I read an interesting article in a paper last week (guardian or independent cant remember which) about Consciousness. i meant to keep it, but i think I've chucked it out by mistake. it was about consciousness evolving; very briefly he was talking about how books in 19th (i think he said) century changed people's consciousness because the way writers were writing gave light to the idea of an 'inner life' and so, as people read, this 'inner life' became conscious.
oh not explained very well, but hope people see what i mean.
AND
so
now young people are using computers and the net, and there are general 'fears' that they will grow up isolated and unable to interact; but he (the writer of the article) says that their reading and writing skills are being enhanced and their interaction skills are being developed in a new way! thus consciousness taking another evolutionary step perhaps!
(of course years ago the introduction of reading books was viewed with huge suspicion, and reading silently on your own caused a dreadful worry).
consciousness develops out of consciousness. well, i guess how else could it?
sometimes coincidence happens - or synchronicity - anyway, another evening on my way home on the bus i just happened to sit by a pal who was on his way to the observatory. he said he was going to an astronomy class there. we talked about what he was doing - his thesis is on Consciousness - i hadn't realised that before - and he is coming up with a definition for consciousness. but this study entails learning about lots of subjects including quantum mechanics - even astronomy. we talked about why there are no 'renaissance' people any more - obviously because these days people specialise, mostly because more is known, and therefore more time and focus has to go on each subject, and (i think he said) because in our age the microcosm is studied as a model rather than the macrocosm - which is new compared to 18th and 19th centuries.
as i have got older i have sometimes felt like a grumpy old woman, and i have had to take a good look and realise that i have to start to let go of how i think things should be; when i was young we had such different values and we thought we were right. it is quite strange to find oneself at an age when it is time to give way to younger values and ideas! but that is how evolution happens, that is how life goes on.. oh dear, we thought we were going to make the world such a better place!
oh not explained very well, but hope people see what i mean.
AND
so
now young people are using computers and the net, and there are general 'fears' that they will grow up isolated and unable to interact; but he (the writer of the article) says that their reading and writing skills are being enhanced and their interaction skills are being developed in a new way! thus consciousness taking another evolutionary step perhaps!
(of course years ago the introduction of reading books was viewed with huge suspicion, and reading silently on your own caused a dreadful worry).
consciousness develops out of consciousness. well, i guess how else could it?
sometimes coincidence happens - or synchronicity - anyway, another evening on my way home on the bus i just happened to sit by a pal who was on his way to the observatory. he said he was going to an astronomy class there. we talked about what he was doing - his thesis is on Consciousness - i hadn't realised that before - and he is coming up with a definition for consciousness. but this study entails learning about lots of subjects including quantum mechanics - even astronomy. we talked about why there are no 'renaissance' people any more - obviously because these days people specialise, mostly because more is known, and therefore more time and focus has to go on each subject, and (i think he said) because in our age the microcosm is studied as a model rather than the macrocosm - which is new compared to 18th and 19th centuries.
as i have got older i have sometimes felt like a grumpy old woman, and i have had to take a good look and realise that i have to start to let go of how i think things should be; when i was young we had such different values and we thought we were right. it is quite strange to find oneself at an age when it is time to give way to younger values and ideas! but that is how evolution happens, that is how life goes on.. oh dear, we thought we were going to make the world such a better place!
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