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Simon Lewis

Author, Writers Guild of America, west

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Conversation with Simon Lewis: How do we make the most of our Consciousness?

Due to enthusiastic responses we are keeping this conversation for two days!

My goal is to find ways to answer this most important question of our time, so others may find their inner selves. Everyone wants and needs maximum mental performance, yet school dropout rates attest to the size of the gap that our adolescents drop into. Why are these solutions a hidden secret? How can we develop an integrated approach to maximize our most precious resource on Earth — our collective consciousness — and nurture it in each of us? Why aren’t measurable repeatable approaches, to bridge the gap from potential mind toward actual mind, widely known and available to all from youth to old age, and how do we make this become a reality?
I hope you join me to discuss these and other questions,

Simon Lewis
More info about the speaker:
http://www.ted.com/speakers/simon_lewis.html
www.simonlewis.us
http://atavist.net/blindsight/

Related Talks:
Topics: Live Conversation consciousness
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Closing Statement from Simon Lewis

I just finished reading all of your final comments and want to extend special thanks to TED for making this civil, thoughtful and remarkably global forum possible, as well as the INK organization who originally invited me to India in association with TED, and gave a first opportunity to share my ideas before an international audience.

And I want to thank each of you, who spoke or who listened, for it is your contribution that empowers all. I understand from TED that remarkable audience of some 2,000 participated online in our swiftly assembled colloquy, with over a hundred drawn to participate with comments from countries as far apart as the USA, India, South Korea and China.

I wish all of you of the happiness to be found in seeking the hidden path toward actual mind, and I thank you for showing me how much interest and concern there is, how many tangible ideas are offered, from around the world to help achieve this for all societies and ages.
Thank you, Simon Lewis

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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 27 2011: Hi Nafissa! Thank you for inviting me..

  • Alex Laferriere

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    Sep 27 2011: Hi. For a second there, I thought this was live video, but apparently it's just a text conversation? Am I right about that?

  • James Kindler 10+

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    Sep 28 2011: Hi Simon
    I have schizophrenia and live in the present, it's a way of thinking or percieving time and space. People consider me disabled but I don't, I simply don' think like everyone else. I once took a psychological test and the person giving it to me said that was faster and more accurate than my supervisor could do it. I'm well employed and spend much of my spare time in the forest where I feel connected to nature. MRIs and CT scans show a lack of grey matter, but something is clearly working well, any ideas on what that might be?

    James
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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 29 2011: Many ideas and possibilities , James, within within your many billions of nerve cells and their constant search for possible neural pathways and workarounds. It's interesting you spend time in the forest. The reporter for The Atavist describes how I spend hours tree-gazing, looking at the Canary Island palms in my back yard. I feel the air stir my hair, hear the sounds of birds and watch the light and shadows play on the cones and needles. There may be pathways to your mind that are more accessible to you in this visual and auditory (and olfactory) environment.

      Congratulations for finding such good ways to live within time and space that works for you.

      • James Kindler 10+

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        Sep 29 2011: Thank you for the reply Simon, have you ever noticed how the wind shapes the way our vegatation grows? This is especialy clear on high mountains or places that get heavy wind gusts on a regular basis. By the way, you inspire me to know I can do anything that I want to do if I put my mind to it.

  • Cat Anderson

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    Sep 29 2011: I am so appreciative of this stimulus for a meditation. I've been listening to the dozens of topics that have arisen, as possible launches for a contribution I could make. I am new to your work, Simon, and deeply touched by what I've seen. I've been working on this how-to topic for a long time, and may be near finishing my novel about it. The idea I would add here, in this blessed exchange, is a concept of depression that may be useful: experiencing it as gridlock -- a shutdown induced by collisions between what the deep true self Knows, and all the conflicting cultural memes of ought-to and compelled-to and what's-true. No smoothly functioning identity and sense of coherent motion (including thought and feeling) can arise from such a contradictory traffic jam. Unsnarling this means questioning some memes that are very important to significant portions of culture, which is one of the reasons the how-to approaches are a little sparse (and the depression label is pasted on top of otherwise inexplicable inner phenomena, which do produce biochemical artifacts, which are frequently called the cause, in what is actually a self-reinforcing feedback loop). The personal gridlock emanates out into social and cultural conflict. I'm working on reinterpreting some of the memes in a more empathetic light, so that oppositional energies don't squash people any more than we are already squashed. Maybe the epidemic *labeling* of depression is a good sign that true selves are waking up -- even if the first encounter is with the walls of falseness that used to be considered signals of validation, worthiness, success, or love.

