Science and Meditation

Some of you have probably been muttering to yourselves, "Why the hell is he going on about visions in the desert and such nonsense? He studied physics at a decent school and didn't even advance as far as Brian Josephson before he lost it." Hmm, well, yes, right you are. Here I attempt to explain my views on the reconciliation of these two traditions.

Science examines the world around us, taking concepts that our minds can comprehend, from, say igneous rock to adenosine triphosphate to differential manifolds, and examining their properties and how they relate to other parts of our conceptual library. Science purports to explain how the observable and logical worlds work, and has done so convincingly well. Its goal is objective truth.

What science does not convey is quality or subjectivity. What is the nature of our experiences, or, as my teacher put it once, what's it like to be alive? You could start investigating this by asking questions like: I feel happy (or whatever) now. Why am I happy? Who decided that I am happy? Is the quality of happiness consistent if I examine it closely? Who is the "I" that thinks it is happy? What is the process in which it becomes happy? Is there something fundamental to this process or is it kind of arbitrary? These are the kinds of questions which meditation, a close, uninterrupted observation of one's experience, seeks to answer. They lead to the kinds of observations about the basic nature of our existence about which I have written.

There is some overlap between objectivity and subjectivity, as shown by the increasing neurological and psychological studies of meditation these days, or, I suppose, by attempts to study the psychology of happiness. But even if someday, there is a precise characterization of the brain activity of someone who is enlightened, graduate students or professors studying this characterization will not become enlightened. At a lower level, scientists have a pretty good description at the cellular level of what pain is, but does that convey the experience of pain?

Work

I've now been working for three whole weeks. What of it?

I still like the company and the other people in it. It's small, friendly and cozy. There's lots to be interested in, lots to learn, and helpful people around me.

After driving there, about an hour each way, I bought a new bicycle (Trek 1500) and am riding it to and from the Caltrain station on both ends. It's nice to be riding again, although I can't say I relish riding in San Francisco traffic the way I used to in Berkeley or, heh, Woods Hole. The flat, smooth roads of Silicon Valley are much more pleasant than the hilly, pothole-strewn roads of San Francisco (especially Chinatown, which is fortunately not very busy when I ride through in the morning), but I still don't feel like I get much of a ride before I have to stop at a traffic signal.

There are, as ever, issues about coffee. When I started, the office coffee was Folger's Gourmet Supreme. This was not good coffee, but I had to admit that it wasn't excruciatingly awful either. The current canister, however, is regular Folger's. This is spit-it-out awful. Caffeine withdrawal was more pleasant. Apparently, I would be reimbursed for any Peet's I buy and bring in, but we still have that big bin of Folger's to go through. In the meantime, I brought in my small coffee maker and will brewing my own supply.