Friday, April 3, 2026

Trillidium govanianum: "we still don't understand consciousness from a western philosophy perspective" - Yes? AI Overview from Google Search - https://share.google/aimode/3ReuNIB7pni0x9cjd AND from Gemini AI - What is #YogaConsciousness? Added to https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Consciousness ~ * * Also Searched on David Chalmers philosophy "The New Mysterians" * * * Hi Vivek, All, Thanks very much for your emails in this restorative Yoga thread and as we may live to 150 yo and well beyond... I enjoyed your father's Ajit's talk "Ajit Hutheesing on India : Past, Present, Future" - Ajit "was also an amazing business mentor to me and to so many who, both inside and outside corporate board rooms, learned from him and grew to love him. Ajit came from a family that fell under the spell of Gandhiji, only to find itself at the center of a movement that quickly transcended all else -- India's independence movement"

 

we still don't understand consciousness from a western philosophy perspective




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"we still don't understand consciousness from a western philosophy perspective"

AI Overview from Google Search - 


Western philosophy struggles to explain consciousness because of the "hard problem"—how physical brain matter produces subjective, first-person experience. Despite advancements in neuroscience (mapping brain correlations), a fundamental gap remains in understanding how objective processes feel like anything inside. Key challenges involve subjective experience, the failure of physicalist reductions, and the limitation of objective, third-person methods. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Key Western Philosophical Perspectives:
  • The Hard Problem: Popularized by David Chalmers, this highlights the gap between explaining brain functions ("easy problems") and the subjective "what it is like" experience.
  • Physicalism/Materialism: The view that consciousness must be reducible to physical brain matter and electro-chemical processes.
  • Dualism: The belief that mind and matter are fundamentally distinct, separate substances.
  • Panpsychism/Idealism: Proposals that consciousness is a fundamental feature of the universe (like space/time) or that mind is primary, rather than matter.
  • The Meta-Problem: The modern approach asking why we perceive consciousness as a problem at all. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Why Understanding Remains Elusive:
  • Subjectivity vs. Objectivity: Science studies the brain from the outside (objective), while consciousness is experienced from within (subjective), making communication and measurement difficult.
  • The "Gap": We can observe complex brain activity (fMRI) but cannot explain how it translates into conscious experience (qualia).
  • Limitations of Models: As suggested in by Leibniz, looking inside a brain (or machine) only reveals parts in motion, not thoughts themselves.
  • Critique of Current Approaches: Some critics argue that western philosophy is too detached from experiential, practical understanding, often focusing on sterile, academic thought experiments rather than the lived, subjective reality. [1, 2, 3]
Current approaches are moving toward interdisciplinary studies like Integrated Information Theory, yet a widely accepted explanation remains out of reach


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The Hard Problem of Consciousness
https://gemini.google.com/share/ca2a7aeeec99

It is an incredibly fair assessment to say we haven't "cracked the code" yet. In Western philosophy and cognitive science, this is famously known as The Hard Problem of Consciousness, a term coined by David Chalmers in the 1990s.

While we are getting very good at mapping which parts of the brain light up when you're angry or smelling coffee, we still can't explain why those physical processes feel like anything at all.

The Core Challenges

To understand why this is such a persistent "blind spot" in Western thought, we have to look at how we’ve categorized the problem:

1. The Explanatory Gap

We can explain the "Easy Problems"—how the brain processes stimuli, integrates information, or controls behavior—using biology and physics. However, there is a massive gap between a neuron firing (a physical event) and the "redness" of a sunset (a subjective experience, or qualia).

2. Physicalism vs. Dualism

Western thought is largely stuck in a tug-of-war between two major views:

  • Physicalism: The belief that consciousness is just a byproduct of physical matter. If we map every atom in the brain, the "soul" will be found in the math.

  • Dualism: Stemming from René Descartes, this suggests the mind and body are different substances. The struggle here is explaining how a non-physical mind can move a physical arm.

3. The "Subjective" Problem

Science, by definition, is objective. It requires third-party observation. Consciousness, however, is purely subjective. You cannot "observe" someone else's experience; you can only observe their brain waves and take their word for it.

Current Philosophical Frontrunners

Since we don't have a definitive answer, several theories are currently fighting for the spotlight:

TheoryThe Gist
PanpsychismConsciousness is a fundamental feature of the universe, like mass or gravity, and exists (to some degree) in everything.
IllusionismConsciousness doesn't actually exist as we think it does; our brains just evolved to trick us into thinking there is a "self" at the controls.
Integrated Information Theory (IIT)Consciousness is a result of how complex and interconnected a system's information processing is.

