Atoms, Neurons and Consciousness…
TIME Magazine recently ran a series of stories on the workings of the human brain which also explored consciousness, soul and afterlife (“Mind and Body Special Issue” Jan 29, ’07).
Now, I am all for scientific thought and reason but feel very�very wary of attempting to explain everything in terms of atoms and neurons.
The recent issue (Mar 5 ’07) had a number of letters from readers who shared this wariness. The best comment though was from Ranko Pinter (Cambridge, England) who wrote:
“Trying to understand consciousness by probing the workings of the brain is analogous to trying to find the source of pictures on your TV by analyzing the workings of the TV set.
Until scientists recognise the transcendental nature of human existence, they will continue to wonder blindly in a fog of ignorance.”
Well said.
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Related Post: Humbled by the Unexplained Darkness
Osho once said about the ‘trinity’ of Shiva, Brahma & Vishnu are not some abstract powers lurking somewhere in existence, but human understanding of the cosmic presence i.e. Proton, Neutron and Electron
very well said.
this approach of understanding the consciousness stems from the basically ’empirical’ approach of wetern science that looks for a ‘proof’ for everything
Excerpts from a recent post by Offstumped:
That google search lead to this very interesting book “The Shape of Ancient Thought – Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies†by Thomas McEvilley, published in 2002. Extracts from the book can be found on google.
The book is an exhaustive exercise in tracing the chronology of evolution of ancient philosophy and the many exchanges that had taken place across centuries.
Of particuar interest is page 542 that talks about how the remarkably similar the ethical framework of the Stoics and “Karma Yoga†in the Gita were. The discussion on “Ethics of Imperturbaility†in Chapter 25 makes for some interesting reading as well as it relates to the modern day debate on Dharma and the ethics of “Self Interestâ€.
For those to the Left and Right who are trapped in modern day labels of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Progressive Socialism, this quote from page 620 must be highlighted
In closing one must say that the 25 chapters are a worthy read to understand as the author puts it
the massive transfer of ideas or methods of thinking, first from India to Greece in the pre-Socratic period and again back from Greece to India in the Hellenistic period
Since the ideas in question remain fundamental elements of Greek thought for a thousand years, it is time to acknowledge that one of the major strains of Greek thought was Indian Influenced – that it might even be called the Indianized or Greco-Indian lineage
In response to the 19th century imperialist view … this investigation has shown that every mystical element in Indian thought can be found in Greek thought too and every rational element in Greek thought in Indian as well
I have been following developments in science and the power of this method cannot be doubted. The ancient rishis came to the conclusion that energy and equivalent (if anyone can identify the vedic texts would be appreciated). Of course it took Eienstein’s genius to state it in his equation e=mc2. There can be no doubting Hindu achievements in all areas of knowledge which I can quote chapter and verse. But the defining characteristic of any great civilisation is its epic poetry. Just as the Greek Iliad spread its message of message to the West, India’s epics was to tutor Asia. On that score India does not have to an inferiority complex or prove anything except using their strengths for our greatness in the age we live in today.
The lessons that we have learned from our respective epics could not have been different. Alexandra the Great was inspired to conquer the world on being tutored by the Iliad. Inspite of the Mahabharata, Hindus in modern times has been victims of even small fries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Is it because our great epics have been reduced to the rituals of our religion? When our leaders talk about Hinduism’s secular face, why have they excused what ought to be an inspiration to martial spirits? The West do not make that mistake. Their fighting and conquering spirit is not in the least compromised by their Christian religion which teaches them gentleness and learning.
The epic is essentially a human message in which Gods can have a walk on part to lend their approval. They are expected to sing praise of the birth or life of a nation. Religions have come and gone in the story of any nation and country. Christianity and Islam have established their proper place in the life of the India, but once they cease to believe in the shared history as defined by the story of their country’s past by its epics, their betrayel should not be ignored. Hundutva has used the word cultural nationalism but culture is a word of no definite meaning. The foundation stones of a nation are so fundamental that there are no words adequate to describe it. It is not even about the fine points of meaning of words which can in debate be discarded as people wish. The idea of the nation should be the highest ideals of all those charged with its honour and protection.
In Greek times, as large as India was it should have been to Greece what the United States is to the world of today. The Greeks certainly shared a love of learning by establishing institutes. It has been remarked in these discussions that library building as a civic virtue is what we are lacking in today. This is another task that we should turn our minds to if we want to learn serious lessons from the discussions we are having.
@ Khandu: Thought provoking…esp the point about the interpretation of MahaBharata and how some of its core learnings appear to have been forgotten… More on this later…
The idea of nation/ identity is something that we will discuss on Monday evening at the regular meeting.
Excerpts from Discovery of quantum vibrations in ‘microtubules’ corroborates theory of consciousness, Jan 16, 2014:
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A review and update of a controversial 20-year-old theory of consciousness published in Physics of Life Reviews claims that consciousness derives from deeper level, finer scale activities inside brain neurons. The recent discovery of quantum vibrations in “microtubules” inside brain neurons corroborates this theory..
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The theory, called “orchestrated objective reduction” (‘Orch OR’), was first put forward in the mid-1990s by eminent mathematical physicist Sir Roger Penrose, FRS, Mathematical Institute and Wadham College, University of Oxford, and prominent anesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff, MD, Anesthesiology, Psychology and Center for Consciousness Studies, The University of Arizona, Tucson.
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Orch OR was harshly criticized from its inception, as the brain was considered too “warm, wet, and noisy” for seemingly delicate quantum processes. However, evidence has now shown warm quantum coherence in plant photosynthesis, bird brain navigation, our sense of smell, and brain microtubules. The recent discovery of warm temperature quantum vibrations in microtubules inside brain neurons by the research group led by Anirban Bandyopadhyay, PhD, at the National Institute of Material Sciences in Tsukuba, Japan (and now at MIT), corroborates the pair’s theory and suggests that EEG rhythms also derive from deeper level microtubule vibrations.
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“The origin of consciousness reflects our place in the universe, the nature of our existence. Did consciousness evolve from complex computations among brain neurons, as most scientists assert? Or has consciousness, in some sense, been here all along, as spiritual approaches maintain?” ask Hameroff and Penrose in the current review. “This opens a potential Pandora’s Box, but our theory accommodates both these views, suggesting consciousness derives from quantum vibrations in microtubules, protein polymers inside brain neurons, which both govern neuronal and synaptic function, and connect brain processes to self-organizing processes in the fine scale, ‘proto-conscious’ quantum structure of reality.”
After 20 years of skeptical criticism, “the evidence now clearly supports Orch OR,” continue Hameroff and Penrose. “Our new paper updates the evidence, clarifies Orch OR quantum bits, or “qubits,” as helical pathways in microtubule lattices, rebuts critics, and reviews 20 testable predictions of Orch OR published in 1998 – of these, six are confirmed and none refuted.”
An important new facet of the theory is introduced. Microtubule quantum vibrations (e.g. in megahertz) appear to interfere and produce much slower EEG “beat frequencies.” Despite a century of clinical use, the underlying origins of EEG rhythms have remained a mystery. Clinical trials of brief brain stimulation aimed at microtubule resonances with megahertz mechanical vibrations using transcranial ultrasound have shown reported improvements in mood, and may prove useful against Alzheimer’s disease and brain injury in the future.
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More information: “Consciousness in the universe: A review of the ‘Orch OR’ theory,” by Stuart Hameroff, MD, and Roger Penrose, FRS. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.plrev.2013.08.002
Commentaries on the review are:
“Reply to criticism of the ‘Orch OR qubit’–’Orchestrated objective reduction’ is scientifically justified,” by Stuart Hameroff, MD, and Roger Penrose, FRS; dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.plrev.2013.11.00
“Reply to seven commentaries on “Consciousness in the universe: Review of the ‘Orch OR’ theory,” by Stuart Hameroff, MD, and Roger Penrose, FRS. dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.plrev.2013.08.002
Journal reference: Physics of Life Reviews