2012daily's blog

A Transdisciplinary Look at Paranthropology: An Emerging Field of Exploration (by Iona Miller): Paranthropology: Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal collects the best articles from the first two years of Paranthropology journal's publication. It describes a quiet yet relentless revolution going on within the life and social sciences and arts. While physicists, biologists, medical doctors, and psychologists have commented for years on anomalous experience, anthropologists maintained a largely conventional observer attitude within their field. Most avoided the risks of "going native" by suspending professional orientation and experimentally entering a participatory mindset to describe their host cultures from the inside out. If researchers inadvertently experienced anomalous events in the field they were often as reluctant to admit them, for example, as professional pilots are to report UFOs.

Even the most successful and well-respected "parapsychologists" have been reluctant to assume such a title. Perhaps their struggle was viewed as a cautionary tale by anthropologists thrown into the boiling pot of traditional shamanic practices, such as shamanic flight, paradoxical healing, warring sorcerers, and disturbing supernatural occurrences in field work. Such overdue efforts should be heartily welcomed by the transdisciplinary community. Anthropology has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. So does paranthropology, which focuses on the persistence and reproduction of anomalies with correlated myths, ideology, cultural grammar, and social logic.

In the words of its editors, "Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal is a free on-line journal devoted to the promotion of social-scientific approaches to the study of paranormal experiences, beliefs and phenomena in all of their varied guises. The journal aims to promote an interdisciplinary dialogue on issues of the paranormal, so as to move beyond the skeptic vs. advocate impasse which has settled over the current debate, and to open new avenues for inquiry and understanding."

A Retrospective Commentary on the Consciousness Mapping of John C. Gowan (by Iona Miller)

We can hark back for more than nostaligia to the classic chronicles of the psychedelic revolution. In 1974, creativity expert John C. Gowan published “Development of the Psychedelic Individual: A Psychological Analysis of the Psychedelic State and Its attendant Psychic Powers.” Gowan extracts the philosophical gold from such X-Events or "extreme events". This article is not about drug-induced psychedelia, but about the natural psychedelic state of consciousness, as accessed through the process of self-actualization. Gowan's orientation is summarized, including his concepts of escalation and developmental dysplasia, and the creation of the Northridge Developmental Scale, a test for self-actualization.

Gowan's work and taxonomies remain useful to the transdisciplinary community, including the fields of parapsychology, paranthropology, consciousness studies, psychotherapeutics, neurobiology, psychology of religion, neurotheology, child development, and more. In developing creative talent, imagery is more fluid and malleable to processing than language. He collates research from several then-new fields and provides valuable bibliographies of foundational works. While not widely known and applied, Gowan's work remains a vital resource, deserving curation within the literature of all sciences researching psi, nonordinary, and exceptional experiences (anomalous, transpersonal; neither or both). Gowan's work is invaluable for navigating the universe of meanings. Symbols are the currency of consciousness. They open the way for "ultraculture", wherein we become conscious co-creators of reality.

Part I of this article contains: A Prospective Retrospective; Gowan’s Orientation; The Psychedelic Stage in Experiential Therapy; and The Tree of Life: An Ancient Model of Escalation.

Part II this article contains: Discussion; Conclusions; Appendix and References.

Oct 7 '12 · Tags: consciousness mapping, john c. gowan
Extension of the Physical Realm (by Elemer E. Rosinger): This is a two part paper. The first part, written somewhat earlier, presented standard processes which cannot so easily be accommodated within what are presently considered as physical type realms. The second part further elaborates on that fact. In particular, it is argued that quantum superposition and entanglement may better be understood in extensions of what we usually consider as physical type realms, realms which, as it happens, have so far never been defined precisely enough.

Reissner's Fiber, Quanta & Consciousness (by Lawrence C. Wile): Reissner's fiber, a strategically located, glycoprotein, thread-like structure, consisting of 2-5 nanometer fibrils which runs through the center of the cerebral ventricles and central canal of the spinal cord is a unique site for investigating the interaction between quanta and consciousness. An intriguing possibility is that the degeneration of Reissner's fiber which is typically unconsciously perceived during the period of early separation and individuation of the ego, mirrors the primal origin of our religious and mystic and traditions which witnessed the destruction of the unity of man, God and the cosmos. The "subtle anatomy" from ancient Hindu, Jewish and Chinese mystical traditions, which describes a cosmic energy within a hollow tube in the spine, may not be merely a metaphor for man's quest for God, but a description based on introspection of the degenerating. The emerging fields of quantum biology and epigenetics now offer the possibility of rediscovering lost secrets and reawakening dormant potentials of human consciousness.

