Catching up after a Three Month Hiatus

10/3/09

Wow!! It has been over three months since I last added to this record of musings. It's not that I haven't done any musing during that time, it's just that there have been many other demands and choices on my time and how to spend it, and I just haven't taken the time to add anything to this document..

In that time interval, several developments have occurred which will influence the trajectory of these musings. One of them was my discovery of B. Alan Wallace, some of his ideas, and some of his books. Another was my discovery of Paul Budnik and some of his ideas and works. Yet another was my taking DVD courses from The Teaching Company on the brain, on the mathematics of infinity, and on quantum mechanics.

After reading two of Wallace's books, Hidden Dimensions: The Unification of Physics and Consciousness, and Contemplative Science: Where Buddhism and Neuroscience Converge, it occurred to me that Wallace has already mapped out a trail through my metaphorical woods and maybe has saved me the trouble. His plan is to institutionalize the contemplative tradition of Buddhism and incorporate the developments of its advanced contemplatives into science in the same way that the developments made by advanced astrologers were in the past, e.g. Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, and Newton. The idea is that understanding conscious experience should require expert, trained and experienced, observers in the same way that astronomy or particle physics now requires expert observers trained in the use of advanced telescopes and particle accelerators.

I am still in the process of reading Budnik's works, but so far I have discovered that he and I share some basic notions about the relationship between mathematics and reality. Before I go too far on my own in the development of a systematic mathematical development of my musings, I want to understand more of Budnik's ideas.

And, to round things out, many of the ideas presented in the DVD courses I have taken will influence, if not color, the approach I will take in developing my own ideas.

Now, in the spirit of unstructured stream-of-consciousness plan for these musings, let me resume.



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