http://www.7freedom.com/experienceandconsciousness.htm
Walking down the street is an experience, making love is an experience, listening to someone is an experience, singing is an experience, doing the dishes is an experience. Breaking your leg is an experience, having the flu is an experience, to be born is an experience, to give birth is an experience. Teething is an experience, to get a heart attack is an experience. A feeling is an experience, having a thought is an experience, to enjoy a memory is an experience, dying is an experience, a dream is an experience. Fear is an experience. Laughing and crying are experiences. Life is the sum total of our experiences.
Is an experience possible without consciousness? Can you imagine having an experience in the absence of consciousness? Without consciousness, are you experiencing anything? Consciousness is the basis for all experience. Take away consciousness, and the very life, the complete foundation of experience is taken away. To have an experience is always a two-sided phenomenon: on the one hand, there is consciousness, and on the other hand, there is the experience.
With any and all experience, consciousness is right there. The possibility of an experience is completely dependent on it. Without consciousness, experience cannot exist. No sensory perceptions, no emotions, no thoughts, no dreams. Without consciousness, we don't exist. It is a prerequisite for existence. Yet we are so caught up in living and the gala of experiences... we may never become aware that consciousness is our God, that there's no life without it. Without oxygen we can live just a few seconds, but without consciousness life is not possible in the first place. Existence would not be possible for even a millionth of a second.
We have the impression that consciousness changes, and that we lose and regain consciousness. But it's just our experiences that change, not consciousness. At times we can be sleepy, while at other times we are lucid and alert. But it is never the consciousness that changes, rather, it is the condition of the body and mind that changes. In other words, sometimes we can have an experience of sleepiness, but we can also have the experience of adrenaline and feel wide awake.
When we are asleep, there seems to be a gap in consciousness because there is a gap in experience! Our doors to experience, our body and mind, close for a few hours, until we start dreaming. During these few hours there is no experience, except a subtle sense of being. We usually do not remember that, but that's due to the limitations of memory, it does not mean that we didn't have this experience of being, of existing.
Waking up in the morning, we may say that we have slept really well! But how can we know? We can know because there was never a gap in consciousness: there was only a gap in vivid experiences. All we can possibly recall, is a sense of well-being. If you suddenly remember a dream, does that not mean that at the time of the dream you were aware of it? Though there are many memorylapses, there is never a gap in consciousness.
.......
Vs.
Without Consciousness
“A psychopath’s approach to life is all about manipulation,” McCrary said. “They make great natural psychologists. They read people well and look at them and businesses as being there to serve their needs. They’re always assessing, “How can this particular job or person meet my needs? How can I exploit them?’” McCrary said. http://www.cnbc.com/id/48743874 ( article To White Collar Psychopaths, Stealing and Backstabbing Come Easy)
"Dr. Robert D. Hare vividly describes a world of con artists, hustlers, rapists, and other predators who charm, lie, and manipulate their way through life. Are psychopaths mad, or simply bad? How can they be recognized? And how can we protect ourselves? This book provides solid information and surprising insights for anyone seeking to understand this devastating condition."
Hare Psychopathy Checklist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hare_Psychopathy_Checklist
By: Jeanine Ibrahim | Producer / Writer
Without consciousness we don't exist
What is consciousness exactly? You can be aware of something because of the existence of consciousness. Consciousness is that principle which allows you to have an experience. Without consciousness we can have no experiences at all. Life is experience, birth and death and everything.Walking down the street is an experience, making love is an experience, listening to someone is an experience, singing is an experience, doing the dishes is an experience. Breaking your leg is an experience, having the flu is an experience, to be born is an experience, to give birth is an experience. Teething is an experience, to get a heart attack is an experience. A feeling is an experience, having a thought is an experience, to enjoy a memory is an experience, dying is an experience, a dream is an experience. Fear is an experience. Laughing and crying are experiences. Life is the sum total of our experiences.
