Mirror Of Consciousness

Mirror of Consciousness ambitiously traverses a wide range of themes pertaining to art, creativity, knowledge and theory. Its unique perspective lies in its exposition of Vedic Science as brought to light by His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and in the application of the principles of this science to preliminary analysis of the Vastusutra Upanishad. No other publication has examined art and theory with the same comprehensive vision. To do justice to the topic of universal value in art and theory, the author has delved into several areas that impact the visual arts--late twentieth-century debates in art theory, models of historiography, new definitions of culture and tradition--in the context of the individual`s own consciousness or simplest form of awareness. Though comprehensive and detailed, it will appeal to those who are curious about trends in the visual arts, the advent and impact of new technologies, and the development of collective consciousness in our time.

Christopher Peacocke presents a new theory of subjects of consciousness, together with a theory of the nature of first person representation. He identifies three sorts of self-consciousness—perspectival, reflective, and interpersonal—and argues that they are key to explaining features of our knowledge, social relations, and emotional lives.

The emergence of language, social intelligence, and tool development are what made homo sapiens sapiens differentiate itself from all other biological species in the world. The use of language and the management of social and instrumental skills imply an awareness of intention and the consideration that one faces another individual with an attitude analogical to that of one’s own. The metaphor of ‘mirror’ aptly comes to mind.Recent investigations have shown that the human ability to ‘mirror’ other’s actions originates in the brain at a much deeper level than phenomenal awareness. A new class of neurons has been discovered in the premotor area of the monkey brain: ‘mirror neurons’. Quite remarkably, they are tuned to fire to the enaction as well as observation of specific classes of behavior: fine manual actions and actions performed by mouth. They become activated independent of the agent, be it the self or a third person whose action is observed. The activation in mirror neurons is automatic and binds the observation and enaction of some behavior by the self or by the observed other. The peculiar first-to-third-person ‘intersubjectivity’ of the performance of mirror neurons and their surprising complementarity to the functioning of strategic communicative face-to-face (first-to-second person) interaction may shed new light on the functional architecture of conscious vs. unconscious mental processes and the relationship between behavioral and communicative action in monkeys, primates, and humans. The present volume discusses the nature of mirror neurons as presented by the research team of Prof. Giacomo Rizzolatti (University of Parma), who originally discovered them, and the implications to our understanding of the evolution of brain, mind and communicative interaction in non-human primates and man.(Series B)

Present-day computers lack well-defined functions to accept various kinds of sensual information such as vision, hearing, and smelling (binding problem). Computers also lack any well-defined mechanisms to coordinate various behaviors in the presence of an object (conscious mechanism). This book serves as a breakthrough that opens a new world. Using the ideas presented in the book, computer systems can be developed to conduct conscious activities like human beings. Human beings will be able to develop mechanisms in which machines will have their own feelings, will behave according to their own consciousness, and will continue to learn for their betterment.

This is collection of stories that illustrates that there is no age limit to living life to its fullest. In it, seniors disdain passivity to lead active lives. The effects are often surprising and always entertaining.

How can human experience, vibrant with colours, sounds, flavours, emotions and meanings, arise from the skeletal dance of matter depicted in the physical sciences? Today the mind-body problem confronts not only metaphysicians and moral philosophers, but also workers in the fields of cognitive science, artificial intelligence and neuroscience. Paul Marshall offers a radical solution to the mind-body problem by rejecting the idea of a purely material world and asserting instead the primacy of experience. As many have recognized before, experience is not reducible to material bodies and processes alone. Marshall goes a step further and suggests that the matter investigated by modern science corresponds to structural features of an experiential universe that supports and includes our familiar experiences. Utilizing clues furnished by mystical experience and responding to a challenge posed by the physics of motion, Marshall takes up Leibniz's philosophy of 'living mirrors' and arrives at a holistic world-picture that has suggestive links with quantum physics and the visionary cosmologies of East and West.