Consciousness; it's a science thing

I never expected a talk by a philosopher to be the most memorable TEDxCERN talk for me. But John Searle made it so

guardian.co.uk, Jon Butterworth, 26 May 2013

TEDxCERN was a lot of fun. The speakers were amazing, covering cosmology, cancer cures, underwater earthquakes, gender politics, ignoble bras, the Higgs boson (of course) and more. I recommend a trawl through them all here. You may even spot me waving my arms in the air along with the choirs of College International Ferney-Voltaire and International School Geneva, and will.i.am on skype if you so wish. Hiranya Pieris from UCL kicked the whole thing off with a great talk about Planck data and cosmology. The four TED Ed animations are also well worth a watch.

But to my amazement, the one talk which I remember most, a couple of weeks later, was by a philosopher. I am pretty skeptical about philosophers on the whole, but then I think John Searle might be too. He makes a bold claim for the science of consciousness

You care about science, philosophy, music, art, whatever. It's no good if you're a zombie, or in a coma. Consciousness is number one.

and he delivers, with a brilliant talk, with so many quotable bits that I give up. Just watch it.

And the rest. But not all at once, or your brain may explode.

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"The Human Design” – Oct 18, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

“.. GAIA... More Than You Think

There's more. Now they're able to measure the magnetics of Earth on an hourly basis and have found something surprising. It shocked those who studied it when they found that the earth's magnetic field becomes stronger and weaker with the profound events of humanity. During the tsunami, the magnetics peaked. During that event that you call 9/11, the magnetics of the earth changed dramatically. The very hour the airplanes hit the towers, the magnetics of the planet changed. What could this mean? Is it possible that Human consciousness is so allied with Gaia that this could take place? Indeed, it is, and that's what the evidence says. What does that have to do with God? Everything, for it puts Humans together with all of creation in a "designed way."

Pretend for a moment you have the mind of God. How would you create Human Beings? Through billions of years, God has created a Universe that is built for life. Against all the odds of averages, you are here. Now if you are God, how are you going to build a Human Being? Would it be as an "accidental mammal" on the planet?

As a wise Human, you now understand that the Human body has intelligent DNA. All of the genes in the body, all of the stem cell information, even that which is Akashic in the past-life record, is stored as information in the body. Does that sound accidental or random? With the mind of God, how would you have done it? God included the essence of creation inside you. Now there is evidence, of course, that the very energy of Gaia is related to Human consciousness. So, what part are you (as God) going to give for the Human Being on Earth? Does the Human get anything else? The answer is yes. .. “

"The Quantum Factor" – Apr 10, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Galaxies, Universe, Intelligent design, Benevolent design, Aliens, Nikola Tesla (Quantum energy), Inter-Planetary Travel, DNA, Genes, Stem Cells, Cells, Rejuvenation, Shift of Human Consciousness, Spontaneous Remission, Religion, Dictators, Africa, China, Nuclear Power, Sustainable Development, Animals, Global Unity.. etc.) - (Text Version)

“…  There's another quantum energy on the planet that has the quantum factor... the Great Shift. It is a benevolence that you have created, and that is new. You now sit in a revolutionary change and some of you are aware it and feeling it. It is the shift of Human consciousness and it's shifting right into the quantum factor, since you are becoming more quantum in your consciousness... and it is becoming benevolent. That is why you're seeing this earth react the way it is.

You're starting to see those who will not allow the old systems. You will no longer have dictators. Citizens all over earth want control over lives. They don't want war. They want their families to be safe! They want peace and abundance. They want their grandchildren to have hope for a better life than they had. You're starting to see it over and over in these places that have had dictators for years. ..”

"The Big Picture - You Are Not Alone" - Feb 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

"THE THREE WINDS" – Feb 23-24, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) (Subjects: Humanity, Home - other side of the veil, Wind of Birth - Birth, Wind of Existence - Life, Wind of Transition - Death) - (Text version) - New

"Viewing the Other Side of the Veil" - January 7, 2007 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text Version)

US teen designs compact nuclear reactor

Google – AFP, 1 March 2013 

Barrels containing high level radioactive nuclear waste is stored in a pool in

North England on September 26, 2002 (AFP/File, Odd Andersen)

LONG BEACH, California — Eighteen-year-old Taylor Wilson has designed a compact nuclear reactor that could one day burn waste from old atomic weapons to power anything from homes and factories to space colonies.

