Thursday 28 February 2008
Many Worlds Interpretation & Copenhagen Interpretation - Incompatibility?
I have recently swapped a couple of emails with Dr Christian de Quincey, Professor of Consciousness Studies at John F Kennedy University in California. Christian has not read ITLAD but he has read the article I had published in the Journal of Near-Death Studies a few years back. (for those of you who have not read this a downloadable pdf is available from my website). I was introduced to Christian's work by Dr. Alan Roberts. Christian is interested in my work and on his next visit to the UK we intend to try and meet up. However in his email to me he asked a very interesting - and challenging - question with regard to my using Everett's Many Worlds Interpretation and Bohr's Copenhagen Interpretation in support of CTF. Christian argues, quite rightly, to imply that these are somehow complementary by using them in this way is incorrect; MWI was suggested by Everett as an alternative to, not in support of, Copenhagen.
Copenhagen suggests that an act of observation by a conscious mind 'collapses the wave function' and changes a 'probability wave' into a particle with precise location in time and space. MWI suggests the total opposite - that the probability wave does not collapse because each possible location of the particle occurs in one of trillions of alternative universes. In this way the act of observation is taken out of the equation. In other words MWI does not need consciousness to work whereas for Copenhagen it is crucial.
Those of you who have attended my Quantum Physics talks will know that I acknowledge this difference when presenting the Schrodinger's Cat section. I am therefore very aware of the conflict with regard to these two theories and in the first draft of ITLAD I only focused in on Copenhagen. MWI was introduced later almost an alternative to explain one of the most widely criticised implications of CTF.
The philosopher Heinrich Heine made the following observation:
'Time is infinite, but the things in time, the concrete bodies, are finite. They may indeed disperse into the smallest particles; but these particles, the atoms, have their determinate numbers, and the numbers of the configurations which, all of themselves, are formed out of them is also determinate. Now, however long a time may pass, according to the eternal laws governing the combinations of this eternal play of repetition, all configurations which have previously existed on this earth must yet meet, attract, repulse, kiss, and corrupt each other again.'
When Friedrich Nietzsche came across this quotation he was both horrified and beguiled. He wrote in his book The Gay Science the following famous few lines:
What, if at some day or night a demon were to steal after you in your loneliest loneliness and say to you "This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more" ... would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him "You are a god, and never have I heard anything more divine."
In the original draft of CTF this is exactly what the evidence seemed to suggest - that we live our lives over and over again in the Bohmian IMAX. This is a recording and as such can never be changed. You live the same life without any opportunity to change it. You live a literal 'eternal reccurence' . The same life over and over again. This I found both terrifying and morally repugnant. I suppose that I have a certain belief in teleology - that things and circumstances have to have a reason behind them - such repetition seems pointless. This is not what happens to Conner's in Groundhog Day - he can change things. But there was something even more horrible about this suggestion and that is that if everybody only has one life which is then repeated what about those poor people who have terrible infirmities, babies born severely retarded. Children that die as infants. Do they just go round and round as well? I know I was being non-scientific in that this is what the evidence implied but I simply did not want to accept this as the only option. I then came across Everett's Many-Worlds. Here was a theory that proposed that all possibilities that can happen will happen in one of the multiverses. This was what I needed. A more hopeful and, dare I say it, teleological, proposition. Each 'return' can be different, subtly or massively (as suggested in the movie The Butterfly Effect). I hoped that this may imply that in their universes people avoid suffering and, by some mechanism I don't pretend to understand, are born without deformities or illnesses - they only have them in our 'observer based' universe. But I still needed Copenhagen to explain the uniqueness of each personal Everett Universe. On reflection maybe I don't. Maybe MWI itself can explain the uniqueness of each phaneron without resorting to any observer instigated 'collapse of the wave function'.
Indeed the reason I then introduced Bohm's Implicate Order was to avoid the accusation of solipsism. Simply if this is my universe then for whom am I writing this posting? You guys out there are simply illusions of my brain - nothing more. But for sanity - and cruelty - to not occur we have to accept that those beings we encounter are real, self motivated, conscious beings. To assume otherwise is a very dangerous step to make. The solution to this existential nightmare is that we are all part of the same collective consciousness that functions within Bohm's Implicate Order. We all interact within all our individual universes.
However maybe MWI (or more accurately MMI - the Many Minds Interpretation Dieter Zeh, David Albert and B. Loewer) may also accommodate the problem of 'other minds'. As such maybe in a refined version of CTF all I really need is MMI.
In fact is this not exactly what Max Tegmark suggests in his paper on quantum suicide?
(see http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9709032/ or pages 20 to 47 of The Universe Next Door by Marcus Chown (isbn 0-7472-3528-7)
If you wish to check out Christian and his work follow the following link:
http://www.deepspirit.com/
Copenhagen suggests that an act of observation by a conscious mind 'collapses the wave function' and changes a 'probability wave' into a particle with precise location in time and space. MWI suggests the total opposite - that the probability wave does not collapse because each possible location of the particle occurs in one of trillions of alternative universes. In this way the act of observation is taken out of the equation. In other words MWI does not need consciousness to work whereas for Copenhagen it is crucial.
Those of you who have attended my Quantum Physics talks will know that I acknowledge this difference when presenting the Schrodinger's Cat section. I am therefore very aware of the conflict with regard to these two theories and in the first draft of ITLAD I only focused in on Copenhagen. MWI was introduced later almost an alternative to explain one of the most widely criticised implications of CTF.
The philosopher Heinrich Heine made the following observation:
'Time is infinite, but the things in time, the concrete bodies, are finite. They may indeed disperse into the smallest particles; but these particles, the atoms, have their determinate numbers, and the numbers of the configurations which, all of themselves, are formed out of them is also determinate. Now, however long a time may pass, according to the eternal laws governing the combinations of this eternal play of repetition, all configurations which have previously existed on this earth must yet meet, attract, repulse, kiss, and corrupt each other again.'
When Friedrich Nietzsche came across this quotation he was both horrified and beguiled. He wrote in his book The Gay Science the following famous few lines:
What, if at some day or night a demon were to steal after you in your loneliest loneliness and say to you "This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more" ... would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him "You are a god, and never have I heard anything more divine."
In the original draft of CTF this is exactly what the evidence seemed to suggest - that we live our lives over and over again in the Bohmian IMAX. This is a recording and as such can never be changed. You live the same life without any opportunity to change it. You live a literal 'eternal reccurence' . The same life over and over again. This I found both terrifying and morally repugnant. I suppose that I have a certain belief in teleology - that things and circumstances have to have a reason behind them - such repetition seems pointless. This is not what happens to Conner's in Groundhog Day - he can change things. But there was something even more horrible about this suggestion and that is that if everybody only has one life which is then repeated what about those poor people who have terrible infirmities, babies born severely retarded. Children that die as infants. Do they just go round and round as well? I know I was being non-scientific in that this is what the evidence implied but I simply did not want to accept this as the only option. I then came across Everett's Many-Worlds. Here was a theory that proposed that all possibilities that can happen will happen in one of the multiverses. This was what I needed. A more hopeful and, dare I say it, teleological, proposition. Each 'return' can be different, subtly or massively (as suggested in the movie The Butterfly Effect). I hoped that this may imply that in their universes people avoid suffering and, by some mechanism I don't pretend to understand, are born without deformities or illnesses - they only have them in our 'observer based' universe. But I still needed Copenhagen to explain the uniqueness of each personal Everett Universe. On reflection maybe I don't. Maybe MWI itself can explain the uniqueness of each phaneron without resorting to any observer instigated 'collapse of the wave function'.
Indeed the reason I then introduced Bohm's Implicate Order was to avoid the accusation of solipsism. Simply if this is my universe then for whom am I writing this posting? You guys out there are simply illusions of my brain - nothing more. But for sanity - and cruelty - to not occur we have to accept that those beings we encounter are real, self motivated, conscious beings. To assume otherwise is a very dangerous step to make. The solution to this existential nightmare is that we are all part of the same collective consciousness that functions within Bohm's Implicate Order. We all interact within all our individual universes.
However maybe MWI (or more accurately MMI - the Many Minds Interpretation Dieter Zeh, David Albert and B. Loewer) may also accommodate the problem of 'other minds'. As such maybe in a refined version of CTF all I really need is MMI.
In fact is this not exactly what Max Tegmark suggests in his paper on quantum suicide?
(see http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/9709032/ or pages 20 to 47 of The Universe Next Door by Marcus Chown (isbn 0-7472-3528-7)
If you wish to check out Christian and his work follow the following link:
http://www.deepspirit.com/
Wednesday 27 February 2008
Announcement - Second Kerrang Radio Interview - 11th March 2008.
I have just been told that KERRANG RADIO (it always looks even louder in capitals doesn't it?) would like me back to do a second interview. Because of time constraints this will be pre-recorded. I am waiting for the producer to come back with an idea of exactly how long I will be on (those who listened last time will recall that I had about ten minutes or so). I am hoping for somewhat longer next time. Can you imagine having to explain ITLAD and CTF in ten minutes. On LBC Radio in April last year it took two hours and it still wasn't enough.
The interview is scheduled to go out late evening on Tuesday 11th March. I will confirm the exact time as soon as I know. KERRANG can be listened too on digital (DAB) radio and on-line at:
How Soon Is Now
"According to Qabalistic doctrine, the future exists in the Astral Light, in embryo, as the present existed, in embryo, in the past. While man is free to act as he pleases, the manner in which he will act was foreknown from all time; not on the ground of fatalism or destiny, but simply on the principle of universal, unchangeable harmony; and, as it may be foreknown that, when a musical note is struck, its vibrations will not, and cannot change into those of another note. Besides, eternity can have neither past nor future, but only the present; as boundless spaces, in its strictly literal sense, can have neither distance nor proximate places. Our conceptions, limited to the narrow area of our experience, attempt to fit if not an end, at least a beginning of time and space; but neither of these exist in reality; for in such case time would both be eternal, nor space boundless. The past no more exists than the future, as we have said, only our memories survive; and our memories are but the glimpses that we catch of the reflections of this past in the currents of the Astral Light."
Now, whilst the above may very well sound like the sort of thing I would probably say to you whilst lounging in some comfy chair in a pub somewhere, they are not in fact my words at all !
I find the quote to be remarkably prescient of many areas of 20th Century scientific theories (Singularities, The Big Bang Theory, The Uncertainty Principle, String Theory, The Daemon/Eidolon Dyad etc etc) and our very own blogsite wafflings regarding Lucid Dreaming, Deja Vu, Precognitive Consciousness, Communication with the Daemon etc etc, especially considering it was written in 1877 and by the incomparable occultist Madame H.P Blavatsky in Isis Unveiled (a ludicrously rare copy of which I house in my rather extensive Occult section of my own personal library - amongst many other grimoires).
Blavatsky was the founder of Theosophy and the main aim of the movement was to spread knowledge of Eastern mysticism to such an extent that she virtually single-handedly introduced and made known all those vague philosophies and religions that are so popular today.
My connection with Blavatsky came about (once again entirely synchrondipitously) whilst on a family holiday to Llandudno in North Wales when I was but a wee lad. I discovered that literally a stone's throw from where we were staying was Bryn-y-Bia (on the Little Orme for anyone that knows Llandudno), the birthplace of Violet Mary Frith (better known as Dion Fortune), another British Occultist who joined the Theosophical Society. It was her writings that introduced me to Blavatsky and Crowley, Eliphas Levi, Samuel Liddell MacGregor-Mathers et al and which led to my many years writing about and studying much of the Occult ideology.
*oh what stories I could tell - but shan't for reasons obvious to those in the know*
Fortune also met and corresponded with the legendary Aleister Crowley (see Tony's previous post and my comments on Crowley here).
I know that Tony comprehends the many striking connections with his Daemon theory and that indeed communication from some working societies today has been entirely supportive and favourable. What astonishes me is the "Peake Experience" as Abraham Maslow would have called it regarding my seemingly lifelong devotion to purchasing books that are all becoming linked through the writings and theories of one man...........Tony!
What could possibly have been guiding me to these disparate books on hugely varying topics which now all seem interconnected? There is scarcely a name that is brought up on this blog about whom I do not own several books.
Koestler and Schopenhauer would call this my "Library Angel"
Tony Peake would call it my " Daemon "
"The driving forces of the universe, the framework upon which it is built up in all its parts, belong to another phase of manifestation than our physical plane, having other dimensions than the three to which we are habituated, and perceived by other modes of consciousness than those to which we are accustomed."
Dion Fortune
A Dark Philosopher
Karl L Le Marcs
Now, whilst the above may very well sound like the sort of thing I would probably say to you whilst lounging in some comfy chair in a pub somewhere, they are not in fact my words at all !
I find the quote to be remarkably prescient of many areas of 20th Century scientific theories (Singularities, The Big Bang Theory, The Uncertainty Principle, String Theory, The Daemon/Eidolon Dyad etc etc) and our very own blogsite wafflings regarding Lucid Dreaming, Deja Vu, Precognitive Consciousness, Communication with the Daemon etc etc, especially considering it was written in 1877 and by the incomparable occultist Madame H.P Blavatsky in Isis Unveiled (a ludicrously rare copy of which I house in my rather extensive Occult section of my own personal library - amongst many other grimoires).
Blavatsky was the founder of Theosophy and the main aim of the movement was to spread knowledge of Eastern mysticism to such an extent that she virtually single-handedly introduced and made known all those vague philosophies and religions that are so popular today.
