Approaches To Consciousness; Imagery In Healing; Intelligent Systems

Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, whom we once referred to as "a thinking person's Dick Cavett" (in our March 1989 issue), is the host for these three programs which originally aired on the national public television series Thinking Allowed. In Approaches to Consciousness, comprised of four individual programs, "The Evolution of Consciousness" with Robert Ornstein, PhD and "The Nervous System and the Soul" with Oliver Sacks, MD (author of Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife For His Hat) are the best. Ornstein tries to offer a working definition of consciousness (what you're prepared to act on at any given moment) and discusses the work on consciousness being done with chimpanzees. Citing the fact that brain capacity increased long before any thinking-related skills evolved, Ornstein advances the rather uninspiring (but thought-provoking) opinion that man started to reflect only because he had a surplus of brain cells. Sacks, who has worked closely with individuals with Tourette's syndrome, talks about the amazing spiritual capacities of these people and others with various neurological disorders. His story about a medical student who, for three weeks, experienced a supra-heightened sense of smell (much like the main character in the novel Perfume) is intriguing, as is his story of twin brothers who recited prime numbers to one another ecstatically when together, but became listless when separated. The other two programs on the cassette, "Working with Comas" with Arnold Mindell, PhD and "When Nietzche Wept" with Irvin D. Yablom, MD are less successful. Mindell is simply not convincing in his idea that people "go into comas to work on themselves," and his stories seem, frankly, a little far-fetched. Yalom, a professor of psychiatry at Stanford, talks about his novel When Nietzche Wept which will be of interest to those who have read the novel, but rather extraneous to those who have not. Intelligent Systems is a stronger quartet which leads off with MIT theorist Marvin Minsky outlining the ideas put forth in his compelling study of the mechanisms of the mind The Society of Mind, followed by Edward Feigenbaum and his wife H. Penny Nii discussing their work with "Expert Systems," computer systems used to answer questions and solve problems in specialized fields. The third segment on the tape, "Artificial Intelligence" with John McCarthy, PhD, the inventor of the computer language LISP, falters occasionally in its discussion about the capability of artificial intelligence systems to "learn" to be human in the future, primarily because McCarthy and Mishlove don't quite mesh conversationally (Mishlove expresses anti-mechanistic reservations about human attributes being so easily appropriated by machines, but McCarthy doesn't seem to understand what Mishlove is referring to). The last piece returns to form with an invigorating conversation with mathematician, author, and novelist, Rudy Rucker on the subject of "Infinity and the Mind," in which Rucker talks about the different kinds of infinity possible (yep, there's more than one). The other program, Imagery in Healing is a workshop conducted with Jeanne Achterberg, PhD, President of the Association for Transpersonal Psychology. The program is ostensibly about the use of imagery in healing, and indeed Achterberg has a lot to say about the practice of imaging throughout history. However, she undercuts her commentary with some bizarre and occasionally even dangerous assertions. She talks about trying to cure her daughter's warts (one strategy they tried was to bury a rag at a crossroads under a full moon, a notion which casts just the smallest bit of uncertainty on the remainder of Achterberg's comments), and later asks why do some people with HIV-infected partners not contract the virus. Achterberg thinks that it has something to do with imaging stronger cell walls, which is a damn silly and potentially dangerous idea. It doesn't occur to her that practicing safe sex may be the real reason why partners do not contract the virus. During the last twenty minutes of the program Achterberg conducts an imagery session with Mishlove, guiding him through the usual new age clichés about "the all-witnessing light of your conscience" or namby-pamby mantras like "know that whatever you imagine is important for the moment without judgment." Well, I'm sorry, but I judge Imagery in Healing to be unimportant claptrap and cannot recommend it. Approaches to Consciousness is a mixed bag and therefore an optional purchase. Intelligent Systems is consistently stimulating and is recommended. (Available from: Thinking Allowed Productions, 2650 Ninth St., Suite 123, Berkeley, CA 94710; (510) 548-4415.)