Dogmas in Modern Science & the Materialist Inquisition

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Two weeks ago, two videos were removed from Youtube by TED Talks, made unsearchable on their website, and hidden in a back-corner blog posting. The two videos were "The War on Consciousness" by Graham Hancock, and "The Science Delusion" by Rupert Sheldrake (now reposted by independent sources).

The initial reasoning for taking down the videos, inspired by blog postings by various arbiters of the materialist inquisition, proved so flimsy and false (look at the strikethrough text) that TED had to retract their statements and re-issue their response and justification for their actions, simultaneously claiming that what they were doing was not censorship.

Supporters of TED's decision to take down the videos claim that it is not censorship and/or that it is TED's right to take down whatever videos they want. It IS censorship when TED deletes these videos from high traffic websites like Youtube, the videos are no longer searchable on its website, and it relegates the discussion and videos to a backwater/obscure location on its website. It IS censorship when certain videos are left up, which meet their same vague criterion of "psuedo-science", which are less inflammatory to the assumptions and goals of the dominant materialist paradigm. For example, Richard Dawkins' provocative and pseudo-scientific videos (he tries to pass it off as science, but his arguments are largely philosophical in nature) remain up! There is a clear double standard that favors one side of a debate. TED does have a right to take down whatever they want, but if they take down viewpoints that are not mainstream but leave up more mainstream viewpoints that meet the same vague criterion for "psuedoscience", they do not have the right to parade the flag of freedom of information and "Radical Openness" (which is, ironically, the title of TED's new book). 

This incident has publicly exposed a cancerous and cantankerous force in the world of science that I have become acutely aware of in recent years, which usually lurks in the background, in the arcane texts of journal articles and technical literature. Despite all the progress, the evolution and development of the methodology of science, there is an inquisition that has arisen, which bears striking similarities (but opposite in belief system) to the Church-establishment of hundreds of years ago, which the first scientists fought desperately to break down. The Materialist Inquisition is a force that has resurrected the methodology of dogma to impose the idea that the Universe is meaningless and mechanistic, fixed in its laws, that matter is all that exists, that consciousness is just an epiphenomenal  illusion. These dogmas are proudly paraded under the banner of science by unquestioning followers, while behind the scenes, many of the primary promoters of these ideas go against the very foundational values of science by choosing to ignore, misrepresent, or silence opposing views and data, as their careers and book sales rely on such tactics.

This is the MO of the Materialist Inquisition, and it happens more often than most people would believe. If you look into a lot of the decisions of the scientific establishment on some of the purported "psuedo-science" topics, you will see a very common theme: of ideology over-influencing what should be rational, unbiased discussion and evaluation of unorthodox ideas. Debate focuses on red-herrings, vast swaths of data and metanalysis are ignored, talking points are misconstrued, and the cop out of "we need more research" is thrown about with abandon, even in the face of insurmountable, clear evidence. For many, "Established Science" is assumed to be the case, and no investigation is put forth to validate or skeptically assess the neutrality of the history of such decisions on the truth of such "psuedoscience" topics. And as a further barrier for the general public finding out about these dubious methods, these things often take quite a bit of digging on the internet, journals, and books to get to the bottom of, as such decisions are almost never discussed after the fact by mainstream scientists who consider them true, prima facie.

A book I would highly recommend to peer deeper into the rabbit hole of proof that there is more to this reality than the materialist paradigm would admit is The Conscious Universe by Dean Radin. Be aware, this book is heavily laden with statistics, graphs, and scientific jargon. It's not exactly for the average reader, but it is definitely worthwhile for scientifically-oriented people who want to skeptically assess the assumptions and beliefs that mainstream science has erected.

As a final note, I would like to point out a piece of currently-developing news/research. One of the points of contention over Sheldrake's talk was his claim that the speed of light has changed several times over the last century. TED and materialist-inquisition bloggers cried foul, that this was not factual, citing limited date ranges, and claiming that such an idea has no theoretical underpinning and probably never will. Not only is it true that there was a period in the mid-twentieth century in which the speed of light changed and was replicated by numerous labs around the world, but according to these two upcoming papers, there IS a theoretical underpinning. At face value, it makes total sense, that the rate and number of virtual particles flitting into and out of existence would affect the speed of light. Perhaps this is the beginning of the shift into a new paradigm of physics? Perhaps even a means of merging Quantum Physics (which encompasses virtual particles in its mathematical framework) and Relativity (whose equations rely heavily on C, the speed of light) into the long-elusive theory of Quantum Gravity? Perhaps the curvature of spacetime is directly related to the density and polarization of virtual particles in a given area of space? I'm not a physicist, but I do like to speculate :D

Developing Higher Dimensional Consciousness Through Archetypes and Subjective Mythos

               (Img Credit: "Pure Land" by LuminoKaya)

Assumption 1: Anything that can be imagined exists somewhere in the infinite (or near infinite) universes of the multiverse. (If there are an infinite number of universes, it is guaranteed that all possible places and beings of archetypal imagery (or any imagery, art, film, theater, etc.) exist in at least one of the infinite universes.)

