Is “Hinduism” Science Friendly?
In yesterday’s post, I discussed Philip Goldberg’s contention that “Eastern religions” (i.e., Hinduism and Buddhism) are science friendly. To support his argument, Goldberg relies on a very specific —...
View ArticleNear Death Experiences: Portal to Another Realm?
There are many who believe that near death experiences (“NDE”) provide evidence of the existence of a spirit-soul and that those who have these close encounters with death have glimpsed another realm....
View ArticleIs “Quantum Consciousness” the Essence of “Spirituality”?
In “Quantum Consciousness: The Way to Reconcile Science and Spirituality,” Kingsley Dennis elegantly discusses what has proven to the most intractable issue in neuroscience: consciousness. Because...
View ArticleIllusions of Unified Selves & Souls
Over at Seed, the clinical physician David Weisman weighs in on the centuries old debate regarding the existence of souls and suggests that the widely held notion of a soul is inextricably linked to an...
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Consciousness, Dreams & The Supernatural
The notion of binaries or opposites is deeply entrenched in Western culture and thought. Although it seems perfectly natural to perceive and categorize the world in terms of dichotomies (black-white,...
View ArticleMoral Premise: Promise Keeping
Making and keeping promises is a hallmark of human behavior that many consider to be a cornerstone of “morality.” As such, it is often linked to religion. The linkage is expressly acknowledged by...
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All Mixed Up: Julian Jaynes
In 1976, the polymathic Princeton psychologist Julian Jaynes published The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. It is one of those rare books which is mostly wrong but is...
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Ghosts of Julian Jaynes
Over at n+1, Rachel Aviv has posted a perceptive piece on Julian Jaynes, whose dichotomous fate veers wildly between (scientific) derision and (popular) adoration. I prefer a middle position, one...
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Holy Grail of Neuroscience
This Salon interview with neurologist Robert Burton hits on all cylinders. Intellectual honesty and humility are beautiful things. These excerpts should be required reading for the evangelical atheist...
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Cognition, Metaphysics & Teleology
If you are a high-profile professor of computer science at Yale University, it’s quite probable that the view from your room is peculiar (if not positively distorted). This is especially so if you are...
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