Posted inBooks Science

Consciousness is a fundamental property of matter

After attending a talk in Portland, Oregon by neuroscientist Christof Koch (see here), I've been re-reading his book, "'Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist." In his talk, as in my blog post about it, Koch emphasized his search for the neural correlates of consciousness. That is, the specific goings-on in the brain that produce a specific "percept," like seeing the color red. A few commenters have correctly noted that this doesn't answer the Hard Problem question: how and why we have phenomenal awareness in general, leaving aside the question of how and why this particular bit of awareness comes to…
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Posted inScience

Christof Koch’s brain talk points to the material nature of consciousness

Last night my wife and I, along with two neighbor friends, attended a talk in Portland, Oregon by neuroscientist Christof Koch. Title: "The Quest for Consciousness." What is consciousness? What is hiding in our unconscious mind? And how can you harness both for a more fulfilling life? Consciousness is like an orchestra, and our brain is its conductor. Stemming in part from a long-standing collaboration with the late Nobel Laureate Francis Crick, Christof Koch, Ph.D., will be exploring how the flickering of nerve cells in the brain leads to information processing and the unforgettable experiences that make us who we…
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Posted inReality Science

Timeless naturalism vs. temporal naturalism? I like temporal.

I'm still making my way through a thick, serious, thoughtful, well-written science/philosophy book, "The Singular Universe and the Reality of Time."  (Previous posts about the book are here and here.) The authors, Roberto Mangabeira Unger and Lee Smolin, wrote different parts of the book. I've just started reading Smolin's chapters. He's a philosophically minded physicist, while Unger is a scientifically minded philosopher. A couple of topics particularly interested me in Smolin's opening Cosmology in Crisis chapter.  First, the notion of naturalism -- which he says comes in two flavors, timeless and temporal. Smolin defines naturalism this way: Naturalism is the…
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Posted inMorality Religions

Religious people have no right to discriminate against gays

Oh, man. As if I needed another reason to hate religious bigotry. But there it was, couldn't be ignored... a New York Times story that got my moral blood boiling: "Anticipating Nationwide Right to Same-Sex Marriage, States Weigh Religious Exemption Bills." So what do these religious jerks want to be exempted from? Treating homosexual people with the same dignity and respect due everybody else.  As it looks increasingly likely that the Supreme Court will establish a nationwide right to same-sex marriage later this year, state legislatures across the country are taking up bills that would make it easier for businesses and individuals to opt…
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Posted inScience

Rejoice! Your essence is brain-meat, nothing more

I guess this shows how I've really dived into the churchless, irreligious, naturalistic deep end. Reading the current New Scientist issue last night, I came across an article, "Meet your other brain."  Online version has a different title and subtitle. Brain boosting: it's not just grey matter that matters. Inside your head, another brain is hiding in plain sight – one that responds to your cognitive needs and self-heals. It's time to make the most of your myelin Myelin, I learned, is "the fatty sheath that envelops most neurons." Rather than it merely being like cable insulation, scientists have found that…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

How to talk about spiritual experiences

Talking is good. Face to face, or otherwise. One of those other ways is through what I like to call "comment conversations."  These frequently happen on this blog -- where people exchange a series of comments on some blog post subject. A recent post, "Modern mystics, why should anyone believe your 'vision'?", elicited some comments from me and others that got me thinking. Also a good thing.  Below I'll share my comment that is a less organized form of what follows in this post. Which is, a schema that describes how I've come to view the more desirable and less…
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Posted inMystics

Modern mystics, why should anyone believe your “vision”?

After more than ten years of blogging on this here Church of the Churchless -- 2,410,012 page views; 2,036 posts; 29,750 comments -- I'm still asking this question. Why should the claims of "modern mystics," who claim to have personally experienced God, spirit, heaven, or some other manifestation of divinity, be taken more seriously than the countless similar claims that have been made by innumerable others throughout recorded history? I keep on asking this question in various ways, both in blog posts and replies to comments, because it seems to me that those alive today who would have us believe…
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Posted inScience

“It is what it is” actually is a profound scientific statement

As irritating as it can be to hear it is what it is uttered so often by athletes after a loss, I find this phrase appealing.  I described why in a blog post a few years back, "The profundity -- or not -- of 'it is what it is'." Me, I like the phrase's meaninglessness. Zenlike, it points to the this'ness of is'ness (a truth'ness that will make a lot more sense to you if you're stoned or drunk, which is the best state of mind to read Church of the Churchless blog posts like this). ...The author of the Slate…
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Posted inReligions

No U.S. President should attend prayer breakfasts

A few weeks ago I said that I agreed with Obama's statement at a prayer breakfast regarding wrongs being committed by adherents of all religious faiths. But a Salon article argues for a broader conclusion: no President should be attending prayer breakfasts, since this supports the ridiculousness of religion.  Check out "Faith-fueled forces of hatred: Obama's religion speech was troubling -- but not for the reasons the right alleges." What, some might ask, could be wrong with prayer? By common definition, prayer entails someone sitting for a quiet moment and beseeching his or her Lord for intervention in matters of…
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Posted inBooks Science Universe

Here’s a science book with a radical view of reality

Oh, man. I'm so glad I got pulled in by the Book Magnet.  That's how I explained my purchase of two thick, serious books to the cashier at the Book Bin in downtown Salem, Oregon. I'd parked my car in front of the bookstore, gone to my Tai Chi class, and was all set to drive home until, poised to unlock the car door... Go inside and check out the new books, the everpresent voice inside my head told me. Must obey, I happily told myself. "The Singular Universe and the Reality of Time" stared me in the face almost…
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Posted inReligions Science

Oregon should eliminate non-medical reasons for not vaccinating

People who irrationally fear vaccines shouldn't be allowed to opt out of vaccination laws for either philosophical or religious reasons. After all, a lot of scientific research shows that vaccines are safe and effective. Sure, there are some risks. But there are risks in everything, including wearing seat belts. Once in a while you hear of someone dying after being trapped in a burning car by his or her seatbelt. Seat belts save many more lives, though. Same is true about vaccines. There are occasional mostly minor side effects, yet clearly the benefits both to the individual and to society…
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Posted inBooks Morality

Ten modern atheist non-commandments

A few months ago I wrote about Lex Bayer's and John Figdor's atheist manifesto in "Halfway through 'Atheist Mind, Humanist Heart,' I love this book." Having finished it, here's their full list of ten non-commandments (I'd only gotten to six at the time of my first blog post). 1.  The world is real, and our desire to understand the world is the basis for belief.2.  We can perceive the world only through our human senses.3.  We use rational thought and language as tools for understanding the world.4.  All truth is proportional to the evidence.5.  There is no God.6.  We all…
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Posted inReligions Science

Dissolve life’s imaginary problems. Don’t try to solve them.

The best way to resolve a problem is to realize that it doesn't really exist. Poof! Gone. Problem isn't solved; it is dissolved.  More and more, I'm concluding that this is a big drawback with religions. They want us to believe in problems that aren't evident to a non-believer. Like: (1) How does one come to know God? (If God doesn't exist, this isn't a problem)(2) How can our sins be forgiven? (If sins are imaginary, this isn't a problem)(3) How can we be sure of going to heaven after we die? (If there is no heaven, or life after…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus Science

“Boyhood” and big bang stir thoughts of religious ridiculousness

Last night I experienced an interesting juxtaposition of two disparate events: watching "Boyhood", via a Netflix DVD, and reading an article in the most recent issue of New Scientist, "Big bang discovery crumbles to dust." Both made me think about the ridiculousness of religion. In Boyhood -- a great movie, by the way -- there's a scene of a Christian minister doing his thing at a church service. He's preaching about the part in the Bible where Jesus asks Thomas to touch him after his resurrection. (This is where the term "doubting Thomas" comes from.) The preacher says that when…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus Religions

Obama is right: religious believers of all faiths commit wrongs

Yesterday President Obama spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast. Here's some of what he said -- the part that deeply irritated dogmatic Christians in this country. Now, over the last few months, we’ve seen a number of challenges -- certainly over the last six years.  But part of what I want to touch on today is the degree to which we've seen professions of faith used both as an instrument of great good, but also twisted and misused in the name of evil.  ...We see sectarian war in Syria, the murder of Muslims and Christians in Nigeria, religious war in…
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Posted inReality Religions

Humanism is way better than religion. Yet mystery remains.

On the whole, I'm pleased to call myself a humanist. As noted in this post about a humanist book, someone called me this during my sophomore year in college --  before I even knew what humanism was. This is one of the points made in an interesting You Tube video a regular Church of the Churchless visitor told me about today: "Christian man says humanists are debauched. Andrew Copson explains what Humanism is really all about."    If you're like me, you'll find the preachy Christian guy who speaks at the start of the video to be irritating. But here's…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

David Lane addresses the “guru question”

Wow, nice job, Dave.  David Lane, a.k.a. the Neural Surfer, responded to a questioning comment on one of my blog posts from "Appreciative Reader" by putting up a one page web site, The Guru Question. Give it a read. I found the page most interesting, especially the part where Lane says nice things about me and this blog. For some (obvious) reason I found this particularly persuasive.  Lane is a bit more positive about the India-based spiritual/religious organization we both have belonged to, Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB). Which is led by a guru, Gurinder Singh. We do share skepticism…
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Posted inReligions Science

Everybody accepts the reality of inner experiences. But not of religion.

"Don't you believe in love?" Whenever I see a comment like this on one of my blog posts from a religious believer, I'm dumbfounded. it's a ridiculous thing to say. For one thing, I don't believe in love. I experience love. There's a big difference between believing and experiencing. Likewise, I don't believe in consciousness; I experience consciousness. Nor do I believe in life; I experience being alive.  Same is true for everybody. Atheists. Agnostics. Religious people. Scientists. Musicians. Farmers. Young. Old. Men. Women. Everybody.  The only way any one of us knows anything about reality is through experiencing. It's…
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Posted inBooks Buddhism

Sam Harris’ “Waking Up” video is well worth $4.99

I've read Sam Harris' book, Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion. I've written four blog posts about his book (see here, here, here, and here).  So when I learned that Harris was offering a $4.99 video -- an hour of him talking about the message of "Waking Up" plus an hour or so of audience Q&A -- I wondered if it was worth five bucks to me. Turns out, it was.  I came away with a deeper appreciation for Harris' central theme: the supernatural side of religions is bullshit, but a secular understanding of how human consciousness functions…
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Posted inReality Religions Science

Religion is a failed paradigm deserving of ridicule

Even after more than ten years of blogging on this here Church of the Churchless, I continue to be surprised by how often visitors to this site believe that religious belief shouldn't be subject to ridicule. Um, didn't they notice the word "churchless" in the blog name? Or the tag line, Preaching the gospel of spiritual independence? Today a comment interchange on a recent post pointed to this inability of true believers to recognize that their worldview lacks a solid foundation. Here's what "x," a religious skeptic, said: I don't preach anything...I just comment on preachiness...like yours. You think you're…
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