Final Examination

1. Name:  Mely Goodman

2. Midterm Grade:  B-

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3. Complete list of all posts:

• Extra Credit ~ The Voyage Within
• The Disneyland of Consciousness
• Consciousness as a Mobius Strip
• Agnostic Illuminations
• Radiance Without An Edge
• A Glorious Piece of Meat
• Patricia Churchland Interview
• Flipped Video Lesson # 9
• Flipped Video Lesson # 10
• Brain Burn
• Is my iPhone Conscious?
• Tangles Phone Lines
• Extra Credit ~ The Faith of Physical Causes
• Ray Kurzweil
• Stephen Wolfram
• The Time Machine
• Alan Turing Lecture
• The Flipped Video Lesson # 11
• The Codex Funeral:  Why Books Are Dead
• The Flipped Video Lesson # 12
• The Flipped Video Lesson # 13
• The Flipped Video Lesson # 14
• Gumby Land
• Voodoo Voodoo
• Mummy vs Wolfman
• Crop Circles:  Believer vs Skeptic

4. Complete list of all flipped video answers:

#9 -  Why is the metaphor of a mobius strip useful when describing the study of consciousness via first and third person narratives?

     I think describing the study of consciousness using the metaphor of a mobius strip via first and third person narratives useful because it allows for an explanation to be given from a different point of view, implementing the idea that consciousness is an endless surface that cannot be modified or by doing so it will loose its validity.  If the general population was more open-minded then these narratives would not be necessary, but that is not the case.  In general people tend to be set in there ways, especially when someone challenges such sensitive topics such as religion, politics, science, and philosophy.  Using first and third person narratives gives opens up the possibility of these people that are so set in there ways to sit back, open up their minds, listen, and study the possibility that the information being presented could hold some validity.  By doing so, they could fairly make a decision within themselves whether what they have believed in or thought to be true throughout their lives still fits in with their way of thinking to be so or do they find the new series of facts to be more credible.  Although, this film suggests that consciousness is a one directional idea and should not be attempted to be rerouted. 

# 10 - If we can be tricked by computers into believing that they have intelligence and intentionality and a sense of being, then what does that say about who we are?

     I do not think that although we are able to be tricked by computers into believing that they have intelligence and a sense of being identifies or defines who we are as people.  Our brain is constantly working and stores many pieces of information that sometimes may be confused with something else by association.  In the film for example, the old lady watching the presentation by the robot simulating Lincoln believed that he was a real actor when he really wasn't.  If we take the brain's perception of Lincoln, it already has information stored on how a human being moves, walks, and talks.  Now there is a robot that has the exact mannerism of that of a human being.  The brain does not automatically know that it is a robot, instead it forms an opinion based on the messages being transmitted and assumes it is a human being by associating what it already knows of what a human being looks like and how they speak and act.  Similar to that old saying, "if it quacks like a duck, it must be a duck."  

     I don't think that because we perceive something to be what it is not at first glance makes us gullible, foolish, or less intelligent than anyone else.  Our brain simply forms an idea and we follow and accept what we see fit until proven otherwise.

# 11 - What is the real message about finding a perfect coke?  In other words, what is the metaphorical point of this film?

     The metaphorical point of this film is that we are living our lives with a one direction way of thinking that perhaps is a mentality instilled in us from the time we were born and into adulthood. It is all we know as being "the truth" due to being accustomed to it from our upbringing and the teachings of our parents, peers, society, and our environment as a whole. Those customs or traditions more than likely have been passed down from generations preceding the era our parents were brought up in.  Many people establish a way of doing or believing in something, that they automatically close their minds to the possibility that there just might be something different, something better or more interesting to what they are used to. This film is allowing us to be open to the infinite possibilities that life can present us with.  It is also saying that we must always be aware of every detail presented as it may hold something wonderful.  We just may find something bigger and better that we can add to our minds and our lives to further excel as human beings.  Opening up our minds and accepting or at least giving a new experience, tradition, or idea an opportunity to hold a spot in our minds can be rewarding for ourselves and generations to come. 

# 12 - What is Gumby Land thinking?  Give two examples of it.  Why do we want to avoid Wolfgang Paul's witticism, "you are not even wrong?"

      The Gumby Land thinking is the belief in something that cannot be proven to be right or wrong.  It is an idea that we have accepted to be true or valid based on mere speculation rather than proven facts as they are in science.  Wolfgang Paul's statement that says "you are not even wrong" hits the nail on the head as to defining what Gumby Land thinking is.  It basically says that you have a belief or idea which you have accepted to be true, but you don't have the proof to back up its legitimacy thus that particular belief or idea cannot be classified as being right or wrong because it hasn't been tested and proven to be right or wrong hence Wolfgang Paul's statement, "you are not even wrong."

     Our world is so diverse that Gumby Land thinking can be found at every turn of the corner, especially when you look into religion and old customs or traditions.  For example, in the Jehovah's Witness religion there is a belief that a number of 144,000 people will be chosen to go into heaven.  I am not a Jehovah's Witness so I am very ignorant to all the details that goes into this belief, but generally speaking, even for a believer in God like myself, that idea does not make sense to me.  Members of this religion devote many hours of their lives to practice and spread the word of their religion, trying very hard to recruit more and more people to join them in their belief.  All that time and effort and you will never know for sure that you will be one out of the 144,000 people chosen to go heaven?  This is much like my own belief that everyone has a place in heaven, I believe this to be true, yet it hasn't been tested and proven because it is impossible to do so and for that very reason my belief or that of Jehovah's Witnesses is neither right nor wrong.  Another example, is the belief in reincarnation. Personally, I have mixed feelings on this particular belief.  This is yet another subject that I am somewhat uninformed on so I can't say much on it rather than questioning its validity.  I have heard from different people that the reason we experience deja vu is because we have been here before in another form of life.  Obviously this has not been proven nor can it be proven, but again, the fact that it hasn't or it can't be does not make a believer in it right or wrong.  It is just another way of Gumby Land thinking.

# 13 - "I am an octagon of contradictions which may in itself be no contradiction."--Errol Flynn, MY WICKED WICKED WAYS

My interpretation of this film is that its focus is on the wide range of existing beliefs, ideas, perceptions, interpretations, and views of life.  People in general have a difference of opinion on various subjects. Subjects that have been accepted to be true to each individual which differs to that of the next individual. Basically, our universe is made up of an unnumbered amount of contradictions due to the existing human, social, and environmental diversity.  As quoted in the film, "No contradiction has a place in human nature, in social values, just as it has in mathematics.  Contradiction is either true or false. It is." and "Truth is sometimes an octagon and that I am one.  Contradiction is a cardinal element in life and of itself may be no contradiction."  Perhaps what we believe to be contradictions in life based on difference of opinions are not contradictions and with further investigation it can be determined whether such contradiction is really a contradiction, true or false.

* Please note that there was no window on TedEd onto which I was able to directly save this response*

# 14 - Why do we mistakenly believe that chants or prayers or petitions work?  How does science explain such coincidences?

We believe that chants, prayers, or petitions work due to faith, the confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.  When there is an intense desire for a certain outcome and the results satisfy that desire we tend to hold chants, prayers, petitions, wishes, and miracles accountable or them actually becoming a reality.

Science explains such coincidences with Littlewood's Law of Miracles. Littlewood suggests that the probability of a miracle occurring is once per month.  They occur due to odds, chance, and probability, but there is no real granting of wishes or miracles.  There is an unexplainable connection between wishful thinking and probability that makes us believe that the desired results were possible due to miracles rather than them simply taking place due to chance or our "once a month miracle."

5. How much of the reading did you do?

• Is Consciousness Physical?
• The Physics of Awareness
• Is My iPhone Conscious?
• Tangled Phone Lines
• Agnostic
• The Disneyland of Consciousness
• Inside / Outside
• The Neural Basis of Consciousness
• The Voyage Within
• On Computable Numbers with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem
• Computing Intelligence and Machinery
• The Horizontal Urge
• The Future of Information and Memory
• Global Positioning Intelligence
• The Codex Funeral, Books Are Dead
• The Mystical Dimensions
• Mysticism and Logic
• The Politics of Mysticism
• Littlewood's Law of Miracles
• Apophenia
• The Himalayan Connection: UFO's and the Chandian Effect
• Paranormal Adventures:  The World's Oldest Astrological Book
• Believer Skeptic and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man
• The Subtlety of Physical Cues

6. How many of the films did you watch?

• The Disneyland of Consciousness
• Consciousness As a Mobius Strip
• Radiance Without An Edge
• A Glorious Piece of Meat
• Brain Burn
• Patricia Churchland Interview
• The Flipped Video Lesson # 9
• The Flipped Video Lesson # 10
• Ray Kurzweil
• Stephen Wolfram
• The Time Machine
• Alan Turig Lecture
• The Codex Funeral
• Is the Universe An App?
• The Flipped Video Lesson # 11
• The Flipped Video Lesson # 12
• Gumby Land
• Voodoo Voodoo
• Mummy vs Wolfman
• The Zahir
• Flame On
• Believer vs. Skeptic / Crop Circles
• The Octagonal Philosophy of Errol Flynn
• The Flipped Video Lesson # 13
• The Flipped Video Lesson # 14

7.  Is consciousness physical?  Answer with complete quotes from the required readings on this subject.

     There is undoubtedly a relationship between consciousness and the physical world, but the bottom line is that consciousness is not physical.  The main reason is because consciousness cannot be studied using objective experimental methods.  Consciousness is defined as a the full activity of the mind and senses, as in waking life as well as internal knowledge.  These things can be rather difficult to test and conclude that consciousness is in fact physical.  Similarly, as it is stated in the film Consciousness as a Mobius Strip, "perhaps Wittgenstein should make an entrance here and suggest that the real difficulty in studying consciousness is a language issue and that some things simply cannot be addressed by our symbolical logical systems."

"In Eastern philosophy, particularly certain strands of Advaita Vedanta, the world is indeed an idea and whatever physicality we attribute its causation is merely an illusion - a maya, something which betrays its real origin." - Is Consciousness Physical?  

"Perhaps this may explain why some scientists feel that the most promising way to tackle the subject of consciousness is by a process of eliminative materialism.  Simply put, if the phenomena cannot be explained fully and comprehensively by mathematics, then one turns to physics, and if that too is incomplete, then to chemistry, then to biology, then to psychology, then to sociology, etc.  The old joke is that if none of these academic disciplines can explain it then it is perfectly okay to say, "Well, God did it." - Is Consciousness Physical?

"Quite simply, if consciousness is indeed beyond physics or anything within its known laws, then no matter how hard we try to ground mind to its neural structures there will always be something missing in such reductions. And, interestingly, this gap will loom even larger because our physical science will be unable to adequately explain it." - The Physics of Awareness

8.  Why does Patricia Churchland argue that the "self is the brain?"  Quote her directly from the readings to support your answer.

Patricia Churchland argues that the "self is the brain."  She states that what they are discovering about the brain are important on how we think about ourselves and how we connect to other people.  She is focused on determining what it is that causes decision making in the brain.  The following quotes support Patricia Churchland's visions about the brain:

"The traditional questions that philosophers have wanted to answer from Plato on have had to do with the nature of knowledge and the nature of consciousness and I'm assuming that if we do understand the brain, we will understand  the nature of knowledge, learning, memory, and so on and that we will understand the nature of consciousness. How it's possible that you can take just a brain..just a brain..and yet it has awareness, and yet it can introspect, and yet it can talk"

"So my feeling is that when the body dies, and when the brain dies, that's it. I mean, there isn't any

else to hang around"

"Science is open, science is critical, science review and revises itself and that's what makes science science."

"So, perhaps if we knew more about how the brain works, then we might be able to achieve a greater degree of tolerance and understanding of one another, and I would think that that would be for the benefit of mankind"

"...for example, the nature of memory, or perception or reasoning, or use of language, I have no doubt that we will understand those processes in terms of the way the circuits in the brain function."

"And I think it'll be very exciting, because we'll be able to understand ourselves--why we have the thoughts and feelings we have, why we're conscious, why we're aware."

"And then if it turns out that you just are "stuff," that your brain just is meat, then wanting it to be different isn't going to change it.  Why not accept it for the glorious piece of meat that it is?"

9.  How has technology changed old traditions of learning?  Reference required readings in your answers, including the Codex Funeral and GPI.

