In short, analogies, most often made unconsciously, are what underlie our abstraction abilities and the formation of concepts. As Hofstadter and his coauthor, the psychologist Emmanuel Sander, stated, “Without concepts there can be no thought, and without analogies there can be no concepts.”
Libet believed that once we become aware of our decisions or intentions to do something right away, we have about a tenth of a second to veto them; he thought free will might play a role in vetoing. As someone put it, Libet believed that although we don’t have free will, we do have free won’t.
"Don't be silly," Sirius shook his head, still smiling, eyes soft. "Anything for our Moony. G'night."
Remus fell back onto his pillows, exhaling heavily. Oh god, he thought, grimly. I fancy Sirius Black.
“Dance with me," he whispers.
"There's no music." I say, even though it doesn't matter. Our bodies are already swaying together.
"There's always music. Listen to the sound of the rain drops and our heart beats.”
"Trauma has actually been part of our evolutionary process" Dr David Bercel
Trauma shatters our world view. Rules of fairness and justice no longer seem to apply. Trauma often leads to a spiritual crisis and a profound re-evaluation of meaning.
... Animal liberationists attack laboratories that scrupulously use anesthetics for all operations. But what about ritual slaughter houses in which animals have to be fully conscious when their throats are cut? ... The rest of us are expected to defend our prejudices. But ask a religious person to justify his faith and you infringe “religious liberty. ”
