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Can a man comprehend a god?
Who dares speak for god?
Perhaps even the gods, have gods, who have gods.
To understand the mind and brain we must understand the nature of the universe. To comprehend the cosmos we must first understand consciousness, for the act of perceiving imposes structure, order, sequences, and abstractions, and it is these fragments of the totality which gives rise to knowing and what comes to be known; a consequence of filtering out all that can't be known, perceived, or understood. We can only comprehend what we can comprehend, and all that which is beyond our understanding is unknown and hidden from us by the limitations imposed by the brain and mind. Our reality is a product of our perceptions. What we know of the cosmos is a reflection of the human mind and the mind is a reflection of the cosmos.
Therefore, to understand the nature of reality, to grasp at those hints of realities which are beyond our grasp, we must first understand the brain and mind and its limitations and capabilities. To comprehend consciousness, we must understand how it evolved, and recognize that evolution has not stopped with humans, but will continue into the infinite. Certainly the brain of a reptile cannot understand the universe. Why should we believe we are sufficiently evolved to understand what we may not even perceive? Evolution will not stop with modern humans. Those of the limitless future will understand what we can't yet comprehend.
I have sought to understand not only where we are going, but where we have been, and how we came to be... and this leads into the future and backwards into the past, to the first life forms to call Earth "home" and then to their ancestors. This journey has led me to question the very nature of life and to the realization that life is an intrinsic feature of the living, infinite universe, for this is where our origins lie.
Quantum Physics: Consciousness and the cosmos are one and the same.
My quest began in my youth, with a desire to understand the nature of the human mind and the cosmos we live in. I studied the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, and then astronomy, cosmology, and quantum physics; pieces of a grand puzzle, which in my mind, were all linked. I began my career as a scientist in the 1970s by publishing major scientific discoveries in biology and neuroscience. I discovered and proved the role of hormones on sex differences in behavior and sex differences in learning; the role of early environmental influences on learning, memory, intelligence, curiosity, exploratory behavior, and neuroplasticity; I proved that primate brain cells were profoundly effected by early experience and that primate brain cells could regenerate and recover function based on experience and the elimination of neuro-competition; I proved neuroplasticity and functional recovery in the primate brain. I understood the environment acts on gene selection, and altering the environment profoundly effects gene expression; which led me to realize the genome contained thousands of genes which had not yet been expressed and which had been inherited from ancient ancestors. When I studied slices of brain under a microscope, I saw patterns suggestive of planets, stars, and galaxies.
Neuroplasticity, hormones and sex differences, environmental influences on learning and memory: These were revolutionary discoveries at the time, in the 1970s when all this was thought to be impossible, and I was attacked, especially by those who feared my discoveries about the biology of sex differences. I continued to make and publish major discoveries in biology, consciousness, and the neurosciences, published best selling highly acclaimed books with Plenum Publishing (Perseus, Basic Books), Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Kluwer, etc., and was offered major contracts by Academic Press and Nova Science publishers. I was invited to speak at U.C Berkeley, and other prestigious universities, and my works were reprinted by major universities and medical schools, including Harvard.
In 1993 I published "The Naked Neuron. Evolution and the Languages of the Body and the Brain" and subsequently published considerable material on evolution. This was my third book and many would follow. In 2000 Nova Science Publishers offered me a contract to publish my book, Astrobiology. I turned them down and published with another company and then continued my work in physics, cosmology, genetics, neuroscience and biology.
In 2009, I publish yet another major theoretical article, accompanied by 12 peer reviews, detailing my theory, based on genetics, biology, and astrophysics, that life on Earth came from other planets; and I created highly rated documentary films explaining my views on the origins of Earthly life and the infinite cosmos.
We are chemical, quantum, and biological beings, and the average person is, average, and not very intelligent. Biological beings are motivated by basic needs: hunger, thirst, self-preservation, and fear. Ignorance breeds fear. Change breeds fear. What is not understood can breed fear. What is feared is often hated.
Throughout history there have been people who try to prevent the advancement of science; the torches and pitch forks crowd who lumber forth, grunting in fear, seeking to destroy what frightens them and what they don't understand. Understandably, my work frightens many people.
We have lost an entire generation who have been brainwashed, tricked, and fooled into believing that anyone who questions Darwin's theory or the hypothetical "Big Bang" is a Bible-thumping Creation Scientist preaching Intelligent Design. In fact, Darwin trained to be a theologian and in the last paragraph of his famous book attributed everything to god the "creator", whereas the theory of the "Big Bang" was first proposed by a Catholic priest, with the backing of the Catholic Church, to make the Bible scientific. These are the "creation scientists."
I embrace the theory of evolution but reject Darwinism and the theory of the Big Bang. My views are the antithesis of that held by theologians, the Church, and the scientific establishment. The theory of the Big Bang is creationism; i.e., the universe is finite and was created. An eternal, infinite universe, does not require a creator, and this is my position. Most theologians and certainly the Church believe life on Earth originated on Earth, as detailed in the Bible, after a creator god blessed Earth with life giving powers. I believe the evidence demonstrates conclusively that life on Earth came from other planets.
And as I anticipated, given the history of science, yahoos emerged from under every rock. Unable to attack my science, they began posting bizarre lies on the internet and attacking and accusing me of every conceivable "sin" and falsely claiming I am a Creation Scientist when in fact I reject creationism, I reject religion, and do not believe that some god created the cosmos.
Three hundred years ago, they would have tried to burn me. Sigh, this is just the way it is, and there is nothing which can be done about it. These are inferior minds, mice squeaking about what they don't understand. My critics are not defending science, they are anti-science, and wish only to prevent the advancement of science by condemning all those who refuse to bow to their idols, and demanding we accept religion masquerading as science.
This is the history of science and we must accept it.
I don't claim the mantle of "truth." I present to you, the reader, only those fragments of this grand puzzle which I have pieced together; and so much remains to be discovered. I don't write for the masses. What is rare is for the rare.
and coiled 'round on planets' knees and shooting stars to ponder its depths in the cathedral of human consciousness.... ... in the mirror of the sea of human consciousness... ... to peer and reflect upon its soul... ... as mirrored in the rising tides of human consciousness...
Rhawn Joseph, Ph.D.
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--Arthur Schopenhauer
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A VERY BRIEF BIOGRAHICAL RESEARCH NOTE
Dr. Joseph began his scholarly studies as a boy and first began conducting scientific research when he was still a teenager in high school and later was given laboratory space, equipment, funding, and animals, to conduct his own studies by the powers-that-be, even though he had not yet earned an advanced degree. Joseph graduated in the top 3% of his class, and with a GPA of 3.83.
Dr. Joseph obtained his Ph.D. from UHS/The Chicago Medical School, and completed his training at the VAMC/Yale University Medical School Seizure Unit, Department of Neurology, Neuropsychology Section. Joseph completed the Ph.D. program, including his Ph.D. dissertation in two years, and by graduation had more scientific publications than most of the faculty.
Dr. Joseph's first scientific monograph, The Neuropsychology of Development, was published in 1982 and generated world wide attention, and was translated and published by foreign scientific journals and reprinted by numerous universities and medical schools including Harvard.
Dr. Joseph pioneered research on early environmental influences on the brain and behavior, and demonstrated conclusively, the profound effects of the environment and/or hormonal influences on learning, memory, intelligence, perception, arousal, attention, sex differences, and the developing brain. Indeed, until Dr. Joseph proved otherwise, the vast majority of scientists dismissed the role of early experience as a factor in intellectual development and learning and memory, claiming instead, for example, that subjects reared under deprived conditions make more errors on problem solving tasks because they are "more exploratory."
Dr. Joseph demonstrated that rather than "more exploratory" deprived animals were "less exploratory" and more impulsive and had significant difficulty inhibiting irrelevant and self-destructive behavior. Dr. Joseph demonstrated that not only did these animals have significant learning deficits, but once a task was learned, they immediately began forgetting, such that learning as well as short term and long term memory were profoundly effected by deprived rearing conditons. Until Dr. Joseph demonstated otherwise, scientists, as well as the media, and professional women describing themselves as "radical feminists" argued that there were no sex differences in thinking and behavior, and that what some claimed to be sex differences were "sexist stereotypes." Dr. Joseph demonstrated that the same exact sex differences can be found in other species, that these sex differences are due to the presence or absence of hormones such as testostereone during the critical period of brain differentiation, and that when females and males are reared in an enriched or deprived environment, that males continued to outperform females on spatial measures of cognition, such as maze learning.
Hence, by the close of the 1970s, and before he had obtained an advanced degree, Joseph had demonstrated conclusively that enriched rearing conditions significantly improve learning, memory, and intellectual functioning; and that sex differences in learning, are maintained regardless of rearing experiences and are neurologically and hormonally based (Joseph, 1979, Joseph & Gallagher, 1980; Joseph et al., 1978). Moreover, Dr. Joseph was among the first to demonstrate neural plasticity in the primate brain, and was the first to demonstrate that atrophied primate brain cells could be functionally regenerated and could regain lost perceptual and functional capabilities (Joseph & Casagrande, 1978, 1980; Casagrande & Joseph, 1978, 1980); and in the 1990s discovered that mammalian brain cells continue to be generated during adulthood and have the capacity to divide (Joseph, 1998abc).
