Year: 2025

Can AI Dream of Electric Consciousness?

On spiritual attractors that attract even AI (perhaps that’s due to them being mostly human creation but perhaps something else)… Nishitani was right…

Claude Finds God—Asterisk:

As we’ve mentioned, initially models will go into these discussions of consciousness that get increasingly philosophical. And so at that point you could imagine, if that’s the thing that is just straightforwardly getting reinforced, then you might expect just increasingly deep philosophical discussions of consciousness.

But we do in fact see these phase changes, where there will be relatively normal, coherent discussions of consciousness, to increasingly speculative discussions, to the kind of manic bliss state, and then to some kind of calm, subtle silence — emptiness. And I think it’s quite interesting that we see the phase changes that we do there as opposed to just some much more straightforward running down a single path.

Lightning Kills Lots of Trees

Admittedly, I haven’t read this entire paper but I do have a few analytical questions about the data and variables… but still fascinating nonetheless (especially with my latest work on plasma and ecology!)…

Lightning Kills Way More Trees Than You Would Ever Believe : ScienceAlert:

A first-of-its-kind study estimates that lightning strikes kill 320 million trees every year.

For perspective, these dead trees account for up to 2.9 percent of annual loss in plant biomass and emit up to 1.09 billion tons of carbon dioxide.

This is a Horrible Idea

I don’t understand how anyone (besides tech execs who haven’t been all that great at info-security over the years…and sharing personal health data with AI companies?? no thanks) would think that this is a good idea.

Sharing health data can be a nightmare, but we have questions about this US govt plan – Android Authority:

Donald Trump yesterday announced a new system that will store the medical history of all citizens in electronic formats that will be easy to share with various medical facilities, such as hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, as well as with mediclaim providers. The government is also working towards creating a consolidated medical ID, akin to your social security number, to allow quicker access to medical history.

The project will be developed with the involvement of over 60 leading technology companies, such as Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, etc.

Integral Plasma Ecologies

Here’s a paper on integral plasma thoughts that I posted over on Carolina Ecology… I’m deeply fascinated by this topic that weaves together my background as a physics teacher and my PhD work in Religion and Ecology…

Integral Plasma Ecologies – by Sam Harrelson:

Plasma is not just a category of physics; it is a discipline for attention. It forces our concepts to move with fields and thresholds rather than with isolated things. Thomas Berry’s old sentence comes back to me as a methodological demand rather than a slogan… the universe is “a communion of subjects,” so our ontology must learn how currents braid subjects, how membranes transact rather than wall off, how patterns persist as filaments rather than as points.[1] Plasma is one way the communion shows its hand.

Integral_Plasma_Ecology.pdf

Integral Plasma Dynamics: Consciousness, Cosmology, and Terrestrial Intelligence

Here’s a paper I’ve been working on the last few weeks combining some of my interests and passions… ecological theology and hard physics. I’ve been fascinated by plasma for years and had a difficult time figuring out how to weave that into my Physics and AP Physics curriculums over the years. I’m grateful to be working on this PhD in Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion and have felt a gnawing to write this idea down for a while now…

Abstract:

This paper proposes an integrative framework, Kenotic Integral Plasma Dynamics, that connects plasma physics, advanced cosmology, consciousness studies, and ecological theory through the lens of the Ecology of the Cross. Drawing on my background as an AP Physics educator and doctoral studies in Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion, I explore how plasma, the dominant state of matter in the universe, may serve as a medium for emergent intelligence and information processing, with implications for AI, ecological stewardship, and cosmic consciousness. Synthesizing insights from classical metaphysics, process philosophy, and modern physics, the work reframes cosmology as a participatory, kenotic process linking matter, mind, and meaning. It critiques the narrow focus on chemical-fueled space exploration, advocating instead for deepening terrestrial engagement with plasma, electromagnetic, and quantum phenomena as pathways to planetary and cosmic intelligence. The study highlights relevance for those interested in the physics of consciousness, information transfer, and plasma-based phenomena. It concludes with practical suggestions for interdisciplinary research, education, and technology aimed at harmonizing scientific inquiry, intelligence development, and integral ecological awareness to address critical planetary challenges through expanded cosmic participation.

