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Biological Plausibility of the Pace of Creation Written in the Genesis (by Massimo Cocchi, Tonello L, Fabio Gabrielli, Daniel Levi, Giancarlo Pantaleoni)

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the biological plausibility of the pace of creation written in the genesis. A fascinating hypothesis is made on the central role of serotonin as a guide, as the director of the phenomena that enable the best use of light by the plant world, the growth, the regulation of mood in the complex molecular interactions that characterize the varying levels of consciousness. This hypothesis provides biological interpretations of the correspondence of creative steps, from light to man, passing through the vegetable and animal world. http://scigod.com/index.php/sgj/article/view/160

Future Implications of a Pre-Adamic, Global & High Ancient Civilization (by Nadeem Haque)

A pre-Adamic global highly evolved united ancient civilization that believed in the oneness of God is shown to have existed from the textual evidence within the Quran, based on an analysis of certain verses that have been deconstructed and examined, with novel insights. Furthermore, recent archeological and textual work is pushing back the dates of ‘ancient civilizations’. This, together with the Quran’s remarkable historical accuracy of archaeologically unknown facts at the time of its advent about 1,400 years ago, is uncovering unexpected facets of our very distant past, with vital implications for our future. http://scigod.com/index.php/sgj/article/view/161

Pregnant Zero and Universal Paradox (by Chris King):

To illustrate the nature of paradox and sexual division we shall first make a short digression into numbers and logical systems including how to bootstrap from nothing to an abnormal universe. Paradox, in terms of logically confounding, has a wider application. Another face of sexual paradox may lie in our incapacity to completely tie down descriptions of reality into fully-definable closed systems. Thus, logical systems are rather like open thermodynamic systems, which exchange information across their boundaries, and do not necessarily tend to a closed equilibrium. There is also a deep identity between logic and set theory, because the set operations are symbolic logic applied to the elements. Finally, mathematics, like quantum reality, contains two currents, typified by the discrete operations of algebra and combinatorics and the continuous properties of the functions and limit operations of calculus and topology. http://scigod.com/index.php/sgj/article/view/162

Cosmological Foundations of Consciousness (by Chris King): http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/197

How the biological brain generates subjective consciousness remains the principal abyss in the scientific description of reality, a problem complementary to the cosmological theory of everything, and equally as challenging, because it takes the scientific model beyond the confines of objective reality. This paper examines the cosmological basis of consciousness and subjective experience in biological organisms. It draws on principles of symmetry-breaking and interactive non-linear dynamics to establish the cosmological status of biogenesis, and biological tissues as fractal forms of interactive symmetry-breaking. It then investigates the Archaean genetic expansion as a source of the envelope of functional machinery forming the basis of neural activity, based on the universal excitability of all living cells. Finally it examines the biophysical basis for consciousness, both in single cells, and in the human brain and its ‘Cartesian theatre’ of consciousness, to elucidate cosmological principles underlying the mind-body relationship.

The ‘Self-Aware’ ‘Emptiness’ of the Quantum-Epiontic Universe (by Graham P. Graham): http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/198

A recent encounter with a quantum physicist has prompted me to examine the claims made by some interpreters of the work of Wojciech H. Zurek, and perhaps by Zurek himself – he does not seem to be clear on this point, that the quantum Darwinian approach to decoherence provides a means to establish the ‘objectivity’ of the classical world through the quantum ‘epiontic’ mechanism. A detailed and rigorous philosophical analysis of Zurek’s perspective indicates that the kind of objectivity provided by the quantum Darwinian physical-metaphysical perspective corresponds to what Bernard d’Espagnat terms ‘weak objectivity’, which is in fact a mixture of objectivity and subjectivity. Some of Zurek’s remarks seem to indicate that he thinks that his analysis undermines the ‘ultimate evidence’ that the classical world is entangled and dependent upon consciousness. However, a rigorous analysis shows that the opposite is the case; Zurek’s epiontic quantum Darwinian classical universe is ultimately dependent upon consciousness. I also indicate some remarkable points of contact with Buddhist metaphysics.

Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research has just published Volume 3 Issue 7 entitled "Higgs Discovery, 'God Particle' Plus Important Aspects of Consciousness" at http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/issue/view/26.

Table of Contents: http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/issue/view/26

Editorial

Dawn of a Brave New World: Higgs Discovery & the “God Particle” (by Huping Hu, Maoxin Wu)

Higgs Reports

Live Higgs Report on July 4, 2012 & Congratulations - It's a Boson (by Philip E. Gibbs)

Higgs Essays

The Higgs Boson and the Power of Consistency (by Philip E. Gibbs)

Is It Really Higgs? (by Matti Pitkanen)

Creatio Ex Nihilo: Road to Single Mathematical Particle (by Dainis Zeps)

Articles

What We Can Learn about Consciousness from Altered States of Consciousness (by Imants Baruss)

The Secret of Happiness (by Steven E. Kaufman)

Ethology, Evolution, Mind & Consciousness (by Glen McBride)

Empty Diamonds & the Diamond Cutter Sutra: Mindful Reflections on Materialist Metaphysical Dogmatism I, II & III (by Graham P. Smetham).

The Quantum Illusion-like Nature of ‘Reality’ & the Buddhist Doctrine of ‘Two Levels of Reality’ Part I: Deconstructing Reality (by Graham P. Smetham): Abstract: The Buddhist metaphysical conceptual analysis of the nature of reality has always been founded upon the basis of a rigorous employment of scrupulously coherent conceptual analysis, which is in turn based upon an empirical observation of experience in a manner appropriate to the time, although one major difference between the empirical attitude of Western science and philosophy during the age of science and that of Buddhism was the Buddhist development of rigorous techniques of meditation in order to explore the structure and nature of consciousness.

In this paper I will use the Buddhist philosopher Dharmakirti‘s imaginative deconstruction of reality, in the context of quantum theory, to try to answer the question which seems to be posed by quantum theory: Is 'Reality' really real? In our search for the ultimate nature of reality we have to leave behind the 'seeming' appearances of the everyday world, however persuasive the appearance may be, and break through to a more 'ultimate truth' concerning the nature of reality. We shall discover that Dharmakirti's philosophical analysis, alongside other Buddhist insights, which lead to the 'ultimate' realm of 'empty' Mindnature, prefigures modern quantum discoveries. http://scigod.com/index.php/sgj/article/view/127

God of the Gaps (by Himangsu S. Pal): Abstract: If God created this universe, and if God wanted man to be the master of Its creation, then God would willingly choose to be the “God of the gaps”. So it is quite logical that a God who will create man with some purpose will always prefer to be the God of the gaps. http://scigod.com/index.php/sgj/article/view/129

Relating the Relational-Matrix Model of Reality to Space-Time and Physical Reality (by Steven E. Kaufman): Abstract: This article is a continuation of Kaufman’s work previously published in SGJ Vol. 2, No. 3 (2011), in which work the relational-matrix model was developed and described as a dynamic structure composed of existence involved in a defined set of relations with itself. The purpose of this article is to relate the relational-matrix model, as a dynamic structure, to what we apprehend as space-time by demonstrating that certain fundamental behaviors and aspects of physical reality can be explained in the context of the defined set of relations of existence to itself that were previously described as composing the fundamental structure of reality conceptualized as the relational-matrix.

Specifically, within the context of the relational-matrix model, we will account for the following aspects of physical reality: (1) the relationship between space and time, including the basis of temporal relativity, as well as the precise nature of time as a function of the dynamic aspect of the spatial structure; (2) the basis of the speed-of-light constant, including why the frequency and wavelength of electromagnetic radiation are inversely related as a function of that constant; (3) the basis of Planck’s constant, including why the energy associated with electromagnetic radiation exists in discrete amounts, or quanta; (4) the nature of gravitation, including why matter and gravitation are always associated and why gravitation is universally attractive; (5) the equivalence of the gravitational and inertial forces; (6) the relationship between electromagnetic radiation and gravitation; and (7) the nature of energy. Using the relational-matrix model to explain these aspects of the behavior of physical reality will establish a conceptual basis for understanding how physical reality extends from the structure of space. By the end of this article, we will also have established a conceptual basis for understanding why nothing can truly be separated from anything else—i.e., why nothing can be said to exist independent of all other things. http://scigod.com/index.php/sgj/article/view/126

How Consciousness Creates Reality (by Claus Janew): Abstract: We will begin with seemingly simple interactions in our daily lives, examine how they originate on a deeper level, come to understand the essentials of consciousness, and finally recognize that we create our reality in its entirety. In the course of this quest, we will uncover little-heeded paths to accessing our subconscious, other individuals, and that which can be understood by the term "God". And the solution to the classical problem of free will constitutes the gist of the concepts is thus revealed. The present text is a very abridged version of a book I wrote out of the desire to examine the structure of our reality from a standpoint unbiased by established teachings, be they academic- scientific, popular- esoteric, or religious in nature. http://scigod.com/index.php/sgj/article/view/125

Stephen Hawking’s Hotchpotch (Himangsu S. Pal): Abstract: Atheist scientists usually say that as there is no evidence for the existence of God so far, so it is reasonable to believe that there is no God. Here I will clearly show that neither there is any evidence so far that something can come out of nothing. On the basis of this lack of evidence we can also say that it is reasonable not to believe that the universe has actually originated from nothing. We can also demand that atheist scientists should immediately stop deceiving us in the name of science. If atheistic scientists cannot believe in the existence of God due to lack of evidence, then it is equally true that due to this same lack of evidence we cannot also believe that the laws of gravity and quantum theory were already there at the beginning of our universe to govern that beginning. So how did Hawking particularly come to know that these two laws governed the beginning of our universe? Is he all-knowing God? http://scigod.com/index.php/sgj/article/view/128

