What is temporal gravity and why should you care?

Gravity has a powerful influence not only on inanimate matter; in biological systems, it governs growth and balance. For this reason, gait (the degree of side-to-side movement during walking) is a reliable indicator of a mental decline in elderly people. But gravity also creates the pressure that slows the biological clock: the body ages faster in free space. Changes in gravity also regulate our mood, which is present in infancy. Children the world over enjoy swings and rocking in a cradle. Even adults enjoy rocking chairs, free falls during parachuting, and bungee jumping. Rollercoasters simulate gravity through upward vertical motion, increasing the feeling of heaviness. At the top, there is a sudden transition from a contracted feeling to one of weightlessness and expansion. 

Emotions also imitate gravity. Relationships are analogous to the gravitational pull. Our attachments, i.e., temporal or emotional gravity, generate an emotional rollercoaster that intimately regulates our mood and the degree of mental comfort. As gravity constricts the body, emotional gravity is a feeling of tightness. Throughout history and across all cultures, the transitions from emotional gravity (tension) to emotional release (a sense of spaciousness) have been recognized as pleasurable. It is no accident that we simulate this transition in so many ways. Even crying in the face of difficulty or after a tragedy is such a process. Children's stories from ancient times depict this transition from emotional tension to release. The hero suffers, and the greater his suffering is, the more enjoyable his glorification afterward. Adventure, horror, cliffhangers, and suspense operate on the same principle. We endure every adverse predicament and emotional tension, and the payoff at the end provides us with emotional release. This is also the secret to the success of the twenty-four-hour news channels.

Therefore, the environment intimately regulates our mood by controlling emotional gravity. Lack of temporal gravity is formed by low-entropy conditions (order, beauty), which produce the feelings of satisfaction, happiness, well-being, relaxation, and excitement associated with the new. Interest and body position are open and trusting. The excited dog, smelling around or enclosed monkeys, is willing to pull a lever to take a peek at the outside world: the new. The child curiously moves forward in a unique situation with excitement (representing the original energy) or pulls back in worry or fear (indicating temporal gravity, the need for safety). 

Although the new is an elementary need, overwhelming and fast-paced information, such as flickering light, strongly delineated patterns, or repeating mechanical noises, provokes stress. In addition, the temporal tightness of emotional gravity constricts the mind, forming emotions such as anger, apathy, fear, paranoia, and a tendency to run, freeze, or cling to the past. Even the language describes fear and guilt as demanding and heavy. This is why meditation is a powerful practice for those who experience stress, including most people. If you feel stressed, you should serve yourself beauty and joy. Even taking a deep breath should expand a constricted soul and mind.

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Copyright © 2017 by Eva Deli

Multistage evolutionary process is supported by recent data

Global environment

Evolution produced highly ordered biological systems, particularly the human brain. Our incredible self-aware mind is capable of comprehending and understanding the world and itself. The widely accepted evolutionary drive toward increasing complexity is difficult to reconcile with our everyday experience, which suggests that disorder increases in nature. The book "The Science of Consciousness" introduces a cosmological perspective on evolution. After the Big Bang, physical evolution formed the elements, followed by the synthesis of organic molecules, particularly the chemical building blocks of life. Biological evolution unfolds as a stepwise process, divided into distinct periods and eras, each characterized by unique flora and fauna. 

Mass extinctions create an evolutionary opening that accelerates genetic innovations. In a fast-changing environment, genes and proteins acquire new functions and find new applications. At the beginning of the evolutionary period, new organisms, bizarre morphologies, unexpected features, and new species appear from almost nowhere in seemingly arbitrary evolutionary jumps. The rapid changes of early evolution give way to stable ecosystems; species form an interconnected and interacting structural web, characterized by predator-prey cycles, symbiosis, and other relationships. The evolutionary period eventually becomes unstable; the environment cannot support the ecosystem, which inevitably moves toward an irreversible, final stage and collapse.

The concept of a multistage evolutionary process is well-supported. Essential pieces of evolutionary innovations appear well ahead of their organizational importance. For example, a substantial part of the molecular architecture necessary for the evolution of the nervous or muscle system evolved in advance. Moreover, mutation frequency is related to population number! When the mutation frequency as a function of the population was examined, the entropy initially decreased during periods with low genetic concentration (an increasing order of genetic innovations). Subsequently, it changes in parallel with the increase in population (an arbitrary spreading of genetic material). 

