Philosophy Wire: Placebo… Body… Spirit… Nothing…

A research exploring the strange boundaries of the placebo effect has turned up another mysterious oddity: placebos have the power to reduce neural markers of emotional distress, even in cases where people have been told in advance they are only taking a placebo, and not an active drug. [1]

Obviously the spirit affects the body.
We think it is amazing that someone feels better when he just thinks of it.
But the real mystery is the opposite!

Why do we feel worse when we do not even think that we are worse?

Obviously the body defines the spirit.
Stop thinking about reasons.
Look at things which happen without them.
Only there will you meet life.
Balancing on a trembling rope.
Its triumph might be a reason to cry for…

If everything affects everything.

What is left for nothing?

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Philosophy Wire: Body. Placebo. Materialism. Stupidity.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2017-07-07]: Scientists have identified for the first time the region in the brain responsible for the "placebo effect" in pain relief. [1] Even the greatest proof for the superiority of the spirit over the body, can be transformed to a proof for materialism. As long as you believe in it… Stupidity has no limits. Sorry I didn’t mean to write that. My body dictated it.

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Philosophy Wire: Body. Spirit. Decay. Immortality.

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-09-29]: At least one part of the human brain may be able to process information the same way in older age as it does in the prime of life, according to new research. [1] Do we need a research like that to start looking at the obvious? The body ages. But the human minds stays young for ever.Search inside you. And you will see that you already know the truth...

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Philosophy Wire: Definitions, spirit, magic...

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-03-13]:

The world of spirit is something "magical".
The world of spirit is something "material".
The world of spirit is something "immaterial".

We disagree about the name of the same thing. We accept its properties, but we are deeply disturbed if someone names it in a different way than what we want. But does it even matter how we are going to name it?

Spirit, matter, God, One, Nothing...

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective…

Philosophy Wire: Sun, frowning, puppets...

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2014-03-10]: Frowning in sunlight can make you angry. [1] Make your self smile. Force your body. And the spirit will follow. It is because the spirit is ruled by the body. Right? Or... Wait a minute! What was "that" which "forced your face to smile"? Are we puppets? Or puppeteers?

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Philosophy Wire: Cells, sacred, spirit...

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2013-06-26]: Can human body cells be part of the road toward spiritual enlightment? [see here]

Philosophy Wire: Internal temperature, mind, meditation...

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2013-04-10]:

A team of researchers at the National University of Singapore showed for the first time that g-tummo meditation has been used by Tibetan nuns to increase their core body temperature.
The researchers, who published their findings in the journal PLoS ONE, collected data during a unique ceremony in Tibet in which nuns raised their core body temperature and dried wet sheets which were wrapped around their bodies in -25 degree Celsius temperatures.

The nuns used two techniques: Vase breath and concentrative visualization. ‘Vase breath’ is a specific breathing technique which causes thermogenesis, which is a process of heat production. The other technique, concentrative visualization, involves focusing on a mental image of flames along the spinal cord in order to prevent heat losses. Using electroencephalography (EEG) recordings and temperature measures, the team observed increases in core body temperature up to 38.3 degree Celsius - normal body temperature is 37 degrees Celsius. [web news]

This is an impressive result, given that the hippocampus which controls human body temperature is not believed to be controlled consciously. Mind over body? Or just an unknown power of the brain?

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Philosophy Wire: Old people laugh… Why not anyway?

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2011-11-03]: Scientists found a way to reduce the cells which do not have the ability to split, with resulting in mice looking more “young” [source: BBC News]. What they “forgot” is that the spirit of a man has nothing to do with the meat from which we are consisted (to paraphrase Kazantzakis). Old people can also laugh and be happy like children…

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective...

Philosophy Wire: Language, civilization and...spirit?

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2011-04-16]: Research published in Nature pulled the conclusion that the structure of language developed by different people depends on their culture and civilization and not on the biological structure of the brain [source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13049700]. Is the language a creation of the brain or not? If everything is based and derived from the brain, how can such a research reach such a conclusion? Isn't the brain which drives our civilization? Or is there room for what we call "spirit" after all?

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective...