What, Why & How do we Know ?
Just started Douglas Hofstadter’s “Godel, Escher, Bach – An Eternal Golden Braid” – A metaphorical fugue on minds and machines in the spirit of Lewis Carroll. So far, I’m reading his 1999 Preface to the 20th Anniversary Edition of his 1979 original Pullitzer prize winner. It’s a book about life, mind, and the evolving psychology … Continue reading “Another I Wish I’d Read Sooner”
Noticed this meme (sic) circulating – “Name 5 books you’re embarassed to admit you’ve not actually read”. Will Wilkinson’s response is interesting and very reminiscent of my own predicament. In response to one particular book, not important here which, he says ” [introducing] this helpful category: Books I’ve read, but not by myself. I’ve read … Continue reading “Embarassing Reading ?”
… here in Perth … I only mention the weather, ‘cos we’ve had a lot of it recently. Since last Sunday we’ve had stormy weather (ripping up trees and washing away railway ballast kinda stormy weather) and about one quarter of the local annual rainfall, which means we’ve had about half of it since that … Continue reading “What a Glorious Day”
I’m still working my way through Dr James Austin’s “Zen and the Brain”, and I’ve reached a section on anesthesia and other consciousness altering chemical effects. Actually, I took a break from Dr Austin, to read Voltaire’s Candide – short and sweet – humorous Swiftian-style satire on the “best of all possible worlds” view that … Continue reading “Quantum Consciousness”
Not blogged much recently. Been reading hard. James Austin’s “Zen And The Brain” (1998) Gerald Edelman’s “Wider Than The Sky” (2004) Adam Zeman’s “Consciousness, A User’s Guide” (2002) Completed the latter two, but still only 60% through Austin’s 840 page tome. All three are state-of-the-art brain-focussed, written by neuroscientists. All aim to get somewhere into … Continue reading “Consciousness Readings”
Eeek, it’s a week since I’ve posted. Actually, I’ve had a cold, and found myself sleeping whenever I had the opportunity, so that might account for letting things slip. Been continuing to read Austin’s “Zen and the Brain”, which has ben getting a bit technical brain-physiology-biochemistry-wise, and a bit detailed on the teaching and practice … Continue reading “Is No News Good News ?”
Bought Kerouac some time ago; as the seminal beat-generation road story, it seemed de-rigoeur to have read it, since it forms part of the backdrop to Pirsig. Anyway I’m well into it at last. (Thinking out loud – Plenty of parallels with Pirsig’s mid-west already, though Pirsig’s timing does not overlap – his back-packing days … Continue reading “On The Road”
Sorry, I’m jusy housekeeping collecting / checking non-dead links for ZMM resources… Jones Pegasus BibliographyThe Bruce Charlton ReviewBrad Cox’s SiteChicago Graduates