Jun/090
The fountain of youth could be in each of us
Throughout history explorers, adventurers, kings and queens alike have all been tempted by the journey to find the elixir of life immortal, the fountain of youth. In the last few centuries we have as a society completely written off the thought of living forever and become content with adding a few more years or maybe a decade or two of life and calling it good. Well it looks like the hunt for the fountain of youth may becoming full circle and into the lime light once again. Several news agencies have done stories on a little girl in Maryland who seems to be doing the impossible… not aging!
Brooke Greenberg is a 16 year old girl who looks, functions and exists to us as an infant however, scientist and doctors have been able to find no explination as to why. They have looked at her gene’s, her chromozones and medical tests and they are all left scratching their heads as to why and how Brooke’s body is not aging. I should offer a little more explination here on exactly what Brooke’s body is doing. While physically she looks as though she is just over a year old there are certain parts of her body that appear to have aged independantly of the rest. Her teeth for example, while still being baby teeth, are approximately 8 years old and her bones appear to be around the 10 year mark. The interesting points in this story don’t stop there though, they get much wierder…
Jun/090
Psycho-Cybernetics Review
With all the hype stirred up by “The Secret” a whole new generation of meta-physicists and spiritual explorers was born (or in some cases revitalized). And with science and religion’s historically giant chasm of separation turning more and more into a traversable small canyon every day there couldn’t be a better time to be among their numbers.
Now, for the population of nay-sayers out there, the people who think positive thought and attraction are just new-age mumbo-jumbo I have a book suggetion. The New Psycho-Cybernetics, written by Maxwell Maltz M.D., is a book that fills in the gaps left by The Secret, giving you real scientific evidence and a well thought through outlook on the why and how of this phenomena. For those of you out there who scoff at the idea of wasting your time reading a book you already know you disagree with I would ask you what you have to loose? What is it possibly going to hurt in your life if you read through this book?
Jun/090
The Talent Code Review
I don’t know about you but for me learning new tasks, jobs and hobbies can be a daunting challenge sometimes. For instance, I’ve been wanting to learn how to play the drums but in looking at my life I wonder “When will I have the time to practice to get to be as good as I would like to be?” Have you ever found yourself asking the same question? Enter The Talent Code. This book is like the idiots guide to neuroplasticy or a skill growing 101 at your local college. It takes the stand point that skills (or talents) are not something that is just given to us but something each and everyone of us can earn!
While this book does use some science and medical terminology it does so in a way that any new comer to the fields would be able to pick it up and feel comfortable with the content. The author does an excellent job of explaining how your brain forms skills and how it improves upon them through the learning process. It then takes you through the various ways to manipulate this process to make your brain work on your talents and skills for you instead of having to work on them yourselves. It’s an easy and quick read that will leave you feeling like you can take on the world and change your life!
Jun/091
The Weekend of Braden
I had a friend tell me about a book I needed to read on Friday called “The Isaiah Effect” by Gregg Braden. Well being the devoted bookworm I’ve become over the last year I started in on it that night. The book was facinating. Gregg does an excelent job of merging science and the fringe field of mental power. He explains concepts in a very easy to understand and easy to follow way which made the book a fast and fun read.
I finished that book late Saturday and found that it had left me with a longing for more Braden! I did some research and decided to start with one of his first books “The Lost Mode of Prayer“. This book was equally laced in crack and I couldn’t put it down. I think the points, situations and lessons that he brings up in both books are extremely interesting and backed by a decent amount of science and proof. I would highly recommend these books to anyone who is interested in the unknown of our true human potential or the potential of all living things really.
I’m just starting in on a third book of his called “Fractal Time” and so far it is shaping up to be just as good as the previous two.
May/090
The cyborgs are coming, the cyborgs are coming!
If you are like me you remember watching all sorts of sci-fi tv shows and movies growing up that depicted a future where humans and machines were becoming one. This is so far beyond a reality now that we are verging on crossing into the unbelievable and I for one am extremely excited about this. With all the articles I’ve been reading lately about the merging of human and machine this TED video stood out as the next step.
At the end of the video Pattie Maes makes the statement about how maybe in 10 years she’ll be back there with the MIT Media Lab and a brain implant version of the “Sixth Sense” machine. But with advancements like Robotic Hands, Artificial Muscles and Bionic Eyes do you really think it will take 10 years to have this mass produced and in everyones hands or brains? I doubt it.
