--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <authfriend@...> wrote: > [...] > > It's amazing how easy it is to overlook. > > Some scientific folks insist very firmly that the sense of > self is just an illusion that processes in the brain create. > > Oh? And what/who is being fooled by it? >
Those same scientists often embrace Buddhism because it is "realistic." Susan Blackmore practices daily affirmations to remind herself that her self isn't real. Mindfulness and concentrative meditation practices tend to suppress the activity of the parts of the brain thought to be responsible for "sense of self." This worship of no-self has led to one neuroscientist who is a victim of a severe stroke, which coincidentally damaged the parts of her brain that such practices suppress, to write a book called _My Stroke of Insight_ where she celebrates her enlightenment and balanced brain functioning (brought about by the selective damage). I tend to wince at the mindfulness advocates in the scientific community, if you haven't guessed that already. L
