Guest speaker: Bruce Damer
PROGRAM NOTES:
[NOTE: The following quotes are by Bruce Damer.]
“It seems as though the universe is a sort of self-contained thing, never looses any information.”
“A mechanism called ‘life’ was able to fight against all this crud, and entropy, and fires and brimstone and preserve this little piece of information [DNA] forward, and it’s called reproduction, it’s called life. And that process has outlived the life of most stars. It’s certainly older and tougher and more resilient than all the configuration of the continents.”
“What if the universe, like Chris Langston’s brain, is gradually booting up an awareness of itself?”
“And are you part of that great project that the universe is trying to do, which is to know itself?”
“It’s like exposing you to the most powerful drug ever given to primates, which wasn’t alcohol, it’s not nicotine, it’s not MDMA, it’s not LSD. It’s the computer/human interaction.”
Download
MP3
PCs – Right click, select option
Macs – Ctrl-Click, select option
(click to) Contact Bruce Damer
“A Gigantic Unplanned Experiment … on You” an essay by Bruce Damer
Comments from original blog page: http://www.matrixmasters.net/blogs/?p=281
adimeshort2
Excellent, another bruce damer cast
Its been a tough week at work, today will be easier 🙂
amic
overall i loved the podcast.. his impression of mckenna was uncanny.. bruce’s ideas all seem pretty nice but did anyone else find his creation myth a little hoakey? even maybe a little dogmatic.. anyway like i said earlier the podcast was great.. as usual. … bravo lorenzo! keep up the good work.
Midnightfire
As always love the podcast, have to say I’m not sure what anyone else thinks on this but I not convinced on Damer’s stance on these people using high risk extreme sports as a way of unplugging from an over stimulated world. Sure, they are doing some thing physical and something that depends on physical responses to the environment, so as to re-embody themselves from what is essentially a head on stalks kind of lifestyle but surely this is more of the same. The over stimulated technologiacal world these people are plugged in to is world is huge drain on the adrenals surely using a bigger buzz to chill you out isn’t the way to go and is miore likely to burn you out than ever. I am currently a sudent of shiatsu – a therapy based on Traditional Chinese Medicine. When some one lives a life like this and compounds it with high adrenalin activities and possibly a large amount of coffee, you’re looking at insomnia, sexual problems, impotence, lack of will power, an inability to wind down. Just my thoughts.. what does anyone else think? Is this the right place to put things like this?
much love and respect to evryobnes!
dharmawakenings
Hi Lorenzo…
Another great podcast! They follow one another with enough frequency that alas, I never seemed to get around to making a comment till today. I relate quite well to the points made about the effects computer usage can have on people. In fact I am passing Bruce’s essay on to my son who is an avid ‘Warcraft’ fan. The use of extreme sports to counteract the effects struck a chord. During my winter sojourn in California this year, I began involving myself in Capoeira (http://www.capoeira-angola.org/) a Brazilian and wholistic form of martial art which combines dance-like movement, music, and community. My instructor, a 29 year-old brought up in Hawaii, stressed continually the importance of being in the moment and pushing yourself to the very limit. The mind-set required reminded me strongly of the way Don Juan instructed Carlos Casteneda. Being a typical 29-year-old, my teacher is not unfamiliar with the computer and in fact uses it to make films. My point being that his form of extreme Capoeira (and use of ganja, incidentally) keeps him grounded. I recognized the benefits it can have as well, and instinctively was drawn to it. As a result, I have been attempting to keep up with my work-outs, even in the face of a constantly sore shoulder. Being a 56 year old woman definitely makes for a different set of bodily circumstances, but there is no getting away from the fact that I feel better, can think more clearly and even look better (if I must say) overall. So it may not take jumping off cliffs, but simply finding that edge and staying there as much as possible. And the judicious use of ganja sure does take the edge off, so to speak! Lorenzo, thanks for your great work, and may you shine forever!
Dharmawakenings
Lorenzo
Midnightfire said “Is this the right place to put things like this?”
Yes, this is definitely the right place for this, and thank you all for adding your comments. Both Bruce and I read them, and they definitely help us refine our conversations :-).
sancho23
I like the idea of Creating Conscious Communities and having after-discussions about that and many other things. . .Any chance I have to share these ideas without having to do the normal explanations one has to endure when speaking to someone outside of this whatever you can call it. . .subculture is the best I can think of! Also, any chance to talk with other intelligent, conscious people and share/refine our ideas is a blessing!!! Let’s get together and talk while it’s still legal!!! 😉
Braindouche!
This is the second time in as many days that a podcast I’ve listened to has essentially come out against the information overload that is modern technology. It’s not a popular opinion to hold, but I’m willing to come out and say that the internet and the super-connectedness and the massive technological revolution we’re stuck with today may be an illness, an addiction, or simply incomprehensible for many people, but for me it’s liberation.
And I’m not the only one.
Maybe we’re in the minority. Maybe it’s like playing Tetris for two hours, then going out side and seeing tetris pieces everywhere and your mind keeps trying to fit those shapes together without your permission, and it takes you a couple of hours to shake off the tetris-brain. Maybe my minority came pre-installed with internet-brain. Maybe the immediacy and non-linearity of the web makes normal people sick.
All I know is that the internet and other communications technology gave me the privilege of not having to remember, the blessing of forgetting facts. I used to be forced to carry my entire library of knowledge between my ears; now, all that space is clear and available for creative work, because if I need to know something, I use my computer to call another computer, and it will tell me.
Some people I’ve told this to finds the idea of delegating that sort of work to a machine, and maybe it is. All I know is that I used to spend all my time dusting my personal library books, and now I use all that time to create new and interesting creations.
Brent_Hatcher0p
Bruce is my idea of an awesome NASA (Noospherically Accessed Shamanic Authority) scientist.