Table of Contents

Preface

Deepermind Philosophy Overview 1/15/21.

My Story

I used to be Catholic and enjoyed believing Catholic dogma, as everything was in its place and that was nice.  As I grow older I discovered science and that it did not jive with dogma. Science and Catholicism were worlds apart. There was a very deep conflict.  I wanted the truth so much. I broke away from Catholic Church. I studied General Semantics which said words are maps, and they should reflect the territory.

I started to read about other religions.  Where they better? I was suspicious about the books I was reading so I bypassed them. I went to the various religions, join many of them one by one. 

Hinduism taught me how to chant.  The Sufi's taught me about intense chanting which was hypnotic. The Baha'is taught me about a succession of Christ like beings called Manifestations and spiritual emotions.  The Buddhists taught me about detachment and meditation. 

In every religion, there was the worship of ancient ideas, a reverence for "if it is old enough it must be holy." Some ideas were too pious, such as Buddhist's ideas about letting insects bite you. Most had a leader and special books that were to be never questioned.

I wanted to figure things out myself, to be modern without throwing away what was old but worked. I really wanted some religious philosophy that took the best ideas from all religions and believed in science. The closest thing I found was the Unitarian Universalist religion that allow everyone to build their own believe system or theology.

The Origins of Religions and Authority

I have wondered why religions were created.  I found a good answer in a book titled "This Believing World" by Lewis Browne. 

Browne takes us back to the beginnings of civilization. Life of early humans was based of fear of the unknown. Life was hard.  People died for often mysterious reasons and the primitive mind made up spirits that where everywhere. An overwhelming fear pervaded their tribes.  Everyone suffered and their main concern was basic survival.

Tribes of about 200 members allowed for several hunting groups.  The hunting groups needed organization so they would not overlap territories and hunting strategies.  Leadership was needed to accomplish these tasks.

Leaders did not last long because they were often wrong and no food was found.  It was mostly a matter of luck.

Tribes that had long term leadership where more successful with a stable government that inspired confidence, security and optimism, and keep members calm, allowing rational thinking and effectiveness.

Leaders easily lost confidence especially in hard times. If the leader could deflect blame to the tribe, instead of himself, if things went bad it was no longer their fault.

Because their was a strong belief in spirits everywhere, tribal members wanted to make the spirits happy so they would not bring problems to them.

As rituals evolved, the leaders became more rigorous in their "understanding" of the spirits. They required certain rituals and strict coherence to the observing taboo protocol.

If the spirits were not pleased, then bad luck followed. But the leader now could say its your fault. This is where the concept of sin came from.  But the leader was not to blame for bad luck, it was tribe members who were sinful.

The Origins of Modern Day Belief

Most of the western religions today insists that to be a member you have to belief in their doctrine.  But it was not always that way.  Beliefs prior to 17th century were thought to be more of an inward quality.  People were somewhat free to discuss the ideas in the Bible or Quran.

Today, science itself has become a religion itself.  The theory of the "big bang" has been detailed, yet now body was there.  The only evidence of the big bang is that universe is expanding based on the red shift of far away galaxies.  It is a good story, but it will change as we learn more about the universe.  Science is a method of investigation, not a collection of religious facts.  Science encourages us to discover more facts.

If you find that taking a shower in the morning works well for you, you have made a scientific discovery about yourself.  In the same way you investigate various practices such as mediation, prayer, and chanting and see if they work.  This is science in the true sense at work.

Church Truth vs. Scientific Truth

Until about five hundred years ago people believed in there authority, and there was little call to find "the truth." If you started to think for yourself, it was your inner truth.  During certain periods, if you disagreed with the Church big time, you could be charged with heresy and tortured. 

Around the 17th century there were people who were beginning to do science. Anatomists were dissecting the human body and they did find new things, but nothing to suggest that everything was made up of earth, water, air, fire, and aether which was the Church's view.

