Post by sharon on Jul 19, 2011 16:20:39 GMT -5
"How can we achieve cross-fertilization between the two strong sides of the human mind? Can neurophenomenological refinement help us optimize critical scientific rationality? Could scientists be better scientists if they were well travelled, say, if they learned to have lucid dreams?
Could rigorous reductionist cognitive neuroscience develop a form of turbo-meditation, helping monks become better monks and mystics to be better mystics? Does deep meditation perhaps also have an influence on thinking for yourself, taking your life in your own hands, and becoming a politically mature citizen?
Could we find a way to selectively stimulate the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during dream phases in order to make lucid dreams available to everybody? If we manage to generate artificial out-of-body experiences safely and in a controlled setting, might this help dancers or athletes improve their training? What about fully paralyzed patients?
Could a ruthlessly materialistic investigation into the way the mirror system develops in the young human brain help us cultivate empathy and intuitive attunement in our children in ways nobody thought possible.
If we don't try we will never find out."
~ Thomas Metzinger.
Could rigorous reductionist cognitive neuroscience develop a form of turbo-meditation, helping monks become better monks and mystics to be better mystics? Does deep meditation perhaps also have an influence on thinking for yourself, taking your life in your own hands, and becoming a politically mature citizen?
Could we find a way to selectively stimulate the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during dream phases in order to make lucid dreams available to everybody? If we manage to generate artificial out-of-body experiences safely and in a controlled setting, might this help dancers or athletes improve their training? What about fully paralyzed patients?
Could a ruthlessly materialistic investigation into the way the mirror system develops in the young human brain help us cultivate empathy and intuitive attunement in our children in ways nobody thought possible.
If we don't try we will never find out."
~ Thomas Metzinger.
