The reality of awareness

According to the article by New Scientist, our brains manage the huge task of visual observation by extrapolating predicted visual inputs based on recent and relevant experience. 

"The brain expects to see things and really just wants to confirm it now and again," says Lars Muckli at the University of Glasgow, UK.

Predictable sights trigger less brain activity than unfamiliar stimuli, bolstering the view that the brain is not merely reactive, but generates predictions based on the recent past.

The finding follows a series of scientific discoveries that challenge our current view of awareness. It challenges our understanding of reality, and throws a curve-ball to philosophers and scholars alike, neither of which have ever been able to come up with any satisfactory explanation for the rational mind or the origin of consciousness.

Recent research has provided us with inconclusive evidence that awareness is a highly lucid and mindful experience that depend more on our frame of mind than on actual experience. 

According to the research there is about a 20/80 split between our expectation and the actual experience we perceive. All of which confirm something we have known for a while, that reality is a highly individual experience. 

If we add to that the latest revelation that our sense of observation mostly confirm our own presumption you'll start to see why your view on reality and consciousness is in urgent need for a change.


Since the historical debate on the nature of reality that started way back in the Age of Enlightenment has failed to provide us with any solid argument we can believe, I suggest the time has come to wipe what we think we know from the table, change our perspective, and begin our view on life with the conscious perception of mindful awareness, the mutual intention of curious abandon and having a good time.

By starting with a clean slate, and founding our arguments on what we know rather than what we believe, chances are good we may end up looking at ourselves in a totally different way, enlightened by the reason incumbent to life, and enthralled by the beauty and wonder of living it.

Since all of this is rather sudden and unexpected, not to mention virgin territory to such as me, I'd like to invite you to share your own experience, and would love to hear your point of view on reality, reason, and living from shared and present sense perspective.

The deception of perception

Just sometime, it sucks

 

Is it a pal?

Is it a toy?

Is it a Hoover

to hug and play? 

Which animal is synonymous with sin?

Ever heard of the Sloth?

These arboreal, tree hugging mammals got their name from their mottled and pest ridden fur, and their excruciatingly slow movement that suggest they are dirty and lazy by nature, but if we take a closer look we see much more than the unfortunate name of sloth would suggest.

For starters, the Sloth is believed to have existed for about 60 million years, almost 24 times longer than Homo Sapiens, given the current understanding of our own evolution. Just like the human race they are considered to be somewhat of an oddity in the animal kingdom, and in a manner of speaking the Sloth seem to share many habits with ourselves.

Sloths prefer to set up a permanent home, and may live their entire life in one tree. These solitary animals prefer to spend their life hanging from from branch to branch in search of green leaves and buds that form the staple of their diet. Just like humans, the Sloth find themselves at the top of their very own and unique branch of the food chain. Protected by their lofty position in tree tops as well as the camouflage of leafy shade, they keep hidden from the rest of the world by a combination of circumstance and lack of movement.

Besides humans, they are probably the only known species that crap on their own porch, a risky practice that come with a high fatality rate. Once a week they climb down to the same piece of ground below their tree, make a hole in the ground, take a dump, and then carefully cover the excrement after they are finished. It is during these times of ablution that the Sloth become easy prey, risking life and limb to perform the ritual burial of . Just like we find in the human race, it is an example of instinctive behaviour that persist even though it seems to be a negative evolutionary trait.

But then, as we often find in nature, similar does not mean same. Contrary to the human race, these ancient and peaceful beasts exhibit various complex symbiotic systems that are inextricably part of their existence. From their furry coats, right down to their diet of leaves and their curious excretion habits. The fur of a sloth host two species of symbiotic cyanobacteria, which provide additional camouflage. And because of the cyanobacteria, sloth fur is a small ecosystem of its own, hosting many species of non-parasitic insects.

The diet of leaves provide the Sloth with very little energy or nutrition as they do not digest easily. Sloths therefore have very large, specialized, slow-acting stomachs with multiple compartments in which symbiotic bacteria break down the tough leaves. As much as two-thirds of a well-fed sloth's body-weight consists of the contents of its stomach, and the digestive process can take a month or more to complete. Sloths deal with this by a range of economy measures: they have very low metabolic rates (less than half of that expected for a mammal of their size), and maintain low body temperatures when active (30 °C (86 °F) to 34 °C (93 °F)), and still lower temperatures when resting.

With all these fascinating facts about the Sloth I cannot help but wonder if perhaps we are wrong about the nature of sloth, and since it is only recent that we have invented a tool to observe the working brain we may well find that like the Sloth, the sin that shares in its name is nothing at all what we think.

Positive pop

This summer, join researchers, practitioners, and other interested individuals for an online exploration of the Foundations of Positive Psychology taught by leading positive psychology expert Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar through the University of Pennsylvania's College of Liberal and Professional Studies (LPS). This new, non-credit course will examine the history and scientific underpinnings of this intriguing field and show you how its principles have been used to enhance work and home life.

In this course, Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar's weekly video lectures will explore the academic research underlying this new science. Class assignments and online interaction with Dr. Ben-Shahar and fellow students will help you formulate action steps for incorporating positive psychology into your daily routine.

Now you have three choices to guess what is being advertised:

a. A course on positive psychology? (Way too obvious of course.)

b. A exploratory journey to harmony and enlightenment? (Too floral, but probably worth exploring!)

c. Discovering your chackras' core? (Perhaps a bit technical?)

d. Learn to apply the science of happiness.

Really

Just like the Mona Lisa this painting illustrates the concept of perspective. If you focus on the left side of the face it is clearly a female, while focusing on the right side of the face it is a male.

This duality can be found throughout reality and does not mean that there are different realities, it only means that your reality changes according to your point of view. Perspective changes perception which alters our view of reality.