http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroscience_of_free_will
... we might imagine how other consciousness processes could be the result of efferent, predictive processing. If our conscious self is the efferent copy of actions and vetos being performed, then the consciousness is a sort of narrator of what is already occurring in the body, and an incomplete narrator at that. Haggard, summarizing data taken from recent neuron recordings, says "these data give the impression that conscious intention is just a subjective corollary of an action being about to occur". Parallel processing helps explain how we might experience a sort of contra-causal free will even if it were determined.
How the brain constructs consciousness is still a mystery, and cracking it open would have a significant bearing on the question of free will. Numerous different models have been proposed, for example, the Multiple Drafts Model which argues that there is no central Cartesian theater where conscious experience would be represented, but rather that consciousness is located all across the brain. This model would explain the delay between the decision and conscious realization, as experiencing everything as a continuous 'filmstrip' comes behind the actual conscious decision. In contrast, there exist models of Cartesian materialism that have gained recognition by neuroscience, implying that there actually might be special brain areas that store the contents of consciousness; this does not, however, rule out the possibility of a conscious will. Other models such as epiphenomenalism argue that conscious will is an illusion, and that consciousness is a by-product of physical states of the world. Work in this sector is still highly speculative, and there is no single model of consciousness which would be favored by the researchers. (See also: Philosophy of mind.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_hand_syndrome A person with alien hand syndrome can feel normal sensation in the hand and leg, but believes that the hand, while still being a part of their body, behaves in a manner that is totally distinct from the sufferer's normal behavior. They lose the 'sense of agency' associated with the purposeful movement of the limb while retaining a sense of 'ownership' of the limb. They feel that they have no control over the movements of the 'alien' hand, but that, instead, the hand has the capability of acting autonomously — i.e., independent of their voluntary control. The hand effectively has 'a will of its own.' "Alien behavior" can be distinguished from reflexive behavior in that the former is flexibly purposive while the latter is obligatory. Sometimes the sufferer will not be aware of what the alien hand is doing until it is brought to his or her attention, or until the hand does something that draws their attention to its behavior...
Although there is no known formal (primary) treatment for alien hand syndrome at this time, the symptoms can be reduced and managed to some degree by keeping the alien hand occupied and involved in a task, for example by giving it an object to hold in its grasp. Specific learned tasks can restore voluntary control of the hand to a significant degree. One patient with the "frontal" form of alien hand who would reach out to grasp onto different objects (e.g., door handles) as he was walking was given a cane to hold in the alien hand while walking, even though he really did not need a cane for its usual purpose of assisting with balance and facilitating ambulation. With the cane firmly in the grasp of the alien hand, it would generally not release the grasp and drop the cane in order to reach out to grasp onto a different object...
In another approach, the patient is trained to perform a specific task, such as moving the alien hand to contact a specific object or a highly salient environmental target, which is a movement that the patient can learn to generate voluntarily through focused training in order to effectively override the alien behavior. It is possible that some of this training produces a re-organization of premotor systems within the damaged hemisphere...
http://www.initaly.com/regions/latium/romemoviealb.htm
Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere is the central square of this Quarter which is named after the homonymous, beautiful church situated on one of its sides. In the last years, three American films have chosen precisely this square to show the most picturesque features of Rome, namely Neil Labute's Nurse Betty (2000), Micael Lehmann's Hudson Hawk (1990) and Norman Jewison's Only You (1996)
The Basilica of Our Lady in Trastevere is a titular minor basilica, one of the oldest churches in Rome, and perhaps the first in which mass was openly celebrated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_in_Piazza_Santa_Maria_in_Trastevere
A fountain is believed to have stood in this square since the 8th century, but the exact date it was built is unknown. The fountain is first mentioned in documents dating to the second half of the 15th century. A drawing of the fountain appears on the map of Rome made by Pietro del Massaio in 1471, along with a description of the legend of the fountain's origin. According to the legend, which appears in the Chronicle of Eusebius, translated and finished by Saint Jerome in the fifth century, on the night of the birth of Christ a fountain of oil appeared miraculously in front of the church, which as a result was given the name "Santa Maria in fontibus." The original fountain was supplied with water by a Roman aqueduct, the Aqua Traiana. When the aqueduct was ruined during the invasions of Rome, water came from underground sources below the Janiculum hill. The old fountain illustrated in the drawing of del Massaio had two vasques, one above the other, pouring water into the basin below.
The fountain was reconstructed between 1499 and 1500 on the command of Giovanni Lopez, the bishop of Perouse and Bishop of the parish of Santa Maria in Trastavere, who gave the commission to Donato Bramante, the architect of St. Peter's Basilica. Bramante removed the upper vasque and added four carved stone wolf heads, the emblem of the Lopez family.
The fountain was reconstructed again in 1604 by the architect Girolamo Rainaldi, the father of Carlo Rainaldi,the architect of the two churches of Piazza del Popolo. At that time the fountain was connected to the newly-restored Acqua Felice aqueduct. In 1659 the fountain was connected to the Acqua Paola aqueduct and remodeled again by Bernini. Bernini replaced the octagonal basin, moved the fountain from its original place in front of the church to a new location in the center of the square, and added sculpted seashells around the basin. At the end of the 17th century, the architect Carlo Fontana replaced Bernini's seashells with his own sculpted seashells.
The fountain was completely rebuilt in 1873, following the design of Bernini and Fontana, but using less expensive materials. It was rebuilt once again in 1930.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle
http://www.keyway.ca/htm2006/20060617.htm
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Guide_for_the_Perplexed_%28Friedlander%29/Introduction
'those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.' nietzsche
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080926184749.htm
Although dark energy may seem a bit contrived to some, the Oxford theorists are proposing an even more outrageous alternative. They point out that it's possible that we simply live in a very special place in the universe - specifically, we're in a huge void where the density of matter is particularly low. The suggestion flies in the face of the Copernican Principle, which is one of the most useful and widely held tenets in physics. Copernicus was among the first scientists to argue that we're not in a special place in the universe, and that any theory that suggests that we're special is most likely wrong.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time
Views of spacetime along the world line of a rapidly accelerating observer in a relativistic universe. The events ("dots") that pass the two diagonal lines in the bottom half of the image (the past light cone of the observer in the origin) are the events visible to the observer.
... in the relativistic description the observability of events is absolute: the movements of the observer do not influence whether an event passes the "light cone" of the observer. Notice that with the change from a Newtonian to a relativistic description, the concept of absolute time is no longer applicable: events move up-and-down in the figure depending on the acceleration of the observer.
Properties of n+m-dimensional spacetimes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacetime
http://gogeometry.com/world_news_map/theory_everything_lisi.htm
