Sangeetha Menon's Philosophy Class

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/VnB5mRAbgoY?feature=share Are our minds capable of thinking of the unknown? This is the question I wish to discuss with you today! Or even better, let us ask "can we know the unknown"?

Can the Unknown be Known? Consciousness Conversations with Sangeetha Menon Are our minds capable of thinking of the unknown? This is the question I wish to discuss with you today! Or even better, let us ask "can we know the unknow...

https://youtu.be/ulVsYYoeySw
We now turn to Arjuna, not just as a warrior, but as a symbol of inner conflict that fundamental transforms to eventual clarity. I reserved the discussion on Arjuna towards the end of the Mahabharata series, not only because his narrative brings light to the darker emotional terrains we have already explored, but also because his transformation invites us to pause, reflect, and even, perhaps, smile, because something continues to shift inwardly as his struggle unfolds in front of us. Unlike Dhritaraashtra’s resignation or Duryodhana’s envy, Arjuna’s crisis is deeply ethical and to some extent his inner conflicts with his attempts for self-integration.
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Why did Arjuna Grieve? - Consciousness Conversations on "Mahabharata" - Sangeetha Men We now turn to Arjuna, not just as a warrior, but as a symbol of inner conflict that fundamental transforms to eventual clarity. I reserved the discussion on...

What happens to a Self that is all empty inside, but surrounded by riches and pleasures outside?
Duryodhana is such a Self - an "Empty Self".
I continue "Consciousness Conversations on the Mahabharata".
Do watch https://youtu.be/SSxMXPcrwLw

Consciousness Conversations on "Mahabharata - The Empty Self of Duryodhana" - Sangeetha Menon If we are to understand Duryodhana, we must first understand that his story is not simply one of villainy or ambition.🕓It is a story shaped by deep psycholo...

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https://youtu.be/l3Tw0SXuNhM

Hello Friends

I continue my reflections on "Desire".

This time I bring you the *Mahabharata*, and more specifically, the *"Kāma Gīta"* - just three verses - but exhaustively and powerfully presents the Indian philosophy of Desire, and give a befitting response to those scholars who said Indian philosophy is other worldly... In the Kāma Gīta, Kāma appears and speaks in the first-person, daunting his power and the potential to transform ... once again the tag line is ... the only way you can understand (or even transmute) desire is to be aware of it ... and aware of its contours and place too.

Do subscribe, listen and forward this 4 minute video to your friends ...

Consciousness Conversations on "Desire" -Mahabharata Perspective - Sangeetha Menon ... Let me take you to the timeless epic of the Mahaabhaaratha.The Mahaabhaaratha. is not just a story of war —it is a vast ocean of human dilemmas, dharma, ...

https://youtu.be/5GsKhBcYeB0

In classical Greek philosophy, Eros - commonly translated as desire - occupies a central and contested position.

For Plato, particularly in the Symposium and Phaedrus, desire is neither reducible to mere appetite nor to irrational impulse. Rather, it is conceived as a formative energy within the soul - a teleological movement directed toward the Beautiful and the Good.

Far from being a hindrance to philosophical inquiry, desire becomes its condition: the initial impulse that draws the soul upward, from sensory attraction to the realm of intelligible forms.

In this reconstructed dialogue, we engage a fictionalized moment between Plato and one of his students, where the philosophical significance of Eros unfolds - not as a distraction from reason, but as its ally in the pursuit of metaphysical truth.

Consciousness Conversations on "Desire" - Plato's Perspective - Sangeetha Menon Consciousness Conversations by Sangeetha MenonIn classical Greek philosophy, eros — commonly translated as desire — occupies a central and contested position...

https://youtu.be/MXoL4PUusDw

Isn’t the Self which you, I, we, and they carry a riddle and a witty spoof that laugh at our own comic selves?

We pretty much do not know what the self is.

Because we think our self is not something which we can talk about in an extraneous manner. It is a private matter, and not even known to the owner.

It is so much of me! How can I talk about it?

