The Internet represents everything new. It represents a new way to think about life, and especially about space.

Every old way of doing something, from running a corporation, to keeping a band together & hot, becomes new. Problems of communication solved, and so ideas are shared across borders both physical and social. At every level of thinking; a permanent, highspeed, borderless, limitless meta-media connection between people; rocks the boat. I can share something with you that you experience with 2 of your senses so far, sometimes even now there is touch involved. You can expect the minutes you spend touching or being touched by technology to increase exponentially (with every generation, every decade or less). We've already had Smell-O-Vision before, maybe that'll make a comeback.

Business, religion, romance, government; All the ways we take care in communication have all been revised, and are constantly being re-evaluated, or enhanced by some connected form of technology. And this is not a new trend; It's been the same since the late 1800's in a way that is beyond human minds and paper.

Fate

Two girls, both are daughters, but one is a mother, too. On the same day, in the same place, get a tattoo of essentially the same thing. They know each other, friends, but they don't know the other is doing it. They call each other to share the news only to find out what's really happened.

Events clearly unfolded as a result of their personalities, and personal history at that point.

Now, consider a different sort of moment. Two people, old friends in new clothes, are out stirring up trouble, and documenting their exploration of a new place, when one of them runs into a third individual known to them headed towards soirée. The pair tag along and find themselves someplace completely new, surrounded by strangers in a strange place.

What happens next? Is it a matter of cosmic alignment, or is it, like the parallel ink just a coincidence?

To attempt at answering this question would be an exercise in futility, egotism and even heresy. However, we can still make progress by reducing the problem into it's relevance, importance, and meaning.

Case 1) Observer theory: The assumption is that only one or the other can be true.

Either we decide our own present events for ourselves, able to change our minds right down to the salient event; The moment that time "moves forward" in the mind of all the observer.

Else-wise, every moment, every event is written into Time, determined by the series of events and choices leading up to the point where it feels to us as if we have the choice in the present. History appears to us as if we said the words, but the words were already spoken.

Time is written in our memories, and in our art. It's every vibration and written into every precious stone on Earth. But is it written before it happens?

Case 2) Ghost in the machine: That both are true

The future happens. The present is predestined not by the infinite factors of reality, but by the people in it.

Case 3) Some third option.

Such as M theory. That every possibility that can happen, does happen. This means that within the confines of Natural Law, there is no choosing, only possibilities. The Universe was born not a a particular moment in time, or in space, but It was born out of a higher "possibility space" where perhaps "nothing" "happened" for a "long time". Then suddenly something did happen, and that something we call home. It's mostly empty, so vast as to be beyond imagination, but still remains incredibly interesting and detailed down to the smallest scale. The Universe balanced; sometimes stable, relatively predictable, other times mysterious, chaotic and dangerous. Life is a microcosm for reality. Whatever laws govern matter, must also determine a great deal about what life seems like for those living it here. And that means you and me.

When machine becomes mind.

There is a theory in current cognitive science that suggests that if a number of partially interconnecting nodes in certain configurations, in numbers equal to the neurons of any particular animal's brain, would constitute a kind of animal intelligence.

Prelimenary work on this theory is inconclusive, although some success has been made in replicating certain types of intelligence. Creating original and beautiful (by human opinion) music, is one. Chess, and many other games can be played by computers. There are examples of them painting complex original works, for another. I could go on, but not all night.

It's amazing (in my opinion) that we have made it this far. Humans don't tend to ever lose technology. They just find less use for it over time. If there was a graph, it's apex is usually within a century of it's invention. This in itself is a recent development, but only if you consider the entirety human history. Before than, the apex may have come millenia after the initial discovery that led to the technological revolution.

Assuming we can continue innovating (we don't run into a catastrophe) then it's safe to assume at some point we'll create a program, running on hardware that is difficult to imagine, that we can replicate a complete and witty computer mind.

A decade or so later, we might have one on a 1000$ machine. Imagine, if the herPhone or hePhone itself was worth calling.

But none of this will be possible without a fuller understanding of the human brain. As it is right now, we've only really scratched the surface on how the chemistry of our emotions is made up. There are pheromones, hormones, peptides, cannibinoids, and loads of other amazing and difficult to reproduce strings of proteins and other chemistry that are at play inside your head, even as you read this.

So not only will we have to master interconnections and plasticized circuitry, evolving cognitive patterns, and a hundred other attributes of thought, we must replicate the organic compounds, or at least their neurological and psychological effects. Add to this, the trouble of teaching the computer to "learn" instead of just being fed databases. To truly integrate information, ideas, and other creations into the Nodemind. To make it's own conclusions based on the available information, and it's own experiences since it was first activated, as we do. You may be reading the term Nodemind here first.

So, when our hePhones or herPhones have simulated faces, and simulated minds, are helpful, friendly, sometimes rude/polite, sometimes interesting/annoying, in short, rounded individuals, will humanity be ready to accept them? Will we still be so foolish as to think of such an entity as a possession; as owned?

