Fictional Consciousness

2011-02-22T19:39:00.000-08:00

I'm sad to announce, officially, that Fictional Consciousness is no longer meeting. Thank you to all those who have supported us over the last year.

2010-10-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone has had a lovely summer! Fictional Consciousness took a break over the summer, but we're back in full swing now. We just had our first meeting of the season where we discussed Sartre's "Nausea". Our next book will be "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. We will be discussing this book at our November meeting, which will take place Tuesday, November 2nd, 7:00pm, at 918 Bathurst.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, October 5th at 7pm to discuss "Nausea" by Jean-Paul Sartre

2010-09-06T08:38:00.000-07:00

Hello Fictional Consciousness Members!

We hope that everyone has had a great summer!! I apologize about the late notice, but it seems that meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) will not work for many. So, Jenny and I thought we could assign a book for October and meet then.

The book for October will be "Nausea" by Jean-Paul Sartre. There were many requests for Sartre before the break and we think this one will be very interesting.

Also, we welcome suggestions for books for our reading list. Please feel free to bring book ideas to the October meeting, or post them on the facebook page.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in October!!!

Best,
Stanzie & Jenny

Two links regarding time as a migitating factor to perception and mental health

2010-02-15T06:14:00.000-08:00

The following in a link to an article about time-space synaesthesia which I found really interesting. The implications of time-space synaesthesia as well as hyperthynestic syndrome are really interesting in light of the conversations at our last meeting :

http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/2009/11/the_cognitive_benefits_of_time-space_synaesthesia.php

The article touches on the effects that time perception has on physical and mental health:

http://lrsitbrd.nic.in/IJTB/Year%201992/October%201992/October%201992%20F.pdf

Enjoy!

Updates - Next Meeting Tuesday March 2 at 6:30

2010-02-15T05:57:00.000-08:00

Our last meeting of the book club was a mid-book review of The Trouble With Lichen as well as a further exploration of Slaughterhouse Five. The next meeting on Tuesday March 2nd will be an overview of these two books and related subtopics.

A few key issues brought up in the last meeting were:
-time as a mitigating factor of consciousness and time as a major theme in the last two books
-mental illness related to perception - are the main characters really experiencing these events or are they only perceiving themselves to experience them?
-social responsibility of the main characters - what does their apathy (or lack there of) say about their role in society?
-mechanics of writing- how does the pacing of the book affect the timeline of the story and the readers perception of time throughout the book? What devices have the authors employed to change the readers perception of time?

Our book for April will be Zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig and our book for May will be Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Both will be available soon from our sponsor, the Uof T Bookstore on College Street. By mentioning the book club, members will get 15% off of books ordered for the club. We will notify members when books are available.

To enhance our overview discussion, we will be posting related articles and websites of interest that give further insight into issues brought up by past discussions. If you have a article you would like posted, please email us at fictionalconsciousness@gmail.com

2009-12-01T19:17:00.000-08:00

Our second meeting went very well! Thank you to all who made it out.
Our next book is going to be Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut (and hopefully, our book for January will be Trouble with Lichen by John Wyndham).
Please see our facebook group for more information or to take part in online discussions.
Our next meeting will take place in early January - the exact date will be posted soon.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, December 1st at 7pm

2009-11-17T07:20:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder that our next meeting is coming up on Tuesday December 1st at 7pm.

At this meeting we will be discussing the first book Surfacing by Margaret Atwood. If you haven't had a chance to read the book, please join us anyway. With all of our meetings, while we will use the book for the framework for discussion, our talks will revolve around broader ideas of consciousness and perception addressed in the reading. Our meetings are open to anyone- so join us!!

2009-11-03T18:15:00.000-08:00

We'd like to thank everyone who came out to our first meeting tonight at 918 Bathurst. We decided that November's book is going to be "Surfacing" by Margaret Atwood. For those who would like to buy this book, we hope to have it available soon at a discounted price though our partner, the Toronto Women's Book Store. We will post here on the blog and on our facebook group once it becomes available there.
For ongoing online discussions about this book throughout the month of November, please see our Facebook group.
Thanks a lot, and happy reading!

