On Father's Day the MetaQuizzical Cafe hosted Dr. Marilyn Schlitz, CEO and president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) an organization that conducts research on consciousness and other cutting-edge phenomena. IONS was started by Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell. His cathartic experience of being on the moon and looking back at the Earth compelled him to found the organization. Marilyn is a compelling speaker who told heartfelt stories about how we perceive reality. She also told about us about her own unique background and how she joined the Institute of Noetic Sciences.
Marilyn spoke about the fascinating research they conduct about many things, including where the seat of consciousness resides. She said that evidence indicates it may not be in the brain, but in a 'field' outside the brain. Rather like the 'cloud' in the new computer era, the brain acts more like a receiver or an antennae where the information flows through. This really spoke to me deeply. When I was 22 years old I fell three stories off a roof. As I was falling through the air time slowed down, and I remember being outside my body looking at the back of my own head with my arms up in the air! I thought I was dead, but I came right back in my body when I hit the ground cursing expletives about my accident. This experience has haunted me all these years, so when Marilyn spoke about the 'field theory' of consciousness it resonated with me! I've been to the 'field' and back again.
I applaud IONS for their research in these areas. It has profound implications about the true nature of life and death.
We also screened the music video of "Said the Dark to the Light" made for us earlier this year by "Shot of Life Creative Studio" in Paris. (Watch it now!) I closed the 'Cafe' with a rousing audience sing-a-long of my tune "Macro to Micro" which is rapidly becoming the song I use to bring people together around science and the spiritual feelings new discoveries engender.
Our double-header with IONS began on Sunday, June 12th with Dr. Cassandra Vieten, Director of Research. Our topic of the day was: "Are we waking from our evolutionary adolescence?"
Cassi brought an excellent power point presentation that had some fascinating moments. One film clip had people in black and white T-shirts passing basketballs back and forth. Cassi asked us to count how many times the people in white t-shirts got the ball. In the middle of the video someone in a gorilla suit comes into the screen for a few moments then leaves. Hardly anyone noticed the gorilla! The point being that when we look at the world we tend to see only what we WANT to see, (or are told to see) and miss things even as obvious as a gorilla! This colors all our perceptions and keeps us from understanding/accepting the whole view.
I performed a new tune of mine titled and inspired by Dr. Timothy Ferris' great book about science history "Coming of Age in the Milky Way". The audience enthusiastically sang out the chorus peopled in part by our wonderful new friends Genevieve Conaty, and her fiance' Tim. Many members of their families came up from the peninsula to see the show.
Genevieve also sang her tune "In Your Cell", a satirical piece about cloning her boyfriend to get him back. (Read the lyrics.) She's a very clever writer with a good sense of humor. The implications of the biological revolution has so many things to consider and Genevieve does that well. Her line "Who'd have thought Hell could be so small", is both funny and meaty as we go into the future unprepared for the huge issues that will appear as we mess with genes, DNA and all the other messy stuff of biology.
I finished the show with a sing-a-long of Cat Stevens "Moon Shadow" whose lyrics of optimism in the face of loss capped the show on consciousness perfectly.
Marilyn spoke about the fascinating research they conduct about many things, including where the seat of consciousness resides. She said that evidence indicates it may not be in the brain, but in a 'field' outside the brain. Rather like the 'cloud' in the new computer era, the brain acts more like a receiver or an antennae where the information flows through. This really spoke to me deeply. When I was 22 years old I fell three stories off a roof. As I was falling through the air time slowed down, and I remember being outside my body looking at the back of my own head with my arms up in the air! I thought I was dead, but I came right back in my body when I hit the ground cursing expletives about my accident. This experience has haunted me all these years, so when Marilyn spoke about the 'field theory' of consciousness it resonated with me! I've been to the 'field' and back again.
I applaud IONS for their research in these areas. It has profound implications about the true nature of life and death.
We also screened the music video of "Said the Dark to the Light" made for us earlier this year by "Shot of Life Creative Studio" in Paris. (Watch it now!) I closed the 'Cafe' with a rousing audience sing-a-long of my tune "Macro to Micro" which is rapidly becoming the song I use to bring people together around science and the spiritual feelings new discoveries engender.
Our double-header with IONS began on Sunday, June 12th with Dr. Cassandra Vieten, Director of Research. Our topic of the day was: "Are we waking from our evolutionary adolescence?"
Cassi brought an excellent power point presentation that had some fascinating moments. One film clip had people in black and white T-shirts passing basketballs back and forth. Cassi asked us to count how many times the people in white t-shirts got the ball. In the middle of the video someone in a gorilla suit comes into the screen for a few moments then leaves. Hardly anyone noticed the gorilla! The point being that when we look at the world we tend to see only what we WANT to see, (or are told to see) and miss things even as obvious as a gorilla! This colors all our perceptions and keeps us from understanding/accepting the whole view.
I performed a new tune of mine titled and inspired by Dr. Timothy Ferris' great book about science history "Coming of Age in the Milky Way". The audience enthusiastically sang out the chorus peopled in part by our wonderful new friends Genevieve Conaty, and her fiance' Tim. Many members of their families came up from the peninsula to see the show.
Genevieve also sang her tune "In Your Cell", a satirical piece about cloning her boyfriend to get him back. (Read the lyrics.) She's a very clever writer with a good sense of humor. The implications of the biological revolution has so many things to consider and Genevieve does that well. Her line "Who'd have thought Hell could be so small", is both funny and meaty as we go into the future unprepared for the huge issues that will appear as we mess with genes, DNA and all the other messy stuff of biology.
I finished the show with a sing-a-long of Cat Stevens "Moon Shadow" whose lyrics of optimism in the face of loss capped the show on consciousness perfectly.