     Technology has not only changed, but it has murdered the old traditions of learning and with all the continuing advances in technology, it will soon become extinct.  "The iPad is, as other commentators have mentioned, the Swiss Army Knife of Information,"is a statement made in The Codex Funeral: Why Books Are Dead, How the iPad Killed Them.  The iPad, along with an abundance of other gadgets such as the Nook, Kindle, laptops, and smartphones are what is to blame for the extinction of  old traditions of learning.  The times when we used to go to the library to check out a book for the pleasure of reading or to do a research paper or picking up the yellow pages to find a phone number are rarely heard of these days.  Most people these days, myself included, rather enjoy the convenience of having everything you might need at any given time in the palms of your hands.  Whether it is to find a phone number, check the weather or traffic, get directions, or buy a last minute gift, we can do it all.  A lot of people resort to doing a Google search in order to get information on something that in past times they would have had to go to a library to research it or seek a professional.

     "We are going to let the world in because we want to be known; we want to extend Warhol's 15 minutes of fame to a 24/7 online availability."  "As Huxley rightly pointed out we are going to let us ourselves be controlled because are going to entertain ourselves to death" - found in the readings of Global Positioning Intelligence.

10. Is the Universe an App?  Explain your answer.

The concept of the universe being an app is quite an astonishing analogy. After carefully reading the material and watching the films associated with the universe possibly being viewed as an app, it made sense to me that it is very much so like an app.  Especially when neuroscience has established the brain is a simulator, that what see, hear, touch, and smell are the results of how our central nervous system processes both external and internal stimuli and then reconstructs a virtual environment in which we react accordingly.  Due to the ability our brain has to dream without our control or knowledge of how dreams occur we can say that our brain and our consciousness is a virtual simulator.  We only have a limited amount of information and sources that tell us otherwise, meaning our perception of life and reality is basic and very limited.  There is an entire universe of unexplainable visions and occurrences that are far out of our reach to.  Just within ourselves our brains are able to create illusions that we interpret as dreams.

"If we accept that consciousness can be simulated, at least in principle, it is then only a small step to imagining that something like a conscious human being could be simulated." - Paul Davies

"Even though we think we see the world so fully, what we are receiving is really just hints, edges in space and time." - Frank S. Werblin

"You have wakened not out of sleep, but into a prior dream, and that dream lies within another, and so on, infinity, which is the number of grains of sand. The path that you are to take is endless..." - Jorge Borges

11. Explain Stephen Wolfram's "new kind of science." Give examples.

     Stephen Wolfram's "new kind of science" is  an empirical and systematic study of computational systems focused on the study of simple abstract rules.

     “Well this is rather amazing.  We have a very simple rule, we’re starting off from single black cell, but what we’re getting out is an incredibly complicated pattern, seems in many ways random. So it just doesn’t seem right, we put so little in, yet we’re getting so much out.  It’s not what our ordinary intuition says should happen.  I mean, in our everyday experience in say, doing engineering, what we’re used to is that to make something complicated we somehow have to start off with complicated plans or use complicated rules, but what we’re seeing here is that actually even extremely simple rules can produce incredibly complicated behavior” - (Stephen Wolfram)

     His creation of Mathematica was the tool used to make A New Kind of Science possible.  His book, A New Kind of Science was released on May 14, 2002, was primarily written to a wide range of fundamental problems in science such as the possibility of a truly fundamental theory of physics, the development of complexity in biology, the interplay between free will and determinism, and the character of intelligence in the universe.  His goal was to have three big things emerge:  a new area of basic science concerned with understanding what is out there in the computational world, many applications to science and technology amongst other things that nature can do, and to obtain a conceptual direction to be able to better understand the fundamental characters of science and mathematics and the places we have in our universe. 

12.  What is Littlewood's Law of Miracles?  Give some examples.

John Littlewood's law of miracles is a calculation which says that a typical person will experience a miracle about once a month during his or her lifetime.  He based this calculation on assuming that the typical person is awake and alert about eight hours a day and that events occur at a rate of about one per second.  

For example, a few years back due to financial hardships I was about to loose my home to foreclosure.  The people from the county had already came by to take pictures of our home and post a sign on our door that said it was being foreclosed. We were about three days away from our home being put up for auction, there was a scheduled date and time set and we were completely devastated.  I told my husband that the only thing we could do is pray about it and leave in the Lord's hands because he knew why he was doing what he was doing.  The following day, we went off to work and my husband called me because he stopped by our home on his lunch break and asked me if we were expecting any letters from the IRS and I naturally and unaware of what he was talking about said "No."  It wasn't tax season and we had nothing to discuss with them.  He then says, "Well the Lord has answered our prayers because this letter states that after their review of our tax documents from over a year ago, they found an error and they owe us $3,500 and the check is attached to this letter."  This was exactly what we needed to save our home and put us back on track and we are still in our home today.  To this day, I personally believe that it was a miracle from God, I have no other explanation for it, but according to Littlewood's Law of Miracles, this could be classified as being due to chance and it was our "once a month miracle."

Another example of Littlewood's Law of Miracles is this old chant that my mother knows about because her Great Grandmother used to practice it.  Much like the one described in Flipped Video Lesson # 14, except that this chant is used on cloudy days just when it looks like the rain is going to begin pouring down you begin this chant in Spanish which I'm unsure of the wording to, but you start the chant and raise your hand towards the sky and motion with your hands as if you were holding a pair of scissors and it is supposed to prevent the rain from pouring down.  I recall one day when my mother took my siblings and I to the park to play and have a picnic.  The weather had suddenly changed from partly cloudy to very cloudy and dreary, we thought we were going to have to pack up our things and go home, but that's when my mother told us about this chant her Great Grandmother used to do, mainly on laundry days since she hung her clothes to dry on an outdoor clothes line.  As my mother was telling us about this chant, she begun saying it and raised her hand up to the sky motioning as if she was holding an invisible pair of scissors.  I suppose that was her "once a month miracle" because shortly after the clouds parted and it was partly cloudy once again making it possible for us to carry on with our picnic and play for the remaining of the day.

13. How does the Mummy and the Wolfman movie explain the differences between Western and Eastern religions?

In Western religion they saw the physical body as the object that housed life and they believed they could preserve it with the process of mummification and in doing so they would be successful at avoiding individual extinction.  Preserving the body was their way of embracing the afterlife.  An example of this can be seen in the film The Mummy.

In Eastern religion there was a desire for unconditional death, or Thanatose, hence a sense of preparation for death took place with hopes of reincarnating.  They held a notion that the soul may ascend to higher regions of existence such as reincarnation. Some believed it was a transition of consciousness from one manifestation to another hence the comparison to the film The Wolfman.  The Wolfman is used to represent these beliefs because he too had the desire for unconditional death, or Thanatose.


14. Why is critical thinking so important in becoming a philosopher?  from required readings, use three examples where skepticism helps separate facts from fictions.

Philosophy is the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline. Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication.  Philosophy simply put is the love of knowledge and in order to gain that knowledge you must dig deep in order to reach the pot of golden information hence the use of critical thinking.  Critical thinking is highly important in becoming a philosopher because the study of philosophy is based on an in depth study that consists of having enough doubt and an interest for the bottom line truth that you use techniques such as analyzing, evaluating, and experimenting information that has been gathered by direct observation, reasoning, and experience to assert the legitimacy of the existence of such ideas or beliefs.  Skepticism, or doubt as to the truth of something, helps greatly separate facts from fictions.  Because doubt is the main source for skepticism, it forces fictitious information to be completely disregarded and only taking facts into consideration.

In the film, Crop Circles:  Believer vs Skeptic, there is a debate between a skeptic, David Lane, and a believer, Jeff Cooper, regarding the existence of crop circles and the explanation of how they came about. The believer defends his position by saying that he believes a non human form is responsible for their creation because it is impossible for a human being to create such a sophisticated and intricate designs of their magnitude with pieces of machinery and in such a short period of time.  The skeptic believes that the crop circles were created by humans. The skeptic argues that if those geometric patterns be done with a pencil and the right instruments on a piece of paper, then they can be created in large field given enough time.  The fictitious assumptions by Jeff Cooper is that the crop circles appeared overnight and it is impossible for a human being to produce those geometric patterns, instead he insists that it was a non human force that created the crop circles.  The facts presented by David Lane are that it is possible for the crop circles or geometric patterns to be carried out in a field by human beings given the proper instruments and sufficient time.

In the reading, The Politics of Mysticism, the existence of God is challenged with statements such as, "What do we really know about him?  Not much." and "The point is obvious:  what we know the least about is the very thing we make absolute statements on."  A believer believes in the existence of God based on scriptures and culturally influenced traditions and ideas.  A skeptic raise questions with the goal of seeking facts to prove his existence such as, what did he look like?  What did he do for some fifteen years in his teens and early twenties?  These questions along with the contradictory and entirely insufficient biographical details contained in the gospels is what separates facts from fiction.

In the film, Mummy vs Wolfman, there are opposing views between the perception of death in Western and Easter religion.  In Eastern religion they believed that the physical body is the object that houses life and so they attempt to preserve it by mummification.  In Western religion there is a desire for unconditional death and a belief that the soul may ascend to higher regions of existence where there will be a transition of consciousness from one field of manifestation to another. Though we know that it is impossible for mankind to experience death and much less to enjoy it.  Along with that, the human body cannot be preserved.  This is yet another example of how skepticism helps separate facts from fictions.

15. Favorite reading.

• The Voyage Within

16.  Favorite movie.

• The Disneyland of Consciousness

17.  Extra Credit:

• The Voyage Within
• The Faith of Physical Causes

18. What grade do you deserve?

I feel I deserve an A or a B at the least.  This class was very challenging for me and I have many long hours making it a point to put in my best effort in deciphering and interpreting the information presented,  watching all the required films, reading all the required reading material, and giving my most honest opinion in all of my posts.

19. Any questions?

I don't have any questions at this time, but I would like to thank you for the opportunity to be in your class and learn about a different way of thinking that is rather different than what I am accustomed to and I really enjoyed it.

Crop Circles: Believer vs Skeptic

This is not the first time I hear a debate between a believer and a skeptic in regards to crop circles.  It is a controversial topic all around being that it is a belief that crop circles were created by an non experimented and  non proven human form or force that is unseen versus simply believing that they are man made and everything else is impossible.  There has been a long time belief that crop circles are created by UFO's because of its intricate designs, but that has yet to be proven.  Although there have been people that take credit for such creations, they have been able to recreate such designs, which leaves that idea also unproven.  The question on whether the possibility of another life form existing on another planet is one that remains unanswered.  Although, I have heard and read that life on another planet is impossible, how would we really know if no one has set foot on every planet?  If life exists on Earth, why can't it exist on another planet as well?  It sounds like another example of Wolfgang Paul's Gumby Land thinking.  

Mummy vs Wolfman

The Mummy is used to represent the preservation of the physical body by mummification since it is believed that the physical body is the object that houses life.  The act of preserving the body by mummifying it was their way of embracing the afterlife.The Wolfman is used to represent the ways death is perceived in Eastern religion.  As with The Wolfman, there is a desire for unconditional death, or Thanatose.  There is an existing   notion that the soul may ascend to higher regions of existence where there will be a transition of consciousness from one field of manifestation to another, or reincarnation.

It is impossible for mankind to experience nor enjoy total death because the term experience belongs to the category of consciousness and existence which upon death no longer existence no longer exists.  The previous beliefs that the body can be preserved was unsuccessful because the human body cannot be preserved.

Voodoo Voodoo

In our hearts and minds chants, prayers, or petitions are possible due to faith, the confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. When there is an intense desire for a certain outcome and the results satisfy that desire we tend to hold chants, prayers, petitions, wishes, and miracles accountable or them actually becoming a reality.

Littlewood suggests that the probability of a miracle will occur once per month in our lifetime.  According to this film and Littlewood's Law of Miracles, there is no real granting of wishes or miracles there are only occurrences that take place due to chance, odds, and his own law of miracles.  There is an unexplainable connection between wishful thinking and probability that makes us believe that the desired results were possible due to miracles rather than them simply taking place due to chance or our "once a month miracle."

Gumby Land

Our world is so diverse that Gumby Land thinking can be found at every turn of the corner, especially when you look into religion and old customs or traditions.  We are programmed to think a certain way and believe in certain things that have yet to be tested and proven.  We must keep an open mind as to the things that we have deemed to be true and rational according to what we have taught or grown to believe in when fact there is no real solid evidence of its validity.  Our knowledge and perception of our universe has a field of claims that should be left open to experimentation in order to determine whether its mere speculation or legitimate facts. In order to obtain scientific credibility we must be willing to rationally test our claims and record the results.  Only then we will gain true knowledge and exit ourselves from Gumby Land thinking.

The Flipped Video Lesson # 14

Why do we mistakenly believe that chants or prayers or petitions work?  How does science explain such coincidences?

We believe that chants, prayers, or petitions work due to faith, the confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.  When there is an intense desire for a certain outcome and the results satisfy that desire we tend to hold chants, prayers, petitions, wishes, and miracles accountable or them actually becoming a reality.

