book: The Physics of Consciousness
tv: LOST “The Constant”
Wow. I am just going to come right out and say that this most recent episode of LOST was by far my favorite of the entire series, and that it had me bawling my eyes out at the end. Desmond is the coolest character, a sexy time travelling Scotsman who is so deeply in love with Penny that he is willing to travel to the ends of Earth and time to be with her. Man, that really shows how trivial the whole Jack/Kate/Sawyer love triangle is.
Besides watching that amazing episode yesterday, I also finished a book called the The Physics of Consciousness by Evan Harris Walker. The book is about consciousness as one of the underlying forces in the universe similar to gravity and seeks to prove it by looking on the quantum level. The theory goes that the observer plays an essential part in the universe, that consciousness itself causes the wavefunction collapse. In less scientific terms, the microscopic universe is based on probabilities (like that an electron can be here or there, or bounce around in between) and that it is the act of observing (like by experiment) that causes it to become something. And, since our conscious observation of the system determines the final outcome, that consciousness itself must be an important, if not the most important, part of the system.
The book seeks to answer one of the most important questions of the human existence… does matter exist because of the mind? Or does the mind exist because of matter? Materialists believe that mind creating matter is just a bunch of pseudo-science New Age hocus pocus, while Walter sees the materialists viewpoint as failing to explain that which makes us human. Why should we as humans love or think or feel this deeply if it is just neurons firing in our brain? He believes that through experiment and physics, he can prove that matter is the illusion, not mind.
While I didn’t agree with everything Walker concluded, I found myself satisfied with how it bridged Eastern philosophies about the interconnectedness of all things with the very fabric of the human brain. And after watching that last episode of LOST, I was amazed at how this book gave me a new perspective on the mysteries of the series. So here goes my interpretation of some of the island’s events based on the nerdiness that is the quantum mind.
CONSCIOUSNESS + TIME
“Time does not flow as a stream but passes by as chunks… In addition to physical, biological, and psychological time, there is also consciousness time, the time we experience. This time has its own role to play in reality…”
If time is merely a series of “snapshots” taken by our consciousness which is continually present, then it could be possible to go backward and forward in that series. It is time travel of the mind, just like Desmond experienced. Desmond’s consciousness was bounced to other periods in his temporal experience, and thus the body container his mind was previously in would go unconscious during the jump.
The fact that Desmond’s consciousness bounced around was pretty straight-forward in the episode, but I got a new level of enjoyment out of it because of the book. My deeper nerdy theory is that the mind is like an electron, and when excited by something like electromagnetism or radiation, it can bounce into a different orbit or in the mind’s case a different period in time.
WILL VS. CONSCIOUSNESS
“The will is the channel that determines what our next move, choice, and thought will be. It selects the path our mind takes through the images of things the brain scatters before us… We are saying that our mind can affect matter - even other brains - and that distant matter and minds can have an effect on us… Why does it seem so strange? Because the signal (will) is small compared to the noise of our everyday consciousness.”
Walker suggests that the bandwidth and resolution of consciousness (number of bits of information coming into our head) is much greater than the bitrate of our “will”. What we are concentrating on and thinking is only a piece of all the sensory input coming into our mind. Because of this, the world is mostly what we observe and only a small portion of what we will it to be.
In the world of LOST, maybe there are people… special people (ahem, Walt) who have a greater strength “will” than most. Maybe this is why he can cause birds to die and the dice to always roll a 6. Maybe because of this he has some ability to manipulate matter and project his consciousness in a visual way to people like Shannon and Locke.
Locke, being the more spiritual force on the island, has also been called “special”. Maybe his “healing” had more to do with the island empowering his will rather than it actually physically effecting him. Locke also seems to be able to gain insight, to slip into some higher level of consciousness by way of meditation.
COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS
“The will is our innermost nature, our being that is there even when the things we might see go blank. It may even be there when all else is gone… It is perhaps this aspect of the mind that comes to fore when one is in deep meditation, a state of consciousness designed to remove thoughts and sensory contact with the world.”
Many have suggested “collective consciousness” before as part of LOST, and I have dismissed it as too much spiritual mumbo jumbo in what I thought was a mainly sci-fi series. However, I am giving the idea more validity now that I see that it could explain a lot of the harder to explain aspects of the island… smoke monster, zombie dad, the whispers, etc.
