The Crystal Quiet Podcast

Is blushing an only human trait? Do animals blush? Can an AI ever express emotion?  The face is the chief seat of expression. In this episode, I discuss the biological and psychological process of blushing, based on The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin. I explore the different things that can trigger a blush, and the connection between blinking and blushing by analyz...

Are you sure you're the one who gets to decide what you allow into your consciousness?  In this episode, I continue to discuss the book Flow, and study the ways to control consciousness, and the way we process information. I take a look at schizophrenia, and the disadvantages of self-consciousness. I focus on concentration, learning disabilities, and attentional disorders and how they can be...

In this episode, I discuss some points from the book Flow: the psychology of optimal experience, by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly. I focus on the traits of the autotelic personality, my own experience with flow, and the transformation that came from reflecting on the question: Is this all there is? I talk about how we come to create meaning in our lives, my screenplay: The Suicidal Penguin Club, my past...

In this second episode, I discuss two chapters of the book Yoga and Health, by Selvarajan Yesudian and Elisabeth Haich. I focus on respecting the body and the instincts, and how to bring the mind in harmony with the body in order to become whole and live in a higher plane of existence. I talk about the difference between real hunger and civilized appetite. I explore the great temptation, shame, an...

In this episode, I discuss a quote from the book Antic Hay, by Aldous Huxley, which gave me the inspiration for the name of this podcast: The Crystal Quiet. I have managed to turn this Crystal Quiet into a haven and a home for myself. I also talk about Aristotle's Poetics, as well as the passive and active parts of the mind, and what happens when they coalesce. I mention some strategies I hav...