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 >> MORE

  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; but what makes each of us unique is our particular brand of curiosity and imagination.  This signature combo, which defines our >> MORE

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 mysterious reasons, unknown persons reconsecrated it to a god." Suddenly, I was contemplating the overwhelming archeological and historical >> MORE

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 I had never heard of called Platybelodon (dinosaurs are a bit like technologies and diseases; they keep discovering new ones). >> MORE

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 romantic interest (he's happily married), nor because he lived nearby -in fact he'd gone a half hour out of his way.  He simply chose to >> MORE