How would you rate "the control of artificial limbs by thought alone"?

I would rate it scary but intriguing. I wouldn't want an invasive surgery into my brain, but I have use of my body and limbs. Those who do not might find the procedure well worth what they gain, mobility. I think that as they increase their knowledge of brains and bodies that the options will become more appealing. It is a noble pursuit to want to give people back the use of their bodies.

Would you support the development of a "Bionic" person?

That's a tough question. I suppose it would depend on the intent behind creating such a person. Would it be for combat, to kill and destroy? Or would it be to help those who are disabled or to increase the efficiency of labor to reduce the need for large equipment that spew chemicals into our atmosphere? I would be behind it if I could be sure that those with the technology would not abuse it or use it to harm, kill, and destroy.

Acupuncture as effective energy medicine

It amuses me that the people who are determining whether or not acupuncture is effective are the same people who don't believe in energy medicine. How can they determine whether or not acupuncture is effective as an energy medicine without admitting that energy medicine exists. They say that it is effective at skeleto-muscular pain relief or to reduce the withdrawal symptoms of drug addicts. There are many other ailments that they admit acupuncture helps, but they will not admit how. How else but energy?

What conclusions can you draw from Kirilian photography?

Kirilian photography shows us that there are energetic fields in everything. Everything can exhibit energy in different strengths and forms. Those fields are changeable and malleable, but present. It's funny that some say it's nothing but heat. What is heat if not energy? The fact that the images taken of whole bodies show the acupoints of the body is an affirmation of the medicine we practice.

Human Intent as it affects health

Over the years we have found that the state of a person is directly linked to their health. That's funny since there are still people out there who don't think it's true, or claim that the mental state of a person minimally affects their health. We know better. We know that depressed people have depressed immunity. We know that guilt and hatred fester in the body and can become cancer cells. We know that the mind is the gateway to the health and well being of the body. Knowing all of that, it seems silly that people don't think that people can affect other people with their mental state, their intent. If our morphogenic field overlap and affect every other living thing, we can see that the mental state and intent of a person can't help but affect the people around them.

Biophysics and me

Hmmm . . . Biophysics and me, me as an example of Biophysics. I'm looking over the list of departments that include Biophysics. Some seem very apparent, and others are beyond my current understanding. I don't know what protein folding is, I don't know what phylogenetical analysis is. However, I'm sure that they are wordy complicated explanations of things that occur naturally every day all the time, perhaps in my own body. The introduction we've had into Biophysics seems like a good place to start. What does life need in order to exist. What is life? What is living? How do we decide what fits and what doesn't. None of it seems any more concrete than photons doing whatever they want. It's all how you look at it, whether or not your looking, and who is doing the looking with what methods and instruments.

I know I'm a "living sustem" because . . .

This is a tough one. I automatically want to start listing the characteristics of life as presented from anatomy/physiology that describe metabolism. I don't think that's true. I know I'm a "living system" because I feel connected to a larger system, and I know that I am comprised of smaller systems. It's kind of like that fractal thing. I am a system that has a likeness to a larger system that I help compose. Likewise to all the tiny living systems that compose me, that are similar to me. Of course I feel as though everything is part of this system and the living system I am, since we are all made up of the same stuff. All that universal dust and stuff that swirled around and made up everything that is in our Universe. Every particle is a part of that "living system", as am I. Of course, I can always just say that I know I'm a "living system" because I metabolize. So what . . . that's just the function of my form. Every form has it's function.

Can I synthesize East and West?

I can and do, every day. I HAVE to be to work and school at specific times and accomplish specific goals for each with a deadline. However, the means by which I accomplish those goals are up to me. If I accept that I will live by these standards and these goals then I know that in order to be peaceful I must make sure to do things correctly for me. I must take time for myself (even when there is no time) to reflect and think of things as they are. I must be calm and accepting when things change (as they always do) and find creative ways to accomplish my goals. I must be malleable and take the time to be good to my body and my mind, because those are the tools I use to accomplish my goals. I learn Traditional Chinese Medicine and the philosophies that are the foundations for that medicine. I then take that information and decide how best to present it to those who are of western mind and who do not want to hear about philosophy and energy, Qi. I have to translate it into a language that western people understand and accept. In order to do that, I have to have a solid understanding of both East and West.

My E-Prime Day

I think I woke up before the alarm. It felt to me as though I was late, or perhaps I had missed something that I thought I should have been doing. I didn't feel as though I wanted to get out of bed, although I do believe that I was not tired. I think that I was feeling inclined to stay in bed because it was my day off of work and school and if I had wanted to, I could have stayed in bed longer than I did. At that point I felt it was more beneficial for me to get up and go to an acupuncture appointment. I was thinking about my day and how I would schedule the things I felt I needed to accomplish, and I noticed the cat screaming at me. I believe that he was crying because felt he wanted to go outside to lay in the sun and the grass. He seems like a cat to me, and as a cat he is most often unable to speak and tell me what he wants. Because he cannot speak, I think that I assume that he wants things, rather than knowing for a fact.

Descartes has a lot to answer for!

This was an interesting one to ponder. On one hand you have Descartes to thank for lots of progress. I don't think all the progress that was made was necessarily good. Our planet is pretty trashed after that Industrial Revolution. It makes me wonder if we hadn't been steered to the path of observing all of nature in a mechanical fashion or trying to understand all of nature with only that which we could concretely understand, would we have advanced in a more harmonious and non-invasive way? Would we be a kindlier gentler people if we had made our leaps and bounds with the idea that we are natural and that nature cannot be concretely explained beneath a microscope? Would we have started with machines that collected energy from the sun or spent our time healing and curing with the energy we have within us instead of knives and poisons we cook in a lab? Hard to say. What if we had taken a path that was not the one Descartes envisioned?

Our “Energy Efficient” Culture

If everything with a temperature about absolute zero (which is a heck of a lot) is radiating energy, we certainly aren't using it or at least maximizing our use of it. Our bodies, light bulbs, the rug, the tires spinning everywhere all the time. That would be a good one to tap into, tires. So many tires going around and around constantly all the time. We could have little tiny battery packs collecting charge from everything. Fish tanks and plants, strapped to our backs and onto our pets' collars. Wow, that's a lot of energy all over the place.

Newton's Three Laws and me

Hmmm
First law:
Objects at rest remain at rest, objects in motion remain in motion.
Well, the remaining at rest is pretty accurate, it's that darn motion thing being interfered with all the time by that blasted gravity. Stupid gravity, it's not like it's even a real "force" anyway.
Second law:
The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the force acting on it, and inversely proportional to its mass.
Yes, when I ride my bike around I would agree that the more force I use, the faster I move. AND I have also noticed that when going uphill, I notice that using more force makes me move just as fast.
Third Lay:
If two objects interact, the force exerted by object 1 on object 2 is matched by a force exerted by object 2 on object 1 of the same size, but in the opposite direction.
When I run into something of similar mass, we deflect backwards the same distance. If I run into something smaller than me, it deflects backwards farther. If something larger than me I deflect backwards farther.

Cat experiment

Hahaha I love any instructions that start with "First, get a cat." So, since I have a couple to choose from (and a less cooperative dog too) I go ahead and get a cat. Fortunately, I have one in particular who loves to get pushed across the rug and generally squished about. He is also pretty inquisitive so I'm sure he, too, is curious to see what happens when he gets dragged across the floor in the dark. He seemed pretty oblivious to the tiny little sparks that snap and crackle all over. Science is cool.

Consciousness out of chaos?

That's what happened after the big bang, right? Bang, there was this huge expansion of particles shooting out and slamming into each other, collecting into masses. The masses swirl around and get more and more solid. Then . . . there was consciousness? Or was it BANG there was consciousness that saw all those particles and started to create form for itself to express itself through. Darkness then intention, function which creates a form for itself to inhabit. Or . . . was there darkness and then consciousness appeared, intention appeared and determined that in order for itself to create form, or substance that could execute that intention there needed to be a BANG with which it could create that form. Three into one, the Tai Qi . . . something like that?

Fractals as patterns of complex systems

I only sort of get this. I looked up fractals and saw pictures, read definitions, got examples. It's a concept that seems a little vague to me. I understood the examples like ferns and trees, clouds and mountains. Each branch has a likeness of the whole tree when viewed from a distance. Each enlargement is similar looking to the views from further away. There were some cool pictures I saw that showed each enlargement, similar to the previous, and each time it was enlarged you could see that you could just keep going and going and going . . . I really liked that idea, that there was no end in either direction. Just the repeated pattern stretching out forever.

"Ordered Chaos" - does this sound familiar?

Yes, it does sound familiar. Order from chaos seems to be the goal of every present day person. To make sense and to make solid all that which is uncontrollable and intangible. Taming the wild and harnessing the powers of the universe for the ultimate super rockin' cappuccino! And look out when that untameable power of the chaotic universe lashes back on that hand that is trying to reign it in. We've all felt that chaos in our preferred order. Weather and people being people and not having those shoes in my size and and and . . . I think that when we relax and let the chaos flow, that's when the order comes naturally. Kinda like some fractal that doesn't look like anything (chaos) until you enlarge it like crazy and then it appears to become something wonderful (order). It's there already, we just have to let it come out!

Connections I can make between Energy and Qi

Well, I know that I sometimes use those words interchangeably, depending on what I'm trying to express and to whom. As we are learning in TCM, everything has qi and as we know from science, everything has energy (or potential). In the body, energy outputs can be stronger at the points used for acupuncture and acupressure. Qi and blood flow together, when we are deficient in blood our energy is low. Energy moves, has currents, and a flow. Qi is movement, has channels, and flow. In my mind I guess that I don't have much of a distinction between energy and qi, so trying to point out connections feels redundant. Any statement I make about qi, I could use the word energy and the content of my statement would remain the same, and vice versa. I know that there are people who could and would argue with that, and, well, what can I say? People like to argue.

Resonance in my world

I started playing the violin when I was six. My father has always played music, he plays the banjo, the mandolin, the dobro, and even a little stand up base. I know that the music he played resonated in me from first conception. I love that whole body feeling when some vibration, some pitch and tone hits you just right and your body takes it in and . . . . I don't know, treasures it. The hair on your arms stands up. And that feeling when something totally does NOT resonate. That square peg in a round hole feeling that makes you cringe (I taught violin for years and trust me, if that isn't a whole body reaction to NOT resonating) Sometimes when I'm sitting at home, or just walking or whatever, I get this ring in my head, this clear sound. No one else can hear it, but I can. I'm sure that it's just some random wave, some vibration floating through the air that just resonates in my head. And I know that it's real, not just my crazy head, because sometimes out of nowhere, a tone on one of my instruments just sounds out, without being played. I know that some vibration just swept through and resonated with that g string.

Are all vibrations "good"?

I tend to think of good and bad as products of intent. Einstein was probably a "good" man who did not intend for his research to turn into "WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION". So, I'm sure that when intense vibrations result in destruction, I'm sure they didn't intend to. They just wanted to vibrate on their merry way and do some traveling, as vibrations tend to do. If buildings fell and bridges collapsed, I'm sure the vibrations didn't mean anything by it. Accidents happen and who told those folks to put that bridge where the vibrations were going to travel through anyway.

Are there connections between Sacred Geometry and Physics?

The Sacred Geometry that was discussed is very fascinating, and it really rings that connectivity bell for me. These mandalas and I-Ching, the kabala, these people didn't know each other. They didn't know that they had come to the same mathematical and corresponding systems that the others did. It was a reflection of their world, and showed an innate understanding that I feel. That basic animal understanding that comes from letting this knowledge wash over you and permeate you, that understanding that I lose when it comes to "explaining and defining" When I look at fractals and mandalas, I can feel the "rightness" of it. I know that there are physicists who have taken those things and said, hey, wait a minute. That thing we just came up with was right here all the time. All these things, string theory, human DNA, golden ratio, fractals, are really things that we've seen and had in front of us for so long. The kabala, the I-Ching, spirals on cave walls and the organic shapes and natural processes. It reaffirms that part of me, that intuition. When I read things like this and see that people have knowledge inside of them, I feel peaceful.

Just what does this CP parity really mean?

As far as I understand it, and I'm sure that's not far in comparison to many, CP parity means that not everything does what we expect when we expect it. So, those folks who build the BaBar machine and who like to look at these tiny little particles (or waves masquerading as particles . . . or whatever) have found this tiny kaon that doesn't fit in with their CPT (charge, parity, time" theorem. It's a symmetry theorem that says that all processes involving particles remain invariant if :
the particles are changed in antiparticles. So, the parts should act the same as the whole, I guess.
the system is reflected in a mirror
time is run backward
The funny thing is, those little kaons don't fit into that. They don't do the same thing if time is run forward as backward (since time currently doesn't go backward, I don't really get what they mean.) And not all the time, just some of the time. So I guess those folks at Stanford just spend their time looking at these kaons waiting for them to randomly do this thing that defies their theorem. Hmmmm . . .

My (a)symmetrical world

Everywhere I look I can see symmetry. I see it when I look in the mirror, or at my pets. I can see it in buildings we build, and trees and flowers. In just about everything, I can pick out some aspect of symmetry. I see that most forms that are pleasing to look at are symmetrical. Sometimes art or structures will not have symmetry, and it really sticks out. Things that are asymmetrical catch the eye and give a sense of being off balance. It's even part of our (as a species) aesthetics that things be "balanced" And that doesn't necessarily mean even numbers or anything, threes and fives are also symmetrical in their way. I think that in symmetry we find harmony. But I also think that the asymmetrical does call to us. Like if you're thinking of the kaons and how they misbehave, and that act of misbehaving has lead to existence as we know it, I think that the element of the asymmetrical calls to us as a necessary function of our universe. If everything were completely symmetrical all the time, we wouldn't exist. So the Picassos Cindy Laupers and all of those people who feel like their expression isn't complete without some asymmetry are giving that sense of paying homage to that little something else that makes us what we are.

What is the function of gravity?

To keep us from flying away. To give belts a purpose. To give birth to such well loved phrases as "That's heavy, dude"

I guess that gravity keeps things drawn together. Things like planets and celestial bodies need to stay drawn together to keep us from having things crashing into each other or flying off in all sorts of directions. We could fly off away from our sun and freeze.

Another purpose of gravity is to give really smart brains a connection between all these crazy theories about relativity and particles, quantum mechanics, and whatever else.

How would you compare the four "forces"?

Well, the biggest thing that stands out for me about the four "forces" is that one isn't a force. If gravity is a curvature of spacetime, than it's not really a force, I guess. And the others . . . I don't really know the difference between them, except that their relative magnitude and behaviors are different. And honestly, I don't really know what that means either. I liked connectivity better.

How has e=mc2 affected you?

I have to say in complete honesty that it has never affected a day in my life. That's not true. I'm sure that if Einstein had never come up with his theory, many things would be different than they are today, I just don't know what they would be. Obviously, his theory didn't call into existence the unification of energy and matter. Energy and matter are what they are, and have their connection. Einstein didn't create it, he just pointed it out. So, how would that change things if he hadn't? I don't know . . . I have never studied the practical applications of physics, or the theories or anything. I guess I'm being affected right now by having this intense confusion building in the back of my brain . . .

Connectivity

It makes sense that particles that make up everything respond to each other, even if there's no "physical evidence" that they are connected or able to communicate. If everything is from the same place, and all these particles just keep getting recycled into new shapes and functions, I can see how they are still, at their root, connected. It reminds me of one of those expando balls, those plastic things that shrink down really small and then expand to a huge gigantic ball. Despite it's change in size and density, the parts remain the same, and their connections remain the same. I think that if we, as a people, were able to tap into our most basic particles, we could probably know everything. Know where our tiny particles started, every shape they've taken before the one that makes up each one of us, and even know all those other particles that are taking shapes as other people and things. We just don't know how. Ancestral memory or something like that, cellular memory. Knowing what our particles know, if they are able to know anything besides what is. Even knowing that would be a huge and profound thing.

Synchronicity

I have all the evidence for synchronicity I need. At different parts of my life I've called it different things. Coincidence was what I used to say before I felt comfortable attributing the strange things that can and do happen with a sense of purpose. Now, I say that it's the influence of the Universe or the Path that makes things happen when they are supposed to. The instances that synchronicity has popped up for me tend to be when I am lost or uncertain. Maybe I find meaning in things that don't have any, or maybe my desire for direction and meaning manifests situations into being. I don't know. What I do know is that when it happens I know it. I know when I'm being given a glimpse of something more profound than a coincidence. I take these nudges or clues seriously and allow myself to be affected by them. Every time I do my life's direction gets better and better, showing me that I'm on the right track and that the decisions I make based on these synchronistic events are the right ones.

Is the Universe Wierd?

Hahahahahaha! The Universe is weird if you view it that way, or perfectly natural and normal if that's the way you're seeing it. Wave or particle. Yes. If we are our animal selves and let the innate knowledge of the Universe wash over us and accept that in wordless ways, there is nothing weird, nothing unknowable. Everything that is and will be has happened, is happening, and will happen all over again. Nothing new under the sun. If we are human minds without our animal selves to guide us, then everything is weird and unknowable. Everything is a surprise and a mystery. Everything is uncertain and bound to change from beneath us every time we think we have our footing.

Causality

Causality, synchronicity, intuition, premonition. It makes me want to watch the X-files. I honestly don't know what is real and what's not (except fire and police, always ALWAYS real). Is it a wave because I observe it as a wave, or a particle because I need it to be a particle to keep the elevator door open? Does my need for a photon to be or act a certain way make it so, or was it that way already? Yes and yes. Yes, it was a sign from the universe when everything in the world came crashing down on what I assumed was my "path" only to find that when I turned to tuck tail and run, and much better bigger path lay in front of me and set my fitful mind to rest. Yes, it was my intuition working when I delayed a trip that proved to be disastrous for others. What came first, the electric impulse through the phone line or the electric impulse from my brain to pick up the receiver. Or was it simultaneous? If everything is connected, and everything touches each other, and a butterfly in South America can ruin the vacations of thousands on the French Riviera, then it's really not a stretch to say that the second someone thought to call me, on some level I knew and picked up the phone.

Uncertainty

I love that the only certainty that exists is uncertainty, and you can even give that a bit of an argue, proving that it's true! One of the things we discussed in our "eastern" minded group during class was the yin/yang nature of the universe and how well that applied to the discussion of uncertainty. There is certainty and uncertainty that exists and they are opposites. One cannot exist without the other. As certainty grows, uncertainty diminishes, and vice verse. And, interestingly enough, one always becomes the other. Like on game shows when someone is asked a trivia question, and they totally know the answer. Once asked to confirm, that seed of uncertainty that lives in their vast ocean of certainty grows until they aren't even sure about what they knew so well seconds before. Such is also true for all things that exist, like the photons. Folks were so sure, so positive that they were a wave. If it looks like a wave, acts like a wave . . . a wave, right? But wait! If we look at it another way, it looks like a particle, acts like a particle . . . must be a particle? Everything that has been proven has also been disproven, or will be once someone figures out how. Or maybe not . . .

The Meaning of Time

Can We Slow Time Down?

Well if Superman can do it . . . I do believe that we can slow down time, and even more than just one person's observation of time, which we already know it totally malleable. Since we know that adding time to our atomic clocks is necessary because the earth is slowing down due to friction, than we can assume that friction on some level would be one way to slow time down. We also know that people can manipulate matter around and inside them. By focusing their minds, practitioners or Tai Qi and Qi Gong, and many many other disciplines are able to generate heat from their bodies, around their bodies, etc. Generating heat is a manipulation of matter, creating friction. If it's possible for one person to do it on a small scale, you can assume that many people can do it on a large scale. If enough people were able to create enough friction, you bet they could slow time down, right?

What Are the Cultural Implications of Time?

I think that time in regards to cultural implications can be observed, not only between different cultures, but in the different sub-levels of a single culture as well. It seems that the western culture assumes that the more you are pressed for time, the more that FILLS your time, the more important you are. You'll see people in high ranking positions in the business world flying from appointment to appointment, and all the new cool-guy expensive toys are all geared at being able to fit more into your time. Pocket day planners that allow you to put in hundreds of appointments per day, with 80 different alarms to tell you that your late, late, late all the time while you're rushing from place to place. Those people are considered important, busy, and productive. For wearing themselves to the bone and giving themselves colon cancer and ignoring their family and friends, they are given honorable mention and are the role-models for all magazines and television ads for pocket planners and nano tech time savers. In other parts of the world, people like that are considered crazy for never taking time to sit . . . r e s t . . . and be quiet with their thoughts. Spend time with their family, take four hours to eat one meal. Those things are considered good things in other parts of the world. Here, it's lazy and unproductivebecauseyouhavetosqueezeinasmuchaspossibleintoeackmoment!

What About Parallel Universes?

What about them? Like, if I were able to punch a hole into another dimension, that's right on top of this one, would I see myself playing with a major symphony orchestra, because I did indeed go to Julliard to study music performance? Would I be in a street gang with tattoos on my neck if we hadn't moved from Salinas? Are those things happening right now, in another dimension? Yeah, they are. If it occurs in my mind as a possibility, does that make it real at least on some level, in some place? Every time I make a decision to do this or that, does a fork appear in the road, and then there is that other road that I didn't take. It has to go to somewhere . . . did even just a little part of me take that route instead? How can we ever know or prove something like that? Or maybe if the Chinese did discover the Americas I may still be studying TCM, and so would everyone else, right? Only maybe then 95% of the Native Americans wouldn't have died from infections and we would have integrated study of TCM and TAM. Who knows? Maybe in yet another parallel universe we made advances much sooner and those people are able to see through dimensional portals to watch us flounder on such simple questions. What fools these mortals be!

Week 1 Quiz

1. What attracts me to Chinese Medicine?

I have been a patient of Chinese Medicine my whole life. I feel very comfortable with healing viewed in a holistic way. My father is a chiropractor and my brother is a massage therapist. I also have Chinese herbalists in my family. I have always felt a draw to healing and nurturing as a path and a way of life. My most satisfying moments are those spend helping people with their bodies and improving their quality of life.

2. What do I honestly think of physics, really?

I honestly do not think of physics, ever. I never had to take physics in school and have never been particularly drawn to the study of physics. I experience physics, and I accept physics as applies to me and my existence, but I honestly don't know anything about it.

3. Now that I think about it, have I ever experienced time "slowing down"?

As we discussed, time is really subjective. I have experienced the changing of time and it's passage on a daily basis, I'm sure. As a child, I had many instances of experiencing time at a different tempo than those around me. As a teenager and adult I rediscovered being able to control the passage of time by altering my consciousness in various ways, using internal and external methods of consciousness manipulation. It just reaffirmed my previous feelings of viewing time as a relative thing.