Oct 6 '12 · Tags: consciousness, physical realm, extension
Prespacetime Journal has just published Volume 3 Issue 11 entitled "Progress in Physics II":

Articles

Does the Sum Rule Hold at the Big Bang? (by Andrew W. Beckwith)

From Fractality of Quantum Mechanics to Bohr-Sommerfeld Quantization of Planetary Orbit Distance (by Victor Christianto)

On Lorentz-invariant Theory of Gravitation Part 3: Optical-mechanical Analogy and the Particle-wave Duality in the Theory of Gravity (by Alexander G. Kyriakos)

Quantum Hall Effect and the Effective Hierarchy of Planck Constants (by Matti Pitkänen)

Updated View about the Hierarchy of Planck Constants (by Matti Pitkänen)

On The Cosmological Constant and the Higgs Mechanism (by B. G. Sidharth)

GR Articles

Kantowaski–Sachs Dark Energy Model in f(R,T) Gravity (by Shivdas D. Katore, A. Y. Shaikh)

Bulk Viscous Fluid Hypersrface-Homogeneous Cosmological Models in Barbar's Second Self-creation Theory (by Kishor S. Wankhade)

Essays

Who Will Tell Us How Space & Time Are Non-existent for Light? (by Himangsu S. Pal)

News

LHC Update for September 2012 (by Philip E. Gibbs)

Oct 5 '12 · Tags: prespacetime, progress in physics
The Creative & Persecuted Minority (Iona Miller, Paul Henrickson): Power lies with convention and truth with the punished individualist. Control of perception is the essence of power. This scenario denies the joy, the real joy, expressed in immediate aesthetic responses. Research results suggest battle lines seem to have been drawn between those who tolerate creative thinking and those who do not. These authors were influenced by the mentorship of creativity experts E. Paul Torrance for Henrickson and John C. Gowan for Miller. They conclude, while the achievements of creative efforts are often very rewarding, indeed, the process of arriving there can be disturbing and painful. Research by Henrickson in Iowa indicated the non-creative personality is content with having achieved a conventional image and as for anything else couldn't care less. Yet, those iconoclasts who have unique creative gifts can make a significant difference to society, science and art. Their relationship to their life's work is often deeply spiritual or driven by a sense of destiny and mission which is revealed in their works. Creativity is an emergent property of extraordinary human development.

This article explores the works of creativity experts, promoting deep understanding of the complex territory of human expression, including perception, metaphor, narrative, praxis and theory. Creativity reveals the deep connection between mind and matter that modern physicists are just beginning to explore. The crisis of a global turning point demands something extraordinary from the best and brightest of us. A new model of research must not only include but encourage divergent or "Out of the Schrödinger's Box" thinking. It is often the artist not the academic that the public listens to, along with their own observations of changing thoughts and attitudes. This creates new environments and restructures the cultural ambiance.

Part I "An Artful Look at Science & a Scientific Look at Art" of this article contains: The Minority Report; Double-Edged Gifts; Awesome Beauty; Self Regulatory Process; and Perceptive & Silenced Minorities.

Part II "The Nature of the Creative Process" of this article contains: The Nature of the Creative Process; Roots of Artistic Expression; Homo Lumen; Global Architectronics; and Conclusions.