The social aspects of evolutionary change also support the above idea. During the first vibrant, energetic stage of evolution, species from bacteria and fish to humans appear to lean toward generosity, leading to cooperation and altruism. The generosity appears most prevalent when mutations occur at an appreciable rate, which is only true for the first stage of evolution! With the increasing population, the insufficient recycling of nutrients frustrates the population. After a tipping point is reached, generosity disappears. In the third stage of evolution, cheating becomes the only feasible choice. The above findings can arise due to the three-staged evolutionary process introduced earlier. The latest computer modeling of evolution overwhelmingly shows that niches vacated by mass extinctions are quickly filled by newly emerging species. The conclusion is that repeated extinctions actually enhance the evolutionary fitness of surviving species, accelerating evolutionary change.

The evolutionary process is described here for animal systems, but the same should hold for all eukaryotes. Today, many species of wild animals are perfectly adapted to their living environments. As a result, they have small genetic diversity, making survival difficult or impossible during large environmental changes. Thus, their survival is easily threatened by global warming and environmental degradation. This understanding underlines our responsibility toward the environment and its inhabitants.

         

Copyright © 2017 by Eva Deli

Why do we need consciousness science?

A 17th-century illustration of consciousness by Robert Fludd 

In recent years, neuroscience has undergone rapid progress and transformation. However, establishing the physical basis of consciousness is necessary to turn it into a respected scientific field. The book The Science of Consciousness is a new contribution to this ongoing discussion, proposing a physical worldview that integrates consciousness and evolution.

It has become increasingly clear that quantum approaches can explain consciousness. Today, quantum-like models of cognition, such as the human mental lexicon, are a mainstream scientific idea. Psychology and other social sciences have increasingly turned to quantum mechanics tools in the past century. My theory builds on and supports these ideas but goes even further. I audaciously claim (and hope to prove) the brain’s electromagnetic balances give rise to the self-regulating mind. This physical entity is an elementary particle that interacts through emotions, the elementary forces of the mind. 

The idea might be strange or even shocking. However, radical ideas require a jump in conceptual thinking. Although a new scientific vista generally involves inexact details and concepts that are not fully worked out, data for this original scientific thought is accumulating, to name a few:

1. It is challenging to retrace our thoughts, and we have minimal control over them in the first place. The mind seems to have a ‘mind’ of its own. People occasionally perform actions they later find difficult to explain or regret afterward.

2. Why is quantum theory a superior predictor of human behavior in psychology and the economy?

3. What role do emotions play in intellect, and why are we so powerless over our emotions?

4. Our temporal closeness to events can change our conceptual vista to the point of reaching a diametrically opposite decision about a project (for example, most people have grand plans for their life or retirement, but carry out almost none of them).

5. The findings by esteemed scientists show the role of positive emotions in success and health and the opposite effects of negative emotions. These highly consistent findings are difficult to explain in any other way.

Understanding consciousness gives you the tools to reach ambitious, wholesome goals. It opens the book on human motivation, allowing a deeper understanding of others and the self. The book is available on Amazon.

Watch my video, "An Argument for a Consciousness Hypothesis" https://youtu.be/9cAGot1ZyZA

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Copyright © 2017 by Eva Deli

The Science of Consciousness, a hypothesis

'The Science of Consciousness' details the first scientific synthesis of theoretical physics, cosmology, consciousness, and evolution. The idea concerning the universe's organic unity started with an intuition about gravity. What does gravity have to do with consciousness? It is a fascinating and twisted story that goes back six years from the idea's conception to the book's publication in 2015.

Gravity is the most elemental force in the universe. No place can be insulated from it: it traverses space as it forms its fabric. Gravity appears to pull us toward the Earth, resulting from two opposing forces operating like a seesaw between gravity and anti-gravity. The closer we are to the center point of the seesaw, the smaller the force is. This is why flying out into free space reduces gravity until it seems to disappear altogether. Thus, 'gravity-free' space is gravity neutral. 

