Entrainment, Affective Thresholds, Attention, and Creative Freedom Conversation beginning October 25, 2026, through November 4, 2026. Note: this builds on HOW DID THAT COME TO MIND? Meta-tations (tangent migrations) and the Illusion of Free Agency and the 1990s “Cycle of Engagement” David Boulton — October 25, 2026, 11:36 AM Could too low a threshold
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Consciousness · Learning · A dialogue Can Science Explain Consciousness? Deepak Chopra’s essay followed by an 18-part Boulton on Learning response On this page Summary of Chopra’s essay · My response · Response section index Part I · Why There Can Be No Scientific Theory of Consciousness Before every thought, theory, and measurement, there is
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Paradigm Inertia Paradigm Inertia is the systemic, psychological, and institutional resistance to updating, revising, or replacing an established mental model, operational framework, or scientific consensus—even when confronted with empirical anomalies, falsifying data, or demonstrable systemic failure. It represents the tendency of epistemic systems (individual minds, academic disciplines, regulatory agencies, and professional cultures) to maintain their
Two very different minds. Silvan Tomkins (1911-1991) is considered by many to be the Einstein of emotional science. His theory of emotion defines a core set of indivisible neurobiological elements – “affects” -whose innate and learning conscripted behaviors aggregate to explain the entire universe of human emotion. John Steinbeck (1902-1968) also viewed humans through a
John Steinbeck & Silvan Tomkins – What A Shame! Read More »
This is a podcast conducted by Jesica Glover as a stand alone episode in “My Child Can’t Read: A Heartland Crisis”. The podcast was as recorded on 5-12-26 and was produced on behalf of the Phillips Fundamental Learning Center. The above video is the raw interview. The interview was edited and released as a
The Crisis Beneath the Literacy Crisis Read More »
Part I: The Take-Off Ramp — Evolution Beyond Raw Encephalization A prevalent misconception in evolutionary biology suggests that human cognitive superiority stems directly from brain expansion—simply scaling an ancestral ape brain from roughly 350–450 cm³ (and ~6–9 billion cortical neurons) up to 1350–1400 cm³ (and ~16–21 billion cortical neurons). Yet an isometric scaling of that
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In your meaning, people cannot participate in consciousness, think, choose, decide, interpret, react, resist, comply, manipulate, or adapt without learning. Thinking and choosing are not activities outside learning; they are modalities of it. Learning is the process through which consciousness is continuously differentiated and changed—not a synonym for education, knowledge acquisition, wisdom, or improvement. Learning
Our Quarter Millennium of Learning? Read More »
Peter Robinson sits down with mathematician John Lennox, philosopher of science Stephen Meyer, and chemist James Tour to examine what modern science really suggests about the origin of the universe and life itself. My friend Doug sent me a link to this as a prod (I assume) related to my recent posts about spirituality, feeling,
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Cells adapt > brains learn > species evolve. These three considered distinct dynamics are all different temporal/dimensional extensional expressions of the same underlying central dynamic: to differentially extend living presence. Yes. That is a strong unification. It treats adaptation, learning, and evolution not as three fundamentally different kinds of process, but as the same basic
Adapt, Learn, Evolve – Same Dynamic, Different Mechanisms and Timescales Read More »
What are feelings? What is the difference between a feeling and a feeling we recognize? Can a feeling have meaning without prior learning? Feelings are changes in the lived state of an organism. They are not, first of all, ideas about experience. They are the experience becoming different from within: tightening, opening, dread, ease, hurt,
What’s The Role of Learning In The Meanings of Feelings? Read More »