Objective Exam #1

Question 1

Terranauts

Answer 1

People who have achieved “astronaut awareness” without going into orbit or to the moon. They have realized that the Earth is a natural spaceship and all of us are, in a very real sense, astronauts who make up its crew.

Question 2

Overview System

Answer 2

a pattern of organized self-awareness in which the whole is perceived as the context of all the parts within it. An overview system can exist at any level within the universe, from a planet to a solar system to a galaxy and beyond.

Question 3

Four parts of the planetary overview system

Answer 3

1 physical system of the planet Earth
2 the living system known as Gaia
3 The human social system we call humanity
4 a worldwide technology system “technos”

Question 4

technos

Answer 4

the worldwide technology system consisting of satellites, networks , computers, tablets, smartphones, robots, androids, and other interconnected electronic entities.

Question 5

technosystem

Answer 5

a non organic interconnected system like that described by the term “technos”

Question 6

The Gaia hypothesis

Answer 6

life, rather than being a mere passenger on spaceship earth, plays a vital role as a balancing and regulating mechanism. It suggests that the entire planet is an interconnected living system

Question 7

the cosma hypothesis

Answer 7

everything in the universe is a part working with the other parts to support evolution of the whole. Insofar as life is one of the parts, the universe is alive. Insofar as life is intelligent and alive, the universe is intelligent and aware.

Question 8

terra

Answer 8

planetary system manifesting as a planetary civilization with a presence in Earth orbit, institutionalized awareness of the planet as a whole, the planetary management as its primary science.

Question 9

solarius

Answer 9

a solar overview system manifesting as a solar civilization with a presence throughout the solar system, and based on awareness of the solar system as a whole

Question 10

planetary management

Answer 10

recognition that if the whole can be perceived, it can be the focus of practical as well as abstract interest. Interacting with the Earth form the perspective of the overview effect, managing the whole system for the good of its parts.

Question 11

galaxia

Answer 11

galactic overview system manifesting as a galactic civilization, based on awareness of the galaxy as a whole

Question 12

homo spaciens

Answer 12

a radically different kind of human being, one highly adapted to living in the conditions of space and poorly adapted to the surfaces of planets

Question 13

outer space religion

Answer 13

salvation is to be found in outer space, or ideas connected to outer space. Activities and scripture are related to space exploration or SETI. Often devoid of divine beings, extraterrestrial beings function similarly. Salvation usually defined in terms of transcendence of an Earthbound existence. Technology is often a crucial role in salvation scheme, and often destroys perception of nature-technology dichotomy.

Question 14

3 convictions of dark green religion

Answer 14

1 nature is sacred
2 nature has intrinsic value
3 nature is due reverent care

Question 15

spaceship earth

Answer 15

metaphor through with image of spaceships are conflated. Views earth as more space-like or “technological” and the spaceship and space tech more earth-like or “natural”

Question 16

apocalypticism

Answer 16

1 dualistic view of world (good vs evil)
2 aggravated by sense of alienation
3 can be resolved by establishment of radically transcendent new world that abolishes dualism
4 new world requires radically purified bodies for its inhabitants

Question 17

awe

Answer 17

direct and initial feeling when faced with something incomprehensible or sublime

Question 18

wonder

Answer 18

a more reflective feeling one has when unable to put things back into familiar conceptual framework

Question 19

overview effect

Answer 19

shift in awareness reported by some astronauts and cosmonauts, often while viewing Earth from orbit, in transit between the Earth and the moon, or from the lunar surface. Experiencing first hand the reality that the Earth is in space, a tiny, fragile ball of life. Transforms astro’s perspective on planet and humanity’s place in universe. Awe for planet, understanding of interconnectedness of all life, renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of enviro

Question 20

4 characteristics of halo experience

Answer 20

1 difference between experience and communication of experience
2 experience begins before flight and ends, if ever, long after
3 experience is private while in space but becomes highly public on return
4 experience is given meaning that serves societal needs, but has little to do with astro’s personal reality

Question 21

4 characteristics of core experience

Answer 21

1 changed perceptions of space
2 changed perceptions of time
3 silence
4 weightlessness

Question 22

universal insight

Answer 22

intensification of overview effect that brings a similar understanding of the nature of universe and our place in it. Occurs usually when astros look beyond the Earth and focus attention on universe in which our planet exists

Question 23

copernican perspective

Answer 23

realization that the earth is not only a whole system (humans a part of) but also a part of the solar system. Copernicus was right that the sun is center of the system

