| Chapter 1 | |
| 1 | Jostein Gaarder, “Sophie’s World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy,” Berkley, 1996. |
| 2 | Throughout this book, I consistently use the qualifier “emergent” in its systems theory context. This way, something is said to be “emergent” when it constitutes a new property or behavior of a system not directly traceable to the system’s components, but rather to how those components interact. The emergent property is thus not a property of any component of the system, but only of the system as whole. There is no central “command” that instructs a system to generate or display an emergent property; instead, it arises “spontaneously” out of the non-centralized, distributed interactions among the system’s constituent elements. Examples of emergent phenomena are, for instance: complex ripple patterns in sand dunes; the architectural structure of termite mounds; the pattern of network paths in the Internet; etc. An excellent selection of papers on emergent phenomena and their implications to science and philosophy can be found here: Mark A. Bedau and Paul Humphreys (editors), “Emergence: Contemporary Readings in Philosophy and Science,” MIT Press, May 2008. |
| Chapter 2 | |
| 1 | Terence McKenna, “True Hallucinations: being an account of the author’s extraordinary adventures in the devil’s paradise,” HarperSanFrancisco, 1993, p. 203. |
| 2 | See, for instance: Maximilian Schlosshauer, “Decoherence, the measurement problem, and interpretations of quantum mechanics,” Reviews of Modern Physics, Vol. 76(4), doi:10.1103/RevModPhys.76.1267, 2005, pp. 1267-1305. |
| 3 | During the Second World War, the American military used isolated pacific islands as bases and supply hubs. The native inhabitants of these islands, having had never seen technology before, were in awe of the aircraft and supplies suddenly pouring into their backyards. For their help, they were awarded food items and other modern “cargo.” To the natives, the Americans were Gods magically descended from the skies bearing gifts. After the war, with the departure of the Americans, the natives created entire religious cults around their experiences. Mock airstrips, control towers, and even aircraft imitations were constructed and used in rituals aimed at invoking the return of the “Gods” and their “cargo.” Though the natives could imitate the form of the airstrips and aircraft, naturally that was not enough to replicate the function and ultimate result of the real thing – namely, the delivery of real cargo. See Feynman’s original “cargo cult” metaphor in: Richard P. Feynman, “The Pleasure of Finding Things Out,” Perseus Publishing, 1999, pp. 208-209. |
| 4 | These considerations are reminiscent of solipsism, a skeptical hypothesis in philosophy that postulates that one’s own mind is all that one can be sure to exist. After all, everything we believe to perceive, including other people and what they do or say, are only objects in our own minds. The most extreme derivation of solipsism is that you live your entire life in a kind of “matrix” of your own mind, and that nothing else exists. See, for instance: Stephen P. Thornton, “Solipsism and the Problem of Other Minds,” Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 24 October 2004. |
| 5 | Robert Lanza, “A New Theory of the Universe: Biocentrism builds on quantum physics by putting life into the equation,” TheAmericanScholar.org, spring 2007. |
| 6 | Ray Tallis, “You won’t find consciousness in the brain,” NewScientist 2742, 7 January 2010. |
| Chapter 3 | |
| 1 | See: Mark F. X. Lythgoe et al., “Obsessive, prolific artistic output following subarachnoid haemorrhage,” Neurology, Vol. 64, 2005, pp. 397-398. |
| 2 | “What Makes a Genius?” BBC Horizon, Season 2009-2010. |
| 3 | Aldous Huxley, “The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell,” Vintage Books, London, 2004. |
| 4 | Bernardo Kastrup, “Rationalist Spirituality: An exploration of the meaning of life and existence informed by logic and science,” O Books, 2011. |
| 5 | See, for instance: Jeffrey M. Schwartz, Henry P. Stapp, and Mario Beauregard, “Quantum physics in neuroscience and psychology: a neurophysical model of mind–brain interaction,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, doi:10.1098/rstb.2004.1598, 2005. |
| 6 | See, for instance: Roger Penrose, Abner Shimony, Nancy Cartwright, and Stephen Hawking, “The Large, the Small, and the Human Mind,” Cambridge University Press, 1997. |
| 7 | Ervin Lászó, “Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything,” Inner Traditions, 2nd edition, May 2007. |
| 8 | See, for instance: David J. Chalmers, “Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness,” Journal of Consciousness Studies, Vol. 2(3), 1995, pp. 200-219. |
| 9 | David J. Chalmers, “The Puzzle of Conscious Experience,” Scientific American, Vol. 12(1), Special Edition “The Hidden Mind,” 2002, p. 96. |
| Chapter 4 | |
| 1 | See, for instance: Peter Russell, “The TM Technique,” Peter Russell, November 2002. |
| 2 | John Hagelin, “Is consciousness the unified field? A field theorist’s perspective,” Modern Science and Vedic Science, Vol. 1, 1987, pp. 29-87. |
| 3 | David H. Freedman, “The new theory of everything,” Discover, 1991, pp. 54–61. |
| 4 | Alberto Perez-De-Albeniz and Jeremy Holmes, “Meditation: concepts, effects and uses in therapy,” International Journal of Psychotherapy, Vol. 5(1), doi:10.1080/13569080050020263, March 2000, pp. 49–59. |
| 5 | Raymond Bernard, “Messages from the Celestial Sanctum,” AMORC, March 1980. |
| 6 | The idea that dreams provide a window into the collective unconscious has been discussed, for instance, in: Carl G. Jung (Author) and Anthony Storr (Editor), “The Essential Jung,” Princeton University Press, December 1999. |
| 7 | Carl G. Jung, “The archetypes and the collective unconscious,” Princeton University Press, 1980, p. 43. |
| 8 | D. M. Wegner, R. M. Wenzlaff, and M. Kozak, “The Return of Suppressed Thoughts in Dreams,” Psychological Science, Vol. 15(4), doi:10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.00657.x., 2004, p. 235. |
| 9 | Tsuneo Watanabe, “Lucid Dreaming: Its Experimental Proof and Psychological Conditions,” Journal of International Society of Life Information Science (Japan), Vol. 21(1), March 2003, pp. 159–162. |
| 10 | Stephen LaBerge, “Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming,” Ballantine Books, November 1991. |
| 11 | See, for instance: C. Smith et al., “A randomised comparative trial of yoga and relaxation to reduce stress and anxiety,” Complementary Therapies in Medicine, Vol. 15(2), June 2007, pp. 77-83. |
| 12 | See, for instance: David Siever, “Audio-visual entrainment: history, physiology, and clinical studies,” appearing in: James R. Evans (editor), “Handbook of Neurofeedback: Dynamics and Clinical Applications,” The Haworth Press Inc., September 2006, pp. 155-183. |
| 13 | See, for instance: Joseph Glicksohn, “Photic Driving and Altered States of Consciousness: An Exploratory Study,” Imagination, Cognition and Personality, Vol. 6(2), 1986-1987, pp. 167-182. |
| 14 | See, for instance: Jiří Wackermann, Peter Pütz, and Carsten Allefeld, “Ganzfeld-induced hallucinatory experience, its phenomenology and cerebral electrophysiology,” Cortex, Vol. 44(10), November-December 2008, pp. 1364-1378. |
| 15 | See, for instance: John Palmer, “ESP in the Ganzfeld: Analysis of a Debate,” Journal of Consciousness Studies, Vol. 10(6-7), 2003, pp. 51-68. |
| 16 | See, for instance: Graham F. A. Harding and Peter M. Jeavons, “Photosensitive Epilepsy,” Mac Keith Press, January 1994. |
| 17 | Michael Winkelman and Thomas B. Roberts, “Psychedelic Medicine: New evidence for hallucinogenic substances as treatments,” Volumes 1 and 2, Praeger, June 2007. |
| 18 | See, for instance: Kenneth R. Alper, et al., “Treatment of Acute Opioid Withdrawal with Ibogaine,” American Journal on Addictions, Vol. 8(3), doi:10.1080/105504999305848, 1999, pp. 234-242; as well as: Michael Winkelman and Thomas B. Roberts, op. cit., 2007, Volume 2, Section 1, “Treating Substance Abuse.” |
| 19 | Terence McKenna, “The Archaic Revival,” HarperOne, 1992, p. 27. |
| 20 | Terence McKenna, op. cit., 1992, p. 36. |
| 21 | Rick Strassman, “DMT: The Spirit Molecule,” Park Street Press, 2001, p. 266. |