Dynamic Existence (by Claus Janew): Abstract: Everything is in motion. "Inertness" arises from (approximative) repetition, that is, through rotation or an alternation that delineates a focus of consciousness. This focus of consciousness, in turn, must also move/alternate (the two differ only in continuity). If its alternation seems to go too far - physically, psychically or intellectually - it reaches into the subconscious. In this way, interconnection is established by the alternation of the focus of consciousness. Therefore, in a world in which everything is interconnected, all focuses must reciprocally transition into each other. "Reality" is a common "goal", a focus which all participants can switch into and which is conscious to them as such, as a potential one. Its "degree of reality" is the probability of its fully becoming conscious (or more simply: its current degree of consciousness). Thus, a reality is created when all participants increase its probability or, respectively, their consciousness of it. http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/160

Laws of Form: Why Spencer Brown Is Missing the Point (by Claus Janew): Abstract: What Spencer Brown wants to rationalize out of existence is alternation itself – the prerequisite of his whole operation! By that he simplifies (identifies) more than he says. And he does not say all that is important. http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/161

The Relationship between Consciousness & Reality (by Huping Hu, Maoxin Wu): Abstract: This Focus Issue features the work of Graham P. Smetham and Claus Janew on consciousness and reality. Again, our goals with this Focus Issue are: (1) bring broader awareness of Smetham and Janew’s work by scholars and all genuine truth seekers; and (2) promote scholarly discussions of the same through commentaries and responses to commentaries in the future issues of JCER. In so doing, we hope that all of us may benefit in our endeavor to reach higher Consciousness within ourselves and build a genuine Science of Consciousness. http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/162

Deconstructing Reality: Two Levels of Reality (by Graham P. Smetham): Abstract: As we shall illustrate in this paper, it appears that quantum ‘particles’ might be thought to have aspects of both reality and unreality, and this is a paradoxical viewpoint which leads us in the direction of some dramatic claims about the nature of reality made by Buddhist metaphysicians such as Dharmakirti and Nagarjuna, claims which move towards providing an answer to Penrose’s quandary: “can real objects be constructed from unreal constituents?” According to Nagarjuna: “everything is real and not real, both real and not real, neither real nor not real which is the Lord Buddha’s teaching”. The resolution of the apparent paradox will become clear as we explore the relationship between the implications of quantum theory and the Buddhist doctrine of the ‘two truths’, or ‘two realities’, in detail. In fact we will discover that an appreciation of the Buddhist perspective throws significant light onto quantum conundrums. We shall discover that Dharmakirti’s philosophical analysis, alongside other Buddhist insights, which lead to the ‘ultimate’ realm of ‘empty’ Mindnature, prefigures modern quantum discoveries, particularly the notion of an ‘Epiontic Universe’ which derives from the ‘quantum Darwinism’ perspective suggested by Wojciech H. Zurek. http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/157

How Consciousness Creates Reality (by Claus Janew): Abstract: The present text is a very abridged version of a book I wrote out of the desire to examine the structure of our reality from a standpoint unbiased by established teachings, be they academic- scientific, popular- esoteric, or religious in nature. We will begin with seemingly simple interactions in our daily lives, examine how they originate on a deeper level, come to understand the essentials of consciousness, and finally recognize that we create our reality in its entirety. In the course of this quest, we will uncover little-heeded paths to accessing our subconscious, other individuals, and that which can be understood by the term "God". And the solution to the classical problem of free will constitutes the gist of the concepts thus revealed. You do not need to bring previous philosophical knowledge to the reading of this text, but simply an interest in fundamental interconnections, a certain openness and the willingness to think along. This abridged version, however, comes at a price. Since I had already left out all non-essential points of discussion in the German "long version", in the present text entire topics had to be dropped, along with additional perspectives, arguments, details and in-depth discussion of concepts. The result is a treatise which explains the most fundamental results of my research and their respective central argument, and which, so I hope, serves as a stimulus for a more extensive examination of reality. May it bring you thoughtful pleasure and subtle delight. http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/158

Omnipresent Consciousness & Free Will (by Claus Janew): Abstract: This article is not an attempt to explain consciousness in terms basically of quantum physics or neuro-biology. Instead I should like to place the term "Consciousness" on a broader footing. I shall therefore proceed from everyday reality, precisely where we experience ourselves as conscious beings. I shall use the term in such a general way as to resolve the question whether only a human being enjoys consciousness, or even a thermostat. Whilst the difference is considerable, it is not fundamental. Every effect exists in the perception of a consciousness. I elaborate on its freedom of choice (leading to free will), in my view the most important source of creativity, in a similarly general way. The problems associated with a really conscious decision do not disappear by mixing determination with a touch of coincidence. Both must enter into a higher unity. In so doing it will emerge that a certain degree of freedom of choice (or free will) is just as omnipresent as consciousness - an inherent part of reality itself. http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/159