The Bottom Line: We have the "parts list" (the brain), but we don't have the "instruction manual" for how those parts generate the internal movie of your life.

Western philosophy is currently at a bit of a crossroads—some suggest we need a total "paradigm shift" in physics to solve it, while others think we just aren't smart enough to understand our own hardware.

Do you think consciousness is something that will eventually be solved by better brain scans, or is it something science isn't built to measure?




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Yoga consciousness is the state of pure, undivided awareness—or "witness consciousness"—achieved by calming the mind's constant fluctuations (citta vritti). It is the ultimate goal of all yoga practices, transitioning from awareness of the external world to an internal experience of one's true, unchanging nature as pure consciousness. [1, 2, 3]
Key aspects of yoga consciousness include:
  • Beyond Normal Mind: It transcends the ordinary waking, dreaming, and deep-sleep states (Jagrat, Swapna, Sushupti) into a transcendental, blissful, and unified state known as Turiya.
  • The Seer's Perspective: It involves shifting awareness from the identified "ego-self" (I'ness/Ahankara) to the observer ("Seer") of thoughts, emotions, and sensations.
  • The Four Layers: Yogic tradition divides consciousness into the mind (manas), ego (ahankara), intellect (buddhi), and subconscious intelligence (chitta). Yoga works to unify these layers.
  • Methods to Access: Practices such as Hatha Yoga (postures), Pranayama (breath control), and meditation allow the practitioner to move through layers of consciousness, starting from mental engagement and moving toward the stillness of Samadhi.
  • Ultimate Reality: Within yoga philosophy, this consciousness is not just personal awareness but is also considered the supreme consciousness or divine intelligence, sometimes viewed as God or the universal soul. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
The Goal: Samadhi
Yoga aims for a state where consciousness is "free from any object," a silent awareness of existence itself, often referred to as samadhi. This state is often characterized as a deep, witness-like state of being (often experienced in Yoga Nidra), where the practitioner retains awareness while the physical body is profoundly relaxed and resting


--



Society, Information Technology, and the Global University, (forthcoming, Academic Press at World University and School, 2026) 

Scottish Small Piping album #2 - Honey Piobaireachd (2022)
- Poetry! Order Book #5 Light, Float, Sit, Watsu ~ Virtually (2021, Academic Press at WUaS)

Scottish Small Piping album #1 Honey in the Bag ~ Out of the Air tune (2020)


Order Book #3 Winding Road Rainbow: Harbin, Wandering & the Poetry of Loving Bliss (2018,  Academic Press at WUaS)

Order Book #2 Haiku-ish and Other Loving Hippie Harbin Poetry (2017,  Academic Press at WUaS) 

Order Actual-Virtual Ethnographic Book #1: Naked Harbin Ethnography (2016, Academic Press at World University and School)

- Scott GK MacLeod  
Founder, President, CEO & Professor
at / of best STEAM CC licensed OCW, Wiki, 
World University & School (WUaS)  
- USPS US Post Office, PO Box 132, General Delivery, Canyon, CA 94516 


1) non-profit 501(c)(3) Public Charity 
best STEAM CC licensed OCW, Wiki, 
World University and School - http://worlduniversityandschool.org 

2) for profit general stock company WUaS Corporation in CA - http://worlduniversityandschool.org/AcademicPress.html

(o) 415 480 4577 (Google voice #) - sgkmacleod@worlduniversityandschool.org 
(m) 412 478 0116 - sgkmacleod@gmail.com 


World Univ & Sch Innovation Research - 





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Searched on 
David Chalmers philosophy "The New Mysterians"