Assumption 2: Higher dimensional information can be encoded into a lower dimensional substrate. (Holographic plates are an example of this principle at work, with 3d spatial information encoded into a 2d plate surface.)

Assumption 3: The brain can be such a substrate, and can assemble higher dimensional perceptions from lower dimensional perceptions. (Research on the structure of the brain suggests that information is stored in a manner similar to how a holographic plate stores information. Other research suggests that the brain assembles the 3rd dimension of vision from information that is sent from the 2d surface of the retina, implying that lower dimensional data can be constructed into higher dimensional perceptions.)

Myth as archetypal maps for subjective understanding of one’s own neural connections (experienced as the landscape of mind).   

The human brain is hard-wired to work with myth – archetypal maps by which the internal landscape of mind can be navigated. When a psychonaut, shaman, bard, or other explorer of the inner world begins to work with myth, the archetypal characters and places are crude and undeveloped – not much can be understood or predicted using such simplistic mappings. As the explorer begins to create more elaborate details, interconnecting different elements of their mythos, their brain correspondingly becomes more interconnected. Myth becomes the language by which the internal world of the subconscious can engage in dialogue with the conscious mind, with archetypal imagery as the words, and events occurring within the mythos as the syntactical/grammatical contextualization. Archetypal characters and places become the means by which the explorer identifies and maps neural circuits of different parts of the brain, while events in the mythos symbolize the interconnections between the corresponding neural circuits that are represented by the characters and places. As the mythos develops, the overall story is the aggregate of all neural circuits and connections that have so far been mapped.

Archetypal/mythos mapping as encoding of higher dimensional geometries into the 3d neural substrate.

Holographic plates store information in such a way that the information of the whole plate is equally represented in each part, the entire image is stored in every point on the plate and arises through the interactions of the points, not through the points themselves. That is to say, if you cut a holographic plate in half, each half can still construct the entire image intact, though with less detail. The brain exhibits a similar property in that if large sections of the brain are destroyed, or become disconnected from each other, memories can still be retrieved, though with less detail. It could be said that a 4d spacetime image of events are stored into a 3d neural substrate; in other words, memory is a 4d hologram on a 3d substrate. As in a hologram where each point of the holographic plate is connected to every other point, it is as if each neuron has an “address book” for each other neuron that was activated during a particular experience. The memory is retrieved as the activation of a neuron’s “address book” for that particular experience. Thus, encoding of higher dimensions into a lower dimensional substrate is a function of interconnectedness of points on the substrate.

As the mythos develops, the brain becomes increasingly interconnected and the chasm between conscious and unconscious mind is bridged. Neurally speaking, archetypal imagery are “address books” of neurons, and are 4d informational encodings onto the 3d neural substrate. Extrapolating from what is known about holograms, it could be understood that higher dimensional information is encoded into a lower dimensional substrate by the interconnection of all points on the lower dimensional substrate to each other. Just as an archetypal image itself is an “address book“ of the different neurons involved in encoding the image, so would events in a mythos be an “address book” of the archetypal “address books”. In other words, the individual events in the explorer’s subjective mythos are the extension of neural holography into the next higher dimension, 5d. The overall story arc of individual events in the mythos would correspond to a 6d “address book” of 5d encoded information, and so on.

Inner mapping becomes outer mapping.

As the higher dimensional interconnections of the holographic neural network increase in density and number, consciousness can begin to create higher dimensional schema for modeling reality. As the schema develop, consciousness is able to see the world from a higher dimensional perspective, allowing for exploring other universes in the multiverse or even gaining information from the 3/4d universe in which an explorer’s body resides that would normally be inaccessible (for example, a person in 2d flatland would be amazed by how a 3d person standing above him could tell him what is outside the walls of the 2d flatlander’s rooms). Thus, when a shaman consults the “spirits” (archetypal images) for information about where a lost item is, divining the future, or some other prophetic act, the shaman is utilizing higher dimensional interconnections and schema about the world to gain information from the 3/4d world.

In some sense, the shaman mentioned above is simultaneously projecting his/her consciousness to the universe in which that spirit resides. By the assumptions listed above, anything that can be imagined exists in a universe somewhere in the multiverse. Thus art, theatre, film, etc. all can be conceived of as higher dimensional perceptions of other universes in the multiverse, with the information brought back to this universe. So, I propose that stories such as “Star Wars” actually did exist a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away (in another universe). But the difference between George Lucas and the above mentioned shaman is that the shaman has a two-way dialogue with those other universes, and can request information from other hyperspatial, higher dimensional beings that is directly relevant to this universe.