What will be the rights assigned to them? What will we consider crimes, both commited against them, and by them? What would be the punishment? What would they consider rewarding, that we could provide? Perhaps like us, they will be curious, inquisitive, explorers of the digital universe. How will they be limited? Will they all be able to communicate with the others like them? Will they want to? Could they ever plot against us without us knowing? Will we remember to include a failsafe?

Sounds like what used to be questions for science fiction is about to include a jolt of alarming reality.

If human beliefs are the sandbox, our spiritual/religious beliefs are the wood blocks. Inevitably, after playing in the sand for the summer, you have to either buy more sand or grow the box to get back the sand that fell out. The sand in this metaphor is E, or Qi, or in plain English, the energy.

The Torah, the Ko'ran and the Bible were all superbly well written books, all with many layers of meaning, routed in an interesting history. The Abrahamic (read: "western") religions all speak of a God that seems to be pervasive, omnipresen, and therefor somehow outside the Self. Hinduism sees, as do Buddhists and particle physicists, that the all is in the Self. It is the Self. You are always with your Self. Conversely your Self is always with you. Some scientists call the conscious Self the "observer".

In Hinduism, gods of everything are worshipped, and every living thing is considered worthy of praise. The river and the mountain tops.The rain, and the earth. The sun and all the many billions of stars. But still, why do we worship them, but for their value in the cosmic universe. If you, [insert name], was not there to witness your universe, it would not exist. That's a fact that can be proven through experiment and some serious math bonkers. [googl: wiki double slit experiment]. Make sure you you include the wiki part, else you Googl something your grandmother doesn't want to see.

Tao of Spiritual Machine (cont'd)

The importance of living in the present during meditation is central to the true purpose of No-Mind. When reflecting, in No-Thought, be as a diamond in the the Indra Net:

Far away in the heavenly abode of the great god Indra, there is a wonderful net that has been hung by some cunning artificer in such a manner that it stretches out infinitely in all directions. In accordance with the extravagant tastes of deities, the artificer has hung a single glittering jewel in each "eye" of the net, and since the net itself is infinite in all dimensions, the jewels are infinite in number. There hang the jewels, glittering like stars of the first magnitude, a wonderful sight to behold. If we now arbitrarily select one of these jewels for inspection and look closely at it, we will discover that in its polished surface there are reflected all the other jewels in the net, infinite in number. Not only that, but each of the jewels reflected in this one jewel is also reflecting all the other jewels, so that there is an infinite reflecting process occurring.

'Karma should be part of any religion, and I'm starting to see how that's true for any of the big ones, in many ways. ' -S.M. in conversations with D.

The Truth

'Certain things are unfalsifiable. God comes to mind. Mind, is another one. One, there be you. You, sneaky body. Hey body, how do you feel?

Words. A conversation about words is a meta-conversation. Composed of a meta-context, with meta-words, about meta-things.'

Spiritual Machine

'What? I like saying whilst, alright.'

Steve P

Whilst exploring the dimensions of thought, one comes across certain cliff faces that appear insurmountable. But given time, you'll find thought-foot holds that allow you to bound up the face sometimes with speed that surprises even the mental-climber. Pondering upon and into all the different places around us puny sentient blobs of carbon. Cowboys in a gun slingin' universe. Whipping around the sun at frightening speeds. The sun itself which is zooming through the galaxy through drifting cosmic debris, remnants of an explosion that makes anything Hollywood's ever done seem like candles in the wind. I'm talking about the first creation. Actually, it may only be the most recent. We really have a tough time figuring out how we could figure it out. And the galaxy's no slouch either. Playing cosmic marbles in the dip in the playground concrete that is our Universe. Trying not to get hit by a Slammer.

That brings me to black holes. Those tricky wacky powerful singularities. They are the cosmic tombstone of a dead stars. While what they do can't be considered "sucking" it's hard not to associate their infinite curvature with mouth from Star Wars that almost swallows one of the protagonists whole. Massive, and deadly. The curvature we're talking about is not so much it's shape in any normal way of thinking about it, but instead it's affect on the local space-time. Here's what I mean: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacetime (don't scroll down unless you want a headache.)

All the stuff that we can see and detect seems to fall into the curve and nothing comes back out. Can't help but ponder if the other side is a universe just like ours but opposite in matter. I supposed I must be touching on some of the work at the LHC but I honestly began the thought out there.

Well, I've got to get to some homework and chores.

Festive winter solstice.

Love,

Steve P

The conflict between Samsara (Sanskrit: संसार ) and Nirvana is that it's everywhere around us in the phenominal world. Where as oneness, or Nirvana (Sanskrit: निर्वाण ) does not have a location in our time-space based manner of perception. What brings the divide them is the human tendency to create duality. This tendency is well recorded in studies of the animal mind. Ying and Yang, this and that, seperation and qualification. ex: | Good and Evil | Fine and Bad | You and me | Mind and Body |. Creating even the most basic classification of this and that, and you put between them an infinite chasm.

When our mind perceives time, it's not as a series of minutes and hours, but rather as a description of saliant events. These event's are recorded in our mind, focused, if ever, by our perceptions. The absolute plasticity limit of the mind is astounding, but guaranteed finite so long as our physiology doesn't drastically change. Even so, when a mind as at it's most fresh, clear and open, learning like a child is possible at any age.

