Topics from the book,
Existence and

“With clarity and quiet, I look upon the world and say: all that I see, hear, taste, smell, and touch are the creations of my mind. The sun comes up and the sun goes down in my skull. Out of one of my temples, the sun arises and out of the other, the sun sets. The stars shine in my brain: ideas, men, animals browse in my temporal head: songs and weeping fill the twisted shells of my ears and storm the air for a moment. My brain blots out, and all, the heavens and the earth, vanish. My mind shouts, “Only I exist”  Nikos Kazantzakis [i]

In the Beginning

The Meaning of Mind

Karma

Consciousness

The Viewer and the Viewed

Empathy and Compassion

Neuroscience

Neurophysiology of Consciousness

Human Origins

Beliefs, Illusions and Delusions

Surviving Human Nature

Inside and Outside

Who Am I ?

Innate Tendencies

Uncertainty

Modular Brain

Intelligence

Brain Computer Analogy

Brain as an Analogue Computer

Stephen Gislason MD, Author

Existence means standing out from or emerging from. Life is continuous emergence. Life is continuous interaction with planet earth. Existence is transformation of non-living materials to living beings.

Existence is unknowable without consciousnesses. Therefore, existence is the consciousness of continuous emergence from non-living materials to living beings. Consciousness is a self-reflection of existence.

Existence as continuous emergence is inevitable. The really real is flux. Life is always in crisis because there is no respite from continuous emergence. The flow of non-living molecules through the living body is continuous. Death occurs when this flow stops and consciousness ends. Existence is. But non-existence is not.

Each human is the reincarnation of a long-lineage of ancestors. Species memory, perceptual skills, needs, drives, feelings, desires and behaviors are built in and begin operating in utero. Humans evolved from primate ancestors and retained features of brain construction, mind and behavior that have been present in animals for hundreds of millions of years. Urges, desires, designs, feelings cry out from within and often surprise us, as if we were the hosts to wild animals and spirits within that refuse to be identified or tamed.

i] Kazantzakis, N. The Saviors of God. Spiritual Exercises. Translator Kimon Friar. 1960 Simon and Schuster.

Dr Gislason with Sunny, his advisor on inter-species affairs. 

From the Book Existence and

Book 1 in the Philosophical and Neuroscience Series

Stephen Gislason MD, Author