Krishnamurti and Education: Application of Liberation

This paper is an exploration of Krishnamurti’s ideas on education in relation to American institutions of public education. It explores the K-12 levels and collegiate level of education. While reflecting on the nature of American public education, the paper also poses the question of how Krishnamurti’s philosophy may be applied by the educator within the system. Along with looking at both the nature of American public education and Krishnamurti’s philosophy, I include my own quest on how, if possible, to apply Krishnamurti’s teachings in the college classroom. Looking at multiple aspects of the subject, I reflect on my own conflicts in how to achieve liberation for the student or to provide an environment in which students may liberate themselves from conditioned ways of thinking. The paper concludes with a list of suggestions for a modified way of bridging the gap between Krishnamurti’s philosophy and American public higher education

Promethean Mythopoetics & Evolutionary Consciousness: A Theoretical Journey Through the Realms of Metaphor, Media, and Mind

The focus of this essay is exploring the concept of the critically acclaimed comic classic Promethea (2000) by Alan Moore (writer) and J. H. Williams III (artist) as an integral work of art. To that end I utilize the integral theories of cultural historian and poet Jean Gebser (1985), and theorist Ken Wilber (2000) Having introduced the general themes and theoretical lenses, mentioned above, which are used to see Promethea, there is first an exploration of the earliest origins of consciousness according to the integral theories of Wilber (2000) and Gebser (1985). From there, a brief exploration of the significance of cave paintings and the movement from the archaic to the magical stage of consciousness is offered. Following a brief exploration of the mythic frame of consciousness we arrive at the mental-rational-egoic phase of consciousness, our current phase, described with a literary-theoretical exploration. The literary-theoretical exploration begins with the ancient Greek work Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus (480/1966), and then to the nineteenth Century British Romantic works Prometheus Unbound by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1820/1966) and Frankenstein (or The Modern Prometheus) by Mary Shelley (1818/2008). These works are examined and placed in context in terms of the Wilberian (2000) All Quadrants, All Levels (AQAL) approach, both for their mythic underpinnings in consciousness as well as to demonstrate the tradition from which Moore’s Promethea emerges. Significant time is then spent with a literary-philosophical-theoretical critique of the work of Promethea in terms of how it can be seen through the lens of the integral theories of Gebser (1985) and Wilber (2000), its place in the AQAL framework, and its use of the integral theory of Hermetic Qabalistic Tarot to accomplish the goal of being an integral work of art. A general conclusion follows and then a reflection upon these points

Be Your Own Guru: Authoritarianism and the Problem of the Guru in Conscious Evolution

This paper is an exploration of the problematic nature of the guru/disciple relationship, specifically, in Western Society. It begins with a discussion of the nature of spirituality and the spiritual quest. To contextualize the process, I also discuss my own spiritual path based in Roman Catholicism, Taoism, Buddhism and my thoughts on the philosophy of Krishnamurti. I explore the topic of the authoritarian follower in some depth. Its connection is symbiotic to the existence of the authoritarian leader. This connection is demonstrated within this paper as well. Additionally, I look at the flaws in some well-known guru figures and how that has led to an erosion of confidence in the idea of the guru in the Western World. Additionally, more subtle forms of authoritarianism are explored; politically, in the world of television news, entertainment and, even, sports. Finally, I explore Krishnamurti’s ideas of creative thinking and how it opposes the static nature of the guru. I ask the question: might Krishnamurti be considered a guru, though he rejects gurus? Ultimately, I conclude with the idea that while the guru/disciple relationship may be healthy and beneficial for some people I have found it more beneficial, based on my own experience, to develop without one

Self reported aggravating activities do not demonstrate a consistent directional pattern in chronic non specific low back pain patients: An observational study

