Previews of Spirituality Explained
This page contains all the videos, PDFs and other resources that explain this model of consciousness that explains spirituality. They are listed in reverse chronological order, with the newest (and most “correct”) listed first. Some of the older resources have ideas that I no longer support, such as the incorporation of Integrated Information Theory.
“Consciousness Explained” at the Stanford Complexity Group
Frank is excited to announce this 76-minute video of his talk on Dec 6th, 2018, at a seminar sponsored by the Stanford Complexity Group. This is the most complete, compelling, and convincing explanation of consciousness that Frank has ever presented! It contains a significant amount of new content—for example, this talk introduced several new concepts, such as “world model awareness” and a new kind of attention schema. This new video also provides a more straightforward and concise explanation of several aspects of the model. Seven different forms of conscious awareness are explained, including the consciousness experienced in Auto-Activation Deficit syndrome, a rare and very interesting neurological condition. Answers are also proposed to four philosophical questions about consciousness—including the question about free will in humans! Read the abstract (below) and click this image to watch the video:
Abstract:
This talk presents a materialistic model of consciousness that can explain the distinctions between several different forms of conscious awareness:
- Non-human animal consciousness
- Modern human consciousness
- Flow state consciousness
- “Enlightened” states of consciousness (also known as “nonduality”)
- Consciousness experienced in Auto-Activation Deficit syndrome
- Phenomenal consciousness vs.
- Access-consciousness – a distinction proposed by NYU philosopher Ned Block
- How spirituality developed and how its invention changed consciousness
A three-agent model of the brain, combined with the Attention Schema Theory model of awareness proposed by Princeton neuroscientist Michael Graziano, provides a framework to explain these distinctions.
Finally, this model can offer answers to the following philosophical questions:
- Why does conscious awareness seem to be fundamentally non-physical and to not have a location in space?
- What conditions cause conscious awareness to arise?
- Can conscious awareness exist without a “self?”
- Do humans have free will?
There is bound to be disagreement with the proposed answers to these questions, but these concrete answers provide a starting point for thought-provoking discussions!
Video of a Talk at the Science and Nonduality Conference
This is the 25-minute video of Frank’s talk on Oct 27th, 2018 at the Science and Nonduality Conference: Besides explaining multiple kinds of consciousness, this video also explains Auto-Activation Deficit syndrome, a rare neurological condition. Click below to watch the video:
Stanford 2018 Poster
Frank presented a poster at the Stanford Neurosciences Institute Symposium. on October 11th, 2018. This poster is about how the three-agent model can explain Auto-Activation Deficit syndrome which is a very interesting and rare neurological condition. Click the button for a readable 8.5×11 formatted PDF that has the content of this poster::
Video of a 75-minute Talk in Palo Alto!
This talk explains multiple different kinds of conscious awareness, the origin and efficacy of spirituality, and how spiritual practices work. At the time of this talk, it was the most complete exposition of my model of consciousness, but the “Consciousness Explained” talk at the Stanford Complexity Group is the current most complete exposition! Click below to watch this full 75-minute video:
The following PDF of this talk has been enhanced to provides a significantly more in-depth, and coherent explanation of the ideas presented in the video shown above! If you don’t like watching long videos, this is a great option for you to explore the information at your own pace.
The Science of Consciousness Conference 20-Minute Video
If you don’t have time to watch the 75-minute video, here is a short 20-minute video that describes how this model explains multiple forms of conscious awareness. This video is from Frank’s talk at a concurrent session of The Science of Consciousness Conference (TSC) in Tucson, Arizona on April 3rd, 2018. The 20-minute video of this talk is here. This video explains multiple different types of conscious awareness using Attention Schema Theory combined with the Three Agent Model. These types of conscious awareness include animal consciousness, normal modern human consciousness, flow state consciousness, and enlightened states of consciousness.
Video from SF Mensa 2017:
Here is the video of the 43-minute talk Frank gave at the San Francisco Mensa Regional Gathering in Emeryville, CA, on Nov 19th, 2017. This video fully integrates Attention Schema Theory (AST) with the three-agent model. AST was proposed by the Princeton neuroscientist, Michael Graziano as a model that explains the subjective experience of awareness. You can either watch the full 43-minute video, or you can watch some or all of the 7 individual parts that make up the full video. Click below to watch the full 43-minute video:
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The individual parts that comprise this video are:
Part 1: The Origin of Spirituality
Part 2: World Models & Agents
Part 3: The Three Agent Model
Part 4: Ordinary Spirituality Explained
Part 5: Attention Schema Theory
Part 6: Agent Awareness Models
Part 7: Spiritual Enlightenment Explained
After each video completes, click the “Next Video” button to view the next video.
