Sunday, July 5, 2009

Global Consciousness?


pic courtesy of Global One website

Have you ever had feelings of sadness, anxiousness, depression but really didn't have any reason to be feeling that way? I started noticing several years ago that feelings such as these would often correspond to something going on in the world, but not necessarily in my life. Friends would say their families were feeling depressed, yet there wasn't an easy explanation for why they were feeling that way. So it wasn't just me, or my family. Then I started noticing these bouts of sadness would often correspond to something terrible happening in the world, unknown to me at the time. I started saying things like, "I feel terrible, something bad must be happening somewhere." Needless to say, I would often get the "queer eye" for statements such as that.


Recently I came across The Global Consciousness Project website, through Princeton University, making me think I'm not so crazy after all. Did you know there are "eggs", generators actually, distributed throughout the world, that are monitoring consciousness during different events?

"Global Consciousness Project, also called the EEG Project, is an international, multidisciplinary collaboration of scientists, engineers, artists ad others. We collect data continuously from a global networked of physical random number generators located in 65 host sits around the world. The archive contains more than 10 years of random data in parallel sequences of synchronized 200-bit trials every second.

Our purpose is to examine subtle correlations that may reflect the presence and activity of consciousness in the world. We predict structure in what should be random data, associated with major global events when millions of us share intentions and emotions. The GCP/EEG network shows small but meaningful differences from expectation.

This suggests that large scale group consciousness has effects in the physical world. We need to know about this, and learn to use our full capacities for creative movement toward a conscious future."

Have you ever noticed this correlation in your life?

23 comments:

Rose said...

I will have to check out that site for sure.

Hugs, Rose

ellen abbott said...

This does not surprise me, thought, after all, is energy.

As I understand the nature of physical reality, the world is as it is because all the conscious entities that inhabit it share the vision. It is as it is because we all agree that that is the way it looks and functions. The 'stage' so to speak for our play. So why should not our mental and emotional states impact us all no matter if it is happening on the other side the globe.

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Excellent post and thanks for link to the site. As Ellen says, everything is energy. I find I feel less "down", the less television news I watch. It is all so dismal and the commercials are all by pharmaceutical companies alerting you to possible diseases or ailments which would require their products. I'm very "jealous" of my life energy and do not want it polluted by excess negativity. I want to know what is going on in the world, but not be pummelled with all the negative possibilities . . . .

Thanks again for a provocative post.

Brian Miller said...

i have had this happen a couple times... the story much too long to tell here, but will put it up this week. VA Tech shooting was the last time...

Mary Ellen said...

I definitely believe that we are all connected at a soul level. How exactly it works out individually may be a matter of sensitivity or availability or some other kinship unknown consciously. Great to ponder!

Anonymous said...

I do believe that no event large or small is isolated or lacks meaning. That it contributes to the larger workings of our very interconnected universe.

When I hear of hurts and struggles, I do feel porous - their adversity seeps through my skin as if they were my own. Or I do remember instances when I wake up sad for no reason, and come to find out about someone having been hurt.

Anonymous said...

I know the feeling. I never really associate it with global emotions, more with my own unbalanced hormones. I always blame myself even though I know there is nothing wrong with me. I will feel nervous and overwhelmed when everything in my life is peachy.

I think this EEG machine is amazing. I want to read more about it.

Chris Wolf said...

I've thought a long time that we are all one in spirit. So when I have negative thoughts about a neighbor, I am in fact harming myself. This seems to confirm the feeling. Great post...

Joanne said...

Great food for thought, and I too agree with Ellen, that thought is energy. I've had off days, maybe feeling melancholy, but never made the greater connection with something bigger out there. Will definitely keep it in mind.

robert said...

Good morning
and thank you for that entry of yours today. Thinking about the different time zones upon earth and a constant awareness helps to understand why sometimes it's a bit difficult to get some sleep.
There are also a few days when I turn around, searching someone, of whom I thing of having 'heard' one of his ideas.
Please have a nice start into the week.

Trish and Rob MacGregor said...

The project's findings on 9-11 are astounding!

lolit said...

i expereiced that most often, but i only thought that it is a part of getting old,im not sure though. thanks for the links maybe this could really answer the questions.

DJan said...

I wrote a post about this process back in March: http://djanstewart.blogspot.com/2009/03/patron-saint-of-internet.html

where I speculated that we are creating a new consciousness, and this validates this thought to some degree.

I know that the connections I have made through blogspot have already changed me.

Lori said...

Yes, I totally get where you are coming from here with getting with feeling a certain way with no with explanation for it. I do believe that as we become more in tune with ourselves and learn to listen to ourselves, we realize that it isn't strange at all.

susan said...

Jung described the Collective Unconscious as being universal. It predates the individual and is the repository of all the religious, spiritual, and mythological symbols and experiences.

As conscious entities we are likely evolving into a new sphere where many of us are becoming less fearful of the other and thus more open to sharing our mutual experiences. Ellen put it very nicely.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand how their data is collected and from whom? Its not very clear to me on the website.
I am never depressed! So maybe I'm not a subject of this stuff their doing.

R. J. said...

Thanks for a wonderful post! I was in a class of Shakespearean literature in 1966 which was taught by a nice looking fellow that we called "fabulous Faber". He was fascinated by this concept of Carl Jung that was called the "collective unconscious". It was a very memorable idea that I have thought about for many years. Supposedly, Freud didn't buy the idea, but I am glad to see that it is being studied. Thanks for the new insight.

Reya Mellicker said...

How exciting to see this here on your blog, Nancy! I had a client (now she lives in L.A.) who had one of the "eggs." She mapped one of her massage sessions when we were in the center alone, then again when her session coincided with the meditation group sitting downstairs. Though I couldn't interpret what she was showing me, there was definitely a difference between the two sessions.

The idea that any of us are separate from the rest is just a construct we use in order to function. Very cool!

Marguerite said...

A very thought provoking post, Nancy. I have always believed that we are "ONE". Imagine if everyone thought positive thoughts? I agree with Bonnie, Original Art Studio, that we are constantly bombarded with negative images from the media, which is why I watch very little television. Thanks for the most interesting link!

Leave a Legacy said...

Verrrrry in-ter-est-ing! I'll have to read more about this. It may explain a lot. I was just blaming all this "weird feeling" stuff on menopause. Maybe not!

California Girl said...

Many people, including me, refer to this as the "neural network". Not sure if that is an accurate term or not. If you look it up, it may or may not apply. It refers to, among other things, "parallel processing" which could explain a great deal about the ability to have a global consciousness.

I do believe we are all plugged in to something. It's just a question of what: consciousness,awareness, empathy?. The same idea or concept often arrives at the same time to more than one person. We must have some kind of connection.

The EGG thing sounds a bit Big Brotherish, however.

Brian Miller said...

just put up my post on my experience...

Anonymous said...

I've heard of it, this global conscience, and I used to believe in it. I've been rearranging my life though, internally and externally, and I don't know how I feel about these things anymore. I guess it will take some reading, some conversations and most of all: some experience. Thanks for the link though, I'll definitely check it out.