Consciousness is the great poem of matter. But consciousness isn’t really a response to the world, it's more of an opinion about it. As miscellaneous as our brain is, with many separate domains, we feel continuous, one mind, one life. How is that possible if the brain's a congress of specialists? The brain is a gifted illusionist. Here's one of its best tricks: I seem to perceive the winter woods today in lavish detail, because whatever I pay attention to looms, furiously present, and saturates my awareness. An ice storm >> MORE
What's New?
December 15th, 2008
Responses
- JamesD on Graciousness
- Natasha Israni on Algorhythms of Mystery
- Mango on Graciousness
- Mango on Algorhythms of Mystery
- Nona on Graciousness
Fibs of Being
By Diane AckermanCurioser and Curioser!
By Annie Lalla
What’s the latest book you've read?
Who catches your eye?
What do you ponder while falling asleep?
Inquiry is a quintessential human trait; >> MORE
Changing the Sex of God
By Leonard Shlain
At almost every sacred site on our Mediterranean tour the guide explained, "This used to be a shrine dedicated to the goddess, and then for >> MORE
Teaching to Learn
By Mary Catherine Bateson
When my daughter was 10, she took me to a video arcade to learn Pacman. More recently, her son (age 3) introduced me to a prehistoric creature >> MORE
Graciousness
By Catherine Black
One day I left Tai Chi practice in casual conversation with a classmate who walked me home 16 blocks without batting an eyelash. It wasn’t due to a >> MORE