    Thank you for your willingness to move through all that you have, so that this moment, right now, and the wonderful way I feel in connecting here, could happen.
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    Craig Patterson

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    Sep 29 2011: "Consciousness is the key, consciousness is the means, consciousness is the end" Sri Aurobindo

    "There is enough for every man's need, but not for every man's greed" Gandhi

    However the most damaging aspect of our collective denial revolves around our thinking that the environment is a subset of our economy, instead of the other way around.

    Will the last humanoid please turn off the lights.

  • stacy heatherly

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    Sep 27 2011: If you were to list 5 most important aspects to nurture our consciousness what would they be? I am a film maker working on a documentary titled the fully integrated human.
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      Travis West

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      Sep 27 2011: I'm no expert but this is my list. It's also nowhere near exhaustive, nor is it in any particular order of importance.
      1. Live in the now
      2. Be healthy
      3. Be grateful
      4. Nurture creativity
      5. Practice balance in every aspect of life
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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 29 2011: These are good answers, Stacy, and by definition there can be no order of importance since each person's consciousness is a unique expression of inner self. You use the term 'nurture' and at present four that interest me aree the four Cs of consciousness I term in my INK talk on TED and explore in Rise and Shine. To these I would add a fifth C: Cadence, for rhythm and its interpretation may be a critical first building element to the ability of our consciousness to learn.
      My web address is www.simonlewis.us and I will watch your documentary with interest.

      • stacy heatherly

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        Sep 29 2011: Thank you Simon. The answers were from Travis.
        I purchased your book and am looking forward to reading it.
        I am just now in preprodcution on the film, but my other film REWIRED on neurotherapy and brain mapping will be out sooner.
        I sent in a request to have you speak at our annual fundraiser.
        :)
        Thank you for your reply.
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          Simon Lewis

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          Sep 29 2011: I hope you'll let me know, stacy, including your thoughts on my book and your two docus. Simon
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      Linda MacDonald Glenn

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      Sep 29 2011: Stacy, I would say that the recognition of our interconnectedness with each other is an essential aspect to nurturing our consciousness. Your consciousness -- or mine -- does not exist in a vacuum; we are shaped, influenced, created in part by our environment, our friends, our family. TED is helping to shape our collective consciousness.

      If our representatives in Congress and our government were truly conscious and aware of the widespread impact of their actions, we wouldn't have half the problems we are having today.

      • stacy heatherly

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        Sep 29 2011: I believe they are aware Linda, I think their agenda's are self serving and therefore limit their willingness to concern themselves with the widespread impact. That requires a shift in consciousness.
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    Kevin Schmidt

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    Sep 29 2011: 'Why are these solutions [to making "the most of our consciousness"] a hidden secret?'

    There are several reasons for this. I have found that if you pose this question to 100 so called thinking experts, they will give you more than 100 answers. All of these answers will be incomplete, few will describe the actual thinking processes, which will also be incomplete, and all answers will be needlessly complicated and difficult to understand for all but the highly educated, which are the ones who need to improve their thinking abilities the least.

    "How can we develop an integrated approach to maximize our most precious resource on Earth — our collective consciousness — and nurture it in each of us?"

    This is a problem I have been working on for the past several years. The answer can be found in the way we define the method of communication between the participants in a collective consciousness endeavor.

