Toni

“to date, no scientist or philosopher has charted a plausible path from the intricate gray-and-white folds of the cortex to the felt experience of an early winter’s day at the end of fall semester, an experience that layers perception and memory and feeling—all that information—with something that seems so much greater than information itself, a purely subjective quality that feels rich beyond words and indelible.”
― Michael Pollan, A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness

“Can we begin to imagine a different kind of science? Thompson is making a modest start by putting his own work in touch with both neuroscience and Buddhism, as well as phenomenology. (He has participated in the Dalai Lama’s Mind and Life Dialogues.) Whatever else it is, a new science of consciousness will likely be a hybrid enterprise, informed by the values of empiricism and experiment but also by philosophy, imagination, and the arts (as Levin suggested); Indigenous epistemologies; Buddhism and other spiritual traditions; personal experience and intuition; and, yes, altered states of consciousness too.”
― Michael Pollan, A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness

“Yeah, that wasn’t very manly of you, Carl. I thought nut-kicking was a big no-no amongst guys.” “It’s not something I want to make a habit of doing,” I said. “But if it works, it works.” Zev: Yes, Carl. Try to avoid that if you can. A few viewers have made some snide comments. Carl: For fuck’s sake. I can really do without the random peanut gallery comments. Donut: I BET THE SYSTEM AI LIKED IT.”
― Matt Dinniman, Carl's Doomsday Scenario

“Our senses exist mainly to refine, or error-correct, our minds’ best guesses as to what we’re experiencing.”
― Michael Pollan, A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness