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Octopolis is a high-density habitat of gloomy octopuses (Octopus tetricus) located in Jervis Bay on the south coast of New South Wales. Biologists discovered this unique site in 2009. Characterized by an elliptical bed of shells, primarily scallop shells, with a diameter of 2-3 meters on its longer axis, Octopolis also features a single piece of human detritus, which is believed to be scrap metal. The octopuses construct their dens by burrowing into this shell bed, which proves to be a superior building material compared to the surrounding fine sediment. At its peak, Octopolis has been observed to host up to 14 octopuses simultaneously.
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AN - Perfect Satisfaction arises from the recognition of the atemporal, acausal moment as complete.
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AN - Pure Presence releases Comprehensive Sensation into illumination by the clear light of Pristine Awareness
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AN- When Pure Presence releases Comprehensive Sensation into illumination by the clear light of Pristine Awareness, there are no reasons to either benefit, disadvantage, or leave the totality of what arises to experience as it is (the world, body, self-subject, others…whatever appears).
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RAAG DWESA MAYA
Clinging Attraction/Pushing Away/Active Ignorance
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When we look at the world’s spiritual traditions—such as Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Sufism, and mystical Christianity and Judaism—it is tempting to believe that underlying each is a ‘common core’ of principles.
This is sometimes expressed in the concept of the ‘perennial philosophy,’ as popularized by the religious scholar Huston Smith and the author Aldous Huxley. Perennialism suggests that the world’s great ‘wisdom traditions’are different articulations of the same fundamental truths.
However, under the influence of post-modern cultural theories, many religious scholars turned away from the idea of perennialism, suggesting that it was naive and ignored significant differences between traditions. There was a shift toward ‘contextualism’ or ‘constructivism’, which saw traditions as independent and suggested that the spiritual experiences of individuals from different traditions were fundamentally different since they were created by the concepts and practices that are distinct to those traditions.
This shift from perennialism to contextualism also took place in my own field of transpersonal psychology. Until about 15 years ago, transpersonal psychology was closely affiliated with spiritual and religious traditions and heavily influenced by the writings of Ken Wilber, who advocated his own nuanced version of the perennial philosophy. But around the turn of the century, there was a movement toward a more pluralist perspective, beginning with Jorge Ferrer’s influential book Revisioning Transpersonal Theory. The book was highly critical of perennialism (and of Wilber). Ferrer didn’t deny that there was some common ground between different traditions, speaking of a “common spiritual dynamism underlying the plurality of religious insights and ultimates.”
However, he believed that the similarities between traditions had been overstated by perennialists. For example, across the world’s spiritual traditions, there are different concepts of some fundamental spiritual principles, which are seen as the essential reality of the world—the Tao, brahman, dharmakaya, the One, the Godhead, and so on. A perennialist would say these are simply different interpretations of the same spiritual force, which is accessible to all human beings in deep states of meditation, or in higher states of consciousness. However, Ferrer suggested that there are ‘a multiplicity of spiritual absolutes’ that shouldn’t be conflated. Other transpersonal psychologists, such as Glenn Hartelius, also turned away perennialism, suggesting not only that the similarities between traditions had been exaggerated, but that any similarities that did exist could be explained in terms of biological and neurological factors.
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Experiences Across Traditions
It’s important to make a distinction between philosophy and experience. It’s true that there are significant differences between the teachings of different spiritual traditions. But when we look at the experiences that are reported in different traditions (and outside them), the similarities are striking.
Here I’m speaking specifically about what are sometimes called ‘mystical experiences’ or ‘spiritual experiences.’ They might occur in states of deep meditation, when a person’s mind becomes quiet and they experience a sense of inner emptiness, without thoughts or concepts. Or it might be an experience of communion with nature, in which a person’s surroundings seem to become more real and beautiful, as if a new dimension of reality has been added to them.
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A Good Life?”, we explore what it means for animals to have a ‘good life’, meaning one that is free from fear, harm, suffering and exploitation. Many people don’t realise that in Britain, the vast majority of animals killed for food are still babies, who are routinely maimed and mutilated to maximise someone’s profit.
The only way to help farmed animals is not to eat them, and not to consume products such as milk and eggs, which depend on their exploitation. Happily, it’s now easier than ever to go vegan, with plant-based options available in most cafés, shops and restaurants.
Being positive has been linked to living longer by research.
