Dennett has ideas about what human beings are and what they are capable of that he wants desperately to maintain against all science and logic. He wants to believe—and wants to convince us—that we are capable of … [Read more...]
Review of Sam Harris’s Waking Up
Sam did a great job of dealing with the complexities of free will in his book by that name, but in Waking Up he is writing about consciousness and the self, which are altogether more difficult subjects, and he flounders. Like … [Read more...]
Buddha: “Resting in the Peace of Immortality”
Originally posted on 08-30-07: The title above is a quote from the Buddha, and I read it this morning in Marvin Minsky's latest book, The Emotion Machine. If you're at all interested in how your brain works, what makes your … [Read more...]
Who’s in Charge, Redux: Our Lack Of Free Will
Originally posted on 07-31-07: There's a fabulous article in the New York Times today, called "Who's Minding the Mind." Many people, including me, have been saying this for years, and the science has been accumulating: the … [Read more...]
Science, Anger, and Forgiveness
Originally posted on 07-19-07: About 6 years into my AA experience, I got very angry at my parents. I had read a couple of books by John Bradshaw, popular in certain segments of AA at the time, and I got so angry I called my … [Read more...]
Your Brain Is Like Your Liver: No Conscious Control
Originally posted on 07-10-07: I've been busy—doing what is a long story—and the reason I haven't been posting is that, once again, it had become a process that took at least two hours out of the day—hardly the short … [Read more...]
What Level Of Explanation is This?
Originally posted on 06-10-07: Your car stopped running so you have it towed in. The garage calls you back in a few days and says it's ready, and when you go to pick it up, the mechanic says, "It was broken and I fixed it. … [Read more...]
Time and Time Again; To Hurry Or Not To Hurry
Originally posted on 06-08-07: So yesterday I was standing in front of my bedroom window, savoring time and the visual world like a warm bath, and later that same day I was thinking about Uncle Charlie, my dad's brother. … [Read more...]
Timeless: Conceptual Thinking and Perception of Time
Originally posted on 06-07-07: After I got dressed this morning, which comes after peeing, washing face, stretching, and Tai Chi, I put on my glasses and stood for a while, gazing out my bedroom window. An article I read … [Read more...]
The Final Chapter? No Free Will: The End of Guilt and Pride
Originally posted on 05-29-07: I finally finished nibbling away at Po Bronson's book, What Should I Do With My Life? and I think this post may finish my comments on it. There is a story near the end about a guy whose … [Read more...]