Question 24

religion

Answer 24

set of established stories, rituals, mental and bodily practices, and INSTITUTIONS that have built up around extreme encounters with anomalous presence, power, or hidden order

Question 25

spirituality

Answer 25

a personal way of relating to the divine or the underlying reality, a way that is independent of religious authority or social institution

Question 26

mystical

Answer 26

dimension of a religious system that emphasizes an element of “secret”, or esoteric or outside accepted knowledge and consensual reality, communion, connection, or identity between human nature and divine or the “really real”

Question 27

gnosis

Answer 27

direct mystical knowing, as opposed to literalist belief, whether religious or scientific

Question 28

altered states of consciousness

Answer 28

forms of mind, often very religious, that are experience as radically other than social ego

Question 29

ego

Answer 29

one’s conscious sense of self or personality coded in one’s given name

Question 30

human reason

Answer 30

human faculty guided by and limited by information derived from the sense, which it processes according to standardized forms of logic and the structures of human cognition

Question 31

enlightenment thinking

Answer 31

any form of thinking that posits that human reason is the only way to arrive at truth

Question 32

rationalism

Answer 32

exclusive reliance on human reason, cognition, and sensory data to arrive at truth

Question 33

reductionism

Answer 33

explanation of religious or other phenomena as effects of some deeper underlying and more basic causes, processes or mechanisms of a different, non-religious nature. In strong forms, can deny the possibility of transcendent force or truth at work in religion.

Question 34

assertions of the natural sciences and the humanities

Answer 34

natural science asserts that reality is mad up of matter, numbers, objects, and causality. Humanities assert that reality is made up also of experiences, meanings, values, words, subjects, and stories

Question 35

materialism

Answer 35

a position according to which matter is the premarital factor or “existent” in the universe

Question 36

idealism

Answer 36

a philosophical position that understands mind as the ultimate nature and source of reality

Question 37

hero or quest myths

Answer 37

myth that works through the staged tropes of departure, adventure in a foreign land, temptation, battle, discovery or victory, and return

Question 38

initiation

Answer 38

a set of formalized activities and teachings through with a person’s social or religious identity is transformed

Question 39

ritual

Answer 39

the re-enactment of myth through repeated scripted actions, usually in a culturally prescribed space and time by a religious specialist

Question 40

shaman

Answer 40

religious specialist found in many indigenous cultures, who specializes in trance states, static journeys, healing, magical powers and battle, music, and mythical lore

Question 41

rite of passage

Answer 41

initiation ritual that follows pattern moving from initial state of “separation” from society through a “transitional period”–“a gap between the ordered worlds where almost anything could happen”– and into a final state of “incorporation” back into the community

Question 42

liminal state or liminality

Answer 42

transitional period that is a chaotic by creative condition, defined by paradox and ambiguity. from “limen” meaning “threshold”. The liminal is that middle space, where the earlier identity is symbolically dissolved or broken down so that it can be put together again. Place of intentional confusion and creative ambiguity

Question 43

paranormal

Answer 43

referring to mind-over-kmatter events that are thought to be natural by are still beyond the modeling of contemporary science

Question 44

parapsycology

Answer 44

branch of modern psychology that studies mind-over-matter interactions that are are still beyond the modeling of contemporary science

Question 45

psychical

Answer 45

referring to the alleged powers of the human mind to know things outside the normal sense channels and beyond ordinary parameters of space-time

Question 46

symbol

Answer 46

an image that shares the essence of that which it signifies

Question 47

myth

Answer 47

sacred story that founds/grounds a particular religious world. Uses symbols and functions as dynamic symbol

Question 48

sacred

Answer 48

special or set apart from ordinary, experienced as power or presence both terrifying and awe-inspiring

Question 49

hermeneutics

Answer 49

the art, practice, and method of interpretation.

Question 50

savikalpa samadhi

Answer 50

union “placing together” WITH conceptualization. Experience of connectedness between self & universe, while still observing separate entities, accompanied by ecstasy and feeling of eternity.

Question 51

nirvikalpa samadhi

Answer 51

union “placing together” WITHOUT conceptualization. Because there is no conceptualization, there is no differentiation, and self dwells in a state of pure awareness.

Question 52

epiphenomenalism

Answer 52

consciousness is a by-product of the laws of biology and physics

Question 53

Plato’s cave

Answer 53

Plato perceived of reality as the world of perfect forms and our own sensory world as a shadowing project, distorted and limited. Limited info leads to limited beliefs

Question 54

dyadic model

Answer 54

model that attempts to bridge the material and mystical, objective and subjective, inter and other worlds. Dyad refers to two aspects of one reality