People lived longer if they were more:
- optimistic about the future,
- closer to other people,
- decisive,
- and felt more useful and relaxed.
Those who scored in the top sixth for being positive were 18% less likely to die over the next four years.
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The bright-purple color of eggplant comes from flavonoid glycosides, antioxidants that are useful in combating dementia.
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surprised that humans didn’t discover something like Darwinian evolution from observing human behavior. Metaphors comparing human behavior with the behavior of other animals date back to early times. Our sexuality is goatish, we eat like pigs, we lock horns in battle, we strive to be top dog, to provide a few example
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The theory of evolution gives a clear explanation for the more animal-like aspects of the human, but does not explain why we also have something of “a divine nature.” As an example, what I’d call hard-core evolutionists always have to deny the possibility of human altruism because such altruism doesn’t fit into the scheme of biological evolution. Such things as altruism probably do not belong to our biological nature, but do exist as cultural ideals. This “divine part” of our nature is the part that strives to live up to cultural ideals and cultural values such as truth, beauty and goodness.
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CLASS OF COVID
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GENETICS- NOISE OR INFO
In biological evolution, there is a single principle that determines if a genetic mutation is “noise” or if it is genetic “information.” This is survival. If a mutation furthers survival, it is preserved as genetic information available to future offspring. If not, it is noise and not passed on. The biosphere is a grand repository of information about successful survival strategies. Each extant species (and the extinct ones also) represents a complex survival strategy.
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Every life story deserves to be told.
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Cultural evolution, it would seem, has no such simple principle underlying it. Survival plays a role, but survival cannot explain the long history of fashion in clothing, ornamentation in design, and really nothing of why the various arts are held in such high esteem, to name a few items. Nor can survival alone explain the rise of and proliferation of modern science.
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The simple fact is that biology alone does not explain human behavior. It is an amalgam of biological and cultural elements. And as it stands, there is no generally accepted theory of cultural evolution.
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Observing my own behavior and the various impulses and appetites that motivate it, I’ve come to see that my motivation at base is largely biological. I am motivated by a handful of urges and drives. I suspect that I am not very different from other people in this regard.
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These urges include drives toward nourishment, security, reproduction, power and status. The first four of these we share with early forms of animal life, such as reptiles. The last we share with many kinds of social animals, particularly canines and primates.
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While I suggest that all motivation at base is biological, human cultures have developed elaborate cultural forms, cultural clothing we might say, to cover these naked motivations.
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Thus, while all humans are driven to eat, different cultures dictate what, when and with whom it is proper to eat.
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The private vices that drive capitalism include the primitive urges for power, security and status.
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Philosophy is a very combative discipline. We expose the weak spots in each other’s arguments. Test them to destruction. It can be brutal. But afterwards we all go to the pub.”
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Cultural forms camouflage the biological origins of our drives and channel our basic motivations into ends that the culture deems appropriate.
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“terrifying Oxford postgrad students who were cerebral and robotic. I was nearly sick.”
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Exploring human behavior through the lens of Darwinian evolution provides important insights into human behavior. Some of these are obvious, such as why when a being whose bodily appetites were shaped in an environment of nutritional scarcity is placed in an environment of nutritional overabundance, obesity is the likely outcome.
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Every hero’s journey needs a dragon to slay, and maybe I’m the dragon
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one of religion’s central roles emerges. That is to promote and strengthen the cultural part of our behavior and repress or redirect the biological. eg sxl bhvr
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They have great choice, but Ocado is expensive
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BAD V GOOD
we were taught that there are devils that tempt us to do bad and angels that pull us toward the good. In the terms I’m developing here, bad is equivalent to identifying with our biological drives, and good is to redirect our motivations toward ends acceptable to our cultural ideals.
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MIGRAINE -RIMEGEPANT
Rimegepant, which is taken every other day as a wafer tablet that dissolves under the tongue, has been approved for use by the treatment
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biolgy v sprtlty
We are naturally inclined to follow our urges, but have to make an effort to ascend toward cultural ideals. Religion has, as one of its roles, that of educating people on these ideals and the kind of effort required to achieve them.
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LBP- 2 SERIAL MRI - ML CASE
AAdherents of Naturalism, tend to prefer explanations of the physical sciences over those of the humanities and social sciences. But we need to recognize that human culture is also a part of Nature. Nature is creational, and culture is an incredible extension of Nature’s creativity.
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Culture is not over and against Nature, but an extension of it
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