Ten Dogmas Of Science

[desertshore]

^ I wrote a lengthy answer but somehow deleted it, so I'll try to be short this time

Action potentials (neuronal 'firing') last about a millisecond (let's say _at least_ a millisecond). In a day there are 86 millions of milliseconds, but in an human brain there are 86 billions of neurons (ok, they say 85.. but in this case 86 sounds better ). This means that if neurons are completely random and only fire ONCE a day (but the average firing rate is much higher), we can expect about 1000 neurons to be firing at any given time (yes.. some will be just starting, others almost ending, but there will on average be much overlap).
But neurons are not random number generators, and the activity of the neuron that receives the input from the 'W' in the 'What's New?' tag in the Bluelight menu will be probably similar to the one of the neuron that receives the input from the 'W' in the 'Wiki' tag.
Furthermore, in some areas neurons are connected by electrical (not chemical) synapses, which are _very_ fast ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_synapse ) and allow neurons to fire virtually syncronously.

On the other side: variation in the magnetic field caused by brain activity do exist and can be recorded... by machines such as this one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MEG . The noise is high, and the signal too low... so low that I seriously doubt that a neuron placed on your scalp could be activated by the fluctuations in electromagnetic fields caused by your brain activity.

 

[ebola?]

For exist:

To estimate the viability of this type of emission of information, we can look at EEGs, a method somewhat related to the 'transmissions' you talk about. Here, tiny electrodes measure fluctuations in charge, conducted through the scalp. This method of measurement is far more direct than reception of electromagnetic waves. Even here, the signal is incredibly weak, limiting greatly the spatial resolution in its measurements (you're pretty much stuck with knowing only what quadrant of the scalp the activity occurred in). That doesn't tell us a whole lot, though it can be useful with carefully calibrated experimental procedures.

So radio-wave transmissions (or whatever frequency is most common w/ neural activity) would be even more indistinct, muddled by poor signal strength and opulent interference. There wouldn't be too much you could glean from that.

The information is all there; nothing is lost, only changed. So the question is: can those minute fluctuations influence another person's brain? If so, to what degree?

Yes, the radiation is out there, and in that sense, there is a signal of sorts, but there's no way that another brain could successfully receive it. Not only is the signal surrounded by interference, but it also interacts with objects in the environment, further scrambling it, and neural activity is in no way prone to influence by radio waves.

If I were to embark on a serious investigation of the matter, I would look not to the structures in the brain that store information, but rather those which receive information from other parts. Just how sensitive are they? Can one calm his/her own mind to the point of being able to pick up the thoughts of others?

It appears that no such structures exist.

ebola

 

[Foreigner]

I don't see why the sum low frequency radiation emitted by the brain would carry a good deal of information, let alone anything relating to specific thoughts.

ebola

I know it's not exactly scientific, but some philosophers have suggested that the unifying field is consciousness itself. If that's true, and consciousness were the missing component in understanding the kind of phenomena we're discussing in this thread, then it would mean that it could have unique properties and behaviors than the other types of forces.

We know from particle physics that it's possible for a particle to be in two locations at once, either as a quantum duplicate or as a hologram, and in both cases there is seemingly no visible connection between the two other than their matching signatures. Quantum teleportation sends one subatomic particle to another location, with no emission in between. Anything extra-sensory could operate this way, without the need to find an emission to explain it.

Though... my personal view is that the bio-electric field of the body needs a lot more study. If some people have the ability to see "auras" around people and use this insight to determine qualities about the person, then surely there is some kind of emission happening in a way that conveys information. What I'm wondering is... is this energy some kind of undiscovered force (i.e. consciousness visualized), or is it willfully uninvestigated? This is the kind of bias Sheldrake refers to. The culture of science makes it taboo to even look at something outside of the norm, regardless if it may or may not be real. It's a hindrance.

 

[exists]

@desertshore:

I'm not sure that causing a neuron to fire is necessary for receiving telepathic signals. It would seem deep forces are at work in our minds, possibly giving rise to consciousness from a quantum level. I refer you to the following article (and encourage everyone else to check it out as well): Discovery of quantum vibrations in 'microtubules' corroborates theory of consciousness

In light of that, it seems possible to me that influencing a person's thoughts would require much less energy than it takes for a neuron to fire.

@ebola?:

The inability of our scientific instruments to filter data from noise doesn't preclude the ability of our inborn instruments (our brains) to achieve the same. Indeed, if there ever was an instrument good at this, it is the brain.

And the structures within the brain I was referring to would be, for example, areas like the visual cortex which process stimuli from the eyes.

Also, there is evidence radio waves can alter thought processes: Mind Control by Cell Phone

@Foreigner: Interesting thoughts. You also mirror my sentiments concerning the dearth of interest regarding these matters. It's a bit of a catch-22: without evidence, there is no call for investigation; without investigation, there is no evidence.

 

[What 23]

I had a dream once about falling asleep in a flying saucer that I made my way up to. There were at least 2. I couldn't control them.

