instinct

Where does the fault lie?

“The fault lies not in the stars but in ourselves”. That bit of Shakespeare speaks to our modern paradigm. By modern, I mean the epoch beginning with the Renaissance (14th century) that followed the fall of Rome, i.e., the so-called Dark Ages. Note how these labels bias the view of cultural progress right away in […]

Flow Triggers

The Flow Genome Project researches Flow, which Steven Kotler describes as when performance sharply increases. Google [How to open up the next level of human performance], [How To Get Into The Flow State], and [The Science of Maximizing Human Potential]. Anyone comfortable with the Zen(1) point of view will recognize Flow right off. Steven rephrases […]

Naturally Racist

The online matchmaking site Okcupid ran a survey of its members. Google [Okcupid Race and Attraction]. When they first started looking at first-contact attempts and who was writing who back, they say it was immediately obvious that the sender’s race was a huge factor. That offers some proof to what has long been obvious to […]

Managing Our Disorders

The DSM 5 — Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders — now recognizes hoarding as a disorder. Google [CBS News Seeking help for hoarding] for a short report on this. Frankly, I say we have more of a diagnostic disorder. In our quest to identify human problems as disorders, we are blind to the […]

Born Again Taoist

How many of us truly appreciate the role that instinct plays in our lives? Long ago, our ancestors dreamed up myths of self-importance that distanced our species from other living things. We are told, “Don’t be an animal” and that Mankind was created in God’s image. One way or another, every culture has its spiritual […]

Free Willers Anonymous

Members of Alcoholics Anonymous and similar addiction programs begin their process of recovery by first admitting their addiction and powerlessness over it. That starts clearing away the blind spot that up until then made life very problematic. This first step parallels Buddha’s first step of his Eight-Fold Path—Right Comprehension. Primal instinct drives them all Wouldn’t […]

Instinctive Free Will

We easily accept the idea that animals and young children don’t choose their nature; they are born with it. Consequently, society doesn’t usually hold them responsible. With the onset of adulthood, that suddenly changes, and society then deems us responsible for our actions. As adults, we somehow miraculously acquire the power to choose right from […]

Stupidly Intelligent

The Science News review, Our Final Invention, about the impending dangers of Artificial Intelligence caught my eye. (Google [Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era].) Consider this quote, “Computer systems advanced enough to act with human-level intelligence will likely be unpredictable and inscrutable all of the time.” He is worried that, “we could […]

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