On Phineas Gage Case And Brain Localization Studies

Phineas Gage is written to have "dramatic brain damage which resulted in dramatic personality changes". Oh boy, but this where we run into some serious problems based on recent evidence that has been uncovered.

I quote

"By late 2008 an advertisement for a previously unknown public appearance by Gage had been discovered, as well as a report of his physical and mental condition during his time in Chile, and a description of what may well have been his daily work routine there as a long-distance coach driver. This new information suggests that the seriously maladapted Gage described by Harlow may have existed for only a limited time after the accident—that Phineas eventually "figured out how to live" despite his injury,[40] and was in later life much more functional, and socially much better adapted, than has been thought".[41]

So as we see that his personality back, however their is good reasons to doubt Harlows account.

I quote

"The uncertainty of Harlow's sources for the changes he describes in Gage, combined with the fact that he waited almost twenty years (between his first and second papers) to communicate those changes, constitute one of the main puzzles of the case."

So as we still it is looking more and more less likely that he suffered dramatic personality change to the point of showing evidence for full blown mind-brain dependency. This case is often cited by full blown support for very strong mind-brain dependency. But as i have shown it's no where near supportive of it.


Brain localizations studies all of them indicate the words "associated with". Of course no dualist denies that particular brain functions will be associated with different mental phenomena. Brain localizations studies, don't tell us one way or another if mind and consciousness are separate from the brain or produced by the brain.

A side note, wordy a member on infidels forum wondered what i mean by "Survivalism". Simple, survivalism refers to the belief in the survival of the conscious self after the death of the physical body. Survivalists attempt to prove survival with the methods of science, using as evidence such things as psychic phenomena, near death experiences, out-of-body experiences, electronic voice phenomena, mediumship, reincarnation research,and various forms of photography.Survivalism is by implication a form of philosophical dualism.

A Skeptic On Infidels Forum

I ain't going to mention who his name is but he made a comment that i will summarize here:

"He said that i am committed to my own worldview and ain't interested in what the evidence shows"

Couldn't be more wrong in that statement, i just happen to not think that the evidence points toward physicalism over any other worldview. The evidence that i have looked at from neuroscience, quantum physics, classical physics, biology, parapsycology, psychology etc.] Can be accounted for on a dualistic worldview. That doesn't mean dualism is right and i never said it is the absolute truth. There are many good reasons why i think physicalism is wrong, i have mentioned those many times on here.Anyways,


I was banned from there apparently because of plagiarism and copyright violations not being "ideologically inspired." The person then said the same thing about Adamwho which i do agree with him being ideologically inspired. The reason why is because of saying well the evidence is poor or very weak, he says the evidence is non existent. Big difference there, i remember a skeptic on skeptiko recently, saying that any skeptic who says their is no evidence is just as closed minded as saying their is very strong evidence. I totally agree on the first, the reason obviously is they don't look at the evidence in the first place. The second i disagree on because the evidence is very strong but of course it ain't a fact. But science doesn't deal with facts only the preponderance of evidence.



Adamwho mentions

It amazes me that they can only argue about philosophical stances without ever actually getting to the point: There is no evidence for their position.

But i have many times presenting tons of links, i ain't going to be there to summarize every single piece of evidence that supports psi and life after death. That would take a very long time to do. Then after that what would be the point? he would simply say the evidence is nonexistent.

Bashing The Society For Scientific Exploration

Some skeptics on infidels forum has today bashed a parapsychology organizations saying that the organization will fall for any type of quackery such as this he mentions:


This dude, Paul Hellyer, who talks about "hypothetical relationships between governments and extraterrestrial intelligence" apparently is worried that "The United States military are preparing weapons which could be used against the aliens, and they could get us into an intergalactic war without us ever having any warning" (http://www.rense.com/general68/eurdo.htm)

Yes i will say that is far out there for sure, but it's easy to take any view that does have validity such as psi and throw the baby in with the bathwater.

Here is what Adamwho says

They also can't establish guidelines of skepticism about a given claim because that would open the door to questioning their own beliefs. Many times people have asked for criteria for how they would determine what is a real psi claim and what is fraud, what is really cranky and what they would accept.... of course there is no answer... or rather they are forced to accept everything.

Just like Christians when you ask.... "how do you determine that some other religion is false?" then follow up with "how does that differ from how those people see Christianity?"

Its a simple matter of can you perform psi or not. If you can't then that is the criteria, it is based on can you or can't you until controlled conditions. False comparision between Christianity and Parapsychology because one is a religion and another is scientifically testing psi phenomena, and life after death phenomena. So there is a big difference.

Note: The Society for Scientific Exploration has added a bunch of new videos taken at their 2008 meeting.

Here are the very interesting ones

SSE 2009 Courtney Brown, Multiple Universes









Effects of Distant Group Intention on Seedling Growth




Water Memory: Carrier of Conscious Intention






Can You Still Win Yesterday’s Lottery? or Retrocausation: Is it Compatible with Known Physics?





Random Robot Redux: Replications and Reflections





Why ESP is Consciousness’ Only Hope





Gazing at the Mind's Eye

A Must Watch Fight!

Between two huge men Shaquille O'Neal v.s The Big Show

WWE Night Of Champions Pay Per View Results

1. Mickie James v.s Wwe Woman's champion Maryse
Winner: Mickie James becomes new Wwe Divas champion

2. Christian v.s Ecw champion Tommy Dreamer
Winner: Christian becomes new Ecw champion

3. Intercontinental champion Rey Mysterio v.s Dolph Ziggler

Winner: Still Intercontinental champion Rey Mysterio

4. Wwe womans champion Michelle McCool v.s Melina

Winner: Still Wwer womans champion Michelle McCool

5. United Worlds Champion Kofi Kingston v.s Primo v.s MVP v.s Carlito, Jack Swagger v.s The Miz [ in a six pack challenge]

Winner: Still United States champion Kofi Kingston

6. Unified Tag Team Champions Chris Jericho and the Big Show v.s Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase

Winners: Still Unified Tag Team champions Chris Jericho and the Big Show

7. World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk v.s Jeff Hardy

Winner: New World Heavyweight champion Jeff Hardy

8. Wwe Champion Randy Orton v.s John Cena v.s Triple H

Winner: Still Wwe champion Randy Orton

Note: Tonight on Monday Night Raw the special guest host will be no other than Shaq. He should shake things up for sure.

Infidels Member Adamwho has got it wrong!!!

He says on the infidels forum that their is NO EVIDENCE FOR A EXTERNAL MIND/SOUL. He then says their is variable repeatable evidence that the mind is a process of the brain. I said to him that the evidence from brain damage, drugs that effect the mind, lomotomies, alzheimers, dementia and fmri studies are open to interpretation. Even though the production is the simpliest theory that could account for these observations, it may not be true. The opposing theory that i among others have put forth is that the brain is a advanced receiver and filter of consciousness. This theory is consistent with the overwhelming scientific evidence for life after death and psi. Of course he goes ignoring this evidence, with escapes such as.

- Demeaning words such as calling all of my links supportive of psi and life after death as "cranky"
- Claiming that i don't read the links i post on the forum, which i have read them so that is an out and out lie.
- Saying that their is no theory for life after and psi, clearly ignorant of the fact their has been theories put forth.


And here is a very comical statement from him

"You can believe anything you want especially if it helps you get over your fear of death. But, if you sacrifice facts and evidence for comfortable faith then you have no claims to truth... You should admit as much and dedicate your time to understanding your faith rather than justifying it through false means".

Good one lol yes i admit i have had a fear of death, but of course we can't rule out the issue of rather their is life after death or not, by simply saying what that is a fear mechanism build in all humans [among all other species]. That it clouds my judgement and that i must be wrong because of that fact. I also mentioned that another member named Ashurbanipal on the forum has posted evidence from near death experiences and the Benjamin Libet experiments. What did he say?.

