Introduction and Confessions

Confessions

I have many strong opinions about pretty much everything. 

But, my ultimate wish is that individuals reading here will stay open.   Take some time to consider other ways of looking at the world. 

As we grow we may develop multiple lenses through which we can see the world more clearly.  If we have only one lens, the world can be seen from only a single viewpoint.  With multiple lenses, we can appreciate the deeper beauty of the world. 

MD, PhD

Actually, I have 5 degrees past high school; AA, BS, MS, PhD, MD, in that order.  I got the AA degree at a local 2-year college because I smoked too much pot in high school and skipped too many classes.  I was totally bored.  I was also very angry. 

The US was trying to win an unwinnable war in Vietnam.  The president was a crook.  My draft number was 54.  I didn’t want to join the army, travel to foreign lands, meet fascinating people, and kill them.  The war ended just before my number was up. 

I barely made it out of high school, grade wise.  But, I was a great multiple choice test taker and I was a voracious reader.  I always had a book in my back pocket, mostly science fiction.  So I took the regional and national tests and got a state scholarship, free tuition at any state school.   Went to my local 2-year college, because I worked in a factory first, and then, college looked better. 

Lived at home.  Did fairly well at junior college, maybe because I was treated as an adult.   No one was looking over my shoulder.   Enjoyed doing my work in between classes.  

As an aside, that is a good recommendation for changing high school to look more like junior college.   Try scheduling fewer classes, 2-3 days per week per subject.    And start school at 10 am!   Heretical! 

Went on to a 4-year university.  Moved out.  Grew up. 

I was always a scientist.  Reading about science.  Doing the experiments kids do in the back yard.  Didn’t blow anything up, I still have all my fingers.  As a young kid I was going to be a herpetologist, study reptiles.  In college, I was going to be a field biologist and study eagles in Alaska. 

After the BS, I was working half time as a medical technologist and waiting for my fiancé to finish her BA.  I spoke with my former biochemistry teacher who offered me a position doing science in his lab.  I then decided to explore graduate school.  Wow, they paid your way!  You worked as a teaching or research assistant and they paid your tuition.  Got the MS, and working toward the PhD I found I needed “more input.”  So finished the PhD and got into medical school. 

I had a parallel interest in martial arts.  This led to an interest in meditation.  Eventually the two interests converged so I was doing research on meditation and it’s effects on the immune response. 

That’s enough of that, for now…  

Heretic

From Dictionary.com: 

Anyone who does not conform to an established attitude, doctrine, or principle.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/heretic

I have always explored the edges of what is known.  I am interested in human evolution, the evolution of human consciousness.  Conventional science does a poor job of accepting anything outside of its comfort zone.  There is evidence for distance healing, psychic connections to past lives, and perhaps information from the future.  Physics does not preclude that the entirety of existence actually occurs all at once.  With time being only an illusion of our animal brain.  Heretic! 

Additionally, the whole system seems to be broken.  The health care system, in the US at least, seems to be broken, global economies are in dire straits, countries are at war with each other, social and personal relationships seem to be in turmoil.   What is going on?

Another, more heretical view, is that these systems are exactly where they should be. 

What if both conclusions are true?  All these systems are broken, and they are exactly where we should expect them to be, at this moment in time.  

This latter statement “at this moment in time,” perhaps is most important. 

Perhaps what we need is the thousand-year view.  Where were we 100 years ago?  The average age of death was at about age 45, today it is closer to 80.  There was radio, but no television, computers, or internet.  It took days to weeks to travel what now takes us hours.  A thousand years ago your average age of death was in your 20’s, and life was very difficult for the vast majority of individuals.  To quote Thomas Hobbes, for most people, “life was nasty, brutish, and short.”  In this light I believe we are in a better place.  Heretic!   

Am I saying to accept what is going on right now without protest?  Absolutely not! 

 But, I would like to propose some questions:

 

1-Can we hold 2 ideas that seem to be complete opposites?

2-Is there actually more truth contained, when we hold 2 seemingly opposing ideas? 

3-How do we become more comfortable with holding 2 seemingly estranged ideas at the same time? 

4-How can holding opposing views help us evolve as humans, maybe also so that our social systems evolve with us? 

5-How can considerations of the science and ideas at the edges of what is known, help us to better understand our world, and help us to grow as individuals and societies?

Come join me on an exploration of your deeper self, developing a wider range of lenses through which to see the world, and maybe have a little fun along the way. 

I plan to explore the edges of what we know.  Controversial subjects.  You know, maybe even some of my other favorite heretical subjects; sex, guns, drugs, and rock and roll! 

Enlightenment is next.