Why I Stopped Believing That The Human Brain Creates Consciousness

The reason I stopped believing 31 days ago (July 11, 2024) that consciousness depends solely on a functioning brain is twofold: 

1. There is a remarkable and growing body of interesting evidence in a few fledgling fields studying consciousness as acknowledged by Carl Sagan and Sam Harris. See my annotated list below. 

2. I suddenly realized I had a mental block—insisting that consciousness must work a certain way—instead of keeping my mind open

Fast with Sam Young for LDS Child Protection

This is a rigorous log of my participation with Sam Young in a fast for LDS Child Protection.

Documenting my Democracy Spring arrests

In 2016 I was arrested three times with Democracy Spring protesting for campaign finance reform (anti-corruption). Here I am documenting videos practicing love while protesting.

Proverbs

1. They had to kick out a coyote to build my condo.
2. Great concentrations of power are dangerous.
3. Who gets to say who
Can do what
About what somebody does
With this?
That is the whole question of human government and conflict.
4. I'm a time traveler. I've traveled to the future and I can tell you that it is not bleak. Americans finally have the Republic which they deserve and they have the ultimate say over every element and decision of society. Be not afraid because in time, all truth will be revealed. It will not be pleasant but it will be necessary in order to obtain true freedom.
I can give you the recipe for free. I must warn you though, it will change your life and redefine your reality so much so that your current reality will cease to exist. If you are ready then here it is....It might seem nonsensical, but I can guarantee you it will work. You must forgive your worst enemies completely, you must have compassion for them. Do something for them and tell them you were wrong and you forgive them. Then you must do several acts of kindness, random acts. Then you must acknowledge the fact that everything you think you know is wrong, and you must accept the fact that you will never know the entire truth. Just let go for you will see that all is not so, and it is simultaneously everything. Just realize that you are nothing and you are everything. Good luck. Although I know luck has nothing to do with it, because I have seen the future. (AnthonyG at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JbCvtJzsVI&lc=UgzcC0OMvE-74TA_bml4AaABAg.8_RLcjyhT9s8b1kyWK6_0O)

Blessed Are You

Blessed are you landlords who keep rent affordable instead of fix and flip.
Blessed are you leaders who push budgets local.
Blessed are you who choose work you care about instead of ransack and run.
Blessed are you who see yourself in your opponents and your opponents in yourself.

Homophobia

The first time I heard the word homophobia I felt misunderstood and mocked. After all, I was not afraid of homosexuals or homosexuality. As a devout and fervent Latter-day Saint, being opposed to homosexuality was part of being a good team player and a matter of my religious faith.

There is a Grown-up

There is a grown-up at home
Telling me what to do.
Do I hate the grown-up?
The grown-up is wise.
The grown-up loves me.

I am safe in the grown-up's care.
I love the grown-up.
I am thankful.
I am....

The Master's Money Rules v2016

This is the turnstyle that leads to eternal life, and there aren't many who find it. The arched double gate that leads to a living death is where the throngs pass. But you, go find the turnstyle and go in there.

Devise World Peace: Part 1, Consolation Payments

Under the premise that achieving world peace is largely a matter of using greater love to access greater creativity and ingenuity, this post explores the creative idea of using Consolation Payments as a device to create peace in an age of terrorism.

A Day At A Trump Rally (Protest)

On a whim this morning in bed I responded tardy to a last minute notice of a protest at a Trump rally.

The Near Death Experience and Me

The Near Death Experience changed my life.  I often say now that it is my religion.

More about a 12-hour to 6-week water fast

I've always had plenty of food to eat, and I was raised believing that fasting happened only once monthly for 24-hours as a religious practice.  So fasting for six weeks seemed superhuman.  But today, thanks to the internet and Youtube, I've found a comfortable understanding of the mysterious Biblical mentions of fasting and more.  And I've fasted as much as twelve days.

How I Participate Vicariously in the Near Death Experience

Dan Wotherspoon has been kind enough to invite me on the Mormon Matters podcast to share my vicarious participation in the Near Death Experience.  I'm using this post to share resources I've found helpful for bringing the Near Death Experience into my life.

Why we are so violent

I think probably that the weakest among us, or any of us in our weakest moments, will revert to or resort to the lowest level of interaction we feel at a gut level is acceptable. So even though you and I know and act better than our violent games and movies, our gut level is affected by them.

Top ten actions to reverse gum recession

I'm reversing my receding gums, having reduced my deepest pockets from 7 mm to 5 mm in two years (2013 update: I have now been pronounced free of gum problems at two dental exams).  I'm also seeing what I understand to be bone regrowth around my molars.

Fast Diet or Fasting and Dieting

Is a fast diet safe and effective?

My dream images are leaving retinal imprints

Many months ago while living in an apartment in Gilbert, Arizona, one morning while in the awakening (hypnopompic) state, I dreamed I was traveling west on a farmer's field-side dirt road

Meditation on the Sermon on the Mount

The Good News is
There is a better Way.
We can suffer and endure.
We will. We do.
But these are because we are lost.
Or blind. Or ill.
For whatever reason,
we are afraid to believe
The Good News.
There is a better Way.
Turn the other cheek.
Put away the sword.
Give your things away.
Make no oaths.
Make no demands.
Pluck out your own faults.
Settle outside of court.
Perform for Heaven, not for men.

The Power of our Myths

Myths get a bad rap, I think. We think of them as "fictions", when in reality they are powerful life-framing stories. I'd like to put in a good word for the power of myth and a vote for us to embrace deeper meanings in what we do.

Mormons With A Peace Testimony

Yes! There are Mormons with a Peace Testimony. There are Mormons who aspire to and practice non-resistance, non-violence, and non-attachment. There are Mormons who honor conscientious objection. And they aren't all in the Community of Christ church. Many of them are in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.