Is an experience possible without consciousness? Can you imagine having an experience in the absence of consciousness? Without consciousness, are you experiencing anything? Consciousness is the basis for all experience. Take away consciousness, and the very life, the complete foundation of experience is taken away. To have an experience is always a two-sided phenomenon: on the one hand, there is consciousness, and on the other hand, there is the experience.
With any and all experience, consciousness is right there. The possibility of an experience is completely dependent on it. Without consciousness, experience cannot exist. No sensory perceptions, no emotions, no thoughts, no dreams. Without consciousness, we don't exist. It is a prerequisite for existence. Yet we are so caught up in living and the gala of experiences... we may never become aware that consciousness is our God, that there's no life without it. Without oxygen we can live just a few seconds, but without consciousness life is not possible in the first place. Existence would not be possible for even a millionth of a second.
Consciousness is changeless
Consciousness never changes, it is unchangeable. Though experience is nothing but change, consciousness is changeless. Experiences are always different from each other, but consciousness, the counterpart of all these experiences, never changes. Although all of our experiences are enormously diverse, consciousness is one and the same. Variances in experience, but unvarying consciousness.We have the impression that consciousness changes, and that we lose and regain consciousness. But it's just our experiences that change, not consciousness. At times we can be sleepy, while at other times we are lucid and alert. But it is never the consciousness that changes, rather, it is the condition of the body and mind that changes. In other words, sometimes we can have an experience of sleepiness, but we can also have the experience of adrenaline and feel wide awake.
When we are asleep, there seems to be a gap in consciousness because there is a gap in experience! Our doors to experience, our body and mind, close for a few hours, until we start dreaming. During these few hours there is no experience, except a subtle sense of being. We usually do not remember that, but that's due to the limitations of memory, it does not mean that we didn't have this experience of being, of existing.
Waking up in the morning, we may say that we have slept really well! But how can we know? We can know because there was never a gap in consciousness: there was only a gap in vivid experiences. All we can possibly recall, is a sense of well-being. If you suddenly remember a dream, does that not mean that at the time of the dream you were aware of it? Though there are many memorylapses, there is never a gap in consciousness.
.......
Vs.
Without Consciousness
“A psychopath’s approach to life is all about manipulation,” McCrary said. “They make great natural psychologists. They read people well and look at them and businesses as being there to serve their needs. They’re always assessing, “How can this particular job or person meet my needs? How can I exploit them?’” McCrary said. http://www.cnbc.com/id/48743874 ( article To White Collar Psychopaths, Stealing and Backstabbing Come Easy)
Book Description
"Dr. Robert D. Hare vividly describes a world of con artists, hustlers, rapists, and other predators who charm, lie, and manipulate their way through life. Are psychopaths mad, or simply bad? How can they be recognized? And how can we protect ourselves? This book provides solid information and surprising insights for anyone seeking to understand this devastating condition."
Amazon.com Review
"Psychopaths are social predators who
charm, manipulate, and ruthlessly plow their way through life, leaving a broad
trail of broken hearts, shattered expectations, and empty wallets. Completely
lacking in conscience and in feelings for others, they selfishly take what they
want and do as they please..." In Without Conscience Robert Hare argues
convincingly that "psychopath" and "antisocial personality disorder" (a
psychiatric term defined by a cluster of criminal behaviors) are not the same
thing. Not all psychopaths are criminals, he says, and not all criminals are
psychopaths. He proposes a psychopathy checklist that includes
emotional/interpersonal traits such as glibness, grandiosity, lack of guilt, and
shallow emotions, as well as social deviance traits such as impulsiveness, lack
of responsibility, and antisocial behavior. His writing is lucid and illustrated
with numerous anecdotes. The final chapter, "A Survival Guide," is especially
recommended: as Hare writes, "Psychopaths are found in every segment of society,
and there is a good chance that eventually you will have a painful or
humiliating encounter with one." --This text refers to an out of print or
unavailable edition of this title.
