Seeing Through Walls

Seeing Through Walls

(metaphor and language)

We walk into walls every day: the walls of words. These expressions can range from crippling to beautiful, and from constricting to liberating. Conversations can feel like duels, and some conversations are expressions of love. Some great minds reach far through the cage bars to grasp the fruit. Many great minds have unlatched the cage and escaped, and have taught many others to do the same through the craft of words. They have transcended the cage, and the words, and it is transcendence that is needed to understand and express beyond the confines of words.

Words and their sharp-trap arrangements are a journey and not a destination. There is no finality to words. They lead beyond themselves to some other realm, just as great minds point the way to escape the cage. Many people will meet such minds (leaders, teachers, philosophers, mystics, etc) and attach to the person as a destination of salvation and as a result lose sight of the path. We also do this with words. We attach to them as some definite truth and we lose sight of the path beyond. We so desperately want to be led. We don't realize that our self-appointed leaders are just as confused as the rest of us. They have been thrust into the reigns and burdened with the confusion of others, as well as their own.

Transcending becomes an act of abandonment. Words are the toys we don't want to share or give away. Yet, we suffer immensely from words. Imaginative writers express beyond the limitations of words and speak everything between the lines where a sublime reality awaits.
As a simple example, I made a sandwich for a friend one day. I told her I had put "senf" on her sandwich. She said "What's that?" I told her that she would like it. She didn't. I said "ok, I will make you a different sandwich". This time she loved it and asked what I put on it. I told her "mustard". She said "Oh I love mustard!" Little did she know that "senf" is "mustard" in German. Same thing, different delivery. I offered her no "mostaza".
We do this every day with our relations and abstractions. People are walking around heavily armed with instant walls and word bombs. We are so easily fooled by the rabbit in the hat. We are also fooled by our walls, but with a little laxity and transcendence we may be able to see through these towering obstacles.

The walls are all around us. They are words, thoughts, and feelings. They are ideas, systems, religions, and groups. Each requires the windows, doors, and transparency of transcendence to not become a prison. The madness of division has crept its way into many souls, and here we are battling the great wars of adhesion; tearing at one another through comparison. The walls shrink and constrict. The lungs tighten and the reactions become sharper, like rabid dogs. The attachments to our certitudes become a vice that squeezes the self. We breathe the stale air with barely shallow lungs. It is resistance against our solid walls, rather than simply opening the door.

With a cracking dust, wakening the door, fresh air sweeps in and the roof flies off. To see through walls is to awaken from the beautiful dream to find that it is a dream nonetheless.

"The Way of Walking Alone" by Miyamoto Musashi

The "Dokkōdō" of Miyamoto Musashi.

The are wise guidelines to consider from the great samurai master. (*with commentary notes)

1. Accept everything just the way it is. (Nature,  karma, acceptance, cause and effect)
2. Do not seek pleasure for its own sake. (supplementary hedonism rather than selfish pleasure)
3. Do not, under any circumstances, depend on a partial feeling.
4. Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world. (ego control)
5. Be detached from desire your whole life. 
6. Do not regret what you have done. (learning and growth from experience)
7. Never be jealous. (jealousy stems from insecurity)
8. Never let yourself be saddened by a separation.
9. Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself nor others. (past/future trap)
10. Do not let yourself be guided by the feeling of lust or love.
11. In all things, have no preferences. (transcendentalism, observing all sides)
12. Be indifferent to where you live. (Nationalism)
13. Do not pursue the taste of good food. (I can't fully agree with this one!)
14. Do not hold on to possessions you no longer need. (hoarding/attachment)
15. Do not act following customary beliefs. (beliefs are irrational solidifications of fluid reality)
16. Do not collect weapons or practice with weapons beyond what is useful. (or tools or means)
17. Do not fear death (or ends).
18. Do not seek to possess either goods or fiefs for your old age. (non-attachment/minimalism)
19. Respect Buddha and the gods without counting on their help. (Self-reliance/free will)
20. You may abandon your own body but you must preserve your honor.
21. Never stray from the way. (The Tao)

8 Circuits of Consciousness by Ultraculture

This article by Jason Louv at Ultraculture provides an excellent summary of the Leary/Wilson 8 Circuits of Consciousness model.

Your Brain, and How to Push it Into Higher Circuits of Awareness

The Eight-Circuit Model is a map of states of consciousness that was developed by Timothy Leary and Robert Anton Wilson in the 1960s and 70s. It underlies much of the work they did and was later picked up by Antero Alli and other occulture thinkers. It’s a fairly simple model for navigating altered states.