If there is something of ourselves that indeed survives after death, this could explain why we occasionally see Yemi and Christian Shepard just wondering around the island. Something of their unique selves is left, but they have also returned to the collected stream of consciousness, the more unified energy that exists outside the containers of our brains. The whispers are the collective consciousness, the cosmic mind if you will. And perhaps there are some exceptionally strong “wills” in the bunch that while dead in the physical world, are trying to continue their efforts from the non-physical world consciousness. Maybe the smoke monster is some man-created “security system” that tried to tap into the power of the collected consciousness, but has since gone haywire (we all know what awareness and smart machines can lead to).
THE GRAND UNIFIED THEORY
All this consciousness stuff still fails to explain things like the Orchid video, where two of the same bunny end up in the same space at the same time, perhaps as the result of a wormhole or vile vortices? Whatever the case, there is a lot in LOST that still suggests that perhaps physical people, and not just consciousness, can skip around in space and time. I’m looking at you Richard Alpert.
Until someone can present a theory that explains both the physical and mental displacement in time and space, I think there is going to be a lot of LOST that still remains a big mystery.
the idea: there is always a story behind what you eat
I recently cooked an impromptu meal for my husband, because I had Monday off and he didn’t. When I have a day off, I like to cook a longer meal that I normally would, or I might be tempted to whip out a little bit fancier wine from the cellar. So, this Monday I decided to build a meal around a bottle of 2005 Rosenblum Cellars Rockpile Zinfandel, which is an extremely well rated Zinfandel that Tony, our wine guy, was able to snag for a steal. I thought I would match this fruit bomb with some fruit-glazed country ribs and some tasty cheese-y potatoes, which would allow me to use up my leftover Beaufort.
I wasn’t really expecting to blog about it, but as I was looking for a pairing match for the wine I began to realize that my kitchen is stocked full of interesting items, each of which has a story behind it…
ROCKPILE ZINFANDEL
The Rockpile appellation or AVA is located in a remote region of the Sonoma Valley. What makes this region special is that it has an altitude above the summer fog line, which means plenty of sunshine, but moderate temperatures (touring the valley in mid-August, I can vouch that the fog/clouds don’t lift until about noon). The hillside conditions are very rocky, which stresses the grape vines. This results of this demanding terrain are in small yields with intense flavors, which brings out the best in such varietals as Petit Sirah, Zinfandel, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Very few dare to grow there, but those that do make arguably some of the best Zinfandels in the country (or any country since Zin is California native).
BEAUFORT D’ALPAGE
Beaufort is a cheese that my husband and I experienced in France. It tasted like Comte, but with an incredible intensity of nuts and cocoa. It coated your mouth and made you feel as if you had just eaten a rich dessert. We consumed almost an entire block during a make-shift picnic in the Forest of Fontainebleau, where we utilized the dashboard as a cheeseboard and a credit card as a cheese cutter.
I was never able to match the exact quality of the already hard to find Beaufort here in the States, but I was able to snag a still pretty tasty version from the Cowgirl Creamery in San Francisco. We slowly snacked on the big Californian chunk of cheese, before I had to grind it up into the mashed potatoes in order to save it from mold… a delicious solution.
Beaufort is known as the “prince of the Gruyeres”, because it is richer and creamier than similar cheeses. Beaufort d’Alpage, specifically, comes from a small rural town in the Alps using milk from a specific type of cow, known as Tarine cows. They graze in the mountains, exclusively, which supposedly gives the cheese its rustic flavor and sometimes floral smell.
THE OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA
Another reason I felt like exploring this idea of the story behind food is because I am about to start a book called The Omnivore’s Dilemma (I was drawn in by its delicious looking cover). The book details the entire life-cycle of how food gets from its origin onto our plates, exploring ethics, politics, and science. I’m intrigued because it seems like it is more educational than preachy, and as a total happy omnivore, I’m glad to see a book that explores these ideas from a non-vegan, more holistic perspective. Should be an interesting read, but first I have to finish my weird book about quantum physics and the human brain, which is both fascinating and incredibly hard to read before bedtime… quarks, neurons, consciousness, zzzzzzzzz.
About a month or so back, I was rummaging through my kitchen cabinets trying to reorganized our cookbooks to fit better. When I shifted one particular book, I uncovered a few smaller books which had been hidden for the past year or two behind the the wooden lip of the cabinet. A curious discover, as it was a book called “Pluck the Fleeting Instant: Recipes and Recollections from Italy”. I didn’t remember ever buying it, but one look underneath the cover revealed that this was a wedding present from family friends of my husband. A few more pages deep uncovered that this wasn’t just any recipe book they had bought for us, this was a book they had written and gotten published containing their recipes and journal entries about a trip they had taken to Tuscany back in 2001.