That same day, or within a day a friend claimed a UFO flew over top of him, while he and his friend were tripping on psilocybin. His story was pretty awesome. His friend saw what was relayed to me, first, and my friend only saw the blue light that was emitted, illuminating the area around them as it passed overhead. The story as he told, me, as he was told by his friend who was the witness, was that it was directly overhead of them, right above the trees, and appeared to be moving slowly, first. It as shaped like a tear, or an egg, with the rounded part forward. Then it had multiple layers of this repeating pattern, at least three, and then what seemed to be a ring around it, like the rings of Saturn, he described.

My friend had never made any such claim before, and was ecstatic when he told me, and it was exciting to hear, as I had never heard such an account from someone I knew. His friend had seen it, describing it to him. But, there was apparently a significantly bright meteor, as it was caught on video elsewhere, and this was it... And my friend and his friend were tripping, and involved.

I don't dream about UFOs or Flying Saucers often. Never like that. I can recall three maybe four dreams that I have dreamt of "aliens", or things relating, in my life.

I saw the flash of light, where I was at, driving. I thought it was lightning, but there were no clouds in the sky. My view was blocked by a lot of trees, as I was driving.

That morning, after that night and before hearing about this from my friend, when I went to bed, I had a dream where a female who I associated with, when I woke up and investigated, Laura Dern- The actress, was in it, and she had stolen some painting. She was in my parents house, sitting cross legged in the entry way. She was about to be on the run. She wanted to pay for it, but couldn't. Then a girl- Avi, who I had taken an interest in, who I met online, was shutting herself in my old room. I saw the door cracked, and her peering out for a moment, I think, and then she shut it. I found out Dern means "conceal", though I did not know this. And the girl, Avi, within a day or so wrote a blog saying that she was going to go run off into the cornfields, and about being in "his room". I watched her, but I don't know if she watched me... Though I did write about in my blog. She's also changed her country to Switzerland, when I was reflecting that, concentrating on the city of Switz (I did not write about it), I looked at her then to find she had changed her country to Switzerland, as she frequently changed it. This happened/happens a lot, resonance with her, and I can't really tell what is what... If she knows of me/If she is conscious of me and my attention to her, or if it is "just resonance", and she is completely unconscious, as I often seem to be, when I see what has come.

Back to Laura Dern (conceal), where Avi concealed herself in my room, My friend was in Laurel, when this experience that he relayed to me took place.

One other time, I had a dream where Christi- a person I grew up with and who became a medical doctor, referred to certain aliens, as bad. And in this dream I defended these aliens, without knowing them.

I woke up, and went to go buy salt. I for some reason had the idea that I had a chloride deficiency, and maybe could use some more sodium, as my diet lacked a lot of things... whatever sodium is in hemp seeds- That's all I had been eating for many months.

So I went to go buy salt- pink salt, at the natural foods store where I frequent. I arrived and found myself parking in an open space next to a vehicle, that happened to have an alien grey head, and hand, raised in a greeting next to the head, as a decal, on the back bumper. I had never seen the car before, and have not seen it, nor any other with such a decal that stands out at least like this, since.

It was literally dream involving alien, wake up, go park next to image of alien depiction, buy salt.

Then long story short the use of salt compounded with pre-extisting condition and I developed really painful ulcers, that have never really gone away. I control it by not using salt.

Perhaps the "alien" wasn't greeting with the hand. Maybe it was saying, "stop/no". Ha.

 

[ebola?]

The inability of our scientific instruments to filter data from noise doesn't preclude the ability of our inborn instruments (our brains) to achieve the same. Indeed, if there ever was an instrument good at this, it is the brain.

But we still as of yet have not discovered plausible mechanisms to implement such. The brain is not particularly well suited for reception of EMFs.

And the structures within the brain I was referring to would be, for example, areas like the visual cortex which process stimuli from the eyes.

This analogy is flawed, as we're talking about input of very information-rich signals (though requiring heavy processing to render them intelligible per our uses) from dedicated, specialized sensory organs, geared specifically toward production of such signals.

Also, there is evidence radio waves can alter thought processes: Mind Control by Cell Phone

Relatively direct application of relatively strong EMF fields resulting in global, indistinct changes in neural processes is worlds away from interbrain communication via naturally generated EMFs.

ebola

 

[Foreigner]

@Foreigner: Interesting thoughts. You also mirror my sentiments concerning the dearth of interest regarding these matters. It's a bit of a catch-22: without evidence, there is no call for investigation; without investigation, there is no evidence.

Yeah... and it's not a coincidence. A big part of the rise of rationality in the west was that it was counter-culture to Christianity, so it has become embedded with an aversion to the "supernatural". In more eastern countries where scientific institutions are growing stronger, there is more interest in other subjects, because superstition there has not been thrown away as part of counter-culture. It's very much alive, and science is being used to look at it. The irony is that those supernatural things may have very natural explanations that we can re-frame differently now that we are becoming advanced enough to investigate.

I think science can be applied to anything, if there is a desire to look.