David Chalmers is a central figure in contemporary philosophy of mind, best known for articulating the "hard problem" of consciousness, which posits that physical processes in the brain cannot fully explain subjective experience. While not typically classified as a "New Mysterian" (a group that argues human beings are cognitively closed to solving the mind-body problem), Chalmers is often associated with this school of thought because he argues that consciousness is a fundamental feature of reality that cannot be reduced to material, physical processes. 
Key Aspects of Chalmers' Philosophy
  • The "Hard Problem" vs. "Easy Problems": Chalmers distinguishes between the "easy problems" (explaining behavior, reporting information, neural mechanisms) and the "hard problem" (why these physical processes are accompanied by inner subjective experience).
  • Anti-Reductionism/Dualism: He argues that because conscious experience can be "abstracted away" from physical explanations (as illustrated by the "philosophical zombie" thought experiment), consciousness is not purely physical.
  • Consciousness as Fundamental: Rather than trying to reduce consciousness to physical laws, Chalmers suggests it should be treated as a fundamental property of the universe, similar to space, time, or mass.
  • Panpsychism/Panprotopsychism: Chalmers has explored "panpsychism" (the idea that consciousness is ubiquitous) or "panprotopsychism" (fundamental, non-physical properties entail consciousness) as potential solutions to the hard problem.
  • The Meta-Problem of Consciousness: In recent years, Chalmers has proposed studying the "meta-problem"—why we think consciousness is such a hard problem—to understand the cognitive mechanisms behind our intuitions about experience. 
Relation to "New Mysterians"
"New Mysterianism," championed by philosophers like Colin McGinn, suggests that human beings are "cognitively closed" to understanding how the brain produces consciousness. 
  • Similarities: Like the Mysterians, Chalmers insists that standard neuroscientific approaches (materialism) fail to bridge the explanatory gap.
  • Differences: While Mysterians often stop at the assertion that the problem is unsolvable by humans, Chalmers remains more optimistic, advocating for a new scientific approach that could, in theory, uncover fundamental laws connecting neural processes and conscious experience. 
Key Works
  • The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory (1996)
  • The Character of Consciousness (2010)
  • "Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness" (1995)







Society, Information Technology, and the Global University, (forthcoming, Academic Press at World University and School, 2026) 

Scottish Small Piping album #2 - Honey Piobaireachd (2022)
- Poetry! Order Book #5 Light, Float, Sit, Watsu ~ Virtually (2021, Academic Press at WUaS)

Scottish Small Piping album #1 Honey in the Bag ~ Out of the Air tune (2020)


Order Book #3 Winding Road Rainbow: Harbin, Wandering & the Poetry of Loving Bliss (2018,  Academic Press at WUaS)

Order Book #2 Haiku-ish and Other Loving Hippie Harbin Poetry (2017,  Academic Press at WUaS) 

Order Actual-Virtual Ethnographic Book #1: Naked Harbin Ethnography (2016, Academic Press at World University and School)

- Scott GK MacLeod  
Founder, President, CEO & Professor
at / of best STEAM CC licensed OCW, Wiki, 
World University & School (WUaS)  
- USPS US Post Office, PO Box 132, General Delivery, Canyon, CA 94516 


1) non-profit 501(c)(3) Public Charity 
best STEAM CC licensed OCW, Wiki, 
World University and School - http://worlduniversityandschool.org 

2) for profit general stock company WUaS Corporation in CA - http://worlduniversityandschool.org/AcademicPress.html

(o) 415 480 4577 (Google voice #) - sgkmacleod@worlduniversityandschool.org 
(m) 412 478 0116 - sgkmacleod@gmail.com 


World Univ & Sch Innovation Research - 







* * * 

Hi Vivek, All,   Thanks very much for your emails in this restorative Yoga thread and as we may live to 150 yo and well beyond...  I enjoyed your father's Ajit's talk  "Ajit Hutheesing on India :  Past, Present, Future" - Ajit "was also an amazing business mentor to me and to so many who, both inside and outside corporate board rooms, learned from him and grew to love him. Ajit came from a family that fell under the spell of Gandhiji, only to find itself at the center of a movement that quickly transcended all else -- India's independence movement" 


Hi Vivek, All, 

Thanks very much for your emails in this restorative Yoga thread and as we may live to 150 yo and well beyond...

I enjoyed your father's Ajit's talk 

from the beginning just now: 

it's sociological - economic thinking, overview, and characterization of India, Great Britain and the US

His characterizations of your family's relationship with Gandhiji and the Nehrus and Independence; 

Ajit's relating of India's history, past, present and future ... and from what I see as his Hindu & economics' forward-thinking, especially.

 
When I think of free-to-students' World Univ & Sch (building on MIT OCW in 7 languages), and the WUaS Corporation growing in all ~200 countries, and us potentially living to 150 years old and well beyond, I wonder how best for WUaS to even develop with kinds of Yoga- and Hindu- and Friends/Quaker- approaches, and with western academic business analytical thinking and now Information Technologies  ... and in WUaS also seeking to code for speakers of all 7159 living languages for open wiki schools, and for all 7.9 billion people on the planet, and to facilitate free universal education and possibly to end poverty too by distributing Stanford Mine Pi cryptocurrency free money daily - https://minepi.com/sgkmac  - to most of the people on the planet. How best can WUaS hire and employ 2.5 million people (the majority working around 10 hours / week) over the next 50-100 years to do this on both wings? 

