The next Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference will take place in Tucson, AZ from April 9-14, 2012.
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WHAT IS CONSCIOUSNESS?
Is consciousness produced by a complex arrangement of billions of neurons, mind emerging from the matter of the brain? Or is it embedded at the deepest level of the universe, a quantum effect? Could machines eventually become conscious? Where does creativity come from? How do we transform our consciousness?
The Consciousness Chronicles is an ongoing DVD documentary series featuring in-depth interviews with some of the world's leading consciousness researchers from all disciplines: scientific, philosophical, experiential and mystical. The Chronicles are recorded at the annual Toward a Science of Consciousness conference, based in Tucson, AZ.
Covering a wide range of topics, such as neuroscience, quantum physics, altered states, time, sex, and artificial intelligence, these conversations cast new light on our understanding of ourselves, reality, and the universe itself.
For anyone curious to go deeper into the mysteries of consciousness, the Chronicles are a must-have resource!
"Enlightening and groundbreaking" ~ The New Consciousness Review
CHRONICLES 2 - THE PERFECT GIFT FOR THE CONSCIOUSLY MINDED!
The latest edition featuring four diverse yet connected areas of consciousness exploration:
• ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE SINGULARITY
• CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE BODY
• SEX AND CONSCIOUSNESS
• CREATIVITY
• ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE SINGULARITY
Could a super intelligent computer become conscious? And if it did, could it then go on to design an even more intelligent machine that in turn would do the same, and so on? Does the evolution of consciousness inevitably lead to artificial intelligence? And if self aware intelligence can exist outside of biology, what are the implications for humanity?
AI pioneers Ben Goertzel, Anirban Bandypadyhay and Harmut Neven believe it's only a matter of time before these ideas become reality, while David Chalmers returns to cast his keen philosopher's eye on the subject. Watch their interviews in Chronicles 2.
• CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE BODY
Does consciousness need to be embodied? How do we recognize where the body ends and the rest of the world begins? How can avatar imaging technology utilize the brain's willingness to accept facsimile limbs as its own in order to help stroke and traumatic injury patients?
Neuroscience researchers Henrik Ehrsson and Frédérique de Vignemont are discovering just how essential embodiment can be.
• CONSCIOUSNESS AND SEX
What is neuroscience learning about sex? What's happening during an orgasm? Can sex become a portal to raising our consciousness? How can sexual energy be fully realized and integrated into daily life, beyond the old paradigms of what is culturally acceptable?
Researchers Jenny Wade, Torsten Passie, Kleopatra Ormos and Barry Komisaruk shed new light on a subject not only fundamental to our very existence, but also central to our experience of being human.
• CONSCIOUSNESS AND CREATIVITY
Where do ideas come from? Can we even claim authorship for inspiration that arises unbidden from our unconscious mind? How does science fiction inform and lead the way for actual science? How do art and consciousness affect each other? Why does the mind so easily accept the obvious artifice of a movie?
Acclaimed science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer, artist Robert Pepperell, and film and stage director James Kerwin talk about the role of consciousness in their work, and how creativity and consciousness are inextricably connected.
CHRONICLES 1 - TRAILER
In the first DVD in the series, we explore four exciting areas:
• WHAT IS CONSCIOUSNESS?
• ALTERED STATES
• CONSCIOUSNESS AND TIME
• QUANTUM THEORY
For speaker bios and video previews, click on the name.
• WHAT IS CONSCIOUSNESS?
In this overview of the subject, philosopher David Chalmers outlines some of the challenges confronting consciousness researchers, including what he has termed the "hard problem" -- how does the brain give rise to subjective awareness and experience?
Philosopher and author Susan Blackmore proposes that science will need to include subjective experience to make any progress in understanding consciousness.
• ALTERED STATES
In this exploration into a fascinating subject, we ask what is an "altered state" of consciousness? What can we learn about consciousness from states induced by meditation, psychedelics and hypnosis? What is science discovering about the shamanic medicine ayahuasca? What are the conditions and practices for the transformation of consciousness?
Featuring leading researchers in the field: IONS director Marilyn Schlitz, psychologist Arthur Hastings, neuroscientist and long-term meditator Zoran Josipovic, pioneering ayahuasca researcher Frank Echenhofer, and zoologist and leading psychedelics expert Thomas Ray.
• TIME AND CONSCIOUSNESS
Could time be an illusion? Does consciousness exist only in the present moment, or is it more like a wave flowing from the future into the past? Does consciousness extend in time and space? What is the scientific evidence for presentiment? Does our perception of linear time flowing conceal a deeper reality only accessible through quantum physics?
In this major section we interview pioneering biologist Rupert Sheldrake, physicist Harald Atmanspacher and neuroscientists Dick Bierman and John Jacobson.
• AN INTRODUCTION TO QUANTUM PHYSICS AND CONSCIOUSNESS
Does the brain rely on quantum effects such as entanglement and superposition for consciousness to arise? Could these effects be taking place within microtubules, the complex subsctructure found inside cells and neurons? Could consciousness itself be a fundamental property of the universe, embedded at the Planck scale of reality, or even deeper?
In their controversial hypothesis, British physicist Sir Roger Penrose and consciousness theorist Stuart Hameroff propose what they call Orchestrated Objective Reduction (Orch. OR)- where each moment of consciousness is a collapse of spacetime itself.
As this is such an important and fascinating topic, we will return to it in greater depth in a future Chronicles Special Edition, featuring Roger Penrose and Stuart Hameroff in conversation. |
ALL IN THE MIND?
The phenomenon of consciousness is fundamental to our existence, yet it remains the most profound mystery we can imagine.
Down through the ages, generations of scientists, philosophers, mystics and poets have gone in search for a deeper understanding of consciousness and the true nature of reality, whether through scientific research, reasoning or introspection.
Western biologists and neuroscientists have studied brains down to the atomic level, but so far an enduring theory of consciousness that combines the physical with the phenomenological remains tantalizingly elusive. Philosopher David Chalmers has called this the "hard problem" of consciousness.
The ancient Eastern contemplative traditions utilized the mind itself as an instrument of exploration, perfecting methods such as meditation to reveal what has been called our true inner nature.
Some theorists even speculate that consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe, that consciousness may be all there is, and the mind/matter divide is an illusion - albeit a compelling one - something that Einstein alluded to.
It may be that we will never fully comprehend what consciousness is beyond our subjective experience of it. But the quest to know itself remains irresistible to the inquiring human mind!
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Marilyn
