God, Neurology, And Bliss
A vision of God’s not the slightest bit odd When your brain’s shutting down, argues Sacks But you knew all along some would find his view wrong And would write of the logic he lacks We might not be...
View ArticleMechanism, Contextualism, And The Limits Of Brain Science
Over at NPR’s 13.7 Cosmos and Culture blog, Alva Noë writes about “Science And The Allure Of ‘Nothing But“, a topic near and dear to my hearts. Reductionism in science has led us to some frankly silly...
View ArticleAt The Dalai Lama’s Science Conference…
They’re analyzing consciousness By means of introspection And none of them have noticed that They’ve looked the wrong direction. The Dalai Lama saw the moon Was not lit from within He shared his...
View ArticleThe Pope Is Stepping Down
So in his honor, a verse that speculates on what really goes on in the college of cardinals as they go about the business of selecting a new guy to wear the funny hat: We struggle in vain to...
View ArticleThere Are Times I Just Hate The Brain
Your brain does this; your brain does that; Your brain does other stuff. Your brain controls your body, and (If that was not enough) Your brain makes all your choices, and Your brain dreams all your...
View ArticleIn Which I Argue At Length With A MacArthur Genius
Strong-ily, wrong-ily Neurophilosophers Tout their position: “The self as the brain” Finding our cause in our Neuroanatomy— Sadly, it’s fictional: Lemme explain…. (tl;dr–“brain as self” models are...
View ArticleMeat
Just finished an absolutely wonderful book (about which, more later); in the notes was a mention of Terry Bisson’s wonderful short story “They’re Made out of Meat”. Studio 360 aired a version a while...
View ArticleDemon-Spotting In The 21st Century
In the depths of my skull there’s a demon that’s schemin’, Controlling my thinking—or that’s what I’m told It’s why I have such a reliance on science, And gave up on demons at seven years old At least,...
View ArticleThat Little Voice In Your Head
There’s a voice in my head that says “go for it!” There’s a voice in my head that says “try!” It says clearly “Advance! Risk it all! Take the chance! What’s the worst that could happen—you die?”...
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