Embodied Human Consciousness, Abrupt Global Climate Change, and Freedom - S. David Stoney, Ph.D.
IX. Modern Science and the Mind - Some postings of material I presented in Alwyn Scott's fine internet course on Modern Science and the Mind in 2000.
Hierarchies and Representations - March 21, 2000 A discourse on the need to include the environment (universe) in our "brain hierarchies," recognizing that we are inextricably embedded therein. Also included is a consideration of the meaning of a representational neural assembly from a process philosophical perspective that takes into account the bimodal nature of human perception.
Culture, Climate and Consciousness - April 3, 2000 A discourse on the need to alternate Apollonian and Dionysian approaches to consciousness. It is proposed that the two complementary approaches can be used together when a common, real world problem such as impending global climate change is considered. The model of embodied human consciousness as a trajectory in a space defined by alienation, self-awareness, and participation is described. The possibility that embodied human consciousness oscillates between two stable states linked to global cycles of climate is advanced.
Emergence of Mind and Reality - May 5, 2000 & January 15, 2003 Somehow, perhaps related to the harsh conditions for life on this planet, we became capable of cleaving (or at least imagining that we could cleave) primordial wholeness. The rest is "history" (as conventionally defined) and by the end of the modern era (around 1980 CE) many Euroamericans had come to believe that existence was limited to the interval between zero on the left and infinity on the right. While the ability to draw distinctions (G. Spencer Brown, Laws of Form, NY: The Julian Press, 1972) is essential for creaturely existence, it is also critically important to consciously remember our participation with universal creativity. See Fig. below.
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