Apr/090
If you could live forever, would you? The choice may not be yours…
The year is 2040 and the latest rave is immortality implants and genetic changes only you can’t get them because our beloved government had decided (Since it is represented by our ‘Decider’) that they will be the body that will control how long our lifespan will be. At least that’s the quote from Francis Fukuyama, a former bioethics councilmen under the Bush administration (see the article Experts debate indefinite lifespan. Poll: what’s your opinion? for the story that inspired this post.)
This is where my question comes in. Lets say that this technology comes out and is wildly successful and everyone is presented with the choice to live for as long as they personally determine. What right does the government have to step in and make that decision for me? I mean we are talking about MY life here!
Apr/090
Zodiac Signs, Name Definitions and The Collective Unconscious
Have you ever read a description of your zodiac sign, birth number or name and thought “Whoa… that was almost creepy”? I find that personally more times than not any kind of description I read about any of my ’signs’ are pretty damn close to being spot on and I have a theory that involves some less out there methods while still maintaining a little mysticism and mystery to explain this.
Carl Jung proposed this idea of a “collective unconscious” in his work which basically says that at some deep unconscious level we are all connected to this warehouse of our species memories, experiences and emotions. What this means is that you, at some deep level, are connected to the person who actually wrote this definition. What this also means is that if any of these definitions have been around for say a couple hundred years, than humanity has been hearing this definition over and over and over and… you get the idea. So how does this explain the definition being so accurate? When we are very young I think the connection between our subconscious or unconscious and conscious is much stronger and we can easily reach into this warehouse of information from our species. Now when our subconscious learns our name it simply uses it’s access to look up what it means and thinks “Oh, that’s who I’m supposed to be. Okay”. Same thing applies to Zodiac or birth number definitions, or whatever other kind of definition you can think of.
Mar/090
Welcome To Science Reality
The more news articles I read about the ‘cool’ new technologies and advances in the various sciences the more I’m starting to feel like I’m living a science fiction novel, only it’s science reality. Let me list a few examples of what I’m talking about:
- Neuro-Programmer – This application is designed to allow you to manipulate your brain waves! Now think back to when you were in elementary school (if you’re in your early to mid 20’s like me) and try to imagine someone saying they had a program that they could put on your computer that would allow you to manipulate your brain waves. You would have thought they were spending too much time in their books or watching tv or movies. Once you buy this company’s software you gain access to their Members Only area where the community has uploaded their own ’sessions’. Some of these include a pattern that is supposed to relieve headaches, combat the effects of ADD/ADHD, promote the release of hGH (human growth hormone) and an alternative to your morning caffeine intake to get you going. Now, I’ve tried the caffeine alternative and I must admit I felt very alert, very awake and totally focused at 7 in the damn morning!! The list doesn’t stop there though…
Mar/090
A New Spin on Déjà Vu
A friend of mine sent me an article on a theory by Brian Whitworth Ph.D that basically puts the idea out there that the Big Bang was actually someone or something flipping the switch on a ‘Virtual Reality’ which we experience as our ‘real reality’. While this idea is pretty cool it’s hard to think that we’re nothing more than a simulation in a virtual world. Kind of takes the ‘Bang’ out of life. However, this theory got me thinking about Déjà vu the other day and I have my own theory I’d like to throw out there:
What if Déjà vu is your mind or your consciousness coming back to a ’save’ point in your life. For example, you get Déjà vu while driving your car. What if “you” have already driven down this street and you made a choice that led to another choice that led to another choice that eventually led to a situation or decision your consciousness either couldn’t handle or didn’t want to so it analyzed the data it had, found a point where it believes the chain of events started from and ‘reset’ you to that point. The more times you’ve been ‘reset’ to that point the more times you’ve experienced it and as a by product the Déjà vu gets more intense and lengthy.
In the article Mr. Whitworth asks for readers to let him know if they come up with any ideas on a certain part of his theory. Well, accepting his gracious offer I emailed him about a month and a half ago but never got any confirmation that he ever received it or read it. Now, I understand that he is probably a very busy man, but it doesn’t take that long to send a ‘thanks for reading my interview and paying enough attention to it to form an opinion.’ I mean, where’s the love Mr. Whitworth?