Bøger af Doug Baldwin

In an earlier publication called Consciousness, A New Slant on an Old Conundrum, I made the case for a cognitive duality in human beings-a duality (not left/brain versus right/brain) that is supported by anatomical, physiological, and evolutionary evidence. The brain and nervous system evolved to allow for straight-ahead navigation. To navigate requires physiological bilaterality and a dual-sensorimotor control system (the mind). Consciousness is a sense (like seeing and hearing) and there are two kinds of consciousness. Chapter One of this book summarizes this theory and provides the supporting logic and evidence. Because of our unique cognitive duality, we have the potential to evolve through levels of consciousness. These levels are the focus of Chapter Two. Conflicts and responsibilities arise because of these levels of consciousness and because of cognitive duality. Chapters Three through Eight explore different disciplines-for example, religion, philosophy, and psychology-that have grappled with our innate human duality, and the confusion caused by being our own twin. Knowledge of our complex cognitive design comes with a deep responsibility to evolve individually and collectively.

Here is the bottom line: just as the eyes are the portals for vision, and just as the ears are the portals for hearing, proprioception, as a global term for the combination of all the internal senses, is the portal for consciousness. Human beings have two minds. One mind creates space, the other mind creates time. Unfortunately, these two cognitive processing networks don't know they have a twin-that is the great paradox of our existence as human beings, the irony of it all. We have two minds-not just two sets of behaviors, not just left-brain/right-brain, or top-brain/bottom-brain, and not just two theories, although I base my ideas on an evolving discipline called dual-process theory. I contend that we have a hardwired, no-getting-around-it, dual-cognition. Our dual minds did not come about because we have two brain hemispheres-I don't mean right-brain versus left-brain when I speak about our cognitive duality. I am referring to something new in the debate about consciousness. - The reason evolution created brains and nervous systems is so that animals could navigate from one location to another. Trees don't have nervous systems, brains, senses, and muscles, because they do not navigate-they are rooted to the earth.

This book has six major goals: One: The book presents a new way to think about the development of human consciousness. Two: The book presents a new category of special education called "navigational disability." Three: The book presents a philosophical and evolutionary new way to define the author's profession "orientation and mobility." Four: The book honors the lives of remarkable blind individuals. The author has created a title for people on a mission called "Knights for the Blind in the Battle Against Darkness." Five: The book features the ideas and the mission of Daniel Kish and his organization World Access for the Blind. Six: The book contains vignettes that reflect the authors interests and passions. It is, therefore, (and in retrospect), a kind of memoir. Perhaps most importantly, this book is a source of inspiration for anyone who reads it. Stories about amazing figures, such as Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan, bring to life the unusual energy and dedication of the Knights for the Blind. The accompanying exploration of consciousness is new and fascinating and is a valuable contribution to this complex subject. The first in a series of connected works, Bugs, Blindness, and the Pursuit of Happiness is about the meaning of life and our desire to be happy-despite all obstacles. Get ready for a new understanding of human spiritual makeup and consciousness that will forever change your view of those with disabilities.