The circuits represents levels of consciousness. They start with the most basic forms...

*click here to read the rest of the article*

Visit the Ultraculture website for information on the edge: www.ultraculture.org

Ultraculture on Facebook

Ultraculture on Twitter (@ultracultblog)

Logical Fallacies Gone Askew!

A Few Favorite Fallacies

Logical Fallacies in societal thinking are similar to the release of large numbers plague infested rats into a city. Like with the plague, people actually do suffer and die as a result of rampant logical fallacies, so this isn't some simple matter of "oops". This is serious business. It is of life or death importance to become aware of logical fallacies. Askew apes are running around with these behavioral absurdities like axes in hand and swinging at everything in sight. They are usually unaware of doing this or having it done to them. Dumb apes.
While it is true that not everything in reality is logical, it is helpful to be aware of our own uses of these fallacies and to avoid fallacious manipulation by others. Logical fallacies can be a great tool for humor, but unfortunately also a great tool for destruction.
Here are a few examples of logical fallacies (*please note that the names I have given the examples here are for entertainment only and are not scientific terms):

WE CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN LOGIC (a.k.a. SLIPPERY SLOPE or LUBED SNAKE)- "If we let gays get married, the next thing will be people marrying their pets."
This logical fallacy states that if we allow one thing to happen then some extreme and unlikely next step will happen as a result. If a specific religious institution does not want to grant marriage to gays then that is their business, but if a religious institution wishes to grant marriage to homosexuals (or heterosexuals or asexually or swingers or whoever) then they should be able to. There are many churches of many different faiths that will happily grant marriage to gay people. But marriage is no longer only a religious tradition. It is a legal bonding and government-issued contract between two people. With the separation of church and state, no church has the right to force the government or other churches to not allow gay marriage. Also, Nature is the ultimate lead authority in these matters. Therefore, gay marriage is perfectly reasonable. Problem solved.

PROVE IT LOGIC- "God/Jesus/Shiva/Allah/Zeus/Satan/Zaroaster/etc is the supreme lord and you can't prove otherwise."
This absurd statement fails to recognize that the burden of proof lies with the believer rather than the non-believer. People may believe what they want, but that doesn't make it true or logical.

ARISTOTELIAN LOGIC- This is the erroneous belief that something either is one thing or it must be another- black/white, right/wrong, true/false, good/bad, this/that, and other relational certitudes. Certitude is the result, but is often wrong. In this process of logic, one would attach to one belief (based on life imprints, social identity, and environment) as absolutely true or morally right and view differing beliefs as "logically" wrong. We see this in politics and religion, we also do this in our daily relationships and experiences. Aristotelian logic can get out of control quickly. Western culture and philosophy is deeply rooted in this type of is/or logic.

DUMB APE FAVORITISM-
This is the act of taking a side of an argument or discussion even if it is wrong based on relationship or association bias. This is super-dumb ape mentality. For example, you are walking down the street with your sister and she says "screw you" to a random stranger. The stranger says "screw you too" in defense, and you say "Hey that's my sister! Watch it, or else." The logical thing to do in this case would be to put your sister in check rather than defending her. Another example can be seen when drunken hairless apes get into fist fights to defend their favorite sports team.

CAUSE AND EFFECT IRRATIONALITY (a.k.a. 2+7=3.4 LOGIC)-
Jane: "The cat got sick."
Joe: "Where did the cat get sick?"
Jane: "On the bed."
Joe: "Oh! The bed must have made the cat sick. We better not lay on the bed anymore."
This logical fallacy assumes that something associated with something else is a cause. This has led to superstitions, hatred, bigotry, classism, and other social maladies throughout human history.

JUST PLAIN DUMB LOGIC- "If we evolved from apes, then why are there still apes?"
I shouldn't even have to explain this absurd and uninformed statement. If someone is too dumb to understand this absurdity then they probably can't read (<--LOGICAL FALLACY!). A person who thinks this question is sane or sensible is too far from the lifeboat to be saved.

BLIND LOYALTY LOGIC- This logical fallacy happens when a person believes something based only on belief in a leader's authority. In 1997 Marshall Applewhite convinced 38 other people that there was a UFO hiding behind Haley's Comet and they could get aboard the ship by suicide with poison. Without any evidence of the UFO, based only on Applewhite's word, they all put on new Nike shoes and black outfits and took the poison. Mentally elevated people are generally less susceptible to blind loyalty and more likely to ask questions or for evidence.

