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i-b-goB
Social climber
Wise Acres
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Nov 13, 2016 - 02:46pm PT
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Here's another way...
Meditation: A Key to Hearing God
Psalm 19:7-14
Meditation means different things to different people. For some, it is a time of introspection and self-empowerment. To Christians, however, meditation has an altogether different meaning. And despite the various ways the word is used, it is something we believers must take seriously in our walk of faith.
Simply put, meditation is the practice of thinking about God in all of His fullness, and asking questions such as:
• Who is God?
• How does He work in my life?
• What does Scripture say about Him?
• How has He shown faithfulness to me?
• How has He made Himself known?
When we meditate on the Word of God, His Spirit directs our thinking as we seek earnestly to know Him better. Often, the discipline will include wrestling with spiritual principles, which the Lord uses to build a firm foundation in our life. It may even involve a time of repentance, as He reveals truth and moves us to yearn for a Christ-centered mindset. Or, meditation could lead to healing if God shows us areas of our heart that need His touch. When we take time to set our mind on Him, the Lord will direct our thoughts.
This week, reserve a half-hour to sit quietly or take a walk. Dedicate that time to focusing your attention on God and letting Him speak to you. You will find this pause in your routine rewarding and exciting as you give yourself over to His presence.https://www.intouch.org/read/magazine/daily-devotions/meditation-a-key-to-hearing-god
"And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God."
Luke 6:12
If ever one of woman born might have lived without prayer, it was our spotless, perfect Lord, and yet none was ever so much in supplication as he! Such was his love to his Father, that he loved much to be in communion with him: such his love for his people, that he desired to be much in intercession for them. The fact of this eminent prayerfulness of Jesus is a lesson for us--he hath given us an example that we may follow in his steps. The time he chose was admirable, it was the hour of silence, when the crowd would not disturb him; the time of inaction, when all but himself had ceased to labour; and the season when slumber made men forget their woes, and cease their applications to him for relief. While others found rest in sleep, he refreshed himself with prayer. The place was also well selected. He was alone where none would intrude, where none could observe: thus was he free from Pharisaic ostentation and vulgar interruption. Those dark and silent hills were a fit oratory for the Son of God. Heaven and earth in midnight stillness heard the groans and sighs of the mysterious Being in whom both worlds were blended. The continuance of his pleadings is remarkable; the long watches were not too long; the cold wind did not chill his devotions; the grim darkness did not darken his faith, or loneliness check his importunity. We cannot watch with him one hour, but he watched for us whole nights. The occasion for this prayer is notable; it was after his enemies had been enraged--prayer was his refuge and solace; it was before he sent forth the twelve apostles--prayer was the gate of his enterprise, the herald of his new work. Should we not learn from Jesus to resort to special prayer when we are under peculiar trial, or contemplate fresh endeavours for the Master's glory? Lord Jesus, teach us to pray.
CHARLES SPURGEON
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MikeL
Social climber
Southern Arizona
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Nov 13, 2016 - 06:20pm PT
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MH2: Studies of the anatomy and physiology of the nervous system will show you how it changes during experiences. Some of the changes are short-lived and others are lasting.
Perhaps . . . the nervous system. Not mind.
It would seem far less significant if the website boasted: “Changing Nervous Systems”
Jgill:
Everything is real.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Nov 13, 2016 - 07:35pm PT
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Word play . . . weak sauce
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zBrown
Ice climber
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Nov 13, 2016 - 07:54pm PT
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Serendipity?
I just checked in and discovered that mind is neurons.
I'll be back to see how the filing in of the details goes.
I would surmise that it gets pretty hairy.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Nov 13, 2016 - 08:34pm PT
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^^^^ Holy smoke!
Overwhelming.
Margaret Boden
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MH2
Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
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Nov 13, 2016 - 08:56pm PT
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For Heinrich Himmler's wife, see Margarete Himmler.
Good that Margaret Boden has a sense of humor.
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zBrown
Ice climber
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Nov 13, 2016 - 09:21pm PT
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Don't think I'll find a demonstration of the equivalence of mind and neurons nor much evidence of how one might explain the other in there.
There is an enormous amount to look through though.
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MH2
Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
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Nov 13, 2016 - 09:24pm PT
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Don't think I'll find a demonstration of the equivalence of mind and neurons
Neurons are always found where a mind is. Give us a demonstration of mind in the absence of neurons.
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zBrown
Ice climber
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Nov 13, 2016 - 09:27pm PT
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How can that be done? Give us a demonstration of a mind in the presence of neurons.
I can give you instances where there are neurons and very little evidence of mind, so that would obviate the equivalence if true, but until there is an acceptable method of demonstration it 's taking us nowhere fast.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Nov 13, 2016 - 10:00pm PT
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Wrap your mind around this . . .
Dodomeki in Disneyland
Sweet dreams, mortals . . .
Mind ⇒ Neurons
Neurons ⁄⇒ Mind
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WBraun
climber
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Nov 14, 2016 - 07:24am PT
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The gross materialists always make the fatal mistake of speculating they ARE the hardware
because they themselves are ultimately clueless to who they really are .....
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MikeL
Social climber
Southern Arizona
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Nov 14, 2016 - 07:50am PT
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I’d be a bit more skeptical of what you think the advances made in cognitive science are. There continue to be the most basic issues unresolved in the field. There are theories, and there are empirical research studies that do not quite tidy things up.
