Dr.

Estiphan Panoussi

Second SLO related Extra Credit, to enhance the critical thinking

A framework for Phil 105, Phil 106 , Phil 108, Phil 109, and Phil 110.

"The brain is a biological machine with over a

hundred billion neurons, or brain cells, each of
which has an average of five thousand connections
to other neurons. Electrical signals pass along the
neurons [1 the footnote not in the original], causing
them to release chemical messengers, such as
serotonin and dopamine, from their terminal ends.
These messengers land on the receptors of
neurons on the other side of the synapse, or region
between neurons for chemical connection. Once
neurons receive enough stimulation from their
connecting neurons, they send signals along their
axons to other neurons. There are almost an
infinite number of possible patterns of activity
along the neuronal network [the emphasis not in
the original], and specific patterns are believed to
represent concepts, thoughts, or memories.
Francis Crick, the late codiscoverer of DNA's Diane Hennacy Powell, The
structure, summarized this model when he said, ESP Enigma[.] The Scientific
'The astonishing hypothesis is that 'You,' your Case For Psychic
1
joys and your sorrows, your memories, your sense Phenomena,(New York:
of personal identity and free will, are in fact no Walker & Company, 2009),
more than the behavior of a vast assembly of pp. 3, 19-20, 21, 24.
nerve cells and their associated molecules.' [The
emphasis not in the original]. [...].
"Brain cells differ from others by having electrical
activity, called an action potential, that travels
along their axons, which are the thin extensions
that radiate out from the brain cell's body to form
their connections with other cells [inside of the
same brain]. The only cells outside of the nervous
system that operate by electrical activity are heart
cells, which coordinate their activity with each
other to create the muscular contraction of the
heart. [...].
"Whatever the source of human consciousness, it
has to be complex. The brain certainly fits that
bill. Most of its complexity comes from the
enormous number of potential connections among
brain cells. The brain has approximately 100
 billion neurons, each of which has between 1,000
and 10,000 connections with other neurons at
junctures called synapses [the emphasis not in the
original]. The calculated number of possible
permutations or combinations of brain activity,
along this network exceeds the number of
elementary particles in the universe. [...]
"The brain is composed of atoms, and therefore
the principles of quantum physics are operating in
our brains, though most neuroscientists have yet
to give significance to quantum principles. But a
model that recognizes that quantum physics also
operates in our brains might explain many of
consciousness' unsolved mysteries. In other words,
quantum physics just might provide the missing
link that explains the relationship between
something as nonmaterial as consciousness and
something as material as brain. [the emphasis not
in the original]"
According to the author of this long fragmented
quotation,

a. many of consciousness' unsolved mysteries are in

fact less than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve
cells and their associated molecules

Interpretation b. many of consciousness' unsolved mysteries [like

of Nr. 1 telepathy by identical twins] might be solved by
quantum physics applied to the brain.

c. many of consciousness' unsolved mysteries are

already solved in the Bible and/or other religious
fundamental books.

d. none of the above.

"Each of our cells has the same genetic information Diane Hennacy Powell, The
about our whole body [the emphasis not in the ESP Enigma[.] The Scientific
2 original]", but the genes in these cells are selectively Case For Psychic
turned on or off during the development depending Phenomena,(New York:
upon the type of cell. [...]. This means that we are Walker & Company, 2009),
 living holograms; each of our cells has information pp. 215, 230
about our whole being. [the emphasis not in the
original]" [...]. After just fifty cellular division [of the
fertilized eggs], humans have more cells than the
number of stars in the Milky Way, and each cell
undergoes an average of a hundred thousand
chemical reactions per second during this early
developmental process. Genes get turned on and off,
but what 'oversees the project' and orchestrates the
[evolutionary] actions of the genes? [...].
"The ESP Enigma represents a shift that could
become the next major evolutionary leap in
understanding ourselves and our place in the
universe. In the past we have created our own prisons
by holding on to limited beliefs about what is
possible. Perhaps we now can begin to open up our
minds und unlock the gates."
The author of these quotes assumes that
a. the orchestration of the [evolutionary] actions of
the genes is already explained by biologists.
Interpretation b. the orchestration of the [evolutionary] actions of
of Nr. 2 the genes is already explained by religions.
c. the orchestration of the [evolutionary] actions of
the genes is an enigma
d. none of the above