Astronomy vs. The Church

The study of the planets and stars was more interesting before our modern day electronic entertainment.  Outdoor lightning has lit up the sky, so we cannot see the grandeur of the Milky Way.

Before modern astronomy, must people believed what they saw.  For instance, the sun rises from the East every morning and sets in the West.  It seemed natural that the Sun moved across the sky because it was revolving around the Earth.

If you assume that the Earth is not moving, then the Sun does move around the Earth.  And so do the moon, planets and the stars.

But if you try to make sense out of their movements, the job becomes very complicated.  Sometimes the planets move backwards.  If we hold the Earth still, it is almost impossible to predict the path of the planets across the sky.  Even the sun does strange things.  It moves around sky lower in the winter and higher in the summer.  If we go to the Southern Hemisphere, it is summer down there, while it is winter here.  Just too complicated.

A much simpler way to look at it is to let the Earth move. In this version, Earth turns on its axis once a day, and revolves around the sun once a year.  The planets revolve around the sun. The planets closer to the Sun move faster, so Venus and Mercury seem to move backward and speed up as pass us in orbit.  The seasons are produced due to the tilt of the Earth.  When the North Pole points more to the Sun, Northern Hemisphere experiences summer. 

The Catholic Church dogma stated the Sun moved around the Earth. Science disagreed.  It was far simpler to allow the Earth to move.

Some Astronomy History

The astronomer Nicholas Copernicus in 1543 (some 65 years before the invention of the telescope in 1608), discovered that the Earth and planets moved around the Sun. Using observations of the planets and working out the mathematics, Heliocentric theory was shown to be true.

The Italian academic Galileo in 1609 heard of a new invention, the telescope. He brought one with about 3x power, and made improvements until he achieved 20x power. 

According to history, Galileo was the first person to look at the heavens.  What he saw made him question the authority of the Catholic Church. He saw the moons of Jupiter move around Jupiter, and the phase of Venus. There were mountains on the Earth's moon.  This was not in the Bible. This was further proof that the Earth and planets revolved around the sun.

The Bible has Errors

Gradually people began to question authority.  But the Christian religion and the Bible are very popular today especially in the United States.

Yet the Bible was wrong. More so, the Bible contradicts itself. It approves slavery as being normal, and indicates that women are inferior to men.  There are mixed teachings such as "an eye for an eye" (Old Testament) and "turn the other cheek"(New Testament).  If I was to pick a faith, it would be the Baha'i Faith.  But I am a liberal, and like to think for myself. 

Since many people are not familiar with the Baha'i Faith, when I put Baha'i in parenthesis it means that where I got the idea. 

-----My Personal Religion-----

So I invented my own personal religion. I call it Deepermind. It is based continuous revelation (Baha'i) so it is continuously updated and what I believe is updated as I learn more.

My religion has to work. It has to be effective medicine.  Its good for the mind AND the spiritual heart. 

The opposite of my religion are nonsense.  Nonsense is the major ingredient in such organization as the QAnon which abounds in conspiracy theories. Not believing in goodness creates a vacuum which can be filled quickly with prejudice and violence. QAnon is particularly dangerous.

There is nonsense mix in our older religions are released. For example, prayer does not work at all when we ask God to change fundamental physical law.  God made the universe, and He/She will not change it on your whim. 

Pray works on our soul, and brings us closer to God.  It really works because the soul is changeable. If you pray to be kinder and more spiritual most likely you will get your wish.

All religions are mixtures of errors, mystery, and goodness. For example, the Christian Bible in Luke 13:9 says if you plant a tree and does not bear fruit, cut it down. (Bible, Luke 13:9). Hey this is exactly what I am doing.

There is so much truth in the world. Some of it is old and some is modern.

Science is the way we find truth in the physical world.  Wisdom is the way we find inner world truth.

 The Bible was written by man and things not known at the time are not contained in the Bible.  In fact some of the stuff in the Bible is really silly.