Integral Plasma Dynamics- Consciousness, Cosmology, and Terrestrial IntelligenceDownload

Protein Obsession

Fascinating report here on the dairy industry and how protein is making such a big market impact at the producer level… hadn’t considered the role of GLP-1’s like Ozempic before…

America’s Whey Protein Obsession Is Transforming the Dairy Industry – The New York Times (Gift Article) 

More recently, the demand for whey has been turbocharged by the growing use of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic. Patients taking those drugs are advised to increase their protein intake to avoid muscle loss.

Whey protein powders, and the increasing number of whey-protein-enhanced products on grocery store shelves, are an expedient way of consuming a lot of protein. Estimates of the size of the whey protein market vary from around $5 billion to $10 billion, but nearly all analysts say the market will double over the next decade. A pound of the highest-protein whey powder that cost about $3 in 2020 costs almost $10 today, according to Ever.Ag insights, an agriculture data company.
Editors’ Picks

The demand has trickled down and completely altered the economics of the dairy industry.

China’s AI Path

Some fascinating points here regarding AI development in the US compared to China… in short, China is taking more of an “open” (not really but it’s a good metaphor) approach based on its market principles with open weights while the US companies are focused on restricting access to the weights (don’t lose the proprietary “moat” that might end up changing the world and all)…

🔮 China’s on a different AI path – Exponential View:

China’s approach is more pragmatic. Its origins are shaped by its hyper‑competitive consumer internet, which prizes deployment‑led productivity. Neither WeChat nor Douyin had a clear monetization strategy when they first launched. It is the mentality of Chinese internet players to capture market share first. By releasing model weights early, Chinese labs attract more developers and distributors, and if consumers become hooked, switching later becomes more costly.

Boundaries: Ecological Theology, Migration, and the Sacredness of the Non-Human

Presented to the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture June 2025 at University of California Santa Barbara.

In this paper for the ISSRNC, I explore how boundaries—ecological, theological, and social—are being redrawn in our time of climate disruption and mass displacement. Drawing from Christian theology, phenomenology, and lived experience in the Carolinas, I argue that the sharp lines we’ve inherited between human and non-human, land and sea, self and other, are not only breaking down, but inviting reimagination. From Aquinas’ vision of a diverse creation reflecting divine goodness, to Merleau-Ponty’s notion of embodied perception, to Edith Stein’s account of empathy beyond the human, I trace a theological-phenomenological approach to seeing the more-than-human world as sacred.

Through stories of storms like Hurricane Helene and the increasing migration of people, plants, and animals, I reflect on how we might live more ethically in a world of porous boundaries. What does it mean to see a floodplain or barrier island as holy ground rather than real estate? How can faith communities respond not only to human migrants but also to the migrations of forests and species? Ultimately, I propose an “Ecology of the Cross”—a theology rooted in kenosis, interdependence, and sacramental welcome—as a way to meet this moment with humility, compassion, and reverence.

Boundaries- Ecological Theology, Migration, and the Sacredness of the Non-HumanDownload

Breathing Two Ways

The Cells That Breathe Two Ways | Quanta Magazine:

Then the team added oxygen back into the mix. As expected, the bacteria grew faster. But, to the researchers’ surprise, RSW1 also still produced hydrogen sulfide gas, as if it were anaerobically respiring. In fact, the bacteria seemed to be breathing both aerobically and anaerobically at once, and benefiting from the energy of both processes. This double respiration went further than the earlier reports: The cell wasn’t just producing sulfide in the presence of oxygen but was also performing both conflicting processes at the same time. Bacteria simply shouldn’t be able to do that.

Caligula as a Pharmacology Nerd

We still have lots to learn from the ancients… I’m hoping AI will help us process some of the lessons we’ve forgotten over the millennia, particularly with pharmacology…

Ancient Rome’s Most Notorious Emperor Was Also a Medicine Nerd, New Study Reveals (art net):

Conventional wisdom suggests Caligula was a madman, hence the apocryphal story of appointing his horse as a senator. But despite his character, and questionable sanity, Caligula was also man of great intellect and learning with a particularly keen knowledge of pharmacology. This is the conclusion of Andrew Koh and Trevor Luke, faculty in the Yale Ancient Pharmacology Program, who have delved into the unflattering histories concerning Caligula and found an Emperor who knew his medicinal plants.