Jack Cummins

Just in case anyone is confused by the comment above, the new thread which was started by Apollodurus, is not meant to be to replace this one of mine,...

I can relate to your thread because I do wonder about the psychology of using this forum and discussing philosophy. I would imagine that people come w...

I do think that it is worth trying to not limit interpretations of texts just to their historical contexts. In some ways, all ideas are interlinked an...

One of the concerns which I have about transhumanism is that if people are enabled to live for way beyond the natural lifespan is what effect this wou...

I am glad that someone else on the forum wonders about the what ifs rather just what is. Generally, I think that a lot of people I know in life don't ...

It is interesting that you speak of certain texts being embedded in your subconscious. I have wondered about this, but not sure that whether this happ...

I have probably been guilty of reading certain texts and missing important parts. Funnily enough, part of the reason I began reading parts of certain ...

Really, I found 'Finnegan's Wake' almost completely unreadable. I spent a couple of hours skimming through it. I mainly wish to read it because I foun...

I just wish to prevent the thread becoming derailed by people's personal disagreements, by asking people about the role which reading has within their...

I have only read a little Deepak Chopra, but I have a friend who thinks he is wonderful. However, discussion of quantum physics can be like 'word sala...

I don't usually remember the novels unless they are outstanding. With the non fiction, I usually remember the ones which seem really important and try...

I think that you are right to stress the danger of reading so much that one can become lost from 'rational discourse'. If I have been reading a lot I ...

I think that it can be helpful having guidelines for writing but I prefer room to maneuver. While studying there were just so many rules and regulatio...

I am probably not systematic enough in my reading. I have started a collection of writings on Plotinus, Sartre's 'Being and Nothingness,' and reading ...

I probably don't wish to digress too much into the subject of light here, as I created a thread on the metaphysics of light. However, I do love readin...

It is hard to get the right balance between being swamped by information and thinking ones own thoughts and finding one's own writing voice. Really, i...

Of course, if we did go blind or deaf we would have the options of learning braille and sign language, but I have seen them being used and, don't thin...

I see your point about containers and recordings, but I do see this as the best possible source for viewing the ideas of the past. I would love to be ...

It is interesting how you point out the role of interpretation and I see your point. Certainly, in another thread there is discussion about consciousn...

I do agree that this forum can be an alternative to the sheer academia of university, but with a certain amount of knowledge being of great importance...

I do agree that it is helpful to have threads which are based on specific ideas, and they probably work better than those which are just created from ...

I think that we do approach life and writers from different angles. Some people don't need to delve into books, and it probably also depends on whethe...

I wouldn't worry about getting the mods to delete the bit of disagreement you had on the thread, because it doesn't interfere too much with the flow o...

Funnily enough, I have discussed which of these would be worse to lose with lots of people and found that many would much prefer to lose their sight, ...

I think that we are probably best going for the authors which speak to us. I remember being on courses and having to read certain texts could be compl...

I think that it has been a very useful discussion because consciousness is used so frequently on the forum and we all come from our own understanding ...

The only difficulty which I have with your definitions are that they are a bit too precise and rigid. I understand that consciousness is a understood ...

I just thought that in relation to your own questions, in connection to this one, we are probably all slightly different in the way in which we take i...

I am sure that it is true that we all come from biases in what we think and read. I am wishing to explore as widely but in doing so, it is easy to bec...

It is a bit like unwinding spirals, a constant search for treasures. I definitely feel that one area opens up so many more. The more I engage on this ...

I like your idea of how the reading pursuit can sometimes become'frantic and promiscuous'. I often go out reading alone, having dates with my books. B...

I have read some of your reading lists. I do read a lot about shamanism. I don't write down all the books which I read, especially fiction and when it...

I am afraid that I am in the category of not being able to predict my life. I find that life seems to come in waves, but I think that this is my life ...

It is interesting that you spend long periods focusing on specific writers because I jump backwards and forwards reading them. I usually have about 3 ...

I do agree that it is usually a series of events and experiences which motivates us to try to find new ways of seeing and thinking. This is because th...

I do see the point of your analogy, although I think psychological change may be a bit more complicated than changing a bulb. Mind you, I have lived i...

Well most of my dreams don't come true so hopefully that dream won't come true. However, I do think that in some cases the more we dwell on possibilit...

It is interesting that you speak of going through different phases at different ages. Strangely, I went through my Nietszche phase before I really que...

Your idea that you may end up in heaven meeting important thinkers is interesting and one which I never thought about even in my most religious moment...

Thanks for your lengthy contribution.Your experience does sound interesting and I do believe that we can go to extremes of all kinds in our searching....

I am not sure because people can get really sensitive, especially around politics. I have been struggling with getting into bits of discussion on vari...

I think that certain experiences, especially the harshest ones can break us or stretch us to explore beyond the familiar. Of course, it is all so indi...

Sometimes when I look at this site it seems like an organic being with a consciousness, threads fizzling and fading, and others being born.

Whatever have you been discussing? The mystery deepens. When I was awake in the night, looking at my phone, I kept seeing this thread flashing up and ...

Yes, perhaps we do agree. I can reassure that when I was working in a hospital and assessing patients I did not stand there contemplating what did con...

I wasn't just responding to your post, but the trail of the thread which does seem to be wishing to narrow down the use of the term. I thought that th...

I am not really opposing @"Banno", because I can see that the medical idea of consciousness is extremely important. I have worked in hospitals and my ...

I'm afraid that I am having a problem with you wishing to narrow down the idea of consciousness to that of a first aid test. I am not saying that view...

I have come across the idea of a psychonaut,and at one stage at university I joined and went to some meetings of The Cosmic Space Cadets society. So, ...

Actually, I think that your thread question is fantastic. I was not criticising it, but simply read it when waking up in the middle of the night, so m...