Science explains such coincidences with Littlewood's Law of Miracles. Littlewood suggests that the probability of a miracle occurring is once per month.  They occur due to odds, chance, and probability, but there is no real granting of wishes or miracles.  There is an unexplainable connection between wishful thinking and probability that makes us believe that the desired results were possible due to miracles rather than them simply taking place due to chance or our "once a month miracle."

The Flipped Video Lesson # 13

"I am an octagon of contradictions which may in itself be no contradiction."--Errol Flynn, MY WICKED WICKED WAYS

My interpretation of this film is that its focus is on the wide range of existing beliefs, ideas, perceptions, interpretations, and views of life.  People in general have a difference of opinion on various subjects. Subjects that have been accepted to be true to each individual which differs to that of the next individual. Basically, our universe is made up of an unnumbered amount of contradictions due to the existing human, social, and environmental diversity.  As quoted in the film, "No contradiction has a place in human nature, in social values, just as it has in mathematics.  Contradiction is either true or false. It is." and "Truth is sometimes an octagon and that I am one.  Contradiction is a cardinal element in life and of itself may be no contradiction."  Perhaps what we believe to be contradictions in life based on difference of opinions are not contradictions and with further investigation it can be determined whether such contradiction is really a contradiction, true or false.

The Flipped Video Lesson # 12

What is Gumby Land thinking?  Give two examples of it.  Why do we want to avoid Wolfgang Paul's witticism, "you are not even wrong?"

     The Gumby Land thinking is the belief in something that cannot be proven to be right or wrong.  It is an idea that we have accepted to be true or valid based on mere speculation rather than proven facts as they are in science.  Wolfgang Paul's statement that says "you are not even wrong" hits the nail on the head as to defining what Gumby Land thinking is.  It basically says that you have a belief or idea which you have accepted to be true, but you don't have the proof to back up its legitimacy thus that particular belief or idea cannot be classified as being right or wrong because it hasn't been tested and proven to be right or wrong hence Wolfgang Paul's statement, "you are not even wrong."

     Our world is so diverse that Gumby Land thinking can be found at every turn of the corner, especially when you look into religion and old customs or traditions.  For example, in the Jehovah's Witness religion there is a belief that a number of 144,000 people will be chosen to go into heaven.  I am not a Jehovah's Witness so I am very ignorant to all the details that goes into this belief, but generally speaking, even for a believer in God like myself, that idea does not make sense to me.  Members of this religion devote many hours of their lives to practice and spread the word of their religion, trying very hard to recruit more and more people to join them in their belief.  All that time and effort and you will never know for sure that you will be one out of the 144,000 people chosen to go heaven?  This is much like my own belief that everyone has a place in heaven, I believe this to be true, yet it hasn't been tested and proven because it is impossible to do so and for that very reason my belief or that of Jehovah's Witnesses is neither right nor wrong.  Another example, is the belief in reincarnation. Personally, I have mixed feelings on this particular belief.  This is yet another subject that I am somewhat uninformed on so I can't say much on it rather than questioning its validity.  I have heard from different people that the reason we experience deja vu is because we have been here before in another form of life.  Obviously this has not been proven nor can it be proven, but again, the fact that it hasn't or it can't be does not make a believer in it right or wrong.  It is just another way of Gumby Land thinking. 

I think Wolfgang Paul's witticism of "you are not even wrong" is avoided because it discredits a certain belief or subject leaving it open for experimentation if such experimentation is even a possibility.  The answer or evidence we seek may be as plain as the nose on our face yet we want to continue to believe otherwise.  

The Codex Funeral: Why Books Are Dead

     Books are dead due to the never ending rise in technological advances.  There are a wide range of gadgets ranging from the iPad, iPods, the Nook, the Kindle, smartphones, GPS devices, computers, and video game consoles with real life appearing graphics and internet connection.  It is highly convenient to be able to search for or access anything you may need wherever you are located. Things like checking the weather, checking how heavy traffic is before heading out somewhere, looking for directions to the closest gas station, or researching information for an assignment for school.  All these advances have replaced the act of having to reach for a book to look up such information or having to wait for the six o'clock news to see what the weather will be like for the rest of the week.  Along with all these amazing, positive outcomes, I find there is also a negative side to it, like anything else.  

     I feel technology is responsible for the loss of human contact.  These days children are too engulfed in video games, smartphones, and texting, that playing outside, having a face to face conversation, walking into a library, or writing a letter to a friend or family member is uncommon.  You don't see as many children playing outside as I remember there being when I was growing up.  On special occasions such as birthdays, it is very easy to send out a "happy birthday" text, rather than picking up the phone or stopping by to give your friends or loved ones a hug on their special day.  Like most things, there is a positive and a negative side, but I must say that these days, I don't know what I would do without the convenience of having these advances.  I suppose the only thing to do is to resort to the "old way" of doing things.

The Flipped Video Lesson # 11

What is the real message about finding a perfect coke?  In other words, what is the metaphorical point of this film?    

The metaphorical point of this film is that we are living our lives with a one direction way of thinking that perhaps is a mentality instilled in us from the time we were born and into adulthood. It is all we know as being "the truth" due to being accustomed to it from our upbringing and the teachings of our parents, peers, society, and our environment as a whole.  Those customs or traditions more than likely have been passed down from generations preceding the era our parents were brought up in.  Many people establish a way of doing or believing in something, that they automatically close their minds to the possibility that there just might be something different, something better or more interesting to what they are used to.  This film is allowing us to be open to the infinite possibilities that life can present us with.  It is also saying that we must always be aware of every detail presented as it may hold something wonderful.  We just may find something bigger and better that we can add to our minds and our lives to further excel as human beings.  Opening up our minds and accepting or at least giving a new experience, tradition, or idea an opportunity to hold a spot in our minds can be rewarding for ourselves and generations to come.  

Alan Turing Lecture

     In 1936 and under the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, 24 year old mathematician, Alan Turing invented a theoretical machine he named, The Turing Machine that would change history in a significant manner.  The idea of this machine is that anything that can be written down and converted to symbols has the potential to be carried out by one machine.  He also developed The Bombe Machine, which was used to crack The Enigma Machine's encrypted code that was used during the start of WWII between Germany and Poland.  This machine was used to translate the encrypted radio instructions used to guide Germans submarines to reach and attack their targets.

