- A psychiatrist interested in the biophysics of mind. Author of five books and numerous papers on mind related topics.edit
A commentary of David Chalmers' version of the Kurzweil 'singularity' hypothesis.
I suggest here that 'mind' can usefully be viewed as a process of integrating environmental dynamics with brain dynamics. It is probably expressed in brains in fractal patterns of ionic fluxes, especially calcium ion fluxes. Consciousness... more
I suggest here that 'mind' can usefully be viewed as a process of integrating environmental dynamics with brain dynamics. It is probably expressed in brains in fractal patterns of ionic fluxes, especially calcium ion fluxes. Consciousness may be founded in a neutral monism at the basis of reality. As manifest in us however, it could prove to be a translation, mediated by implications of Heisenberg time/energy uncertainty, of spatio-temporal aspects of 'mind' into a tempero-spatial format. Differences between qualia might conceivably have a basis in knot theory. Potentially useful research directions are then briefly described.
Describes a 20 year 'odyssey' through consciousness studies.
Outlines a pan-protopsychist theory of consciousness that identifies protopsychist elements with the temporal 'flipside' of energy eigenstates
(From my Editor's Introduction, "Transcending Self-Consciousness" in Papers) Self-transcendence should not be confused with the self-transformation that takes place throughout one’s life. One changes, often in unexpected ways, but the... more
(From my Editor's Introduction, "Transcending Self-Consciousness" in Papers)
Self-transcendence should not be confused with the self-transformation that takes place throughout one’s life. One changes, often in unexpected ways, but the self still feels it is at helm of action and is the guiding light of consciousness. The self may be transformed so it becomes more transparent or permeable, and, in that way, one edges towards self-transcendence. But absolute transcendence of the self would dissolve that self with original awareness continuing in an unfathomably intense present without a past or future. Awareness-in-itself could be said to be aware of nothing or of everything, for without differentiation there could be no difference.
But, self-consciousness transcended (as opposed to self-dissolution, so the remembering self remains itself remembered) could have metaphysical implications: Those who have cultivated the transcending of self-consciousness in life, experiencing it over and over again and gaining a measure of control over the awakening, may well be able to retain the artifacts of selfhood – memories – as original awareness leaves the body behind, that is, in death. Just as the electricity continues after the light bulb darkens, life energy withdraws from the body but continues as unbound dynamism, but, in the latter case of self as silent witness, the memories of a lifetime may go with it, perhaps to enrich the manifold of experience in that source, which, in this way undergoes change and learning. Without those memories, able to withstand such radical decentering, the self dies with the body.
Self-transcendence should not be confused with the self-transformation that takes place throughout one’s life. One changes, often in unexpected ways, but the self still feels it is at helm of action and is the guiding light of consciousness. The self may be transformed so it becomes more transparent or permeable, and, in that way, one edges towards self-transcendence. But absolute transcendence of the self would dissolve that self with original awareness continuing in an unfathomably intense present without a past or future. Awareness-in-itself could be said to be aware of nothing or of everything, for without differentiation there could be no difference.
But, self-consciousness transcended (as opposed to self-dissolution, so the remembering self remains itself remembered) could have metaphysical implications: Those who have cultivated the transcending of self-consciousness in life, experiencing it over and over again and gaining a measure of control over the awakening, may well be able to retain the artifacts of selfhood – memories – as original awareness leaves the body behind, that is, in death. Just as the electricity continues after the light bulb darkens, life energy withdraws from the body but continues as unbound dynamism, but, in the latter case of self as silent witness, the memories of a lifetime may go with it, perhaps to enrich the manifold of experience in that source, which, in this way undergoes change and learning. Without those memories, able to withstand such radical decentering, the self dies with the body.