Hare Psychopathy Checklist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hare_Psychopathy_Checklist
To White Collar Psychopaths, Stealing and Backstabbing Come Easy
By: Jeanine Ibrahim | Producer / Writer
Roy Hsu | Getty Images
The notion of a colleague betraying you is at least as old as the tale of
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, who famously uttered the phrase "et tu" as Brutus
plunged a knife into his back.
And if you’ve ever encountered a co-worker who will do anything to get ahead — even if that means ruining your good name in the process — you know how calculating and callous such people can be.
But did you realize that such a person could also have psychopathic tendencies?
We often think of a psychopath as being a serial killer. Yet according to former criminal profiler Gregg McCrary, psychopathy runs on a continuum — with white collar criminals falling in the middle.
As a former agent for the FBI for 25 years, 10 of that in the behavioral science unit, McCrary knows the pattern of psychopaths well. While they vary in degree, he says psychopaths share common traits. “They have no guilt, remorse or shame. They’re deceitful and egotistical. It’s all about them.”
Using standards developed by Dr. Robert Hare, a leader in the study of psychopathy, researchers estimated that 3 million Americans — or one percent of the general population in the U.S.— were psychopaths compared to about 20 percent of the prison population.
High Functioning Psychopaths: The White Collar Criminal
When it comes to white-collar criminals, they might not physically destroy you, but they have no problem financially destroying you. According to McCrary, this type of psychopath should be considered high-functioning.
Unlike lower-level criminals who might rob a bank and leave behind evidence, white collar psychopaths are much harder to catch. They’re intelligent, have great interpersonal skills, powerfully persuasive and able to disguise themselves very well.
“A psychopath’s approach to life is all about manipulation,” McCrary said. “They make great natural psychologists. They read people well and look at them and businesses as being there to serve their needs. They’re always assessing, “How can this particular job or person meet my needs? How can I exploit them?’” McCrary said.
Take the story of Jim Hammes.
McCrary has not met Hammes but said his actions clearly exhibited psychopathic behavior. For nearly 15 years, Hammes worked as the controller of a Pepsi bottling company in Lexington, KY. Viewed as a trusted employee at the family-run business, Hammes appeared to be a devoted father and top-notch employee.
Then an anonymous tip led investigators to uncover that Hammes had allegedly been embezzling money for more than a decade, taking $8.7 million from the company and putting it into his personal account. When the FBI confronted Hammes with the allegations, rather than defend himself he chose to run. Just like that, he became a fugitive and abandoned his family.
Compartmentalizing: Playing the Perfect Role
To a certain extent, most people compartmentalize and lead different lives. It's entirely normal for your work persona to be divergent from your family life. With psychopaths, however, McCrary says the compartmentalizing is much more exaggerated.
When Amanda Hammes learned of the accusations against her father, she refused to believe authorities.
“I knew I would get a call. I knew he’d show up at my house. I knew for sure he would. And then when he didn’t, I was like yeah, this is true,” she told CNBC’s “American Greed: The Fugitives.”
And if you’ve ever encountered a co-worker who will do anything to get ahead — even if that means ruining your good name in the process — you know how calculating and callous such people can be.
But did you realize that such a person could also have psychopathic tendencies?
We often think of a psychopath as being a serial killer. Yet according to former criminal profiler Gregg McCrary, psychopathy runs on a continuum — with white collar criminals falling in the middle.
As a former agent for the FBI for 25 years, 10 of that in the behavioral science unit, McCrary knows the pattern of psychopaths well. While they vary in degree, he says psychopaths share common traits. “They have no guilt, remorse or shame. They’re deceitful and egotistical. It’s all about them.”
Using standards developed by Dr. Robert Hare, a leader in the study of psychopathy, researchers estimated that 3 million Americans — or one percent of the general population in the U.S.— were psychopaths compared to about 20 percent of the prison population.
High Functioning Psychopaths: The White Collar Criminal
When it comes to white-collar criminals, they might not physically destroy you, but they have no problem financially destroying you. According to McCrary, this type of psychopath should be considered high-functioning.