"[Thomas Paine] wrote in The Age of Reason: 'Whatever we

read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the Carl Sagan, Science
cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness as a Candle in the
3 with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more Dark. The Demon-
consistent that we called it the word of a demon rather than haunted World. (New
York: Random House, 1996), pp.
the word of God. It ... has served to corrupt and brutalize 259-260
mankind.'."
In this quote:
a. Carl Sagan is saying that it would have been more
consistent to call the Bible as word of a demon rather than the
Interpretation
of Nr. 3
word of God.
b. Carl Sagan is rejecting Thomas Paine and confirming that
the Bible is word of God.
c. Carl Sagan is exposing his own views.
 d. None of the above.

4
"What realm of human endeavor is not morally ambiguous? [the emphasis not in
the original] Even folkinstitutions that purport to give us advice on behavior and
ethics seem fraught with contradictions. Consider aphorisms: Haste makes waste.
Yes, but a stitch in time saves nine. Better safe than sorry; but nothing ventured,
nothing gained. Where there's smoke there's fire; but you can't tell a book by its
cover. A penny saved is a penny earned; but you can't take it with you. He who
hesitates is lost; but fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Two heads are better
than one; but too many cooks spoil the broth. There was a time when people
planned or justified their actions on the basis of such contradictory platitudes. What
is the moral responsibility of the aphorist? Or the Sun-sign astrologer, the Tarot card
reader, the tabloid prophet?
"Or consider the mainstream religions. We are enjoined in Micah to do justly and
love mercy; in Exodus we are forbidden to commit murder; in Leviticus we are
commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves; and in Gospels we are urged to love
our enemies. Yet think of the rivers of blood spilled by fervent followers of the
books in which these well-meaning exhortations are embedded.
"In Joshua and in the second half of Numbers is celebrated the mass murder of men,
women, children, down to the domestic animals in city after city across the whole
land of Canaan. Jericho is obliterated in a kherem, a 'holy war.' The only
justification offered for this slaughter is the mass murderers' claim that, in exchange
for circumcising their sons and adopting a particular set of rituals, their ancestors
were long before promised that this land was their land. Not a hint of selfreproach,
not a muttering of patriarchal or divine disquiet at these campaigns of extermination
can be dug out of holy scripture. Instead, Joshua 'destroyed all that breathed, as the
Lord God of Israel commanded' (Joshua 10:40). And these events are not incidental
[the emphasis not in the original], but central to the main narrative thrust of the Old Testament.
Similar stories of mass murder (and in the case of the Amalekits, genocide) can be
found in the books of Saul, Esther, and elsewhere in the Bible, with hardly a pang of
moral doubt. It was all, of course, troubling to liberal theologians of a later age. Carl
Sagan, Science as a Candle in the Dark. The Demon-haunted World. (New York: Random
House, 1996), pp. 290-1"It is properly said that the Devil can 'quote Scriptures to his purpose'
[the emphasis not in the original]. The Bible is full of so many stories of
contradictory moral purpose that every generation can find scriptural justification
for nearly any action it proposes - from incest, slavery, and mass murder to the most
refined love, courage, and self-sacrifice [the emphasis not in the original]. And this
moral multiple personality disorder is hardly restricted to Judaism and Christianity.
You can find it deep within Islam, the Hindu tradition, indeed nearly all the world's
 religions. Perhaps then it is not so much scientists as people who are morally
ambiguous."
"[...] The price of moral ambiguity is now too high. For this reason - and not
because of its approach to knowledge - the ethical responsibility of scientists must
also be high, extraordinarily high, unprecedentedly high. [...]."
In this quote, Carl Sagan
a. is rejecting the claim that, in the Bible, being the Word of God, there was a justification for mass murder of men, women, children,
down to the domestic animals, and destruction of all that once was breathing, and genocide.

