Toward a Science of Consciousness 2013
Dates: Mar 3 – 9, 2013
Location: Agra, India
The 20th annual international conference “Toward a Science of Consciousness” will take place March 3-9, 2013 at the Dayalbagh Educational Institute (DEI) in Agra, India, home of the famed Taj Mahal. DEI is a high-level educational system, part of a spiritual community and farm housing 4000 people on an idyllic 1300 acres on the Yamuna River within the city of Agra. DEI research includes neuroscience, cognitive science, medicine, philosophy, nanoscience, quantum physics and consciousness. DEI’s Dr. Vishal Sahni, author of many papers and several books on quantum computing, is the primary conference organizer.
Toward a Science of Consciousness is an international interdisciplinary conference entailing rigorous approaches to the understanding of conscious awareness, and our place in the universe. Since 1994, TSC conferences have been held in even-numbered years in Tucson, Arizona, sponsored and organized by the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona. In odd-numbered years TSC conferences have been held at various locations around the world (1995 Naples, Italy; 1997 Elsinore, Denmark; 1999 Tokyo, Japan; 2001, Skovde, Sweden; 2003 Prague, Czech Republic; 2005 Copenhagen, Denmark; 2007 Budapest, Hungary; 2009 Hong Kong, China; 2011 Stockholm, Sweden.
Themes for TSC 2013 in Agra, India will include:
- The place of consciousness in the universe
- What scales of brain activity are critical for consciousness?
- Quantum cognition and quantum biology
- How real is perceived reality?
- Cosmology and Eastern spiritual views
- Brain diseases and consciousness
The week long program will include 24 Plenary talks, 120 concurrent talks, 3 poster sessions, 3 workshops, forum, and side trips (Taj Mahal). An estimated 400 participants from around the world are expected.
Comments (6)
by Palle R Jensen
At the conference in Copenhagen in 2005, a new theory was presented.
It is called TRANS (Thought by Repetitive Activation og Neural Sequence)
It can be seen at: http://www.ruf.dk/trans2.doc
The theory introduces a “generator loop” as the basic mechanism.
I wonder if this theory is being discussed.
by Editor
How does it work?
by Palle R Jensen
In my view consciousness is not just something which appears if a certain area is activated. It has to be a physical process which is fundamentally different from normal neural processes.
One such process can be found in any amplifier system with a microphone, an amplifier and a loudspeaker. Normally you don’t notice the process because it works silently.
However if you turn the amplification up, at some point it will change to another state where you notice the extremely loud scream produced by the feedback loop of the mike-amplifier-loudspeaker system.
This scream is a manifestation of all the factors involved (including the room).
The brain is a very complex network of interconnected neurons.
It has the potential to create neural activity in a “generator loop”. This loop will activate a number of neurons again and again and create the thought that we become aware of.
In this way a lot of neurons can be bound together to form a complex thought, for some time. After a period it gets “tired” and a new loop can be generated.
As I see it our brain is full of dancing loops :-)
by high carbfoods
The eternal quest how the biological cell gets consciousness (the constant integrated awareness) is still beyond science, not yet anyway. Try we must, being inquisitive and ingenious!
by Marcos Marin
Actually quite simple (in concept, tech is the limiting factor), but it won’t win you many friends.
by Marcos Marin
Glad to see someone still disagrees with Mr.K about placing “consciousness” and “science” in the same sentence.