Ebook: [Chapter] Effects of Relativistic Motions in the Brain and Their Physiological Relevance

From the Editor: "An admittedly bold, but at the same time beautiful, execution of empirical research in the neurosciences brings data for a grand synthesis presented in the two chapters that follow. A monistic theory that acommodates a dualistic interpretation appears to be an oxymoron, but succeds in transforming a palindrome from metaphor into fact. In chapter 11, Mariela Szirko notes that cerebral biophysics is not an exception to established laws of physics applicable to all other occurrences of condensed matter: brains, too, include microphysical components in their tissue that move at close to light-speed. The critical question, one often ignored, is if and how such motions bring about physiological effects and how this relates to psychological realms. Szirko describes the work of neuroscientists in Argentina, dating back to the eighteenth century, and how it has focused on ‘‘electroneurobiology.’’ This approach, which appears to have been especially suitable for revealing any such effects, is based on assuming the uncoupling pathologies that disconnect persons from their circumstances, sharing with sleep and the variations of inattention the common mechanism of changes in a physiological time dilation. This is a relativistic effect of motion from the tissue’s microphysical components, and is physiologically operated through coupling with the electroneurobiological states of that tissue. Szirko argues that these findings are of value to neurobiologists, psychophysiologists, humanists working on brain-mind issues, as well as to scientists investigating biological dynamical systems, biophysics, mathematical biology, computer biology, and molecular biology. In chapter 12, Mario Crocco begins his chapter by observing that conventional wisdom holds that science cannot discover or describe any intrinsic, noninstrumental value. Research in a broader perspective, however, indicates that this may not be the case. Crocco casts a wide net to counter conventional wisdom, including ‘‘astrophysical-biospheric evolution.’’ This process has been functionalized and can be used as a means to afford responsibility to mind-possessing living creatures. In science’s grand picture of reality, therefore, natural science’s aspiration of ‘‘naturalizing the minds’ depiction’’ does not clash with the humanities’ recognition of intrinsic value in persons."
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About the Editor
Helmut Wautischer is full Professor at California State University, Sonoma, U. S., and Klagenfürst Univ, Austria.
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Review [of the book]
This collection provides a rich tableau of research on the nature of consciousness by twenty internationally recognized scholars and researchers who draw on perspectives from archaic traditions in religion and culture tocontemporary neuroscience to the testimony of personal experience. Masterfully edited by Helmut Wautischer, Ontology of Consciousness answersquestions such as: what kind of being is the being to which we refer as consciousness? How long have humans been perplexed by the awareness of being? Are the questions of being and consciousness one and the same?
―Alan M. Olson, Professor, Philosophy of Religion, Boston University (Endorsement)

These percipient 20 essays are like detonating explosives, profoundly disturbing to various intellectual universes, and highly appropriate to be published by an institution famed for pushing frontiers in science and technology. They connect the dots between the seen and unseen worlds. They require Kierkegaardian leaps of faith. They stretch referential meaningin order to understand human powers of wordless communication that we share with other animals. The essayists have playfully created a new Metaphysical Club open to all with courage to explore.
―Wilton S. Dillon, Senior Scholar Emeritus, Smithsonian Institution (Endorsement)

One does not realize how painfully narrow is our dataset concerning 'conscious phenomena' until one works one's way through this book. The astounding spectrum of human beliefs about and experiences of consciousness is here carefully organized, analyzed, and categorized. Many chapters, even as they evoke skepticism, make for spellbinding reading. Ambitiously interdisciplinary, this text will be superb for classroom use and could significantly influence the philosophy of mind―if this field is willing to expand the range of its data in the ways here suggested.
―Phillip Clayton, Ingraham Professor, Claremont School of Theology, and Author of Mind and Emergence: From Quantum to Consciousness (Endorsement)

An essential source book for the study of consciousness and foundations of experience. This book provides comprehensive analyses of diverse philosophical, religious, anthropological, and scientific approaches to human experience. Scholars who study consciousness, whether they be behavioral, social or biological scientists, or just educated readers, will find in this volume a store of data necessary for the pursuit of this subject.
―Douglass Price-Williams, Professor Emeritus, Departments of Psychiatry and Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles (Endorsement)
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Mariela Szirko is a neuropharmacologist with degrees in pharmacy and biochemistry who has also had a teaching career in neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology. She is head of the Neurophysiology Department at the Centre of Neurobiological Research, Ministry of Health of the Argentine Republic, Full Professor of Neurophysiology in the Department of Neuroscience, and researcher in charge of projects in the Laboratory of Electroneurobiological Research of the Neuropsychiatric Hospital J. T. Borda, Buenos Aires City Government. She has also worked in several CONICET (Argentinian Council of Scientific Investigations) research projects for the Laboratory of Sensory Research and the Physiology Department of the Pharmacy and Biochemistry Faculty, University of Buenos Aires, and is editor of the journal Electroneurobiology. The central focus of her work is investigating brain biophysics and neurochemical microprocesses in relativistic perspective.