My connection with Blavatsky came about (once again entirely synchrondipitously) whilst on a family holiday to Llandudno in North Wales when I was but a wee lad. I discovered that literally a stone's throw from where we were staying was Bryn-y-Bia (on the Little Orme for anyone that knows Llandudno), the birthplace of Violet Mary Frith (better known as Dion Fortune), another British Occultist who joined the Theosophical Society. It was her writings that introduced me to Blavatsky and Crowley, Eliphas Levi, Samuel Liddell MacGregor-Mathers et al and which led to my many years writing about and studying much of the Occult ideology.
*oh what stories I could tell - but shan't for reasons obvious to those in the know*
Fortune also met and corresponded with the legendary Aleister Crowley (see Tony's previous post and my comments on Crowley here).
I know that Tony comprehends the many striking connections with his Daemon theory and that indeed communication from some working societies today has been entirely supportive and favourable. What astonishes me is the "Peake Experience" as Abraham Maslow would have called it regarding my seemingly lifelong devotion to purchasing books that are all becoming linked through the writings and theories of one man...........Tony!
What could possibly have been guiding me to these disparate books on hugely varying topics which now all seem interconnected? There is scarcely a name that is brought up on this blog about whom I do not own several books.
Koestler and Schopenhauer would call this my "Library Angel"
Tony Peake would call it my " Daemon "
"The driving forces of the universe, the framework upon which it is built up in all its parts, belong to another phase of manifestation than our physical plane, having other dimensions than the three to which we are habituated, and perceived by other modes of consciousness than those to which we are accustomed."
Dion Fortune
A Dark Philosopher
Karl L Le Marcs
NDE type and daemonic encounters experienced under the influence of Ketamine,
Posting from Little E-Man using the Doppleganger facility:
Hi, I’m currently reading your book "Is There Life After Death? The Extraordinary Science of What Happens When You Die" and noticed your note in the back and thought that I would get in touch.
I am currently on page 103 of your book and as such, and until you responded to me, I had no idea that you were interested in the ketamine experience. I would love to help you in any way that I can. You have my permission to use my e-mails in any way that you feel fit, I have a friend who also has experienced similar things as I have and will discuss with them if they would also like to contribute to your Blogsite.
I’ve been taking ketamine now for about 7 years. To begin with it was in the club scene at parties and raves and things of this sort but about 4 years ago I began to take ketamine on my own. I find if I cut off all my sensory inputs, e.g. turn off all light and sound and try to clear my head that the "trip" is much clearer and intense. some times there will be images from things I've done in the past replayed, sometimes I may be at work with my colleagues all around but I still know that I have been taking drugs but don't realise am not really there. (That is quite interesting :-))
The experience I had was that I would feel as if I knew some new amazing thing but I didn’t know what it was. It was as if I knew it and didn’t know it at the same time. it wasn’t until fairly recently that I have began reading books of a similar subject matter to yours that I have become to realise that this "new truth" that I hadn’t been able to put into words, or realise what I was thinking, was the subject matter of your book which I have now began to read. It wasn’t until I read these books that I (as much as the term “I” actually means) could comprehend what I had already knew through my ketamine experiences.
In my ‘experiences’ I feel an intense knowing of something, except you don't know. It’s like its right on the tip of your tongue and you just can’t get it out. Then as the drug wears off the knowledge drifts away until at the end I can hardly remember what I was even doing. I just know that it was something life changing. When I have taken the drug with my friend we have both experienced that there is a presence in the room. I have felt as though my hands were being guided by someone, like (I don't like to use this word but lack a better one) a spirit of some kind. When I move around it feels as though the whole room is full of energy; as if the air is thick like water. I usually shiver for a long time after the experience. Something else has just occurred to me when I received your reply to my initial email - I've been making a conscious effort to try to share my ketamine experience with someone for the benefit of their research - but only for the last couple of weeks or so and, then I found you by accident, by luck. Does make me wonder.........
Hi, I’m currently reading your book "Is There Life After Death? The Extraordinary Science of What Happens When You Die" and noticed your note in the back and thought that I would get in touch.
I am currently on page 103 of your book and as such, and until you responded to me, I had no idea that you were interested in the ketamine experience. I would love to help you in any way that I can. You have my permission to use my e-mails in any way that you feel fit, I have a friend who also has experienced similar things as I have and will discuss with them if they would also like to contribute to your Blogsite.
I’ve been taking ketamine now for about 7 years. To begin with it was in the club scene at parties and raves and things of this sort but about 4 years ago I began to take ketamine on my own. I find if I cut off all my sensory inputs, e.g. turn off all light and sound and try to clear my head that the "trip" is much clearer and intense. some times there will be images from things I've done in the past replayed, sometimes I may be at work with my colleagues all around but I still know that I have been taking drugs but don't realise am not really there. (That is quite interesting :-))
The experience I had was that I would feel as if I knew some new amazing thing but I didn’t know what it was. It was as if I knew it and didn’t know it at the same time. it wasn’t until fairly recently that I have began reading books of a similar subject matter to yours that I have become to realise that this "new truth" that I hadn’t been able to put into words, or realise what I was thinking, was the subject matter of your book which I have now began to read. It wasn’t until I read these books that I (as much as the term “I” actually means) could comprehend what I had already knew through my ketamine experiences.
In my ‘experiences’ I feel an intense knowing of something, except you don't know. It’s like its right on the tip of your tongue and you just can’t get it out. Then as the drug wears off the knowledge drifts away until at the end I can hardly remember what I was even doing. I just know that it was something life changing. When I have taken the drug with my friend we have both experienced that there is a presence in the room. I have felt as though my hands were being guided by someone, like (I don't like to use this word but lack a better one) a spirit of some kind. When I move around it feels as though the whole room is full of energy; as if the air is thick like water. I usually shiver for a long time after the experience. Something else has just occurred to me when I received your reply to my initial email - I've been making a conscious effort to try to share my ketamine experience with someone for the benefit of their research - but only for the last couple of weeks or so and, then I found you by accident, by luck. Does make me wonder.........
Monday 25 February 2008
Posting from "Toto"
Posting from TOTO using Doppelganger facility.
Hi Anthony
Two weeks ago I had never heard of you but ever since hearing you at Ellesmere Port Library I have become more and more certain that what you say is so true and is making me see everything in a new way and its like a door has been opened to me.
Of course I could also be losing my mind and I admit I do have doubts but the more I look into it and especially the events in my own life it seems to make sense about living a parallel life ,deju vu, reincarnation etc.
I should explain that in November I had a breakdown and have been off work since after being diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I am 52 and for the past 30 years or more I have suffered bouts of depression but with the help of antidepressants I recovered and coped. This time however I was at an all time low and after a couple of months on Prozac I was not recovering and getting worse with thinking about death a lot. The only interest I had was reading which distracted my thoughts. I would go to the library every week and stock up with a fresh supply of novels to get me through. It was on one of these library visits that I noticed a card about "Is there life after death" - Anthony Peake will discuss his ideas at EP library Fri 8th Feb. Well that happened to be the next day so I decided to go and see.
I was so amazed by what you said and wasnt expecting to hear anything like that. It made a big impression on me but the next day I kept saying to myself "was I really there listening to all that crazy stuff" it just doesn't seem possible and the doubts kept creeping in. Yet I couldnt get away from the daemon idea as over the last few weeks I had been feeling as if I wasn't in control and couldnt care less about anything but a part of me was in control and sending me to places to get help.
On 11 Feb I had my first appointment with a Therapist at Chester. It was difficult and I left the clinic very emotional but it was a sunny spring day so decided to go for a walk to clear my head. I ended up by the canal,near a little bridge with several barges moored up. Suddenly it brought to mind a scene that a medium had described to me on 26 Jan which made no sense to me then. She said there was also a little yorky dog with me and the song "somewhere over the rainbow". I walked over to the bridge and looked down at the water rushing out of the lock with the sun shining on it and couldnt believe my eyes when I saw a mini rainbow in the water.
The next morning I had the Wizard of Oz running through my head and kept singing the songs from the film. The more I thought about it , the more it seemed to relate to me : the scarecrow (brain not working), tin man ( heart pounding), lion ( bad nerves), Dorothy (lost! ). Decided to call my daemon Harry and let him show me the way.
Dont know why but then decided to look the author up on the internet and discovered that Frank Baum was a member of the Theosophical Society. Never heard of that so looked that up and found out that there is a branch in Chester and its amazing to know that over a 100 years ago people believed in consciousness is universal and there is a higher self.
I am still going through a difficult time but Im begining to think Harry is making me follow the yellow brick road and to just have faith. Even the other day I decided to watch a DVD which was free with the paper a couple of weeks ago. It starred Meryl Streep but I didnt take any notice of what it was about I just put it in the machine. Turned out it was about a boy with epilepsy and guess what the song was playing in the middle - "Somewhere over the rainbow" !
So for now this exploration into your theory and the T Soc is keeping me occupied and hopefully my brain will be restored to full working order in time.
Thanks for opening the door for me.
Hi Anthony
Two weeks ago I had never heard of you but ever since hearing you at Ellesmere Port Library I have become more and more certain that what you say is so true and is making me see everything in a new way and its like a door has been opened to me.
Of course I could also be losing my mind and I admit I do have doubts but the more I look into it and especially the events in my own life it seems to make sense about living a parallel life ,deju vu, reincarnation etc.
I should explain that in November I had a breakdown and have been off work since after being diagnosed with anxiety and depression. I am 52 and for the past 30 years or more I have suffered bouts of depression but with the help of antidepressants I recovered and coped. This time however I was at an all time low and after a couple of months on Prozac I was not recovering and getting worse with thinking about death a lot. The only interest I had was reading which distracted my thoughts. I would go to the library every week and stock up with a fresh supply of novels to get me through. It was on one of these library visits that I noticed a card about "Is there life after death" - Anthony Peake will discuss his ideas at EP library Fri 8th Feb. Well that happened to be the next day so I decided to go and see.
I was so amazed by what you said and wasnt expecting to hear anything like that. It made a big impression on me but the next day I kept saying to myself "was I really there listening to all that crazy stuff" it just doesn't seem possible and the doubts kept creeping in. Yet I couldnt get away from the daemon idea as over the last few weeks I had been feeling as if I wasn't in control and couldnt care less about anything but a part of me was in control and sending me to places to get help.
On 11 Feb I had my first appointment with a Therapist at Chester. It was difficult and I left the clinic very emotional but it was a sunny spring day so decided to go for a walk to clear my head. I ended up by the canal,near a little bridge with several barges moored up. Suddenly it brought to mind a scene that a medium had described to me on 26 Jan which made no sense to me then. She said there was also a little yorky dog with me and the song "somewhere over the rainbow". I walked over to the bridge and looked down at the water rushing out of the lock with the sun shining on it and couldnt believe my eyes when I saw a mini rainbow in the water.
The next morning I had the Wizard of Oz running through my head and kept singing the songs from the film. The more I thought about it , the more it seemed to relate to me : the scarecrow (brain not working), tin man ( heart pounding), lion ( bad nerves), Dorothy (lost! ). Decided to call my daemon Harry and let him show me the way.
Dont know why but then decided to look the author up on the internet and discovered that Frank Baum was a member of the Theosophical Society. Never heard of that so looked that up and found out that there is a branch in Chester and its amazing to know that over a 100 years ago people believed in consciousness is universal and there is a higher self.
I am still going through a difficult time but Im begining to think Harry is making me follow the yellow brick road and to just have faith. Even the other day I decided to watch a DVD which was free with the paper a couple of weeks ago. It starred Meryl Streep but I didnt take any notice of what it was about I just put it in the machine. Turned out it was about a boy with epilepsy and guess what the song was playing in the middle - "Somewhere over the rainbow" !
So for now this exploration into your theory and the T Soc is keeping me occupied and hopefully my brain will be restored to full working order in time.
Thanks for opening the door for me.
Blog Popularity
I am pleased to say that day on day more people from across the globe are emailing me with regard to both how ITLAD has changed their lives and how they would like to post their comments and experiences on this blog. As I mentioned in a recent announcement we have topped out to our maximum 100 'full' members. However I may have a short-term solution. As well as the blogger-name Anthony Peake (the one that this posting is placed by) I have another that I have only used once (and that was by accident). This is called Doppelganger. It is my intention to use this one to post any messages that non-full members would like placed on the first page of this blog. This will allow them to request responses and comments as us full bloggers can do.
If you are one of those individuals keen to have your opinions read by the amazing band of readers of this blog just email me what you would like to have posted. I will then post it for you under the name 'Doppelganger'. When doing so please also let me know by what blogging alias you would like to be known as. In this way your fellow bloggers will know it is you in subsequent blogs. You can then add your own comments to the comments because this is open access.
To do this please simply write what you want to say and email it to me at:
cheattheferryman@aol.com
I look forward to your postings.
Note that I have placed a version of this as a permanent feature in the right hand column of this blog.
If you are one of those individuals keen to have your opinions read by the amazing band of readers of this blog just email me what you would like to have posted. I will then post it for you under the name 'Doppelganger'. When doing so please also let me know by what blogging alias you would like to be known as. In this way your fellow bloggers will know it is you in subsequent blogs. You can then add your own comments to the comments because this is open access.
To do this please simply write what you want to say and email it to me at:
cheattheferryman@aol.com
I look forward to your postings.
Note that I have placed a version of this as a permanent feature in the right hand column of this blog.