Shockingly, our emotional attachments operate similarly over time. Emotional attachments to loved ones and even inanimate objects make losses so painful; the emotional difficulty of separation is due to the emotional gravity of the situation. Just as gravity gets weaker with increasing distance, time heals the pain of loss. Recognizing the analogy between these seemingly different phenomena formed my first intuition, which grew into an overarching hypothesis through diligent study and work. The fundamental knowledge base is as broad as an ocean: theoretical physics, neurology, physiology, cosmology, evolutionary biology, economics, sociology, and everything else that provides an answer to the pressing questions I had. Throughout all this time, the original intuition has remained unchanged. The hypothesis, supported by contemporary scientific research, grew into an encompassing whole with intricate details.

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Copyright © 2017 by Eva Deli

Balance and weight bearing exercises enhance cognitive function, memory

                                         Three Boys at Lake Tanganyika by Martin Munkácsi 1929

Physical activity has been popular to improve physical performance, but numerous studies have also indicated that long-term exercise prevents age-related mental decline. It is even suggested that exercise improves mental function at any age. However, the exact nature of these results have remained controversial: some studies show better mental health resulting only from specific exercises, whereas other studies find that all structured physical activities produce mental benefits. A recent study at the University of Florida adds an important element of understanding. The scientists investigated the effects of physical activity that required participants to constantly adjust orientation in space, such as climbing a tree, or balancing on a narrow beam. In contrast to Yoga class, these spatially challenging movements led to significant improvements in short-term memory. Also, memory improvements were apparent after just a couple of hours of tree climbing, obstacle navigation or balancing tasks. In addition, repetitive cervical traction exercises such as wobble board, put motion into the lower back, which improves cerebral fluid flow, providing fresh oxygen and nutrition to the brain. The traction also helps stretch and increase the elasticity of chronically tight upper cervical muscles and ligaments. Wobble board also challenges coordination and increases the range of motion.

The exercises influence on brain activity and mental abilities could be due to a small brain region, called the hippocampus, a region responsible for the formation of new memories, particularly spatial orientation, or declarative memory. The brain circuitry used for orienting in physical space is also utilized for abstract thinking because abstract thinking is symmetric in the organization to the processing to physical experience. A habitual path in physical space can make it more difficult to learn a new roadmap because the memorized mental map interferes with new information. Thus, habitual associations, mental routines negatively impact acquiring new knowledge. Because of this interconnection, new learning is dependent on the weakening of old memories, the erasing of connections between neurons. Spatially challenging, dynamic body positioning and orientation exercises enhance learning by temporarily liberating the mind from old schematic associations and patterns. Non-repetitive dynamic movements, such as dance, vigorous cleaning or ball games are also helpful. Mental flexibility allows the mind to absorb new information better. However, regular physical exercise and all kinds of physical movement are beneficial for the mind by releasing dopamine, our feel-good hormone, which is important in motivation. Stationary exercises, such as yoga, reduce stress and improve mental health by promoting emotional stability.

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Copyright © 2017 by Eva Deli

Overcoming negative emotions is essential for success

Emotions are the most important motivating force of the most complex animals, birds, and mammals. We must examine the brain's workings to understand how emotions regulate our lives. A stimulus triggers neuronal activation patterns in the cortex, which can be replayed repeatedly. The appropriate temporal order of the constantly changing cortical projection triggers corresponding motoric activation, experience, and memories. This way, experience informs present behavior and produces a far superior response. But beyond sensory and motor function, the brain's energy balance also gives rise to emotions. The automatic regulation of the brain's energy balances means that emotions control our thoughts and actions. 

High brain oscillations are essential for analytic thinking, detailed, focused work, preparation, or response to danger. Nevertheless, energy-expensive, high-brain-frequency states are stressful and foster a self-centered, insecure view, which prevents an overarching picture and decreases confidence. In addition, distorted, fractured mental images trigger negative emotions, which limit perceived opportunities. Over time, these energy-poor conditions hinder personal and professional success and lead to health problems. 

Our emotions may govern our actions today, but our present actions determine our feelings tomorrow. For this reason, there are tried-and-tested methods that, over the long term, can change faulty mental patterns. Meditation is an old technique for achieving lasting cognitive change. Meditation and prayer come from ancient traditions but generate mental stability in the modern setting. It is often a solitary practice, but group settings are helpful for beginners. A more contemporary method is goal setting. Goal-oriented activity improves short-term memory and task success; motivation increases mental stability and reduces conflict, enhancing performance. 

