Guest Post: The User Illusion
An Excerpt from The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down To Size
By Tor Norretranders

Tree Grass CloudsThe fact is that every single second, millions of bits of information flood in through our senses. But our consciousness processes only perhaps forty bits a second – at most. Millions and millions of bits are condensed to a conscious experience that contains practically no information at all…
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What Is A Field?
Contributing editor to Scientific American Magazine, George Musser, explains how physicists think about the universe using the fundamental concept of “the field”.

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Click here to watch the video

 

Between The Folds
I just saw this wonderful documentary. Somehow I missed it when it released in 2008… For those of you who haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it!

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Between The Folds

My Favorite 2013 TED Talks #1

There were so many extraordinary 2013 TED talks, it’s going to be hard to keep my list down to 10 this year. I’m excited to be able to share #1 today — Dan Pallotta’s talk just went up! I think it has the power to do something that is rare in human life: change people’s minds. I’ll post the others as they become available. Enjoy!

Dan Pallotta

 

 

Click here to watch Dan Pallotta’s TED Talk,
The Way We Think About Charity Is Dead Wrong

 

Guest Post: What Is Consciousness?
Here is an excerpt from a fascinating conversation between psychologist, Susan Blackmore and philosopher, David Chalmers, in the book Conversations On Consciousness, by Susan Blackmore:

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I think someone could know all the physical facts about the world and still not know about consciousness. So if the relationship between brain processes and conscious experience isn’t one of reduction, what is it?
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Mindfulness For Children #3: Mindful Breathing
Here is another guided mindfulness exercise for children from my InnerKids class.


Mindful awareness exercises help children develop concentration and self-awareness. In this exercise, children are guided through a process of paying attention to their breathing. There are two versions of the guided exercise – the first is the full exercise and is intended for children who have had some practice, and the second is a slightly modified version for beginners. They are both designed for children ages 6-10.

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Mindful Breathing For Children

 

Guest Post: The History Of Homeopathy
An Excerpt From Challenging Nature, By Lee Silver

homeopathy
Homeopathic medicine, or homeopathy, was the creation of a single person, Samuel Hahnemann, who graduated from a German medical school in 1779 and practiced the “healing arts” until 1843, first in Germany and then in Paris…
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Guest Post: Life’s Beginning
An Excerpt From The Selfish Gene, By Richard Dawkins 

…Chemists have tried to imitate the chemical conditions of the young earth. They have put these simple substances in a flask and supplied a source of energy such as ultraviolet light or electric sparks – artificial simulation of primordial lightning. After a few weeks of this, something interesting is usually found inside the flask…
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Mindfulness For Children #2: Mindful Hearing
Here is another exercise from my InnerKids class, designed for children ages 6-10.

Mindful awareness techniques help children develop concentration and self-awareness. In this exercise, children are guided through an experience of paying attention to sounds. After some practice, children may find this exercise to be helpful in their daily lives – before doing homework, when they are having difficulty settling down at bedtime, or at other any other time when it would be useful to settle the mind.

 

 

Mindful Hearing For Children

 

 

Guest Post: Music and Happiness
An Excerpt From The Happiness Trip, By Eduardo Punset

The most recent research has revealed that music, by acting on the central nervous system, raises levels of endorphins, the brain’s own opiates, as well as other neurotransmitters such as dopamine, acetylcholine, and oxytocin. Endorphins have been found to provide motivation and energy for life, to cause joyfulness and optimism, to decrease pain…
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