| 22 | Rick Strassman, op. cit., 2001, p. 310. |
| 23 | Rick Strassman et al., “Inner Paths to Outer Space,” Park Street Press, 2008, pp. 268-298. |
| 24 | R. R. Griffiths et al., “Psilocybin can occasion mystical-type experiences having substantial and sustained personal meaning and spiritual significance,” Psychopharmacology, Vol. 187, doi:10.1007/s00213-006-0457-5, 2006, p. 279. |
| 25 | It should be noted that I take no responsibility – legal, medical, psychological, spiritual, or otherwise – for any problem or difficulty that anyone may face as a result of manufacturing, possessing, distributing, or using an entheogen, or any psychoactive substance for that matter. |
| 26 | See, for instance: Kylea Taylor, “The Breathwork Experience: Exploration and Healing in Nonordinary States of Consciousness,” Hanford Mead Publishers, October 1994. |
| 27 | Joseph P. Rhinewine and Oliver J. Williams, “Holotropic Breathwork: The Potential Role of a Prolonged, Voluntary Hyperventilation Procedure as an Adjunct to Psychotherapy,” The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Vol. 13(7), doi:10.1089/acm.2006 .6203, September 2007, p. 775. |
| 28 | See, for instance: Yulia Ustinova, “Caves and the Ancient Greek Mind: Descending Underground in the Search for Ultimate Truth,” Oxford University Press, April 2009. |
| 29 | See, for instance: Dennis R. Wier, “Trance: From Magic to Technology,” Transmedia, May 1996. |
| Chapter 6 | |
| 1 | Carl G. Jung, “Psychology and Alchemy,” Second Edition, Routledge, 1968, p. 99. |
| Chapter 8 | |
| 1 | For a functional description of how this may happen in the brain, see: Jeffrey M. Schwartz, Henry P. Stapp, and Mario Beauregard, op. cit., 2005. |
| 2 | I am not implying that such principle is deterministic. Therefore, I am not implying that reality is deterministic. In fact, what I registered from the experience is the notion that such principle governs the unraveling of a primordial and free-willed imagination into its multiple underlying polarities, so variety is generated from unity. This way, if reality resides in a free-willed imagination, then reality is necessarily not deterministic. |
| 3 | A good reference on fractals is: Kenneth Falconer, “Fractal Geometry: Mathematical Foundations and Applications,” Wiley-Blackwell, 2nd Edition, September 2003. |
| Chapter 10 | |
| 1 | Notice that direct perception by consciousness is, in itself, nothing farfetched. After all, consciousness has direct perception of some of the electrochemical signals circulating in the brain. |
| 2 | I can imagine that elemental thought patterns could be cognized in different ways by different individuals. In my case, I cognized them visually, as geometric forms. Others could perhaps cognize them as musical tones and harmonies, or even as emotional archetypes. |
| 3 | The Ouroboros is the mythical serpent (or dragon) that swallows its own tail, forming a circle. It is an ancient symbol of cyclicality and self-reference. |
| Chapter 11 | |
| 1 | Simon Gröblacher et al., “An experimental test of non-local realism,” Nature 446, doi:10.1038/nature05677, 19 April 2007, pp. 871-875. |
| 2 | I elaborate much more extensively on this in my previous work, “Rationalist Spirituality,” cited earlier (Bernardo Kastrup, op. cit., 2011). |
| 3 | For a beautiful and modern articulation of the ideas behind Sacred Geometry, see: John Mitchell, “How the World is Made: The Story of Creation According to Sacred Geometry,” Thames & Hudson, 2009. |
| 4 | Ian Stewart, “Why Beauty Is Truth: A History of Symmetry,” Basic Books, 2007. |
| 5 | A. Garret Lisi, “An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything,” arΧiv:0711.0770v1 [hep-th], 6 November 2007. |
| 6 | See A. Garret Lisi, op. cit., 2007, Figures 2, 3, and 4. |
| 7 | See Garrett Lisi’s talk at TED2008, titled “Garrett Lisi on his theory of everything,” February 2008. |
| 8 | See, for instance: Brian Greene, “The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory,” Vintage, February 2000. |
| 9 | Benoit B. Mandelbrot, “The Fractal Geometry of Nature,” W. H. Freeman, 1983. |
