Expanding mind – Consciousness hacking– 07/20/14

[StylesGrant]

http://duncantrussell.com/forum/discussion/13952/expanding-mind-consciousness-hacking-072014#Item_1

http://prn.fm/expanding-mind-consciousness-hacking-072014/

Spiritual technologies, DIY neuroscience, and the renaissance of engineered mindstates: a talk with Mikey Siegel, Bay Area entrepreneur and consciousness hacker impresario.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nG_chQK9iGc

 

Pay attention to this guy's response to the podcast

 

 

 

DaveKrea 8:59AM QuoteFlag

Hrair

This is a complete failure of what science, consciousness, and the spirit actually means. To say "spiritual technologies" is beyond contradictory of the definitions of the words themselves. Science and technology are used on the PHYSICAL world. The spirit, wellbeing, and consciousness are not physical things, they are metaphysical, therefore science literally has nothing to say about those matters. As for neuroscience, it is arguably a crime against all living creatures who die on their operating tables. The brain is the only organ that can communicate with the outside world, yet we look at it as if it like any other organ that cannot speak for itself. We actually look at the human brain the same way we look at animal brains who cannot speak. That is the backbone of neurosci. What's ironic is that people seek spiritual knowledge, and the same for consciousness, yet they seek materialistic answers from science who is blind and deaf of these subjects. The internal experience is a first person experience, and science is an outsider, or third person experience. There is no way of entering someone's first person experience, so, to claim that you can hack consciousness, again, is a complete misunderstanding of consciousness. The only way you will ever understand conscousness is through philosophy. To this day the only proof I have that you are conscious is to assume your conscious experience is like mine. It is a presupposition. That is the only way of explaining the mind. To understand my own consciousness is to understand everyone elses. It's introspection research.

 

 

This is a very difficult podcast and response, because I am not sure how I fall on the argument. Do I think there is an inherent flaw in believing you can use technotricks to bypass the wisdom of a Taoist monk? I mean certainly. I think there are a lot of really overly ungrounded people running around in silicon valley right now. I have certainly listened to some talk to Rogan. I'd have to say that is the main reason I listen to Rogan, is that he always has people on who are willing to talk about the aspects of consciousness and the mind, but it is generally from a fighter's perspective, or from someone who's 'made it'. 

 

Or it is better thought that some things only make sense with mastery, which is why I have been yearning to read the Book of Five Rings, and Robert Green's books about power.

 

And many of my conflicts with Western Science and Philosophy revolve around the concept of 'reductionism' and 'scientism', or the insistence of western thinkers arguing moral and 'spiritual' issues from an objectivist absolute point, or a relativist point in post-modern terms. And truly, I do hate most of the psychology movement in Western science, for applying butchery to the whole concept of brain functions, acting as though it was as simple as legos.

 

(It's interesting to note that the artist Alex Grey, is actually associated with 'meta-modernism'.)

But this is not an easy subject. I personally suffered an accident three years ago that took away a lot of my 'mastery' so to say that the brain is not a material thing is truly false. It is not an easy subject.