Research Interests: Asian Studies, Music, Anthropology, Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, and 42 moreAesthetics, Ethics, Self and Identity, Design, Comparative Philosophy, Art, Art Theory, The Iceberg Effect---culture power from automated unconscious self contents beyond awareness, Animation, Symbol & Conscious Awareness as Change Accelerants, Spirituality, Altered States of Consciousness, Phenomenology, Psychedelics, Identity (Culture), Transformation, Creativity and Consciousness, Mysticism, Embodied Ontology, Self Consciousness, The Self, Sufism, Language and Identity, Panpsychism, Embodied Mind Theory, Contemporary animism, Entheogens, Ayahuasca (Entheogens), Metaphysics of Death, Transcendence, Immanent Universals, Self-deception, History of Western Philosophy, Film, Vedanta, Sport, Meditation, Awakening Consciousness, Self Transcendence, Tangible Media, Nondualism, and Buddhism & Hinduism
My Editorial for this issue functions as an abstract: "Time & Experience: Twins of the Eternal Now?" is located amongst my papers:
http://unbc.academia.edu/GregoryNixon/Papers/247835/_Time_and_Experience_Twins_of_the_Eternal_Now_
http://unbc.academia.edu/GregoryNixon/Papers/247835/_Time_and_Experience_Twins_of_the_Eternal_Now_
Research Interests: Philosophy of Mind, Symbol & Conscious Awareness as Change Accelerants, Relativistic cosmology, Creativity and Consciousness, Time Studies, and 9 moreConsciousness, Time and Memory (Metaphysics of Memory), Philosophy of Time, Panpsychism, Special Relativity, Space and Time (Philosophy), Time Perception, Arrow of time, and Time Perspective
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In a previous study of old people living in the community, those with functional psychiatric disorders (usually neuroses) were found to have relatively low IQs on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) (Britton et al., 1967). This... more
In a previous study of old people living in the community, those with functional psychiatric disorders (usually neuroses) were found to have relatively low IQs on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) (Britton et al., 1967). This observation required confirmation and was open to a number of interpretations.
Research Interests: Psychology, Psychiatry, Anxiety Disorders, Psychometrics, Intelligence, and 15 morePersonality Disorders, Medicine, Humans, Neurosis, Neuroticism, Old Age, Neurotic Disorders, Female, Male, Mental Disorders, Aged, Analysis of Variance, Adjustment Disorders, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, and Medical and Health Sciences
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SummarySince neither the unipolar nor the bipolar theories of manic-depressive psychosis explain all its features, an alternative model was tested. The hypotheses are that mixed affective psychoses represent a superimposition on hypomania... more
SummarySince neither the unipolar nor the bipolar theories of manic-depressive psychosis explain all its features, an alternative model was tested. The hypotheses are that mixed affective psychoses represent a superimposition on hypomania of a second type of depression which can sometimes develop from the depressive phase of manic-depressive psychosis, and that schizophrenia occurring in the course of a manic-depressive illness is an alternative to mixed affective psychosis.From an examination of the clinical histories of a random sample of people with bipolar manic-depressive psychosis, evidence was found to support both ideas.
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Abstract: 'Consciousness' has been called the 'final frontier' for sci-ence, philosophy's 'hard problem', and the greatest mystery in mysti-cism. It is a central focus in philosophy of mind. Yet... more
Abstract: 'Consciousness' has been called the 'final frontier' for sci-ence, philosophy's 'hard problem', and the greatest mystery in mysti-cism. It is a central focus in philosophy of mind. Yet confusion abounds about what 'consciousness' means even among philoso-phers, ...
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Fifty-four acutely manic patients were allocated to treatment on a double-blind basis with either carbamazepine or lithium carbonate. The short-term effects of treatment were studied over a period of six weeks and the longer term,... more
Fifty-four acutely manic patients were allocated to treatment on a double-blind basis with either carbamazepine or lithium carbonate. The short-term effects of treatment were studied over a period of six weeks and the longer term, prophylactic, effects over a period of up to a year. Additional ‘rescue’ medication was allowed when clinically indicated. There was a high drop-out rate from the trial. Despite this, it appeared that valid comparisons between the two treatments could be made. No statistically significant differences were found, but carbamazepine appeared slightly less effective as a treatment for acute mania and more effective as a prophylactic treatment in this group of patients. Possible predictors of individual responsiveness to each treatment are discussed.