"He is posting speculation, feelings, intuitions, philosophical musings but not detail.... besides it is irrelevant anyway since there is no evidence for the existence of the soul... science fiction authors are able to provide lots of details too".


Adamwho mentions

You don't seem to understand, although it has been spelled out to you time and time again:

It doesn't matter what anybody believes (no matter how prominent), what matters is evidence. There is no evidence for you position and mountains of evidence against it.

My response to him was

That is the point i have trying to get to you, i have presented tons and tons of evidence from well respected scientists your excuses are

1. The evidence is too old
2. Cranky sites
3. Has no clue what he is talking about

I ain't saying to accept the work done on epileptics that give evidence for dualism, or Sir John Eccles, as is well known, some physical evidence that does suggest mental causation. Libet et al. suggest parallel tracking of phenomenal experience, brain events and volitional acts (Libet et al., xxi), and Velmans provides a convenient summary of evidence of mental causation from both physical and clinical sources. To weigh and consider, the same with the evidence for the cross correspondences, poltergeist phenomena, apparitions, premonitions, psi phenomena etc. May i ask you something have you ever been suspicious of some of the evidence you see of mind being an emergent property of the brain? If you haven't been the least bit suspicious then obviously you accept everything you see and hear. For me i am truly suspicious of some of the evidence for survival and psi but overall it appears to be mostly genuine.

Anyways if you like to read all of the exchanges we have had with this topic entitled " Poll for mind-body dualism {souls, spirits, or whatever you call them].

http://www.freeratio.org/showthread.php?t=271494&page=5

When Science Meets Psi

Watch these interesting youtube videos on science meeting psi.

Skeptic Zone Host, Richard Saunders

Alex Tskaris founder of skeptiko podcast interviews Richard Saunders host of the Skeptic Zone. Richard Saunders discusses current issues that are in the "skeptical community".

http://www.skeptiko.com/79-skeptic-zone-host-richard-saunders/

Very Interesting Subversive Thinking Interview With Michael Prescott

Go here

http://subversivethinking.blogspot.com/2009/07/interview-with-writer-michael-prescott.html

Jime interviews Michael on questions such as what he thinks are the best evidence for life after death, among other things.

The Transition We Call Death

Their is an enormous wealth of evidence showing that we transition from death, our soul leaves our body. So it appears their is nothing to fear about death we will not it appears go into a state of oblivion for eternity. Of course psychical researchers could be wrong and that all of the evidence gathered from psychical research supporting survival could all be just self deception and fraud etc. But that appears to be unlikely but of course we can never ever completely rule out fraud and self deception and delusion. Even if super psi was real this would not imply that death is the end either this would show that information survives death and it gathered into some medium in space. Of course that wouldn't be personal survival but it would be survival nonetheless.


I quote from Raynor C. Johnson


"To sum up: we have enough trustworthy evidence to anticipate our survival of the change called death. If our conception of the Self as a hierarchy is true in broad outline - as I believe it is - we have enough to anticipate a great deal more. For myself, Birth and Death seem to be respectively the great Exile and the great Returning Home. I expect, when the immediate shock of change is over, to find myself with a body familiar to me (because it has always been a possession without my realising it), in a country from which come thronging back to me welcoming echoes of old familiarity. It will still be a world of Appearance; but since one veil at least will then have fallen from the face of Truth, I shall expect to find myself more responsive to her Eternal Beauty as I set out again - a pilgrim on the endless Way".

I agree 100 percent, this was his view back in 1953, now their is even more evidence that continues to accumulate more and more.

In Defense Of Substance Dualism

Recently i have been debating on infidels forum about the mind body problem. One of the members mentioned how my receiver theory along with other substance dualist theories have far less parismony then the production hypothesis. I disagree, and i will show why. First he is using occams razor to use the simplest explanation, but occams razor doesn't work in all problems. Second, he mentions that Dr. Wilder Penfields conclusion on his work with epileptics is irrational, again i disagree. The same with Dr. Sir John Eccles when he mentions his conclusion is also irrational. Why, because of these scientists admitted evidence for dualism, that goes against the dominant view in mainstream science. The member also says that experiments have shown the casual connection between the brain and the mind. I disagree it assumes that their is very tight dependency so tight that their is a casucal connection.


Here is why the receiver theory has more parismony

- It accounts for the overwhelming evidence for survival of bodily death
- It accounts for the evidence for psi phenomena
- It accounts for the subjective nature of consciousness itself
- It accounts for other strange phenomena that are attested for in biomedical journals such as stigmata, maternal impressions etc.
- It accounts for free will

The major problems with the production theory

- Doesn't account for the evidence for survival of bodily death
- Doesn't account for the subjective nature of consciousness, tries to get around it by saying it's either epiphenomenal or an emergent property of the brain
- Doesn't account for free will
- Doesn't account for for things such as stigmata
- Doesn't account for the evidence for psi phenomena

My Favorite Trailer Park Boys Moments [Funny Stuff]

Propane, Propane. Time to start the game



Baaaam! Peanut and Jam!!!





Funny burps by Phil Collins




Ricky gets busted for pirating satellite TV





Other Funny Trailer Park Boys Moments





Ricky tries to defend himself in court, but needs permission to smoke and swear to keep it fair.

Movies I have Watched Recently

One of the movies i watched recently was called " A haunting in Connecticut". It is based on real events. It is a great movie. I would give it 10 stars out of 10.

http://www.hauntinginconnecticut.com/

Another movie i watched was " The Unborn". Another good movie about possession. I give that one a 7 out of 10 stars.

http://www.theunbornmovie.net/


Another movie i watched was a old movie back in 1972 but it was good too. It's called " The last house on the left". I know that their is a remake of the movie now but wanted to see the original.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068833/

Met A Girl A Few Weeks Ago And It Went Great

Her name is January she's 28 years old, i am 24 years old we met on plentyoffish. We chatted their for awhile and then we shared our msns together and chatted there. We met eachother a few weeks ago on a sunday afternoon, i met her at a gas station then we walked to my home. She got to see my mom and then i showned her around the house. She's amazing we had a lot of fun together we also have a lot in common she likes animals so do i. She likes a lot of music that i like too plus she likes horror movies like me.


She stayed for supper to my mom cooked up some hamburgers and strawberries with whip cream for dessert. It was delicious we went for a short walk too holding eachother's hands. We did a lot of cuddling too and kissing and some hugging. She told me too she is coming down for two weeks in August which will be great. She told me my pics don't do me justice [flattering]. She told me she likes my eyes which is awesome, i told her i really like the inside of her the most. She said the same thing that is what truly counts [smiles].



She said she feels very short around me hehe me being 6'5 and her being 5'5 hehe. She told me she likes tall guys which is good. She's from Sherbrooke I am from New Glasgow yes a little distance there but we really connect well with eachother.


She is around an amazing women, someone who is definitely worth waiting for. She has great parents too their down to earth too like my parents are. We are now in a open relationship, taking it slow which is a good thing. Because you never want to rush into something. I really love her smile too it makes me light up inside. I told her my birthday was in August too so she marked that down. Her birthday is in January so i will indeed will remember too. She smokes i don't but that is perfectly fine with me. We all have our addictions for sure.



She sang too me too which was great and i was singing some to her too, she told me that is the first time she sang to someone. Also the first time she felt comfortable around a guy. In the beginning yes i was nervous but that worn out because i was getting comfortable with her. Can't wait to together again with her hopefully soon.

Why Being A Survivalist Doesn't Indicate That You Are A Substance Dualist

The reason why i say this is to make clear that you can be a neutral monist or a idealist and still believe in survival of bodily death. Their are more than just dualist models for survival. Some naturalists and materialists believe it's only dualist's that uphold survival after death. Which isn't true. For example Dr. Eric Weiss believes in neutral monism and has a model for survival after death. This follows from Whitehead's view of matter and mind which is a neutral monism.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutral_monism

Survival in a Multi-World Cosmology of Subtle Realms

http://www.esalenctr.org/display/confpage.cfm?confid=19&pageid=148&pgtype=1

Other neutral monists who support the evidence for survival and have come up with models for survival after bodily death are

Psychologist William James
Dr. Ed Kelly

The Myth Of Chemical Imbalances In The Brain

According to a youtube video user after research this topic of chemical imbalances she found their is no evidence for chemical imbalances that it's a fad from psychiatrists who support reductionism. Go here to check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG8BE3ao ... annel_page

Here is a site to that is linked to the youtube video on the myth of chemical imbalances which deals with not just that topic but other maistream myths in nutrition, health and disease.

http://thehealthyskeptic.org/

Other sites related are

http://www.furiousseasons.com/
http://intentions.wordpress.com/

The End Of Materialism Book Written By Parapsychologist Charles Tart

On Michael Prescott's blog he also talks about Charles Tart's new book called the " the end of materialism". Here i like to discuss why i agree on his view that materialism is indeed a dead end when it comes to consciousness. By the way before i tell you why i agree with his viewpoint. I like to show you where you can purchase his new book at.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/ASIN/1572246456?tag=psychologicalpro


Now that is out of the way, here is why i agree with his opinion on this matter. One reason is based on the strong supportable replicated data for psi phenomena, this here conflicts heavily with materialism, because in a materialistic worldview these phenomena are impossible. Second reason is the evidence for survival of bodily death, this evidence comes from many sources as i have outlined many times on this blog. But for the first time lookers on this blog, the evidence would be the cross correspondences, drop in communicators, the scole experiment, the pye record experiment, cases of patients in cardiac arrest and clinical death seeing things while being flatlined. That later are verified by health professionals. Other evidence would be particular cases of apparitions, xenoglossy and some poltergeist phenomena.


Also the work done by Dr. Jim Tucker and Dr. Ian Stevenson on past life experiences, birthmarks that match the deceased person. Other evidence would proxy sittings, afterdeath communications and induced after death communications, instrumental transcommunication, electronic voice phenomena, direct voice communication, automatic writing, book tests and newspaper tests. A third reason is the failure of materialism to reduce subjective experience down to the brain.

Also by the way Charles Tart has his own blog now up and running.

http://blog.paradigm-sys.com/

Hopefully sometime in the future i will be able to pick up this book at my local library, because i look forward to reading it.

Here is Michael Prescott's post on this topic as well.

http://michaelprescott.typepad.com/michael_prescotts_blog/2009/07/a-new-book-from-charles-tart-a-blog-and-more.html

Induced After Death Communication

Michael Jackson In The Sky?

Some people believe this is the face of Michael Jackson who recently died a week ago. I am not so keen to think so, based on the fact that our brains can see patterns and interpret as something meaningful, the same with other people who claim to see jesus in a chip etc. But it sure is quite a coincidence without a doubt it is. Also their have been people trying to communicate with Michael from beyond the grave that i do put merit in based on the fact it has been demonstrated many times among well credential scientists.


You can check out the image here

http://www.nowpublic.com/strange/michael-jackson-sky-freaky-clouds-show-dead-singers-face

Yes if you look at the picture it does look like Michael Jackson's face in the clouds is a younger look of what his face was before. If you follow christainity you probably would more than likely believe that is his face in the clouds, of course i can't say it isn't, a lot of christians believe that their loved ones are watching over them from above. The problem i have with this why would they be watching over their loved ones from the clouds? why not from another realm of reality?. It obviously goes by the literal interpretation of the bible of heaven is above and hell is below so christians believe that hell is at the bottom core of the earth and heaven is in the clouds. I rather follow spiritualism myself i think they have a rational view on what the afterlife is all about.