What Is Consciousness? by Jenny Richmond-Bravo

2009-11-03T18:09:00.000-08:00

The Oxford dictionary defines consciousness simply as “one’s awareness of something” or “the state of being aware and responding to one’s surroundings”. This is a very basic understanding of the tricky concept of consciousness, one from which it is possible to jump into further exploration of the term.
In The Varieties of Religious Experience (first published in 1902), William James refers to the “field” or “wave of consciousness”, which he considers to be one’s state of mind (including objects of thought, focus, and attention) at any given moment. James states that a “wide” field of consciousness, through which it is possible to see connections among things beyond one’s individual self, provides the greatest sense of joy and wisdom. However, James stresses that other “consciousnesses” exist outside of the field of the one’s main or typical consciousness, separated by what he terms the “margin”. These other consciousnesses, and the varieties of perspective and understanding that are available therein, are accessible when the margins become blurred. Further, some people may have a “strongly developed ultra-marginal life”, in which information is continuously transferred between consciousnesses, leading to phenomena such as mystical and/or anomalous experiences (James, 2004, pp. 171-174).
Psychologist Lawrence LeShan believes that consciousness is what makes it possible for us to organize our reality. Further, LeShan believes that there are four “realities” organized by consciousness, which are [1] the sensory reality (aka everyday waking consciousness), [2] the unity reality (an understanding of the connections between all life), [3] the transpsychic reality (a realization of one’s individual place in the grand scheme of things and the power one has to influence the whole), and [4] the mythic reality (the realm of imagination and limitless possibility that exists outside of time and physical space). LeShan stresses the importance of experiencing each and every one of these realities continuously throughout life in order to reach “new potentials” and “fullest humanity” (LeShan, 1984).
To Carl Jung, consciousness also stretched beyond the individual. Jung’s notion of the “collective unconscious” first came to him after a dream. In his dream, he was descending some stairs in a house, and with each level down he saw symbols of cultures and histories past. For example, the main level of the house had symbols relating to Jung’s personal individual life. The next level down had symbols relating to his immediate family relationships. Further down, Jung saw symbols of his European heritage. Even further down were symbols of a past shared by all of us as a species when we first emerged from Africa. Jung decided that each one of us must have some residual understanding of our collective experiences buried at the subconscious level, and that the deeper you go into the unconscious, wider and broader connections can be made within the collective of all life. Jung spent the rest of his career working through his notion of the collective unconscious. A big part of his theory was the concept of the “archetypes”. Archetypes are common to all people, and symbolize aspects of the self, including “the shadow” (our dark side; that which we often try unsuccessfully to push away), “the persona” (the mask we wear in social life), and “the anima and animus” (the sources of feminine and masculine wisdom, which are both present in each individual) among others. These archetypes present themselves symbolically throughout our life, lending clues as to the path we are on, what we put our energy into, and what we may need to become aware of (Smith, 1997).
Many religious traditions view consciousness as having the potential to connect directly to the divine. For example, “Buddha nature” refers to a state of consciousness in which the teachings of the Buddha are realized in daily life – one has successfully transcended attachment to objects of desire, and has thus attained enlightenment. In Hinduism there is the idea of moksha, where one’s individual consciousness (atman) merges with the divine consciousness (Brahman). “Krishna Consciousness” is an offshoot of Hinduism, and refers to an attempt to live one’s life after the example of Krishna, a legendary avatar of the god Vishnu. Similarly, “Christ Consciousness” refers to an attempt to fashion one’s life after the teachings of Jesus.
Modern scientific research into consciousness has been quite interesting. One form this research has taken has been to explore altered states of consciousness, including psychedelic states, trance states, and meditation. Dr. Rick Strassman, a psychologist in New Mexico, ran a study on the use of DMT, a highly hallucinogenic drug. Subjects experienced drastic alterations in reality that often contained elements similar to those seen in mystical states, psychological stress states, and anomalous experiences (including alien abduction experiences, near death experiences, and sleep paralysis among others). Strassman suggests that DMT could be an endogenous chemical created by our brains and released at times of high stress. (Strassman, 2001). Another scientist, Dr. Michael Persinger of Laurentian University, has created what he calls the “God Helmet”, which stimulates a particular part of the brain and results in an altered state of consciousness in which subjects experience a “sensed presence”, often with religious overtones.
Consciousness, therefore, is an elusive concept. It is clear, however, that there is much more to consciousness than one’s basic everyday experiences in waking life. Our hope is to explore ideas of consciousness that go beyond simple self-awareness or direct sensory perception and delve into the seemingly limitless potentials of the human mind and its capacity for understanding.

References:

James, William (2004). The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York, NY: Touchstone.

LeShan, Lawrence (1984). From Newton to ESP: Parapsychology and the Challenge of Modern Science. Winnipeg,
MB: Turnstone Press.

Smith, C.M (1997). Jung and Shamanism In Dialogue: Retrieving the Soul/Retrieving the Sacred. New York, NY:
Paulist Press

Strassman, Rick (2001). DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press.

2009-10-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

Another thank to the 918 Bathurt Culture, Arts, Media and Education Centre and its director, Li Koo- without whom this book club could not be possible.

918 Mandate:

918 Bathurst is a new centre supporting culture, arts, media and education. We support academic, artistic, health, personal and professional career programming with an emphasis on personal development.

As a facility for educational opportunities, cultural exchanges and special events we are all inclusive. We invite people, groups and organizations to contact us with program ideas to be held at our venue.

First Meeting

2009-10-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

Our first meeting is set to be held at 918 Bathurst on Tuesday November 3rd, 2009 at 7:00 pm.
We will be introducing ourselves, discussing possibilities for our first book, and getting a feel for what we want to get out of the group and what sorts of ideas we would like to explore together.

Also, we have partnered with the Toronto Women's Book Store, and they will kindly be offering a 10% discount to Fictional Consciousness members on books chosen for the club.

Welcome to Fictional Consciousness!!

2009-09-25T17:03:00.001-07:00

This blog will serve as the digital counterpart to our book club and discussions at the 918 Bathurst Culture, Arts, Media and Education Centre in Toronto. Please check as we will be posting writings of interest, original articles and reading lists.