Sunday 24 February 2008
Creation through perception
Anthony's book arrived two days ago! One of my goals while reading ITLAD is to correlate Anthony's ideas with the work of Carl Jung (of whom I am a huge fan and student). So, on page 23 of ITLAD there is the statement:
The act of perception by a conscious entity beings matter into physical existence!
and my immediate mental connection was to Jung's Answer to Job in which he writes:
The character thus revealed [i.e. God] fits a personality who can only convince himself that he exists through his relation to an object. Such dependence on the object is absolute when the subject is totally lacking in self-reflection and therefore has no insight into himself. It is as if he existed only be reason of the fact that he has an object which assures him that he is really there. . . . Existence is only real when it is conscious to somebody. That is why the Creator needs conscious man even though, from sheer unconsciousness, he would like to prevent him from becoming conscious.
The italicized sentence (emphasis added by me) is almost identical to Anthony's statement. I'm not sure how far we can take this but one conclusion is that God is a wave function! And our interaction with him collapses him down to a measurable (and knowable?) entity.
I caught myself supporting this notion the other day. My daughter (almost 2) was sitting just outside my office door eating blueberries. She LOVES blueberries and was very intent on getting each one out of the bowl with her spoon and into her mouth. I was stepping over the piles of junk getting something off the printer or something and saw her and it arrested me. I just stood there watching her (she was so intent that she didn't notice me watching her). Then I found myself wishing that my wife would come out of the bedroom and see me. When I realized this thought had presented itself, I, again, thought of Jung and how this experience didn't exist until some consciousness -- outside of myself -- witnessed it. I really don't think it would have "worked" if my daughter looked up and "witnessed" it because she was in the experience (albeit unknowingly) the same as I.
Saturday 23 February 2008
The illusion of reality
Had a dream last night which seems particularly relevant to the discussion about "reality."
But first, in my dream I woke up from a dream and thought about it. So, I had two levels of dreams -- and they were connected. This has happened a couple times to me although I can no longer remember the details of the dreams.
Anyway, in my dream, I am at some sort of conference or meeting and I am sitting near a podium of sorts. As I'm looking at the podium, it does some kind of waving, shimmering thing and pretty much disappears. All that remains is a "patch" that resembles the carpet and takes on the silhouette of the podium. I concentrate on this patch and am able to make it blend in perfectly with the surroundings so that the podium is invisible. But, as I'm looking, I notice that it is more than invisible. It's shadow has disappeared and the shadows of other things appear unobstructed through the space that the podium had occupied. I move around to see the shadows from different angles and they are seamless. For all intents and porpoises (*laughs at tie-in to previous post*) the podium is no longer there even though I know that everyone else still sees it.
Then I wake up but I'm still dreaming so I've woken from my dream within my dream. Now, I'm thinking about my dream and I know that had I tried, I could have passed my hand through the space which the podium had occupied and everyone would have seen my hand pass through the podium itself. I was that sure that my "illusion" of the podium not being there was "reality." Throughout, in both levels of dream, I had the distinct impression that I, to some extent, "caused" the podium to disappear. Or maybe it was that I "caused" myself to see past the illusion of the podium?
Then I wake up for real ... or have I?
Friday 22 February 2008
New Book - Cover and Publication Date
I have just agreed the cover for my new book (left). I have to say that I am really impressed with this. I think the art work and imagery really get across to a potential reader the power of this book. In many ways I feel that it is an even better book than ITLAD and the cover certainly does it justice.
I have to congratulate my publisher (Arcturus) for designing such an arresting image. I feel that the brown and green theme contrasts well with the blue and orange of ITLAD.
The planned date of publication is 1st September 2008.
Professor Richard L Gregory
With regard to the nature of vision and how absolutely peculiar it is I strongly suggest that any interested members of this blog check out the writings of neuropsychologist Professor Richard L Gregory. This guy is one of my all-time intellectual heroes.
His books Eye and Brain: The Psychology of Seeing, Mirrors In Mind and Odd Perceptions introduced me to the idea that 'reality' and that version of reality that is presented to consciousness are very different constructs. Mirrors In Mind, when read with the fictions of Jorge Borges, can be (pun intended) quite powerful 'eye openers'.
His website is a real treasure trove of examples and academic papers, all of which are worth reading. Check it out at:
Thursday 21 February 2008
How we see - Social Programming
In the movie "What The Bleep" it was claimed that the Maya of Central America simply did not see Cortez's ships as they sailed into view. Sailing ships were simpy unknown to them and their brains could not process what they were seeing. I am not so sure about this claim but it does highlight some interesting issues with regard to knowledge and perception. When I was at university I studed a phenomenon known as the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. This suggests that language itself structures the way in which we perceive the world. Again quite interesting when discussed in the light of ITLAD. An example of how knowledge controls perception can be seen above. Most adults see a mildly erotic scene on the vase. This is because they have prior memory of such a scene. Children, apparently, see nine dolphins.
How many other strikingly obvious things are out there that we cannot 'see' because we simply are not educated to do so.
Is this again evidence for the Bohmian IMAX theory?
How many other strikingly obvious things are out there that we cannot 'see' because we simply are not educated to do so.
Is this again evidence for the Bohmian IMAX theory?
How Your Senses 'Matrix' You
Some people who come along to my talks are what I term 'literalists'. The believe that what they perceive through their senses is exactly what is happening 'out there'. In other words they consider that the senses present to consciousness an exact replica of what is real. As such the find elements of ITLAD totally counter-intuitive. I suggest that what we perceive has been amended and adapted by the mind before it is presented to consciousness and as such we have no real objective way of confirming the true existence of external objects. The technical term for this is Naïve Realism and is considered by most people to be absolute common sense. However as soon as somebody starts to read philosophy they find themselves discovering the painful truth that this is simply not correct. The image above is a classical example of how the mind adds detail where it is not present. If you look at closely at the image you will soon notice that the blue petals are moving in a circular motion. This is a total illusion. There is no movement - it is the 'creation' of the brain. That 'reality' is processed in this way is called Representative Realism and this is the what that most cognitive scientists believe is the real nature of cognition. If my theory is correct then 'reality' - or more accurately 'The Bohmian IMAX' is the real nature of reality - a fizzing and buzzing mass of electromagnetic energy attenuated and processed by the brain so that we can make sense of it all. For certain individuals the attenuator malfunctions and they perceive the Bohmian in all its glory. These people are diagnosed as schizophrenics. I am also of the opinion that severe autism is also involved - particularly asperger's syndrome. In my next book - publication date now confirmed for the 1st September 2008 - I will expand on this theory.
Labels:
autism,
Naive Realism,
Perception,
schizophrenia
Wednesday 20 February 2008
Nirvikalpa Samadhi
I am really pleased to find that my lectures attract a very broad spectrum of people from many traditions. This really adds to the cross-fertilisation of ideas when we have our open sessions at the end. It is interesting that Buddhists and Yoga teachers seem to be particularly interested in CTF/ITLAD. On Saturday in Totnes for example there were two ladies who followed the Thai Forest Tradition (Wat Nong Pah Pong - วัดหนà¸à¸‡à¸›่าพง) who engaged me in two separate, and fascinating, conversations. After meeting the Buddhist monk Ekkagato Bhikkhu at the Forest Hermitage near Warwick last summer I have been following up some themes that he suggested to me that hot, and very enlightening, afternoon
I have recently come across the term samadhi , this is a state of super-awareness which is brought about by profound yogic meditation. This state is when all mental functions except consciousness have ceased. In this state of of pure awareness, the yogi ( ie the practitioner) is aware of his or her own existence, but without thinking. In doing this the practitoner attains a sense of oneness and identification with his or her 'Atman', or true soul. This state is known as Nivikalpa Samadhi - pure awareness.
My Buddhist friends have told me that in their opinion this unified state of consciousness is very similar to my Daemon-Eidolon Dyad. Indeed I am coming to the opinion that the many re-runs of the Bohmian IMAX come to an end when full union between the Daemon and the Eidolon is achieved - Nivikalpa Samadhi. Certain adepts, after advanced and prolonged practice of yoga can reach this state. However I wonder if those adepts have achieved this state also because after many re-runs of the Bohmian IMAX they become attracted to Yogic techniques which in turn facilitates Samadhi.
In Samadhi all awareness of attachment to the material world, and all karma, is dissolved. Unless the practitioner eventually returns from samadhi, Nirvana, also known as Maha Samadhi, is reached. This state is also known to us as physical death. That is when the many cycles of my Bohmian IMAX come to an end and consciousness moves on to another plane of existence - just like Conners eventually moves onto the next day in the movie Groundhog Day so does consciousness. However, and this is where it gets interesting, it is believed that the truly enlightened can remain in Nirvikalpa Samadhi indefinitely while fully functioning in this world. These will be fully integrated human beings - in effect, Daemons that can directly interface with the real world without the need for an Eidolon. Is this not what all occult and magic traditions try to achieve?
I have recently come across the term samadhi , this is a state of super-awareness which is brought about by profound yogic meditation. This state is when all mental functions except consciousness have ceased. In this state of of pure awareness, the yogi ( ie the practitioner) is aware of his or her own existence, but without thinking. In doing this the practitoner attains a sense of oneness and identification with his or her 'Atman', or true soul. This state is known as Nivikalpa Samadhi - pure awareness.
My Buddhist friends have told me that in their opinion this unified state of consciousness is very similar to my Daemon-Eidolon Dyad. Indeed I am coming to the opinion that the many re-runs of the Bohmian IMAX come to an end when full union between the Daemon and the Eidolon is achieved - Nivikalpa Samadhi. Certain adepts, after advanced and prolonged practice of yoga can reach this state. However I wonder if those adepts have achieved this state also because after many re-runs of the Bohmian IMAX they become attracted to Yogic techniques which in turn facilitates Samadhi.
In Samadhi all awareness of attachment to the material world, and all karma, is dissolved. Unless the practitioner eventually returns from samadhi, Nirvana, also known as Maha Samadhi, is reached. This state is also known to us as physical death. That is when the many cycles of my Bohmian IMAX come to an end and consciousness moves on to another plane of existence - just like Conners eventually moves onto the next day in the movie Groundhog Day so does consciousness. However, and this is where it gets interesting, it is believed that the truly enlightened can remain in Nirvikalpa Samadhi indefinitely while fully functioning in this world. These will be fully integrated human beings - in effect, Daemons that can directly interface with the real world without the need for an Eidolon. Is this not what all occult and magic traditions try to achieve?
Tuesday 19 February 2008
20 Most Amazing Coincidences
Anthony I know you love this stuff so i hope you'll forgive the rather large post.
James Dean's car curse
In September 1955, James Dean was killed in a horrific car accident whilst he was driving his Porsche sports car. After the crash the car was seen as very unlucky.
a) When the car was towed away from accident scene and taken to a garage, the engine slipped out and fell onto a mechanic, shattering both of his legs.
b) Eventually the engine was bought by a doctor, who put it into his racing car and was killed shortly afterwards, during a race. Another racing driver, in the same race, was killed in his car, which had James Dean's driveshaft fitted to it.
c) When James Dean's Porsche was later repaired, the garage it was in was destroyed by fire.
d) Later the car was displayed in Sacramento, but it fell off it's mount and broke a teenager's hip.
e) In Oregon, the trailer that the car was mounted on slipped from it's towbar and smashed through the front of a shop.
f) Finally, in 1959, the car mysteriously broke into 11 pieces while it was sitting on steel supports.
A falling baby, saved twice by the same man
In Detroit sometime in the 1930s, a young (if incredibly careless) mother must have been eternally grateful to a man named Joseph Figlock. As Figlock was walking down the street, the mother's baby fell from a high window onto Figlock. The baby's fall was broken and both man and baby were unharmed. A stroke of luck on its own, but a year later, the very same baby fell from the very same window onto poor, unsuspecting Joseph Figlock as he was again passing beneath. And again, they both survived the event. (Source: Mysteries of the Unexplained)
A bullet that reached its destiny years later
Henry Ziegland thought he had dodged fate. In 1883, he broke off a relationship with his girlfriend who, out of distress, committed suicide. The girl's brother was so enraged that he hunted down Ziegland and shot him. The brother, believing he had killed Ziegland, then turned his gun on himself and took his own life. But Ziegland had not been killed. The bullet, in fact, had only grazed his face and then lodged in a tree. Ziegland surely thought himself a lucky man. Some years later, however, Ziegland decided to cut down the large tree, which still had the bullet in it. The task seemed so formidable that he decided to blow it up with a few sticks of dynamite. The explosion propelled the bullet into Ziegland's head, killing him. (Source: Ripley's Believe It or Not!)
Twin Boys, twin lives
The stories of identical twins' nearly identical lives are often astonishing, but perhaps none more so than those of identical twins born in Ohio. The twin boys were separated at birth, being adopted by different families. Unknown to each other, both families named the boys James. And here the coincidences just begin. Both James grew up not even knowing of the other, yet both sought law-enforcement training, both had abilities in mechanical drawing and carpentry, and each had married women named Linda. They both had sons whom one named James Alan and the other named James Allan. The twin brothers also divorced their wives and married other women - both named Betty. And they both owned dogs which they named Toy. Forty years after their childhood separation, the two men were reunited to share their amazingly similar lives. (Source: Reader's Digest, January 1980)
Just like Edgar Allan Poe's book
In the 19th century, the famous horror writer, Egdar Allan Poe, wrote a book called 'The narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym'. It was about four survivors of a shipwreck who were in an open boat for many days before they decided to kill and eat the cabin boy whose name was Richard Parker. Some years later, in 1884, the yawl, Mignonette, foundered, with only four survivors, who were in an open boat for many days. Eventully the three senior members of the crew, killed and ate the cabin boy. The name of the cabin boy was Richard Parker.
