A Pseudo Definition of Consciousness @ 3:10 AM

Don't believe the human eye

In sunlight or in shade

The puppet show of sight and sense

Is the Devil's Masquerade

- Principia Discordia

I gained nothing at all from Supreme Enlightenment,

And for that very reason it is called Supreme Enlightenment.

– Gotama Buddha.

Recognizing consciousness for what it is is hard, for why wouldn't it be? No one has ever solved it. Intellectuals to this day argue about not only what consciousness is, but even over the probabilistic timelines in our primordial primate past when the first simian recognized that 'This is mine, my territory, my space, my ego, MINE!'

We often do not stop at random and walk up to the closest bug and stare deeply into its five complex eyes that consist of hundreds of lenses and ask ourselves, 'Mr. Bug, do you willfully choose to point those lenses around? Or do you simply react to physical motion in an automatic realm of robothood?'

Self-recognition seems to be commonly one of the necessary and sufficient conditions (more on these another time) often used in the philosophical treatments that have been trying to establish a specialized jargon that all scientists and fellow academics can agree upon using. The debate of what words to use when defining consciousness is central to what I believe consciousness to actually be.

So, therefore it goes that since I believe consciousness to be something, it must then be a tangible thing. Something measureable and predictable, containing some form of manipulability, and all the other verbal categories that you may associate with this. Nagal's discourse,What it is like to be a bat?, had a diamond bullet that needs mentioning in this discussion of consciousness. Consciousness contains a wide range of intrinsic features that have been termed, Qualia, which is the way that external and internal sensations look and feel to you. The concept of qualia causes strange loops of thought to occur where it may be possible that what you hold in your mind to be the color "Red" may in fact not be the same shade of "Red" as anyone else's, and yet you continue to function as a sane individual.

Consciousness within the neurological field seems to take on a materialistic biological role as the sum of all the physical sensations that one perceives through experience. Those sensations are converted into chemical bonds and electrical signals that then voyage across the complex neurological circuits of the nervous system to reach the specially evolved areas of the cortex where the brain takes the stimulus information to be processed by the attention and memory systems that then allows for the selective construction and preservation of experience to be considered Real and Immediate, and all of this happens in milliseconds.

My brain then must have made up reality entirely on its own? Since transferring my ideas and thoughts to others is limited to language, I never really know whether others know really what I'm talking about. William James put it elegantly when he said; "The breach from one mind to another is perhaps the greatest breach in nature". Which isn't that bad of a thing mind you. The good thing about attempting to define consciousness is that it isn't just about thought. Consciousness involves emotion, feeling, and empathy. I once heard that, 'We are not thinking beings with emotion, we are emotional beings that think'.

Emotion is another one of those necessary and sufficient conditions that resonate within the consciousness jargon pool. Emotion has been the main drive behind the prehistoric attempts in the study of consciousness, Gods, and demons, in an attempt to understand what it is and who they are. Shamans, Mystics, Monks, and Priests have willfully caused themselves harm and ecstasy through such acts as; fasting, Asana yoga, sensory deprivation and social isolation, the Kabbalah, pranayama, Tantric yoga, and other various masochistic practices in order to remove their egos and dismantle their realities with the goal of taking control over their own nervous systems and reprogramming their individual reality tunnels to match their cultural and ideological schema of things.

Oddly enough, I have a sense that the various occult systems from within the anthropological and theological record hold a stronger connection with the cognitive and computation theories of consciousness than the biological. This reasoning of mine comes from the concepts that these occult systems are simply other techniques of physiological and neurological experiments attempting to multiply and accelerate the development and evolution of our own consciousness. Israel Regardie described Magick as "a mnemonic system of psychology to train the Will and Imagination".

This strong connection between the mystical view of consciousness and the cognitive systems view of consciousness comes from their ability to incorporate the theories and concepts of quantum state-vectors and the non-locality principle into their definitions and theories of consciousness. Einstein showed us how the material universe is made up of smaller elements inside the larger. Quantum Consciousness, as Roger Penrose describes it, is the thought that the mental universe can be whatever we shape it to be. It's the larger inside the smaller. This line of thought then allows for a view of panpsychism to be applied, which is the claim that everything, including nonliving systems, has some degree of consciousness. Pansychism is favored amongst Strong AI theorists and can surprisingly be viewed in more traditional religions compared to the more popular book religions.

All this being said, I shall end with the words of two pioneers, and a music video, on the conscious thought about consciousness. Since my own musing obviously require more meditations and less aphorisms.

"The trick is to concentrate on the reality projected through the printed page. Every sentence is a signal from another world, a nervous system different from yours with which you can interface synergistically"

–        Robert Anton Wilson

"The influence of the senses have in men overpowered the thought to the degree that the walls of time and space have come to look solid, real and insurmountable … Yet time and space are but inverse measures of the power of the mind. Man is capable of abolishing them both."

– Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Global Rich List

I was shown this excellent site that puts the global income of individuals into a good perspective. Global Rich List places your income in terms of the globes population.
By showing someone where they stand in the world it can have a larger impact than where they stand in their own nation. It did for me. Makes we wonder if reasons like this and blind faith in our ideology of capitalism, politics, and religious faith made Einstein denounce his nationhood and faith to become an individual of our planet Terra?

By toying around with the income input I've also seen the drastic differences that the exchange rates between nations has on one's standings within the list. 34,000 UK Pounds puts you in the top 0.9%, while 34,000 US Dollars puts you in the top 4.91%. Make those Canadian dollars and you move into the top 6.88%.

This is insight had more impact from finding it for myself then if some economic class laid it out as some abstract fact of the systems establish parameters.
I guess in the long run Thatcher didn't fuck all the kids.

The Recession is my Fault!

As a student I’ve come to realize that to achieve a Bachelor Degree based solely on loans and credit I shall come out at least $100,000 in debt. This I have found across North America to be the norm. Debt ridden students are not hard to come by and even plays a role in many satirical jokes around family tables.

I’ve also found that class structure in the academic pursuit pathway is still as rampant as ever. Coming across a few good websites for how to aid those in the lower class spectrum, the Coalition for Student Loan Fairness is one that seems to provide the most information and chances for change and becoming informed on the situation and process that Canada follows in its Student Loan Programs.

Alas but what does this have to do with the recession being my fault? That insight comes from the fact presented to me from my debt collectors FAQ. After explaining how peace of mind from profession debt collection services providing services to the consumer and the credit grantors and explaining how people from all walks of life end up on their lists, they give the wonderful advice to stay calm and realize just as consumers depend on their income to survive so do credit grantors depend on their loans being paid to continue their business as a successful practice.

This I can agree upon as a state of how the economy works. Ignoring the fact that monetary funds and credit card companies fueling the problem of throwing people (like myself) access to funds that they have no real means to achieve. Keeping us in debt for years to come.

What really sparked my emotions was the last question and response which is stated as follows.

How does bad debt affect the economy?

Because businesses need to cut losses, the cost of bad debt is often deflected by raising consumer prices. Since there is a limit to how high prices can be increased before business begin losing customers, bad debt also results in business failures and job loss.

To me this implies that the backlash from my bad debt and lacking a moral will to pay off that which was foolishly given to me in the first place by the MasterCard is a contributing factor in the recent degradation of our global economy and the resulting recession. To those that have lost their jobs and businesses I apologize. Not to you individually but to the system as a whole that functions in this backwards idea that to make everything fluid and productive we need to facilitate the money lenders and allow them to raise more digital dollars.

The recession is not my fault. It’s the systems of stocks and bonds, and loans and debt that are the cause. Please don’t humor me. I may be young and brash, against the status quo, but I am not a man made of magical money. I do not have family with buckets of stored information of money made. I, like millions out there in the world, am striving to better myself and my future, at least cut me some slack on insulting my intelligence.

I am a Soft Target!

Soft Target. One who follows a routine day to day and are unaware of their surroundings. According to military handbooks on terrorism and warfare it seems I should be aiming at becoming a Hard Target.

That is I should not be walking or feeding the dog along the same route or at the same time every day. I should frequent different establishments for meals. Park in different areas daily (not that hard in the West End of Vancouver). And the ultimate top off, try not to earn the reputation of always lending a hand and aiding people. "The trick to being human is to always think about yourself." Gaius Baltar

There are three basic rules to being a hard target.
1. Be Alert
2. Keep a Low Profile
3. Be Unpreictable

Basically be paranoid about everything and everyone you come into contact. Trust no one.

Who that enemy is boils down to who you believe has the urge to cause you harm. Be it a militant group in a warzone, or your own government in your own city.
Welcome to the Dodge City of Western mindsets.

Today's tables rarely have drawers

Materialism is a dominant paradigm.

More stuff means more storage.
Yet, today's tables rarely have drawers.
A Materialistic Monetary System requires competition.
"Look at all my stuff!"


Wouldn't it be nice if all our table had drawers?

Guerrilla marketing at its finest. $50,000 neg.

Salutations,

As a university student in Vancouver looking to help sustain my education, I've decided to go ahead and sell my self off.

I am offering a lifetime advertising opportunity and a great way to build brand recognition and word of mouth. This opportunity can provide a less conventional media mode to be explored and add to your brand awareness.

The whole space on my bottom left leg, from knee to ankle, is open as advertising space for a company to use by tattooing their logo and designed images related to their brand. A URL address can also make for an easy leg band.

I am willing to work with marketing department to help design a slick looking piece for my leg that both looks great and provides bright colors patterns that draw attention. Shorts are worn often, and public transportation is used daily, therefore allowing many viewings a day to occur.

As well, there are potential media contacts on the web and locally available for publicity.

If interested or have any questions, please email me for inquiry.
Alexander Lee
conscientious_lee@hotmail.com