Comments on: Scientists with Personal Experience of What They Study http://blog.paradigm-sys.com/archives/296 Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:15:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Sandy http://blog.paradigm-sys.com/archives/296/comment-page-1#comment-17570 Sandy Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:13:35 +0000 http://blog.paradigm-sys.com/?p=296#comment-17570 Rocket, I took no offense, if that was your concern. Your comment simply resonated with me. Rocket,
I took no offense, if that was your concern. Your comment simply resonated with me.

]]> By: Rocket http://blog.paradigm-sys.com/archives/296/comment-page-1#comment-17569 Rocket Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:44:24 +0000 http://blog.paradigm-sys.com/?p=296#comment-17569 My comment was not about you or addressed to you. I would not presume... My comment was not about you or addressed to you. I would not presume…

]]> By: Sandy http://blog.paradigm-sys.com/archives/296/comment-page-1#comment-17568 Sandy Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:09:33 +0000 http://blog.paradigm-sys.com/?p=296#comment-17568 Rocket, I have to admit it. I don't want to be transformed by my experiences. I want to figure out why they are happening so that I can "fix" them. Maybe I'm just having a bad day, but I want to pathologize these experiences, study them in a lab and cure myself of them. Maybe I need to start meditating again... Rocket, I have to admit it. I don’t want to be transformed by my experiences. I want to figure out why they are happening so that I can “fix” them. Maybe I’m just having a bad day, but I want to pathologize these experiences, study them in a lab and cure myself of them.

Maybe I need to start meditating again…

]]> By: Rocket http://blog.paradigm-sys.com/archives/296/comment-page-1#comment-17567 Rocket Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:40:35 +0000 http://blog.paradigm-sys.com/?p=296#comment-17567 I think we must begin to legitimize "subjective science" ie the observation of ones own mind and emotions to understand it and refine its function. "Objective science" is the only science we currently have is fine if what you want to do is build a safe bridge but in the realm of psychology, mental health, behavioral science it is a dismal failure. Those areas are arguably the most critical ones humans face considering the decisions we make collectively regarding consumption, greed, how we treat one another, the environment and how those things endanger our future, how that danger drives further distorted behaviors. The largest mental hospital in the world is the LA County mens jail. They spend $150K a week on drugs to "treat" inmates and have nothing but escalating problems. Psychiatrists are trained solely to give drugs or to talk sense to people whose emotions have hijacked their behavior, even for issues that are psycho social in nature and are not organic. The emotions come from a more primitive part of our brain and trump intellect. The pharm industry loves it and has vastly too much influence on the way physicians are trained and the paradigm of medicine generally at the expense of other types of solutions. We need to legitimize introspection, self observation to master our emotions as no white coat "expert" can ever truly observe and influence another persons mind directly. The Tibetans have a lot to teach us, they have been at it for a long time. The human mind heals itself spontaneously just as the body does and the process of skilled observation of our minds initiates and drives that process. One of my favorite scientists of all time, Willis Harman, said (I'm paraphrasing) one of the big obstacles is the willingness of scientists themselves personally to be transformed by their experiences instead of stuffing their heads full of facts out of books then declare that makes them the authority. I think we must begin to legitimize “subjective science” ie the observation of ones own mind and emotions to understand it and refine its function. “Objective science” is the only science we currently have is fine if what you want to do is build a safe bridge but in the realm of psychology, mental health, behavioral science it is a dismal failure. Those areas are arguably the most critical ones humans face considering the decisions we make collectively regarding consumption, greed, how we treat one another, the environment and how those things endanger our future, how that danger drives further distorted behaviors.

The largest mental hospital in the world is the LA County mens jail. They spend $150K a week on drugs to “treat” inmates and have nothing but escalating problems. Psychiatrists are trained solely to give drugs or to talk sense to people whose emotions have hijacked their behavior, even for issues that are psycho social in nature and are not organic. The emotions come from a more primitive part of our brain and trump intellect. The pharm industry loves it and has vastly too much influence on the way physicians are trained and the paradigm of medicine generally at the expense of other types of solutions. We need to legitimize introspection, self observation to master our emotions as no white coat “expert” can ever truly observe and influence another persons mind directly. The Tibetans have a lot to teach us, they have been at it for a long time.

The human mind heals itself spontaneously just as the body does and the process of skilled observation of our minds initiates and drives that process. One of my favorite scientists of all time, Willis Harman, said (I’m paraphrasing) one of the big obstacles is the willingness of scientists themselves personally to be transformed by their experiences instead of stuffing their heads full of facts out of books then declare that makes them the authority.

]]> By: Sandy http://blog.paradigm-sys.com/archives/296/comment-page-1#comment-17565 Sandy Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:06:42 +0000 http://blog.paradigm-sys.com/?p=296#comment-17565 Thanks, Dr Tart. That helps. I guess that might be why the para psychologist who I talked to asked me questions about my belief systems regarding the weird stuff. I told him that I really didn't know exactly what caused my experiences. We did discuss some of the models for such experiences put forward in the literature and the differences between belief and what is scientifically defensible. If this study does go forward, I guess all I can really do is try to be clear and concise in my descriptions. That's what I do when I'm describing outcrops and cores as a geoscientist. I guess it didn't occur to me that I could do that for weird stuff too. I might even be good at it because I'm used to keeping logs and making notes of useful information. As far as interpretation goes, I may still stand back and see what the old guys have to say. I have so many questions about my experiences. I would like to know why I'm the way that I am. It would be nice to have a few answers for a change. Thanks, Dr Tart. That helps. I guess that might be why the para psychologist who I talked to asked me questions about my belief systems regarding the weird stuff. I told him that I really didn’t know exactly what caused my experiences. We did discuss some of the models for such experiences put forward in the literature and the differences between belief and what is scientifically defensible.

If this study does go forward, I guess all I can really do is try to be clear and concise in my descriptions. That’s what I do when I’m describing outcrops and cores as a geoscientist. I guess it didn’t occur to me that I could do that for weird stuff too. I might even be good at it because I’m used to keeping logs and making notes of useful information.

As far as interpretation goes, I may still stand back and see what the old guys have to say. I have so many questions about my experiences. I would like to know why I’m the way that I am. It would be nice to have a few answers for a change.

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