sure, but I need some more time

That is absolutely fine, because thinking what to write requires time. Sometimes, when I get posts sent to me I start to feel pressure within myself to reply almost instantly. Having replied, I often think that it would have been better had I not rushed. I realise that I put pressure on myself but sometimes the forum almost seems a live being in itself, with threads flickering up constantly.

After I wrote my reply to you I thought how thinking in itself could be seen almost as a magical process in some ways. Sometimes, like today, for instance, I feel that my own mind is almost clouded in a great fog. I have been struggling to think and plan anything at all. At other times, my thoughts just seem to flow and I have instant ideas. Also, we are minds within a larger group mind. I remember seeing this described by one writer, Vera Stanley Alder, as, us being individually, 'cells of consciousness' It is organic, perhaps, if not an underlying 'magic'. I know that Dawkins, called a book, 'The Magic of Reality, ' just to show how life, in the scientific sense, could be seen as wondrous, without any reference to any supernatural power.

So, to respond to your question about vibrations and energies. I do see existence in terms of spirits and energies. They are everywhere and they interact with us in a certain way. How they exactly behave I don't know. Physics tries to explain this, but I find the mystery sufficiently satisfying.

You already know what I'm going to say!

Your reply has just sprung to life like an energy after this thread died about a week ago. I think glad that someone believes in some kind of energies, although I try to avoid the word 'spirit' because it conjures up too much thought of a supernatural power in another sphere, whereas I am inclined to see it as inherent in nature, both body and mind.

lol it didn't die. I was just contemplating it :P

I expect that you are opposed to any belief in and extrasensory perception, but you are quite welcome to say it as I am into critical analysis, in the most open way.

These threads seem to have a life of their own, and it was waiting for your response. Anyway, it was good to hear from you.

same!

I don't believe in magic, but I think it may be possible that you smelt death - some pheromonal off-gassing, not acknowledged by the conscious brain but feeding through from the subconscious as a premonition. Or you're lying. Or have convinced yourself after the fact, that you knew before the fact. Or, of course - it could be that you're psychic, in which case - can you pick half a dozen random numbers between 1 and 59???

I definitely wouldn't be able to pick out numbers, and I do believe that pherenomes play some role but in a couple of my own experience I was not in the presence of the people concerned. I am not necessarily wanting any extrasensory experiences and certainly have not had any of that nature recently.

However, aside from this thread discussion, I am just not convinced that our conventional understanding of consciousness is adequate.

I am just not convinced that our conventional understanding of consciousness is adequate. — Jack Cummins

I am not convinced that consciousness – self-conscious experience – is what it subjectively seems to each one of us to be (re: Hume, Dennett, Churchland, Damasio, Metzinger).

That is a fascinating area. I have read some Dennet but not the others. I am going to see my mother tomorrow, and have a large book of readings on the philosophy of mind, which I left in her house, so I will follow it through by some further reading.

Today, in various bits of discussion I have had on various threads, the main theme has been the question of consciousness. So, I will have a read and get back to you, because I do believe in writing the most informed replies. I don't know if you ever find that balancing the reading and writing is hard battle. And, after lockdown ends, I will need to try to work again. There are just not enough hours in a day, and music needs to get included too.

Music above all else! :up:

Yes, music is so central. I usually listen to about 2 to 3hrs music a day. I saw you referring to Neil Young on a music thread. I do have some albums by him. I also like Van Morrison. I listen to music ranging from the 60s to the present. I do have a couple of 2021 albums, although I haven't had time to play them yet, but I have the new Alice Cooper and Robin Thikke. But, I still buy CDs rather than just relying on digital music.

Well, you're absolutely right on the inadequacy of our understanding of consciousness, but I'd be very wary about seeking to fill those gaps with magical thinking. I don't know what you experienced. Nothing like that has ever happened to me. I seem to remember from my childhood - quasi religious upbringing, that I wanted such things to happen. I was always looking for the back door to reality when I was younger - until I discovered that the big secret is that science is true!

I have more of an arts background, but, increasingly, I do find myself searching in the sciences section. One book which I am starting to read is, 'The Holographic Universe,' by Michael Talbot(1991), and that is an attempt to understand psychic experiences from the perspective of quantum physics. However, I am aware that is 20 years old.

I try to make the best sense of science, even though I didn't enjoy it at school. As an adult, I have read some Stephen Hawking and Fritjof Capra. Of course, theories keep arising and I try to read and take in as much of I can. Really, I try to develop as much of a multidisciplinary approach to understanding of extrasensory experiences and other aspects of life, but there is so much to take on board. Even with science, there are no easy answers.