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ON A RESONANCE THEORY OF THOUGHT AND SPIRITUALITY
Karl Jaspers Forum ^ | August 21, 2001 | Varadaraja V. Raman

Posted on 08/02/2003 4:43:59 PM PDT by betty boop

ON A RESONANCE THEORY OF THOUGHT AND SPIRITUALITY


by Varadaraja V. Raman


The following theory is proposed to explain the observed phenomena of thought and spiritual/mystical experience/creativity:

PROBLEM:
(a) Thought is the subtlest emergent entity from the human brain. As of now, though it is taken to arise from complex biochemical (neuronal) processes in the brain, we have no means of detecting any physical aspect of thought.

(b) All sensory experiences (light, sound, smell, taste, sound) result from an interaction between an external agent (photon, phonon, etc.) and some aspect of the brain.

HYPOTHESIS:
(a) It is proposed that, like the electromagnetic field, there is an extremely subtle substratum pervading the universe which may be called the universal thought field (UTF). This may even be trans-physical, i.e., something that cannot be detected by ordinary physical instruments. Or it may be physical and has not yet been detected as such.

(b) Every thought generated in the brain creates its own particular thought field (PTF).

Theory based on the above hypotheses:
(a) Just as EM waves require the complex structure of the brain to be transduced into the experience of light and color, the UTF requires the complex system of the human brain to create local thoughts. In other words, when the UTF interacts with certain regions of the brain, thoughts arise as by-products.

(b) Interactions between PTFs and brains generate other PTFs. Indeed every thought is a different reaction-result to either the UTF or to a PTF.

(c) There is an important difference between UTF and PTF. UTF does not require a material medium for acting upon a brain. But a PTF cannot be transmitted from one brain to another without a material medium, such as sound, writing, signs, etc.

(d) In some instances, as with molecular resonance, certain brains are able to resonate with the UTF in various universal modes. Such resonances constitute revelations, magnificent epic poetry, great musical compositions, discovery of a mathematical theorem in a dream, and the like, as also mystic experiences.

(e) This perspective suggests that there can be no thought without a complex brain (well known fact); and more importantly, that there exists a pure thought field (UTF) in the universe at large which may be responsible for the physical universe to be functioning in accordance with mathematically precise laws.

ANALOGIES:
The following parallels with other physical facts come to mind:

(a) Phosphorescence & luminescence: When radiation of shorter wavelengths falls on certain substances, the substances emit visible light immediately or after some time. Likewise when the UTF falls on a complex cerebral system, it emits thoughts of one kind or another.

(b) One of the subtlest entities in the physical universe is the neutrino, which does not interact with ordinary matter through gravitation, strong, or electromagnetic interaction. Being involved only in the weak interaction, it is extremely difficult to detect it. The UTF is subtler by far than the neutrino, and may therefore (if it be purely physical) it may be far more difficult to detect.



Prof. Varadaraja V. Raman
Physics Department, Rochester Institute of Technology
e-mail VVRSPS@ritvax.isc.rit.edu



KARL JASPERS FORUM
Target Artcle 39
ON A RESONANCE THEORY OF THOUGHT AND SPIRITUALITY
by Varadaraja V. Raman
18 June 2001, posted 21 August 2001
 


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: brain; consciousness; faithandphilosophy; mind; quantumfields; spirit; spirituality; thought
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Am writing an article on the physical basis of consciousness, and invite FReeper input in regard to all questions of evidence and method.

This article from Prof. Raman is an extraordinarily elegant outline of where I think I want to go with this. Your feedback is invited and much appreciated!

1 posted on 08/02/2003 4:43:59 PM PDT by betty boop
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To: Alamo-Girl; unspun; Phaedrus; ALS; Doctor Stochastic; RightWhale; RadioAstronomer; js1138; ...
Your help with this is so appreciated!
2 posted on 08/02/2003 4:46:57 PM PDT by betty boop (We can have either human dignity or unfettered liberty, but not both. -- Dean Clancy)
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To: betty boop
Just remember the Mantra, and you'll be fine.

Don't have a Mantra?
No need to worry, we have all kinds. Come on down to
USED MANTRA WAREHOUSE. TM tm.personel continually
bring their old mantras in and get new ones,
Take advantage of this naturally occuring process.
Their loss is YOUR gain!
Just follow this thread back down to the primal depths
of your conscience, there somewhere between this life and the last you'll find,.....USED MANTRA WAREHOUSE !!

Actually this is a good thread, I'll follow it.
3 posted on 08/02/2003 4:51:12 PM PDT by tet68
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To: betty boop
But a PTF cannot be transmitted from one brain to another without a material medium, such as sound, writing, signs, etc.

An excellent treatise.

I have to disagree with the quote above.

I have had more than one experience of knowing what someone else was thinking...relatives, friends and strangers.

4 posted on 08/02/2003 4:57:13 PM PDT by JimVT
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To: betty boop
"(b) Every thought generated in the brain creates its own particular thought field (PTF)."

