JUST SAY ‘NOETIC”

Earlier last week, we featured a delicious (if dubious) little item titled “The Mind-Body Connection via Intentional Chocolate.” According to The Institute of Noetic Sciences, a recent study found that adding positive intentions to chocolates resulted in significantly enhanced mood in those subjects who ate the “intentional’ confection compared to the controls.

Leaving aside the question of whether this actually works (and if so, how I can get my hands on some?!), I have a question for you:

Off the top of your head, do you know what “noetics” means? At dinner Saturday evening, someone stumped me with this. None of us, all post-college educated, reasonably literate people, could do more than guess. Now I was curious. I decided to look into it, and here’s what I found out. First of all, the dictionary definition of noetic (adj.): “of, relating to, originating in, or apprehended by the intellect. [Greek noetikos , from noesis , understanding].” And then, an interesting extension noted in the Online Medical Dictionary: “noetic anxiety: In existential psychotherapy, anxiety caused by confusion or loss of meaning in life.” (Or perhaps not enough chocolate? But I digress…)

And as for the Institute of Noetic Sciences (or IONS, the evocative acronym they often use):

“IONS is a non-profit research and education institution dedicated to advancing the science of consciousness and human experience to serve individual and collective transformation. Founded in 1973 by astronaut Capt. Edgar Mitchell, IONS was created to explore the interface of science and spirituality and to promote forms of consciousness that shift humanity from separation and conflict to collaboration, forgiveness and inter-connectedness.”

I’m feeling better already!

More Time to be Wise?

The potential to radically extend the human lifespan raises all sorts of bioethical questions from theologically based concerns (Is it moral to seek immortality?) to more practical considerations (Will radical life extension bring increased happiness or despair to the human condition?) "Radical Life Extension and Religious Evolution" by Sonia Arrison, TechNewsWorld, 12/14/07 offers a positive spin:

...not all scholars saw radical life extension as a negative development.

Professor Ron Cole-Turner of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary discussed how life extension could benefit many religious orders. "Technology will inject competition into religion and force religious authorities to clarify what they mean by immortality." This is important, according to Cole-Turner because "there is currently a lot of evasiveness about what immortality means." This is a good point and, of course, the conversation is not a one-way street.

Religion will also serve to inject ethical competition into technology circles. If the future of evolution is now more in human hands, the religious question is: toward what end? In other words, if humans could live longer, what good should result? Perhaps the Buddhist scholar had the most clear and concise answer.

Professor Derek Maher explained that in Buddhism each person is responsible for their own karma which, taken care of properly, can bring one to a state of nirvana, which is the cessation of suffering. Buddhists, he explained, already embrace the idea of radical life extension because it "gives you more time to attain wisdom and advance spirituality." Essentially, it gives you more time in this life to improve your karma so you can reach nirvana.

Older and wiser? Maybe...