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enhanced by analogies taken from computer tech nology. It is that awareness, the very essence of any person, is due to information processing within certain functionally defined systems of the brain and might in principle be an attribute... more
enhanced by analogies taken from computer tech nology. It is that awareness, the very essence of any person, is due to information processing within certain functionally defined systems of the brain and might in principle be an attribute of any sufficiently elaborate information processing machinery whether made of neurones or silicon chips. In this simple form there are obvious problems with the idea. For instance, could a room thermostat be said to possess that most primitive form of mentality since it "knows" if the room is too hot or too cold? What
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There is a more subtle point to make concerning the number of subjects that are needed. The aphor-ism, attributed to Osler, that one should always use a new drug while it remains effective is not necessarily due only to placebo effects.... more
There is a more subtle point to make concerning the number of subjects that are needed. The aphor-ism, attributed to Osler, that one should always use a new drug while it remains effective is not necessarily due only to placebo effects. New drugs will often help a proportion of ...
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First a confession: your reporter did not attend every session of this fascinating workshop. It was held in a vast centre, vaguely reminis-cent of the Potsdam palace, set in an Alpine valley and a favourite venue for conferences. Inside,... more
First a confession: your reporter did not attend every session of this fascinating workshop. It was held in a vast centre, vaguely reminis-cent of the Potsdam palace, set in an Alpine valley and a favourite venue for conferences. Inside, labyrinthine corridors both literal and ...
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Page 1. COLLAPSE OF A QUANTUM FIELD MAY AFFECT BRAIN FUNCTION CMH Nunn,1 Department of Psychiatry, Royal South Hants Hospital, Brintons Terrace, Southampton, S09 4PE, UK; CJS Clarke, Faculty of Mathematical ...
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... Evidence (eg, Callaway & Layne, 1964; Ponsen & Magnus, 1965; Rémond & Lesèvre, 1967) that variations in the visual evoked response are ... Electrode jelly ensured a good contact with the forearm electrode, and a... more
... Evidence (eg, Callaway & Layne, 1964; Ponsen & Magnus, 1965; Rémond & Lesèvre, 1967) that variations in the visual evoked response are ... Electrode jelly ensured a good contact with the forearm electrode, and a saline-soaked pad was placed beneath the palmar electrode. ...
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A question asked by most children but avoided by adults is “Why am I me?”. It seems obvious and important when one is young but, to a grown-up, is too difficult and perhaps meaningless. Questions of this sort often have culturally... more
A question asked by most children but avoided by adults is “Why am I me?”. It seems obvious and important when one is young but, to a grown-up, is too difficult and perhaps meaningless. Questions of this sort often have culturally sanctioned answers. For instance, “How did the world begin?” could have been answered (somehow) by any educated adult in any period of which we have records, and now the cosmologists are adding their own gloss to the replies.
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For more than a decade psychiatrists have paid lip serviceto the idea that peer group medical audit might be valuable, but few have initiated regular audit meetings. This could be due partly to fear of criticism from colleagues and partly... more
For more than a decade psychiatrists have paid lip serviceto the idea that peer group medical audit might be valuable, but few have initiated regular audit meetings. This could be due partly to fear of criticism from colleagues and partly to a feeling that we can well do without ...
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DEAR SIR I thought it might be of interest to your readers to know that the article by Dr CMH Nunn (Bulletin, June 1981) has given us reassurance. Our work over the last 20 years in East and North London has shown us a decline in the... more
DEAR SIR I thought it might be of interest to your readers to know that the article by Dr CMH Nunn (Bulletin, June 1981) has given us reassurance. Our work over the last 20 years in East and North London has shown us a decline in the quality of psychiatric services. ...
