Monthly Archive for May, 2009
The 'Stone Marriage' of Zimzelen, a natural phenomenon in Bulgaria
What makes this a ‘taoist’ idea?
Ideally, shouldn’t all governmental action should be rooted in impartiality? Rather than seeking impartiality, many seem only to argue the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’. In the end, isn’t it the way of heaven to show no favoritism? Alas, it takes a while for the ‘way of heaven’ to work its way though the muck of earth.
Here’s the idea:
Instead of having gay marriage sanctioned or prohibited by the government, why not have all marriage-gay or otherwise-removed from the government’s domain? Instead, government could simply offer equal protection under the law to everyone through a “partnership contract”. Continue reading ‘A Taoist Solution to Gay Marriage’
(Well, that’s one way to put it.) Emotion clear-cuts the natural diversity of original, unfiltered perception. Certainly, this tendency to blindside ourselves is a built-in survival adaptation. I imagine anything ‘aware’ would need such a way to filter out extraneous sensory data. Extraneous meaning that which has no immediate bearing on survival. Even given our extremely narrow sensory ranges, there’s still an infinite amount of stimuli out there to arouse the nervous system.
So far so good. Now, consider the filtering effects of language on perception. Words and names allow our brain to filter out extraneous sensory data to a fault! These preconceptions (along with emotion) ensue vast pre clear-cut landscapes of consciousness. Oh my, too much of a good thing, eh? Continue reading ‘Emotion Clear-cuts Perception’
Neurons in the brain
Right Mindfulness, Attentiveness, and Concentration are three ‘folds’ in the Eight Fold Path of Buddha. Now, just what is the difference between these virtual synonyms? Over the years I’ve parsed out my own ’splitting of hairs’ to solve this puzzle. All the same, don’t they all refer to closely related states of mental awareness? A recent article in Science News, on cognitive research and magic delves into inattention blindness, a phenomenon which sheds light on this issue. Continue reading ‘Right Mindfulness, Attentiveness, and Concentration?’
NotTheConstant Name and I have been knocking about in ‘what is the tao‘ a little, which is always great fun. I woke up following a pleasant Saturday afternoon siesta reflecting on the best ‘way’ (road, principle, speak, think) to approach life.
Why this endless debate over the best way to approach life – what to do, and how to do it? The first thing I notice is how it draws those of like-mind together and pushes those of unlike-mind apart. It seems we are driven to project our own preferences and inclinations onto others. This keeps the social pot stirred, so to speak. No doubt our social-tribal instinct is pulling off this bio-hoodwink(1) Continue reading ‘The best tao? (road, way, principle, speak, think)’
The movie of life
I go on and on about the folly of trusting word meaning. Yet, I write. That seems at least odd, if not hypocritical. How does one get away with that, and still maintain intellectual honestly? It is not that difficult really. In fact, it is no different than being engrossed in a movie, and yet knowing that it is all ‘make believe’ – an illusion. In the case of a movie one suspends belief for awhile. In my case, I suspend disbelief for awhile (like right now). I trust word meaning as it exits my consciousness and lands on this computer screen. After that, there are no guarantees. I suppose it all depends on what I want to see.
Continue reading ‘The trick lies in not believing, yet believing’
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