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Apr 23

The Evolution of Telepathy

Field observations have suggested that wolves and other wild animals may communicate telepathically over many miles, and surveys have shown that about 50% of dog owners and about 30% of cat owners believe that their pets may respond to their thoughts or silent commands. Among humans, apparent telepathy is most commonly reported between members of families and between close friends and colleagues. Experimental investigations of telepathy in animals and people suggest that telepathy may be a natural means of communication between members of animal and human groups. Human telepathy is still evolving in the context of modern technologies, including the internet, emails, SMS messages and telephones. Dr. Sheldrake will show how anyone can explore their own abilities in automated telepathy tests using mobile phones.
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Apr 21

Rupert Sheldrake on the Persistence of Richard Wiseman’s Deception

Join Skeptiko host Alex Tsakiris for an interview with Dr. Rupert Sheldrake. A distinguished biologist, Dr. Sheldrake is the author of several books including, “Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home.” During the interview Mr. Tsakiris and Dr. Sheldrake discuss the latest claims of Skeptic Richard Wiseman. Dr. Rupert Sheldrake on the Persistence of Richard Wiseman’s Deception.

Dec 30

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10 Killer Apps for the New Mac Convert

I’ve started using a Mac again after many years. I still have my Vaio for work but now I can’t imagine going back to the PC. Apple makes a much higher margin on their computers than their other iDevices and I’m now understanding their ‘ecosystem’ strategy. They made me a customer again, gradually over time. First, the original iPod, then the iPhone, then the iPad, and now … the iMac. As Darth Vader would say, “the circle is complete”.
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Nov 30

My 41 Books for 2010

I just realized that I’ve gone an entire year without posting my reading list. Obviously I didn’t do a lot of writing this year but I did do a lot of reading. Here is the list in chronological order with the ones I’m still reading on top.

  1. The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language by Melvyn Bragg
  2. The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Case for the Existence of the Soul by Mario Beauregard and Denyse O’Leary
  3. The New King James Version of the Bible
  4. Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down by John P. Kotter, Lorne A. Whitehead
  5. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh
  6. The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
  7. The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us by Christopher Chabris, Daniel Simons
  8. The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean
  9. The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe by Theodore Gray
  10. The Lords of Strategy: The Secret Intellectual History of the New Corporate World by Walter Kiechel
  11. Super Sad True Love Story: A Novel by Gary Shteyngart
  12. The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker
  13. How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like by Paul Bloom
  14. Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch
  15. Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution by Richard Beeman
  16. Landmark: The Inside Story of America’s New Health Care Law and What It Means for Us All by The Washington Post
  17. God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World – and Why Their Differences Matter by Stephen Prothero
  18. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
  19. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
  20. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
  21. The Edge of Physics: A Journey to Earth’s Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe by Anil Ananthaswamy
  22. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
  23. Anticancer, A New Way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber
  24. Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande
  25. From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time by Sean Carroll
  26. The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
  27. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  28. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin
  29. The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran by Robert Spencer
  30. Why Evolution Is True by Jerry A. Coyne
  31. What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell
  32. The ESP Enigma: The Scientific Case for Psychic Phenomena by Diane Hennacy Powell
  33. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins
  34. The Age of Entanglement: When Quantum Physics Was Reborn by Louisa Gilder
  35. Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos by Michio Kaku
  36. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
  37. Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun by Wess Roberts
  38. The Death of Conservatism: A Movement and Its Consequences by Sam Tanenhaus
  39. Tao Te Ching: A New English Version by Stephen Mitchell
  40. Taj Mahal: Passion and Genius at the Heart of the Moghul Empire by Diana Preston and Michael Preston
  41. In the Line of Fire: How to Handle Tough Questions…When It Counts by Jerry Weissman

Aug 3

Neo

Simulacra and Simulations

As an undergraduate, I helped run a psychology lab for a professor where we did cognitive experiments on Psychology 101 students. My major was Cognitive Science and I spent most of my free time reading anything I could get my hand on the subject. I would read an author’s paper in a journal and flip to their references and then read those papers and flip to those references until I found what seemed to be primary sources – though largely unattributed – it was the philosophers, of course. Carl Jung was among those whose contribution to the field of cognitive science was conveniently buried under tons of footnotes and references.
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Jul 29