    If we allow complete freedom of communication, the conversation usually devolves quickly into illogical thinking and angry uncivil behavior towards other participants. Conversely, if we are overly restrictive, such as a town hall meeting conducted under 'Robert's Rules of Order', many of the participants will feel alienated and frustrated by a cumbersome and complicated process that they believe serves to stifle their input. Also, many people enter a problem solving discussion with a hidden agenda, and because of that, they take sides and take ownership of ideas that have not been fully explored. Like a high school debate, their goal is to win the argument, and not to collaborate with one another to find the the best possible solutions with the greatest consensus.

    These issues, among others that serve only to limit effective communication between the participants and to stifle collaboration, can be eliminated by using the right system. I explain one possible solution here:

    http://Causense.com

    Feel free to respond by using the feedback form at the bottom of the page
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    Alex Mero

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    Sep 29 2011: A distinction must be made between what is and what we perceive. The numerous material appearances we observe are attributes of the conscience, but the conscience itself is not reserved only to humans. The conscience is much more than that. It is a universal power which penetrates through the whole reality and transcends all human attributes. The human is one of the many manifestations of the conscience, just like everything that surrounds it, although a human is a special manifestation because it has thinking capacities. Thinking is a specific development of the conscience, valuable and useful without doubt, but it is also extremely one–sided and possibly dangerous, because it has the tendency to develop its own theories and to isolate itself from the real conscience. Man isn’t privileged just because it is the only being aware of reality, but in the fact it is privileged thanks to its potential of reflection, able to reach the consciousness from which everything emanates.

  • Paul Lis

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    Sep 29 2011: Open forum public schools. Seating for hundreds, just like the ancient schools. Passing true knowledge from generation to generation. Not industrial knowledge, but, fundamental earth based knowledge. Keep your universities and colleges, as well as creating new open forum institutions. The school system could cater to like wise motivated individuals who will pave their own path through education based on their interests. Giving students hands on approach to learning, increases motivation to learn more about it. Open forum gives access to passersby, and those with the thought to stop and listen.

    Bringing education to groups of thirty in the community. Active educational networks to ease the cost of materials and supplies. Open source digital educational interface for alternative access (OLPC). Dedicated national funding and resources on priority listing. Backing the system by purchasing a number of neglected buildings. Reclaiming the buildings, and putting it to good use.

    This would allow small groups of neighborhood kids to learn life long skills in a more natural and inclusive way. Maybe, think of it as an educational franchise. Thus enabling people to work their way through management, to ownership. Giving rise to autonomous employment and skill acquisition. Self funding education, in essence, for everyone, to learn anything. Making sure resources are unlimited, would allow for the best educated populace in the world.

    To cut public funding costs, and reallocate funding from food programs currently active, to teaching the urban populace to grow their own organic produce, and raise livestock and poultry. By franchising, corporation sponsorship incentives spur economic growth by alleviating long term investments, and increasing long term ROI. Thus, providing basic necessities and allowing productivity, morale, health and economic standing to increase.

  • Paul Lis

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    Sep 29 2011: Consciousness seems to be based on perception. Collective consciousness seems to be a thought shared by many people. If thoughts are generated by inducing synaptic response, perhaps, collective consciousness is a harmonic resonance created by the amplification or transfer of tuned synaptic aparati.
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    Bruno Barroca

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    Sep 27 2011: What do you mean with "increase cognitive awareness through natural processes". I mean, what do you consider as not being natural? Do I have to think about being natural while living my now right now?

    Also, to be considered natural should not be reasonable to be some kind of symmetric process such as: "From Potential Minds to Actual Minds, and from Actual Minds to Potential Minds"? Or is this another individualistic line of thought?

    What is collective consciousness? If it is really consciousness, should not the collective actually realize that? Or perhaps you just realized that we have some kind of collective inconsciousness, and then just called it collective consciousness?

    So I guess, I will put the same simple question as you did: Is it possible to unleash the unbounded energy of the self and multiply it in a global common goal, so that when divided by everyone can recover each one's energy loss with immense joy and fulfillment?

    Yes, because after all, we are just tourists here...
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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 28 2011: Good questions, Bruno. By "natural processes" I mean to exclude psychoactive or psychotropic substances that cross the blood–brain barrier to affect brain function, perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior. My experience, repeated across published research, suggest that there is so much--so many unbounded energies of the mind --that is untapped, leaving depression as the WHO's leading world disease, that may be tapped with natural interventions, i.e. targeted therapies without broad psychoactive therapies.

  • Ryan T

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    Sep 27 2011: Hi Simon, have watched your TED talk a number of times (and passed it on to a number of friends) as well as read Rise and Shine. Thanks for putting your story out there for us to learn from.

    I'm wondering if you can expand on how you were able to raise your IQ during the period of years following your accident? I know you mention in the book you take a number of vitamin/supplements and have gone through different forms of cognitive therapy. I think any other information you can provide could be very helpful to those of us on a path towards expanding our consciousness.
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      Kevin Schmidt

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      Sep 29 2011: I have had success with Ginko and Gotu Kola. Don't waste your money on the little containers of capsules. I go through that much in under a week. Instead, buy it online in one pound bags. Other herbs help too, such as Basil and Sage. Your brain is mostly fat, so stay away from low fat diets. Eat avocados, olives and the oil, coconuts and the oil, and nuts like walnuts, pecans, and brazil nuts.

      A word of caution. Taking Ginko and other brain herbs is like upgrading your computer. They do nothing in the way of making you think better or smarter. They just makes you think faster, whether your thoughts are good, bad, positive or negative. It is up to you to program and reprogram the software of your mind to achieve the best thinking results.
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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 29 2011: Yes Ryan, so many people ask for more details that I plan to write a book to include example cognitive exercises, a map of the sub processes of consciousness and illustrations of approaches to various elements of the mind and body.

      Rise and Shine gives an overview of my specific program in hopes that readers will use these hints, the terminology in my book's Glossary and Index, in my INK talk on TED (and there is more at my book website www.riseandshinethebook.com

      Thank you for watching my INK talk on TED a few times: it is multi-layered, I know, and that people watch more than once tells me that it is communicating on several levels of the mind.

      With apologies, more details of my approach must wait on a carefully researched and presented book that is powerful to read and maintains the accuracy I sought in Rise and Shine, in my talk at INK on TED, on www.riseandshinethebook.com, and also in my KCRW interviews and The Atavist profile, for which I supplied the images and interviews. I hope you understand: these elements are part of a large canvas that take me years to assemble in order that they may both inform and inspire.

      Thank you, Simon
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    Wilton Jackson

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    Sep 29 2011: Consciousness is also a gradient thing, with people being basically consciousness or very consciousness. We all experience some form of "Darwinian" survival consciousness in our nature....
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    Wilton Jackson

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    Sep 29 2011: There's no evidence that the human race as a whole has ever done anything except sleep, eat, breathe, etc. There have been great and incredible displays of consciousness to which the rest of us can aspire. But I don't see the point of your comment. Maybe you could explain it a little more?
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    Simon Lewis

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    Sep 29 2011: Hello Tara. Forming questions is central to consciousnees, hence the wise adage to follow those who have questions and seek the truth, and run from those who say they have all the answers and know the truth. I think you may find very interesting my INK talk on TED which is at:

    http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_lewis_don_t_take_consciousness_for_granted.html

    If my talk does interest you, then my book Rise and Shine is essentially an exploration of my consciousness in a very moving story. On Amazon and Barnes& Noble you can read some reader reviews and the first two chapters of the Kindle, I think for free, or order the hardcover, etc.

    http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Shine-Extraordinary-Journey-Recovery/dp/1595800514/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262136209&sr=1-1

    http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Rise-and-Shine/Simon-Lewis/e/9781595800510

    And the two radio interviews this week also give a chance to hear me speak about consciousness within my life:

    KCRW show UNFICTIONAL:

    http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/uf/uf110923its_always_now

    KCRW show THE BUSINESS:

    http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/tb/tb110926a_hollywood_producer

    I don't want you to think of this as a burden, and simply suggest you explore some of these links and see if they give you good interesting questions that brighten your day.

    Thank you, Simon
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    Wilton Jackson

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    Sep 27 2011: As to the critiques of social media as well, this is actually becoming the age of information. Focus is becoming reduced but regardless of one's capabilities to pay attention, WHAT one chooses to pay attention to has to do with the things that one value's and those things which inspire the individual. In North Africa and throughout the Middle East, during the recent wave of democratization known as the "Arab Uprisings", Twitter, a fast paced social media space, aided the diffusion of political ideas in a quick and digestible fashion. Social media can serve the same functions as "pamphleting" in those social and cultural revolutions that predate the internet. Social media also has the power to make a local problem into a concern of the international communities. Media-centric society is not necessarily the problem, it is the things that we want to see and communicate which have drowned out matters of importance. The renewal of consciousness will most importantly rely on the realization that unconsciousness is dangerous and deadly to society and that society is most important to our survival.
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      Kevin Schmidt

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      Sep 29 2011: I see no evidence that the collective human race has ever been conscious. Our present awakening could be the very first time.
      Oops! Someone hit the snooze bar, again.

  • Sonny Patterson

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    Sep 27 2011: In your TED talk that I watched recently, you touched on a number of what I will call "threats" to consciousness. The one that resonates with me is depression, because I suffer from it personally and it is quite debilitating. Is your book some kind of self help book that can help me find ways to cope with depression?
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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 27 2011: It's not a self help book, but readers find great insights and also great inspiration. I hope it is helpful..

      Sonny, an EDIT of my first answer:

      I thought more about your question, Sonny. I think my next book will contain exercises, but that will take me time to develop and write. Ahead of that, I will tell you that Rise and Shine has had a very profound effect on its readers. Some read it in one sitting, until the dawn and they see the sun again Rise and Shine. Many are are moved to tears, to reflection, and yes to action that is the best kind of self-help, when based on knowledge. If we think of depression as a separation between Potential Mind and Actual Mind, and my book is an exploration of specific tools that in my case enable me to bridge some of that gap and strive toward Actual Mind, then perhaps it might give you some ideas for you to explore. For these experiences bring me to my mental state today, where I know with metaphysical certainty that I am the luckiest person I know, to have this second chance of consciousness.

      I hope this longer answer is helpful to you. I think online you can read the Introduction and see if you think my tone and the book's reviews give you a sense of this. Thankyou for sharing your personal question, Simon
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      Dianna Lane

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      Sep 27 2011: 1) Inspiring TED talk by Dr. Sherwin Nuland, who suffered from depression before drugs were avail.
      http://www.ted.com/talks/sherwin_nuland_on_electroshock_therapy.html

      2) I learnt some interesting and helpful methods from Kathy Freston, who is a self-help author and wellness counselor; she specializes in a body/mind/spirit approach for bringing about health and happiness. Freston has worked with people healing from cancer, addiction, and depression as well as those who simply want to live consciously and healthfully.

      Hope you find your path to recovery Sonny!

  • Kevin Taylor

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    Sep 27 2011: I think there may be critical assumption in the framing of the question:

    "Everyone WANTS and needs maximum mental performance..."

    The assumption that everyone wants maximum mental performance indicates one of the serious problems with why the development of our collective consciousness may not be occurring (or at least not at a rate some people desire); it is quite possible that people actually do NOT want this - it may simply not be a consideration for them, perhaps because they don't have a sense of the NEED, or non-"necessary" benefits, of it.

    If this may be the case, then it would raise a number of questions as to WHY someone may not care about developing their mental performance / consciousness. I feel that, here in America, this may be because many of our systems, be they institutional, social-cultural, etc, are not exactly promoting the sort of attitudes and behaviors that view "consciousness development" or "intellectual growth" as positive and worthy of time-investment.

    Unfortunately, there may even be institutions, attitudes, or individuals that almost oppose such development (writing it off as "too intellectual" or "too academic" or simply "stupid" or "pointless").
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      Kevin Schmidt

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      Sep 28 2011: Bad attitudes do lower IQ. I personally believe every one of us has a genius within themselves that wants to break out of its subconscious prison. The key is to not listen to the nos and realize it can be done by everyone.
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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 29 2011: Yes, and to Kevin Taylor's point that cultural bias may impede solutions, I see drift in institutions in the West and N.America where excellence is praised too little and political leaders limit ideas to talking points and extreme rhetoric for their base of support. In my INK talk on TED, I touch on where we will find the will--the collective consciousness--to address issues such as climate change, so that the Human Channel can stay on the air as the universe's most fascinating reality show.

  • Ken Bennett

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    Sep 27 2011: Hello Simon. As a long time practitioner of meditation and other ancient wisdom traditions I have noticed a similarity between side effects of these practices and brain injuries in individuals such as yourself, the artist Jon Sarkin and the author of Stroke of Insight. I consider these effects gifts to be explored. Have you found any advantages to your "disabilities"?
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    Dennis Stacey

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    Sep 28 2011: Thank you Simon for your response. It was very helpful.

    Good luck with your book.

    Dennis
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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 29 2011: You're most welcome, Dennis, and thank you.

  • Brian Knight

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    Sep 27 2011: Their isn't an existing program to teach this in school before teaching regular classes.
    I have advocated starting a program and contacted a company that designs such programming EFFECTIVELY and trains people to deliver the content. It works in about 90% of participants .
    I delivered this in person to a public education institution board president over two hours including a Q & A session, and the response was, "It sounds great, but, our bloated budget is in question and though this doesn't really make a dent in that, with the dunderheads that are in charge on the board, it will be a bone of contention and politicized rather than implemented.".
    Very predictable.
    There is no will to deliver this sort of content that would actually unlock the secret to self actualizing students and great school scores among the administrations of public schools in America.
    That's a huge reason why it isn't widespread, because our traditional and institutional methods of knowledge transmission are not concerned with the quality of knowledge transmitted by them as much as "looking god" and "trying" as a play for funding, no emphasis on results or quality of process.
    As far as some kind of "God Consciousness"
    I think God is the concept "that there is something that works and something that doesn't work" and that you as a singular entity may know the difference and experience a universe where that is so rather than universal entropy. Seen as a whole, the universe may appear as entropy with pockets of order, those pockets allow consciousness to exist in them as a byproduct of the existence of order. That doesn't mean we exist as any accident, it doesn't mean anything at all. However, here we are, and we may as well invent and live a life worth living in the present since we exist on a razor's edge of the illusion of time. How that works with the talk, anything is possible, even recovery from this traumatic injury.
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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 28 2011: You make good points borne of experience. I hope that it is parents who will show the way for they are the repository of the long term perspective that fills Rise and Shine, my INK talk on TED and my profile in The Atavist. When Actual Mind is our lifetime goal, quarterly income statements and annual school budgets are barriers to overcome. To your discussion of the universe, I suggest that the universe is conscious and that we are at the dawn of understanding it--witness neutrinos thought now to exceed the speed of light--but that is a conversation for a different time. Thank you for your contribution, and let us hope these ideas can make a difference in the schools, to help so many children and adults, and so many tomorrows.

      • Brian Knight

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        Sep 28 2011: Thank you for your very generous contribution to our consciousness.
        I'd like to introduce you to a friend whose foundation is about this very issue that you bring to our consciousness. He can be found at : http://www.foundationalchemy.org/Mission.html
        Thank you again, I hope you may both benefit each other in this work and bring this even more to light. It really needs to be a much more public and heard conversation.
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    Dennis Stacey

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    Sep 27 2011: Hi Simon,

    There has been a lot of words written about the varying "levels consciousness" that argue, in essence, that people can be trained up into higher levels of conscious awareness if exposed to the right info / method. What do you make of the notion of individuals operating at higher and or lower levels of consciousness? Is there a way to "level up" that suits all people, everywhere?

    Thanks,

    Dennis

    • Alexiei Ozeretzkovsky

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      Sep 27 2011: http://www.ted.com/talks/matthieu_ricard_on_the_habits_of_happiness.html here is an idea
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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 28 2011: Hi Dennis,

      My research so far suggests that a comprehensive approach that bases itself on individualized assessment of each person's level of learning is effective to understand if there are issues and optimize so as to prevent academic failure and maximize the inner self. My hope is to develop long-term population studies through a foundation or medical school and publish results so that the approaches and benefits are better understood and become widely available.

  • niesha trout

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    Sep 27 2011: Simon, I want to acknowledge, thank you, and honor your efforts here and prior to raise consciousness about consciousness. I believe this discussion and activity is precisely one of the ways to effect the transformations you are speaking about, and to bridge the gaps. I am learning more and more that by raising one's own consciousness WITHIN, the collective consciousness is integrated, raised, and subsequently deepened. The devotion to change and deepen the dialogue one has with the soul, is the action that appears to create interconnectedness of a higher frequency between all other beings, and thus creates a profound movement towards the sustainment of all "homes" like our bodies and the planet at large, and eventually the Universe and beyond.

  • Mike Goldstein

    • +2
    Sep 27 2011: I had an experience during which I integrated into the divine. Here's what I learned, if you care:

    The divine is grateful that a piece of it (us) is conscious to experience this world. Our correct mental posture is some mix of "THANK YOU" and "YOU'RE WELCOME."

    As far as what you're asking about "developing an integrated approach..." etc. Here's my idea:

    Dissolve boundaries and continue dissolving boundaries. Cultural, educational, social, relationship, emotional, physical, political, spiritual. All tension has its source in some kind of separation.
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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 28 2011: I do care, Mike, and thank you. There are many separations that prevent problems of consciousness and learning to reach their potential solutions. INK, TED and this conversation Ihope over time wilt help overcome.
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    Orange U

    • +3
    Sep 28 2011: "How do we make the most of our Consciousness?"

    I am not a neuroscientist--just a house wife and mother-- but I have noticed that certain behaviors increase my own self-awareness.

    Here is my Recipe:

    1. Good nutrition to promote balance in neurotransmitters

    2. Regular exercise (especially exercise which increases my heart rate) According to studies by Dr. Servan Schreiber this reconciles imbalances between the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex. (One such study demonstrated that running was more effective as a long term cure for depression than drugs. If you know someone who is depressed—become their running partner).

    3. Regular “mindfulness” practice, such as meditation or “down time observation”— (I call it “making my brain climb into my body”). This is just trying to listen, feel, smell and see simultaneously without reflecting on the stimuli.. I read that the frontal lobes have neural pathways to all other cortical areas and to the limbic system, so practicing these connections makes sense if you want to maximize self-awareness.

    4. Make time to day dream time and consider my life’s purpose and plan how to put it into practice.

    5. Just Do It--making my plans become actions



    What I would like to better understand is this: does consciousness have an evolutionary purpose or is it simply a byproduct or our neural complexity? Can consciousness be separated from the body?
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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 28 2011: A very good recipe, and I suggest that it's no accident that as a wife and mother your focus is on the long-term health of consciousness for you and your family. There are many answers to the evolutionary purpose of consciousness, but think you demonstrate one so clearly: transmission of values, qualities, and ultimately survival through the thousands of generations that have brought us to here, and through your insights one can only hope will bring us through thousands more. I hope many more think and practice as you do, as well as turn to medicine and science where indicated as helpful toward actual mind, and healthy mindfulness.
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    vaibhav mathur

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    Sep 27 2011: very interesting Simon. I guess we still don't know enough about the capabilities of our Brain . about maximizing our consciousness.. I believe a step forward is to think and contemplate 'how we think'..which is sort of recursive loop..a brain trying to assess how itself(brain) functions..
    watching your ted talk I am curious about you heightened consciousness. that experience of the Actual mind , the perception of time.. where these experiences temporary? or do you still perceive time differently than othesr?
    and what implications does that have on cognition that can be helpful further for neuroscience.
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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 28 2011: Thank you vaibhav. Yes, we are at the dawn not the dusk of understanding our minds and capabilities of our brain. To answer your question, the shift in time and space is for me is something I explore each day, as discussed in my book1, and this week here on KCRW Santa Monica National Public Radio:

      CRW show UNFICTIONAL:

      http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/uf/uf110923its_always_now

      KCRW show THE BUSINESS:

      http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/tb/tb110926a_hollywood_producer

      And as you say, I've sometime termed one of my goals to encourage us to think about thinking processes. though recursive, it is not an infinite loop: my book shows how measured scientific intervention and therapies raised my thinking from 89 to 150+ as measured by Full Scale IQ, returned my gait to average through the device shown at INK on TED, and so forth.

  • Alexander Maggetti

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    Sep 27 2011: The answer may involve a failure to realize the importance of physical health's effect on mental performance. I often contemplate the interrelation of mind, body, spirit, social elements of human being. The answer would likely include a balance between these elements.

    The internet is an obvious medium for making "measurable repeatable approaches" available to everyone, but the internet is heavily mind-social (arguably spiritual). How are people motivated to physically engage in bridging the gap? I think about the many unwatched workout videos sitting on my shelf at home.

    Is there a difference between ambient consciousness and what you are talking about?
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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 28 2011: I'm not sure I understand your term ambient consciousness, but mind body and spirit are interrelated. The role of the Internet on consciousness is both positive and negative. Expansive in access to knowledge, but contractive as I describe at INK on TED: short bursts of information undermine focus. Philosophers suggest that as distance disappears our isolation may increase. The more we turn to online learning the less students socialize and share eye contact. Hence depression in adolescents as I describe.To answer your question of motivation, I suggest first through knowledge, which is why I write Rise and Shine, interview with The Atavist, travel to India to speak at INK and type these words to you for TD Conversations.
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    Dennis Stacey

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    Sep 27 2011: I wonder if you would describe the difference between potential and actual mind? Is this a difference in levels of focus, understanding, performance of some kind? What makes you believe that potential / higher mind possible?
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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 28 2011: I plan a book to explore this separation and how to bridge it, for there are many interrelated elements to the sub processes of consciousness.. I think of actual mind as the maximum interconnectedness of the physical consciousness (this is broader than the brain and central nervous system) of which a given individual is capable. Potential mind is what I illustrate with the dense array EEG/MRI in my INK talk on TED and explore experientially from within my coma and cognitive recovery in my book. It includes everything our multibillion interconnections do, in each and every moment of life, to seek to do more and be more. It is our ultimate human expression of mind potential. Your second question is much easier: higher mind is possible both because as a mature adult my FSIQ rose from 89 to 150+ which medically is not supposed to occur in mature adults, and because I have already researched other cases, two of which I presented at INK on TED, which show that these are not anomalous results.

      I hope to work with a medical school to develop a long term study to show how far these benefits may be attained in a randomized study; effects on school, sense of inner sense and life well being, and on Full Scale IQ. Hope this is helpful.

  • niesha trout

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    Sep 27 2011: And I want to thank all the other people involved here in this conversation!! This is beautiful example of unification. Blessings to you all.
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      Simon Lewis

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      Sep 28 2011: Yes, Niesha, as I read Brandon and Teddia, there's a universal pattern within the infinite individual expressions of consciousness, and how to influence personal growth of the inner self. I'm honored to share with this group that today Deepak Chopra on his website is now reading Rise and Shine:

      http://deepakchopra.com/
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