On Consciousness

It could be the product of the meat machine inside our heads.  Another possibility is that consciousness is as palpable as spacetime.  Maybe we tune into consciousness like a radio tunes in to a given frequency.  Others have said that consciousness is the undetectable dark matter of the universe, or even gone so far as to posit that consciousness's undetectable dark matter can be broken down into the equivalents of proton neutron electron, etc etc etc.

When we really don't know, it doesn't hurt to brainstorm about what might be.  All science does is come up with theories, not facts.  Theories, unlike facts, are free to grow and improve (like Einstein improved on Newton's Gravity Theory). In searching for the answer to consciousness, I like to keep that in mind.

The other day, in a flight of fancy, I wondered if consciousness might not form from matter like matter forms from energy.   Current theory is that energy forms matter by passing through the Higgs.  Perhaps matter forms consciousness by passing through some undetected field or through a black hole to become conscious dark matter or by enabling an extended wave function via gap-junction connected dendrites effecting oscillations in tune with Plato's forms world/god ala Penrose/Hameroff Orch OR.

EUNUCH 1

Ever since William III's war on France stopped the flow of French Brandy to the British Isles necessitating the invention of a new ersatz spirit, London has been plagued by Gin drunkenness.  Everyone is making it.  Everyone is selling it.  Everyone is consuming it.  And London's Gin Craze is not just a man's game, nay every female from wet nurse to matron is consuming it.  Neither tradition nor policing stifled their drinking.  On Gin Street, in this year of our lord, 1844, a cloaked figure taps his way through a raucous throng of Gin-crazed  Londoners.  Pausing before a heap of rags, he loudly taps his cane against the pavement.   Startled, a ragamuffin darts out from the heap.

"No Will!"  emanates a voice from the rag heap.  "Stay with mommy."

Works Live on After Death

The mother of an e-friend departed life today.  The man's an atheist, so how to console him?  The dead live on through their influence on people they have come into contact with in their lifetimes.  And as the people you influence go about influencing others, your contribution to society grows.  All the more reason that each of our contributions should be of the highest quality that we can discern. 

Consciousness

I just enjoyed reading this so much that I wanted to share it.  It's got me thinking about how to word my living will, what with the new ways of inferring consciousness and all.  I wo nder if the science of consciousness is what will finally get us thinking about more useful ways to use our capacity to have faith. Like, can our faith in there being an external world be the thing that makes the external world exist for us?  Is this what the Alien being Jesus meant when he said 'if you had but the faith of this mustard seed, you could move mountains. Is my world the same as your world, or like the article questions;  do we both imagine the same color when we think of green?  Could all this endeavor be but stepping stones on the road to human immortality and exploration of the cosmos;  just insert our consciousness in a space ship and let it travel for a million years to some distant place.  After all;  maybe that's how we got here.  Or will God be the final truth that we discover?  Our raison d'etre is to explore these things.

A Bon Mot of my own devises

"What we really want is a dopamine infusion...getting money can do it or ultimately you get it from other people...so be nice!" (errolmacky 2012)

Illusive Friendship

When I was in high school, I used to think that I was the way I was because I
was gay. I longed to meet another gay guy because I supposed that he would be
just like me and so, easy to spend time with. Resounding RONG!

Imagine my surprise as an adult when I finally had to admit that gays come in
just as many varieties as straights, and so gays are no easier to be with than
straights. Now I think that someone who is fun to be with doesn't happen by
accident but is a result of a sustained effort to grow closer. And that amount
of effort is just too much for me to put forth, with the dubious perceived
benefits of a friendship.

I have to admit. I'm uncomfortable around everyone except my immediate family
(wife & son). Is there really such a thing as a close friend, or are all of
these 'friends' just talking about their sports teams or something? Don't need
that waste of time. Not sure what a real friend consists of really. Maybe
there ain't such a thing.

Here's What to Do to Create Better Characterizations In Fiction

I'm pleased with my ability to write personal experiences. (I don't know if they'd be meaningful to anybody else but I enjoy recounting them.)  A character based on me would just be changing "I" to "John Doe".  I think that when I imagine what another person is like, I might have a very shallow view.  If I'm lucky I'll be able to pick out a salient characteristic in them, but then they become one dimensional personifications of that single descriptive adjective.  Like 'Tarzan Strong!'  or "Daniel Radcliffe charming!"  I sorta get stuck in a loop on one characteristic.  That makes my characters one dimensional and boring.  How can I remember that my characters can have other adjectives associated with them.  That gives me an idea.   I can have 3 categories of character.  A minor role would have say one or two characteristics.  A major player could have 4 or 5.  And a principle action mover should have as many as the length of a book will hold. I'm now thinking of enforcing that discipline on my writing. 

I've come to the conclusion that my character problem stems from the fact that I tend to dwell on a single characteristic of my characters.   They are, thus, one dimensional which is not at all lifelike and totally boring.   Now that I know it, it seems like it should have been obvious.  I do the same thing with restaurants.  Switch to a time lapsed movie of my mind.  'Found a few restaurants where I like the food.  Phew...that was scarey.  Now I can contentedly go to these same restaurants for the rest of my life without ever having to take a chance on a new one.'   Just call me Bilbo Beggins;  'An adventure, you say...no thank you.  Good day sir.'