Twin brothers, killed on the same road, two hours apart
On 2002, Seventy-year-old twin brothers have died within hours of one another after separate accidents on the same road in northern Finland. The first of the twins died when he was hit by a lorry while riding his bike in Raahe, 600 kilometres north of the capital, Helsinki. He died just 1.5km from the spot where his brother was killed. "This is simply a historic coincidence. Although the road is a busy one, accidents don't occur every day," police officer Marja-Leena Huhtala told Reuters. "It made my hair stand on end when I heard the two were brothers, and identical twins at that. It came to mind that perhaps someone from upstairs had a say in this," she said. (Source: BBC News)
Three suicide attempts, all stopped by the same Monk
Joseph Aigner was a fairlly well-known portrait painter in 19th century Austria who, apparently, was quite an unhappy fellow: he several times attempted suicide. His first attempt was at the young age of 18 when he tried to hang himself, but was interrupted by the mysterious appearance of a Capuchin monk. At age 22 he again tried to hang himself, but was again saved from the act by the very same monk. Eight years later, his death was ordained by others who sentenced him to the gallows for his political activities. Once again, his life was saved by the intervention of the same monk. At age 68, Aiger finally succeeded in suicide, a pistol doing the trick. His funeral ceremony was conducted by the same Capuchin monk - a man whose name Aiger never even knew. (Source: Ripley's Giant Book of Believe It or Not!)
Poker winnings, to the unsuspected son
In 1858, Robert Fallon was shot dead, an act of vengeance by those with whom he was playing poker. Fallon, they claimed, had won the $600 pot through cheating. With Fallon's seat empty and none of the other players willing to take the now-unlucky $600, they found a new player to take Fallon's place and staked him with the dead man's $600. By the time the police had arrived to investigate the killing, the new player had turned the $600 into $2,200 in winnings. The police demanded the original $600 to pass on to Fallon's next of kin - only to discover that the new player turned out to be Fallon's son, who had not seen his father in seven years! (Source: Ripley's Giant Book of Believe It or Not!)
A novel that unsuspectedly described the spy next door
When Norman Mailer began his novel Barbary Shore, there was no plan to have a Russian spy as a character. As he worked on it, he introduced a Russian spy in the U.S. as a minor character. As the work progressed, the spy became the dominant character in the novel. After the novel was completed, the U.S. Immigration Service arrested a man who lived just one floor above Mailer in the same apartment building. He was Colonel Rudolf Abel, alleged to be the top Russian spy working in the U.S. at that time. (Source: Science Digest)
Mark Twain and Halley's Comet
Mark Twain was born on the day of the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1835, and died on the day of its next appearance in 1910. He himself predicted this in 1909, when he said: "I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it."
Three strangers on a Train, with complementary last names
In the 1920s, three Englishman were traveling separately by train through Peru. At the time of their introduction, they were the only three men in the railroad car. Their introductions were more surprising than they could have imagined. One man's last name was Bingham, and the second man's last name was Powell. The third man announced that his last name was Bingham-Powell. None were related in any way. (Source: Mysteries of the Unexplained)
Two brothers killed by the same taxi driver, one year apart
In 1975, while riding a moped in Bermuda, a man was accidentally struck and killed by a taxi. One year later, this man's bother was killed in the very same way. In fact, he was riding the very same moped. And to stretch the odds even further, he was struck by the very same taxi driven by the same driver - and even carrying the very same passenger! (Source: Phenomena: A Book of Wonders, John Michell and Robert J. M. Rickard)
Swapped Hotel Findings
In 1953, television reporter Irv Kupcinet was in London to cover the coronation of Ellizabeth II. In one of the drawers in his room at the Savoy he found found some items that, by their identification, belonged to a man named Harry Hannin. Coincidentally, Harry Hannin - a basketball star with the famed Harlem Globetrotters - was a good friend of Kupcinet's. But the story has yet another twist. Just two days later, and before he could tell Hannin of his lucky discovery, Kupcinet received a letter from Hannin. In the letter, Hannin told Kucinet that while staying at the Hotel Meurice in Paris, he found in a drawer a tie - with Kupcinet's name on it! (Source: Mysteries of the Unexplained)
Two Mr. Brysons, same hotel room
While on a business trip sometime in the late 1950s, Mr. George D. Bryson stopped and registered at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. After signing the register and being given his key to room 307, he stopped by the mail desk to see if any letters had arrived for him. Indeed there was a letter, the mail girl told him, and handed him an envelope addressed to Mr. George D. Bryson, room 307. This wouldn't be so odd, except the letter was not for him, but for room 307's just-previous occupant - another man named George D. Bryson. (Source: Incredible Coincidence, Alan Vaughan)
Twins brothers, same heart attack
John and Arthur Mowforth were twins who lived about 80 miles apart in Great Britain. On the evening of May 22, 1975, both fell severely ill from chest pains. The families of both men were completely unaware of the other's illness. Both men were rushed to separate hospitals at approximately the same time. And both died of heart attacks shortly after arrival. (Source: Chronogenetics: The Inheretance of Biological Time, Luigi Gedda and Gianni Brenci)
A novel that predicted the Titanic's destiny, and another ship that almost followed
Morgan Robertson, in 1898, wrote "Futility". It described the maiden voyage of a transatlantic luxury liner named the Titan. Although it was touted as being unsinkable, it strikes an iceberg and sinks with much loss of life. In 1912 the Titanic, a transatlantic luxury liner widely touted as unsinkable strikes an iceberg and sinks with great loss of life on her maiden voyage. In the Book, the Month of the Wreck was April, same as in the real event. There were 3,000 passengers on the book; in reality, 2,207. In the Book, there were 24 Lifeboats; in reality, 20.
Months after the Titanic sank, a tramp steamer was traveling through the foggy Atlantic with only a young boy on watch. It came into his head that it had been thereabouts that the Titanic had sunk, and he was suddenly terrified by the thought of the name of his ship - the Titanian. Panic-stricken, he sounded the warning. The ship stopped, just in time: a huge iceberg loomed out of the fog directly in their path. The Titanian was saved.
A writer, found the book of her childhood
While American novelist Anne Parrish was browsing bookstores in Paris in the 1920s, she came upon a book that was one of her childhood favorites - Jack Frost and Other Stories. She picked up the old book and showed it to her husband, telling him of the book she fondly remembered as a child. Her husband took the book, opened it, and on the flyleaf found the inscription: "Anne Parrish, 209 N. Weber Street, Colorado Springs." It was Anne's very own book. (Source: While Rome Burns, Alexander Wollcott)
A writer's plum pudding
In 1805, French writer Émile Deschamps was treated to some plum pudding by the stranger Monsieur de Fortgibu. Ten years later, he encountered plum pudding on the menu of a Paris restaurant, and wanted to order some, but the waiter told him the last dish had already been served to another customer, who turned out to be de Fortgibu. Many years later in 1832 Émile Deschamps was at a diner, and was once again offered plum pudding. He recalled the earlier incident and told his friends that only de Fortgibu was missing to make the setting complete — and in the same instant the now senile de Fortgibu entered the room.
King Umberto I' double
In Monza, Italy, King Umberto I, went to a small restaurant for dinner, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, General Emilio Ponzia- Vaglia. When the owner took King Umberto's order, the King noticed that he and the restaurant owner were virtual doubles, in face and in build. Both men began discussing the striking resemblances between each other and found many more similarities.
a) Both men were born on the same day, of the same year, (March 14th, 1844).
b) Both men had been born in the same town.
c) Both men married a woman with same name, Margherita.
d) The restauranteur opened his restaurant on the same day that King Umberto was crowned King of Italy.
e) On the 29th July 1900, King Umberto was informed that the restauranteur had died that day in a mysterious shooting accident, and as he expressed his regret, he was then assassinated by an anarchist in the crowd.
The 21st, a bad day for King Louis XVI
When King Louis XVI of France was a child, he was warned by an astrologer to always be on his guard on the 21st day of each month. Louis ws so terrified by this that he never did business on this day. Unfortunately Louis was not always on his guard. On June 21st 1791, following the French revolution, Louis and his queen were arrested in Varennes, whist trying to escape France. On September 21st 1791, France abolished the institution of Royalty and proclaimed itself a republic. Finally on January 21st 1793, King Louis XVI was executed by guillotine.
link
http://www.oddee.com/item_82923.aspx
Anyone got anymore?
James Dean's car curse
In September 1955, James Dean was killed in a horrific car accident whilst he was driving his Porsche sports car. After the crash the car was seen as very unlucky.
a) When the car was towed away from accident scene and taken to a garage, the engine slipped out and fell onto a mechanic, shattering both of his legs.
b) Eventually the engine was bought by a doctor, who put it into his racing car and was killed shortly afterwards, during a race. Another racing driver, in the same race, was killed in his car, which had James Dean's driveshaft fitted to it.
c) When James Dean's Porsche was later repaired, the garage it was in was destroyed by fire.
d) Later the car was displayed in Sacramento, but it fell off it's mount and broke a teenager's hip.
e) In Oregon, the trailer that the car was mounted on slipped from it's towbar and smashed through the front of a shop.
f) Finally, in 1959, the car mysteriously broke into 11 pieces while it was sitting on steel supports.
A falling baby, saved twice by the same man
In Detroit sometime in the 1930s, a young (if incredibly careless) mother must have been eternally grateful to a man named Joseph Figlock. As Figlock was walking down the street, the mother's baby fell from a high window onto Figlock. The baby's fall was broken and both man and baby were unharmed. A stroke of luck on its own, but a year later, the very same baby fell from the very same window onto poor, unsuspecting Joseph Figlock as he was again passing beneath. And again, they both survived the event. (Source: Mysteries of the Unexplained)
A bullet that reached its destiny years later
Henry Ziegland thought he had dodged fate. In 1883, he broke off a relationship with his girlfriend who, out of distress, committed suicide. The girl's brother was so enraged that he hunted down Ziegland and shot him. The brother, believing he had killed Ziegland, then turned his gun on himself and took his own life. But Ziegland had not been killed. The bullet, in fact, had only grazed his face and then lodged in a tree. Ziegland surely thought himself a lucky man. Some years later, however, Ziegland decided to cut down the large tree, which still had the bullet in it. The task seemed so formidable that he decided to blow it up with a few sticks of dynamite. The explosion propelled the bullet into Ziegland's head, killing him. (Source: Ripley's Believe It or Not!)
Twin Boys, twin lives
The stories of identical twins' nearly identical lives are often astonishing, but perhaps none more so than those of identical twins born in Ohio. The twin boys were separated at birth, being adopted by different families. Unknown to each other, both families named the boys James. And here the coincidences just begin. Both James grew up not even knowing of the other, yet both sought law-enforcement training, both had abilities in mechanical drawing and carpentry, and each had married women named Linda. They both had sons whom one named James Alan and the other named James Allan. The twin brothers also divorced their wives and married other women - both named Betty. And they both owned dogs which they named Toy. Forty years after their childhood separation, the two men were reunited to share their amazingly similar lives. (Source: Reader's Digest, January 1980)
Just like Edgar Allan Poe's book
In the 19th century, the famous horror writer, Egdar Allan Poe, wrote a book called 'The narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym'. It was about four survivors of a shipwreck who were in an open boat for many days before they decided to kill and eat the cabin boy whose name was Richard Parker. Some years later, in 1884, the yawl, Mignonette, foundered, with only four survivors, who were in an open boat for many days. Eventully the three senior members of the crew, killed and ate the cabin boy. The name of the cabin boy was Richard Parker.
Twin brothers, killed on the same road, two hours apart
On 2002, Seventy-year-old twin brothers have died within hours of one another after separate accidents on the same road in northern Finland. The first of the twins died when he was hit by a lorry while riding his bike in Raahe, 600 kilometres north of the capital, Helsinki. He died just 1.5km from the spot where his brother was killed. "This is simply a historic coincidence. Although the road is a busy one, accidents don't occur every day," police officer Marja-Leena Huhtala told Reuters. "It made my hair stand on end when I heard the two were brothers, and identical twins at that. It came to mind that perhaps someone from upstairs had a say in this," she said. (Source: BBC News)
Three suicide attempts, all stopped by the same Monk
Joseph Aigner was a fairlly well-known portrait painter in 19th century Austria who, apparently, was quite an unhappy fellow: he several times attempted suicide. His first attempt was at the young age of 18 when he tried to hang himself, but was interrupted by the mysterious appearance of a Capuchin monk. At age 22 he again tried to hang himself, but was again saved from the act by the very same monk. Eight years later, his death was ordained by others who sentenced him to the gallows for his political activities. Once again, his life was saved by the intervention of the same monk. At age 68, Aiger finally succeeded in suicide, a pistol doing the trick. His funeral ceremony was conducted by the same Capuchin monk - a man whose name Aiger never even knew. (Source: Ripley's Giant Book of Believe It or Not!)
Poker winnings, to the unsuspected son
In 1858, Robert Fallon was shot dead, an act of vengeance by those with whom he was playing poker. Fallon, they claimed, had won the $600 pot through cheating. With Fallon's seat empty and none of the other players willing to take the now-unlucky $600, they found a new player to take Fallon's place and staked him with the dead man's $600. By the time the police had arrived to investigate the killing, the new player had turned the $600 into $2,200 in winnings. The police demanded the original $600 to pass on to Fallon's next of kin - only to discover that the new player turned out to be Fallon's son, who had not seen his father in seven years! (Source: Ripley's Giant Book of Believe It or Not!)
A novel that unsuspectedly described the spy next door
When Norman Mailer began his novel Barbary Shore, there was no plan to have a Russian spy as a character. As he worked on it, he introduced a Russian spy in the U.S. as a minor character. As the work progressed, the spy became the dominant character in the novel. After the novel was completed, the U.S. Immigration Service arrested a man who lived just one floor above Mailer in the same apartment building. He was Colonel Rudolf Abel, alleged to be the top Russian spy working in the U.S. at that time. (Source: Science Digest)
Mark Twain and Halley's Comet
Mark Twain was born on the day of the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1835, and died on the day of its next appearance in 1910. He himself predicted this in 1909, when he said: "I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it."
Three strangers on a Train, with complementary last names
In the 1920s, three Englishman were traveling separately by train through Peru. At the time of their introduction, they were the only three men in the railroad car. Their introductions were more surprising than they could have imagined. One man's last name was Bingham, and the second man's last name was Powell. The third man announced that his last name was Bingham-Powell. None were related in any way. (Source: Mysteries of the Unexplained)
Two brothers killed by the same taxi driver, one year apart
In 1975, while riding a moped in Bermuda, a man was accidentally struck and killed by a taxi. One year later, this man's bother was killed in the very same way. In fact, he was riding the very same moped. And to stretch the odds even further, he was struck by the very same taxi driven by the same driver - and even carrying the very same passenger! (Source: Phenomena: A Book of Wonders, John Michell and Robert J. M. Rickard)
Swapped Hotel Findings
In 1953, television reporter Irv Kupcinet was in London to cover the coronation of Ellizabeth II. In one of the drawers in his room at the Savoy he found found some items that, by their identification, belonged to a man named Harry Hannin. Coincidentally, Harry Hannin - a basketball star with the famed Harlem Globetrotters - was a good friend of Kupcinet's. But the story has yet another twist. Just two days later, and before he could tell Hannin of his lucky discovery, Kupcinet received a letter from Hannin. In the letter, Hannin told Kucinet that while staying at the Hotel Meurice in Paris, he found in a drawer a tie - with Kupcinet's name on it! (Source: Mysteries of the Unexplained)
Two Mr. Brysons, same hotel room
While on a business trip sometime in the late 1950s, Mr. George D. Bryson stopped and registered at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. After signing the register and being given his key to room 307, he stopped by the mail desk to see if any letters had arrived for him. Indeed there was a letter, the mail girl told him, and handed him an envelope addressed to Mr. George D. Bryson, room 307. This wouldn't be so odd, except the letter was not for him, but for room 307's just-previous occupant - another man named George D. Bryson. (Source: Incredible Coincidence, Alan Vaughan)
Twins brothers, same heart attack
John and Arthur Mowforth were twins who lived about 80 miles apart in Great Britain. On the evening of May 22, 1975, both fell severely ill from chest pains. The families of both men were completely unaware of the other's illness. Both men were rushed to separate hospitals at approximately the same time. And both died of heart attacks shortly after arrival. (Source: Chronogenetics: The Inheretance of Biological Time, Luigi Gedda and Gianni Brenci)
A novel that predicted the Titanic's destiny, and another ship that almost followed
Morgan Robertson, in 1898, wrote "Futility". It described the maiden voyage of a transatlantic luxury liner named the Titan. Although it was touted as being unsinkable, it strikes an iceberg and sinks with much loss of life. In 1912 the Titanic, a transatlantic luxury liner widely touted as unsinkable strikes an iceberg and sinks with great loss of life on her maiden voyage. In the Book, the Month of the Wreck was April, same as in the real event. There were 3,000 passengers on the book; in reality, 2,207. In the Book, there were 24 Lifeboats; in reality, 20.
Months after the Titanic sank, a tramp steamer was traveling through the foggy Atlantic with only a young boy on watch. It came into his head that it had been thereabouts that the Titanic had sunk, and he was suddenly terrified by the thought of the name of his ship - the Titanian. Panic-stricken, he sounded the warning. The ship stopped, just in time: a huge iceberg loomed out of the fog directly in their path. The Titanian was saved.
A writer, found the book of her childhood
While American novelist Anne Parrish was browsing bookstores in Paris in the 1920s, she came upon a book that was one of her childhood favorites - Jack Frost and Other Stories. She picked up the old book and showed it to her husband, telling him of the book she fondly remembered as a child. Her husband took the book, opened it, and on the flyleaf found the inscription: "Anne Parrish, 209 N. Weber Street, Colorado Springs." It was Anne's very own book. (Source: While Rome Burns, Alexander Wollcott)
A writer's plum pudding
In 1805, French writer Émile Deschamps was treated to some plum pudding by the stranger Monsieur de Fortgibu. Ten years later, he encountered plum pudding on the menu of a Paris restaurant, and wanted to order some, but the waiter told him the last dish had already been served to another customer, who turned out to be de Fortgibu. Many years later in 1832 Émile Deschamps was at a diner, and was once again offered plum pudding. He recalled the earlier incident and told his friends that only de Fortgibu was missing to make the setting complete — and in the same instant the now senile de Fortgibu entered the room.
King Umberto I' double
In Monza, Italy, King Umberto I, went to a small restaurant for dinner, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, General Emilio Ponzia- Vaglia. When the owner took King Umberto's order, the King noticed that he and the restaurant owner were virtual doubles, in face and in build. Both men began discussing the striking resemblances between each other and found many more similarities.
a) Both men were born on the same day, of the same year, (March 14th, 1844).
b) Both men had been born in the same town.
c) Both men married a woman with same name, Margherita.
d) The restauranteur opened his restaurant on the same day that King Umberto was crowned King of Italy.
e) On the 29th July 1900, King Umberto was informed that the restauranteur had died that day in a mysterious shooting accident, and as he expressed his regret, he was then assassinated by an anarchist in the crowd.
The 21st, a bad day for King Louis XVI
When King Louis XVI of France was a child, he was warned by an astrologer to always be on his guard on the 21st day of each month. Louis ws so terrified by this that he never did business on this day. Unfortunately Louis was not always on his guard. On June 21st 1791, following the French revolution, Louis and his queen were arrested in Varennes, whist trying to escape France. On September 21st 1791, France abolished the institution of Royalty and proclaimed itself a republic. Finally on January 21st 1793, King Louis XVI was executed by guillotine.
link
http://www.oddee.com/item_82923.aspx
Anyone got anymore?
Reposting: Personal Evidence for CTF.
Below is a slightly amended version of a posting I made in October last year. As the blog now has many more readers I feel that it is important to repost it. As you will see from the note at the bottom I have linked to YouTube (see right hand side of this blog) and Shawn Colvin's video of this song. Now everybody will know what song I wish to be played at my funeral!
I have argued that coincidences and synchronicities are clues to that we may all be living in our own Everett Universes. But I also believe that our life-memories are used as warnings with regard to things that are about to happen. I can explain this by a personal experience that took place almost exactly four years ago. I was driving on the M62 motorway that links Yorkshire with Lancashire in the North of England. This motorway goes through some pretty barren moorland and weather conditions in late November can get quite bad (remember the movie 'American Werewolf In London'? I am sure that the 'Slaughtered Lamb' pub is located not far off the M62).Anyway I am driving along in pretty crappy driving conditions. Rain and hail are blasting down and the traffic is both heavy and fast. I have my Archos playing away through the car stereo. For those of you who have never heard of them, ARCHOS make super-memory MP3 players that make Ipods look pretty lame. For example I have over 14,000 individual MP3 tracks on the Archos so the chance of any one specific track coming up is remote in the extreme. As I am driving along a lorry comes out in front of me with a load of crash-barriers on the back. They looked fairly securely tied so I has happy to drive a short distance behind it. Suddenly a new track comes up on random play. It is 'Round of Blues' by Shawn Colvin. Now there is a history to this particular song. Way back in 1992 I had first heard this track on a free CD that came with a UK music magazine. From the first few bars I knew that this song would be important to me in some strange way that I could not describe. a few days later I bought the album with the track on it (Fat City). For some strange reason that I only now understand I said to my then partner, Jenny, that this was the song I wanted played at my funeral. As the words came out of my mouth I remember thinking 'where on earth did that come from'. So strong was this feeling that I continued mentioning this over the years. When I met Penny, the young lady that was to become my future wife, I again found myself stressing this self same instruction. I remember once playing the song to her so that she would remember it. Clearly, as I now know, my Daemon was at work.So you can imagine my shock on that dank winter's afternoon when this track suddenly appeared on my car stereo. I knew it was a warning. For some reason I put my breaks on and moved my car from the middle lane into the slow lane (my car at the time was a beautifully responsive Mazda RX-8 (as if you wanted to know that) so I was swiftly out of the way of the lorry in front. A split second after I moved, with Shawn still singing away, the barriers detached themselves and crashed down onto the motorway, landing exactly were I would have been. I would have hit them at sixty miles an hour. There is no way I would have survived. Fortunately because I moved no cars were close enough to be involved and the traffic easily negotiated itself around the obstruction. If CTF is correct then the very last thing I would have perceived in my last life would have been the song 'Round of Blues'. It is as if I had a deep past-life memory association with my death and that song. This is why my Daemon planted the message of "Fat City equals funeral!" But this saved my life this time "round" as well because I knew that death was close! But do you want to know what has really just freaked me out - I just looked up the lyrics which I have never really done before. I more enjoyed the tune and its bouncy guitar sound. What I just read made my blood run cold:
Here we go again
Another round of blues
Several miles ago
I set down my angel shoes
On a lost highway
For a better view
and later:
We lost a lot today
We get it back tomorrow
I hear the sound of wheels
I know the rainbow's end.
Scary isn't it - just how relevant are the words "Several miles ago I set down my angel shoes on a lost highway" and "I hear the sound of wheels, I know the rainbow's end".Its things like this that convince me more and more that CTF is more than just a simple theory!
I have now placed a link to the song on You Tube (see the links to the right). You can hear the song and follow the lytrics for yourself. It still sends shivers up my spine!
You can also follow this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOeeRt6owN0
By the way, Shawn Colvin also has an uncanny resemblance to my baby sister!!!
I have argued that coincidences and synchronicities are clues to that we may all be living in our own Everett Universes. But I also believe that our life-memories are used as warnings with regard to things that are about to happen. I can explain this by a personal experience that took place almost exactly four years ago. I was driving on the M62 motorway that links Yorkshire with Lancashire in the North of England. This motorway goes through some pretty barren moorland and weather conditions in late November can get quite bad (remember the movie 'American Werewolf In London'? I am sure that the 'Slaughtered Lamb' pub is located not far off the M62).Anyway I am driving along in pretty crappy driving conditions. Rain and hail are blasting down and the traffic is both heavy and fast. I have my Archos playing away through the car stereo. For those of you who have never heard of them, ARCHOS make super-memory MP3 players that make Ipods look pretty lame. For example I have over 14,000 individual MP3 tracks on the Archos so the chance of any one specific track coming up is remote in the extreme. As I am driving along a lorry comes out in front of me with a load of crash-barriers on the back. They looked fairly securely tied so I has happy to drive a short distance behind it. Suddenly a new track comes up on random play. It is 'Round of Blues' by Shawn Colvin. Now there is a history to this particular song. Way back in 1992 I had first heard this track on a free CD that came with a UK music magazine. From the first few bars I knew that this song would be important to me in some strange way that I could not describe. a few days later I bought the album with the track on it (Fat City). For some strange reason that I only now understand I said to my then partner, Jenny, that this was the song I wanted played at my funeral. As the words came out of my mouth I remember thinking 'where on earth did that come from'. So strong was this feeling that I continued mentioning this over the years. When I met Penny, the young lady that was to become my future wife, I again found myself stressing this self same instruction. I remember once playing the song to her so that she would remember it. Clearly, as I now know, my Daemon was at work.So you can imagine my shock on that dank winter's afternoon when this track suddenly appeared on my car stereo. I knew it was a warning. For some reason I put my breaks on and moved my car from the middle lane into the slow lane (my car at the time was a beautifully responsive Mazda RX-8 (as if you wanted to know that) so I was swiftly out of the way of the lorry in front. A split second after I moved, with Shawn still singing away, the barriers detached themselves and crashed down onto the motorway, landing exactly were I would have been. I would have hit them at sixty miles an hour. There is no way I would have survived. Fortunately because I moved no cars were close enough to be involved and the traffic easily negotiated itself around the obstruction. If CTF is correct then the very last thing I would have perceived in my last life would have been the song 'Round of Blues'. It is as if I had a deep past-life memory association with my death and that song. This is why my Daemon planted the message of "Fat City equals funeral!" But this saved my life this time "round" as well because I knew that death was close! But do you want to know what has really just freaked me out - I just looked up the lyrics which I have never really done before. I more enjoyed the tune and its bouncy guitar sound. What I just read made my blood run cold:
Here we go again
Another round of blues
Several miles ago
I set down my angel shoes
On a lost highway
For a better view
and later:
We lost a lot today
We get it back tomorrow
I hear the sound of wheels
I know the rainbow's end.
Scary isn't it - just how relevant are the words "Several miles ago I set down my angel shoes on a lost highway" and "I hear the sound of wheels, I know the rainbow's end".Its things like this that convince me more and more that CTF is more than just a simple theory!
I have now placed a link to the song on You Tube (see the links to the right). You can hear the song and follow the lytrics for yourself. It still sends shivers up my spine!
You can also follow this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOeeRt6owN0
By the way, Shawn Colvin also has an uncanny resemblance to my baby sister!!!
Monday 18 February 2008
Sneak Preview of New Book Cover - and another curious thing!
My publisher has just been in contact with regard to the cover of my next book. I find it yet another example of synchronicity that they have, quite by chance, suggested a rather obscure painting by the great Italian surrealist Giorgio Di Chirico (see image opposite - the painting is called Portrait of Guillaume Apollinaire as a Premonition). Now look at the photo of me taken on the Greek island of Tilos three years ago (on the right if you are unsure). See a synchronistic - and really weird - similarity? Imagine my photo suffused with a greenish light and me with a rather unflattering 'cow-lick' quiff. Then add a little chiaroscuro shading to the left of my profile and what do you have?! Uncanny isn't it. Can be added to the Philip K Dick Anarch Peak strangeness.
Those of you who are avid readers of this blog will know full well my fascination with this great painter. Indeed his name has come up on at least twice before.That his inspiration has a direct relationship to ITLAD, CTF and the Daemon-Eidolon Dyad can be seen from this description of an academic paper published on his work a few years ago:
"It has been suggested that the great Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978), who developed the unique style of 'metaphysical art', suffered from migraine and used some of his morbid manifestations as a source of inspiration for his paintings. Yet, whereas many of the symptoms that de Chirico described are rare in migraine, they are frequently encountered in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Here we rediscuss de Chirico's symptoms critically and suggest that, if his symptoms were of neurological origin, they rather relate to temporal lobe epilepsy than migraine."
The evidence for ITLAD just gets greater and greater. Indeed, in the words of the great but little known late 1980's band Timbuck3 - "The Future's So Great I Gotta Wear Shades"!!!!
Sparkling Wit !!!!
Thank you Anthony for your kind comments re our Posts.....I constantly marvel at the way Posts and Blogs like these can take on a Life of their Own....As told to you before, I am a lone Australian who would never have even heard of you if not for Susan Marie who told me of your book and even posted it to me...and who is a fervent believer in your Theories.... you really must explore the Australian market.... I cannot be alone in my admiration here, Susan Marie seems to be in my opinion a really clever and astute person who has extolled your virtues to me from day 1....and we are not Antipodean fools here!!!!! there must be a market for your theories....... All the best... Jesamyn.
Deja vu and life replay
I don't mean to disturb the thread and I hope it won't but can I interject with a question?
That wasn't it! If second, third and subsequent lives are effectively re-runs in your own mind (as the brain dies) would you not experience deja vu yourself but not have reports from others about it? I mean - other people are conforming to your life memory - a recording - so would not be experiencing for the second time. I'm assuming that everyone in the first life (from which your life's recording is made) are in physical reality and therefore not the Bohmian IMax where re-experience can occur.
One thing's for sure - I'm certain I've heard this deja vu thing before :)
That wasn't it! If second, third and subsequent lives are effectively re-runs in your own mind (as the brain dies) would you not experience deja vu yourself but not have reports from others about it? I mean - other people are conforming to your life memory - a recording - so would not be experiencing for the second time. I'm assuming that everyone in the first life (from which your life's recording is made) are in physical reality and therefore not the Bohmian IMax where re-experience can occur.
One thing's for sure - I'm certain I've heard this deja vu thing before :)
Sunday 17 February 2008
Cheating The Ferryman Lecture on YouTube
A few weeks ago I did a talk at the home of Dr Alan Roberts in Hoylake. This lecture was filmed and has now been placed on YouTube. I would like to thank Alan for asking me to do this talk and his associate Bob Hardy for recording the event for posterity. There is an intention to also record my quantum physics talk and also place this on YouTube in due course.
The link is: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=anthony+peake&search_type
This lecture is somewhat unusual in that I am sitting down. My usual approach is 'lecturing by walking about a lot'. I seem abnormally low key but in many ways I feel this helps give the subject matter a degree of gravitas. I guess as this was my second lecture of the day I was a little tired. What do you think?
I have placed a link at the top right hand side of the blog to the YouTube section. If you click on the images you will be sent to that section of the lecture. However this link shows only a handfull of the nine or so sections so if you wish to see the whole talk go straight to YouTube via the link above. I will also place this link in another section so that it is always available. If you wish to respond to this please do so via this site rather than directly through YouTube. This will end up with Alan, which is fine, but there will be a delay and I am sure that Alan will have better things to do than deal with my responses.
As you will all, hopefully, know, I have been rather out of circulation the last few days having been involved in a presentation for the Scientific And Medical Network in Totnes, Devon. Weather was cold but crisp and Totnes is a beatiful town full of very interesting people. As such I have not had the chance to respond to what seems to have been a very busy few days on this blog. I will spend some time in the next day or two digesting the intellectually fascinating comments and respond.
In the meantime can I just give a big thank you to you guys. In my opinion this site now sparkles with wit, intelligence and a quest for knowledge that is inspiring beyond words!
The link is: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=anthony+peake&search_type
This lecture is somewhat unusual in that I am sitting down. My usual approach is 'lecturing by walking about a lot'. I seem abnormally low key but in many ways I feel this helps give the subject matter a degree of gravitas. I guess as this was my second lecture of the day I was a little tired. What do you think?
I have placed a link at the top right hand side of the blog to the YouTube section. If you click on the images you will be sent to that section of the lecture. However this link shows only a handfull of the nine or so sections so if you wish to see the whole talk go straight to YouTube via the link above. I will also place this link in another section so that it is always available. If you wish to respond to this please do so via this site rather than directly through YouTube. This will end up with Alan, which is fine, but there will be a delay and I am sure that Alan will have better things to do than deal with my responses.
As you will all, hopefully, know, I have been rather out of circulation the last few days having been involved in a presentation for the Scientific And Medical Network in Totnes, Devon. Weather was cold but crisp and Totnes is a beatiful town full of very interesting people. As such I have not had the chance to respond to what seems to have been a very busy few days on this blog. I will spend some time in the next day or two digesting the intellectually fascinating comments and respond.
In the meantime can I just give a big thank you to you guys. In my opinion this site now sparkles with wit, intelligence and a quest for knowledge that is inspiring beyond words!
Waking Life - Delpy and Hawke share the ITLADian perspective?!?!?
Waking life is one of my favourite movies of all time and I found myself watching it again last night. During one scene/dream between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, i was amazed to realise that during their conversation, the couple are subscribing to Tony's theory about time being subjective, about how the final few minutes of brain activity could arguably be your whole life. They also discuss the time distortion of dreams aswell as several other topics relevant to such discussions. The two of them were of course happily paired together after making the two previous romances "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset." These films are incredibly dialogue fuelled, and both masterpieces and i would recommend anyone who hasn't seen them to check them out. (particularly Karl being the little romantic that you are!) So anyway, back to Waking Life. Waking life is a film length look at dreams within dreams. A boy (we presume) keeps having false awakenings and bounces about from one interesting discussion to the next. It's incredibley clever and achieves it's goal of explaining the unexplainable. Here is the extract in question in which Delpy and Hawke's characters discuss a rather ITLADian perspective:
I keep thinking about something you said.
- Something I said? - Yeah.
About how you often feel like you're observing your life...
from the perspective of an old woman about to die.
- You remember that? - Yeah. I still feel that way sometimes.
Like I'm looking back on my life.
Like my waking life is her memories.
Exactly.
I heard that Tim Leary said as he was dying...
that he was looking forward to the moment...
when his body was dead, but his brain was still alive.
They say that there's still 6 to 12 minutes of brain activity after everything is shut down.
And a second of dream consciousness, right,
well, that's infinitely longer than a waking second.
- You know what I'm saying? - Oh, yeah, definitely.
For example, I wake up and it's 10:12
and then I go back to sleep and I have those long, intricate,
beautiful dreams that seem to last for hours,
and then I wake up and it's... 10:13 .
Exactly. So then 6 to 12 minutes of brain activity,
I mean, that could be your whole life.
I mean, you are that woman looking back over everything.
Okay, so what if I am? Then what would you be in all that?
Whatever I am right now.
I mean, yeah, maybe I only exist in your mind.
I'm still just as real as anything else.
Yeah.
- I've been thinking also about something you said. - What's that?
Just about reincarnation and where all the new souls come from over time.
Everybody always say that they've been the reincarnation...
of Cleopatra or Alexander the Great.
I always want to tell them they were probably some dumb fuck like everybody else.
I mean, it's impossible. Think about it.
The world population has doubled in the past 40years, right?
- So if you really believe in that ego thing of one eternal soul, - Mm-hmm.
then you only have a 50% chance of your soul being over 40.
And for it to be over 150 years old, then it's only one out of six.
So what are you saying then? Reincarnation doesn't exist...
or that we're all young souls like where half of us are first-round humans?
No, no. What I'm trying to say is that somehow I believe...
reincarnation is just a--
a poetic expression of what collective memory really is.
There was this article by this biochemist that I read not long ago,
and he was talking about how when a member of a species is born,
it has a billion years of memory to draw on.
And this is where we inherit our instincts.
I like that. It's like there's, um,
this whole telepathic thing going on that we’re all a part of,
whether we’re conscious of it or not.
That would explain why there's all these, you know,
seemingly spontaneous, worldwide, innovative leaps in science, in the arts.
You know, like the same results poppin' up everywhere independent of each other.
Some guy on a computer, he figures something out,
and then almost simultaneously, a bunch of other people all over the world...
- figure out the same thing. - Mm-hmm.
They did this study. They isolated a group of people over time,
and they monitored their abilities at crossword puzzles...
in relation to the general population.
And then they secretly gave them a day-old crossword,
one that had already been answered by thousands of other people.
Their scores went up dramatically, like percent.
So it's like once the answers are out there,
you know, people can pick up on 'em.
It's like we're all telepathically sharing our experiences.
Yet another one for your ever growing list Anthony! This is just one out of about 15 scenes/dreams like this in the film. Go watch it now!
Martin
Saturday 16 February 2008
FREE WILL
As a delver in to Lucid Dreams I wish to ask What is Free will or even Should We Dare to be Master of Dreams.....
As mentioned to Anthony before, I was a traveller in Lucid Dreams years ago, when in a very stressful Life Situation. I Retreated into and practiced Lucid Dreams and for reasons unknown to me now!!!! I selected Elton John as the recipient of those dreams!!!!OK.... for the first few dreams I recognised and welcomed Elton as a friend and Confidante..... the dream actually showed him with arms outstretched and smiling at me, and also picking me up for a meeting in Bentley car which was true to every detail despite my lack of knowledge of cars...I looked it up later.... anyway as the Dreams progressed , he grew increasingly reluctant and sulky... in the last one he was drinking Vodka and Orange... and I swear I even smelled that drink!!... and he would not speak... are we Imposing too much upon their Psyches??? are we wrong to do this? hey Karl and Hurly and Susan and of course Anthony!!!! please give your views!!!!
Ever interested and appreciative...... Jesamyn.
As mentioned to Anthony before, I was a traveller in Lucid Dreams years ago, when in a very stressful Life Situation. I Retreated into and practiced Lucid Dreams and for reasons unknown to me now!!!! I selected Elton John as the recipient of those dreams!!!!OK.... for the first few dreams I recognised and welcomed Elton as a friend and Confidante..... the dream actually showed him with arms outstretched and smiling at me, and also picking me up for a meeting in Bentley car which was true to every detail despite my lack of knowledge of cars...I looked it up later.... anyway as the Dreams progressed , he grew increasingly reluctant and sulky... in the last one he was drinking Vodka and Orange... and I swear I even smelled that drink!!... and he would not speak... are we Imposing too much upon their Psyches??? are we wrong to do this? hey Karl and Hurly and Susan and of course Anthony!!!! please give your views!!!!
Ever interested and appreciative...... Jesamyn.
Friday 15 February 2008
Third-person memories
When I recall memories from my childhood (and I must admit that I don't have a very large pile of conscious memories from which to choose -- but that is probably an entirely different topic and one for my therapist ;-) many of them play back in my mind in the third person. That is, the mental image that is my memory recollection includes me as a child; the image is not the event as seen by my childhood eyes but as seen by an observer.
Now, I could understand this happening for events for which I really have no conscious memory but am recalling a story my mother told me. But there are some events that I am certain were never discussed for which this takes place.
Very recent events are recalled from my point of view in that I see things as I would have seen them when they happened. I can picture them from a third-person perspective but the "natural" recollection is first-person.
I have a few ideas:
1) For very early memories (before age 3 or 4), perhaps I did not have a complete sense of "I" and my consciousness was not completely differentiated from everything else. My memory, then, is from "my" point of view but at that time, "my" meant the outside world as well as.
2) How much has our "photo-op" culture affected this? Is this a result of seeing so many pictures and basing our memories on pictures rather on the actual events? I've been thinking about this lately and writing about it. If I want to relive an experience, all I have to do is scroll back through my iPhoto library and there it is. Little is left to our actual memory anymore. I wonder if my grandparents or great-grandparents experienced anything like this since they would have seen very few pictures of themselves as children.
3) Could this be some kind of split in consciousness or personality? The consciousness with which I am recalling the memory was not the consciousness directly involved in the event that created the memory?
So, does anyone else experience this? What are your thoughts on the cause or nature of this?
Quantum Gravity
[a theoretical progression from my previous post]
"What On Earth Is Wrong With Gravity?"
(I have written an extensive thesis on this but I thought I'd better not post it all here!!! However, I'll try and condense the theory so I can get some input from you all.)
Gravity is everywhere. Or is it?
To us, on Earth, and to cosmology in general, gravity is king. It explains everything from the orbital motion of planets and galaxies to the very laws of Newtonian motion themselves.
BUT:
Deep within the atomic nucleus, at the quantum level, it is the Strong Nuclear Force that is by far the most abundantly powerful force – binding together protons despite the naturally repulsive electromagnetic forces of the positively charged particles.
