Reply To: T-shirt designers unite and take over

[AaronB]

isreal,

Philosophers, theologians, scientists and normal people have all questioned the relationship of consciousness to its physical carriers. Buckminster Fuller said, “Our brains deal exclusively with special-case experiences. Only our minds are able to discover the generalized principles operating without exception in each and every special-experience case which if detected and mastered will give knowledgeable advantage in all instances.” You seem to be trying to capture and combine the duality of brain and mind. Our brain is the carrier of the mind. The brain receives input from our senses and passes along the signals, whereas the mind is the intangible collective flow that interprets that information and is able to analyze it, manipulate it, and predict future circumstances which it can then prepare for. The brain reacts mechanically, whereas the mind is able to be proactive in thought. The brain is like the instrument on which the mind is played. Of course, you can break down a song played on an instrument into the vibrations of molecules, the wave forms and patterns, but simply charting and diagramming a song is very different than “feeling” the emotional strokings that come from the mind’s synchronization with and anticipation of the beats and movements.

It is possible for the mind to act independently of physical stimulus, which is what I believe you were refering to, in altered states of consciousness such as dreams, meditation, prayer, bad trips, hypnotherapy, hypoxia, etc. It is possible to “see” and “experience” images, sounds, activities, emotions, conversations, events, people and places, and then link those experiences to “real-world” experiences. I can become enraptured in the memory of a song just as I can by hearing it in real life in my car. The experience is no less real, at least, in my mind. An outside observer could plainly detect the music playing in my car, but not in my head. This leads us to the conflict between the “spiritual” and the “physical”. This conflict in experience drives people to try to “fill the gap” with various philosophical, theological, or scientific explanations. Everyone is entitled to and responsible for their own conclusion.

Although this web site is directed at the development of fusion, your ideas provide an insight into the process of developing a general theory. Observation combined with ignorance and curiosity will lead to hypothises, testing, confirmation, and finally the “generalized principles” that Buckminster Fuller spoke of. Our fusion work is based on decades of observation, experimentation, new generalized principles and an innovative application of those new principles. We hope it will work!