The Christian Myth
In my last post The Story of Truth I made reference to the: Christian Myth, and my belief that, Meaning is not always Truthful, nor Truth always Meaningful. This post is an attempt to amplify and illuminate these two thoughts.
Is it Meaningful or Random? Part 2 – An irrational Perspective (in defence of synchronicity)
Part 2 of 2 Read Part 1 first The question is whether our experience of 'meaningful' coincidences, such as Jung's synchronicity, is actually meaningful or is it merely a meaningless symptom of the laws of probability. And if conclude that it is meaningful what do we mean by that? Meaning is not rational it is irrational. Let's look at how the Oxford English Dictionary defines the word meaning: 1) What is meant by a word or idea (isn't that a tautology?) 2) a sense...
Is it Meaningful or Random? Part 1 – A Rational Perspective
This is part 1 of a 2 part post. The question is whether our experience of 'meaningful' coincidences, such as Jung's synchronicity, is actually meaningful or is it merely a meaningless symptom of the laws of probability. And if conclude that it is meaningful what do we mean by that? I have long been fascinated by Jung's concept of synchronicity , a term which has been almost wholly absorbed into the New Age Movement and is an expression in common...
Your Daemon, Your Genius
I'm not sure when I first realised that the old Greeks had it right, daemons (or 'demons'?) do exist, but it was a while back. It came to me the way knowledge comes to us sometimes, slowly and quietly like a lover in the dead of night. Even before the idea was fully formed though, I realised on some level that oftentimes the daemon and the splinter of light that shone in someone's soul were one and the same. I...
Darwin, Dawkins & Dennet et al vs. A Meaningful Life.
The issue of science versus spirituality is a dilemma which many people around the world have been grappling with for the last few hundred years. And the absence of soul life has become increasingly acute in the 20th and now 21st centuries. This post is a look at what these challenges are to the life of the spirit, presented by science, where they come from and what, if any, answers may be offered in defence of the human soul. This paradox came...
What would Charles Darwin say about Satori?
This is the problem, as I see it, the Evolutionary Imperative, famously discovered by Darwin, which discovery ranks amongst the greatest ever (!), in the history of science, presents a problem for any form of Utopian Ideology. I quote Charles Linderman, mob boss, healer and co-founder of the Company, in the Graphic Novel (and now TV series), Heroes, in his conversation with Nathan Petrelli. “You see, I think there comes a time when a man has to ask...
What is the Meaning of Life?
This, my friends and only companions, is the question. In true paradoxical style it is both the most important and stupidest of all questions. And it is a question readily dismissed as meaningless by the bourgeois. Except possibly by some real dimwits who are simply too naive to realise how stupid (and dangerous) the question is. Stupid- because naturally there is no answer, or at least no definitive answer. The question is nonsense, at least in the rational sense. We may...
What Does The Road To Damascus Look Like Today?
Last night I had the privilege of attending a talk on the Second Coming of Christ. Nick Thomas, previously General Secretary of British Anthroposophical Society, spoke on the topic of the biblical prophecies of Christ's return and Rudolf Steiner’s interpretation of these prophecies. I will summarise the talk and add my own comments in the conclusion. The Etheric Christ The first and possibly most significant point is that Christ's return will be in the Etheric Realm, as opposed to a the...
Towards a Science of Meaning
Let's try and get some perspective on the question of meaning, specifically the meaning of life. What are the questions we need to answer and what are our challenges we need to address in asking the question: what is the meaning of my life (personal, subjective) or what is the meaning of life (collective, objective)? 1. Does the question (what is the meaning of life) itself make sense? A lot of people react to the question as a naivet'. What do...
The Search for Consciousness. Where are we in 2010?
In April this year the Centre for Consciousness Studies, at the University of Arizona, will hold their 9th, bi-annual, conference. As this approaches I thought it a good time to reflect on some of the presenters and their thoughts at the last conference in 2008. The initiative started in 1994 by Professor Stuart Hameroff, University of Arizona, and David Chalmers, Australian National University, is a cross-disciplinary, scientific, investigation into the phenomenon of consciousness. The conference is well supported and...