Interpretation b. is confirming that the moral ambiguity and multiple personality disorder which is embedded in the Bible is not restricted to Judaism
and Christianity, but also it can be found in other religions as well, e.g. in Islam, the Hindu tradition, nearly all the world's religions,
of Nr. 4
and eventually even by some scientists lacking the ethical responsibility.

c. is rejecting that the Devil can "quote Scriptures to his purpose."

d. None of the above.

"Bernard Show took up his protest in the preface to Back to

Methuselah, in which he argued that the failure of Darwinism
lies in its rigid determinism, its failure to recognize the part in
evolution by the will of the individual. [...]. What no one seems
to have recognized so far is the importance of sex as an 'internal'
factor in evolution. [...] . As far as we can see, it seems to have
been sex that taught human beings to use the imagination. [...].
[Bjoern] Kurtén seems to skirt these ideas when he remarks
'another semisolution [to the problem of evolution] was the idea Colin Wilson et Damon Wilson,
The Mammoth Encyclopedia of
5 of an inner force of evolution, the élan vital, which would the Unsolved, (New York: Carol
& Graf Publishers, 2000),354,
automatically carry us forward to new eighths of nobility and 359, 360 and 362.
spirituality. Unfortunately there is no such a force, as Goethe
recognized when he wrote: 'The eternal feminine draws us
upwards and on.' [...]. Brain physiologists tell us that, in spite of
science, philosophy, art, and technology, modern man still only
uses one-fifth of his brain capacity [the emphasis not in the
original]. When he learns to use the other four-fifths, there is
every reason to believe that he will be as different from modern
man as you and I are from our australopithecine ancestors."
This quote shows that
a. the Darwinism is confirmed by Bernard Show
Interpretation
of Nr.5
b. the Darwinism is confirmed by Bjoern Kurtén
c. the Darwinism is confirmed by Goethe
d. none of the above
 "But in the early 1980s Professor John Lourber of Sheffield
University discovered a student with an IQ of 126 whose head Colin Wilson et Damon Wilson,
6 was entirely filled with 'water'. A brain scan showed that the The Mammoth Encyclopedia of
the Unsolved, (New York: Carol
student's brain was merely an outer layer, only one millimeter & Graf Publishers, 2000), 7.
thick. How can a person function with virtually no brain?"
This quote indicates that,
Interpretation a. "an outer layer" of the brain or brain water has taken over the function of a statistically normal brain.
b. a person can think without using the brain
of Nr.6
c. the being who does the thinking exists apart from the brain
d. none of the above

"Now, many modern thinkers would agree that man is involved

in an evolutionary process that involves his mind as well as his
body, and many would insist that the process is not entirely a
matter of Darwinian mechanisms (see, for example, the
contributors to Arthur Koestler's Beyond Reductionism). But it is
clearly a very long step from this kind of evolutionism to the
belief that the evolutionary process is being directed by 'higher
intelligences.'
"Such a step was, in fact, taken (on purely scientific grounds) by
the cybernetician David Foster, in his book The Intelligent
Universe. [...] Cybernetics is basically the science of making
machines behave as if they are intelligent - [...] Colin Wilson et Damon
Wilson, The Mammoth
7 "[...]. Such argument obviously implies that the complexity of Encyclopedia of the Unsolved,
(New York: Carol & Graf
life on earth can only be accounted for by some intelligence 'out Publishers, 2000),388-389.
there' [...].
"We may reject this argument, pointing out that 'instinct' may
create a complexity that looks like superintelligence.
Mathematical prodigies, who can work out problems of
bewildering complexity within seconds, are often of otherwise
low intelligence. There is no evolutionary necessity for the
human brain to work out such problems; so why has the brain
developed such a power? [...]. But those who believe that
evolution is basically purposive use such examples as
mathematical prodigies to argue that the evolution of man's
higher faculties cannot be explained in purely Darvinian terms."
The author of this quote believes:
Interpretation
of Nr. 7
a. In only the Darwinian evolution
b. In that the complexity of life on earth can only be accounted for by some
 intelligence 'out there'
c. In that that the evolution is basically purposive
d. None of the above.