Babe-Ruth-at-bat

Don’t Be Bashful

The larger the company the less agile they are. This is a basic truism of business. In fact, companies often spend millions of dollars trying to improve processes, streamline workflows, and reduce unnecessary staff – all with the aim of becoming more agile, more competitive. Smaller companies can react more quickly to market changes. What is the tipping point though? There are plenty of large companies doing very well. Some companies are reporting earnings completely off the charts. These sorts of earnings can evoke disgusted reactions from even the greediest of greedy. So, what is the secret?
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Jul 27

You’re Already Dead

I’m not sure how the dream started but I found myself in the middle of a worldwide panic. I think I was watching the news. There was some sort of catastrophe approaching. In my dream it seemed to take the form of an earthquake. I was in a large city and the buildings were collapsing everywhere around us. I was somehow able to jump from building to building. A friend was always there with me but I’m not sure who. I saw another friend and his kids. I tried to get him to leave with me but he said that he needed to stay with his family. A moment later we were all underwater. I was looking for a little girl’s stuffed animal. I found it and gave it to her but it was the wrong one. It belonged to some other kid. She died holding some other kid’s teddy bear. My friend and his family were gone and somehow I moved on to the next place.

I was standing on the edge of a large window while a building was falling backwards and I jumped and somehow floated to the next building and then ended up on the street. People were flocking to priests of all sorts on the street corners. Each priest was trying to help people by quoting words from each of their scriptures. Donald Trump was on another corner selling cars and gasoline for ridiculous amounts of money so that people could try to escape. I remember looking at the crowd and thinking of a quote from Moby Dick about Jonah: “He thinks that a ship made by men will carry him into countries where God does not reign…” I ran to a gas station where I found a puppy and I held on to him. I think it was a bulldog. We jumped to a parking garage, a big ship floating through the middle of the city, and other strange places. And, after what seemed like an endless journey of jumping from building to building I finally said, “This is it” as I looked up and saw the side of a skyscraper falling on us.

The next thing I knew I was standing in a garden with Vishnu, Buddha, and Jesus. I asked why I was there and they said it was because I truly believed. I said that of course I believed. Then credits started rolling like it was the end of a bad religious movie. Next, I found myself floating just above the chaos as if taking a tour of the devastation. Some people were still barely alive but most were dead. The people that were still alive were like zombies. One of the barely alive zombies saw me floating by and tried to shoot me. The bullet went through me and I said, “you missed me.” But they responded by saying, “No, you’re already dead.” Then I woke up.

Jul 26

Row Your Boat

There were always those people that amazed me with their clarity of vision for their own futures. I’ve often wondered about those with such a clear vision. They always seemed to know exactly what they wanted – they always had a plan on how to achieve it. I have a sort of admiration for those that have their act together enough to have a vision and a plan to get there. I’m a little jealous.

After high school they knew where they were going to college. After college they knew where they were going to work. After working for a while they knew that they would get married and where they were going to live and how many children they were going to have. We all have friends like this. I have many friends like this. One by one I have watched as their plans have splintered, unraveled, and just fallen apart. The energy it takes to hold to the vision must be exhausting. In personality terms, these are the folks that love certainty and predictability. They wonder why people do dangerous things.

From the perspective of a psyche, the more certain the ego is of doing something the more obstacles there will be to overcome. Jung called this the ‘transcendent function’. It’s a kind of pressure valve on the ego and it goes into action exactly when we wouldn’t want it to. Imagine walking up to the stage to receive the award that you are absolutely certain you deserve and you trip and fall walking up the stairs. This is the transcendent function in action. It keeps things like pride in check. I’m not saying that having a plan is a bad thing. A plan is a great thing. However, without any built in flexibility a plan is certain to fall apart. Be open to what comes and try to welcome adventure. Or in other words…

Row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily. Life is but a dream.

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