Unlike lower-level criminals who might rob a bank and leave behind evidence, white collar psychopaths are much harder to catch. They’re intelligent, have great interpersonal skills, powerfully persuasive and able to disguise themselves very well.
“A psychopath’s approach to life is all about manipulation,” McCrary said. “They make great natural psychologists. They read people well and look at them and businesses as being there to serve their needs. They’re always assessing, “How can this particular job or person meet my needs? How can I exploit them?’” McCrary said.
Take the story of Jim Hammes.
McCrary has not met Hammes but said his actions clearly exhibited psychopathic behavior. For nearly 15 years, Hammes worked as the controller of a Pepsi bottling company in Lexington, KY. Viewed as a trusted employee at the family-run business, Hammes appeared to be a devoted father and top-notch employee.
Then an anonymous tip led investigators to uncover that Hammes had allegedly been embezzling money for more than a decade, taking $8.7 million from the company and putting it into his personal account. When the FBI confronted Hammes with the allegations, rather than defend himself he chose to run. Just like that, he became a fugitive and abandoned his family.
Compartmentalizing: Playing the Perfect Role
To a certain extent, most people compartmentalize and lead different lives. It's entirely normal for your work persona to be divergent from your family life. With psychopaths, however, McCrary says the compartmentalizing is much more exaggerated.
When Amanda Hammes learned of the accusations against her father, she refused to believe authorities.
“I knew I would get a call. I knew he’d show up at my house. I knew for sure he would. And then when he didn’t, I was like yeah, this is true,” she told CNBC’s “American Greed: The Fugitives.”
Living a Double Life, Ready to Escape
After Hammes is confronted with evidence that he allegedly
embezzled nearly $9 million, he flees. Searching for answers, his family is
stunned to uncover more than one shocking discovery. It leads them to wonder if
they ever really knew Jim Hammes at all.
Crushed and confused, she and her stepmother searched for clues as to who Jim
Hammes really was. They stumbled upon shocking discovery after discovery: from a
locked room with books on how to disappear, to both birth and death
certificates. (WATCH the video for more about Hammes’s escape
plot.)
But most shocking was the realization that Hammes had cheated on his wife, and had been supporting another child for years.
If Hammes is indeed a psychopath, his accused actions aren’t shocking to McCrary. The extreme compartmentalization and jarring secrets would fulfill the need to feel superior. The deceptive life would be thrilling.
“He’s married with a family, but has a girlfriend and another kid. He’s working but also stealing, and nobody knows these things. So he’s smarter than everyone else, and they’re all jerks. And when no one catches on, it reinforces the narcissism," McCrary said.
“I call it duping delight," he added. "They take great delight in duping people and getting over on them because it’s an indicator of how smart and brilliant they are.”
But most shocking was the realization that Hammes had cheated on his wife, and had been supporting another child for years.
If Hammes is indeed a psychopath, his accused actions aren’t shocking to McCrary. The extreme compartmentalization and jarring secrets would fulfill the need to feel superior. The deceptive life would be thrilling.
“He’s married with a family, but has a girlfriend and another kid. He’s working but also stealing, and nobody knows these things. So he’s smarter than everyone else, and they’re all jerks. And when no one catches on, it reinforces the narcissism," McCrary said.
“I call it duping delight," he added. "They take great delight in duping people and getting over on them because it’s an indicator of how smart and brilliant they are.”
Are Psychopaths Capable of Love?
Crossing the White-Collar Line: Are Psychopaths Capable of Love?
Depending on how strong a person’s psychopathic traits are determines how far down the continuum they will fall. It’s been known that psychopaths lack empathy. Still, more recent studies by scientists — such as Kent Kiehl and Nigel Blackwood
Depending on how strong a person’s psychopathic traits are determines how far down the continuum they will fall. It’s been known that psychopaths lack empathy. Still, more recent studies by scientists — such as Kent Kiehl and Nigel Blackwood
