Peter Russell
Talk given at The Weekend University conference on Psychology and NonDuality, 2022
The spiritual teaching of nonduality teaches that consciousness is the primary reality, whereas the current scientific worldview holds that the physical world is primary. Peter Russell proposes that the reconciliation of these two apparently opposed views problems lies in the recognition that information is fundamental to both realities, and physical reality, as we conceive of it, is but a representation of the external world appearing in the mind. This turns our current worldview inside-out; and into one that both beliefs can inhabit.
https://peterrussell.com
http://how-to-meditate-without-even-trying.com
https://facebook.com/peterrussellauthor
Source
NonDuality and the Science of Consciousness
I have been involved in the Gurdjieff work right through the 80’s and Buddhism ( Soto Zen) since the 90’s and a deep interest in Advaita these last 10 years and been privileged to have had some very good teachers.
In my opinion Peter is right up there in his teachings with his Science and Spiritual background and his ability to disseminate both fields very clearly,holistically and concisely and always with a humble heart.
Can u do a podcast
Thank you Peter. Beautiful talk!
It's becoming clear that with all the brain and consciousness theories out there, the proof will be in the pudding. By this I mean, can any particular theory be used to create a human adult level conscious machine. My bet is on the late Gerald Edelman's Extended Theory of Neuronal Group Selection. The lead group in robotics based on this theory is the Neurorobotics Lab at UC at Irvine. Dr. Edelman distinguished between primary consciousness, which came first in evolution, and that humans share with other conscious animals, and higher order consciousness, which came to only humans with the acquisition of language. A machine with primary consciousness will probably have to come first.
What I find special about the TNGS is the Darwin series of automata created at the Neurosciences Institute by Dr. Edelman and his colleagues in the 1990's and 2000's. These machines perform in the real world, not in a restricted simulated world, and display convincing physical behavior indicative of higher psychological functions necessary for consciousness, such as perceptual categorization, memory, and learning. They are based on realistic models of the parts of the biological brain that the theory claims subserve these functions. The extended TNGS allows for the emergence of consciousness based only on further evolutionary development of the brain areas responsible for these functions, in a parsimonious way. No other research I've encountered is anywhere near as convincing.
I post because on almost every video and article about the brain and consciousness that I encounter, the attitude seems to be that we still know next to nothing about how the brain and consciousness work; that there's lots of data but no unifying theory. I believe the extended TNGS is that theory. My motivation is to keep that theory in front of the public. And obviously, I consider it the route to a truly conscious machine, primary and higher-order.
My advice to people who want to create a conscious machine is to seriously ground themselves in the extended TNGS and the Darwin automata first, and proceed from there, by applying to Jeff Krichmar's lab at UC Irvine, possibly. Dr. Edelman's roadmap to a conscious machine is at https://arxiv.org/abs/2105.10461
sick irrational thief apes, use thievery as patching techniques.
There is no physical body.. atoms are reducible to subatomic electromagnetic energy waves.
These three remain
1: FAITH in memories of a past that does not exist anymore
2: HOPE for a future that does not exist yet and
3: LOVE that we can only express NOW after now after now
– energy/consciousness/ cannot be created or destroyed we exist since time began (the moment we as self aware consciousness realized
“I THINK THEREFORE I AM”)
I can tell you exactly what the universe is and how where when and why we are creating it.
It's amazing that even intelligent people like Peter Russell are still falling into the trap door that was pointed out by Nietzsche in Chapter 1 of Beyond Good and Evil:
15. To study physiology with a clear conscience, one must insist on the fact that the sense-organs are not phenomena in the sense of the idealistic philosophy; as such they certainly could not be causes! Sensualism, therefore, at least as regulative hypothesis, if not as heuristic principle. What? And others say even that the external world is the work of our organs? But then our body, as a part of this external world, would be the work of our organs! But then our organs themselves would be the work of our organs! It seems to me that this is a complete REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM, if the conception CAUSA SUI is something fundamentally absurd. Consequently, the external world is NOT the work of our organs — ?
There is subjective and objective. There is spiritual and there is physical and they are separate. The subtle body can never express itself through the gross body.
Who is aware of consciousness. The self. Consciousness is the fifth aggregate. It's not complicated. People like Peter need to start using the word awareness properly and Consciousness properly. If you want to change your Consciousness drink a cup of coffee