Epiphenomenalism Update

5 Comments

1. Mike
   September 17, 2016 @ 6:23 pm

   I don’t get enough of this stuff! I’m reading now The Ego Tunnel by Thomas Metzinger, and it feels to me like the exponential neuro-study of consciousness is now so close behind direct (spiritual) mindfulness/inquiry that Consciousness is having its Revolution as we speak (i type!). And I use “revolution” illustratively. After it became evident that the Earth – revolved – around the sun, the ease of internally modeling it that way took some time (and yet we can still “experience” the opposite). It’s science-evident now that all aspects of conscious experience are subsequent to unconscious/impersonal processes. The “separate” experience of organisms are just a “simultaneity of input” projection on the walls of a “reality tunnel”, which is tunneled out of Reality to give a more limited/manageable “virtual” reality. (The “ego tunnel” is the further simulation of a driver to expedite the simulating itself!) With neuroscience and a fully populating Earth, “experience” of separation has run out of room and is bumping up against its own walls! As Fred says, the only “free” choice is to recognize our true nature (with ever less room left to provide the “space” for that freedom – “make” it while “you” can!). And then even the reality tunnel can be experienced as a fun ride. The little not-man can’t keep from peeping (being peeped) through the curtain anymore!

   • Fred Davis
     September 17, 2016 @ 7:37 pm

     This is great, Mike. Thank you. And I essentially agree.

2. Kieron
   September 22, 2016 @ 6:23 am

   Very interesting Mike.
   Found this on youtube. It’s an 8-minute overview of some of his work.

   The Ego Tunnel: Prof. Dr. Thomas Metzinger at TED
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFjY1fAcESs

3. Kathleen
   October 3, 2016 @ 4:26 pm

   As I suspected, we have no free will. The illusion is interesting, though.

   • Fred Davis
     October 3, 2016 @ 5:20 pm

     Yes, it is. Because the truth is that there’s no one there to either have or not have free will. Within the dream free will seems apparent, so we keep on doing what we’ve never been doing the same way we’ve never been doing it. It’s only on the Universal level that free will is seen to be a crock, and our experience is played out on the relative level. 😉

     Authentic spirituality is roughly half about Truth and half about the dream that’s unfurling from Truth.