A Brief Guide to Embodied Cognition: Why You Are Not Your Brain
Embodied cognition, the idea that the mind is not only connected to the body but that the body influences the mind, is one of the more counter-intuitive ideas in cognitive science. In sharp contrast is dualism, a theory of mind famously put forth by Rene Descartes in the 17th century when he claimed that “there is a great difference between mind and body, inasmuch as body is by nature always divisible, and the mind is entirely indivisible... the mind or soul of man is entirely different from the body.” In the proceeding centuries, the notion of the disembodied mind flourished. From it, western thought developed two basic ideas: reason is disembodied because the mind is disembodied and reason is transcendent and universal. However, as George Lakoff and Rafeal Núñez explain: Cognitive science calls this entire philosophical worldview into serious question on empirical grounds...
Philosophical zombie
A philosophical zombie or p-zombie in the philosophy of mind and perception is a hypothetical being that is indistinguishable from a normal human being except in that it lacks conscious experience, qualia, or sentience.[1] For example, a philosophical zombie could be poked with a sharp object, and not feel any pain sensation, but yet, behave exactly as if it does feel pain (it may say "ouch" and recoil from the stimulus, or tell us that it is in intense pain). Types of zombie[edit] Though philosophical zombies are widely used in thought experiments, the detailed articulation of the concept is not always the same.
How to Cultivate Collective Intelligence
The first time I heard the word "swarming" in a business context, it made me chuckle. I had an instant visual of bees dressed in suits and carrying briefcases, furiously buzzing over, under, and around a conference table. They weren’t accomplishing anything—just making a lot of noise and looking for something to sting. Then it occurred to me that all worker bees are female. Each bee in my mental image was now wearing a suit with a skirt, and red high heels on all six feet. By this point I was ready to give up on the idea of swarming in business altogether.
The Internet and the New Transformation of Consciousness
John H. Van Ness (email: JohnVanNess@vngroup.com) What distinguishes human life from all other life forms?
Wicked Problems: Problems Worth Solving - My Epiphany
I became interested in the power of design in social contexts during a project at my former employer, frog design. Project Masiluleke (or Project M) was organized by Pop!Tech, frog, and MTN, an African mobile phone operator. Project M was designed to help stop the spread of AIDS in KwaZulu-Natal, a South African province with about 10 million people, including an estimated four million who are HIV-positive and 400,000 who will develop AIDS each year.Dugger, Celia. "South Africa Is Seen to Lag in H.I.V.
Scientific evidence for survival of consciousness after death
According to Wikipedia.org, "psychometry" is a psychic ability in which the user is able to relate details about the past condition of an object or area, usually by being in close contact with it. The user could allegedly, for example, give police precise details about a murder or other violent crime if they were at the crime scene or were holding the weapon used. About.com's Paranormal Phenomena website lists information about several of the most convincing psychometrists. Stefan Ossowiecki, a Russian-born psychic, is one of the most famous psychometrists. Ossowiecki claimed to be able to see people's auras and to move objects through psychokinesis.
Wicked Problems
Wicked Problems A wicked problem is one for which each attempt to create a solution changes the understanding of the problem. Wicked problems cannot be solved in a traditional linear fashion, because the problem definition evolves as new possible solutions are considered and/or implemented. The term was originally coined by Horst Rittel. Wicked problems always occur in a social context -- the wickedness of the problem reflects the diversity among the stakeholders in the problem.
Culture Vaults : Resonant Frequencies and the Human Brain
One of the great revelations of 20th century science is that all existence can be broken down into simple wave functions. Every photon, energy emission, and elementary particle rings with its own unique wave signature. When we see a color, we are actually seeing a distinct frequency of visible light. When we hear a sound, our eardrums are actually being vibrated by subtle waves in the air molecules around us. Even the neurochemical processes of human consciousness our very thoughts ring with their own distinct wave patterns. By studying the way that waves interact with other waves, researchers have found that even low-powered oscillations can have enormous effects on standing waves, physical structures, and even the human brain.
Wicked Problems
If you work in an organisation that deals with social, commercial or financial planning - or any type of public policy planning - then you've got wicked problems. You may not call them by this name, but you know what they are. They are those complex, ever changing societal and organisational planning problems that you haven't been able to treat with much success, because they won't keep still. They're messy, devious, and they fight back when you try to deal with them.
The brain’s silent majority - 2009 FALL
When you have no clue, call it glue. “Glia,” the Greek word for glue, was the name the pathologist Rudolph Virchow gave, back in 1856, to the gelatinous substance that forms the bulk of the brain. And it stuck. These days, scientists use it to denote the matter that accounts for 90 percent of the brain’s cells and more than half its volume — but, like the late comic Rodney Dangerfield, “can’t get no respect.” Neurons, the “talented tenth” of the human brain that hog the lion’s share of brain scientists’ attention, are indeed a work of evolutionary art. They’ve got a knack that glia lack: Their aptitude for high-speed, long-distance communication makes them the nervous system’s premier information processors.
Hard problem of consciousness
The existence of a "hard problem" is controversial and has been disputed by some philosophers.[4][5] Providing an answer to this question could lie in understanding the roles that physical processes play in creating consciousness and the extent to which these processes create our subjective qualities of experience.[3] Several questions about consciousness must be resolved in order to acquire a full understanding of it. These questions include, but are not limited to, whether being conscious could be wholly described in physical terms, such as the aggregation of neural processes in the brain.
Table of contents
(With last update date) Cover Foreword (August 13, 2009) Part 1. Quantum theory and consciousness Preface to part 1 (April 12, 2000)