Bringing it back full circle, images are not inherently real on their own, with respect to the explorer developing an archetypal mythos. When an explorer -begins- to develop their mythos, they are imagining things. But as the imaginings become more elaborate and interconnected, they begin to touch something real, as the explorer truly does peer with his/her own consciousness into other universes. 

Crystal Healing

ॐ Collectively Conscious ॐ recently posted this on Facebook: "Is there any scientific evidence out there to back up the claims people make about the healing power of crystals?"

Here's my two cents: "Placebo is assumed to be "not real" because it's imagined. Regardless of imagination or not, the placebo effect definitely does induce healing, and crystals work with and amplify the placebo effect by giving a concrete manifestation to intention. Crystals are ideal for charging with intention to generate a strong placebo because there is something about them that piques our curiosity, something that makes us feel awe. As such, crystals are a much better receptacle for intention then something more mundane like a piece of gravel, a paperclip, chewing gum, etc. This is why I use crystals in healing."

It's All Just Stories

Epiphany: there is nothing within our subjective experience that does not involve story-making. Everything that happens to us, everything we do, everything we think, every attempt at understanding reality gets tied into a story of some kind, whether that story is about the formation of the universe, how you got in front of your computer screen as you're reading this, or what you're planning on doing in 20 minutes. Story-making/myth-making is the kernel/root layer of processing in the operating system of human consciousness, and awareness of this allows access and modification to the core levels of the OS of our being. Such a meta-awareness, a "meta-story about stories" begs the questions: what are your stories, do they serve you, and what new stories can be added into your list of programs and applications to improve the performance of your system?

A New Story of the People

Separation is the primary story that we are working with in the world today, and is the primary cause for all of the world's suffering. The story of separation is a falsehood, and trying to force this falsehood is what brings about this suffering. Interconnectedness is primarily what makes the world what it is, not separation. Complex organic chemistry, cells, organisms, families, communities, societies, ecosystems, etc. exist primarily by means of connections between units of those systems, not as a function of their separateness. But this story is inevitably reaching its limits, it is showing cracks in its foundation as many of the modern world's political-economic-cultural systems (which are founded on the story of separation) begin the process of disintegration (which is the ultimately what their story is all about). The story of iterative separation is the story of decay, of degradation, of death, and if we continue to feed the story of separation through our institutions, this will be what we manifest. Does this serve us? I think not. 

Science + Spirituality

“Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light‐years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.”

Quantum Consciousness

There is a considerable amount of evidence that shows how organelle structures within neurons are capable of using quantum superposition to communicate with other neurons and external objects, i.e. direct transphysical (higher dimensional), "psychic" connection. Furthermore this implies that consciousness is somehow tied to the fabric of reality if it can manipulate reality through it. Common outdated (but still used) skeptical attacks levied against it primarily center on the claim its impossible for quantum effects to take place in wet/warm conditions of the brain. These have been refuted for some time now, without notice of the scientific establishment, through the work of researchers in the emerging field of quantum biology. Take for example, a well document, peer reviewed, accepted study showing that plants routinely use quantum superposition to essentially teleport energy from light harvesting complexes to storage centers in the process of photosynthesis. Hameroff and associates have actually found that the wet/warm conditions would actually help quantum entanglement, because of the structure of organelles within neurons.

Search Quantum Consciousness, Orch-OR Model, Stuart Hameroff for more information...

Shamanic Healing and the Placebo

http://www.placeboeffect.com/shaman-healing/

Modern medical science ignores the placebo effect as a method of treatment, as if it's not real because it is based in imagination. But in recent decades, the placebo effect has mysteriously doubled in strength. With current medicines focusing on chemical/"objective"/"physical" medicine (which are proving to be less and less effective in comparison to an increased-strength placebo effect), it's a wonder why there isn't more research into methods of increasing the strength of placebos. Shamanic healing works through this paradigm of medicine: increasing the placebo effect by connecting people to their core neural circuitry, the archetypal forces which underly all thought processes. Through connecting more strongly to these internal forces, intention and imagination are amplified by an increased neural connectivity, allowing for a more powerful placebo effect.

Psi Demonstrated in Burning Man Experiment

http://www.noetic.org/mindatlarge/

The results from the Institute of Noetic Science's experiment at Burning Man 2012 are out: During the Man burning and the Temple burning, random number generators spread throughout Black Rock City and around the world significantly skewed in non-random ways. The results imply that intense emotions and focused attention on a single event alters the "physical" world. Add this to the pile of other studies showing the same thing.... (such as the Global Consciousness Project)