The infancy of knowledge

Times are very busy at present, with books, papers, and promotional work to do. I don’t always have time to write an entirely new blog post. So today I thought I’d share with you one of my favourite passages from my book Integrated Intelligence.  This is an academic book about a spiritual intelligence which transcends the brain and extends into non-local space, which is based on my doctoral thesis. However I did write it in such a way that the knowledge contained in it would be readily accessible to most people. I even got in a quote from new age author Stuart Wilde! (my examiners probably didn’t know who he is). The following passage is found in the conclusion of the book, and gives perspective on the way we think of mind and intelligence at this time in human history. Sometimes it is easy to forget that the present in just one unique moment in history, and that the nature of our scientific knowledge defines not so much the boundaries of the cosmos, but the boundaries of our dominant worldview.

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In this book I have compared and contrasted two different constructs of intelligence (Integrated Intelligence, and mainstream models of intelligence), which emerge from different ways of knowing, and different worldviews. It is appropriate to end with a reference from representatives of both schools. Contemporary mystic Stuart Wilde writes:

An energy shift that’s prevalent in the world today sees one group of people moving gradually from ego towards spirit, through the realignment of their consciousness, while anther group is threatened by changing circumstances and moves increasingly in the opposite direction, toward the ego, seeking greater manipulation, guarantee, and control over human affairs (Wilde, Whispering Winds of Change).

The Other Side of Hong Kong

 A smaller island, off Chen Chau (island), seen through the trees near the Trappist Monastery on Lantau Island, Hong Kong

Note: first video may not show up on home page - if so, click "read more" to see it. You will find several other short videos there, also. Double click on the video if you can't see the whole thing on your screen.

Hong Kong is a very busy place. When most people think of this territory where I live,  images of glittering high-rises and international bankers in flashy business suits come to mind.

There are 7 million people crammed into a relatively small area in Hong Kong. Most of them live on Hong Kong Island, and Kowloon, which is just across the harbor from the island. I have often lamented the extreme urbanisation of Hong Kong, and how much of the population has lost touch with nature, and the inner worlds of the human spirit. Life has become over-commercialised and over-techlologised. It appears that most Hong Kong people are either unable or unwilling to extract themselves from their busy work life, contsant mobile phone chattering and SMS texting, internet surfing, shopping and eating/sleeping to explore life at a deeper level. In part, one can point the finger at the government, and its policy makers, who have fully bought into the idea that human futures are  predominantly about more money and more machines for everyone. Yet there are other choices that are available,to the general public, even in extremely urbanised environments like Hong Kong.

Few people outside Hong Kong know that there are many rural areas around the city. including many fascinating islands.

Fully 40% of the territory is designated as national park. Yet even the locals seem reluctant to explore them. Yesterday, Sunday, my wife Emma and I went on a short hike from our home on Lantau Island, just a 23-minute ferry ride away from Central. It was a wonderfully cool summers day, thanks to some high cloud and low humidity. Yet on the entire hike, we saw no more than a dozen or so other hikers. On the little beach you will see in one of the videos below, my wife and I were literally the only people . We stayed there for half an hour and enjoyed the serenity. In contrast, the shopping malls of Hong Kong are so packed on Sundays, that one can often barely squeeze past other shoppers.

Somehow, something vitally important has been forgotten here.

So here is evidence that this other side of Hong Kong does indeed exist!.Please excuse the sound of my breathing here and there! This is quite hilly terrain, and is slightly aerobically challenging.

The village in this first video is situated by the ocean, and is just five minutes away from where I live. The first time we went here a couple of weeks ago, my wife refused to pass through, because of the dogs… as you shall see.

About fifteen minutes more of walking, and the track goes up into the hills, where there is a quaint Trappist (Christian) monastery. This is a very pretty little place. I have been told that the monks have taken a vow of silence – expect for the singing. I snuck my video camera in there for a few seconds!

What's wrong with this beach?

You’ve got ten seconds to answer the question above? Play the video, and then tell me what’s wrong with this beach? And what has that problem got to do with our futures?

10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1… bzzt!, Time's up!



The beach looks pretty nice doesn’t it? Taken on a warm spring day where the temperature was mid-twenties Celsius, (March 21st), this video is of the lovely little beach in Discovery Bay, on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. Discovery Bay (or “DB”, as it is often called) is where I live, and it’s one of the nicest places in Hong Kong to call home.

Also, there's nothing wrong with the focus of the camera, and the footage was taken about 300m from the lefty-hand side of the beach.

Here’s a clue which might give you a clue about the answer to the question in this post’s title.

There is lots of space in and around Discovery Bay, a very rare commodity in Asia’s World City. Another treasured experience here is the sound of chattering birds. Birds seem to be all over the place in DB. I have been to many places in China, and one of the most striking things for me is the lack of wildlife, and especially birds. Mao Ze Dong once famously extolled his beloved people to “Fell every sparrow from every tree”, and the people seem to have taken that statement literally! Not so in DB.

Haven’t got it yet? Here’s a riddle. What’s sometimes brilliant blue, but usually dull grey, and sparkles like diamonds a few days of the year, and yet is so toxic even Batman wouldn’t touch it in his rubber Bat Suit.

OK, enough hints. In a few days I’ll write again, and tell you what’s wrong in the video (besides bad camera work), and why it is important for our futures.

Marcus