In this continuation of our speculations and conjectures about brain dynamics as it pertains the attainment of the introspective self conscious state and the concomitant brain proto language faculty activation -both sine qua non antecedents to the decision making process- we are now trying to get a clearer picture about what seems to our species confusion of consciously experiencing two simultaneous but opposing perspectives of the same existential 4-d reality and how it may impact the conscious free judgment on the priority to be assigned to any important and relevant issue to the human species. Which one should we adopt to guide our lives today and the day after tomorrow? Of course we are more concerned with the above average responsible citizen looking beyond the conveniences of a quotidian hedonistic Sartrean existentialism where pleasurable enjoyment is routinely satisfied ahead of known but ignored necessities for the lasting survival of the human species generations ahead. How can we reconcile these seemingly opposing views we need to take into account? This realistic approach is called compromise, hybridization or complementarity and the assumption that hidden variables -if any- beyond human brain phenomenological or combinatorial threshold would always bring Heisenberg-type uncertainties to reckon with. These can be either the choice of exclusive biopsychosocial (BPS) imperatives for any living species survival as opposed to the altruistic, spiritual life against self interests of the historical prophets or the more familiar Einstein, Podolsky, Rosen (EPR) complementarities between the position of a particulate object of mass (m) and its momentum when we try to measure them. Likewise for energy and time. Underlying these seemingly opposite/contrasting appearances are subthreshold physical interactions. These considerations force you to adopt a quantum statistical probabilistic view of reality relying on falsifiability, predictability and mathematical logic manipulations of symbolic representations of measurable/observed facts. But when it comes to human judgments these coexisting complementarities, i.e., the subconscious species survival BPS imperative drives we share with other evolved species to stay alive now and then and the conscious species survival across generations sacrifices a few were willing to endure against self interest, resist being framed into coherent rules of metaphysical logic for analysis..

Anyone who has ever enjoyed the honor to lecture a graduate school audience will tell you that simplicity in delivery as a goal is a worthwhile pragmatic and theoretical virtue if and only the expected and appropriate cognitive content are aimed at the student and not for self indulgence, independent of the corresponding level of complexity to be communicated. There is a tacit presumption that selling/marketing an idea by a professor implies there must be a buyer student purchase for a pedagogical transaction to be completed. Unless, of course, the professor, consciously knowing (or not) is engaged in a self-serving soliloquy assuming as primitive, self-evident complex propositions and often expressed as either inspired on a radical conceptual theosophy or based on a radical empirical, probable/statistical scientific lab result as characterized by extremist pronouncements. Yet, the very complex and changing nature of the object/event, in its dynamic evolutionary progression in our Minkowsky 4-d space time existential reality, opts to reveal its complexity to human audiences in the form of the simplest possible model-poems solution that are compatible with the students undeveloped brain dynamics phenomenology and combinatorial limitations, as amply detailed in our other publications. We now expand further on the justifications for our general poem on the evolution of complexity as discussed under The Immanent Invariant and the Transcendental Transforming Horizons. We need to harmonize integrative the exotic idealistic speculations and conjectures of conceptual models with the empirical/pragmatic measurements coming out of the lab. See Ch. 12, Nurophilosophy of Consciousness., Vol. IV and Vol. V.

I would like to invite all those studious of the mind/brain interface puzzle to share our insights. What follows represents an ongoing series of reflections on the ontology of consciousness based on some intuitions on life, language acquisition and survival strategies to accommodate the biological, psychic and social imperatives of human life in its ecological niche, thus the BPS model. For the latest publication click on BPS Model. http://www.delaSierra-Sheffer.net/ID-Neurophilo-net/index.htm

This book brings together ancient spiritual wisdom and modern science and philosophy to address age-old questions regarding our existence, free will and the nature of conscious awareness. Stuart Hameroff MD Professor, Anesthesiology and Psychology, and Director, Center for Consciousness Studies The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona This book presents a rich, broad-ranging overview of contemporary research and scholarship into consciousness and the self.... It is ... to their credit that the editors have assembled a highly stimulating set of scholars whose expertise cover all the relevant areas. I strongly recommend the book to anyone with an interest in understanding the directions in which contemporary thinking about the nature of consciousness is headed. B. Les Lancaster Emeritus Professor of Transpersonal Psychology Liverpool John Moores University, UK This volume is a collection of 23 essays that contribute to the emerging discipline of consciousness studies with particular focus on the concept of the self. The essays together argue that to understand consciousness is to understand the self that beholds consciousness. Two broad issues are addressed in the volume: the place of the self in the lives of humans and nonhuman primates; and the interrelations between the self and consciousness, which contribute to the understanding of cognitive functions, awareness, free will, nature of reality, and the complex experiential and behavioural attributes of consciousness. The book presents cutting-edge and original work from well-known authors and scholars of philosophy, psychiatry, behavioural sciences and physics. This is a pioneering attempt to present to the reader multiple ways of conceptualizing and thus understanding the relation between consciousness and self in a nuanced manner.

How deep learning—from Google Translate to driverless cars to personal cognitive assistants—is changing our lives and transforming every sector of the economy. The deep learning revolution has brought us driverless cars, the greatly improved Google Translate, fluent conversations with Siri and Alexa, and enormous profits from automated trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Deep learning networks can play poker better than professional poker players and defeat a world champion at Go. In this book, Terry Sejnowski explains how deep learning went from being an arcane academic field to a disruptive technology in the information economy. Sejnowski played an important role in the founding of deep learning, as one of a small group of researchers in the 1980s who challenged the prevailing logic-and-symbol based version of AI. The new version of AI Sejnowski and others developed, which became deep learning, is fueled instead by data. Deep networks learn from data in the same way that babies experience the world, starting with fresh eyes and gradually acquiring the skills needed to navigate novel environments. Learning algorithms extract information from raw data; information can be used to create knowledge; knowledge underlies understanding; understanding leads to wisdom. Someday a driverless car will know the road better than you do and drive with more skill; a deep learning network will diagnose your illness; a personal cognitive assistant will augment your puny human brain. It took nature many millions of years to evolve human intelligence; AI is on a trajectory measured in decades. Sejnowski prepares us for a deep learning future.

This book completes Wolfgang Dietrich’s path-breaking trilogy of the Many Peaces; the foundation of the highly innovative approach to peace and conflict as taught and applied at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. Where Volume 1 elaborated the transrational philosophy of the many peaces and Volume 2 discussed the curricular and didactic aspects of elicitive conflict transformation (ECM), Volume 3 provides principles and examples of ECM’s practical application. The author drafts the easy use of ECM as a brand new method of conflict work that can be applied from both intra and interpersonal conflicts to the highest political and diplomatic level. This book would form an excellent basis for leadership and relationship training of future peace workers within the frame of elicitive conflict transformation.

Where does learning begin and how is it sustained and stored in the brain? For musicians, these questions are at the very core of their creative lives. Cognitive and neuroscience have flung wide the doors of our understanding, but bridging the gap between research data and music-making requires a unique immersion in both worlds. Lynn Helding presents a symphony of discoveries that illuminate how musicians can optimize their mental wellbeing and cognitive abilities. She addresses common brain myths, motor learning research and the concept of deliberate practice, the values of instructional feedback, technology’s role in attention disorders, the challenges of parenting young musicians, performance anxiety and its solutions, and the emerging importance of music as a social justice issue. More than an exploration of the brain, The Musician’s Mind is an inspiring call for artists to promote the cultivation of emotion and empathy as cornerstones of a civilized society. No matter your instrument or level of musical ability, this book will reveal to you a new dynamic appreciation for the mind’s creative power.