"The normal 'everyday self' the person one thinks of as

'me', lives in the left hemisphere and is basically a
logical and practical person, the one who copes with
daily chores. The person who lives in the right is a Colin Wilson et Damon
stranger and seems to be altogether more intuitive and Wilson, The Mammoth
instinctive; he seems more concerned with what goes on Encyclopedia of the
8
inside us. You could say that the left-brain self is Unsolved, (New York: Carol
objective, the right brain subjective; one is, in effect, a & Graf Publishers,
scientist and the other an artist. Most of us are unaware 2000),415.
of this 'other'(right-brain) self, even though we are
connected to it by the corpus callosum [the nerves' knot
which joins the two brain hemispheres]."
This quote is indicating that
a. we are guided in our everyday life mostly by the right hemisphere of the brain
Interpretation b. we are guided in our everyday life mostly by the left hemisphere of the brain
of Nr. 8 c. we are guided in our everyday life neither by the right nor by the left hemisphere of
the brain
d. none of the above

"The normal 'everyday self' the person one thinks of as

'me', lives in the left hemisphere and is basically a
logical and practical person, the one who copes with
daily chores. The person who lives in the right is a Colin Wilson et Damon
stranger and seems to be altogether more intuitive and Wilson, The Mammoth
instinctive; he seems more concerned with what goes on Encyclopedia of the
9
inside us. You could say that the left-brain self is Unsolved, (New York: Carol
objective, the right brain subjective; one is, in effect, a & Graf Publishers,
scientist and the other an artist. Most of us are unaware 2000),415.
of this 'other'(right-brain) self, even though we are
connected to it by the corpus callosum [the nerves' knot
which joins the two brain hemispheres]."
Interpretation This quote is indicating that
of Nr. 9
a. we are guided in our everyday life mostly by the right hemisphere of the brain
b. we are guided in our everyday life mostly by the left hemisphere of the brain
c. we are guided in our everyday life neither by the right nor by the left hemisphere of
the brain
d. none of the above

"Immersion in magic and 'occultism' seems to demand a peculiar temperament; it can be seen in a dozen cases, from Paracelsus and
Cornelius Agrippa to Macgregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley, all of whom combined the temperament of a genuine 'seeker after
10 truth' with that of confidence trickster. ... . The main difference between Jung and Freud was that for Freud the world is divided into
sick people and 'normal' people, while Jung had always been fascinated by 'supernormal' people - saints and men of genius. Jung
wanted to find a connection between 'depth psychology' and supernatural people, and thought that he might have found it in alchemy,
which like certain earlier researchers he was inclined to see as a 'mystery religion'."

This quote implies that

a. people like Paracelsus and Cornelius Agrippa to Macgregor Mathers and Aleister
Crowley would have been considered as sick people by Freud
Interpretation
of Nr. 10
b. people like Paracelsus and Cornelius Agrippa to Macgregor Mathers and Aleister
Crowley would have been considered as supernormal people by Jung
c. neither Freud nor Jung were interested in alchemy
d. none of the above