Question: Do the self-reported aggravating activities of chronic non-specific low back pain patients demonstrate a consistent directional pattern? Design: Cross-sectional observational study. Participants: 240 chronic non specific low back pain patients. Outcome measure: We invited experienced clinicians to classify each of the three self-nominated aggravating activities from the Patient Specific Functional Scale by the direction of lumbar spine movement. Patients were described as demonstrating a directional pattern if all nominated activities moved the spine into the same direction. Analyses were undertaken to determine if the proportion of patients demonstrating a directional pattern was greater than would be expected by chance. Results: In some patients, all tasks did move the spine into the same direction, but this proportion did not differ from chance (p = 0.328). There were no clinical or demographic differences between those who displayed a directional pattern and those who did not (all p > 0.05). Conclusion: Using patient self-reported aggravating activities we were unable to demonstrate the existence of a consistent pattern of adverse movement in patients with chronic non-specific low back pain

Sinorhizobium Meliloti, A Bacterium Lacking The Autoinducer-2 (AI-2) Synthase, Responds To AI-2 Supplied By Other Bacteria

Many bacterial species respond to the quorum-sensing signal autoinducer-2 (AI-2) by regulating different niche-specific genes. Here, we show that Sinorhizobium meliloti, a plant symbiont lacking the gene for the AI-2 synthase, while not capable of producing AI-2 can nonetheless respond to AI-2 produced by other species. We demonstrate that S. meliloti has a periplasmic binding protein that binds AI-2. The crystal structure of this protein (here named SmlsrB) with its ligand reveals that it binds (2R,4S)-2-methyl-2,3,3,4-tetrahydroxytetrahydrofuran (R-THMF), the identical AI-2 isomer recognized by LsrB of Salmonella typhimurium. The gene encoding SmlsrB is in an operon with orthologues of the lsr genes required for AI-2 internalization in enteric bacteria. Accordingly, S. meliloti internalizes exogenous AI-2, and mutants in this operon are defective in AI-2 internalization. S. meliloti does not gain a metabolic benefit from internalizing AI-2, suggesting that AI-2 functions as a signal in S. meliloti. Furthermore, S. meliloti can completely eliminate the AI-2 secreted by Erwinia carotovora, a plant pathogen shown to use AI-2 to regulate virulence. Our findings suggest that S. meliloti is capable of \u27eavesdropping\u27 on the AI-2 signalling of other species and interfering with AI-2-regulated behaviours such as virulence

Expulsion of Symbiotic Algae during Feeding by the Green Hydra – a Mechanism for Regulating Symbiont Density?

Background: Algal-cnidarian symbiosis is one of the main factors contributing to the success of cnidarians, and is crucial for the maintenance of coral reefs. While loss of the symbionts (such as in coral bleaching) may cause the death of the cnidarian host, over-proliferation of the algae may also harm the host. Thus, there is a need for the host to regulate the population density of its symbionts. In the green hydra, Chlorohydra viridissima, the density of symbiotic algae may be controlled through host modulation of the algal cell cycle. Alternatively, Chlorohydra may actively expel their endosymbionts, although this phenomenon has only been observed under experimentally contrived stress conditions. Principal Findings: We show, using light and electron microscopy, that Chlorohydra actively expel endosymbiotic algal cells during predatory feeding on Artemia. This expulsion occurs as part of the apocrine mode of secretion from the endodermal digestive cells, but may also occur via an independent exocytotic mechanism. Significance: Our results demonstrate, for the first time, active expulsion of endosymbiotic algae from cnidarians under natural conditions. We suggest this phenomenon may represent a mechanism whereby cnidarians can expel excess symbiotic algae when an alternative form of nutrition is available in the form of prey

Romantic Partnerships and the Dispersion of Social Ties: A Network Analysis of Relationship Status on Facebook

A crucial task in the analysis of on-line social-networking systems is to identify important people --- those linked by strong social ties --- within an individual's network neighborhood. Here we investigate this question for a particular category of strong ties, those involving spouses or romantic partners. We organize our analysis around a basic question: given all the connections among a person's friends, can you recognize his or her romantic partner from the network structure alone? Using data from a large sample of Facebook users, we find that this task can be accomplished with high accuracy, but doing so requires the development of a new measure of tie strength that we term `dispersion' --- the extent to which two people's mutual friends are not themselves well-connected. The results offer methods for identifying types of structurally significant people in on-line applications, and suggest a potential expansion of existing theories of tie strength.Comment: Proc. 17th ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW), 201