RACISM- "Those white/black/brown/yellow/red/other people over there are bad, therefore all white/black/brown/yellow/red/other people must be bad." This is a type of generalization, usually negative, that identifies unrelated qualities of individuals as relating to all people of similar skin color. This is extremely illogical, and wrong.

SEXISM- "All men are pigs" is an incorrect emotional bias that claims all men as untrustworthy or malicious based on the experience of only a few men.

ASSOCIATIVE FALLACY- "Islam is evil because Islamic terrorists are Muslim."
The people who make these blanket statements seem to forget that the evil committed regularly within their own belief culture does not lead them to think of their own culture as evil.

GENERALIZATIONS GONE ASKEW- "All donkeys are asses."
Generalizations can be useful observations when not taken to extremes. For example, if I were to say, "In general, some (but not all) Chinese people are bad drivers relative to most Americans", this would be a reasonable generalization. Until recently China has not had a major driving or car culture relative to the United States, so this generalization does come from a realistic background. However, there are many good Chinese drivers. Also, there are many Chinese people and descendants living in the United States who drive quite well and regularly. So this generalization should have conditions with it to be understood. To say "All Chinese people are drivers" is a poor generalization, and a potentially racist one, depending on the intention. There are many bad American drivers too. We could also make the following generalization: "In general, many Americans are not good with using chopsticks." Some are, most aren't. What about white men? Can they jump?

NON SEQUITUR LOGIC- "I can't get the knot in my shoelaces undone because George Bush is President." This absurd logic associates a cause for something as due to something unrelated. It is often used as a blame game or as an excuse for failure.

BANDWAGON LOGIC- The idea that popular beliefs must be true. Of course this sounds absurd when we think about it, but we fall for it regularly. Popular culture and advertising use this sentiment regularly and with great success.

AD HOMINEM- This is the attempt to attack someone's character to disprove a point. For example, Joe told Tina he wanted to ask Dan for advice. Tina said "Dan's a drunk, why would you ask his advice on anything?" Joe replied, "I want a recommendation for a good whiskey." Often the attack will attempt to invalidate the point being made by attacking the person. Such as "Don't trust him to be honest, he smells bad" or "He knows nothing about auto-mechanics because he's a gambling addict."

EMOTIONAL LOGIC- "It's so wrong for that lion to eat that gazelle."
People who say this are usually speaking from emotion, bias, or sentiment. They aren't considering the balanced functions of nature or how horrific it would be for a lion to starve to death.

ASSUMED FACT (a.k.a. "ASSED FACTWARDS")- "We found the ruins of a large boat on Mount Ararat, it is Noah's Ark!"
I have no problem with the concept of an amazing guy named Noah who built a large boat and survived rising water levels with his family and goats, chickens, and gardens on board. Although it is a beautiful parable of metaphor, he did not repopulate all the species of the Earth, and finding the ruins of a large boat does not prove any aspects of the parable. It simply means a boat was found. Ancient people were skilled sailors and many boats existed throughout various periods of human history. Also, even if we found a big boat that had "Noah's Boat" written on the side, it would still not validate any other parts of biblical scripture and it would not prove the parable. To be quite honest, any person who literally believes the biblical parable of Noah (despite proof to the contrary) is not sane, but it is a really cool story.

APPEAL TO AUTHORITY LOGIC- "Look, the advert in the paper says a doctor said that margarine is healthier than butter. If a doctor says it, it must be true. Honey, we better switch to margarine."
People go to great lengths to create the appearance of authority on a subject. People will dress the part, companies will pay authorities to bend the facts, and politicians will pretend to know what they are talking about. It's a trap!

ASSOCIATIVE FALLACY- "Hitler was an artist. Hitler was a Nazi. Therefore, artists are Nazis."
It seems silly, but lots of people think this way. Maybe not only about Hitler or artists, but about many things.

STAY THE COURSE LOGIC- This is a logical fallacy that causes some one or group to continue on an incorrect idea or course of action even after it is proven wrong or mistaken in order to save face and not admit the error. Some police do this often when making arrests. Politicians do this too. Many wars drag on for this reason. This is also the fallacy of literal biblical creationists. They still believe something although it has been disproven by evolutionary theory. Cognitive Dissonance is commonly a result of this logic.

SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT LOGIC- The Schrödinger's Cat thought experiment states that if a cat is completely non-observable while in a box with a lethal mechanism that has a 50/50 chance of killing the cat that the cat would be in a superposition of both alive and dead until the box is opened and the cat is observed, in which case the condition of the cat collapses into being either alive or dead. This demonstrates the necessity of an observer in causal reality. Logic, as we relate to it in our ordinary experience would not allow something to be two contradicting things at once. However, in quantum mechanics this is true because non-collapsed (not yet consciously observed) reality is in a state of superposition. So this really isn't a logical fallacy, it is only illogical to our tricked minds.

Logic is not a definition of "the way things actually are". Logic is a general tool for tempering the experience of reality. AT ANY MOMENT ALL LOGIC MAY BE THROWN OUT THE WINDOW. In fact, logic, like any model or system, is itself to be transcended. Becoming aware of logical fallacies is not about "being right", but more about navigation through the minefield of shifting reality.


*Many examples from religion and politics are often used as examples of logical fallacies. This is not an attempt to belittle beliefs, but there are many logical fallacies within religious and political beliefs when taken too literally.

**Reality is a strange place. It bends and frays at the edges and seams. Logic that is too rigid may snap under the weight of the bizarre and unknown. So always note that logic is a tool, not a wall.

For more about logical fallacies, visit www.yourlogicalfallacyis.com

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Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds

Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds

An excellent documentary explaining the higher orders of consciousness.

Part One- Akasha

Part Two- The Spiral

Part Three- The Serpent and The Lotus

Part Four- Beyond Thinking

The official Inner Worlds website:
Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds


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Bucky Fuller on Self-discipline

I assumed that nature would "evaluate" my work as I went along. If I was doing what nature wanted done, and if I was doing it in promising ways, permitted by nature's principles, I would find my work being economically sustained—and vice versa, in which latter negative case I must quickly cease doing what I had been doing and seek logically alternative courses until I found the new course that nature signified her approval of by providing for its physical support. Wherefore, I concluded that I would be informed by nature if I proceeded in the following manner:

(A) committed myself, my wife, and our infant daughter directly to the design, production, and demonstration of artifact accommodation of the most evident but as-yet-unattended-to human-environment-advantaging physical evolutionary tasks, and 

(B) paid no attention to "earning a living" in humanity's established economic system, yet 

(C) found my family's and my own life's needs being unsolicitedly provided for by seemingly pure happenstance and always only "in the nick of time," and 

(D) being provided for "only coincidentally," yet found 

(E) that this only "coincidentally," unbudgetable, yet realistic support persisted, and did so 

(F) only so long as I continued spontaneously to commit myself unreservedly to the task of developing relevant artifacts, and if I 

(G) never tried to persuade humanity to alter its customs and viewpoints and never asked anyone to listen to me and spoke informatively to others only when they asked me so to do, and if I 

(H) never undertook competitively to produce artifacts others were developing, and attended only to that which no others attended then I could tentatively conclude that my two assumptions were valid: (1) that nature might economically sustain human activity that served directly in the "mainstream" realization of essential cosmic regeneration, which had hitherto been accomplished only through seeming "right-angled" side effects of the chromosomically focused biological creatures; and (2) that the generalized physical law of precessional behaviors does govern socioeconomic behaviors as do also the generalized laws of acceleration and ephemeralization.

For more about Buckminster Fuller:

http://challenge.bfi.org

Cross-hatch Multiplication

Cross-hatch multiplication is great for children to learn to get a deep rooted understanding of multiplication. Here's a ScienceDump article all about it:

How to multiply numbers by drawing lines

Submitted by Jur on Fri, 05/16/2014 - 17:22

Mathematician and game theorist Presh Talwalkar demonstrates how to multiply numbers using straight lines on a piece of paper. This "trick" is rumored to be one of the ways Japanese students learn to multiply, and it will work with any two numbers.

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For or Against?

Hello apes!

Today I've been thinking about the things I don't like and the things I do like, and trying to keep the scales of my world tipped to the positive side.