"In the Hebrew Bible, as in mainstream Judaism to

this day, Satan never appears as Western
Christendom has come to know him, as the leader of
an 'evil empire,' an army of hostile spirits who make
war on God and humankind alike. As he first appears
in the Hebrew Bible, Satan is not necessarily evil, Elayne Pagels, The Origin of
much less opposed to God. On the contrary, he Satan. How Christians
appears in the book of Numbers and in Job as one of Demonized Jews, Pagans, and
Nr. 11 God's obedient servants - a messenger, or angel, a Heretics.(New York: Vintage
word that translates the Hebrew term for messenger Books, A Division of Random
(mal'āk) into Greek (angelos). In Hebrew, the angels House, Inc., 1996),
were often called 'sons of God' (bnē 'elōhīm), and pp. 39, 41, 42, 48.
were envisioned as the hierarchical ranks of a great
army, or the staff of a royal court. ... . The book of
Job, too, describes the satan as a supernatural
messenger, a member of God's royal court. But while
Balaam's satan protects him from harm, Job's satan
 takes a more adversarial role. Here the Lord himself
admits that the satan incited him to act against Job
(2:3). The story begins when the satan appears as an
angel, a 'son of God' (ben 'elōhīm), a term that, in
Hebrew idiom, often means 'one of the divine
beings.' ... . The Lord agrees to test Job, authorizing
the satan to afflict Job with devastating loss, ... .
When the satan appears again among the sons of
God on the appointed day, the Lord points out that
'Job still holds fast to his integrity, although you
incited me against him, to harm him without cause.
... .
"As Satan became an increasingly important and
personified figure, stories about his origin
proliferated. One group tells how one of the angels,
himself high in the heavenly hierarchy, proved
insubordinate to his commander in chief and so was
thrown out of heaven, demoted, and disgraced, an
echo of Isaiah's account of the fall of a great prince.
... .
"Far more influential in first-century Jewish and
Christian circles, however, was a second group of
apocryphal and pseudepigraphic stories, which tell
how lust drew the angelic 'sons of God' down to
earth. These stories derive from a cryptic account in
Genesis 6, which says: ["] When men began to
multiply on the earth, and daughters were born to
them, the sons of God [2, the footnote not in the
original, but by E.P.] saw the daughters of men, that
they were fair. ["]
"Some of these angels, transgressing the boundaries
that the Lord had established between heaven and
earth, mated with human women, and produced
offspring who were half angel, half human.
According to Genesis, these hybrids became 'giants
in the earth ... the mighty men of renown' (Gen. 6:4).
... .
Using your critical thinking, which one of the
following options could best fit the context of this
quotation put in fragments:
Interpretation a. One of the offsprings between one of the heavenly
of Nr.
11 beings and one of the women of the human species,
could not be seen at all as to be Jesus as born, he
also, as son of God, from a human virgin.
b. The spirit of God, though feminine in Hebrew, as
 producing Jesus from the Virgin Maria is identical to
the son of God as indicated in this quotation.
c. Jesus being called Son of God and the satan, as an
angel, being also called a 'son of God' (ben 'elōhīm)
are identical.
d. Son of God as applied to Jesus is not identical to
son of God as applied to Satan.

Sources
"... . Civilization is a product of the cerebral cortex.
"The language of the brain is not the DNA language of the
genes. Rather, what we know is encoded in cells called neurons
- microscopic electrochemical switching elements, typically a
few hundredths of a millimeter across. Each of us has perhaps a
hundred billions neurons, comparable to the number of stars in Carl Sagan,
the Milky Way Galaxy [Emphasis not in the original]. Many Cosmos, First
12 neurons have thousands of connections with their neighbors. Ballantine Books
These are something like a hundred trillion, 1014, such Edition: November
connections in the human cerebral cortex. ... . 1985, p. 229
"Even in sleep, the brain is pulsing, throbbing and flashing with
the complex business of human life - dreaming, remembering,
figuring things out. Our thoughts, visions and fantasies have a
physical reality [Emphasis not in the original]. A thought is
made of hundreds of electrochemical impulses. ... ."
a. Carl Sagan is saying that even God, angels and the like have to have a brain to be able to think.
Interpretation b. Carl Sagan is saying that Extraterrestrials have a brain similar to the one we have, otherwise they
of Nr. 12 could not think.
c. Carl Sagan is speaking about us, the humans as in the physical world.
d. Carl Sagan is speaking about us, the humans, both in the physical world and in the afterlife.

