Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Understanding the fifth dimension

    I have discussed before how the universe is made up of more dimensions than we are usually aware of. We are aware of the three spatial dimensions, and of time but in the backwards direction only. That is not because of any inherent aspect of the universe, it is simply a limitation of our human…

  • Does an objective universe exist?

    If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around, does it still make a sound? In my paper on multiple dimensions (Ideas on Consciousness) I point out that one attribute of a dimension is that it is necessary for a physical object to exist. For instance, an object needs to exist in…

  • Why DIY funerals are a bad idea

    Imagine a time, say, in an English village around the thirteenth century. Life revolved around the church and services were held on sundays and holy-days. For better or worse the priest was the guide and mentor. Death was common and unlike today the format of the funeral service followed a strict pattern. Certain prayers were…

  • Ideas on Consciousness

    A new Approach to the Consciousness-Mind-Body Problem by Philip Braham Introduction In modern philosophical theories there is an assumption that consciousness is an activity of the brain. One accepted theory is that the brain is a machine and that what we call consciousness is an attribute of the mechanism of the machine. There are many…

  • The laws of the universe

    Some years ago I was listening to an interview with the atheist researcher Susan Blackmore who put volunteers who could initiate out of body experiences into an MRI machine whilst monitoring their brain activity. She asked one of the volunteers to move her leg on her astral body and she saw that the part of…

  • Cognitive dissonance

    Cognitive dissonance has been defined as the perception of contradictory information. I have written about the importance of cognitive dissonance before. In fact, I would argue that it is essential for a healthy evolution of the mind. If you hear an opinion that contradicts the view of the world you hold there are three options:…

  • On making mistakes

    Many so-called ‘self-help gurus’ will tell you that making mistakes is part of life. You have to make a mistake in order to learn. In fact I recall a business investor who invested in startups saying that he was wary of investing in someone who hadn’t had a business already. If they had a successful…

  • Problem solving

    I read that a well know entrepreneur (I think it was Elon Musk) said that schools should teach problem solving. Well, schools nowadays teach some strange subjects and have moved away from the ‘old fashioned’ three R’s, so I’m sure it would fit in with the views of many progressive school principles. For instance, there…

  • The myth of science

    I’ve written many times before about science and what is called the philosophy of science. That is, the rules of science, the scientific method and the assumptions that scientists make when they do experiments. Nowadays an understanding of real science is becoming more and more important as ‘science’ (or what is referred to as science)…

  • Numbers and words

    There’s an old Jewish joke of the man who sends his son to school – presumably at some expense – so that he could become successful. When the son returns home the father asks him what he has learnt: “We learnt that if I have two apples and Greta has three apples we have five…

Got any book recommendations?

Get In Touch