The Short Version

We are so immersed in language from infancy onward that most of us take it for granted, never looking closely at what we do when we think and talk. We assume that the connection between the world and the words we use is … [Read more...]

Full disclosure: I am an atheist; I don’t believe in the supernatural; science is my guide to reality; and I believe morals are a biological/cultural phenomenon with no ultimate justification. Given all that, you’d think … [Read more...]

This is a comment on Susan Blackmore's talk, The Self Illusion, given at the Science and Nonduality Conference 2012 in The Netherlands. It might be helpful, though perhaps not essential, to watch her talk first: … [Read more...]

I had a mildly traumatic experience in the Westfield Plaza Food Court a couple of days ago, and it’s been reverberating with me ever since. I was having my usual Roadhouse salad with chicken, minus the onion rings, and was … [Read more...]

As I was making my bed this morning, I found myself feeling sad about Cathy, a friend of mine who had died young. She’d been a delightful person to be around, and it seemed she’d been removed from the world much too soon. Why … [Read more...]

This morning when I opened the blinds in my bedroom, what first caught my attention was the breeze-induced movement of the fronds of the palm tree that’s intent on dominating my view. The more flexible tips with their thin, … [Read more...]

Sorting through all the contradictions and nebulous references in this book is probably a better exercise for your brain than Sudoku, and it would take a sizable book to unravel them all. I’ll scratch the surface to give you … [Read more...]

I watched a great video by Sam Harris on “Death and the Present Moment,” a valiant attempt to find consolation in the face of death that might replace the consolation people find in religion, but without believing anything … [Read more...]

Trying to understand how it is that our experience of our self derives from the brain is an involved, intricate subject, because, after all, that’s where we live. The brain is what makes us and our experience, and trying to … [Read more...]

  I woke up this morning and began my usual routine—washing my face, drinking tea, etc.—but it soon became clear that something was different, or at least it felt different. It felt like I was watching myself perform … [Read more...]