I spent the entire morning that day reading the book cover to cover and excitedly sharing bits and pieces with my husband. It made us feel closer to this couple, who had documented their trip in such an intimate and expressive way. It fit who they are as people, energetic people who enjoy experimenting in art and cooking. It got us excited for our trip, but more importantly, it got me thinking hard about how I wanted to document this trip upon our return.
As much as I love the scrapbook I made for our honeymoon and all the glue sticks, artsy paper, and fun stickers of wine bottles and hearts that went into it, there is nothing in the physical medium of scrapbooking that really ties back to myself as a person. I am an interactive strategist reading and writing about web trends and new internet technologies on a daily basis. So, I decided it was about time to push my scrapbooking pursuits into the 21st century.
Instead of journals and recipes, it needs to be blogging and del.icio.us links. Instead of photos and mix tapes, it needs to be Flickr feeds and podcasts. Instead of notes jotted down on napkins in cafes, it needs to be text messages to Twitter. While that might seem colder and less personal to some, it fits in more with the way we interact with the world on a daily basis and the technologies I am finding myself more and more passionate about. In 10 years, documenting trips in this fashion won’t seem so odd, and I feel I almost have a duty to push myself forward and create a fun futuristic scrapbook that shows how personal it really can be.
So upon returning from Europe, I am going to put together a mini-site that brings together a timeline of our trip via blogs, twitters, photos, and google maps of the paths we took. During the trip, I might collect some of my initial thoughts here in blogs entries when I get a chance, and our eurotrip twitter feed will be constantly updated along the side and available via RSS.
So this is my blog farewell. Off to the world of vino and cafes. Until next time….
book: The Salmon of Doubt
Perhaps a Nostradamus is an inappropriate term, seeing as though Nostradamus spewed poetry about the future that could be interpreted in a number of ways to try and fit with random events. Douglas Adams was a true web visionary before his time, with an inspiring grasp on where the technology was heading and the ultimate human potential that existed underneath the up-and-coming trends. Surely, if Adams were alive today, he would be asked to speak his mind at as many web conferences as the big brains at Apple and Google. As I read The Salmon of Doubt, I just couldn’t help but be amazed at the ideas on the pages before me and, more importantly, the date they were written (all before the dot-com bust, as Adams passed away in 2001).
I have always appreciated Adams take on technology. In 1979, he brought us machines that produced substances “almost but not quite entirely unlike” tea, smug automatic doors with “happy” personalities, and perpetually miserable robot friends with brains the size of planets. The focus was more on amusement and not making any true statement about the relationship between humans and technology. And yet still, even with all the silliness, some of the most memorable objects within the series can be linked to innovative web phenomenons. The easy one is BabelFish, but I think one could easily argue that the Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy itself (and particularly, the Adams spearheaded web effort later) could be considered an inspiration for the Web 2.0 giant, Wikipedia.
Some other great ideas and predictions from The Salmon of Doubt and Adams’ other writings…
How to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Internet
predicting Twitter and text-message love back in 1999
Our children, however, are doing something completely different. Risto Linturi, research fellow of the Helsinki Telephone Corporation, quoted in Wired magazine, describes the extraordinary behaviour kids in the streets of Helsinki, all carrying cellphones with messaging capabilities. They are not exchanging important business information, they’re just chattering, staying in touch. ‘We are herd animals,’ he says. ‘These kids are connected to their herd – they always know where it’s moving.’
The Little Computer that Could
two thumbing with the best of them
I think, though, that we might finally have arrived at a point at which there is a strong incentive to re-invent the keyboard. Palm-top computers are where all the new action is. Apple and Microsoft and everybody are suddenly beginning to get revved up about Personal Digital Assistants and stuff and, having been using this Psion Series 3a for a few hours now, so am I. It’s terrific technology, and this is just the beginning that crucial moment at which something stops being just an entertaining new toy and starts being something you can seriously use in the bath.
Beyond the Brochure or Build it and We Will Come
appreciating the goodness of web 2.0 savvy e-commerce before there was a word for it
The people who have got this spectacularly right so far is the guys at Amazon. You go to their site because it’s awash with shared information. The more information there is, the more people go there, and the more people go there the more information they generate, and the more books Amazon sell. Of course, they are not afraid of open debate because, unlike BMW, they are not responsible for the product they sell. It will take BMW and British Airways a long time and a big deep breath to realise that they are part of the community they sell to.
technorati tags: douglas adams,salmon of doubt
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