I reach into the shadows behind the screen and retrieve a small, semi-transparent plastic bucket. I dip into the bucket and fish out a human brain. I have no idea to whom the brain belonged. I can't tell if it's male or female, black or white, or, with and…

Read Part I of this piece here: The Infinity of Definition ... Creative interpretations which invoke an emergent multiplicity move meaning away from the Cartesian; the digital, allowing an analogue curve of definition to develop. According to Barthes, this…

Perspective makes the single eye the center of the visible world. Everything converges on to the eye as to the vanishing point of infinity. ~ John Berger, Ways of Seeing The perceiver's position in an architectural, or merely physical space, determines the…

The mind receives a myriad impressions - trivial, fantastic, evanescent, or engraved with the sharpness of steel. From all sides they come, an incessant shower of innumerable atoms... life is a luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from…

On The Solar Anus : It is clear that the world is purely parodic, in other words, that each thing seen is the parody of another, or is the same thing in a deceptive form... all things would be visibly connected if one could discover at a single glance and in…

You heard about a book. Intrigue darkened in its normal consistency and gripped you. Something about the book’s ability to project the reader into the world of another mind. A world with characters leading implausible lives between a chapter, a page, a…

I have a terrible tendency to read several books simultaneously, causing much mental overlap and leaving the floor of my room a constant litter of half-read compendiums. At the moment, the book which has most prominently grabbed my imagination is Michael…

Where does technology end and our idea of God begin? Human beings evolved to perceive a distinction between 'ourselves' and 'our technology'. Increasingly though, our technological achievements are becoming extensions of our bodies, our identities and our…

A "data cable" made from stretched nerve cells could someday help connect computers to the human nervous system. The modified cells should form better connections with human tissue than the metal electrodes currently used for purposes such as remotely…

There are things which by their very nature are so dependant upon human caprice that they either exist or do not exist as soon as we desire that they should or should not exist... Humankind is almost pure potential as it emerges from the formative hand of…

German philosopher Ernst Tugendhat on religion as a need and the difficulty of satisfying it : Faust avoided Gretchen's question "Do you believe in God?" But what should someone say who refuses to avoid the question and yet isn't naive? I believe that on the…

Far from being extracts from the extreme end of science fiction, the idea that we may one day give sentient machines the kind of rights traditionally reserved for humans is raised in a British government-commissioned report which claims to be an extensive…

"...I received from Oxford the manuscript you have examined. I lingered, naturally, on the sentence: I leave to the various futures (not to all) my garden of forking paths . Almost instantly, I understood: 'the garden of forking paths' was the chaotic novel;…

Transformative Potential by Cliff Pickover Reality Carnival In my book Sex, Drugs, Einstein, and Elves I discuss various forms of extinction. Many humans will morph tremendously in 50 to 100 years. In a sense, this is a kind of extinction. We’ll enhance our…

Our Slumbering Super-Organism by Daniel Poynter The Hyperaware Consciousness Future generations will laugh (or cry) in contemptuous hindsight at our apathy and boredom. Why try to change the world? Why get off the couch? The individual doesn't matter…

WARNING: Future Dead-Ahead! Thanks Arenamontanus !

Keep clear of the cat if you want baby girls. It sounds like the lamest of old wives' tales, but according to scientists women infected with a common cat parasite give birth to more sons than daughters. The parasite, toxoplasma, infects around 15% of Britons,…

I have a fascination with the borders of fiction and how we draw them. Here we find the relationships between author, reader and character builds the substance of each fictional world. How much does the author's knowledge reflect that of the reader's? How is…

The brain: that gathered walnut of grey matter, lodged inconspicuously in the skull cavity of each and every one of us. Peer deep enough into these zones of thought; feeling; memory; dreams and each tiny pulse of inherent beauty appears as nothing more than…

Ever wished yourself Godlike properties? Ever wondered what it felt like to spawn universes from the slightest ounce of your being? Well now you can, with The Random Logline Generator ! Realising mythical universes is as easy as depressing your index finger.…

The Huge Entity Forum has evolved! Care to behold internet-transmogrification as it happens ? Then prepare to take a look deep beneath the surface of The Huge Entity . Viewer discretion is advised: The Internet is Alive - A Forum Discussion : What? : The…

Neuroscientists have proposed a simple explanation for the pleasure of grasping a new concept: The brain is getting its fix. The "click" of comprehension triggers a biochemical cascade that rewards the brain with a shot of natural opium-like substances, said…

Just last week, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology named Seth Lloyd published a paper in Physical Review Letters estimating how many calculations the universe could have performed since the Big Bang — 10^120 operations on 10^90 bits of…

A minority of people with autism have one or more extraordinary intellectual talents, such as the rapid ability to calculate the day of the week for a given date, or to count large numbers of discrete objects almost instantaneously - they're often called…

I have almost finished reading Cliff Pickover's demiurgic reality-guidebook ' Sex, Drugs Einstein & Elves: Sushi, Psychedelics, Parallel Universes and the Quest for Transcendence '. It's been a ride I'd recommend to anyone interested in destroying this…

Infinity defies absolute definition. Perception of the infinite, for anything other than a mind which is itself infinitely composed, is an oxymoron. And yet, in historical conceptions of the infinite, or at least the imperceptibly extended, can be found…

The Excruciatingly Large Forum is ALIVE! Feed it your brain today: • Panspermia: Seeds of Change • Best Science-Fiction Novels • Cultural Semiotics • Co-evolution: shaping them as they shape us? • Request for Nudity • Music Absorbtion • Thinkers Lay Out the…

What's the coolest way to stretch the vageries of conscious perception to their absolute limits? How about the detection of elementary particles so weakly interactive that most can pass straight through the entire planet Earth without a blip? Welcome to the…

In every human brain, there are as many neurons as there are galaxies in the known universe — about 100 billion, drawn from 10,000 different cell types and woven into a three-dimensional tapestry, with threads of neural interconnections that number in the…

The amygdala is at it again! ...Researchers used Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans to analyze the brains of 72 healthy, right-handed adults (36 men and 36 women). The subjects were instructed to relax with their eyes closed while being scanned. When…

Dwayne M. over at Weber's Polar Night poses an interesting question today, one which has me reaching for my Baudrillard with gusto: From Wikipedia ... Colossus: The Forbin Project is an apocalyptic science fiction movie based on the 1966 novel 'Colossus' by…

In humans, intelligence develops over time. A child learns primarily from the guidance of patient adults. Without strong social--that is, cultural--inputs, even a potential wunderkind will end up a bungling bumpkin as an adult. We now have evidence that this…

Imagination and creativity are the parts of our personal conscious lives most able to manifest themselves in the objective world around us. The variety of tools, both physical and cognitive , we use to channel those creative urges is truly astounding. The…

www.huge-entity.com turns 365 days old today... Where were you when it all started? The Huge Entity rears back its shaggy maine of nonsense clod fur, cracks wide a pair of blood speckled jaws and lets the universe know its power; truly alive where once t'was…

Rejoice! For the 3rd month, 14th day, 1st hour, 59 th minute, and 26th second (3.1415926) of this year has past us by.... What does it all mean? Happy π day ! At the simplest level Pi ( π ) is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, and at…

In 1901 Gustavus Hindman Miller got to work interpreting the symbolism of ten thousand dreams . The nonsense which ensued is destined to cause you much cerebral pleasure this night. What can it all mean? Cheese : To dream of eating cheese, denotes great…

Philosophy is odious and obscure, Both law and physic are for petty wits; Divinity is basest of the three, Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible and vile, 'Tis magic, magic that hath ravished Mephistopheles ... - Sc. I of Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe The…

The internet has become a vast system for the evolution of conceptual memes of information. Mankind's evolved tendency to relish rumour, to gravitate towards gossip becomes viral in the hyperreal communities of cyberspace. As raw information becomes the only…

A Huge Entity presentation on the nature of identity... Featuring short musings from the most original minds in the blogsphere. Contents 1 2B ll ~ 2B by Cutie Programmer 2 Living in a Multiverse by Reality Carnival 3 The Tipping Point by BPS Digest /…

Mu Machinery by Daniel Rourke The Huge Entity The machinery concerned with human experience is a bundle of cells so intricate in its complexity that it took over 13 billion years for evolutionary processes to manifest its structure. We each maintain that the…

Pushbutton Automation by JK DunneIV There is a mystical “I” awakening. It is being stirred by events unseen and of uncertain origin. When it wakes up what will it be? Inexistence is a nice concept. It works in that soporific marketing kind of way because…

As 'You' Like It by Jaime Morrison The Nonist don't take this personally but your depth of sensation, though perhaps impressive echoing as it does in the enclosed space of your own mind, is stunted. comically so in fact. your five senses, on which you rely…

A Mind Program Called Ego by Thomas Herold Quantum Biocommunication Someone gave me a book from a famous Indian author entitled 'Who Cares?' . In this book Ramesh Balsekar explains the mystery around the ego and why it's all an illusion. Reading this book…

Compared to the Cosmos by Brian Hines Church of the Churchless BrianHines.com Like you, my goal every day is to make something of myself. A successful, knowing, active, loving, happy thing. The problem is, on the scale of the universe the value of each of us…

A Reflexive Everything by Daniel Poynter Hyperaware Consciousness 'You' do not exist, and you don't love Family Guy, lip syncing monkeys and free Internet porn. If you exist in the traditional Western way - dualistic and distinct from your environment/body -…

Our Baryonic Nature by Mac Tonnies Posthuman Blues Mactonnies.com Astronomers are learning that the vast majority of the universe's matter takes a form that eludes casual analysis. We've found that we're an anomaly; if there's such a thing as a "galactic…

Burden of Proof by Gerry Canavan Backwards City More Reasons Why You, The Reader, Don't Exist 1. Unitary consciousness is an illusion . As Daniel Dennett explains at length in Consciousness Explained , what you mistakenly think of as a single voice of…

The Tipping Point by Dr. Christian Jarrett Mind Hacks BPS Digest "That's not like you to behave like that!". How many times have you heard that exclamation? It's nonsensical of course, because 'you', in the sense of a consistent, predictable, reliable…

2B ll ~ 2B by Christopher Willcock Cutie Programmer The universe has no neurons. A true statement? What sigh and what groan -- what lark upon high draws this little reckoning? A universe exists and certainly a scientist within. A conceptualizing scientist --…

Living in a Multiverse by Cliff Pickover Reality Carnival Pickover.com In our own region of the universe, we've already developed computers and the ability to simulate lifelike forms using these computers and mathematical rules. I believe that one day we will…

"O, what a world of unseen visions and heard silences, this insubstantial country of the mind! What ineffable essences, these touchless rememberings and unshowable reveries! And the privacy of it all! A secret theater of speechless monologue and prevenient…

In our semantically governed, symbolic understanding of reality we often maintain that true -identity is possible, that the whirling sensations called 'you' somehow cease at the surface of your skin, all else being distinct. Of course the Buddhist conception…

"Scholars have long debated whether our native language affects how we perceive reality -- and whether speakers of different languages might therefore see the world differently. The idea that language affects perception is controversial, and results have…

Energy is motion. Decrease the amount of motion down to low enough levels and you virtually suspend reality. Thus time, at these low temperatures, begins to lose its meaning. We all perceive ourselves as composite selves projected along a future moving axis…

By all means peruse the Exploding Head links on offer today, but remain diligent dear readers: The best way to avert Cognitive Dissonance , the enemy of every discerning head-owner, is to avoid thought completely...

Vyvyan: Do you think ants go to discos? Mike: Vyvyan - it has been proved that ants are highly intelligent with a well ordered society - the last thing they'd go to would be discos. Vyvyan: Well, why's one of them wearing a silver boob tube then? The Young…

'String Theory' posits that our universe arises from the vibrations of tiny, infinitesimal and multi-dimensional strings of energy resonating in a higher dimension of reality. A beautiful, if complicated idea resting on the very tip of the physics…

The world is a reflection, cast by the remnants of light photons scattered onto the only point where your brain makes physical contact with the outside world: your eyes. Yet with such abundance of reality mirroring humans still find the concept of reflection…