     Turing was highly intelligent and set high standards for future scientists.  He is held responsible for a large contribution toward society and science that were greatly relevant today.  The terms "Turing compatible" and "Turing equivalent" are still used today in the world of computers.  He always set new challenges for himself and created examples of equations that could not be solved even by his own theoretical machines.  It is thought that he did this displayed his value for human thinking and suggested that those issues were the exact ones that needed to be resolved before machines can think like humans.

     If Turing's goal was to prove why it is that issues such as the inability to solve given equations created by himself with a machine before creating machines that think like humans need to be resolved, I completely agree.  I think that a lot of thought into the positive and negative outcomes of such invention needs to be researched and experimented in depth in order to prevent mass destruction.  I think that producing something as intelligent as the human mind, if not more, can bring many negative outcomes and thus should be tested before making it available to society.

The Time Machine

   I may be very wrong since I am not as knowledgeable in the areas that Ron is in the idea of creating of a time machine, but it just seems impossible and far fetched.  How can anyone loop time into one condensed area or mechanism?  Although, the idea of being able to grasp information created in the future into our present day is very captivating and opens the door to a world of possibilities.

   If such time machine was created, how would this change our world today?  Would the doors into our scientific world be wide open to be explored or tampered with?  Would this time machine make it possible to change the future or just allows us to see what will in fact take place?  If the possibility of creating a time machine that traveled back in time versus in the future like this one existed, I think it would definitely be the tool and answer that philosophers have been searching for in their entire existence.  It would finally put an end to the "what if's" and wonders that currently exist.  It would definitely close the gap and give an explanation to the questions that lie in the wonders between philosophy and religion.

Stephen Wolfram

     Stephen Wolfram, is a very knowledgeable scientist that does not seem to be satisfied with what he knows already because he knows there is so much more out there to be discovered and learned.  He has spent many years of his life studying, learning, experimenting, and silently working on his book, A New Kind of Science.  Although he initially received various reactions about his book, some good and some what were not, he opted to have 50,000 copies of his book printed.  His book was released on May 14, 2002 and surprisingly enough, all 50,000 copies of his book were spoken for by the end of the day which gave him more motivation to continue on with the studies he had begun.  Another one of his creations he introduced in 1988 was Mathematica, a computational software program used in many scientific, engineering, mathematical and computing fields based on symbolic mathematics. 

     His creation of Mathematica was the tool used to make A New Kind of Science possible.  His book, A New Kind of Science was released on May 14, 2002, was primarily written to a wide range of fundamental problems in science such as the possibility of a truly fundamental theory of physics, the development of complexity in biology, the interplay between free will and determinism, and the character of intelligence in the universe.  His goal was to have three big things emerge:  a new area of basic science concerned with understanding what is out there in the computational world, many applications to science and technology amongst other things that nature can do, and to obtain a conceptual direction to be able to better understand the fundamental characters of science and mathematics and the places we have in our universe.  

“Well this is rather amazing.  We have a very simple rule, we’re starting off from single black cell, but what we’re getting out is an incredibly complicated pattern, seems in many ways random. So it just doesn’t seem right, we put so little in, yet we’re getting so much out.  It’s not what our ordinary intuition says should happen.  I mean, in our everyday experience in say, doing engineering, what we’re used to is that to make something complicated we somehow have to start off with complicated plans or use complicated rules, but what we’re seeing here is that actually even extremely simple rules can produce incredibly complicated behavior”

Ray Kurzweil

     It is incredible to know that in just six years, in 2020, there will be computers capable of simulating the human brain and by 2029 they will complete the reverse engineering of the brain.  These computers will be more powerful than the human brain and will have the capability of simulating all of the human brain's capabilities as well as our emotional intelligence.  This does not surprise me, in fact, I'm surprised this hasn't gone into effect yet.  Knowing that information technology is growing at such a fast rate and even that rate is increasing in itself, sets in a sense of fear. Fear of not knowing exactly how far technology can and will go in the future.  If they are capable of creating computers that have the mental capability of the human brain, I think anything is possible in the world of technological advances.  Hopefully Ray Kurzweil together with the army is able to strategically and safely develop the rapid response system he talks about to deal with the possibility of biotechnology being abused.  As amazing as these advancements sound, I think this will definitely open more doors for destruction, especially when it comes to terrorists as mentioned in the video.

     The subject discussed in the video reminds me of the movie I, Robot starring Will Smith and directed by Alex Proyas.  This movie took place in the year 2035, where there were robots much like the ones described in this reading.  They were highly intelligent and designed to be capable of performing any tasks performed by humans including destruction. 

http://youtu.be/rL6RRIOZyCM

Extra Credit ~ The Faith of Physical Causes

     I like the way Professor Alexander Astin thinks and for the most part, I agree with his questioning, reasoning, and examples set forth.  It is exactly what I have been trying to say and question on a lot of the readings we have had thus far, especially when it comes to all the details explaining evolution and the validity of beliefs in religion, gods, and God.  I would like to, just for a second, put science and faith aside and only focus on using our logic when asking this question.  If we evolved from apes, why are these mutations not occurring in present times?  How was it possible back then when we didn't have the advances in technology, science, and medicine versus present day when we have an abundance of new knowledge and a great deal of advances in those same fields?  Why aren't these mutations happening in a natural setting as presumed they did in previous times or in a lab?  I suppose there is no real answer to this question or perhaps someone may dare to give a lengthy explanation consisting of incomprehensible verbiage for the sake of having a logical or true answer based on science.

     I am not saying that some mutations may not have occurred, but human beings mutating from apes does not make sense.  I did enjoy reading both sides on this matter because, although my faith is strong, I do keep an open mind about various subjects and I am always open and willing to learn new things.  Our society is very diverse which makes it very interesting to hear the potpourri of ideas and/or opinions.

Tangled Phone Lines

     This world consists of many "tangled phone lines" - a variety of ideas, beliefs, and traditions that tug at different directions trying to validate their point.  Who's to say that someone who believes in the gods or God himself, is incorrect?  I don't think we need "scientific" evidence or formulas in order to validate their existence.  Perhaps it is something far beyond the reach of any intelligence or scientific study that gives you written proof of its existence.  I am constantly reading about believers having to open their minds and be accepting to the proven facts and the non-existence of God or the gods due to lack of solid evidence, what about the scientists or philosophers?  Perhaps, they too should open their minds to the possibility that their "intelligence" hasn't gotten their testing methods advanced enough to come up with a way to prove or disprove the existence of God or other gods.  But "we" were wrong about the gods and "we" were wrong about ourselves?  How so?  This has yet to be proven, in my opinion.

     As I have said before, whether scientifically proven or not, every human being possesses the ability to interpret, perceive, and practice a belief or study the way they see it fit.   What is true to me is not true for the person sitting next to me, but that does not make me any more correct than they are and vice versa.  There are many studies in our Science books that none of us living today have ever seen or touched ourselves, why do people believe, teach, and study that material?  Did you physically test it and see it or are you just relying on someone else's  written word?  Isn't this the same as believing in the written words of a bible?  Sounds like it to me...

Is my iPhone Conscious?

   After reading, Is my iPhone Conscious?, made me highly appreciate the fact that you were open-minded enough and took the time to see things from a different perspective than that of your personal opinion.  I consider myself to be very open-minded which made it easy for me to have personally attempted to see things from the opposing philosophical point of view.  Due to my strong beliefs that make perfectly good sense to me and fit in well in my life, this just does not fit in with anything that I have believed in my entire life.  However, I do fully respect it and admire such an intellectual point of view.  I like digging deep for a more in depth explanation of certain things, it makes a given subject much more interesting.

     I agree that culture plays a significant role in the interpretations of inner experiences. If we have been brought up with certain beliefs and opinions regarding religion, consciousness, science, and social interactions, it is very difficult to curve the way we think and what we believe in.  Like with anything or anyone else, I, personally don't need to know everything about Jesus to know that he exists.  In general, we will never know everything there is about a person, place, or thing.  We learn as we go, take in what our hearts and minds accept to be true, and practice what fits our manner of living.  I am very open-minded and accept difference in opinions without further questioning or challenging a person's way of thinking.  I do not for one second believe that if you don't accept the truth of Jesus Christ you will end up in eternal hell.  What my truths are may not apply to the next person's truths, such is life.  The fact that I don't know what Jesus looked like does not mean that He does not exist.  I have great-great grandparents that I have no idea what they looked like and that does not mean they didn't exist.  We are taught in school that dinosaurs roamed the earth at one point, we have never seen them in person and that doesn't mean that they did not exist. 

     Although there is a general definition of consciousness and all that entails, every individual's personal definition or perception of consciousness varies from person to person. The general definition of consciousness found in dictionaries is the state of being conscious; awareness of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc as well as awareness of something for what it is.  One person's perception of consciousness may just be the state of being awake, to another it might be to be aware of something, and so on.  I don't believe that our state of consciousness determines the validity of something.  For example, it is stated in the readings that a mystic is "better off" than a believer because a mystic  gets firsthand experiences of alternate realms of consciousness not descriptions of them as believers do since they only read but never engage in technical spiritual practices.  The mystic is said to know a different state of consciousness and they interpret it based on their cultural or religious background.  I wouldn't say that one is "better off" than the other, but rather that they are just the same because both point of views are based on their individual interpretation.  Personally, I see consciousness as being aware of my environment as well as my beliefs.  The fact that I believe in God does not make me "unconscious" because I've never actually seen Him, it is purely my own conscious interpretation.  At the same time, I also believe that our minds are very capable of "tricking" us into believing certain things are one way when they really aren't, but does this have to do with our consciousness or could it simply be that my brain had its own interpretation of what was before me and it received the wrong message?  This is an example of The Chandian Effect.  When Faqir Chand found himself in a state of desperation and fearing for his life because he realized that the enemy would have the upper hand if they didn't receive the ammunition they needed in a timely manner, he believed he saw the Holy form of Hazur Data Dayal Ji appear and tell him not to worry and to not waste their ammunition on the enemy since all they wanted was to take away their dead soldiers.  Experiencing that and then receiving the ammunition he had asked for, was enough to give him courage and make him feel safe.  This says to me that our minds are very capable of "tricking" us and making us think, hear, see, and feel a certain way - it is our interpretation of things and it does not determine our level of consciousness.

Brain Burn

     In the film, Brain Burn, the narrator says "consciousness is disassociation" which I find to be a contradicting statement being that disassociation means to sever the association of oneself or to separate and consciousness is the awareness of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc.  The statement that says that philosophy is the result of different brain states is acceptable.  Life consists of a variety of people, each with their own set of ideas, opinions, beliefs, and traditions.  The manner in which people think and things they believe in form the questions that philosophers have sought an answer or explanation of for so many years.  Hence that philosophy is the result of different brain states.  

     I also agree that philosophy is like heartburn, the natural result of something that did not digest well.  For example, my state of mind is that I believe that God is the creator of all things and He has a plan for each of us, which is why things fall in the order that they do.  This is the heartburn or brain burn, this is what does not digest well within the mentality of a philosopher.  How can I believe in someone nobody has ever seen?  How can I believe in something that does not have have solid evidence or proven facts of being true?  Surely it is just another illusion caused by my brain and its perception of God and his capabilities.  I guess it is a matter of each person's personal opinion and perception of the things presented before them in association with what they believe and have studied throughout their lives as well as what fits into each individual's life.

Flipped Video Lesson # 10

If we can be tricked by computers into believing that they have intelligence and intentionality and a sense of being, then what does that say about who we are?

I do not think that although we are able to be tricked by computers into believing that they have intelligence and a sense of being identifies or defines who we are as people.  Our brain is constantly working and stores many pieces of information that sometimes may be confused with something else by association.  In the film for example, the old lady watching the presentation by the robot simulating Lincoln believed that he was a real actor when he really wasn't.  If we take the brain's perception of Lincoln, it already has information stored on how a human being moves, walks, and talks.  Now there is a robot that has the exact mannerism of that of a human being.  The brain does not automatically know that it is a robot, instead it forms an opinion based on the messages being transmitted and assumes it is a human being by associating what it already knows of what a human being looks like and how they speak and act.  Similar to that old saying, "if it quacks like a duck, it must be a duck."  

I don't think that because we perceive something to be what it is not at first glance makes us gullible, foolish, or less intelligent than anyone else.  Our brain simply forms an idea and we follow and accept what we see fit until proven otherwise.

Flipped Video Lesson # 9

Why is the metaphor of a mobius strip useful when describing the study of consciousness via first and third person narratives?