Oct 4 '12 · Tags: creative, persecuted minority
Possible Quantum Model of Consciousness Interfaced with a Non-Lipschitz Chaotic Dynamics of Neural Activity (by Elio Conte, Nunzia Santacroce, Antonio Federici): A model of consciousness and conscious experience is introduced. Starting with a non-Lipschitz Chaotic dynamics of neural activity, we propose that the synaptic transmission between adjacent as well as distant neurons should be regulated in brain dynamics through quantum tunneling. Further, based on various studies of different previous authors, we consider the emergence of very large quantum mechanical system representable by an abstract quantum net entirely based on quantum-like entities having in particular the important feature of expressing self-reference similar to what occurs in consciousness. The properties of such quantum-like mind entities are discussed in detail. A quantum-like model of conscious experience is also discussed. It is shown that such quantum mechanical entities are able to arrange themselves alternatively on the basis of the subject story, memory, and pain-pleasure in response to an external stimulus, thus giving the subject the possibility to response to the stimulus on the basis of his emotion as well as cognitive state. Finally, we discuss the possible connections between the quantum-like model introduced in this paper and the chaotic behaviors often identified experimentally in studies on brain dynamics.

Part I of this article contains: Introduction; 1. Non Lipschitz Terminal Dynamics of Single Neuron Activity; and References; 2. Quantum Mechanical Properties of Neuron Dynamics; and 3. A Quantum Model of Consciousness I.

Part II of this article contains: 4. A Quantum Model of Consciousness II; 5. The Quantum Model of Conscious Experience; and References.

Oct 3 '12 · Tags: consciousness, quantum model
Exploding the Dark Heart of Chaos (by Chris King): This paper, with its associated graphical software and movies, is an investigation of the universality of the cardioid at the centre of the cyclone of chaotic discrete dynamics, the quadratic ‘heart’ forming the main body of the classic Mandelbrot set. Using techniques investigating and exploring the continuity, bifurcations and explosions in its related Julia sets, we demonstrate its universality across a wide spread of analytic functions of a complex variable, extending from the classical quadratic, through higher polynomials and rational functions, to transcendental functions and their compositions. The approach leads to some interesting and provocative results, including decoding dendritic island periodicities, and multiple critical point analysis, leading to layered Mandelbrot set ‘parameter planes’, and intriguing issues of critical point sensitivity in the irregular structures in the Mariana trenches of the more complex functions.


Part I
of this article includes: 1. Real ‘Boom and Bust’ Origins of the Dark Heart; 2. Illuminating the Writhing Dark Heart of Complexity; 3. The Dark Heart’s Magic Numerology; and 4. A Heart is only Half a Hamburger: Degenerate Critical Points.

Part II of this article includes: 5. Hearts Layered as Onions of Complexity: Generalizing to Higher Polynomials; 6. The Dark Heart of Division: Rational Functions and Newton’s Method; 7. Transcendent Chaos out of Quadratic Disorder; and 8: Falling into the Heart of Deep Transcendental Variation.

Part III of this article includes: 9. Getting to the Heart of the Riemann Zeta Function; Conclusion; Software and Demonstrations; Appendix 1: Combined Methods of Depicting Julia Sets and Parameter Planes; and Appendix 2: Ray Tracing Hypercomplex and Multi-dimensional Chaotic Iterations.

Oct 2 '12 · Tags: exploding, dark heart of chaos
Why the Universe is Fractal (by Chris King): Life exists in the universe because the laws of nature arising from cosmic symmetry-breaking are intrinsically fractal and embrace chaotic dynamics in a manner that permits new structure to emerge on increasing scales, as we move from the level of fundamental particles to organisms. In a fundamental sense this is a cosmological property of the universe, because complex living systems represent the most complete interactive consummation of the four fundamental forces of nature. If the laws of nature permitted only ordered periodic or stochastic solutions to molecular aggregation, as in crystals, or amorphous glasses, the complex structures of tissues and life would remain impossible.

Exploring Quantum, Classical and Semi-classical Chaos in the Stadium Billiard (by Chris King): This paper explores quantum and classical chaos in the stadium billiard using Matlab simulations to investigate the behavior of wave functions in the stadium and the corresponding classical orbits believed to underlie wave function scarring. The simulations use three complementary methods. The quantum wave functions are modeled using a cellular automaton (CA) simulating a Hamiltonian wave function with discrete (square pixel) boundary conditions approaching the stadium in the classical limit. The classical orbits are computed by solving the reflection equations at the classical boundary thus giving direct insights into the wave functions and eigenstates of the quantum stadium. Finally a simplified semi-classical algorithm is developed to show the comparison between this and the quantum wave function method.

Oct 1 '12 · Tags: fractal universe, quantum chaos
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