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Abstract: Nature Network Groups hosted an invited workshop on'Theories of Consciousness' during the second semester of 2009. There were presentations by each of 15 authors active in the field, followed by debate with other... more
Abstract: Nature Network Groups hosted an invited workshop on'Theories of Consciousness' during the second semester of 2009. There were presentations by each of 15 authors active in the field, followed by debate with other presenters and invitees. A week was allocated to each of the theories proposed; general discussion threads were also opened from time to time, as seemed appropriate. We (who had been participants in the workshop) offer here an account of the principal outcomes. It can be regarded as a contemporary,'state of the art' ...
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Black hole event horizons provide us with an image of what the world looks like when it has been reduced to its smallest spatial components and all process has been squeezed out of it. It appears as a vast sheet of tiny, random dots.... more
Black hole event horizons provide us with an image of what the world looks like when it has been reduced to its smallest spatial components and all process has been squeezed out of it. It appears as a vast sheet of tiny, random dots. Since time is at the basis of 'process' , the image highlights questions about temporality that also exercised philosophers, notably Henri Bergson and Alfred North Whitehead. Following a strategy suggested by Whitehead's approach to the questions leads to a possibility , which is also at the basis of a particular panprotopsychist theory ('SoS theory'), that the 'time' to which we ordinarily refer in everyday language may have two ontologically distinct but equally 'real' components-(a) the 'objective' metric spacetime of general relativity which refers to the organization of classical, causal relationships and (b) a 'subjective' sequence of 'nows' providing a basis for conscious experience-albeit 'nows' to which (usually very brief) objective durations can be attributed. If true, it is to be expected that macroscopic, conscious mind-related violations of energy conservation should occasionally manifest. There is a wide range of anec-dotal evidence from 'psychic' phenomena suggestive of such violations. The main aim of this paper is to point to the potential value of investigating the energy budgets of candidate phenomena.
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Contemporary theories of consciousness are based on widely different concepts of its nature, most or all of which probably embody aspects of the truth about it. Starting with a concept of consciousness indicated by the phrase 'the feeling... more
Contemporary theories of consciousness are based on widely different concepts of its nature, most or all of which probably embody aspects of the truth about it. Starting with a concept of consciousness indicated by the phrase 'the feeling of what happens' (the title of a book by Antonio Damasio), we attempt to build a framework capable of supporting and resolving divergent views. We picture consciousness in terms of reality experiencing itself from the perspective of cognitive agents. Each conscious experience is regarded as composed of momentary feeling events that are combined by recognition and evaluation into extended conscious episodes that bind cognitive contents with a wide range of apparent durations (0.1 secs to 2 or more secs, for us humans, depending on circumstances and context). Three necessary conditions for the existence of consciousness are identified: a) a ground of reality, envisaged as a universal field of potentiality encompassing all possible manifestations, whether material or 'mental'; b) a transitional zone, leading to; c) a manifest world with its fundamental divisions into material, ‘informational’, and quale-endowed aspects. We explore ideas about the nature of these necessary conditions, how they may relate to one another and whether our suggestions have empirical implications.
Contemporary theories of consciousness are based on widely different concepts of its nature, most or all of which probably embody aspects of the truth about it. Starting with a concept of consciousness indicated by the phrase " the... more
Contemporary theories of consciousness are based on widely different concepts of its nature, most or all of which probably embody aspects of the truth about it. Starting with a concept of consciousness indicated by the phrase " the feeling of what happens " (the title of a book by Antonio Damásio), we attempt to build a framework capable of supporting and resolving divergent views. We picture consciousness in terms of Reality experiencing itself from the perspective of cognitive agents. Each conscious experience is regarded as composed of momentary feeling events that are combined by recognition and evaluation into extended conscious episodes that bind cognitive contents with a wide range of apparent durations (0.1 secs to 2 or more secs, for us humans, depending on circumstances and context). Three necessary conditions for the existence of consciousness are identified: a) a ground of Reality, envisaged as an universal field of potentiality encompassing all possible manifestations, whether material or 'mental'; b) a transitional zone, leading to; c) a manifest world with its fundamental divisions into material, 'informational' and quale-endowed aspects. We explore ideas about the nature of these necessary conditions, how they may relate to one another and whether our suggestions have empirical implications.
Research Interests: Emotion, Ontology, Metaphysics of Consciousness, Metaphysics of Time, Alfred North Whitehead, and 31 moreConsciousness, Metaphysics of Mind, Extended Mind, Panpsychism, Dynamical systems and Chaos, Quantum Computation, Neutral monism, Consciousness Studies, Philosphy of mind, Experience, Philosophy of the Subject, Triple Helix, Relational Ontology, Process and Reality, Non-Reductive Physicalism, Nonreductive Physicalism, Apeiron, Emotions, Feelings, Brain, Unconscious Processes, Dissipative Structures, (Whiteheadian) Panexperientialism, Quantum Consciousness, Dual Aspect Monism, Non-Conscious Information Processing Theory, Quantum Physics and Consciousness, Whitehead's Electromagnetic Occasions, Non-reductive consciousness, Noether’s theorem, Whiteheadian Panpsychism, Autopoiesis of Consciousness, and Panprotopsychism
Abstract: An invited workshop on 'Theories of Consciousness' was organized in the format of a Nature Network closed group during the second semester of 2009. There were presentations by each of 15 authors active in the field,... more
Abstract: An invited workshop on 'Theories of Consciousness' was organized in the format of a Nature Network closed group during the second semester of 2009. There were presentations by each of 15 authors active in the field, followed by debate with other presenters and invitees. A week was allocated to each of the theories proposed; general discussion threads were also opened from time to time, as seemed appropriate. We (who had been participants in the workshop) offer here an account of the principal outcomes. It ...
Abstract: An invited workshop on 'Theories of Consciousness' was organized in the format of a Nature Network closed group during the second semester of 2009. There were presentations by each of 15 authors active in the field,... more
Abstract: An invited workshop on 'Theories of Consciousness' was organized in the format of a Nature Network closed group during the second semester of 2009. There were presentations by each of 15 authors active in the field, followed by debate with other presenters and invitees. A week was allocated to each of the theories proposed; general discussion threads were also opened from time to time, as seemed appropriate. We (who had been participants in the workshop) offer here an account of the principal outcomes. It ...
Page 1. COLLAPSE OF A QUANTUM FIELD MAY AFFECT BRAIN FUNCTION CMH Nunn,1 Department of Psychiatry, Royal South Hants Hospital, Brintons Terrace, Southampton, S09 4PE, UK; CJS Clarke, Faculty of Mathematical ...
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© Chris Nunn 2005 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written... more
© Chris Nunn 2005 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the ...
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I suggest here that 'mind' can usefully be viewed as a process of integrating environmental dynamics with brain dynamics. It is probably expressed in brains in fractal patterns of ionic fluxes, especially calcium ion fluxes. Consciousness... more
I suggest here that 'mind' can usefully be viewed as a process of integrating environmental dynamics with brain dynamics. It is probably expressed in brains in fractal patterns of ionic fluxes, especially calcium ion fluxes. Consciousness may be founded in a neutral monism at the basis of reality. As manifest in us however, it could prove to be a translation, mediated by implications of Heisenberg time/energy uncertainty, of spatio-temporal aspects of 'mind' into a tempero-spatial format. Differences between qualia might conceivably have a basis in knot theory. Potentially useful research directions are then briefly described.
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A type of pan-protopsychist theory is briefly described that views energy eigenstate manifestations as accompanied by protopsychist elements termed SoSs (scintillae of subjectivity). These are pictured as threads of 'real time', a concept... more
A type of pan-protopsychist theory is briefly described that views energy eigenstate manifestations as accompanied by protopsychist elements termed SoSs (scintillae of subjectivity). These are pictured as threads of 'real time', a concept distinct from the metric 'clock time' of relativity theory and everyday usage. Such threads are 'woven' in the brain into patterns that constitute the flow of our conscious experience (only some of which gets into neural memories and is reportable). There is surprisingly strong evidence that these patterns can persist, from a clock time perspective, independently of their originating brains. The theory makes a strong, in principle testable, prediction that conscious mind related violations of energy conservation should prove discoverable.