The Singularity , The Transhuman . Words murmured from the lips of the geek elite? An entire generation of techno-babble is set to evolve from this imagined-movement's self perpetuating beliefs. Are we on the brink of a big shift in human - even planetary -…

"The available scientific evidence tends to support the view that the mystic experience is one of internal perception, an experience that can be ecstatic, profound, or therapeutic for purely internal reasons. Yet for psychological science, the problem of…

Some compulsory psychoanalysis today, brought to you in the form of these haunting ink-blot art works . What do you perceive as those black pearls of infinity deeply penetrate your visual centres? You know where the comments section is... Click the pics for a…

Inspired in part by all lists everywhere here are the top 5 books that shifted my perspective on the world, on reality, on the self: Star Maker - Olaf Stapledon Spanning over billions of years of cosmological evolution and delving Godlike into the very heart…

I posted this over at Metafilter and thought it would look kind of nice here too... I changed the links here to point to past articles at The Huge Entity . Go on, reminisce a little: If the universe is a hologram and the healthy human brain a valve of…

"UC Berkeley physics professor, Raphael Bousso, is trying to break down the mysteries of the universe with a concept called the holographic principle. Physicists stumbled on the idea while studying black holes. It is a concept, which ultimately questions…

I remember many years ago someone telling me that there was a recognised term for the kind of involuntary shudder that commonly affects people at rest. You know the kind that spontaneously rocks you, just for a moment, like you are shaking off the ghoulies,…

I've been rolling this idea around my head for a while now, it's time to connect it with something... Merz is a nonsense word coined by German artist Kurt Schwitters. Mislabeled as part of the Dada movement his addition to abstract art is frequently…

On epileptically induced ecstasy: "There are moments, and it is only a matter of five or six seconds, when you feel the presence of the eternal harmony...a terrible thing is the frightful clearness with which it manifests itself and the rapture with which it…

Current estimated human population on Earth: 6.52 billion people Taking a rough guess that around 50% of the world's population is asleep or unconscious at any one moment this means that: Since you started reading this post roughly 2067 human years have been…

Southern Japan revels in their insect devastation. The supermarkets seem to hold host to a wide variety of poisons, traps and sprays designed to cause insects a breakdown in their existence. On a recent shopping trip there amongst the cockroach neutralisers…

I've been in a very contemplative mood recently, mulling over the books I've read this year, and the notes that go with them, and feeling as if this website has evolved to the stage where its character has been realised. I keep aiming to start writing…

"Scientists have discovered that schizophrenia sufferers are not fooled by a visual illusion and are able to judge it more accurately than non-schizophrenic observers. The study by UCL (University College London) and King's College London suggests that in…

Have your dreams turned into a 4-frame comic masterpiece by Jesse Reklaw over at his Slow Wave website. The archives are well worth a glimpse, bringing into clear focus the surreal comedy of her readers' unconscious. I only wish I remembered my dreams better,…

If you thought religion grappled with a multitude of concepts that border on the insane , you should take a look at The Huge Entity archives sometime. Is there some sort of higher purpose behind the pulsating nonsense this blog continually erupts? What have I…

Every night I die. Causation departs the wide eyed experience, inner motions shuffle mental chaos into a semblance of order. A flash of colours, a distant homogeny of previous selves relate in the stasis of dreams my memories and realities. Consciousness…

I love the Mind Hacks website. Constantly updated with cutting edge, brain related topics, today being no exception... Want to get up close and personal with the base of your very own consciousness? The winning illustration from The National Science…

Multiple Universes, the sci-fi addicts favourite muse. Everyone knows about them, at least the vague idea, but how can scientists possibly justify their existence? Surely it's science gone bonkers? Well not entirely. It just so happens that the most…

"In a special collection of articles published beginning 1 July 2005, Science Magazine and its online companion sites celebrate the journal's 125th anniversary with a look forward -- at the most compelling puzzles and questions facing scientists today." Are…

"For decades, the cognitive and neural sciences have treated mental processes as though they involved passing discrete packets of information in a strictly feed-forward fashion from one cognitive module to the next or in a string of individuated binary…