“It is preposterous to infer that something is unknowable simply because it is not known”. Patricia S. Churchland – Touching a Nerve – The Self as Brain.

Posted on | November 9, 2013 | No Comments

“It is preposterous to infer that something is unknowable simply because it is not known”. Patricia S. Churchland – Touching a Nerve – The Self as Brain. Offering a theory for a phenomenon is very much different from defining that event and calling it fact. Humans have been “guessing” about reason and cause their entire existence and in many cases this has lead to serious research and observations over centuries. The cave people and “ancient” civilizations drew near perfect constellation maps based on years of observation and crude record keeping. In addition, old villages, places of worship, and even human waste removal were based on discussions that took place for many generations. It is an openness to answers that do not fit our usual criteria that allows for great leaps and slow processes of progress and improvement. It is from collaboration and an openness to others perspectives that we begin as a society to develop greater understanding of the reality of our existence and planet. Shawn Nichols

We are both less than we thought and so much more than we could have imagined. Patricia S. Churchland – Touching a Nerve: The Self as Brain

Posted on | November 8, 2013 | No Comments

“Deep resistance to knowledge that betokens a change in a whole way of thinking has a long history.” Patricia S. Churchland – Touching a Nerve: The Self as Brain As a former artist I have long resisted the idea that any artist’s creation could be anything less than the spirit-given honor of being able to see and interpret what others do not. The artistic process, however one comes to it, involves a very personal dialogue with deep emotion and very personal sensory perceptions. The understanding that this communion is completely different from others’ experience made it that much more compelling and special. Later in life as I studied neurobiology and psychology, I began to understand that neural synaptic process was both created by my experience and perceptions but in turn colors my new experiences and perceptions. In this way, talents (if we can call them that) develop in each of us and are filtered, blended, and refined. For so long these two concepts of artistic expression and reaffirmed neural biological processes were such conflicts for me. With scientific awareness, I was no longer an artist but a collector of experiences that over time became more focused and delineated, giving my hands the iterative experiences of drawing and brushwork. This revelation creates an existential crisis for this artist but I know intellectually that it is true and factual. Patricia Churchland has written a very powerful book that examines the real science and ethical considerations of The Self as The Brain. She explains in language both comforting and scientific that we have misled and been misled by mythology that pulls a curtain to hide our fears and incomplete knowledge. Like Galileo, she reports the real facts to people who may not want to hear them. These ideas, revolutionary in so many facets of human society, seem to say: we are both less than we thought and so much more than we could have imagined. Churchland says, let’s stop pretending. Let’s stop believing that thoughts and behavior are unrelated to that which we already know. Free will is an opportunity to make choices based both on what we know and leaps of faith based on others experiences. Free will is about making considered choices. I found that Churchland’s well-presented information explains issues surrounding immigration, economic psychology, and tribal warfare. As soon as we stop pretending, we begin to see the wiring that constitutes how others reason. This is important work for people involved in conflict resolution. Shawn M. Nichols PhD(c)

Process Safety – Failure to Learn, Andrew Hopkins

Posted on | August 25, 2013 | No Comments

Process Safety – Failure to Learn, Andrew Hopkins Process Safety Process safety refers to the level of asset, technical, or equipment integrity. If we enforce the wearing of safety goggles, institute fail-safe employee procedures, and instill a constant awareness of dangerous or hazardous conditions in employees (personal safety), we still have not calculated process safety of the technical conditions in which they work. If you drive carefully, but your tires are low or worn, you are experiencing lower levels of process safety. If coach your children in safe driving habits but have not serviced the car properly you have not covered process safety. Andrew Hopkins makes the point that too many of us are dealing with new “normative” levels of degraded or high-risk mechanical malfunction or failure at work and in our own lives. When we shrug our shoulders and say something like, “it’s been acting funny lately”, or “if I joggle the handle it starts right up”, we are putting ourselves and others at risk in large industrial, light equipment handling, and corporate work environments. Some companies make a point of saying they have gone X time without an onsite injury. Have they calculated the near misses? These “almost-a-problem” occurrences are the new checklist for organizations dealing with long-term personnel and equipment/asset safety. In the long run, postponement and denial will cost lives and corporate profits. Shawnnichols.com Process Safety, Failure to Learn, Andrew Hopkins, asset integrity, technical integrity, equipment integrity, safety goggles, institute procedures, hazardous conditions, “normative” levels, large industrial, light equipment handling, corporate environments, near misses, denial, corporate profits

Organizational Risk Blindness, Failure to Learn – Andrew Hopkins

Posted on | August 23, 2013 | No Comments

Organizational Risk Blindness Failure to Learn – Andrew Hopkins Organizational Risk Blindness Lean and efficiency are two words and theories in organizational practice that can create major disasters and “near misses” in group endeavors. The first, lean, implies that extra, critical eyes, creative minds, and group synergy are expensive, therefore a drag on the bottom line, and contribute to bloat. And who wants bloated organizations? The second term, efficiency says that we must eliminate individuals and processes in order to make a system better for “the process”. Humans create the endeavor and should be the recipients of such a system’s positive outputs. Generally they are left out of the benefits as well as the process as unemployment becomes an acceptable condition in order to achieve profit and ultimately, greater costs. Hopkins’s profound book is a practical, common sense view of a specific disaster that is perpetuated constantly in the pursuit of short-term profits to appease “shareholders”. Have you ever met shareholders who wish for the deaths of innocent workers in their investments? I have not, but based on Hopkins’s description of CEO’s calculated bonuses I can understand where the real incentive to slash costs to and beyond the point of danger comes from. I understood far more about the refining process and even with my business background marvel at the risks these organizations take with lives, equipment assets, and the environment. I do not mention the organization named in the book except to say that it is a horrible accident at a refinery. Hopkins makes an excellent point when he says those in charge are only doing “what we expect them to do”. The companies and their leaders are making our lifestyles possible. Shawnnichols.com « go back — keep looking »

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• Dealing with Death’s Vortex
• Assessing Your World View- The Sand Castle
• Enlightenment and Addiction on the Internet: Neural Receptors Ramp Up
• The Perversity of Education
• Saul Bellow’s notion, “Warehouse of Good Intentions”.
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