Paradigm Shifts and the Theater of Consciousness (by James Kowall): Abstract: Recent developments in theoretical physics, which include attempts to unify the laws of the universe, as in string theory, and attempts to explain the origin of the universe, as in inflationary cosmology, are interpreted in terms of the theater of consciousness mental model of the world. This scientific paradigm dates back to ideas that Plato first discussed in the Allegory of the Cave, and is consistent with the holographic principle of quantum gravity, the many world interpretation of quantum theory, and the Gödel incompleteness theorems. This mental model of the world leads to a natural theory of the mind, and is consistent with spiritual discussions of creation, as found in Genesis, and expressions of nondual wisdom, as found in the Tao Te Ching. A natural explanation of spiritual enlightenment in the nondual sense of 'no-self' or 'emptiness', and the concept of 'nothingness' as expressed in Buddhism, Zen and Hinduism, are also discussed. http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/145
The Fringe-Nucleus Interface of Consciousness: Relevance to the Integrated Phenomenal Experience Elicited by Poetry (by David Sahner): Abstract: Parallels are drawn between sensorial consciousness, using visual consciousness as an exemplification, and the phenomenal experience of poetry. William James‟ distinction between the nucleus and fringe elements of consciousness, as extended by Bruce Mangan, is used as a framework that naturally lends itself to the identification of homologies with poetics. http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/146
Toward a Science of Consciousness 2011: The Greatest Show on Earth (by Christopher Holvenstot): Abstract: A review of the 18th annual TSC interdisciplinary conference on consciousness sponsored and organized by the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona and supported by the Perfjell Foundation of Sweden. http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/147
The Wall