For example, rain does not come from cisterns (firmaments) in the sky. Scientific information is also created by man.  Science limits itself to things that can be investigated in physical world.  The inner life is not available for investigation by science.  A lot of silly things can be found psychology. 

For example, many psychologist at one time believed the reason that women were hysterical was that uterus wandered around in the body.

One could imagine what would happen if science replaced wisdom.  There might be a scientific test for every thing you thought and did. 

It is Complicated with Block Diagrams

The truth is often complicated as they are many prospective to truth and different levels of understanding.  More importantly to understand ourselves, we must admit we are the most complicated thing in the universe. 

By believing in God and the our soul, we can ask for some help in understanding difficult things. 

When I used to work on complex equipment, I drew block diagrams to illustrate different parts of the equipment and how the parts worked together.

To my knowledge, no one has tried to use block diagrams to understand the big picture of how we work and to optimize our existence.

My block diagram has 17 things in it. It is somewhat arbitrary but it does allow for discussion on how different aspects of our selves and the world work together.

 It is hard to find a single word that is suitable for the all the blocks.  Some of them are concepts, some are department, some of them are large parts of the universe.

Major connections between the blocks are indicated by arrow.  Since this is extremely general and at a very high level, at the lower level, all the blocks are connected.

People who have missing blocks, are often in trouble.  If you have no spiritual emotions such as love, something is missing in your life for sure.

 If you have trouble with the word "God", call it top brain cells. The top brain cells are beyond your conscious mind and pretty much independent and resistant to change.  If the word "soul" bothers you, consider it a interface to the top brain cells.

1 God

If there is right and wrong then there must be some spirit that makes the determination.

If we study science, there are patterns and equations that indicate that some intelligence created the universe. God is a mathematician according to Mario Livio. 

I know this sounds crazy to some people, but I have talked to God, and He/She answers my questions.  Sometimes He/She says do my homework. Study.

One time I asked God about Pi.  Why is it such a crazy number.  God told me that he made ellipses and circles were man's ideal. So I tried to find the ratio of the circumference to the two diameters of a ellipse. There was absolute equation, only equations that gave approximate answers.  Prior religions often see God as mean and harsh. 

2 The Soul

The soul is the interface between God and the spiritual emotions (Baha'i).  The soul has a ladder which we must climb to reach the atmosphere of God. We must express our love of God if we are going to be in God's grace.   The soul gives us wisdom and the knowledge of right and wrong. Some prior religions teach that God places us in either heaven and hell. Instead, departed souls may work with God to guide other souls. God is extremely smart and loving.

3 Spiritual Emotions

By grouping all emotions as either spiritual or earthy we can clearly see which ones are better (Baha'i).  Spiritual emotions are joyous, meaningful, and loving. Having spiritual emotions is one of the proofs that spirituality exists. With spiritual emotions we have the insight we need to be complete human beings.

4 Beliefs

People can believe in nothing or anything.  Beliefs give us and direction. Former religions place emphasis on unchanging dogmatic beliefs. Many of these beliefs are truly ancient and may have originated with early primitive man.

A good beliefs system needs to verification or at least should help produce good fruit. Reason, science, logic and wisdom must be included.

The simplest explanations that includes all the facts usually the best one (Occam Razor).  Beliefs can passed between people unconsciously through memes. Prior religions will not update their teachings, so disproven theories such as astrology and a young Earth are still live on.

5 Insight

Insight receives input from the soul and gives clarity to consciousness.  Parallels spiritual emotions. Insight is often neglected due to lack of insight into one's self.

6 Consciousness is experience of being alive, and being an experiencer. Consciousness is fueled by the spiritual and earthy emotions. Being alive is magical.  We can only focus on one or two things at a time.  We can have more than one emotion at the same time, but it is difficult to think two thoughts at the same time. Consciousness gives energy to ideas so new ideas and solutions are found. Consciousness is like a light that shines on everything from objects in the physical world, people, and our own insight into ourselves.  We dream we are alive.  Conscious is the little green man in us we call our self. It is the big crack in the Cosmic Egg of science.

7 Self

The self is I behind the I.  Its who we think we are.  We have different selves, depending on our current role such as mother or father. We can be hypnotized so the self is become what the hypnotizer wants. The self can be defined as the source of our personality, mood, and state of mind.

8 Purpose

Many people have little or no purpose and seek entertainment and earthy pleasures to distract themselves.  For people who have purpose life has meaning and direction.  Purpose can be earthy or spiritual, strong or weak.  Purpose gives direction to one's life and a will to do the right thing for themselves.

9 Body

The body provides interface between the physical world and the inner life.  It generates earthy emotions (pain, hunger, fear, anger, etc.) and earthy pleasures (warmth, protection, eating, sexual thoughts and activities, health, etc.) The body is extremely complex.  It includes many systems on different levels (chemical, cell, organ, nervous system). Brain activity parallels all that we do.  Brain functions can be localized in certain cases, but also may be distributed. 

10  Earthy Emotions

The earthy emotions are driven by the body.  They are more primitive than the spiritual emotions.  These emotions are raw in nature and similar to those of an animal.  Bad earthy emotions are more likely to occur when the body is tired or under stress.  Pleasurable earthy emotions include satisfying urges to eat, have sex, to exercise, feel safe.  See Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

11 Tasks

Conscious tasks are selected by the self and unconscious tasks are performed automatically.  First a motivation is generated due to the presents of a need. The need is examined and different processes are considered.  In certain situations speed is essential.  A plan is created and the work begins.  If there is a problem, a new plan is generated. When the goal is reached, pleasure is found. If things go wrong, the person may give up, or try another approach.

12 Relationships

Love is the most profound emotions know to human beings. Romantic relationships can comprise one of the most meaningful aspects in life and a source of deep fulfillment.  It is as if the brain needs to integrate with another brain for assurance and critique.  The lack of love in young children can produce profound problems later in life.  Psychologically neglected infants have been known to die due to lack of love.

13 Imagination

The imagination was developed in early man in order to survive. Estimating danger was critical.  Imagination kept tribes together, with stories told.  Stories were woven into songs that tribes memorized.  Today the imagination is the source of tales in moves, television and books.  The imagination is tightly integrated in our inner worlds as explained below.

14 Inner World

We do not see the world directly.  It is generated by taking the data our sensory equipment (eye, noise, hands, hears, etc.) and forming a model of what is around us.  The model includes information from all parts of the brain.  The inner world is an simulation, but a pretty good one.  What we see seems real, because it is closely tied to the physical world.

15 Language

Our language allow us to think abstractly, use our imagination, and communicate back and forth with others.  It allows us record information through reading and writing. 

Words are like a map.  A map provides information about a territory. Words provide information about the subject matter.  A map is not the territory itself, and words are not the actual subject matter. Thus we point to the moon and the word "moon" is just what we call that round ball of rock and craters in the sky. In another language, it would be called something different.

When discussing religion, politics, and philosophy, this distinction becomes important.  Just because we have a word for something, does not make it real.  We have to define the words we use when we talk about abstract ideas. 

16 Music

Music reflects our emotions.  There is music for every emotion.  If we are sad, sad music can smooth our soul.  If we are playful and happy, rock and rolls can invigorate us. There is music to study by, and religious music to lift our soul.  The brain seems to work with waves and rhythm in ways we do not understand.

17 Physical World

The physical world is made up of wave, fields and particles.  If it were seen directly it would just be meaningless data.  This is the realm of science. Using the scientific method, of careful observation, experiments and refining the observations, experiments over and over again by different scientists, there is a body of knowledge collected about the physical world.  Engineers use this knowledge to build our technical world of cell phones, computers and all the other modern equipment we enjoy.