Thanks to your father for his overview and his warm and sophisticated talk to the Greenwich CT audience 11 years ago. His amicable overview of these countries' relations, economically especially, touches on approaches I'll take in the 2nd half of my upcoming book "Society, Information Technology, and the Global University" - (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YJg2icBhxEj7eSiSoiN2mgusX4PK1cQfZRFPRdw5znI/edit?usp=sharing) and potentially as a blueprint for growing WUaS, and planned for translation in all 200 countries main languages + at the WUaS Press. 

Thanks so so much for sharing your father's talk further,
Scott

Thursday, April 2, 2026
bird of paradise flower: Restorative Yoga class on Saturdays (and as we may live to 150 and well beyond:) * Youth Vaccine? 

Society and Information Technology label 



On Thu, Apr 2, 2026 at 4:51 PM vhutheesing@comcast.net <vhutheesing@comcast.net> wrote:
Hi Scott,

How kind of you to share my father's talk with so many fascinating friends.

Ajit was an incredible father to my two brothers and me.  But he was also an amazing business mentor to me and to so many who, both inside and outside corporate board rooms, learned from him and grew to love him. Ajit came from a family that fell under the spell of Gandhiji, only to find itself at the center of a movement that quickly transcended all else -- India's independence movement.  I am deeply proud of my family history and continue to share a deep, unapologetic sense of right and wrong, as I observe the world around me.

But lest I stray, back to my father's talk! As I told Scott, the Q&A at the end is most interesting, but I hope some of you will find Ajit's main talk eye-opening as I found it, when I first listened to it.

Here's to a more peaceful, more socially cohesive world.

And thank you in advance for listening to my father's talk from 11 years ago.

Vivek 

From: Scott Yoga Mac Flower MacLeod <yogamacflower@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 2, 2026 10:10 AM

Subject: Re: Restorative Yoga class on Saturdays (and as we may live to 150 and well beyond:)?

Dear Dick (Robb MD, possibly posthumously, also a professor in Harvard Medical School), Unitarians' Chris Michaels and Ma/Janie, Quakertarian Annie, Alden (who went to Quaker George School in Philadelphia before Harvard college), Sandy, Donna (Leet MD), George and Maitreyi (both professors in Harvard Medical School too), Peter (Norvig, Stanford AI), Marlynn Wei MD JD (author of "The Harvard Medical School Guide to Yoga: 8 Weeks to Strength, Awareness, and Flexibility"), Doortje (Van Kooten), Vivek (Hutheesing, - "Meditation and Yoga" your father said  ... from India to the world as its greatest 'exports' - great (at around the 57 minute mark - https://vivekhutheesing.com/india-past-present-and-future/ in the great Q&A). 


World University and School's wiki, 'Yoga,' subject page - https://wiki.worlduniversityandschool.org/wiki/Yoga :) - with an invitation to 'edit this page' to learn or teach and explore yoga. 
Yoga ideas
#QuakerYogaMacFlower
#DesiderataWUaS
~#ToolifyAIWUaS #WUaSBliss 
~#YogaNotationsWUaS
~#YogaWUaS @
#FriendlyQuakerWUaS 🥰
#WUaSabolition in #RealisticVirtualEarth #WUaSYoga ~

with pic of partner child pose - supported backbend 





Please reply with unsubscribe in the subject line if you do not want to receive these yoga emails. Namaste.





* * 

Hi Lucy (Robb), (all),


How are you, my dear old friend from the early 1960s? How is 19 Oakland Road in Brookline, MA, or have you moved out of your wonderful home now (which I think you moved into in 1964!)? My mother, Janie, said you weren't doing very well over Xmas, when I was back in Pittsburgh from the SF Bay Area. 

Will unsubscribe you from this YogaMacFlower@gmail.com email thread - 

"Restorative Yoga class on Saturdays (and as we may live to 150 and well beyond:)?"

per your email. And since you emailed me at this email address - - I'll unsubscribe from World Univ & Sch's emails as well, as WUaS builds on CC-4 MIT OCW licensed MIT OCW - https://opencw.aprende.org/courses/translated-courses/ - in 7 languages, and in growing into all ~200 countries and in their main languages for free WUaS degrees as WUaS seeks to become the Harvard / MIT / Stanford / Oxbridge + of the internet ... and as we may live to 150 and well beyond!

Get well soon! 

Fond regards, Yogically, Namaste, Friendly NtF Quaker & Unitarian greetings, abolitionally, best wishes, 
Scotty


Thursday, April 2, 2026
bird of paradise flower: Restorative Yoga class on Saturdays (and as we may live to 150 and well beyond:) * Youth Vaccine?










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