Scott Fitzgerald: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing thoughts in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” A smiling Nelson Mandela did this. A rank and unruly partisanship shrivelled at his feet.
Eastern wisdom teaches that we awaken in the depthless interval between two thoughts.
Scientists are touting the benefits of disembodiment as a way to relieve suffering. The process involves uploading a patient’s whole brain onto a computer and then running scans on it. Another colony of scientists holds the view that we are a simulation of reality, that we have no intrinsic realness. A harmonizing Elon Musk says the odds that we’re real are one in billions.
Pioneering psychiatrist Stanislav Grof says there is overwhelming evidence to support the conclusion that “consciousness is not the product of the human brain.” Thus, we cannot ‘effort’ our way into heaven. Words and books may expand human intelligence, but they won’t make us wise.
If it has a form, the first thing we do is name it. But what about the formless—consciousness, psyche, empty space? Surely this warrants a more serious and nuanced response than “Keith.”
Men's Work 