The American teen, who gained fame four years ago after designing a fusion reactor he planned to build in the garage of his family's home, shared his latest endeavor at a TED Conference in southern California on Thursday.

"It's about bringing something old, fission, into the 21st Century," Wilson said. "I think this has huge potential to change the world."

He has designed a small reactor capable of generating 50-100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power as many as 100,000 homes.

The reactor can be made assembly-line style and powered by molten radioactive material from nuclear weapons, Wilson said. The relatively small, modular reactor can be shipped sealed with enough fuel to last for 30 years.

"You can plop them down anywhere in the world and they work, buried under the ground for security reasons," he said, while detailing his design at TED.

"In the Cold War we built up this huge arsenal of nuclear weapons and we don't need them anymore," Wilson said. "It would be great if we could eat them up, and this reactor loves this stuff."

His reactors are designed to spin turbines using gas instead of steam, meaning they operate at temperatures lower than those of typical nuclear reactors and don't spew anything if there is a breach.

The fuel is in the form of molten salt, and the reactors don't need to be pressurized, according to the teenager.

"In the event of an accident, you can just drain the core into a tank under the reactor with neutron absorbers and the reaction stops," Wilson said.

"There is no inclination for the fission products to leave this reactor," he said. "In an accident, the reactor may be toast, which is sorry for the power company, but there is no problem."

Wilson, who graduated grade school in May, said he is putting off university to focus on a company he created to make Modular Fission Reactors.

He sees his competition as nations, particularly China, and the roadblocks ahead as political instead of technical.

Wilson planned to have a prototype ready in two years and a product to market in five years.

"Not only does it combat climate change, it can bring power to the developing world," Wilson said with teenage optimism.

"Imagine having a compact reactor in a rocket designed by those planning to habitat other planets. Not only would you have power for propulsion, but power once you get there."

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"2013 - What Now ?" – Jan 6, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Text version)

“… New ideas are things you never thought of. These ideas will be given to you so you will have answers to the most profound questions that your societies have had since you were born. Inventions will bring clean water to every Human on the planet, cheaply and everywhere. Inventions will give you power, cheaply and everywhere. These ideas will wipe out all of the reasons you now have for pollution, and when you look back on it, you'll go, "This solution was always there. Why didn't we think of that? Why didn't we do this sooner?" Because it wasn't time and you were not ready. You hadn't planted the seeds and you were still battling the old energy, deciding whether you were going to terminate yourselves before 2012. Now you didn't…. and now you didn't.

It's funny, what you ponder about, and what your sociologists consider the "great current problems of mankind", for your new ideas will simply eliminate the very concepts of the questions just as they did in the past. Do you remember? Two hundred years ago, the predictions of sociologists said that you would run out of food, since there wasn't enough land to sustain a greater population. Then you discovered crop rotation and fertilizer. Suddenly, each plot of land could produce many times what it could before. Do you remember the predictions that you would run out of wood to heat your homes? Probably not. That was before electricity. It goes on and on.

So today's puzzles are just as quaint, as you will see. (1)How do you strengthen the power grids of your great nations so that they are not vulnerable to failure or don't require massive infrastructure improvement expenditures? Because cold is coming, and you are going to need more power. (2) What can you do about pollution? (3) What about world overpopulation? Some experts will tell you that a pandemic will be the answer; nature [Gaia] will kill off about one-third of the earth's population. The best minds of the century ponder these puzzles and tell you that you are headed for real problems. You have heard these things all your life.

Let me ask you this. (1) What if you could eliminate the power grid altogether? You can and will. (2) What if pollution-creating sources simply go away, due to new ideas and invention, and the environment starts to self-correct? (3) Overpopulation? You assume that humanity will continue to have children at an exponential rate since they are stupid and can't help themselves. This, dear ones, is a consciousness and education issue, and that is going to change. Imagine a zero growth attribute of many countries - something that will be common. Did you notice that some of your children today are actually starting to ponder if they should have any children at all? What a concept! ….”