Which is why I never go anywhere without my tin-foil hat.
5 posted on 08/02/2003 4:57:36 PM PDT by The Radical Capitalist
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To: betty boop
My sister would like this, but then she liked the sixties better than I did. She named one of her cats "Arjuna" after the Baghavad Gita character.
6 posted on 08/02/2003 4:58:47 PM PDT by VadeRetro
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To: betty boop
Try this http://www.consciousness.arizona.edu/hameroff/
7 posted on 08/02/2003 5:02:48 PM PDT by mfulstone
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To: betty boop
Thought is one aspect of the mental phenomena. What else is there to confuse the issue? Memory, consciousness, reflection, self-awareness, forethought, opinion, intention, feelings, and a little, probably unimportant sub-phenomenon: thought eventually moves muscles and machines.
8 posted on 08/02/2003 5:05:31 PM PDT by RightWhale (Destroy the dark; restore the light)
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To: JimVT
I have had more than one experience of knowing what someone else was thinking

We all have. But you knew I would state that.

9 posted on 08/02/2003 5:07:16 PM PDT by RightWhale (Destroy the dark; restore the light)
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To: betty boop
Impressive work and sure to change the face of science forever! Because of that, expect swift resistance to change from the industry.

After-thoughts: The Uncertainty Principle meets her long lost cousin? The fly in the I-Thought-I-ment? Propagation of the id?
10 posted on 08/02/2003 5:09:17 PM PDT by ALS (http://designeduniverse.com Featuring original works by FR's finest . contact me to add yours!)
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To: RightWhale
....thought eventually moves muscles and machines.

Hold that thought, RightWhale. May God bless you for noticing that what we think can have actual physical impact on the world around us, natural/physical and social/special.

IMHO FWIW this is precisely the question that thinking people need to be thinking about, these days.

11 posted on 08/02/2003 5:41:40 PM PDT by betty boop (We can have either human dignity or unfettered liberty, but not both. -- Dean Clancy)
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To: ALS
Impressive work and sure to change the face of science forever!

Your confidence in new-agey suppositions is awe-inspiring.

If you like that one there are at least a hundred more like it in any New Age "library", including variations pinning their imaginations on crystals, photons, quantum fields, ghosts, karma, Universal spirit, chakras, chi, psi, Akashic record, magick, archetypes, the stars, auras, etc.

So far, they've all been remarkably unsuccessful at "changing the face of science forever".

12 posted on 08/02/2003 5:46:10 PM PDT by Ichneumon
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To: tet68
Actually this is a good thread, I'll follow it.

Truly I hope you will tet68. You are an important presence at this table, and I welcome your thoughts and the benefit of your experience at all times.

13 posted on 08/02/2003 5:46:53 PM PDT by betty boop (We can have either human dignity or unfettered liberty, but not both. -- Dean Clancy)
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To: RightWhale
Only to the extent of the parameters defined by previous experience could you know these things.
14 posted on 08/02/2003 5:48:32 PM PDT by Shanty Shaker
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To: betty boop
I keep wondering what possible difference there could be between something that can interact with the physical and something that is physical.
15 posted on 08/02/2003 5:57:44 PM PDT by js1138
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To: Ichneumon; betty boop
Let me get this straight. You are telling us you suddenly found Jesus?

Or is it more like you see another threat to your evo-religion. You should embrace all science, and if you really were interested in true science, you would be ecstatic to see your theory of choice be subjected to any and all falsifications.

History is strewn with beard tugging scoffers that held up the progress of humanity because they were so entrenched in their own industry they viewed anything else as a threat.

That ain't science, bud.
16 posted on 08/02/2003 5:58:32 PM PDT by ALS (http://designeduniverse.com Featuring original works by FR's finest . contact me to add yours!)
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To: JimVT
But a PTF cannot be transmitted from one brain to another without a material medium, such as sound, writing, signs, etc.

You wrote you didn't like this, Jim; though you were inclined to be sympathetic with the statement of the argument "up 'til then".

When I read this piece for the first time, instantly (just as you did), I flashed on the problem of brain-to-brain trasnmission, as presently described by state-of-the-art science. Yet suffice it to say that presently the public record reports a vast variety of "brain experiences" that cannot be explained at all by present scientific methods.

Thinking the problem through further, the man did say "sign" is as valid a mode of communication as language, writing, et al. He hasn't shut the door on your concern at all.

I hope we can explore such questions on this thread, and that you would be willing to contribute your insights.

17 posted on 08/02/2003 6:04:18 PM PDT by betty boop (We can have either human dignity or unfettered liberty, but not both. -- Dean Clancy)
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To: betty boop
Can you clarify the connection of "spirituality", in "ON A RESONANCE THEORY OF THOUGHT AND SPIRITUALITY." I'm not sure if you use the word to explain the "unseen" or what?
18 posted on 08/02/2003 6:09:19 PM PDT by wwcj
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To: js1138
I keep wondering what possible difference there could be between something that can interact with the physical and something that is physical.

Because not to see the difference between them is to deny a fundamental truth of reality -- which is, the two terms never were equivalent in the first place. They describe two distinct, fundamental orders of being, whose mutual relation makes possible the universe in which we live and move and have our being.

Since the ancient Greeks, the two orders have been described as the "physical" and the "noetic" (from nous, mind, reason). To certain Greeks, mind was omnipresent in all aspects of universal nature.

I regard that as a classical cultural clue that it might be profitable for us humans to revisit and consider these days. Especially given the presently-prevailing objective condition of general cultural disorder and mayhem.

Can't say more now. Thanks so much for sharing your view, js1138.

19 posted on 08/02/2003 6:20:58 PM PDT by betty boop (We can have either human dignity or unfettered liberty, but not both. -- Dean Clancy)
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To: betty boop
BettyBoop, there is one key element that is missing here. But it hinges on your reply to my first response.
20 posted on 08/02/2003 6:23:06 PM PDT by wwcj
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