| 10 | Simon Gröblacher et al., op. cit., 2007, p. 871. |
| 11 | Rupert Sheldrake, Terence McKenna, and Ralph Abraham, “The Evolutionary Mind: Conversations on Science, Imagination & Spirit,” Monkfish Book Publishing Company, 2005, pp. 166-168. |
| 12 | The placebo effect can go way beyond mere psychological benefits from swallowing sugar pills. This has been dramatically illustrated, for instance, in an extraordinary clinical trial carried out in 2002: patients who, instead of a real arthroscopy of the knee, got a fake – that is, placebo – surgery for osteoarthritis displayed the same long-term improvements as patients who were subjected to the real surgery. For more details, see: J. Bruce Moseley et al., “A Controlled Trial of Arthroscopic Surgery for Osteoarthritis of the Knee,” The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 347, 11 July 2002, pp. 81-88. |
| 13 | See, for instance: Steve Silberman, “Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why,” Wired magazine, Issue 17.09, 24 August 2009. |
| 14 | Rupert Sheldrake quoted in: Rupert Sheldrake, Terence McKenna, and Ralph Abraham, op. cit., 2005, pp. 167-168. |
| 15 | See, for instance: Stephen H. Kellert, “In the Wake of Chaos: Unpredictable Order in Dynamical Systems,” University Of Chicago Press, 1993; particularly pp. 10-20. |
| 16 | See, for instance: Seth Lloyd, “Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos,” Alfred A. Knopf, 2006; particularly pp. 48-50. |
| 17 | Seth Lloyd, op. cit., 2006, p. 50. |
| 18 | Rupert Sheldrake, Terence McKenna, and Ralph Abraham, “Chaos, Creativity, and Cosmic Consciousness,” Park Street Press, 2001, pp. 41-44. |
| Chapter 12 | |
| 1 | Ralph Abraham, quoted in: Rupert Sheldrake, Terence McKenna, and Ralph Abraham, op. cit., 2005, p. 29. |
| 2 | See, for instance: Andrew Ilachinski, “Cellular Automata: A Discrete Universe,” World Scientific, July 2001. |
| 3 | In his 1969 book “Rechnender Raum” (“calculating space”), Konrad Zuse postulated that the universe is being computed in real-time in a cellular-automaton-like substrate. Zuse’s was the first book in the field of “digital physics,” whose basic premise is that reality is essentially informational and, therefore, computable. The work of Seth Lloyd mentioned above (Seth Lloyd, op. cit., 2006) essentially proposes a modern, quantum articulation of digital physics. In a way, an implication of these and other related works is that reality is the output of a kind of simulation. |
| 4 | See, for instance: Bastien Chopard and Michel Droz, “Cellular Automata Modeling of Physical Systems,” Cambridge University Press, June 2005. |
| 5 | See, for instance: Mitchell Whitelaw, “Metacreation: Art and Artificial Life,” The MIT Press, March 2004; particularly Chapter 5, “Abstract Machines.” |
| 6 | Synchronicity is a kind of meaningful, yet unlikely, coincidence. First described by Carl Jung, the unlikely correlation between synchronistic events is perceived to be very meaningful by the person who experiences them, although the events themselves appear to be causally unrelated – that is, they cannot be said to either cause one another or to both be caused by one other event. Synchronicity entails an underlying pattern of meaning that transcends physical causality. For more details, see: Roderick Main, “Religion, Science, and Synchronicity,” Harvest: Journal for Jungian Studies, Vol. 46(2), 2000, pp. 89-107. |
| Chapter 13 | |
| 1 | You may even know that the force of gravity is directly proportional to the masses of the objects involved – like the earth and whatever is falling to the earth – and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the objects. But that is just a useful, operational description of gravity’s effects, not of how it does what it does. The furthest we have gone in explaining gravity is the idea that it works by bending the fabric of space-time. Naturally, the next obvious question is what the fabric of space-time is, to begin with. |
| 2 | Carl G. Jung, “The Undiscovered Self,” Routledge, 2002. |
| 3 | Jacques Vallée, “Passport to Magonia: From Folklore to Flying Saucers,” Neville Spearman, 1970, p. 163. |