Neuroscience and a TRUE Theory of Everything

Welcome world! Checking in again, especially in light of the tone of the last post.

Although this will prove to be an overall departure from the direction taken in the last post, it is definitely a follow-up and extension of it. First off, this is by no means the lowest point in my life; indeed that last portion from summer 07 to Spring 08 might certainly best characterize this.

Things are proceeding very well in fact: don't get me wrong, I DO miss Jess a lot, but things with her and between us are going well, and I'm going on just fine in her absence. But it IS only the first week ... Anyway, it seems that I at the moment (and often I should) have more pressing priorities. I've been intellectually fallow over the past couple (well maybe more than a couple) years without direction and partaking in FAR too much mindless activity. This semester I chose to take the class Philosophy and Neuroscience both because neuroscience would probably characterize best my area of interest, but also because of conversations with my friend Toby over the importance of Philosophy, especially in light of scientific research, and certainly cognition is my prime area of scientific interest. What I expected from this class was something not too different from what Philosophy of the Mind had to offer, but with more emphasis on scientific discoveries, perhaps in view with Cognitive Psychology. But, overall, I expected just the same postulation of possible models of mental activity that I've already been exposed to, which is certainly interesting, but nothing that gets my wheels turning too excitedly and something I wouldn't feel bad about dropping at any moment I get a job out in California.

And while that IS partly true for the course, it appears that it will include a good deal more in terms of actual scientific accounts of consciousness and cognition rather than what I expected: that being models of awareness and thought loosely based off these. Beyond that even, I was in my earlier years a greater proponent of philosophic thinking and i think that all my science fact-heavy classes I failed to remember just what thinking philosophically involves and its merits, not to mention that all the moral systems and models of evolution leading to human responsibility and the supposition of the ultimate coming together of all in love and joy (based on my religious/spiritual readings) is in fact purely philosophy in itself. In seems, in fact, that I am a philosopher and never knew it, or at least have failed to acknowledge it lately. Afterall, I recall once having a yahoo email "mrphilosopherman@yahoo.com" based off Josh Joplin's Mr. Television Man. But really, at the level of a high schooler, fed up with all his readings and content just to evaluate the world in terms of logic and supposition rather than further reading and gathering of facts, this is not altogether unsurprising. Regardless, I AM upset that I allowed, well at least the questioning and critical thinking tied to this to dissipate simply because I have reached what I believed to be final conclusion, hit brick walls, and became altogether overwhelmed with life.

Anyway, to return to the topic at hand, this class is just what that doctor ordered to the point where I am glad things worked out the way they did (in fact I might even lend credence to fate in this instance). I know it will be an intellectual shot in the arm (just look at this blog! Writing in it in the absence of an emotive motivator!), it will point me in the direction of a final area of interest and perhaps research, and it will prepare me to reach this determined goal. Lastly, it focuses most heavily on the idea of experience and "what it's like to be something that is having an experience," rather than compiling and modeling off of loosely collected and understood ideas, and it looks like it will do so with a very strong focus on the recent discoveries in the field. It touches on things that I didn't realize were so widely talked about, but had always held my interest, such as the quantum mechanical basis to consciousness and the idea of neural synchrony (the idea of complex energy aggregates has been a topic floating in my mind for a time and resonance). So this is very exciting and holds a lot of promise for me both for deciding and mentally readying myself for my future plans (not to mentions killing off the mindlessness I've recognized to have plagued my brain the past ... oh it's been too long...), but of course it's frustrating to hold myself down here another semester...

Oh well, Jess seems happy taking the dogs for hikes, and I know we will both progress in the time we're apart (though, again, I really really miss her :-\ , but more time to enlighten this spark! ... yea it's gotta be fate :-D Jess seems to always know what's needed at just the right time). I have to go out for another pick-up now, and this seems like a good enough place to conclude for now, but look forward to this becoming an ongoing forum for the transmission of my thoughts on life in general, but especially in the context of the human mind, and THAT especially in the context of my continued effort to discern and spell out whether there is a most fulfilling way to live one's life, what that is, how to go about living it, and what the final outcome of one's efforts / everything will be.