The world is an awful place. Actually, the world is a great place, but human society is an awful place in many ways.
We want to fix the world we live in, but we do so too often by being against something we see as an injustice and it can consume our souls and rot us from the inside out. That's a case of good intentions gone bad.
Everyone knows the world is full of bad and wrong. We each do not possess some secret knowledge of this that we must spread with maniacal fervor. Bad people and wrongdoings are many and we ALL deal with it every day, but it could be better to be in support of the good more than to be against the bad. This is not to say we shouldn't spread awareness of the bad, but it can ruin our lives and happiness and it should be balanced with AT LEAST a 2:1 ratio of positive to negative. Our perpetual efforts to fix the world through being against
injustice does not spread positivity but can actually propogate more dismay. Wrongs should be righted, but mounds of right should pile high for all to see. Should the beacon of hope we set out for our fellow humans be about all that is wrong in the world, or all that there is to embrace with joy and awe?
A fire can provide warmth and light, but an out of control fire can burn the world.

So as we gain knowledge of the ills of the world, and as we spread that awareness, we must keep our eye on the main prize- happiness. We can turn the empty pits into sludge pools of anger, or we can turn them into lifegiving ponds of beauty. It's a responsibility and something to be practiced. Spread more positive perspective than negative, and the world will eventually become a more pleasant place to live in.

As an example, we have a toxic food industry. We can scream and yell about it all we want, and nothing will change. But if we switch from being less against what is wrong to more in favor of what is right, then we can change the way things are. If you promote organic farming and food and purchase organic food, and encourage others to do the same, you will create a demand that will create a change. You can see it happening already in almost any store. Organic is growing.
That's just one example of many of how we can create greater change with positive awareness rather than negative confrontation. This is not to say that we shouldn't be against the wrong, but we should be more in favor of what can be right. I can offer a middle finger as good as the next guy, but more often I try to offer a double thumbs up.

"Be careful when you fight monsters, lest you become one." -Friedrich Nietzsche

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I would love to connect with you!

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Thank you.
Laren Grey Umphlett

20 Reasons You Are Doing OK Today

1. You woke up to a sunny day, cloudy day, or rainy day. It doesn't matter which.

2. You have an organism of physical and metaphysical sensory inputs that allow you to connect with Nature and other beings beyond words.

3. You (likely) aren't starving to death. Today you will eat something delicious and satisfying.

4. You can choose to see the sunset or sunrise or the phases of the moon and stars.

5. You have a roof over your head (or not). It doesn't matter.

6. You have a passion for something. What it is doesn't matter. It serves as your contribution in return for the air you breathe.

7. You are mentally and physically fit and functioning within your capabilities and limitations.

8. You have access to nature, conversations, music, books, documentaries, and the internet. You can learn anything you wish.

9. You get to see the beauty of your life support system -animals, insects, trees, plants, flowers, clouds.

10. You have access (and choice) to clean water and healthy food.

11. You are repeatedly doing the most important thing in your life -breathing.

12. At every moment something amazing falls before you, and with an ever-increasing awareness they are available to enhance every simple moment of your experience.

13. You have a mind capable of great love, great knowledge, great creativity, and the natural state of meditation.

14. You have evolved from an expansive reality. The Universe led to you.

15. Your faults and failures are the rushing river carrying you to a sea of success.

16. You are capable of experiencing beauty by stretching your mind beyond the limited surface level perceptions of reality. Beauty is beyond the observation of things. It is a relationship.

17.You feel more pain than you create.

18. You feel love.

19. You are not too hot and not too cold. You are a warm soup of mind, body, and soul, perfectly seasoned with the spices of dreams and imagination.

20. You are unique. Everything about you and around you is impermanent.

"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like." -Lao Tzu

11 Untranslatable Words From Other Cultures

Five Quantum Experiments That Prove Reality Is an Illusion

Five Quantum Experiments That Prove Reality Is an Illusion

Original article by Anna LeMind of www.learning-mind.com - Staff Writer For The Mind Unleashed

No one in the world can fathom what quantum mechanics is, this is perhaps the most important thing you need to know about it. Granted, many physicists have learned to use its laws and even predict phenomena based on quantum calculations. But it is still unclear why the observer of an experiment determines behavior of the system and causes it to favor one state over another. “Theories and Applications” picked examples of experiments with outcomes which will inevitably be influenced by the observer, and tried to figure out how quantum mechanics is going to deal with the intervention of conscious thought in material reality.

1. SCHRÖDINGER’S CAT

Today there are many interpretations of quantum mechanics with the Copenhagen interpretation being perhaps the most famous to-date. In the 1920s, its general postulates were formulated by Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg. The wave function has become the core term of the Copenhagen interpretation, it is a mathematical function containing information about all possible states of a quantum system in which it exists simultaneously.

As stated by the Copenhagen interpretation, the state of the system and its position relative to other states can only be determined by an observation (the wave function is used only to help mathematically calculate the probability of the system being in one state or another). We can say that after observation, the quantum system becomes classical and immediately cease to exist in other states, except for the state it has been observed.

This approach has always had its opponents (remember for example Albert Einstein’s “God does not play dice“), but the accuracy of the calculations and predictions prevailed. However, the number of supporters of the Copenhagen interpretation is decreasing and the major reason for that is the mysterious instant collapse of the wave function during the experiments. The famous mental experiment by Erwin Schrödinger with the poor cat was meant to demonstrate the absurdity of this phenomenon.

Let us recap the nature of this experiment. A live cat is placed inside a black box, together with a vial containing poison and a mechanism that can release this poison at random. For instance, a radioactive atom during its decay can break the vial. The precise time of atom’s decay is unknown. Only half-life, or the time during which the decay occurs with a probability of 50%, is known.

Obviously, for the external observer, the cat inside the box exists in two states: it is either alive, if all goes well, or dead, if the decay occurred and the vial was broken. Both of these states are described by the cat’s wave function, which changes over time. The more time has passed, the more likely that radioactive decay has already happened. But as soon as we open the box, the wave function collapses, and we immediately see the outcomes of this inhumane experiment.

In fact, until the observer opens the box, the cat will be subjected to the endless balance on the brink of being between life and death, and its fate can only be determined by the action of the observer. That is the absurdity pointed out by Schrödinger .

2. DIFFRACTION OF ELECTRONS

According to the poll of the greatest physicists conducted by The New York Times, the experiment with electron diffraction is one of the most astonishing studies in the history of science. What was its nature?

There is a source that emits a stream of electrons onto photosensitive screen. And there is obstruction in the way of these electrons, a copper plate with two slits. What kind of picture can be expected on the screen if the electrons are imagined as small charged balls? Two strips illuminated opposite to the slits.

In fact, the screen displays a much more complex pattern of alternating black and white stripes. This is due to the fact that, when passing through the slit, electrons begin to behave not as particles, but as waves (just like the photons, or light particles, which can be waves at the same time). These waves interact in space, either quenching or amplifying each other, and as a result, a complex pattern of alternating light and dark stripes appears on the screen.

At the same time, the result of this experiment does not change, and if electrons pass through the slit not as one single stream, but one by one, even one particle can be a wave. Even a single electron can pass simultaneously through both slits (and this is also one of the main postulates of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, when particles can simultaneously display both their “usual” physical properties and exotic properties as a wave).

But what about the observer? The observer makes this complicated story even more confusing. When physicists, during similar experiments, tried to determine with the help of instruments which slit the electron actually passes through, the image on the screen had changed dramatically and become a “classic” pattern with two illuminated sections opposite to the slits and no alternating bands displayed.

Electrons seemed not wanting to show their wave nature under the watchful eye of observers. Did they manage to follow their instinctive desire to see a clear and simple picture. Is this some kind of a mystery? There is a more simple explanation: no observation of a system can be carried out without physically impacting it. But we will discuss this a bit later.

3. HEATED FULLERENE

Experiments on the diffraction of particles have been conducted not only for electrons, but for much larger objects. For example, using fullerenes, large and closed molecules consisting of dozens of carbon atoms (for example, fullerene of sixty carbon atoms is very similar in shape to a football, a hollow sphere comprised of pentagons and hexagons).

Recently, a group of scientists from the University of Vienna supervised by Professor Zeilinger tried to introduce an element of observation in these experiments. To do this, they irradiated moving fullerene molecules with a laser beam. Then, warmed by an external source, the molecules began to glow and inevitably displayed their presence in space to the observer.

Together with this innovation, the behavior of molecules has also changed. Prior to the beginning of such comprehensive surveillance, fullerenes quite successfully avoided obstacles (exhibited wave-like properties) similar to the previous example with electrons passing through an opaque screen. But later, with the presence of an observer, fullerenes began to behave as completely law-abiding physical particles.

4. COOLING MEASUREMENT

One of the famous laws in the world of quantum physics is the Heisenberg uncertainty principle which claims that it is impossible to determine the speed and the position of a quantum object at the same time. The more accurate we are at measuring the momentum of a particle, the less precise we are at measuring its position. But the validity of quantum laws operating on tiny particles usually remains unnoticed in our world of large macroscopic objects.