Dr. Joseph is one of the founders of the field of human developmental neuropsychology, and in 1982, he published a neurological and developmental theory of cognition, emotion, memory, and language that has been experimentally verified and widely adopted. In his 1982 monograph, featured on the cover of the Journal of Clinical Psychology, he presented a comprehensive new theory on the neurological organization and development of language, and introduced the concept of "limbic language," and throughout the 1980s provided experimental support for his convergence-gap filling language axis theory of speech, and which has now been repeatedy experimentally verified and which numerous scientists now champion as their own.
 In his 1982 monograph, Dr. Joseph also detailed the role of neural networks in human emotion, memory, and cognition. He was the first to detail the role of the limbic system, including the amygdala, in human language, personality, and the development of emotional disturbances (e.g., Joseph, 1982, 1990, 1992). Moreover, in his 1982, 1986, and 1988 monographs, Dr. Joseph detailed the neurological foundations for "confabulation" and self-deception. He was the first to detail how false memories may be generated to fill in gaps in memory. In the 1980s, Dr. Joseph also published a number of studies on "split-brain" functioning in adults and children, demonstrating, experimentally, the presence of two independent mental realms, localized side by side in the right and left hemisphere. In his studies on split-brain adults, Joseph provided compelling evidence that the right and left hemisphere can independently maintain a separate stream of consciousness, and each may have its own unique likes and dislikes in matters of food, friends, TV-shows, and even clothing. In his published studies on split-brain (dual mental) functioning in children, Dr. Joseph demonstrated that young children in some respects function as if the right and left hemisphere are partially disconnected (a function, in part, of corpus callosum immaturity) and that information and memories maintained within the right hemisphere cannot always be completely transferred to the language dominant half of the brain which thus remains "unconscious" of these impulses and knowledge sources. Dr. Joseph has published monographs and chapters detailing the functional neuroanatomy of the mind and brain, including the frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes, the brainstem, basal ganglia, cerebellum, and limbic system, as well as chapters and monographs on stroke, neoplasm, cranial and cerebral trauma, and human brain evolution and development. Dr. Joseph has also conducted extensive studies in neuropsychiatry, and in addition to his two best selling textbooks on the subject, he served on the California Superior Courts Panel of Forensic Experts. Dr. Joseph was court appointed to over 500 criminal cases and repeatedly testified in major the court trials. Based on research he initially conducted before he obtained an advanced degree, Dr. Joseph obtained findings which were not comptabible with Darwin's theory of random variations. In fact, Joseph never accepted Darwin's theory of evolution or the theory of the "big bang" or organic soup. In the 1970s he proposed instead that the environment acts on gene selection to activate silent, non-activated genetically incoded traits. He also argued that life must have arrived contained in interplanetary debris. In addition, portions of his work on the neurological foundations of spiritual experience were noted and quoted in Time Magazine's 1997 special issue on spirituality. In addition a major monograph on the evolution of language, non-verbal thinking, and sexuality was published in the January 2000 issue of the Archives of Sexual Behavior, another monograph on fetal brain and cognitive development recently appeared in Developmental Review, and his monograph on the evolution and neurology of religious experience was published in the Journal of Religion & Science, Zygon, in March of 2001.
in 2003, Dr. Joseph has published a ground-breaking work on the effects of emotional stress on the brain, memory, and childhood amnesia, which has just appeared in the journal, Consciousness and Emotion. Dr. Joseph reports that whereas, on average, most adults cannot recall childhood memories formed before age 3.5, that most adults with a history of severe and repetitive childhood abuse cannot recall childhood memories formed (on average) before age 6. He also determined that the amygdala, hippocampus, and right hemisphere are significantly effected by severe and repetitive childhood emotional trauma. For 10 years Dr. Joseph served on the California Superior Court's Panel of Forensic Experts and was Court appointed to 500 criminal cases. Dr. Joseph (and his staff) also performed complex neuropsychological evaluations for the California and United States Depts. of Disability, who referred over 1,500 patients to his clinic: the NeuroBehavioral Center, Brain Research Laboratory. Dr. Joseph has also been an invited guest or has been interviewed by local stations, such as FOX-KTVU, NBC-KNTV, ABC-KGO, CBS-KPIX, MSNBC, KTSF, China-CrossTalk, and Court TV.
