I'm not sure I am smart enough to figure out at least two
flows of Consciousness Research that I have discovered.
One is the research of Stuart Hameroff and Roger Penrose,
and the other of Henry Stapp.
A particle physicist, Henry Stapp has carried out research
on the foundations of quantum mechanics--with a particular
focus on the role and nature of Consciousness at the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University
of California.
Stuart Hameroff is a M.D., currently the Director of the
Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of
Arizona (Tucson).
And Sir Roger Penrose is a mathematical physicist, who is
the Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the
University of Oxford.
Together, Penrose and Hameroff speculate that
Consciousness is the result of quantum gravity effects
in microtubles, which they dub Orch-OR (orchestrated
objective reduction). Microtubules are part of a structural
network (the cytoskeleton) within the cells cytoplasm.
About all I can figure at this point is that the above
mentioned gentlemen are *major* scientists focusing
hard on the issue of Consciousness. With them we are
not dealing with magical thinking when it comes to this
topic. On the other hand, from what I can glean, their
focus is based on Nature, on cutting-edge theoretics
about what we are slowly coming to discover about the
universe and the world in which we live and have our
being.
I know that I must find the time to follow these two
flows of Consciousness Research. As a spiritual seeker,
I would be remiss not to be intrigued by this research--
especially as such might tell me more about God, the
Cosmos, and Consciousness. My intuition points very
much towards such a connection, and it leaves me with
the feeling that coming to comprehend this connection
far more keenly is seriously important.
So, I must train myself in some complicated and
challenging scientific lingo. This portends becoming
"smarter." I only hope that eventually I might manage.
