TCF 07.07.24 | Seeing the World through the Wrong “I”

In the article "Seeing the World through the Wrong ‘I’", Dr.Chopra discusses the provocative idea that the physical world might be an illusion. He explores how our sensory experiences shape our perceived reality and identity, comparing the self to a coral reef built from countless experiences.

This week in the article "Digital Twins and Social Prescribing", I highlight how AI twin technology is transforming healthcare, particularly through social prescribing. Using digital twins—virtual patient representations—enables precise, personalized interventions, enhancing patient care.

On Chopra Post, Aurora Carlson emphasizes the importance of active listening in today’s world, while Ryan Castle explores consciousness in plants, fungi, and ecosystems, revealing their abilities to sense, adapt, and communicate. William C Bushell shares observations of bioelectric phenomena in East Asian Taoist practices, such as muscle spasms and heat generation through touch, highlighting the need for further scientific investigation. Discover these insights in "Listen, Completely," "Our Conscious Universe: Part III," and "ADEPTS 18: Human Biological Mechanisms."

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With peace and gratitude,

Poonacha Machaiah - CEO

The Chopra Foundation

www.choprafoundation.org

Seeing the World through the Wrong “I”

By Deepak Chopra, MD, FACP, FRCP

If you want to experience being misunderstood, one of the quickest ways is to declare that the physical world is an illusion. Predictably, almost everyone balks at such a preposterous idea. We base our lives on accepting the world reported by the five senses. That’s a strong practical reason not to entertain an obscure philosophical notion that everyday reality should be doubted, mistrusted, or looked upon as some kind of induced hallucination.

But that isn’t really the point. Our acceptance of the world we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell is rooted much deeper than practicality. Each of us identifies with the world we think we inhabit. This is an inescapable truth, and with a moment’s reflection, it is obvious that a devoutly religious person inhabits a sacred world created by God or the gods, while a businessman inhabits a world dominated by money and success, facing all kinds of risks and opportunities that non-business people ignore.

Go a short step further, and you realize that “I,” the self I inhabit, is also a world, built not on the five senses but my inner life. Like a coral reef, “I” is a massive, complex structure constructed from tiny bits of living experiences. These experiences amass from the moment you are born, and although small and seemingly separate, each experience undergoes processing: it must be perceived, interpreted, absorbed, or rejected. <<Link to full article>>

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Digital Twins and Social Prescribing

By Poonacha Machaiah

Over the last several years, I have been working on Metaverse/Web3 as part of Seva.Love/ChopraVerse and recently as part of DigitalDeepak.ai. AI twin technology has allowed me to apply the convergence of AI, Blockchain, and Distributed Autonomous agents (DAOs) to enhance human well-being, specifically in the domain of social prescribing. Digital twins are emerging as a powerful tool in healthcare, particularly in social prescribing, offering new possibilities for enhancing human well-being. This innovative approach combines advanced technology with personalized care to create virtual representations of individuals, allowing for more precise and effective interventions.

Digital Twins in Healthcare

A digital twin in healthcare is a dynamic, virtual replica of a patient created using data from their digital thread. This virtual counterpart mirrors the real-time health condition of a patient, enabling healthcare professionals to anticipate outcomes, experiment with treatment scenarios, and customize care with unprecedented precision. For instance, a digital twin could be developed for a patient with heart disease, simulating their cardiac health condition based on real-time data such as blood pressure readings, cholesterol levels, and genetic predispositions. This allows healthcare providers to forecast potential complications and explore various treatment strategies in a virtual setting before implementing them in reality. The ability to preemptively address health issues could significantly reduce the incidence of adverse events and optimize patient care. <<Link to full article>>

Listen, Completely

By Aurora Carlson

Has anyone listened to you lately? I mean – really listened, so you have felt truly heard and understood. Hemingway once wrote, ‘When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.‘ Is it true that people don’t listen to each other? And what does ‘listen completely’ mean?

We live in a fast-paced, digitally-driven world, where the luxury of being listened to seems to be vanishing. Research suggests that Hemingway’s observation holds true even today. A study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that in conversations, people spend about 60% of their time talking about themselves [1]. This self-focus often comes at the expense of listening to others.

Active Listening

But what does it mean to “listen completely”? It could mean?active listening, a concept developed by renowned psychologist Carl Rogers, one of the founders of humanistic psychology. Active listening involves empathetic listening and full attention on what is being said rather than just passively hearing the message of the speaker [2]. An active listener strives to understand the complete message, including the emotional nuances and underlying meanings. <<Link to full article>>

Our Conscious Universe: Part III

By Ryan Castle

In previous installments of our “Conscious Universe” series, we have delved into the concept of consciousness, examining what it means and proposing that most animals clearly fit this criterion. However, animals are not drastically different from humans—they are living creatures with brains and easily understood sensory organs. But can consciousness exist in completely different forms of life? This article explores the idea of awareness and consciousness among plants, fungi, and even entire ecosystems.

The traditional view of plants and fungi as barely animate, wholly mindless automata is one of the oldest assumptions in science. Yet, this perspective is increasingly challenged by recent research. Studies have shown that?plants?are capable of sensing their environment, adapting, and even exhibiting behavioral preferences in what could be considered emotional reactions. Research suggests that plants can communicate with each other through chemical signals, warning of threats like herbivores or pathogens, and coordinate responses, giving rise to a new field called plant neurobiology.[i]

Even more profound discoveries have involved?fungi, which display behaviors across wide networks of interconnected organisms connected by a network called the mycelium. These mycelial networks formed by fungi have been described as similar to the neural networks in our own brains.[ii]?These networks can span vast areas, connecting multiple organisms and facilitating communication and resource sharing. For example, research has shown that mycelial networks can transfer nutrients between plants, allowing for a more efficient distribution of resources within an ecosystem.?<<Link to full article>>

ADEPTS 18: Human Biological Mechanisms

By William C Bushell

In the last several installments we described demonstrations of dramatic and remarkable bioelectric* phenomena by adepts (and adepts-in-training) of East Asian Taoist yoga-based practices (including Nei Gong, Fa Qi, and other practices). These included (see last installment):

• The production of muscle spasms, twitching, and contractions in volunteers through the application of touching to the limbs by practitioners, putatively solely caused by the endogenous electricity (or electricity-like energy) of the practitioner
• The production of intense sensible electric shocks (or electric shock-like phenomena) in volunteers solely through the application of practitioners’ hands alone (purportedly the conduits of the endogenous bioelectrical energy source)
• The production of distinctive small, but largely painless, blisters on the skin of volunteers, through the putative transfer of endogenously generated and channeled heat (from innate bioelectrical or other sources of the human body)
• The production of sufficient heat from the hands to incinerate a combustible material, such as a newspaper

While members of our research team (including two trained medical anthropologists, and two medical doctors [MDs]) directly observed such phenomena, including under ad hoc experimental conditions (“field clinical conditions”), this evidence was presented solely as preliminary observational evidence which would?require?further rigorous clinical and experimental conditions (also sketched out in that installment) in order to then be considered within a bona fide scientific framework.?

<<Link to full article>>

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