Watch for more on this topic in "Consciousness Conversations"

Consciousness Conversations - Where did the Human Self Come From? Consciousness Conversations by Sangeetha MenonIsn’t the Self which you, I, we, and they carry a riddle and a witty spoof that laugh at our own comic selves?W...

https://youtu.be/tEgNaQth5G8
Watch "Consciousness Conversations" anchored by my digital twin 😃
- Can Consciousness be Downloaded to a Computer ?
Inspired by the movie "Transcendence"

Consciousness Conversations - Can Consciousness be Downloaded on a Computer? - Sangeetha Menon Consciousness Conversations by Sangeetha MenonExplore the thought-provoking themes of love, identity, and consciousness in the Sci-Fi film "Transcendence," a...

Is Self a Grand Narrative Formed by Memory?
Or is it more than narratives and the little stories we connect everyday?
Do share your thoughts.

I will share a few posts here on the more common psychological stressors on the Self in social spaces, and how do we understand these non-verbal languages philosophically.

To begin with let me emphasize that Self-awareness is not merely the recognition of one’s actions but also a deep attunement to the unfolding of the self in time and relation. Our self, often is a dynamic process and shaped by memory, habit, context, and reflexivity.

Let me share a story snippet: In a large, attentive audience, a middle aged man sat in the front row, his formal dress immaculate, posture composed, yet his fingers told another story. As the speaker addressed the gathering with poise and enthusiasm, his hand rose to his mouth again and again. He was biting his nails with much intensity, compulsively, visibly, and seemingly without awareness of those around him, or what is happening around him. Rather than a gesture of boredom or distraction, what does such a behaviour tell us?

Nail-biting in a public and formal context is not merely a habit, but it can be an embodied sign of deeper psychological distress. Clinically, this behavior is classified as a body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB), often linked to underlying anxiety, emotional dysregulation, or chronic stress. It may function as a self-soothing mechanism when the mind feels overwhelmed and verbal or cognitive outlets fall short. Psychologically, such acts may reflect: Anxiety and emotional overload, Unconscious coping, Perfectionistic or conflicted inner states, Neurocognitive patterns, and Reduced self-awareness in the moment.

In such moments of unconscious compulsive behavior the self momentarily slips into the background, and the body takes over as an expressive medium. This disjunction reveals the layered nature of awareness, where the conscious “I” coexists with the embodied, affective self.

Philosophically, such acts point to the porous boundary between autonomy and compulsion, and remind us that selfhood is not always fully sovereign, and it is vulnerable, evolving, and often disclosed in silence. How do we recover the self from such psychological challenges is also a deeply philosophical question, as far as as health and wellbeing of the person are concerned.

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“AI Futurelines”
The Three BIG B-s For the Next Decade and more:
BRAIN . BEHAVIOUR . BIG DATA

BRAIN and The Subjective Personal SELF:
How do billions of neurons interacting in the brain give rise to subjective experiences, self-awareness, and the sense of being?

BEHAVIOUR and its Complexity:
While we can model and anticipate many behaviours with increasing accuracy, the attempt is complicated by the inherent complexity of human cognition, free will, metaphysical nature of the self, respect for individual autonomy, cultural and social influences.

BIG DATA and The “Market”:
~ E-commerce and Streaming Platforms; ~ Targeted Advertising; ~ Predictive Modeling: Behavioral data is crucial for training AI and machine learning models to predict future behavior; ~Natural Language Processing (NLP): AI systems that process and understand human language rely on behavioural data to learn how people communicate; ~Smart Devices, Wearables, and the Internet of Things (IoT); ~ Behavioral Economics and Finance

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- NIAS Consciousness Studies Programme

~̲ ̲T̲h̲e̲ ̲H̲u̲m̲a̲n̲𝙚̲ ̲S̲e̲l̲f̲ ̲S̲p̲o̲t̲l̲i̲g̲h̲t̲ ̲~̲
I have been giving some reflective thought for a while on the difference between just being a representative of the Human Species, and Being HumanE.
Sharing a bit of spotlight on this area of ambiguity.

The I of AI '
and The Eye of Consciousness

Where is the Departure for the "I" and "Eye"?

for the I of AI: Ethical accountability, Human Control and Autonomy
for the Eye of Consciousness: Awareness, Agency, and the Experiential Personal Self