Recent experiments by Professor Schwab in the U.S. are even more valuable in this respect, where quantum effects have been demonstrated not at the level of electrons or fullerene molecules (their characteristic diameter is about 1 nm), but on a little more tangible object, a tiny aluminum strip.

This strip was fixed on both sides so that its middle was in a suspended state and it could vibrate under external influence. In addition, a device capable of accurately recording strip’s position was placed near it.

As a result, the experimenters came up with two interesting findings. First, any measurement related to the position of the object and observations of the strip did affect it, after each measurement the position of the strip changed. Generally speaking , the experimenters determined the coordinates of the strip with high precision and thus , according to the Heisenberg’s principle, changed its velocity, and hence the subsequent position.

Secondly, which was quite unexpected, some measurements also led to cooling of the strip. So, the observer can change physical characteristics of objects just by being present there.

5. FREEZING PARTICLES

As it is well known, unstable radioactive particles decay not only for experiments with cats, but also on their own. Each particle has an average lifetime which, as it turns out, can increase under the watchful eye of the observer.
This quantum effect was first predicted back in the 1960s, and its brilliant experimental proof appeared in the article published in 2006 by the group led by Nobel laureate in Physics Wolfgang Ketterle of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In this paper, the decay of unstable excited rubidium atoms was studied (photons can decay to rubidium atoms in their basic state). Immediately after preparation of the system, excitation of atoms was observed by exposing it to a laser beam. The observation was conducted in two modes: continuous (the system was constantly exposed to small light pulses) and pulse-like (the system was irradiated from time to time with more powerful pulses).

The obtained results are perfectly in line with theoretical predictions. External light effects slow down the decay of particles, returning them to their original state, which is far from the state of decay. The magnitude of this effect for the two studied modes also coincides with the predictions. The maximum life of unstable excited rubidium atoms was extended up to 30-fold.

QUANTUM MECHANICS AND CONSCIOUSNESS

Electrons and fullerenes cease to show their wave properties, aluminum plates cool down and unstable particles freeze while going through their decay, under the watchful eye of the observer the world changes. Why cannot this be the evidence of involvement of our minds in the workings of the world? So maybe Carl Jung and Wolfgang Pauli (Austrian physicist and Nobel laureate, the pioneer of quantum mechanics) were correct after all when they said that the laws of physics and consciousness should be seen as complementary? 

We are only one step away from admitting that the world around us is just an illusory product of our mind. Scary, isn’t it? Let us then again try to appeal to physicists. Especially when in recent years, they favor less the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, with its mysterious collapse of the wave function, giving place to another quite down to earth and reliable term decoherence.

Here’s the thing, in all these experiments with the observations, the experimenters inevitably impacted the system. They lit it with a laser and installed measuring devices. But this is a common and very important principle:you cannot observe the system or measure its properties without interacting with it. And where there is interaction, there will be modification of properties. Especially when a tiny quantum system is impacted by colossal quantum objects. So the eternal Buddhist observer neutrality is impossible.

This is explained by the term “decoherence”, which is an irreversible, from the point of view of thermodynamics, process of altering the quantum properties of the system when it interacts with another larger system. During this interaction the quantum system loses its original properties and becomes a classic one while “obeying ” the large system. This explains the paradox of Schrödinger’s cat: the cat is such a large system that it simply cannot be isolated from the rest of the world. The mere design of this mental experiment is not quite correct.

In any event, compared to the reality of consciousness as an act of creation, decoherence represents a much more convenient approach. Perhaps even too convenient. Indeed, with this approach, the entire classical world becomes one big consequence of decoherence. And as the authors of one of the most prominent books in this field stated, such an approach would also logically lead to statements like “there are no particles in the world” or ” there is no time on a fundamental level”.

Is it the creator-observer or powerful decoherence? We have to choose between the two evils. But remember, now scientists are increasingly convinced that the basis of our mental processes is created by these notorious quantum effects. So, where the observation ends and reality begins, is up to each of us.

About the Author

Anna LeMind of www.learning-mind.com - Staff Writer For The Mind Unleashed

Hi, I like learning new things and sharing my knowledge with others! I post science, psychology, self improvement and other related topics. Add me to your circles on Google Plus or follow me on Twitter to stay updated on my new articles.

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Watch "Quantum Mechanics: Fabric of the Cosmos"

Watch "Quantum Mechanics: Fabric of the Cosmos"



An interesting documentary about quantum mechanics.

Thenatophobia

Thenatophobia is the fear of dying. This is not to be confused with necrophobia, which is the fear of things related to death (corpses, coffins, etc). We all have this fear, and to a degree it is an important fear to have. It keeps us from jumping off cliffs or playing in traffic or playing with poisonous snakes. Survival reactions are important.

This fear exists at a primal level much deeper than our reasoning, but seems to be enhanced by our sense of sentience. All fears are present experiences which are intruded upon by the past or present. It's a trick of the mind. The disconcerting thing about the fear of dying is that death, whatever it is, will actually happen to each of us. Other fears, such as a fear of being bit by spiders or a fear of  falling from a height, may or may not happen, but death will definitely happen. This transcends the reasoning and comfort of faith. We often see atheists pray to god in a dangerous situation, or we may see religious believers become afraid, even though they are convinced they will go to heaven. The fear of the unknown looms in us all.

There is a simple solution to the fear of dying. The solutions is: DON'T DIE.

Don't die? What kind of advice is that?!
Well, by "don't die" I mean to actually live each moment. Embrace life and living. Enjoy the world around you at every moment. Never waste time on anything that isn't productive or that enhances life and love. Past and future attachments hold tightly to that which will be lost.
By living in this way we can find eternity in the only eternity that exists- now, this moment, never to be wasted.

What is there to be lived for today? What experience becomes life?

On Choosing Sides

Hello apes!
Who's side are you on?

Each day we nervous hominids fall for a simple magic trick- we choose a side. Of course these quick decision can be good, such as choosing to run left or right away from a pack of wolves to save our own arse, but we have a chronic disorder of choosing sides in our complex society (our series of relationships to other humans and groups of humans). Quick assertions have no rational place in complex situations. Absolutes have no place in our complex relations. There are often truths on both sides. To choose only one side is absurdity. We see this in politics, race relations, religion, philosophy, economics, business, and other subjects in which our biased certitudes lead to dogmatic ideal.
Here are a few examples of absurdities:

• I can't do yoga because I'm a baptist.
• Diet X is right and diet Y is wrong.
• We need to preserve our values.
• Only hippies like trees.
• Timothy McVeigh is a Christian. He bombed a federal building. Therefore, all Christians are terrorists.
• He/she is a Republican/Democrat/other so whatever they think is wrong.
• My god is the  only one true god.
• Studies show that broccoli (or whatever) is healthy/unhealthy, or good/bad, or right/wrong, or true/false.
• Person A is smarter than person B.
• Anyone against the government is a traitor.
• Frogs are green. (generalization)
• Abortion doctors are murderers.
• Christopher Columbus discovered America.
• Women belong in the kitchen.
• Our dog has cancer and we should put it down. Grandma has cancer and we should keep her alive to suffer until the very end.
• Don't do anything wrong ("Just obey no matter what!") and you don't have to worry/be afraid/get arrested/get shot/etc. (fascist logic)
• My Kung Fu is better than your Kung Fu.
• Bomb them!

Some situations are complex. We think we must always support the side we are on or go against the side we have chosen against. We are often led astray by our own blind ideals. We club each other over the head with our own confused brains as if they were bricks. The reality is that you don't need to agree to understand. You can understand and even support some aspect of another side. A democrat may understand and support a particular Republican issue, and vice versa. A dog may rescue a cat from a fire, and then commence its cartoonish chasing. A storm may lead to sunshine and flowers. A chicken may proudly strut across the road with no real reason or wrongdoing. There is something to be learned from everyone. Take no absolute sides. Embrace no total ideology. Live no other life or mind.

Humanity is found in understanding all sides. This can be achieved with a whole view of all sides rather than a devicive view. You are not required to choose a side.

“Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” 

-Bruce Lee

*"The Poetic Realities, The Poetic Fantasies" book is coming soon. See www.larengreyumphlett.com for more information.

The Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the highest spiritual texts in human history. It is an ancient Hindu summary of the Vedic, Vedanta, and Yoga philosophies, and can be applied to life by anyone.

"He alone sees truly who sees the Lord the same in every creature...seeing the same Lord everywhere, he does not harm himself or others."

-Krishna

“The power of God is with you at all times; through the activities of mind, senses, breathing, and emotions; and is constantly doing all the work using you as a mere instrument.” 
-The Bhagavad Gita

“The nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons.They arise from sense perception,and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” 

-The Bhagavad Gita

To read The Gita follow this link:

http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/index-english.html