Sunday Vibes in Denver's City Park

A number of events are scheduled to occur in City Park during the week of the Democratic National Convention.

The Yoga Health Festival, taking place on August 24 and 25, starts the week off.

Today (Sunday), smells of incense and sounds of soft drums are in the air. No doubt, the atmosphere will be more politically charged as the week progresses.

But, today, peaceful vibes, are in the air.

Shroedinger’s Cat Versus Eternity

Spook : science tackles the afterlife
Mary Roach
Nonfiction 311 pages
W.W. Norton and Co. 2005

Others may be dying to find out if there’s an afterlife, but Mary Roach looks at what science has to say about it. In “Spook: science tackles the afterlife,” Ms. Roach seeks the answer on three continents. She encounters reincarnation research in India, a school mediums in England; and in the U.S.A., she encounters laptop computers viewable only by those who are temporarily discarnate.

Does she find the answer? No, her findings are inconclusive. Some of the afterlife research is badly designed. Some is downright bogus. Regardless, whatever research she analyses, Mary Roach’s writing is always entertaining and witty.

Roach’s most convincing evidence is based on near death experience (NDE) research and is presented toward the end of the book. NDE research may be the most hopeful route toward understanding the afterlife. However, it is not a straightforward route. There are both neurological and practical factors to consider. Since near death is not death itself, permanent and unyielding, to what extent can experiencing it be generalized to experiencing death itself? For that matter, since much of our experience comes through our senses, which require living organs to function, how can there even be a death experience, at least in terms that are understandable by the living?

The near death experience reminds me of the dilemma that Erwin Shroedinger’s cat found itself in. In Shroedinger’s thought experiment, the cat is both live and dead until an observer opens the box that contains it. Only upon observation can the cat be considered dead or living. That’s the thing — is a person dead or living during an NDE? Roach’s book doesn’t provide any solid answers, but it does ask some great questions.

Crystal Skull Persuasion

Jane MacLaren Walsh reports in the May, 2008 issue of Archaeology Magazine that purportedly ancient crystal skulls could not have been manufactured by Aztecs using the tools available during their era. Since the majority of crystal skulls were brought to light by one man, and since that man failed to provide details of their excavation, their ancient origin is questionable.
Nonetheless, popular belief in their mystical qualities fuels the current Indiana Jones adventure, “Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls”. Stephen Mehler appeared on Coast to Coast AM on May 22, 2008, that movie's opening day, to discuss the mystical qualities of crystal skulls. Apparently, like computers, they can store information. It makes perfect sense — both computers and crystal skulls contain silicone.
On a similar note, philosopher, Red Green once reasoned that he could build a computer by duct-taping a typewriter to an old television set. Hey, if that works for Red, I figure I can learn the secrets of Atlantis by staring into glass eyeballs.