have come to the conclusion that I need to make some changes in my life. I want to be a "better person." That's a pretty broad term, but basically I want to work on improving my outlook and perceptions of the world, my compassion for other people, my consciousness and my self-destructive behaviors, to name a few things. I want to live in the now but I also want to be well-prepared for the future.

Searches for previous AskMe questions under the terms "better person", "consciousness", "introspection" and "self help" have turned up little. The tips I found here are good if a little too general. I'm looking for more advice along the same lines as what's contained in that link.

I realize that simply making the decision to become a better person is the very first step. I also know I need to slow down, shut my mouth and think about things before speaking or acting. I journal daily. I exercise and enjoy nature. What else should I be doing? What are some things I can do every day to help raise my awareness of the world around me and become more sensitive to other people and their needs?

I'm not looking for religion or hokey self-help books. I'd prefer something more traditional (maybe texts on philosophies , Buddhism, Daoism, whatever) or any advice that has helped you. Thanks in advance.

what happened?

Anonymous — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 08:15:24 -0800

I had a weird experience with briefly losing consciousness last night. Should I be worried and/or do something about it? Last night when I came home, I could feel (and hear) a "swooshing" sound in my head as my heart was beating, about 2 inches above my ear. This continued as I went to bed.

Then, as I was falling asleep (about 30 minutes later), I had a really bizarre feeling that something bad/urgent had just happened to my body. I wanted to get up and figure out what it was, but I couldn't move, and I felt sort of confused. I don't know if it was a dream or not. But about 20 seconds later I was fine, and at that time the swooshing had stopped. Now (several hours later) I feel completely fine.

I guess I want to know - Is this a known medical issue that can be identified from what I wrote above? Or are there any symptoms of what I described that indicates I should see a doctor?

I hate going to the doctor for things that are seemingly no longer an issue, because they never do anything to investigate or advise me (but send me a bill anyway).. so that's why I'm asking metafilter instead of just going.

Also, I don't know if it's related, but I happened to have had a moderate amount of alcohol and a lot of sugary food last night which is something that I normally would never do (mix sugar and alcohol, that is).

Surviving a Total Perspective Vortex

0bvious — Sun, 09 Jul 2006 08:39:35 -0800

I'm on the hunt for sites and/or blogs about big ideas... Who wants to join me? I am interested in the nature of the human, the self, consciousness, space-time and infinity, the future, cultural evolution, the emergence and destruction of civilisation, physics, biology, technology, science fiction, this self perceiving universe, the narrative, the protagonist, belief, faith and the Gods, mathematics, language, truth, semiotics, theory of mind, theory of relativity, philosophy, transhumanism, the base of humour, of love, of art, of literature, chemistry, the stars and how they shine, justice, anger, naivety, pop-culture, culture shock, poetry, evolution, devolution, darwinism vs subjectivity, how to and how not to, how it is, how it could have been, perspectives of 'the idea', how the perspective shifts, surviving a total perspective vortex....

I want to find people who find these things interesting too, I want them to come over and chat liberally with me, with my like-minded associates, with other web-portal psychonauts.

Apart from Metafilter where do you get your intellectual, mind exploding fix? Where should I begin my search for new minds to meld with?

The Protagonist: An Overview

0bvious — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 22:16:33 -0800

The Protagonist: What can you tell me? I am fascinated by the concept of 'The Protagonist'. Whether this be in fiction, mythology or used as a metaphor for how one perceives oneself (your 'life' being the narrative within which you exist) I desire a few new angles on this ancient human construct.

- Do you know of any theories / research / writings on the protagonist?
- What books / movies / myths etc. have you come across from which a protagonist is COMPLETELY absent?
- Or any such fiction/mythology with an interesting spin on the traditional protagonist?

Basically anything which comes to mind would be fascinating, thanks a lot...

Human vs Animal Brains:

0bvious — Tue, 09 May 2006 01:10:49 -0800

What experiments have been carried out where animals perform better than us at particular cognitive tasks? I remember reading / seeing an experiment performed with chimps that seemed to show that they could hold a higher number of objects in their mind at any one time than humans can.

I remember seeing them tapping on numbered buttons when objects were flashed in front of them. Humans perfomed less well on the same task at higher speeds and numbers.

Know this experiment?

How about ANY OTHER similar resulting experiments?

Thanks a lot

I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.

greytape — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 09:34:41 -0800

I have a theory about consciousness. Tell me what it's called. Here's the theory:
"Given, as Einstein readers tell me, that space and time are linked, I tend to take an eternalist view of time, believing that the concept of now is as subjective as the notion of here, and that every moment of time always has existed and always will. Now we all generally accept that our consciousness is unified in the fourth dimension, time, (the me today is the same as the me tomorrow). So why don't we see it is as linked in the other three? (The me over here is the same as the me over there: you). As the great Bill Hicks said: "We are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively"."
Despite a lot of internet searching though, I haven't found anyone else, apart from Bill Hicks, who advocates this theory or a name for it. Buddhism is there with the rejection of the self, but insists with reincarnation that something (a soul?) is passed between bodies. Panpsychism again comes close, but assigns consciousness to all things, not just brains.
So what's does Western philosophy call this theory, and what do y'all think of it?

Is there a word for such an anti-simulacra?

0bvious — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 21:40:13 -0800

What is the label for an entity or idea which began as nothing and came to have identity through its own fictionalisation? That is, notions diametrically opposed to 'simulacra' - in that the entity has no referent to begin with... Prime examples of this can be found battered amongst many internet communities. For instance:

Suicide Squid is the name of a fictional comic book superhero. He is in fact so fictional that not only does he not exist, but neither does any comic book about him. He was accidentally created in April 1991 when Mitsuhiro Sakai, upon being asked in the internet newsgroup rec.arts.comics (r.a.c.) for his opinion on developments in the series Suicide Squad, asked what those developments were but typed "i" instead of "a" in "Squad".

(there are many more examples here)

These 'anti-simulacra' are therefore self refering ideas or events which have no source referents. Like a simulacrum these entities are so dissipated in relation to their originisation that they take on individual identity - in a sense realising themselves outside the group/community which gave birth to them.

These entities can not be labelled fiction as such because the creative process which spawned them was in many instances an unconscious, group consciousness lead event. In this way these anti-simulacra memes show many features inherent in the viral-like social memes which evolve towards religious doctrine (over many generations of accumulative change)

Is there a word for such an anti-simulacra?

What can anthropologists offer on this matter?

eighth_excerpt — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 23:52:09 -0800

How can anthropologists contribute to the answering of questions about the brain and consciousness in the 21st century? I'm wondering if the field has the right tools and techniques and potential to talk about the neural level and how neural events result in consciousness. For example, if neurons function the same way in New Zealand 2006 as they did in Norway 1006 (across time and across culture) does that mean cross-cultural analysis won't be fruitful? And since neurons aren't preserved like bones, what can archaeologists say on this matter?

Why consciousness??

0bvious — Wed, 25 Jan 2006 07:43:06 -0800

Why did consciousness evolve? I was inspired by this quote of Kurt Vonnegut's:

"I was taught that the human brain was the crowning glory of evolution so far, but I think it’s a very poor scheme for survival."

I think Vonnegut's comment extends to the realm of consciousness in general. Why did evolution happen to move in the direction of conscious reflexion when there are surely simpler, more efficicent ways to aid an organism's survival?

Expansive answers more than welcome...