Just how brainwashed are you?

Watch embedded below, or click the link: WTC7 — This is an Orange.

If, after watching the video, you irrationally feel very defensive of the the government’s official 9/11 conspiracy theory, you may need help…

Tip of the hat to Gerard Ryan for the video link.

Ram Bomjon from Ratanapuri village, Bara district, Nepal, may be enlightened.

While some say he is the reincarnation of the Buddha, Ram himself has clearly stated he is not (Duhhh…like, dude, Siddhartha Gautama already reached nirvana, so, like, why would he be coming back here for another round?)

A couple of years ago, in 2006 and 2007, he gained a lot of media attention for spending months in meditation — supposedly without food or water. Unfortunately for Ram, the further he moved into the jungle to be alone and meditate, the more people followed to hang out with him, until thousands of visitors were making the trek to watch him sit all day in unmoving silence.

I vaguely remember the media bubble popping with rumors that he’d been proved a fake. Then I ran across this video investigation done by a crew from the Discovery Channel…

Let me see if I have this straight: a boy goes off to be alone and meditate. Strangers throw a party on whatever spot he retreats to in search of solitude. The world puts him on a pedestal, then denounces him as a charlatan.

I’m guessing Buddha Boy, who, after the media’s feeding frenzy disappeared into the jungle for a year and then reemerged briefly in 2008, is glad the world moved on. Actually, I’ll bet he doesn’t care whether the rest of us have moved on or not…the world is what it is.

Watch the documentary embedded below, or click this link: The Boy with Divine Powers.

I’m guessing the long-term survival rate in the sport of extreme wingsuit base jumping is pretty low.

Exhibit A: Pioneering Michigan-born birdman Clem Sohn (1910 - 1937). As the old saying goes, it wasn’t the fall that killed him; hitting the ground did.

Exhibit B: French birdman Leo Valentin (1919 - 1956), whose death was also the result of wardrobe malfunction (if one considers functional primary and reserve chutes essential apparel.)

That being said, watching these modern wingsuit flyers skim the cliffs of Norway at freefall speeds exceeding 100 mph is beautifuller than bowling, more excitingful than golf, and a heckuva lot zippier than watching baseball with a beerless fridge.

Zoom zoom, indeed!

One final note: it’s well worth your while to watch this video full screen.

wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.

Tip of the hat to stunt pilot Paul Johnson for forwarding the video.

In his TED talk, Juan Enriquez ponders the economic meltdown. He also talks about wolves who dress like sheep and talk about entitlement. And he explains how the dollar in your pocket today may be worth a trillion 2010 dollars.

But more than that, Juan Enriquez offers a glimpse of the Big Reboot that is surely coming, and, I’ve gotta tell ya…it’s amazing and a little scary at the same time. I had no idea common people were already walking around with replacement tracheas and bladders and ears grown to order from their own cells.

I feel like we’re topping the peak on the roller coaster, right before the big rush; it’s going to be a very fun and thrilling ride — as long as the car doesn’t detach from the track and we aren’t flung into space and dashed on the amusement park asphalt. But nevermind the backseat pessimist…this wave is coming, in fact it’s already here, and we can choose to enjoy surfing it and hope the sharks aren’t biting, or resist and catch a choking throatful of ocean.

One of the big questions Enriquez alludes to: if you lose an eye, and doctors can replace it with an eye that can see many times better, how long before people start gouging out the good eyes they were born with and tossing them on the trash heap?

Welcome to a new species of human, Homo evolutis. Our kids are going to be different: Juan Enriquez Shares Mindboggling New Science.

Tip of the hat to Indigobusiness for pointing Juan Enriquez out of the crowd.

Binaural beats are auditory brainstem responses that happen when opposite ears (perhaps yours!) hear sounds of slightly different frequency.

Just as your brain puts together two 2-dimensional signals from your eyes, then processes them to get a 3D stereo image, your brain also processes two separate auditory signals (one from each ear) and combines them into a super duper spatial auditory experience.

But a funny thing happens when your brain combines two steady but slightly different signals: it creates a pulsing beat equivalent to the difference of their frequencies. The best part, at least for curious surfers hunting yet another strange but safe way to alter their state of consciousness, is that brain waves gradually follow and eventually synchronize themselves with the frequency of the pulsing beat.

In short, if you want your brain waves operating at 5 Hz (a wave frequency typically associated with deep meditation) you put a 400 Hz signal in your left ear, and a 405 signal in your right ear, then sit back and let your brain assimilate and follow the binaural beat.

Brain Waves and States of Consciousness

Most states of consciousness have corresponding brain wave frequencies.

When your brain waves are in the beta range (15-40 Hz), you are in an alert, actively working state. For example, you’re on a TV game show answering a question that may net you $100,000 after taxes. Or, you’re breaking huddle on the 50 yard line, four points down with three seconds on the clock. Or, you’re giving a friend directions to your barbeque party over the phone. There are high and low levels of Beta, but in all of them, your brain is actively engaged.

When your brain is operating in the alpha range (9-14 Hz), you’re relaxed and reflective. Taking a quiet walk in the garden? Alpha. Just came home from work, opened a beer, hit the couch? Alpha.

The theta range (5-8 Hz) shows up during very deep relaxation and meditation. During theta, you’re on autopilot, and ideas seem to flow into your brain from nowhere. Even if you never assume a lotus position, you’re probably in a theta state more often than you’d think. How about the last time you arrived at work and didn’t remember the drive? That was theta. And remember when a great idea came to you while you were taking a shower or brushing your teeth? Yep…that was your brain on theta, too.

There’s also the delta range (1.5-4Hz) of brain waves which occur when you’re experiencing deep, dreamless sleep. This one, you probably don’t recall ;-)

Chasing Some Deep Relaxation

If your brain feels like it’s stuck in an anxious Beta state, and you’re having trouble shifting down into a more relaxing, meditative, alpha state of consciousness, put on your headphones or earbuds, and feed your brain some binaural beats: Infinite Bliss with Stereo Binaural Beats.