We weren’t able to say how knowledge gets represented, what the operators are to manipulate information or how they really work (mental models, network theories), what constitutes similarity, how metaphors and analogies work, how categories are generated and work, how physical sensations get translated (transduced, really) into symbolic language and then into dynamic mental models, autonomic systems, and so on. For a while folks thought that a computer was a reasonable model for cognition. But that model has been undercut and seems generally considered a failure. It’s used as much as it is among regular people because computers are ubiquitous, and we think we generally understand those. A fair amount of research studies have been showing that cognition is embodied, that its bases extends beyond the brain or neurons (viz., a body is a necessary element in the most basic cognitive processes).
Like everything else, we have theories—and plenty of journals to publish our research. But at the end of the day, we still don’t know anything finally, accurately, or completely about cognition. And that’s fine. We’re making our paychecks, generating interest, and having fun talking among ourselves, just like we do here. (Isn’t this fun?)
Then, there are, as Go-B points out above, many other issues about mind and experience that don’t fall into a box called, “cognition.” Nothing stands alone, independently, separately. The links between so-called objects in the world, sensations, physical processes, symbolic language and concepts, understanding, meaning, mind, and finally experience are all missing. Each one of these fields of investigation are speculative and incomplete, and how they all come together to say what experience is and how it happens so far appears to be beyond our abilities to get our heads and hands around it.
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WBraun
climber
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Nov 14, 2016 - 08:08am PT
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When the living entity vibrates the transcendental sound vibrations it can then scientifically understand and prove God exists.
The transcendental sound vibrations will change the DNA of the living entity.
The modern gross materialists also understand this science except they NEVER vibrate the transcendent sound vibrations.
They vibrate all the material energies that control the living entities to keep them in bondage unknowingly.
This is their defect unknowingly due to their incomplete consciousness of gross materialism is all in all.
The military uses this knowledge exclusively (vibrating the material energies) to manipulate and subdue their so called enemies ......
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MH2
Boulder climber
Andy Cairns
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Nov 14, 2016 - 10:42am PT
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How can that be done? Give us a demonstration of a mind in the presence of neurons.
I can give you instances where there are neurons and very little evidence of mind, so that would obviate the equivalence if true, but until there is an acceptable method of demonstration it 's taking us nowhere fast.
You are right. I should not turn your rhetorical device back against you.
I don't know what you mean by mind or evidence of mind. Do the neurons need to produce a sonnet, or is the bar for mind lower than that?
My feeling is that the question, "What is mind?" is an overly simple one and deserves a simple answer.
What do you mean by an equivalence of mind with neurons?
I would say that neurons are the biological components of a mind. They are a way that nature has found to deal with the sorts of problems animals face trying to move around in the world, find food, avoid being eaten, and reproduce. In a similar way, transistors are components of a computer. I would not say they are equivalent to the computer but maybe you would?
Other components than transistors can do computations and probably other components than neurons could implement whatever you mean by mind.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Nov 14, 2016 - 02:51pm PT
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When the living entity vibrates the transcendental sound vibrations it can then scientifically understand and prove God exists (Duck)
OK. Now I see why you asked if I was dead 40+ years ago. Makes perfect sense.
Go-B, I resent that the philosophy symbol in your figure is at the top. It should be at the bottom, being the least productive.
viz., a body is a necessary element in the most basic cognitive processes
So cognition would not be available to someone lying in bed paralyzed from the neck down? Insightful.
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MikeL
Social climber
Southern Arizona
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Nov 14, 2016 - 04:18pm PT
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Jgill: So cognition would not be available to someone lying in bed paralyzed from the neck down?
It’s not quite that simple.
From . . . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embodied_cognition
By using the term embodied we mean to highlight two points: first that cognition depends upon the kinds of experience that come from having a body with various sensorimotor capacities, and second, that these individual sensorimotor capacities are themselves embedded in a more encompassing biological, psychological and cultural context.
— Eleanor Rosch, Evan Thompson, Francisco J. Varela: The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience pages 172–173
In viewing cognition as embedded or situated, embodied cognitive science emphasizes feedback between an agent and the world. We have seen that this feedback is structured by the nature of an agent's body...This in turn suggests that agents with different kinds of bodies can be differentiated in terms of degrees of embodiment...Embodiment can be defined as the extent to which an agent can alter its environment.
— Michael Dawson: Degrees of embodiment; The Routledge Handbook of Embodied Cognition, page 62
It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that cognition consists simply of building maximally accurate representations of input information...the gaining of knowledge is a stepping stone to achieving the more immediate goal of guiding behavior in response to the system's changing surroundings.
— Marcin Miłkowski: Explaining the Computational Mind, p. 4
Many features of cognition are embodied in that they are deeply dependent upon characteristics of the physical body of an agent, such that the agent's beyond-the-brain body plays a significant causal role, or a physically constitutive role, in that agent's cognitive processing.
—RA Wilson and L Foglia, "Embodied Cognition" in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Cognitive science calls this entire philosophical worldview into serious question on empirical grounds... [the mind] arises from the nature of our brains, bodies, and bodily experiences. This is not just the innocuous and obvious claim that we need a body to reason; rather, it is the striking claim that the very structure of reason itself comes from the details of our embodiment... Thus, to understand reason we must understand the details of our visual system, our motor system, and the general mechanism of neural binding.
— George Lakoff and Rafeal Núñez from https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/a-brief-guide-to-embodied-cognition-why-you-are-not-your-brain/
(A few years later Lakoff and Nunez published “Where Mathematics Comes From” to argue at great length that higher mathematics is also grounded in the body and embodied metaphorical thought).
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