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

Quantum Human & Animal Consciousness: A Concept Embracing Philosophy, Quantitative Molecular Biology & Mathematics (by Massimo Cocchi, Lucio Tonello, Fabio Gabrielli, Massimo Pregnolato, Eliano Pessa): Abstract: Biology and culture, consciousness and the world, subject and object, inner and outer have continuity and find, in the "creative transcendence” of consciousness and its experiences, a privileged degree of understanding. The aims of this paper are: (1) to stress the validity of the phenomenological approach to consciousness and the subsequent interpretation of memory, expression of the “ego” as a continuous narrative of “self”; (2) to show that a molecular structure, such as tubulin, can effectively modulate the state of consciousness through the changes that occur within it; (3) to formulate a plausible hypothesis about the existence of different levels of consciousness in animals; (4) to introduce a hypothesis concerning the involvement of membrane viscosity and serotonin as regulatory agents in different levels of consciousness such as mood disorders and hallucinations. It is suggested that consciousness persists even in the face of minimal conditions, perhaps even in traumatic brain injuries. Such a suggestion is justified at the bio molecular level through introduction of the hypothesis that Schrödinger proteins (i.e. tubulins) are the biological interface from quantum to classical computation, underlying quantum/classical consciousness processes and at the crossroad of memory and learning capacities. http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/143

Levitation during Meditation: A Scientific Investigation (by Pradeep B. Deshpande, B. D. Kulkarni, S. S. Aroskar, S. N. Bhavsar): Abstract: The phenomenon of human levitation while in the state of meditation has been investigated from a six sigma perspective. Using the forces of gravitation and buoyancy, we provide scientific explanation for the phenomenon and derive balancing condition for neutrality beyond which the gravitational forces can be overcome. Direct experimental evidences in the form of snapshots in time giving the details as one progresses into meditation as well as a link to video records of persons in the state of levitation are provided. Indirect evidences and ancient writings appear to be consistent with the mechanics of levitation. Reputable scientific publications have been reporting on the characteristics and benefits of meditation for some years. The work reported herein appears to add to an increasing body of evidence on the variety of measurable outcomes of meditation. http://2012daily.com/?q=node/add/article

A Model of Human Consciousness (by Robert H. Kettell): Abstract: It has been difficult to define human consciousness because of its many differing qualities and because of various views people have of consciousness. It is proposed that these multiple vantage points be united into a single three-dimensional model utilizing breadth, time and depth. This model could provide a more comprehensive definition of consciousness and encourage an exploration of the interplay of consciousness’ many features. Such a model may also help answer some of the many questions that the concept of consciousness creates.

Commentary on Michael Cecil’s “Towards A New Paradigm of Consciousness” (by Tony Bermanseder): Abstract: Cecil's attempt to delve deeper and to question the validity of this orthodox reductionistic approach to gain a better understanding of what this consciousness is thoroughly justified and is to be applauded. Cecil has indeed found the 'Rosetta Stone' of Quantum Physics in his valiant approach to couple the material reductionism of the orthodoxy with the 'perennial philosophy' or the 'wisdom of the ancients.' However, Cecil has failed to discern the greater picture in his self-relative decoding of the messages, found in the 'Rosetta Stones of the Quantum'. That is, Cecil has thrown the baby out with the bathwater in his attacks on the human thinking process. There is no requirement whatsoever to 'destroy' the reductionism of science in rigorous mathematical and logical argument and deduction. http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/131

Commentary on Tony Bermanseder’s “Physical Consciousness in a Self-conscious Quantum Universe” (by Michael Cecil): Abstract: This is my brief Commentary on Mr. Bermenseder’s “Physical Consciousness in a Self-conscious Quantum Universe” in this issue of JCER. My point is that any attempt to explain human consciousness which focuses exclusively upon the scientific method for the understanding of consciousness—simply ignoring both the consciousness of the “self” and the origin of the consciousness of the “self” in the ‘movement’ of self-reflection—simply does not fulfill the requirements set out by Thomas Kuhn in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/132

Commentary on David Sahner’s “Human Consciousness and Selfhood” (by Nils J. Nilsson): Abstract: This is my brief Commentary on David Sahner’s “Human Consciousness and Selfhood: Potential Underpinnings and Compatibility with Artificial Complex Systems” in recent issue of JCER. My main point is that if a rich sensorium and extensive experiences are required for consciousness, machines will have, at least, those necessary conditions no less than humans do. http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/133

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