Originally Posted by phousel (Post 2128349)

Wait! Bigfoot is a "ruse"?

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive (Post 2127965)

Early science had it that there were five planets (six, if you counted the moon). We didn't know that Uranus and Neptune existed--until we did.

Early science had it that the Earth was the center of everthing (I mean, the VISUAL proof was right before your eyes). We didn't know that the Earth was simply one of the planets that rotated around the sun--until we did.

Until quite recently, cutting-edge "science" had it that disease was spread by various things: poisoned wells, or taking too many baths, or by smelling bad smells, etc. etc. We didn't know that microscopic critters that we couldn't see but rode around in various media such as the fur of rats, the guts of mosquitoes or the legs of houseflies and spread often horrific diseases--until we did.

And so on. There are probably hundreds of examples of what "common sense" told us in the past, that turned out to be absolutely false.

I find it interesting, if a bit specious, to claim that "total consciousness" exists of nothing more than knowing that something doesn't exist, simply because we've not found proof positive that it does. We're built to perceive things on a very narrow spectrum and it is only as we develop methods of perception that expand that spectrum do we learn just how narrow our "vision" was. Telescopes, for example, showed us the wonders of the universe in ways that we never could have dreamed. Anton van Leeuwenhoek's invention of the microscope allowed us to see those little critters that spread the disease. For millennia we stood in awe of birds and how they could take to the air, having very little idea of just how--until a couple of brothers named Orville and Wilbur Wright came along and proved that it was not only possible but actually pretty easy--IF one understood the principles. Birds and fish cover thousands of miles to nest or lay their eggs where they themselves were hatched. We still don't really know how they do it but the fact that we don't know HOW they do it doesn't mean that their ability to do so doesn't exist.

I doubt that total consciousness--or total understanding, which is what is really being discussed here--will never be achieved. But that doesn't mean that it isn't a worthy goal. The route to expanding consciousness first begins with an open mind; what we accomplish after that is dependent only on the vision of the people who allow their minds to BE open.

I do know one thing. And that one thing that has been proven time and time again to be an absolute barrier AGAINST expanding our consciousness is "Common sense".

Originally Posted by DaveZ (Post 2128338)

Good topic and conversation, thank you for the post.

We don’t have a working, scientific theory of human (or even animal) consciousness beyond I exist, therefore I am. It is under constant study though.

"I Think, Therefore I Am" Descartes
used as the Archimedian Point

Originally Posted by Whitley (Post 2128596)

Touché! Thanks for the correction!

Originally Posted by jimjamuser (Post 2128441)

I remember reading that humans use only a small % of their brains. So, maybe in the future, there will be opportunity to use more brain cells. There are stories or instances where a person has a stroke or gets hit by lightning and then suddenly, without prior training, can play a piano or a violin like a virtuoso.

i always wondered........dolphins and elephants have BIGGER sized brains than humans, so what has held them back? Humans have opposable thumbs and obviously, dolphins and elephants do NOT. I wonder how smart they could be if they had opposable thumbs. Also, it is a shame that elephants get hunted for ivory by poachers. For that matter, how smart would dog / wolves be with opposable thumbs. Or even raccoons? Perhaps these specie are also evolving? Just some food for thought.

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive (Post 2128406)

Bigfoot is real. Ask any Northern Minnesotan.

I dated her in high school.

Originally Posted by fdpaq0580 (Post 2128606)

And I remember how you stepped on my feet when we danced.

Originally Posted by Rich Iwaszko (Post 2127897)

Reaching total conscientious is nothing more than having common sense. We know that crop circles are man made, we know that Bigfoot is a ruse, we know the UFO's that have not been faked are secret military projects, and we know that we have not been visited by aliens. Area 51 was a ruse by the government to scare the Russians into thinking we had alien technology.
Star Wars defense system was the same. There are no alien creatures in the sea, in mountain caves, or in a government lab. Why do we spend so much time trying to fool people into believing something that is not real?

Originally Posted by thirdoffive (Post 2128648)

those were your feet?

Originally Posted by Eg_cruz (Post 2128664)

How can you be 100% sure we have not been visited by aliens. It would be foolish to think in an infinite universe we are the only living beings.