"World's oldest calendar" - Lunar Warren Fields Calendar vs Solar Calendars: Neolithic Stonehenge/Irish Newgrange, + Star Charts-Calendars w/ Selective Attention - Filter: - a question of functionality vs superstitious nonsense McGilChrist; W James,

Selective Attention - Filter: Iain McGilChrist; W James, J Bargh. Neuroscience What makes selective attention pivotal?? What people pay attention to is a product of their motivation/purpose. Plus, the other side of the selective attention coin is - as William James explained - attention "implies a withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others." Research in selective attention reinforces the Maimone-Mannheim argument that ideologies tend to exclude (filter) what doesn't fit their ideological framework – as well as Mannheim's Paradigm that the social sciences as well as spiritual and religious beliefs are shaped by the political-economic reality of society – because of selective attention which focuses on the most salient stimuli in their environment. 1. "Selective attention," also called "selectivity bias"—the tendency to orient oneself toward and process information from only one part of our environment to the exclusion of other parts, no matter how obvious those parts may be." David DiSalvo 2. "Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are!" - Ortega y Gasset 3. "Attention may sound dull, but it is an essential aspect of consciousness. In fact, it governs what it is that we turn out to be conscious of, and therefore plays a part in the coming into being of whatever exists for us "We bring about a world in consciousness that is partly what is given, and partly what we bring, something that comes into being through this particular conjunction and no other. And the key to this is the kind of attention we pay to the world." Iain McGilchrist 4. Neuroscience & Selectivity: "It is argued that selectivity in processing has emerged through evolution as a design feature of a complex multi-channel sensorimotor system, which generates selective phenomena of "attention" as one of many by-products." 5. "Mental categories are absolutely essential in simplifying and understanding the information-rich environment,.." John Bargh Mental Categories produce stereotypes - effectively symbols of condensed information. 5. Filtering & selective attention: William James stated that attention "implies a withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others." "[interaction with stimuli] is indeed accomplished, quite literally, within the approach circuit of the rostral tectum…these simple circuits are indeed the precursors to the mechanisms that control what has been called "selective attention." 6. Christina Maimone on Mannheim "Ideology is, as Mannheim uses the term, a mode of thought that obscures the real condition of society to the group holding the thought, thereby stabilizing the shared social reality of the mode of thought. Groups are simply unable to see particular facts that would undermine their conception of the world…" 7. Mannheim's Paradigm states that the social sciences as well as spiritual and religious beliefs are shaped by the political-economic reality of society – because of selective attention which focuses attention on the most salient stimuli in their environment. a. Sumerian Civilization: Sumerians, known for their agricultural advancements and early writing system, developed a theocratic government where the priesthood played a crucial role in managing the state, particularly in relation to irrigation systems. Ground radar revealed hundreds of irrigation canals at Eridu with hundreds of branch canals. b. Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Societies: The importance of spiritual beliefs in animal spirits within prehistoric Alaskan and Chukotka societies – and hunter gatherer was due to the importance of hunting gathering as an occupation. Those beliefs were prevalent in Native American hunter gatherer beliefs as well. c. Ancient Greek Religion: In ancient Greek religion there is synergy with social-political structures. The Greek pantheon, with its patriarchal family structure, mirrored the social hierarchies of early Greek history, where oligarchies ruled by patriarchal families were prevalent. Marginalization of Symbolism: Selectivity in Academia There is a consensus that, as Elzbieta Halas states, symbols "condense numerous meanings" and point to realities beyond their literal representation. This inherent complexity puts symbolism beyond the scope of the materialist methods fixated on quantifiable – physiological data Rollo May observed that – until recently - standard psychology textbooks excluded symbols and myths, reflecting a bias towards quantifiable data and physiological explanations. Elzbieta Halas adds that: Symbols are "not generally recognized as of primary significance for the examination of social life. Too often symbolism is thought of as an epiphenomenon," less important than "objective facts." – in spite of the fact that Confucius (551 to 479 BCE), observed long ago, "Signs and symbols rule the world, not words or laws!" Marginalization of spirituality, Textbooks to a large extent exclude spirituality as well. In a 700 plus page comprehensive 'History of Psychology' - titled "The Story of psychology" - by Morton Hull, and find there is not have one single reference to meaning, spirit, spirituality, or even religion. That being said I should add that Morton Hull did highlight the archaic references in ancient Greek philosophy but left out spirituality as expounded by Jung, Frankl, and William James. I thought perhaps this could possibly been just one individual's prejudices, so I checked into my comprehensive "reference handbooks" for Self and Identity, as well as, Social Psychology. To my dismay, I discovered there was not a single reference to either spirit, spirituality, or religion. Furthermore, Dr Neal (JHU) stated that she (psychiatrists) has no education or training in people who have spiritual-psychic experiences. Consistently studies show that between 1/3 to half of people have spiritual–psychic experiences of one kind or another. That means in America there are minimally 110 million people – that psychiatry knows nothing about. Spirituality is an emerging field of research "Psychological research on spirituality and religion has grown exponentially in recent years (Paloutzian & Park, 2013). In the diversity of new research, "spirituality" has proven to be a complex and dynamic term that is challenging to define." … "Relational spirituality" is a term that has been increasingly employed in psychological literature in recent years with a variety of definitions and within different theoretical orientations." – Tomlinson et al Selective Attention - Filter: Lunar Calendar vs Solar Calendar. "