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Neuroscience learns what Buddhism has known for ages: There is no constant self

Buddhist Monks have known for thousands of years what science is just now learning: the mind can be changed by training it.

via Andy Malmin/Flickr

Ven. Thich Thong Hai prays by a statue of Buddha in the garden at the Ventura Buddhist Center.

Proving that science and religion can, in fact, overlap, University of British Columbia researcher Evan Thompson has confirmed the Buddhist teaching of the not-self, or "anatta," is more than just a theory.

"Buddhists argue that nothing is constant, everything changes through time, you have a constantly changing stream of consciousness," he tells Quartz. "And from a neuroscience perspective, the brain and body is constantly in flux. There's nothing that corresponds to the sense that there's an unchanging self."

This reality that nothing stays the same should be liberating, because if people believe it, they'll no longer define themselves by their thoughts or be limited by a fixed idea of who they are. Their possibilities will be endless.

Buddhist Monks have known for thousands of years what science is just now learning: the mind can be changed by training it. Neuroplasticity, as it's called, endows people with the ability to grow and evolve, triumphing over bad habits and becoming more like the individuals they want to be.

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Still, exactly how consciousness relates to the brain eludes both Buddhism and neuroscience. Buddhists suppose there's an iteration of consciousness that doesn't require a physical body; neuroscientists disagree.

"In neuroscience, you'll often come across people who say the self is an illusion created by the brain," Thompson says. "My view is that the brain and the body work together in the context of our physical environment to create a sense of self. And it's misguided to say that just because it's a construction, it's an illusion."


This article originally appeared on 09.23.17

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How a 'blind' audition at an orchestra still had a secret bias towards men

The funny thing about bias is, often times we don't even realize it's creeping into our minds, coloring everything we see.

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A trailer for 'Tar," starring Cate Blanchett

In her TED talk, "What does my headscarf mean to you?" Yassmin Abdel-Magied told this story:

In 1952, the Boston Symphony was looking to diversify it's male-dominated orchestra, so it conducted an experiment with a series of blind auditions.

For the auditions, the musicians would be playing behind a screen, in an effort to remove all chance of bias and allow for a merit based selection only - a selection that would hopefully increase the number of women in the orchestra.

To their surprise, their initial audition results still skewed male.

Then they asked the musicians to take off their shoes. The reason? The sound of the women's heels as they entered the audition unknowingly influenced the adjudicators.

Once the musicians removed their shoes, almost 50% of the women made it past the first audition. The moral of the story? Overcoming unconscious bias isn't as easy as one might think.

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Gender bias can seem like a tug-o-war as we seek equality.

Image via Pixabay.


That's partly why Yassmin is somewhat forgiving when it comes to the assumptions that come along with her headscarf.

Yassmin wears a hijab, but that's only part of who she is.

"Someone who looks like me walks past you in the street. ... Do you look me up and down, wondering how hot I must get or if my husband has forced me to wear this outfit? ... I can walk down the street in the exact same outfit and what the world expects of me and the way I'm treated depends on the arrangement of this piece of cloth."— Yassmin Abdel-Magied, "What does my headscarf mean to you?"

But Yassmin is so much more than just a Muslim woman in a headscarf. Like everyone else, her identity is complex and special to her. She has worked as a race car engineer, trained as a boxer, and, these days, works as a mechanical engineer on a giant oil rig. Oddly enough, the very things that make Yassmin unique are often seen as a contradiction because of her religion. And every single day she is dealing with the unconscious bias of those who see her and her scarf, making instant, quiet, almost reflexive judgements about her. Because that's how unconscious bias works.

Bias is a natural response to living in a society that normalizes certain types of people and behaviors while it "others" anything that's different.

Even when we try our hardest to see everyone as equal, our mind is influenced by the way people and things are presented in the world around us. As Yassmin explains, unconscious bias is ingrained in all of us, even when we have the best of intentions.

"Unconscious bias is not the same as conscious discrimination. I'm not saying that in all of you, there's a secret sexist or racist or ageist lurking within, waiting to get out.That's not what I'm saying. We all have our biases. They're the filters through which we see the world around us. ... Bias can be about race, it can be about gender. It can also be about class, education, disability. The fact is, we all have biases against what's different,what's different to our social norms." — Yassmin Abdel-Magied, "What does my headscarf mean to you?"

A link to watch Yassmin Abdel-Magied and her Ted Talk below:

If bias happens unconsciously, how in the world do we correct it?

Unfortunately, there isn't a magic wand that can wipe away any trace of bias you might have. But just knowing that there are biases present in all of us is an important first step to overcoming them. Also, just diversifying your community and interacting with people who are different from you is another way to fight off those silent prejudices.

Want to dig deeper? You're in luck!

Psychologists from Harvard University, the University of Washington, and the University of Virginia teamed up to create a series of online tests that measure unconscious bias. There are tests for everything — age, gender, race, religion, skin tone, and even weapons! It's pretty cool.Visit the "Project Implicit" websiteto test your unconscious bias and find the areas of your perspective that need a little extra TLC.

This article originally appeared on 06.22.15

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Arnold Schwarzenegger says Heaven is a 'fantasy.' Here's why that's not a terrible idea.

At 75, "The Terminator" is thinking about the big issues.

via Arnold Schwarzenegger/ Wikimedia Commons

Arnold Schwarzenegger in São Paulo, Brazil, 2019.

At 75, Arnold Schwarzenegger is thinking about the big questions of life. He opened up about his thoughts on the afterlife in a conversation with his “Twins” co-star Danny DeVito for Interview Magazine.

Devito asked “The Terminator” star, “What's in the future for us?" and he gave a thoughtful answer to a question that philosophers, scientists and religious leaders have grappled with since the dawn of humanity.

"It reminds me of Howard Stern's question to me. 'Tell me, governor, what happens to us when we die?' I said, 'Nothing. You're 6 feet under,'” he told DeVito.

"I said, 'We don't know what happens with the soul and all this spiritual stuff that I'm not an expert in, but I know that the body as we see each other now, we will never see each other again like that,'" continued Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger admitted that he’s not comfortable with the topic of death but thinks the notion of a heaven is a “fantasy.”

"When people talk about, 'I will see them again in heaven,' it sounds so good, but the reality is that we won't see each other again after we're gone. That's the sad part. I know people feel comfortable with death, but I don't,'" he said.

Instead, the bodybuilder has created his own concept of heaven.

"To me, heaven is where I put a person who I love dearly, who is kind, who is generous, who made a difference in my life and other people's lives," he said. "I keep them in a spot in my head, like that front row that you have of all of your friends. And you always have a good feeling when you think of them."

There are far-reaching implications for all of humanity if there is no afterlife. But on a personal level, Schwarzenegger’s belief suggests that if we only have a short time on this Earth with one another, and we shouldn’t take it for granted. Plus, the day-to-day relationships we enjoy with our loved ones lose their significance when they are played out in a timeframe that extends throughout eternity.

The finite nature of relationships is why we love our pets so dearly. The moment they enter our lives, we are burdened by the knowledge that they will one day leave. So we savor every cuddle, game of fetch and long walk on a spring day.

On a deeper level, every day beneath a bright, glowing sun matters more with the understanding that this is the only life we get and no paradise awaits on the other side. It suggests that if all of humanity shared Schwarzenegger’s view of things, we’d be more invested in making life better in the here and now versus waiting for something better around the corner. Imagine the paradigm shift if billions of people stopped waiting for their treasures in heaven and instead, began embracing the possibilities of the here and now.

With this perspective and some work, love and courage, humanity could make this world a touch closer to the paradise we pray for on the other side. And if when we die, there is a heaven, all the better.

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Church of England is considering switching to gender-neutral pronouns for God

The church announced that it could be breaking away from its tradition of referring to God as "he."

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The Church of England announced that it was considering adopting more inclusive language when refering to God.

Is God male? Female? Both? Neither? In Christian scripture, the answer is not so cut and dried. God is often referred to as the Heavenly Father who created man in “his” image. At the same time, other parts of the Bible contradict that notion, indicating that God is equal parts masculine and feminine, being the sum total and creator of all things. One could also say that God is neither male nor female, again considering that, in being everything, God is not limited to what distinguishes humans from one another.

It’s because of this nuance that the Church of England announced that it would be considering dropping the use of “he” and “him” and instead adopting gender-neutral pronouns.

According to The Guardian, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Michael Ipgrave, Bishop of Lichfield and vice-chair of the commission behind this change, argues that while this breaks traditional teachings, the church had already been “exploring the use of gendered language in relation to God for several years.”

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No specifics of the project have been revealed.

Photo by Cherry Laithang on Unsplash

The project comes in response to Rev. Joanna Stobart, vicar of Ilminster and Whitelackington in Somerset, who asked the synod to provide an “update on the steps being taken to develop more inclusive language” used in prayer, especially for those who "wish to use authorized liturgy and speak of God in a non-gendered way.”

While specifics of this campaign remain unclear, there has already been pushback, particularly at the possibility of removing the term “Our Father” from The Lord’s Prayer. The Telegraph reported that the Rev. Dr. Ian Paul asserted that it would change the messaging to something not "grounded in the scriptures".

“‘Father’ can’t be substituted by ‘Mother’ without changing meaning, nor can it be gender-neutralized to ‘parent’ without loss of meaning,” he said.

Still, a spokesperson for the Church of England countered, “This is nothing new. Christians have recognized since ancient times that God is neither male nor female, yet the variety of ways of addressing and describing God found in scripture has not always been reflected in our worship.” This interest in exploring new language is therefore a way to further align values.

While the concept of using gender-neutral language might be relatively new for English speakers, other languages around the world have used non-gendered pronouns for centuries. English itself is a language comprised of several mother tongues and is constantly evolving—hence why it has so much variety. So perhaps this change is merely an example of what the English language naturally does, what it has always done.

Either way, it’s an interesting example of how language is merely a tool to put a name to that which is intangible—a tool that can change depending on its purpose. In this case, it's being used to define arguably the most intangible thing in the universe.

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