Worry and anxiety can prevent goal-directed activity, but positive social connections promote psychological and physical health and inspire mental transformation. Even in animals, grooming behavior is beneficial. The relaxing, trusting state provides health and mental benefits for both the giver and receiver of compassion. In contrast, toxic social connections can kill. Neuroscience supports these ideas.

Lower brain oscillations lack details and provide an overarching vision. During positive emotions, unnecessary details are eliminated, and the mental focus widens. Calm minds are not easily disturbed, allowing for natural, creative solutions. Just as energy flows from warmer to colder matter, emotionally stable (less irritable) people adapt to opportunities quickly. Emotional flexibility means engaging with others and situations, relating to them, and finding inherent solutions. 

Surround yourself with a positive environment, positive people, and positive ideas that lift you.

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Copyright © 2015 by Eva Deli

The octopus: alternative evolution toward learning and intellect?

Common octopus by Albert Kok

The evolutionary drive toward complexity and specific organizational neuronal complexity is highly evident during evolution. Octopuses, which have independently evolved camera-type eyes (with a lens, iris, and retina), a highly derived early embryogenesis, closed circulatory systems, and large brains, are an excellent example of parallel evolution. The recently sequenced octopus genome shows a spectacular example of the evolutionary drive toward greater complexity. The octopus probably achieved the limit of intellectual, organizational complexity that is possible in a non-vertebrate animal. They are among the very few animals that are known to master tool use. Octopuses display extraordinarily sophisticated behaviors, including complex problem solving, task-dependent conditional discrimination, observational learning, and spectacular camouflage displays. Its dexterous arms are lined with hundreds of suckers that function as specialized tactile and chemosensory organs. They have elaborate special pigments containing a cell system that enables rapid changes in appearance. Vastly modified in size and organization relative to other mollusks, the octopus nervous system is diffuse, with only one-third of it is located inside the actual brain. Axial nerve cords in each arm function with some functional autonomy. Altogether in these structures, nearly half a billion neurons, more than six times the number of a mouse brain, are contained.

In early 2012 dozens of researchers uncovered the octopus sequence, the largest-known genome in the invertebrate world. Since the octopus has more genes (33 000) than humans (20,000 to 25,000), the work has been challenging. The collaboration of scientists has paid off, as the octopus genome was recently published in the journal Nature. The octopus's radically different evolutionary path to intelligence from vertebrates is an amazing puzzle and has huge evolutionary importance. In octopuses, a sophisticated neuronal wiring system forms throughout their entire bodies, allowing fast and intricate camouflage by expanding and contracting pigment-filled sacks within milliseconds. This regulation can change overall color and even pattern in a blink of an eye. This complex neuronal network also empowers the octopus complex sensing with its suckers. Genes, known to be involved in developing complex neural networks in mammals, are shared with the octopus. RNA editing is a molecular process through which some cells can make discrete changes to specific nucleotide sequences within an RNA. Shared with humans and other animals, octopuses' mastery of this molecular process might help them regulate highly organized, concerted nerve firings. The new genetic analysis also shows the genes' ability to move around on the genome, which might boost learning and memory. Gene duplication, a well-known evolutionary step invertebrate, seems to be missing in octopuses, making their intellectual and organizational complexity all the more remarkable. The neuronal organization of the octopus might provide a blueprint for new designs in robotics. 

The octopus arms can avoid the light even when the octopus could not see it with its eyes. Even when the octopuses reached an arm out of a small opening on an opaque, covered aquarium for food, the arm would quickly retract when the light was shined on it. However, it is still a mystery how an octopus’s arms can detect light, let alone respond to it.

The octopus genome demonstrates the power of evolution to enhance complexity in the living world. Although they display impressive learning ability and some purposeful behavior, octopuses do not form emotions, which is the basis of the intellectual abilities of mammals and birds. However, this does not mean that they are not engaged in some of the funniest purposeful behavior: Judge for yourself!

Copyright © 2017 by Eva Deli