I think describing the study of consciousness using the metaphor of a mobius strip via first and third person narratives useful because it allows for an explanation to be given from a different point of view, implementing the idea that consciousness is an endless surface that cannot be modified or by doing so it will loose its validity.  If the general population was more open-minded then these narratives would not be necessary, but that is not the case.  In general people tend to be set in there ways, especially when someone challenges such sensitive topics such as religion, politics, science, and philosophy.  Using first and third person narratives gives opens up the possibility of these people that are so set in there ways to sit back, open up their minds, listen, and study the possibility that the information being presented could hold some validity.  By doing so, they could fairly make a decision within themselves whether what they have believed in or thought to be true throughout their lives still fits in with their way of thinking to be so or do they find the new series of facts to be more credible.  Although, this film suggests that consciousness is a one directional idea and should not be attempted to be rerouted.   

Patricia Churchland Interview

     During Patricia Churchland's interview, she was asked, of all the things she was pursing, why she was pursuing the philosophical appeal.  Her response was that the traditional questions that philosophers have wanted to answer since the time period when Plato existed have to do with the nature of  knowledge and the nature of consciousness.  She believes that if we understand the brain we will then be able to understand the nature of knowledge and the nature of consciousness.  When she describes the functions of the brain she believes that there is nothing other than the cells and the way they are put together.  It is a whole interactive set of neurons that control things such as the feelings associated with pain and falling in love, for example.

     She also goes on to speak about a meeting she had with The Dalai Lama, a Buddhist monk and spiritual leader of Tibet.  During this meeting her and a few other neuroscientists, gave him a tutorial on the brain because he was interested in knowing what they were working on to be able to understand and think about things more wisely.  Patricia Churchland liked the fact that The Dalai Lama was open-minded and didn't only believe in certain things solely based on his religious beliefs, but he was willing to accept the facts presented.

       I, much like The Dalai Lama, am able to be a bit open minded about taking in all the facts that say that we are made up of molecules, proteins, and neurons; just matter.  Although this explanation can seem fit for someone with a virgin mind, for lack of a better term, it doesn't fit into what I believe in.  I am able to take in the information depending on what standpoint I look at it from.  I could easily accept this as being the bottom line if I see it from a medical, scientific, or philosophical point of view.  However, portions of those explanations are unacceptable facts when I view it in a religious and moral manner.

A Glorious Piece of Meat

     The film, A Glorious Piece of Meat, focuses on our perception of the functions that are controlled by our brains that us human beings believed to have been controlling all along.  It is very true that we do not have the ability to direct our heart to beat or our stomachs to digest a meal thus suggesting that we are not really in full control of our body.  The human race believes that we are in control of what our body is doing because our perception of awareness seems distinct from our bodily apparatus and we think we are controlling our bodies when in reality we are not.  Our brain, the glorious piece of meat, is the part of our bodies that sends messages that instruct us to do things and our bodies react to the messages being transmitted and we do as we are told..  Which brings up a question of whether we originate our thoughts or only direct them?  I believe that if our brain is in full control, then we only direct our thoughts, not originate them.

     In sum, this goes back to what our perception of our brain and our bodies is.  Do we believe that our body and our brain act independently or are they connected and one is directing the other by firing neurons?  

    

Radiance Without An Edge

     The video, Radiance Without An Edge, asks me to try to experimentally remember when I was not by going back in time within my memory and try to recall the moment I went from unconscious to conscious, from non existent to existent, from non being to being.  As expected, I cannot recall that moment. This now raises the question on the possibility of being conscious prior to birth.  I suppose it could be possible, but we will never know for certain.  If we are not aware of the birth of our consciousness, I agree that we will never experience the death of it either.

     I agree with the statement that says that we should fear life and not death.  Life is unexpected and very unpredictable.  It consists of a combination of feelings, experiences, and events, some good and some some bad.  Although, I personally have a bit of fear for both life and death, I do think life is scarier, perhaps because I am conscious about what is going on.  The idea that we should fear the awareness of moving from one level of consciousness to another is eerie to me.  Do I really want to be aware of such a transition?  Perhaps right now I would say no because I do fear death, but at some point in my life I can see myself changing my mind and wanting to be aware of such a transition.  This now leads me to wonder if consciousness continues to exist after we make that transition?  This is one of those questions that will always have different opinions and points of view, but never have a definite and precise answer.

Agnostic Illuminations

      I can see how our brains might work based upon Bayesian probability theory, which says that probability is conditional and interpreted as a degree of belief.  It is very true that projections would be very helpful for us to live and survive, but that is impossible.  No one can predict the future.  We can make assumptions as to the outcomes of certain beliefs, events, actions or decisions we make, but we will never be able to say for sure what the end results will be.  Our consciousness only goes so far and is only capable of making us retain our past experiences and beliefs as well as make us aware of the things that are currently taking place.  

     Reading this makes me wonder why it is that if philosophers and scientists have succeeded in proving and disproving certain things by testing and laying out facts, why have they been unable to do it with religion?  Is the inability to "test" its validity due to lack of solid evidence the only reason?  Surely there must be more to it than that.  I cannot deny the fact that science is incredibly amazing in itself, but that is also true for religion, any religion that is.  I think if everyone was a bit more open-minded they would be able to accept that science is the bottom line truth to scientists, philosophers, and all that choose to accept that as the only truth, just as religion is the bottom line truth to a believer of a certain religion or entity. 

Consciousness as a Mobius Strip

     This video references consciousness as being related or similar to a mobius strip.  Consciousness is defined as the state of being aware of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc.  In the video, a mobius strip is described as being an endless surface and any attempt to reorient it transforms it to that which it is not.  In my opinion, the definitions of these two contradict each other.  It says that a mobius strip is an ongoing surface that cannot be adjusted or changed, it is to remain the way it is and if attempted to change then it no longer holds its legitimacy.  Where consciousness  is a state of being aware of our surroundings and how we think and feel.  Our surroundings, thoughts, and feelings can be easily influenced by outside forces that are out of our control.  The manner in which we interact with and handle certain events, society, weather, beliefs, etc can have a huge impact on our consciousness and our perception of things. 

     With that being said, I think that consciousness is not related in any way to a mobius strip.  Consciousness, unlike a mobius strip, can be altered without changing its original state, whether willingly or not, but it is possible and that does not change its original form.  Consciousness is consciousness and not because it has swayed one way or another has it lost its validity.  I do believe that our consciousness has the ability to form its own opinion on certain things, like I mentioned on my post regarding the video The Disneyland of Consciousness, but it can easily be influenced and changed to a different way of seeing things by further investigating what was originally presented before it.