Click the following button to view or download the PDF of the PowerPoint slides used in this video. Some of the ideas that were expressed verbally during the presentation have been added to this PDF in blue text. In addition, some new ideas were included that wouldn’t have fit in the time constraints on the presentation.
Video from Science and Nonduality Conference 2017:
Here is the video of the 23-minute talk Frank gave at the Science of Nonduality Conference in San Jose on October 20, 2017. The new idea that was introduced in this video is the integration of Attention Schema Theory (AST) with the three-agent model. AST was proposed by the Princeton neuroscientist, Michael Graziano as a model that explains the subjective experience of awareness. Click below to watch the video:
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Click the following button to view or download the PDF of the PowerPoint slides used in this video. Some of the ideas that were expressed verbally during the presentation have been added to this PDF in blue text. In addition, some new ideas were included that wouldn’t have fit in the time constraints on the presentation.
Stanford Neuroscience Institute 2017 Poster:
The quickest introduction to these ideas is from the single page poster submitted to the Stanford Neuroscience Symposium in October 2017. This poster has the clearest and most compelling explanation of the core ideas from the current three agent model. The (unreadable) image below shows the layout of the original poster as presented. If you click on the image you will get a very readable 3 page PDF that contains the (slightly modified) content of that poster. Click below to expand and read the PDF:
14-Minute Interview Video:
The following 14-minute video was created by a two-person documentary video production team at Three Bridges West. They interviewed Frank for an hour in August 2017 and this video is the result. This is
Note About the Videos and PDFs Listed Below:
All of the videos and PDFs listed below this point are older, out-of-date versions of my model. They generally do not contain some of the most important parts of the current three-agent model (such as Attention Schema Theory). However, some of these videos and PDFs do contain some useful slides and interesting ideas that have not yet been incorporated into the latest videos (listed above this point) — only because there was not sufficient time to include all of the slides due to time limitations on the talks. Thus you may get some value from reviewing these older presentations.
Playlist of 8 Short Videos from July 2017:
The following links are for 8 short videos that add up to 1 hour and 8 minutes of total video time. This represents the latest version of my ideas for the book. There have been significant changes since last April when I had last updated this page. This playlist was created using videos from two talks I gave in July 2017: at the Mensa Annual Gathering in Hollywood, FL on July 7th and at the Humanist Community of Silicon Valley Meetup on July 30th.
Attention Schema Theory (AST) is first introduced in this video, however, this is an incomplete incorporation of AST with the Three-Agent Model. See the earlier videos, listed above for the complete incorporation of AST into this model.
Part 1: Spirituality: What, When, and Why? (10 min)
Part 2: Where Do Human Agents Live? (6 min)
Part 3: The Three Agent Model (9 min)
Part 4: The Three Agent Block Diagram (6 min)
Part 5: Agent Self-Models and Goals (12 min)
Part 6: What is the Problem that Spirituality Fixes? (4 min)
Part 7: How Does Spirituality Fix the Problem (11 min)
Part 8: Kinds of Consciousness & Comparisons (7 min)
Start with Part 1 – each page has links to the next (and previous) video of the playlist.
Video of Consciousness Hacking 2017 Talk:
The following link is the video of a talk at the San Francisco Consciousness Hacking Meetup on April 5, 2017:
Click below to play the video:
Video from Science and Nonduality Conference 2016:
The following link is a slide presentation using narration recorded from my talk at the Science and Nonduality Conference in San Jose on October 23, 2016. The talk itself is approximately 20 minutes long and was followed by 11 minutes of questions and answers:
Click below to play video:
The following longer presentation gives additional details about this explanation of spirituality:
First Video Produced by Frank from 2106:
The following link is a YouTube video Frank prepared in April 2016. This is the most detailed and complete presentation of this model of consciousness and spirituality at that time. The video is 67-minutes long.
Click below to play video:
First Video of Frank at the San Jose Atheist Meetup in 2015:
The following link is to a YouTube video recorded at the San Jose Atheist Meetup on July 8, 2015. This talk is about 40 minutes long and is followed by about a half hour of questions and answers from the audience. The ideas presented here are mostly from my older Language Consciousness / Primary Consciousness (two-agent) model of consciousness and therefore this presentation does not overlap very much with the other videos on this page that present the newer three-agent model. This video is worth watching.
Click below to play video:
