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JASON DA SILVA

I really like the "Extended Mind" thesis articulated by Cognitive Philosophers David Chalmers and Andy Clark. The idea is that as our technological tools become exponentially more advanced they become more than just tools; they become an extension of our actual cognition. We should start thinking of our smartphones and computers as wireless, outsourced cognition, freeing up brain space for more creativity. We interface with these devices and the information they store in seamless ways: we engage with the world, and run our day to day lives via these extended minds.

Our extended minds make us smarter by extending our capacities.

We can think of the "extended mind" thesis as an evolution of Marshall McLuhan's ideas of media as an extension of the human nervous system, or Timothy Leary's views of the computer as "the LSD of the 90's."; the point being, the human mind is no longer fixed just to our skulls, but rather it has been distributed electronically. This symbiosis between biological and non-biological intelligence will continue to deepen at an exponential rate.

FRANCESCA THYSSEN-BORNEMISZA

My Shamanist Experience Opens Up Questions And Answers

The abilities that I have — not just skills but what most people call intuition — I did not acquire exclusively in this life. I am now able to call upon what I learned and experienced in previous lives to assist me in understanding and coping with the obstacles that I face today. I am sure that countless books have been written about this topic, so I avoided looking it up on the Internet. It would probably be counterproductive and discourage me from writing these few lines.

A while back I felt that it was time for a change, time to stop complaining about feeling neglected. I realized that I was just attracting people into my life who either tried to take over and control me or else neglected me completely. There was no middle path, and it was up to me to change. So I traveled to Kiruna, Sweden, in the Arctic Circle, and met for breakfast an extraordinarily attractive and friendly shaman with piercing gray eyes. She was expecting me and knew exactly what I needed. She helped me change every aspect of my life that I had wanted to change.

In exhaustive sessions with her that averaged eight hours a day for three days, I traveled into the past and got an extensive glimpse into my previous lives. It turned out that other than once being a child bride who died at the young age of eleven, a figure who plays a very important part in my present life, and being an androgynous diplomat from Egypt, through whom I have learned many skills, I had always been a man. Most of my friends look at me when I tell them that and exclaim, "Well, that makes complete sense." I smile inwardly. I know that I am not at all masculine in this life, but it's the way I handle things. It carries weight, and in our society that is considered to be a masculine trait.

A few weeks after being "connected," I could see these figures again, more completely. What transpired was that I was always close to power. I now understand why I feel completely at ease around powerful people. I am attracted to them for sure. I also feel compelled to give them advice very directly even when unsolicited and am often surprised when I keep their attention long enough to somehow feel that I could make a difference in a positive way if I really set my mind to it.

No wonder, since I was once an adviser to a pharaoh in Egypt, to a czar, and to Napoleon, as well as serving as a diplomat in a sultan's court. I was also a famous artist who enjoyed the confidence of European royals, and all this without ever envying their power. What I brought to them was a bird's-eye view of what they could not see as they clung to their saddles of power. What I had not previously understood was that most of my lives succeeded one another, each life refining the skills of the previous one. They did not repeat themselves, but they required the same talent. But what interests me is not the extraordinary stories that I will one day endeavor to tell in a longer, more detailed elaboration of this article, but how we make deals when we come back and with whom we make these deals. Is it god, one another, our higher power?

The experience of familiar people and places does not form a great part of this for me, and I often feel that people get caught up in the romantic notion of "déjà vu." For me it is what I have learned over all these lives that makes them so real! The first time this knowledge started to change my life was in 1991. I was driving in a Soviet-style stretch limo along one of Moscow's super streets, with an island in the center that was used only by Politburo cars. I was alone with the Dalai Lama as we embarked on a trip around the soon-to-be-defunct Soviet Union. He turned to me and quite matter-of-factly said, "You must have collected many good karma points in your last life to be reborn into such privilege in this life."

Well, for someone who had only ever heard that she was spoiled, this compliment was a pleasant change, and the taste of the silver spoon in my mouth began to transform. He continued, "You will do great things in this life as you did in your last, except now you have been given new attributes, new tools, new gifts to work with." Since he also added that he did not believe in god, I wondered who would be doing this. Is it our collective spirit or a higher power? How do I explain this without challenging my faith, which is so strong. I fear no negative repercussions, but I know that I am shaking the doctrines of the church quite a bit, and I ask myself today, where do we actually come from? If we believe in the power of collective prayer, in which I am a firm believer, then why can't we believe in reincarnation?

Shamans can reconnect us to these superpowers in a way that seems unclear at first, strangely unfamiliar, but then it becomes more and more familiar, and the synergies that appear in a matrix of events seem to clear the way for more important things to happen.

New dynamics are forming, and life has become more transparent. I cannot accept the lack of transparency in business anymore. I am quick to make up my mind about people whom I don't like or who don't fit in to this new world order of people who are good, honest, and open. No more dysfunctional people clinging to me, making me feel guilty if I push them away. I am not so easily manipulated, abused, betrayed, or neglected. I speak my mind with less emotion but more truth. I see my objectives with more courage. I carry less fear around, and people hear that in my voice. I am at peace with myself because I can accept the journey of my past, and my self-worth feels nurtured by that knowledge.