"I have written a biography of Wilhelm Reich, and I agree Colin Wilson et Damon
that Reich was dogmatic and paranoid, as well as being a Wilson, The Mammoth
13 thoroughly disagreeable character. But then, the trouble with Encyclopedia of the
Unsolved, (New York: Carol
Reich was that he had, like so many other psychoanalysts, & Graf Publishers, 2000), 3-
4.
borrowed from Freud a mantle of papal infallibility. All
 neurosis is sexual in origin, and neurotic person is incapable
of facing up to the sexual nature of his problems. You
disagree? It only proves that you have sexual problems that
you are afraid to acknowledge. In this respect Reich is like
Dr. Johnson; if his pistol misfires he will knock you down
with the butt. Anyone who disagrees with him must be
"mentally sick". But Gardner's own book is full of this same
tone of brutal dogmatism. ... . A century ago, Darwin’s
theory of evolution by natural selection was regarded as
scientifically unshakeable; today, most biologists have their
reservations about it. ... . It seems perfectly conceivable that
our descendants of the twenty-second century will wonder
how any of us could have been stupid enough to be taken in
by Darwin, Freud or Einstein."
This quote indicates that, according to the author:
a. there is such an infallibility to be accepted in theories of Freud, Reich,
Gardner, Darwin, or Einstein.
Interpretation
b. there is not such an infallibility to be accepted in theories of Freud, Reich,
of Nr.13
Gardner, Darwin, or Einstein.
c. that a and b above are compatible.
d. none of the above

"Early Christianity sprang out of Rome, but by the

eighth century had fossilized into the corrupt church of
the medieval papacy. ... [E]arly Christianity took the
wrong turning. He [Edward Campbell] sees the mission
of Jesus as an event of universal significance, an
attempt to introduce certain energies into the
evolutionary process - the energies of a selfless love. Colin Wilson et Damon
Campbell suggests that the Early Fathers 'rejected the Wilson, The Mammoth
wisdom component within which lay the techniques of Encyclopedia of the
14
developing consciousness.' They reasoned that nothing Unsolved, (New York: Carol
is necessary for spiritual evolution except the Christ. & Graf Publishers,
The 'heretic' Arius felt instinctively that this was a 2000),394-395.
mistake. His heresy consisted of the assertion that the
Son was not the equal of the Father - a dim recognition
that Jesus had been 'sent' into history at a particular time
for a particular purpose. When the Council of Nicaea
rejected this view in AD 325, they turned their back on
the 'Demiurgic Tradition.' ... ."
 According to the authors of this quote,
a. Campbell believes that not Jesus, but the Early Christianity took a wrong turning in
the evolutionary process of the humanity.
Interpretation b. Campbell believes that the Council of Nicaea in AD 325 accepted the view of
of Nr. 14 Arius.
c. Campbell believes that the Early Fathers integrated the wisdom component of Jesus
into the developing of consciousness.
d. None of the above

"Jung's idea of synchronicity (...) suggests some connection

between the mind and the world of physical matter which
finds no support in the western philosophy of science. Such
ideas indicate a movement away from the 'dead' universe of
nineteenth-century science and towards the 'intelligent Colin Wilson et Damon
universe' posited by Dr. David Foster. It could be argued Wilson, The Mammoth
15 Encyclopedia of the Unsolved,
that a 'hidden directorate', responsible for evolution, is only (New York: Carol & Graf
a logical extension of this idea. Publishers, 2000),399-400.

"Campbell mentions Yeat's book A Vision as an example of

a work inspired by 'the tradition'. ... . Even if the 'Hidden
Directorate' is accepted only on this level, it remains a
fascinating and fruitful hypothesis."
This quote is implying that
a. Jung's idea of synchronicity finds some support in the western philosophy of
Interpretation science
of Nr. 15 b. There is no 'hidden directorate', as a logical extension of the idea of intelligent universe as being responsible for evolution.
c. There is a 'hidden directorate', as a logical extension of the idea of intelligent universe as being responsible for evolution.
d. None of the above

1. Could it be known with what kind of speed? Certainly not the light's speed, because there is
not going through empty space. And with what speed does mental thought/activity exchange
information and let the result take its way to become a verbal expression thereof? E.P.

2. The "son of God", bnē 'elōhīm, as mentioned in Genesis, 6,2, has been differently translated
in the standard Bibles.
A. As "sons of God," in Annotated Bible with the Apocryph, 1973, The Holy Bible, Oxford
University Press, 1989, The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, 1989, The
Jerusalem Bible, 1966, Holy Bible, NKJV.
B. As "The sons of the gods," in The New English Bible, 1970.

C. As "The sons of Heaven," in the Catholic New American Bible, 1970.