Résultats de "David Lane" dans Toutes les catégories

Describes the famous 14 dreams of Queen Trishala, the mother of Mahavira, one of the key spiritual figures in Jainism.

I bring up the subject of Gumby and the spiritual claims surrounding him because I am often asked in class about the verdicality of certain metaphysical claims that abound in religious mythologies. My usual rejoinder is that we don’t want to enter into “Gumby Land” when doing philosophy since most of these kinds of questions (how many angels can sit atop an empty coke top?) are literally non-sense (in the precise definition of that term as first coined in the 17th century).

This book contains an introduction by Professor David Christopher Lane on why the feeling of free will is an evolutionary hack. It contains judicious selections from the writings of Bertrand Russell, William James (for free will), Arthur Schopenhauer, and other philosophers and scientists on the issue of free will and determinism.

Promissory materialism is one of the standard canards that has been frequently used against science, particularly in the study of consciousness. This two-word invective gets repeatedly invoked whenever researchers argue that we will understand self-awareness in the future because then we will have a more robust and comprehensive neuroscience. Yet, anti-materialist critics (usually of a spiritual or religious bent) are anxious to know how long we have to wait for an answer, since this type of assurance has been trotted out for decades without any foreseeable payoff.

Although Plato didn’t know about virtual reality headsets or what such a new-fangled technology could evoke, he did understand better than most that humans do not see reality as it is, but rather how we filter it, moment to moment.

In our postmodern age, with all things socially mediated, we often forget those wise sages of years past, who had deeper insights about how to live life, than we might have imagined. We may consider ourselves more educated and more skeptically resistant to those myths that trapped our ancestors centuries ago, but that is not always the case.

This audiobook on Kabir, the great Indian mystic, contains selected poems from the Sikh's holy book Sri Guru Granth Sahib. The narration illuminates the deep insights of this wonderful saint-poet. It also includes a brief introduction and biography.

This edited volume by the MSAC Philosophy Group includes a variety of essays by different authors on virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and those computational pioneers and thinkers who have advanced our understanding of a digital future.

This small book explores four main topics: Professor Hoffmann's user interface theory of consciousness, Professor Lane's virtual simulation hypothesis of consciousness, Brandon Gillet's quantum mind understanding of consciousness, and the future implications of virtual reality and augmented reality.

Human interest in the nature of consciousness dates far back to our ancestral past. However, it is only in the last century or so that researchers and philosophers have been able to tackle the problem in a more scientific way. This is primarily due to our increasing understanding of human physiology and how our brain functions. The following essays briefly explore the life and work of pioneers in the field of consciousness studies.

This is a critical look at the extensive plagiarism of Gary Olsen and his spiritual group, MasterPath. Gary Olsen was a one-time follower of Eckankar but broke off and formed his own teachings, largely based on Eckankar and Radha Soami. This small book provides extensive documentation on why and how Gary Olsen appropriated copyrighted materials for his numerous books and discourses. Also included are original letters by Gary Olsen explaining why he plagiarized and an official apology from him back in 1995.

Jeffrey Kripal’s latest book, The Flip: Epiphanies of Mind and the Future of Knowledge, extends his anti-materialist critique. Kripal goes so far as to suggest that “matter may, in fact, be an expression of some kind of cosmic Mind [sic], which expresses itself as the material world through the abstract structures of mathematics and physics.” I find that the examples he cites to support his “trans-materialism” purview to be half-baked and lacking in the necessary attention to detail. This short book is a three-fold critique of Kripal's anti-materialist purview.

This small audiobook includes a remarkable 1990 interview with the famous professor of philosophy, Patricia Churchland, from the University of California, San Diego, who produced the groundbreaking book Neurophilosophy. Conducted by Meredith Doran and edited by David Christopher Lane. Also includes an essay by Professor Lane on the multi-level perspective on consciousness.

In this book via three key essays, I attempt to turn the issue of mindless automatons on its head (with a bad pun included) by pointing out that “this [very issue] begs a much larger question: how do we really know that the zombie is merely a mindless automaton? The obvious answer is that we don't.” In other words, while it is certainly true that we can project consciousness on all sorts of objects that may lack it...

Consciousness is a virtual simulator par excellence and as such allows humans to have a rolodex of potential strategies when navigating in a world with ever-changing competitive concerns and environmental niches...The advent of virtual and augmented reality may serve as a useful pathway to better understand why consciousness evolved the way it did, primarily because the brain itself operates as a VR system, albeit a much more sophisticated one than Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.

Professor Lane, known for his critical studies of such cults and gurus as Eckankar, MSIA, and Sathya Sai Baba, goes on a quest in North India to find out if the ancient astrological treatise is authentic. However, in his search, he must overcome threats and personal attacks from several cult organizations.

This is the first of a three-part series centering on my personal remembrance of Charan Singh (1916-1990), who was the spiritual leader of Radha Soami Satsang Beas from 1951 to 1990. As such, it isn’t a biography, but rather partial glimpses of my own recollection of how I came to know of Charan, and why I eventually took initiation from him into the meditational practice of Surat Shabd Yoga. I didn’t write this as a devotional eulogy to my deceased spiritual teacher, but more selfishly as a way for me to write down key moments of my association with him...for over four decades.

Presents a critical analysis of Michael Behe's mind centered theory of evolution. Focuses on his latest book, Darwin Devolves. Also includes a critique of Behe's admonition for Catholics to follow the Church versus science and reason when there is a controversy that goes against Christian teachings.

I suffer from a most incurable disease. It is technically known as bibliomania, which simply translated means “book madness.” I love books too much. My family is convinced that I got it from my father, Warren, who also suffered from it but to a lesser degree.

A critical essay which points out that gurus, masters, and prophets must be held accountable for their actions. Argues that we far too often rely on what Ken Wilber insightfully calls "The Atman Project" where we use substitute icons in place of doing the hard work necessary in our own lives.