May 3, 2024 05:04 PM
(This post was last modified: May 3, 2024 05:05 PM by C C.)
Potential developments that might have relevance to PoM (philosophy of mind), along with an essay by Koch. Note that permalinks to WSJ may no longer work after hours, days, weeks or for some regions.
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The gift of experiencing 'Ego Death" (Christof Koch)
https://www.wsj.com/science/the-gift-of-..._permalink
EXCERPTS: Near-death experiences can resemble powerful psychedelic ones. My own psychic death came about with the help of a mighty molecule, 5-MeO-DMT, rather than any physical or medical trauma. In its awful intensity—awful in the original meaning of “worthy of respect or fear, striking with awe”—this experience exceeds anything else in my life.
[...] I ceased to exist in any recognizable way, shape, or form. No more Christof, no more ego, no more self; no memories, dreams, desires, hopes, fears—everything personal was stripped away. Nothing was left but a nonself: this remaining essence wasn’t man, woman, child, animal, spirit, or anything else; it didn’t want anything, expect anything, think anything, remember anything, dread anything. But it experienced. It saw a point of cold white light of unbearable intensity, a timeless universe convulsed to a blazing, icy light. That and a profound feeling of both terror and ecstasy, the awfulness of pure experience lasting indefinitely—for there was no perception of time. The experience wasn’t brief or long. It simply was.
Optical illusion reveals key brain rule that governs consciousness
https://www.livescience.com/health/mind/...sciousness
EXCERPT: It's well established that this illusion causes the human brain to falsely fill in and perceive a nonexistent outline and brightness — but there's been ongoing debate about what's going on in the brain when it happens. Now, for the first time, scientists have demonstrated that the illusion works on mice, and this allowed them to peer into the rodents' brains to see what's going on.
PAPER: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-0...510a1cb82b
New ‘map of consciousness’ could help to wake up coma patients
https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/brain-...sciousness
EXCERPT: Despite being a fundamental part of human existence, we know very little about consciousness and how it happens. Now, scientists have just brought us one step closer to finding out with a new 'map of consciousness' – and their results could help to wake up coma patients.
PAPER: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scit...ed.adj4303
- - - - - - - - - - - -
The gift of experiencing 'Ego Death" (Christof Koch)
https://www.wsj.com/science/the-gift-of-..._permalink
EXCERPTS: Near-death experiences can resemble powerful psychedelic ones. My own psychic death came about with the help of a mighty molecule, 5-MeO-DMT, rather than any physical or medical trauma. In its awful intensity—awful in the original meaning of “worthy of respect or fear, striking with awe”—this experience exceeds anything else in my life.
[...] I ceased to exist in any recognizable way, shape, or form. No more Christof, no more ego, no more self; no memories, dreams, desires, hopes, fears—everything personal was stripped away. Nothing was left but a nonself: this remaining essence wasn’t man, woman, child, animal, spirit, or anything else; it didn’t want anything, expect anything, think anything, remember anything, dread anything. But it experienced. It saw a point of cold white light of unbearable intensity, a timeless universe convulsed to a blazing, icy light. That and a profound feeling of both terror and ecstasy, the awfulness of pure experience lasting indefinitely—for there was no perception of time. The experience wasn’t brief or long. It simply was.
Optical illusion reveals key brain rule that governs consciousness
https://www.livescience.com/health/mind/...sciousness
EXCERPT: It's well established that this illusion causes the human brain to falsely fill in and perceive a nonexistent outline and brightness — but there's been ongoing debate about what's going on in the brain when it happens. Now, for the first time, scientists have demonstrated that the illusion works on mice, and this allowed them to peer into the rodents' brains to see what's going on.
PAPER: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-0...510a1cb82b
New ‘map of consciousness’ could help to wake up coma patients
https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/brain-...sciousness
EXCERPT: Despite being a fundamental part of human existence, we know very little about consciousness and how it happens. Now, scientists have just brought us one step closer to finding out with a new 'map of consciousness' – and their results could help to wake up coma patients.
PAPER: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scit...ed.adj4303
