Journey of the Mind: How Thinking Emerged from Chaos

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What is “the mind,” and how does it enable consciousness, language, and self-awareness? In carefully constructed chapters that build toward a unified theory of mind—a concept that scientists only recently developed the mathematical tools to explore—Ogas and Gaddam introduce 17 increasingly intelligent entities to demonstrate the incremental and awe-inspiring emergence of awareness and consciousness. For each of these “minds,” the authors devise mental challenges and explain how the mind overcame them, a clever setup that draws readers into the surprisingly relatable drama of each scenario and enhances the authors’ conversational (and equation-free) writing style. Their descriptive language is sharp and engaging, and the easy-to-understand illustrations demonstrate the concepts underpinning evolving conscious experience, such as a bacteria’s interaction with the environment, the amoeba mind becoming aware of itself, and birdsong demonstrating culture. “Birdsong can…fuse the dynamics of two minds,” write the authors, “empowering a couple to focus on joint purposes and enabling them to share similar perceptions of important situations.” In later chapters, the authors explore “superminds,” which gave rise to language, civilization, and the concept of the “self,” and which continue to evolve as technology increases in sophistication and scope. Each of these examples bolsters their argument that “consciousness is a specific mental innovation that arose to solve specific mental challenges.” Though the authors don’t skimp on their analysis, that demystification may leave some readers wanting. Nonetheless, Ogas and Gaddam imbue every detail with awe and enthusiasm, a reminder to readers that the very science underpinning their theories is only possible because of the wondrous machinations of the human mind itself, a mind that likely has not reached its apotheosis. In Augustine of Hippo, Peter Brown unforgettably combined biographical sensitivity, fine-grained historical analysis, and lyrical writing to produce a life story of arresting beauty and depth. Now, drawing on these same gifts, he achieves this accomplishment yet again with his own life story, while tracing, as well, the twentieth century’s creation of the academic study of late antiquity. Told with grace, wit, and keen insight, Journeys of the Mind invites the reader to accompany this master storyteller as he relates his own thrilling intellectual autobiography. What variegated sojourns; what gifts of navigation; what wonderful journeys, indeed.”—Paula Fredriksen, author of When Christians Were Jews: The First Generation Two neuroscientists trace a sweeping new vision of consciousness, language, and the Self across eighteen A talk and Q&A, explores the connection of design, education and spiritual practice for mental wellbeing, through the understanding of the mind. Journeys of the Mind’ is a scintillating intellectual autobiography and an evocative traversal of lost worlds."—Dominic Green, Wall Street Journal

Day seven is about faith as St Francis understood it, that is spiritually and with feeling. It’s about allowing ourselves to be with God without over-thinking or analysing, just being in His presence as everything shines forth from Divine goodness and love. Day seven is concerned with finding our own unity with God by grace and not instruction, desire and not understanding, by prayer and not diligent reading, through Spouse not the teacher, God not man. Bonaventure tells us we must “give over” or “die to the self”, to be less of our own self allowing more of God to be within us and this is an emotional feeling not intellectual knowledge. It is dwelling with the love of God’s Holy Trinity. A dance of divine expression. The impact of Covid-19, and the constant worry and isolation that many of us experienced, have left their mark on our mental health. On top of this, concern for the health of our planet and social injustice have left some feeling hopeless. Bring your family elders and friends, make them feel valued and heard in an interactive sharing session. The session starts with a guided tour (in Punjabi) of the Journey of the Mind exhibition. Resonance” is another key Grossberg theory. The idea is that the mind allows us to understand and react to our environment by taking outside stimuli, comparing them with internal concepts, and seeing how well they match up. Also important is the “complementary thinking principle,” the concept that different parts of complex brains like ours — called “modules,” each with different skills — cooperate to make sense of existence.The same is true of consciousness, according to the authors. Consciousness cannot be understood by analyzing neurons and chemicals any more than you can explain basketball by analyzing the physical attributes of the players and the ball. It is the flurry of activity of nervous tissue—interacting with its environment—that accounts for consciousness, just as the total activity of the basketball players accounts for the game of basketball. The book starts by scaling the steps of the mind’s complexity chapter by chapter, from simple microscopic combinations of “sensors” and “doers” that can achieve no greater feat than to move unsteadily toward the light; through frogs who can position themselves to target flies; to chimps who weigh risks and rewards. You’d probably guess the top of the list was the human mind, but the authors keep right on going to explore instances of collective human thinking they dub “superminds.” When looking at the first days of the journey Bonaventure talks about God’s creative expression “the divine power that produces all things from nothing, the divine wisdom that clearly distinguishes all things and the divine goodness that lavishly adorns all things” Bonaventure’s focus is on the beauty, fullness and activity of all things created. He explains that Creation is about God’s sublimity, dignity and immense goodness and that it’s where we see reflections, vestiges [traces] and the likeness of God. Perhaps whilst writing this St Bonaventure considered the opening words of Francis in his Canticle of the Creatures where the beauty and wonder of His Creation is because of, and for, Christ represented in the canticle as Brother Sun: Why do you exist? How did atoms and molecules transform into sentient creatures that experience longing, regret, compassion, and even marvel at their own existence? What does it truly mean to have a mind―to think? Science has offered few answers to these existential questions until now.

Two neuroscientists reveal why consciousness exists and how it works by examining eighteen increasingly intelligent minds, from microbes to humankind—and beyond. In today’s terms we would probably consider these three powers to be our understanding, knowledge and memory. Focusing on ‘the mind’, the exhib ition explores the texts of Sikh teachers, along with contemporary works to bridge the gap between art, spirituality, and mental health. Going beyond cultural, racial, and religious boundaries, Journey of the Mind aims to overcome the social dilemmas of “Us”, “Them” and “All”, inviting people to understand the commonality that is the mind; providing an alternative approach to understanding something that everyone has in common. The mission of the Gurus was supported by brave and inspiring warriors who, following the teaching of the Gurus, devoted their minds to Waheguru (the Creator) and found peace in the face of adversity. Peter Brown’s Journeys of the Mind is really two books in one: the autobiography of a distinguished historian, and a guided tour of the development of his intellectual interests and their application during his long career. . . . A fascinating safari through territory that is often unfamiliar but always interesting."—Lawrence N. Crumb, The Living ChurchIn this masterpiece of a book, Peter Brown takes us on a journey from his native Ireland to Oxford, Berkeley, and Princeton as well as the Sudan, Iran, Turkey, and the Mediterranean. Along the way, we learn of the books and people who inspired him and contributed to the steady development of his influential ideas. It is written with deep humanity and generosity; one comes away richer, wiser, immensely grateful, and still wanting more.”—Averil Cameron, author of Byzantine Matters As the busiest public building in a super-diverse city, it’s exciting to work with such creative partners on an exhibition that speaks and connects with so many communities. This is a fantastic opportunity for visitors to the library to learn something new, consider different perspectives on spirituality, and enjoy some fantastic art”

Among other things, this shows that we are often drawn to history and classic literature because, in large part, the ideas of the past reflect who we are in the present. A recurring theme of the book is that all minds are connected—with all human minds connected across time through language—and that it is our duty to project compassion and kindness to the sapiens supermind to transmit a culture that is more conducive to human flourishing for future generations. We all have a small, albeit important, role to play in the development of the collective human supermind. Focusing on ‘ the mind’, the exhibition explores the texts of Sikh teachers, along with contemporary works to bridge the gap between art, spirituality, and mental health. Going beyond cultural, racial, and religious boundaries, Journey of the Mind aims to overcome the social dilemmas of “ Us”, “ Them” and “ All”, inviting people to understand the commonality that is the mind; providing an alternative approach to understanding something that everyone has in common. Fun-filled activities for children and families, designed to discover the positive aspects of the mind. Engage your artistic skills by creating a giant tapestry and making gifts for others. Followed by a calming storytelling session. DISCOVER VAISAKHI In today’s frenetic, turbulent world, the message of the Gurus is more relevant than ever––we have everything we need within us to achieve peace. It is the ambition and hope of WSWF that people will be inspired by these words to embark on their own journey of the mind. Further, and crucially, the basketball game, through its flurry of activities, never becomes conscious of itself. Yet out of the physical dynamics of our brains, our minds do become self-aware, somehow, and so the analogy fails, or at least loses its power to explain anything.

The end of the ancient world was long regarded by historians as a time of decadence, decline, and fall. In his career-long engagement with this era, the widely acclaimed and pathbreaking historian Peter Brown has shown, however, that the “neglected half-millennium” now known as late antiquity was in fact crucial to the development of modern Europe and the Middle East. In Journeys of the Mind, Brown recounts his life and work, describing his efforts to recapture the spirit of an age. As he and other scholars opened up the history of the classical world in its last centuries to the wider world of Eurasia and northern Africa, they discovered previously overlooked areas of religious and cultural creativity as well as foundational institution-building. A respect for diversity and outreach to the non-European world, relatively recent concerns in other fields, have been a matter of course for decades among the leading scholars of late antiquity.

Smell– to sense how God’s words can have fragrance like flowers, aroma like natural oils, the strength of a lion’s roar and the sweat of a hard day’s work. My only complaint about the book is the somewhat annoying insistence that the authors have solved the hard problem of consciousness, a claim that most philosophers would probably not take too seriously. The hard problem of consciousness, of course, is the problem of how purely physical phenomena manifests as subjective experience. It’s the difference between describing the color red in terms of wavelengths of light and the actual experience of seeing red. To get an idea of the hard problem of consciousness, imagine trying to describe the experience of seeing red to someone who was born blind. A multi-disciplinary exhibit exploring a unique way of understanding, connecting and healing the ailing mind.Featuring figurative drawings and digitally created paintings by world-renowned Sikh artist Kanwar Singh, and short films by British animator Christian Wood, the exhibition explores the stories of those who historically attained the highest spiritual levels.