When....

...you have a past from which you fail to draw warmth, energy and power (to love with)... for get it.

...you are attached to your material fictions to a point where you are blind to the joy of life... ferget it.

...you are afraid of your past, you avoid parts of your Now, and shy of the infinite possibilities of the future... futget it.

Opening your mind is as simple as telling yourself to believe. In order to believe (know) something, you must first, listen to it. In order to listen, you must quiet your surroundings. Eliminate distractions. Eliminate useless self-doubt. When your mind is quiet, you can listen. Only when your mind is quiet, can you listen.

There is an old saying.

When I listen, I know.

When I see, I remember.

When I do, I understand.

An important part of living in the Now, and seeing the world that is passing before your eyes, is being willing to let go of the past. Time is like a river. Sit, and listen as it goes by. All the voices are in the river, flowing past, and you learn from them. When you let the river flow by, the voices do not disappear, for they are still in the river.

The moment you dismiss the world as it is, in favor of emotions and ideas in the past, you begin to empty.

Author's note:

I'd like to take a second here to point out, that without using the language of religion, some of these concepts, or words, here may seem inappropriate. Admittedly, I'm writing this as more of a philosophy piece. Strictly known and understood science will resume next time. Consider that a promise.

When empty, their is only an echo of the mind. A distant, if not less potent consciousness, muted by our attachments, away from the Now. To bring yourself back to the now, you must only listen once again, to the voices in the river.

Forget these words.

Strange Days

strange days
If we don't get these next few things right, Humanity as we know it won't survive. What a time to live in.

The struggle to survive could end up as close to every citizen alive as when we were all living in caves. Different of course... It's possible we won't have easy access to clean, public sources of water. We'll have to line up at the Coke or Pepsi factory. We'll need to get oxygen from Air Co. Our food, well... that's the point, isn't it. The world is getting hungrier and demand could soon outstrip supply.

On to other, admittedly more interesting subjects... Stories are of great importance to a growing, learning, evolving society. Stories give us examples of events that can mean something to the listener. They can shine a bright light on an idea, person, or other symbolic object. If the stories about him, and what he said are true, Jesus was among this universe's best work.

God's Son? That part is unknowable, and highly unlikely. I wonder at Mary's ability to look her husband in the eye and tell him it wasn't his kid, and that she was still a virgin. But whatever part of it is history and what parts of those events are mutually agreed upon legend, is not important. What's important are the things that were said.

Words like soul, and spirit, are abstract concepts but ones that should also not be thrown around ill-defined, lest we be misunderstood. The worst thing that could happen to a conversation is to be misunderstood. Still, some things in the conceptual space are difficult to nail down. Like, thinking about what happens to us when we die, or the feeling of seeing a beautiful sunrise.

In order to examine the possibility of any sort of organized pattern of energy existing beyond this life, it's perceptions and attachments, the energy cannot be left undefined. So;

Mind: The structure of thoughts. The web of our consciousness, and the cognitive driving force behind every kind of creation decision that comes from a living creature, most prominantly on Earth, humans.

Spirit: That which makes us who we are. Our public and private personality(s) along with the experiences that form the soul. Which brings us to;

Soul: The essence of our being. The perceptual time and possible reality space that we take part in on this precious adventure called life.

To understand the underlying patterns of energy in the body of a conscious being is the purest pursuit in the investigation of the human soul. To reproduce them artificially is the dream of futurists and technologists (and cyborgs) everywhere.

Seek not enlightenment, it must come to you.

The patterns inside us, can not only be felt, but also it correlates with concentrations in points of exchange and transference in the body. The sex, belly, the heart, the brain. With discipline and effort of the will, they can be called upon to supply force. Though the force can diminish if concentration is lost, the essence of it remains always. A warm glow, or dim spark. We, you and me, can retreat into it when one needs. And the way is dark and cramped, we can come back to it, and it will get us through, though we may still take some cuts and bruises. Realize your emotions are meaningful when it comes to your body. The energy flows hot inside you and it can be release it outwards. Once released, it's effect spreads to the limits of the mind.

If the adult consciousness is like a spotlight shining on some thing, the baby mind is more like a lantern shining in all directions.

When we are born, we are therefor much more conscious than adults. As we grow older, through childhood and adolescence, and our minds form semi-permanent pathways. Maleable like plastic when the spotlight shines upon their general or specific expertise.

Thoughts and ideas form that can only be broken by irregular thoughts. Your mind and mine reach out with powerful mental "limbs" into all sorts of places. Both physically and cognitively. What may happen to the body's sense in our life, that part of the mind does not simply disappear. It either gets "saved" with "backup" copies. There are traces ancient and prehistorical in every mind. DNA is information, stored molecular patterns.

The blind and deaf single cell, so minuscule yet complex still, is hard to empathize with but, it too, is conscious in a way speaking. According to some stories, you existed as one once.

On the topic of reincarnation; On a personal note, Buddhists and I do not share the same faith. Not because I don't think it's possible but just that it's impossible to observe or reproduce in the lab or even on the greaseboard.

Take care of each other.