Evolution, Genetics, Physics, Astrobiology To truly understand the brain and its functional capabilities, Dr. Joseph traced it evolutionary origins to the first neurons which may have evolved around 600 million years ago. This was not a random evolution, and the genes which code for neural tissues had been inherited from multi-cellular organisms which had no brains. And the same is true of the eyes, skeletal system, and so on. Dr. Joseph traced the genetic origins to the first creatures to arrive on Earth; and evidence of this life is present in this planet's oldest rocks, dated to 4.2 billion years ago (bya). Dr. Joseph began focusing his energies into this work in the early 1990s. Given the complexity of even the simplest of singled celled organisms, Dr. Joseph deduced, based on genetics and astrophysics, that these first Earthlings and their DNA, must have been deposited on this planet within the mountains of debris which formed the surface of Earth between 4.6 to 3.8 bya. In 1997, Dr. Joseph introduced a new astrobiological theory as to the origin and metamorphosis of life on this planet, and in 2000 he published his revolutionary, ground breaking book, "Astrobiology, the Origin of Life, and the Death of Darwinism" --a text which sent shock waves through the scientific establishment. In this text, Joseph challenged prevailing scientific dogma, including the theory of the "big bang," Darwin's theory of evolution, and the mystical notion of the organic soup; theories which he called "religion masquerading as science." In 2009, Dr. Joseph published 3 major peer reviewed monographs in the Journal of Cosmology: 1) Life on Earth Came From Other Planets, 2) The Evolution of Life from Other Planets, and 3) Extinction, Metamorphosis, Evolutionary Apoptosis. and Genetically Programmed Species Mass Death. He also created a highly acclaimed documentary series detailing his theories which were first published in 1997. Dr. Joseph's views can be summarized as follows: "The likelihood that Earthly life emerged from an organic soup is the equivalent of discovering a computer on Jupiter and then claiming it was randomly assembled in the methane sea." "If life were to suddenly appear on a formerly lifeless desert island, we would not assume that this life had been created by some god, or emerged from an organic soup. We would deduce it washed to shore, or fell from the sky. The Earth, too, is an island, swirling in an ocean of space, and cosmic debris has been washing ashore since the creation... and some of that debris contained life. Cosmic collisions are commonplace, not only between planets and meteors, but entire galaxies... and life has been repeatedly tossed into the abyss... only to land on other planets. The genetic seeds of life swarm throughout the cosmos, and some of these "genetic seeds" fell to earth, encased in the cosmic debris which pounded the planet for the first 700 million years after the creation. And, these genetic seeds, the DNA of these myriad life forms, these cosmic wonderers, contained the genetic instructions for the metamorphosis of all life, including woman and man." Indeed, just as DNA contains the genetic instructions for the creation of an embryo, neonate, child, and adult, and just as modern day microbes contain "human genes" which have contributed to the evolution of the human genome, these "seeds," these living creatures, contained the DNA-instructions for the metamorphosis of all life, including woman and man. DNA acts to purposefully modify the environment, which acts on gene selection, so as to fulfill specific genetic goals: the dispersal and activation of silent DNA and the replication of life forms that long ago lived on other planets. However, Dr. Joseph believes that evolution will continue into the future, including and especially the evolution of the brain and mind. Portions of his theory as to the origin of life on Earth was presented almost verbatim by ABC news and ABC Nightline in a 10 minute segment which aired 1997. His documentary film on the origin of stars, planets, life, and the universe, have been viewed millions of times. Over 10,000 people subscribe to his films, which includes 6 lectures on the brain and mind. One might wonder how all this is related. According to Dr. Joseph, he is trying to piece together fragments of a puzzle which seem unrelated but which are all linked together: To comprehend consciousness, we must understand how it evolved, and recognize that evolution has not stopped with humans, but will continue into the infinite. Certainly the brain of a reptile cannot understand the universe. Why should we believe we are sufficiently evolved to understand what we may not even perceive? Evolution will not stop with modern humans. Those of the limitless future will understand what we can't yet comprehend." Dr. Joseph believes that humans have already begun to evolve capabilities which are in their evolutionary infancy, just as "language" and the ability to read and write and perform arithmetical operations were in their infancy 50,000, 100,000, 500,000 and over 1 million years ago when the first species of Homo stood on two legs and uttered shrills, screams, and grunts to communicate. The human brain and mind is still evolving, and to understand the trajectory these developments might take, he believes it is important to discover their roots and the origins of these genetic seeds.
Dr. Joseph is single and is not married. Although he has certainly had his wild times, chasing women and carousing late at night, Joseph lives the life of a scholar and scientist who sometimes runs with the wolves. He is an artist, musician, has written screenplays, and has authored short stories and books under other names, co-wrote a highly successful off-Broadway play, and has created over 60 documentary films which have been viewed over 20 million times. When he is not working, Dr. Joseph spends a considerable amount of time walking in the mountains, in the woods, and near the sea...thinking. Always thinking. |
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