This Strong Nuclear Force is the most powerful fundamental force in the Universe (a trillion, trillion, trillion times stronger that gravity on Earth), but it is only effective at quantum distances (smaller than a trillionth of a millimetre).
To maintain equilibrium, I assert that as the Strong Nuclear Force depletes with increasing distances so must the forces of electromagnetism and gravity correspondingly strengthen; electromagnetism with increasing wavelength and gravity comparable with an increase in mass.
As Max Planck detailed the “Planck Constant” (length) of h (6.626x10^-34) below with length electromagnetic waves could never shrink, so too should there be a “Le Marcs Mass” – being the amount of mass at which gravity gains dominion (either via Newtonian attraction or Einsteinian warping of space-time), but below which level of mass renders gravity insignificant in the sub-atomic world and entirely submissive to the other fundamental forces.
Arguably there could also exist a measure of constant length relating to the Strong Nuclear Force, being the corresponding distance required between particles/objects once achieved “Le Marcs Mass” to overcome the Strong Nuclear Force, but in line with quantum theory this may be comparable to Planck’s length. However, as far as coining a name for this theoretical quantum distance I would suggest the “Peake Distance” or maintaining the ITLADian tradition of dreadful puns………….the “Peake District”
*English groans*
An enormous amount of time and money is presently being spent by leading scientific researchers into finding the role of gravity at the sub-atomic level. Here I postulate that it has NO role at some quantum levels in an inverse way that the Strong Nuclear Force has no effect in the macro-scale universe. The two are kings in their own dominion ONLY. And the search for the elusive Graviton (the assumed particle of gravity) seems futile to me as we have never even recorded Einsteinian Gravity Waves at the Cosmological level. So trying to find a single Graviton when we can't even see any evidence of the wave seems proposterous. Indeed can there even occur a gravitational wave collapse at observation if Gravitational waves themselves are not proven?
To summarise: I postulate that the “Le Marcs Mass” is the quantity of mass required for any material object/particle to obtain before it can possibly exert any gravitational force. Below this mass level it possesses neither no gravitational pull nor sufficient space-time warpage and consequently, at such small mass levels and deep within the quantum field, gravity has no effect in sub-atomic quantum physics.
The “Peake Distance” is the distance required between sub-atomic particles (particularly protons) for the Strong Nuclear Force to weaken and electromagnetism and gravity to become effective.
This, in as simplistic form as I can manage, is my theory of Quantum Gravity.
Discuss !
(any input is valuable as I develop this theory so your thoughts are welcomed either in the comments section or, given the complexity of this subject, via direct email to me.)
A Dark Philosopher
Karl L Le Marcs
"What On Earth Is Wrong With Gravity?"
(I have written an extensive thesis on this but I thought I'd better not post it all here!!! However, I'll try and condense the theory so I can get some input from you all.)
Gravity is everywhere. Or is it?
To us, on Earth, and to cosmology in general, gravity is king. It explains everything from the orbital motion of planets and galaxies to the very laws of Newtonian motion themselves.
BUT:
Deep within the atomic nucleus, at the quantum level, it is the Strong Nuclear Force that is by far the most abundantly powerful force – binding together protons despite the naturally repulsive electromagnetic forces of the positively charged particles.
This Strong Nuclear Force is the most powerful fundamental force in the Universe (a trillion, trillion, trillion times stronger that gravity on Earth), but it is only effective at quantum distances (smaller than a trillionth of a millimetre).
To maintain equilibrium, I assert that as the Strong Nuclear Force depletes with increasing distances so must the forces of electromagnetism and gravity correspondingly strengthen; electromagnetism with increasing wavelength and gravity comparable with an increase in mass.
As Max Planck detailed the “Planck Constant” (length) of h (6.626x10^-34) below with length electromagnetic waves could never shrink, so too should there be a “Le Marcs Mass” – being the amount of mass at which gravity gains dominion (either via Newtonian attraction or Einsteinian warping of space-time), but below which level of mass renders gravity insignificant in the sub-atomic world and entirely submissive to the other fundamental forces.
Arguably there could also exist a measure of constant length relating to the Strong Nuclear Force, being the corresponding distance required between particles/objects once achieved “Le Marcs Mass” to overcome the Strong Nuclear Force, but in line with quantum theory this may be comparable to Planck’s length. However, as far as coining a name for this theoretical quantum distance I would suggest the “Peake Distance” or maintaining the ITLADian tradition of dreadful puns………….the “Peake District”
*English groans*
An enormous amount of time and money is presently being spent by leading scientific researchers into finding the role of gravity at the sub-atomic level. Here I postulate that it has NO role at some quantum levels in an inverse way that the Strong Nuclear Force has no effect in the macro-scale universe. The two are kings in their own dominion ONLY. And the search for the elusive Graviton (the assumed particle of gravity) seems futile to me as we have never even recorded Einsteinian Gravity Waves at the Cosmological level. So trying to find a single Graviton when we can't even see any evidence of the wave seems proposterous. Indeed can there even occur a gravitational wave collapse at observation if Gravitational waves themselves are not proven?
To summarise: I postulate that the “Le Marcs Mass” is the quantity of mass required for any material object/particle to obtain before it can possibly exert any gravitational force. Below this mass level it possesses neither no gravitational pull nor sufficient space-time warpage and consequently, at such small mass levels and deep within the quantum field, gravity has no effect in sub-atomic quantum physics.
The “Peake Distance” is the distance required between sub-atomic particles (particularly protons) for the Strong Nuclear Force to weaken and electromagnetism and gravity to become effective.
This, in as simplistic form as I can manage, is my theory of Quantum Gravity.
Discuss !
(any input is valuable as I develop this theory so your thoughts are welcomed either in the comments section or, given the complexity of this subject, via direct email to me.)
A Dark Philosopher
Karl L Le Marcs
Thursday 14 February 2008
Thomson's Lamp
Ok Guys,
I might be totally getting this wrong but here goes: Is the suggestion that, if applying the lamp theory, after so many life cycles there is not enough 'conscious material' left to continue another cycle and therefore it ends?
If that is the case then wouldn't it be normal for the cycles to eventually decay to make room 'in space' for the trillions of other cycles going on when using Everett's MWI.
I believe nature does everything for a reason and this seems to be a perfectly sensible way of ensuring our infinity and making sure there's enough space for all out time lines.
Have I missed the point completely? *shuffles back into the shadows muttering*
I might be totally getting this wrong but here goes: Is the suggestion that, if applying the lamp theory, after so many life cycles there is not enough 'conscious material' left to continue another cycle and therefore it ends?
If that is the case then wouldn't it be normal for the cycles to eventually decay to make room 'in space' for the trillions of other cycles going on when using Everett's MWI.
I believe nature does everything for a reason and this seems to be a perfectly sensible way of ensuring our infinity and making sure there's enough space for all out time lines.
Have I missed the point completely? *shuffles back into the shadows muttering*
TV series Lost and the Itladian Zeitgeist
My sister, Sandra, has just emailed me from Edmonton, Canada to ask me if I watch the TV series Lost. Unfortunately I watched the first two episoded over here in the UK and then missed a few and decided there was no point in trying to catch up. It seems that I have missed yet another massive CTF/ITLAD Zeitgeist (or as somebody, quite rightly corrected me: Weltgeist) cultural reference. I had heard it suggested that the group are all experiencing a collective TLE 'absence' and another that they are all in the process of dying in the plane crash (both of which are extremely itladian). However Sandra tells me that the episode broadcast in Canada recently involved a 'past-life review' and deja vu experiences as part of that review. Spot on eh!
Many of you have spotted these references in movies, films, poems,songs and plays. Maybe we should start a list?
Many of you have spotted these references in movies, films, poems,songs and plays. Maybe we should start a list?
Wednesday 13 February 2008
Olfactory Precognisance
*or Smells Familiar*
A friend of mine, we’ll call her Emma (largely as that’s her name), is a Mental Health Service User – some of the euphemisms employed within the Mental Health sector are truly awful!
Emma lives with Schizoaffection and endures debilitating Migraines but she also has a remarkable precognitive sense:
She smells things before they happen.
Last week she related the following story to me:
Emma was shopping in Bury town centre when she was overcome by a powerful smell of tar; hot burning tar. She asked her friend, with whom she was with at the time, if they could also smell it. They could not. There were no road-works or anything around the area that could be producing the smell, which remained in Emma’s consciousness for some 15 minutes.
The following evening Emma was, for once, being treated to a night out by her normally unromantic boyfriend *smiles at Emma*. As they were turning off the motorway down the slip-road towards the cinema there was ahead of them in the road a long queue of traffic and causing the hold-up was..................an overturned oil tanker which had spilled tar all over the road. It took 15 minutes for Emma’s car to pass the vehicle during which everyone could smell the overpowering hot burning tar.
I’ve known Emma for about 4 years and she has these “smell precognitions” about 3 or 4 times a year. They are usually followed by a bad Migraine and Epileptic Auras and sure enough over this last weekend Emma suffered a Migrainal attack which lasted 3 days.
In a previous post of mine entitled "A Stunning New Look At Deja Vu" I identified scientific research being conducted into Déjà vu in a blind subject, which alongside Emma’s Olfactory Precognisance is powerful evidence when opposing the Robert Efron Temporal Perception argument of Déjà vu explanation that argues of a neuronal delay in the visual cortex of the brain whereby the empirical input through our eyes takes time to be relayed to our consciousness, occasionally over-buffering and creating the effect of Déjà vu or Deja vecu.
But here, with my post on the work done at Leeds University into Blind Déjà vu and also with Emma’s Smell Precognition we have strong evidence against the R.Efron position.
Precognition and Déjà vu are NOT dependent on solely visual input.
As Tony suggests in his book, are these experiences of Déjà vu and precognition actually our Daemon warning us of troublesome paths ahead.
Emma's Daemon gave her the signal that the smell of hot burning tar was a warning of an event that was about to occur and in typically northern girl tradition she said "Ta"
*groans*
A Dark Philosopher
Karl L Le Marcs
A friend of mine, we’ll call her Emma (largely as that’s her name), is a Mental Health Service User – some of the euphemisms employed within the Mental Health sector are truly awful!
Emma lives with Schizoaffection and endures debilitating Migraines but she also has a remarkable precognitive sense:
She smells things before they happen.
Last week she related the following story to me:
Emma was shopping in Bury town centre when she was overcome by a powerful smell of tar; hot burning tar. She asked her friend, with whom she was with at the time, if they could also smell it. They could not. There were no road-works or anything around the area that could be producing the smell, which remained in Emma’s consciousness for some 15 minutes.
The following evening Emma was, for once, being treated to a night out by her normally unromantic boyfriend *smiles at Emma*. As they were turning off the motorway down the slip-road towards the cinema there was ahead of them in the road a long queue of traffic and causing the hold-up was..................an overturned oil tanker which had spilled tar all over the road. It took 15 minutes for Emma’s car to pass the vehicle during which everyone could smell the overpowering hot burning tar.
I’ve known Emma for about 4 years and she has these “smell precognitions” about 3 or 4 times a year. They are usually followed by a bad Migraine and Epileptic Auras and sure enough over this last weekend Emma suffered a Migrainal attack which lasted 3 days.
In a previous post of mine entitled "A Stunning New Look At Deja Vu" I identified scientific research being conducted into Déjà vu in a blind subject, which alongside Emma’s Olfactory Precognisance is powerful evidence when opposing the Robert Efron Temporal Perception argument of Déjà vu explanation that argues of a neuronal delay in the visual cortex of the brain whereby the empirical input through our eyes takes time to be relayed to our consciousness, occasionally over-buffering and creating the effect of Déjà vu or Deja vecu.
But here, with my post on the work done at Leeds University into Blind Déjà vu and also with Emma’s Smell Precognition we have strong evidence against the R.Efron position.
Precognition and Déjà vu are NOT dependent on solely visual input.
As Tony suggests in his book, are these experiences of Déjà vu and precognition actually our Daemon warning us of troublesome paths ahead.
Emma's Daemon gave her the signal that the smell of hot burning tar was a warning of an event that was about to occur and in typically northern girl tradition she said "Ta"
*groans*
A Dark Philosopher
Karl L Le Marcs
Tuesday 12 February 2008
The Mother Paradox of Cheating The Ferryman
Everyone, at some point within the timeline of their own phaneron, has had a Mother.
Imagine a Mother and Daughter attending one of Tony's now legendary lectures. Let's assume initially that we are the Mother: we understand the Cheating The Ferryman theory means that we never die in our own universe but eternally repeat our lives via Panoramic Life Review; this "life" includes the birth of the Daughter.
Now let's imagine we are the Daughter at the lecture: we too understand our life to be a review, but one in which our Mother already lives. To the Mother, the Daughter is a natural part of her own time-line - but to the Daughter, her Mother has pre-existence.
Now, assuming Hugh Everett III's Many Worlds Interpretation of Quanutm Physics, let's look at the Daughter's existence again. Fundamentally she obviously exists in her own universe time-line BUT, paradoxically, she also pre-exists herself in her Mother's phaneron. Indeed, age permitting, also in the time-line of her Grandmother, thereby suggesting our own objective existence prior to our actual subjective births within our personal universe.
So, not only, as the Many Worlds Interpretation suggests, do we co-exist in an infinite number of Parallel Universes but we have also existed and continue to exists within the Panoramic Life Reviews of our Mothers, and they in turn in their Mothers, and they in turn in their Mothers.............(ad infinitum - backwards).
My "Mother Paradox", I suggest, can be used to debate the usual criticism of Tony's theory that it philosophically leads to a deeply solipsistic nature of existence. Here I argue that CTF takes us away from a one dimensional solipsism to (almost) infinitely dimensional (material or immaterial) Parallel Universes.
Blimey eh! If it's not one thing.........It's your Mother!
"Mother
Tell your children not to walk my way
Tell your children not to hear my words
What they mean
What they say
Mother
Mother
Can you keep them in the dark for life
Can you hide them from the waiting world
Oh Mother"
Danzig - Mother
A Dark Philosopher
Karl L Le Marcs
Imagine a Mother and Daughter attending one of Tony's now legendary lectures. Let's assume initially that we are the Mother: we understand the Cheating The Ferryman theory means that we never die in our own universe but eternally repeat our lives via Panoramic Life Review; this "life" includes the birth of the Daughter.
Now let's imagine we are the Daughter at the lecture: we too understand our life to be a review, but one in which our Mother already lives. To the Mother, the Daughter is a natural part of her own time-line - but to the Daughter, her Mother has pre-existence.
Now, assuming Hugh Everett III's Many Worlds Interpretation of Quanutm Physics, let's look at the Daughter's existence again. Fundamentally she obviously exists in her own universe time-line BUT, paradoxically, she also pre-exists herself in her Mother's phaneron. Indeed, age permitting, also in the time-line of her Grandmother, thereby suggesting our own objective existence prior to our actual subjective births within our personal universe.
So, not only, as the Many Worlds Interpretation suggests, do we co-exist in an infinite number of Parallel Universes but we have also existed and continue to exists within the Panoramic Life Reviews of our Mothers, and they in turn in their Mothers, and they in turn in their Mothers.............(ad infinitum - backwards).
My "Mother Paradox", I suggest, can be used to debate the usual criticism of Tony's theory that it philosophically leads to a deeply solipsistic nature of existence. Here I argue that CTF takes us away from a one dimensional solipsism to (almost) infinitely dimensional (material or immaterial) Parallel Universes.
Blimey eh! If it's not one thing.........It's your Mother!
"Mother
Tell your children not to walk my way
Tell your children not to hear my words
What they mean
What they say
Mother
Mother
Can you keep them in the dark for life
Can you hide them from the waiting world
Oh Mother"
Danzig - Mother
A Dark Philosopher
Karl L Le Marcs
Eugene Halliday, Institute of Hierological Values (ISHVAL)
On Friday I was invited to present a private lecture at the home of Dr Alan Roberts. Alan, together with a few of his friends, came along to my talk at Hoylake Library here on the Wirral. Alan and his associates are very interested in the synergy between ITLAD and CTF and the teachings of a little known, but very influential, intellectual by the name of Eugene Halliday. We had a fairly large turn-out for what became a fascinating evening. The lecture was filmed and in due course this will be posted on YouTube. At the present time we are undecided as to whether the lecture will be posted on Alan's site or, with advice, that I should set up my own YouTube section. Suffice to say this will allow those of you who for geographical reasons, cannot get to any of my talks (locations such as Paraguay, Namibia and China leap to mind) to see one of my lectures.
The lecture was received so positively that I have now been invited to lecture to another group associated with the work of Eugene called The Institute For The Study of Hierological Values (ISHVAL). This will take place in Manchester later in the year.
Eugene had a concept that he termed 'Reflexive Self Consciousness'. In many ways this has elements of the Daemon-Eidolon Dyad, which is very exciting and something I intend to discuss in further detail in later postings.
Various recorded lectures and written material by Mr Halliday can be listened to and read at
http://www.eugenehalliday.com/
http://www.eugenehalliday.com/
Dr. Roberts' website is:
http://www.alanroberts.org/
http://www.alanroberts.org/
Monday 11 February 2008
Zeno's Bisection Paradox - A New Angle
Apropos of my last posting - in my latest lectures I have found a much better tool to convey the idea of time bisection so crucial to CTF. Up until recently I have applied the analogy of half life (possibly now invalidated by Mr MacIntyre) or Zeno's bisection paradox. This is called Thomson's Lamp in honour of James Thomson, Professor of Philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who first suggested it back in 1954. It goes like this:
Consider a lamp, with a switch. Hit the switch once, it turns it on. Hit it again, it turns it off. Let us imagine there is a being with supernatural powers who likes to play with this lamp as follows. First, he turns it on. At the end of one minute, he turns it off. At the end of half a minute, he turns it on again. At the end of a quarter of a minute, he turns it off. In one eighth of a minute, he turns it on again. And so on, hitting the switch each time after waiting exactly one-half the time he waited before hitting it the last time.
Consider a lamp, with a switch. Hit the switch once, it turns it on. Hit it again, it turns it off. Let us imagine there is a being with supernatural powers who likes to play with this lamp as follows. First, he turns it on. At the end of one minute, he turns it off. At the end of half a minute, he turns it on again. At the end of a quarter of a minute, he turns it off. In one eighth of a minute, he turns it on again. And so on, hitting the switch each time after waiting exactly one-half the time he waited before hitting it the last time.
QUESTION: At the end of two minutes, is the lamp on, or off?
The answer is rather startling. If we represent the successive states of the lamp by the series of increasingly short periods in which it is on and off, we obtain something that has no last member: 60, 30, 15, 7.5, 3.75, 1.875 .... The series, in other words, is infinite. So at the end of two minutes, the lamp has been switched on (and off) an infinite number of times. Now in my opinion there is nothing mathematically incoherent in the description of the experiment (unlike, possibly my analogy of half-life discussed in the last post). The sum of all the series of periods is not infinite: it approaches without quite reaching, 120 seconds.
This, I argue, is exactly what happens to the dying person as they approach death. Let us assume that I am a skydiver and in 120 milliseconds I will hit the ground and be killed. At 120 milliseconds before I do so the glutamate flood in the brain slows down my perception of time by increasing my metaboloic rate. Each subjective millisecond takes twice as long to pass in my perception as the one before. Exactly the same situation as Thomson's Lamp applies. I will never hit the ground because I will always be a fraction away from it - just like the lamp's switch I am trapped in an eternity of subdivisions. As such I never die.
Max Payne of the Scientific & Medical Network suggested at a recent presentation I did for the SMN that this bisection of time would come to an end when no more space and time was available for a further subdivision. He cited Cantor's Infinity Argument in support of this position. I am unaware of this and it is my intention to check this out when I have time (subjective or objective).
Of course I am hopeful that somebody out there can clarify this argument once and for all.
If you are interested in the source of my Thomson Lamp material it can be found in a wonderful book called Travels In Four Dimensions - The Enigma of Space & Time by Robin Le Poidevin, Professor of Metaphysics at Leeds University (ISBN 0-19-875255-5)
New Review on Amazon USA & Zeno's Bisection Paradox vs Radioactive Half-Life
I am pleased to write that reviews are still appearing on Amazon UK and Amazon USA. The latest one on Amazon USA is, in general terms, a fairly positive one. Unfortunately Mr(?) B MacIntyre has ruined my sequence of five star reviews but his comments are still valid ones - after all not everybody will rate the book highly. I think that his comments with regard to me being a 'crank theorist' to be a little unfair but on the face of it CTF could be seen as such.
One of his points is particularly interesting. In ITLAD I give the analogy that my theory on the bisection of time is similar to that of the radioactive decay of a substance - i.e. that in any given time period a substance loses half its quantity. I apply Zeno's bisection paradox to this. Mr McIntyre points out that this is in error. He writes:
"For instance, he says that a radioactive half life implies that there will always be a quantity of a given radioactive substance - not so, a billion atoms of cobalt 60 will eventually be reduced to one, and then none."
Now I think that it is a little unfair and somewhat disingenuous of him to criticise me for using this because radioactive half life is not, in any way a component of CTF so as such my misunderstanding of this is irrelevant. Indeed I only use it as an analogy for something else. However that is not the point of this posting. I am of the opinion that he is right in that what is happening in half life is that numbers of atoms are being reduced and their will be a point, as he says, when it will decrease from 2 to 1 and then to zero - because an atom cannot be split into half an atom (after all is that not what atom means - Greek atomos (indivisible).
Is he, as I suspect, right on this point?
One of his points is particularly interesting. In ITLAD I give the analogy that my theory on the bisection of time is similar to that of the radioactive decay of a substance - i.e. that in any given time period a substance loses half its quantity. I apply Zeno's bisection paradox to this. Mr McIntyre points out that this is in error. He writes:
"For instance, he says that a radioactive half life implies that there will always be a quantity of a given radioactive substance - not so, a billion atoms of cobalt 60 will eventually be reduced to one, and then none."
Now I think that it is a little unfair and somewhat disingenuous of him to criticise me for using this because radioactive half life is not, in any way a component of CTF so as such my misunderstanding of this is irrelevant. Indeed I only use it as an analogy for something else. However that is not the point of this posting. I am of the opinion that he is right in that what is happening in half life is that numbers of atoms are being reduced and their will be a point, as he says, when it will decrease from 2 to 1 and then to zero - because an atom cannot be split into half an atom (after all is that not what atom means - Greek atomos (indivisible).
Is he, as I suspect, right on this point?
Sunday 10 February 2008
88miles Doc?
The world's first time machine? Tunnel to the past could open door to future within three months, say Russians:
Time travel could be a reality within just three months, Russian mathematicians have claimed.
They believe an experiment nuclear scientists plan to carry out in underground tunnels in Geneva in May could create a rift in the fabric of the universe.
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) hopes its "atom-smashing" tests - which aim to recreate the conditions in the first billionth of a second after the "Big Bang'" created everything - will shed invaluable light on the origins of the universe.
But Irina Aref'eva and Igor Volovich, of Moscow's Steklov Mathematical Institute, say the energy produced by forcing tiny particles to collide at close to the speed of light could open the door to visitors from the future.
According to Einstein's general theory of relativity, any large amounts of matter or energy will distort the space and time that surrounds it.
If the energy or mass is large enough, it is claimed that time can be distorted so much that it folds back on itself - creating a wormhole, or time tunnel, between the present and the future.
But Dr Brian Cox, a member of CERN and one of Britain's leading experts in particle physics, is highly sceptical about the Russian claims, calling them "nothing more than a good science fiction story".
Wormhole: Scientists plan to carry out tests in underground tunnels in Geneva in May which could create a rift in the fabric of the universe
He said: "Cosmic ray collisions in the upper atmosphere are far more energetic than anything we can produce.
"They have been occurring for five billion years, and no time travellers have appeared.
"Stephen Hawking has suggested that any future theory of quantum gravity will probably close this possibility off, not least because the universe usually proceeds in a sane way, and time travel into the past isn't sane."
Cynics often point out that if time travel was really possible, we would have been visited by people from the future.
However, Einstein's laws of physics suggest that time travel is only possible into the past as far as the point when the first time machine was invented
Thoughts?
Deja Vu
I was looking out of the window as a small child when I saw the man from next door in his wedding suit. As i looked at him, I could see he had a black eye. His face was beaten. The groom wasn't looking good. The odd thing was even as a small child, I knew I had seen this exact scene before. In fact I knew with 100% certainty that not only had i seen this before - it was actually a dream i had about a couple of weeks previously.
This is one of many, many experiences like it.
Wendy.
http://www.spiritualdiscussions.com/
This is one of many, many experiences like it.
Wendy.
http://www.spiritualdiscussions.com/
Thursday 7 February 2008
12:01
Anthony, i cannot believe throughout my plethora of film refferences i have never mentioned to you about the film 12:01. I know, you are hugely influenced and taken with the film Groundhog Day, this film has a very similar idea. If you have never seen it, i am almost certain you will get a lot out of it. Don't be put off by the words "Starring Jonathon Silverman" either!!!
Barry Thomas's employer, the Utrel Corporation, is having trouble with its top-secret particle acceleration experiment. The government has ordered the project shut down out of safety concerns, leaving founder Thadius Moxley with a major setback and his hopes of finally achieving a major scientific breakthrough dashed.
Barry, a low-level screw-up in human resources, is only dimly aware of the project and its problems until he begins reliving the same day over and over. No one else realizes that they're caught in the very thing critics had warned would result from the Utrel experiment -- a "time bounce," a phenomenon which prevents the universe from stretching forward more than 24 hours before snapping back and resetting to where it had been at 12:01 that morning. But Barry had endured a massive electrical shock at the moment the time loop initiated, knocking him out of its repetitive cycle and making him alone aware of its effects.
Making matters worse is fact that the beautiful scientist at Utrel whom Barry has adored from afar is violently murdered at the end of the first repeating day, spurring Barry to try to prevent her death every time the cycle recurs. On each repeating day he is able to become closer to Dr. Fredericks, falling in love while they try to thwart whoever is using Utrel's experimental equipment and so unwittingly causing the time bounce, trapping humanity in an infinite prison of which they're not even aware.
Hmmm, that last line, kinda intresting huh?!
Monday 4 February 2008
Hippy days!
Blogsite Vistor Counter
You may have noticed a new section to this blog (bottom image in the right hand side). This is a simple counter that records the number of full visits (not simple 'hits') to this site. It was set up at 1000 am on Monday 4th February 2008. It will help us all measure how many people are reading what we all place on this site. I am hoping it may also act as an incentive for other 'viewers' to maybe join in as full members. all are welcome. Just drop me an email at
cheatingtheferryman@aol.com and I will send a formal invitation that will allow full posting rights. We are keen to hear your ideas, thoughts and opinions.
cheatingtheferryman@aol.com and I will send a formal invitation that will allow full posting rights. We are keen to hear your ideas, thoughts and opinions.
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