“In February, 1971, Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell experienced the little understood phenomenon sometimes called the “Overview Effect”. He describes being completely engulfed by a profound sense of universal connectedness. Without warning, he says, a feeing of bliss, timelessness, and connectedness began to overwhelm him.”

read more | digg story

The above inserted with some neat tools digg.com has going on.

One of the comments on digg was along the lines of “they’d better not send religious fundamentalists up there for this study.” I agree, in practice (fundamentalists tend to have pretty much all of their figuring out figured out, and are closed to new ideas). In theory? Nah. Another guy said, in response to that, “if it’s physiological it doesn’t matter.” My characteristically long-winded and probably pedantic reply to both follows.

“I could just say ‘Go watch the second-third of Contact!’ but I do (at least partially) agree with RobertCrumby. Where I disagree is on the exclusion of ‘religious fundies.’ Regardless of whether we agree with them, the perceptions of those with whom we might ideologically differ is as important and illustrative as our own perception, be it secular or spiritual, in trying to measure human reaction when exposed to the immeasurable.

I need to make a dick and/or fart joke after having typed the above. I’ll think of one and get back to you.

And in response to rchargel, it’s a Cartesian philosophical issue, I guess, but unlinking the physiological from psychological or numinous experience seems like trying to tune in a radio station without a radio. We’ve got to use the tools we have to measure the things we can’t see, and spirituality and physiological response might be two words for the same thing. The issue, I think, is one of sequence.

Now that joke may need to involve poo or monkeys. I’m getting out of here before I get in more trouble.”

Still working on the monkey dick/fart/poo joke. Man that is a bad string of words to put slashes between.

I bought the shortwave radio about two months ago and it’s enormous fun. I’ll post more about it later.

I’m overdue to update—I’m overdue for a lot of things—but I’m carving out more time for myself and for the things that are important to me (and shutting the fucking door on things that aren’t, or shouldn’t be). More later.