Peter B Lloyd home page

Welcome to my personal home page. It is mostly about my philosophical writings, which are largely in the fields of consciousness and parapsychology. (But some other things are covered.)

1. About me

A short bio ...

Vocation and avocation: For most of my career, I have worked as a software developer (mostly in Fortran), but I have been doing research and writing on the philosophy of mind (see publications below) outside the day job.
Metatopia: In 2006, I initiated the Metatopia project to create video interviews with individuals working on consciousness in different capacities.
Metageum 07: Early in 2007, the Metatopia video project evolved into Metatopia Conferences, the first of which was Metageum '07, an unusual synthesis of very different approaches to prehistoric consciousness. About seventy-five people gathered on island of Malta for this conference in November 2007 and some interesting experiences emerged especially in connection with the underground Neolithic temple (the Hypogeum) at Hal Saflieni. Metageum 09: was held in Treadwell's Bookshop in London during 21st-29th March 2009. This was a much smaller event than Metageum 07, but had some excellent contributions and explorations.
The next Metatopia event will be a weekend mini-conference on The Matrix film trilogy -- ten years on from the release of the Matrix in 1999. This will be held on 13th/14th June 2009, in Treadwell's Bookshop, Covent Garden, central London.
Whole-Being Books & Metronexco: My business is conducted through the UK company Fencroft Ltd, of which I am director. This also trades as Whole-Being Books (book publishing) and Metronexco (trading maps of public transport systems).

Blog: "Zen and the Art of Metro Maps" (metromapart.blogspot.com)

2. Recent events

Vertical Rush -- At 7:30 am, 19th March 2009: a charity run up the 920 steps of Tower 42, the tallest building in the City of London in aid of Shelter, the charity for helping homeless people. If you click here, you can find out more about this event, and still make a donation electronically, which goes directly to Shelter. I trained by running repeatedly up the stairs of Hampstead Tube station, the deepest underground station in London. Vertical runs are common in the USA but this is apparently the first in the UK. See news coverage.
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3. Products

3.1 Book publications

Chapters written by Peter B Lloyd, in anthologies published by BenBella Books
Military Use of Artificial Consciousness: Special Interest Group Briefing. A discussion of the consciousness of Cylon humanoids in the first two seasons of the new Battlestar Galactica television series. Published in: So Say We All: Collected Thoughts and Opinions on Battlestar Galactica, edited by Richard Hatch, published on 28th October 2006, by BenBella Books (www.benbellabooks.com). Synopsis: According to the story-line of the new Battlestar Galactica TV series, mankind created robots called Cylons. They, in due course, rebelled against their human masters and developed androids with synthetic flesh and bone, and synthetic brain tissue. Outwardly, they look and behave just like humans. They talk as if they have human-like consciousness. This essay is an imagined meeting of Cylons, in which the Cylon research scientists try to explain to their military top brass (none of whom possess consciousness) just what 'artificial consciousness' is, and how it can be harnessed by the military in their war against humans. Ordering: This book is available from BenBella Books' own web site (www.benbellabooks.com), and you can also get it from Amazon US, www.amazon.com, and it Amazon UK, www.amazon.co.uk.

Superman's Moral Evolution, This essay examines Superman's attitude to violence and the rule of law in the early years of the 'Golden Era' of Superman Comics (1938-1943), and contrasts this with his more nuanced modern stance. Published in: pp 181-198, in: The Man from Krypton: A Closer Look at Superman, edited by Glenn Yeffeth, published April 2006 by BenBella Books (www.benbellabooks.com). Synopsis: Widely known as a good guy, queaky clean, and honour-bound not to take human life, Superman in his early days had somewhat a lax attitude toward ethics. He would habitually assault suspects, torture, and kill people - all whilst maintaining the rhetoric that he was upholding law and order and the American Way of Life. Thankfully, he has moved on a long way since then. He has become reflective, sometimes even introverted, and has developed a more nuanced stance in his defence of the American Way of Life. Ordering: This is available from BenBella Books own web site: www.benbellabooks.com in the US, or from Amazon US, www.amazon.com or from Amazon UK,www.amazon.co.uk.

Glitches in the Matrix ... and How to Fix Them This essay was commissioned by Glenn Yeffeth and analyses scientific questions about how the universal virtual reality of the Matrix might work. It also touches on the supposed consciousness of the Agents. Published in: pp 103-124, in: Taking the Red Pill: Science, Philosophy and Religion in the The Matrix, edited by Glenn Yeffeth, published April 2003 by BenBella Books (www.benbellabooks.com). Synopsis: The Matrix depicts a worldwide virtual reality, in which humans are enslaved. Is this possible? Are AI agents that police this world conscious? Ordering: This is available from BenBella Books own web site: www.benbellabooks.com in the US, or or from Amazon US, www.amazon.com, or from Amazon in the UK, www.amazon.co.uk.

Books written by Peter B Lloyd, published by Whole-Being Books, London ...
Exegesis of the Matrix An in-depth analysis of the first two Matrix films. This evolved from two essays: the "Glitches in the Matrix" commissioned by Glenn Yeffeth of BenBella Books, and the "Glitches Reloaded" essay commissioned by the editor of Ray Kurzweil's web site. Published by: Whole-Being Books, November 2003. Ordering: Copies can be purchased from www.amazon.co.uk.

Consciousness and Berkeley's Metaphysics. An intensive defence of George Berkeley's theory of immaterialism, in the context of the mind-body problem and modern consciousness studies. Published by Whole-Being Books (formerly Ursa Software), 200 pp, July 1999. Synopsis: The mind-body problem in philosophy poses the question: how does the conscious mind relate to the material body? Traditionally, there have been three main responses: physical monism, which maintains that the conscious mind is an illusion; dualism, which says that mind and matter are both equally real; and mental monism, which insists that the physical world is a convenient fiction, This book provides a sustained defence of mental monism. Origins: I started sketching out notes for this book (and the accompanying book on the paranormal) when I was an undergraduate student in Cardiff in 1981. I worked on it, on and off, for a number of years. I eventually had a big push on it when I was working in Luxembourg in 1998 and 1999, and had a lot of free time in the evenings and weekends. I self-published the two books in July 1999. Ordering: Copies can be purchased from www.amazon.co.uk.

Paranormal Phenomena and Berkeley's Metaphysics Taking Berkeley's theory of mental monism, or immaterialism as he called it,this book examines ways of understanding a range of paranormal phenomena. This is a follow-on from the previous book. Published by Whole-Being Books (formerly Ursa Software), 341 pp, July 1999. Ordering: Copies can be purchased from www.amazon.co.uk.

Book edited by Peter B Lloyd, published by Whole-Being Books ...
I'm Afraid of Hypnosis but I Don't Know Why Written by Deborah Marshall-Warren A critique of common misapprehension and fear about hypnosis. Reassures people who are thinking about undergoing hypnotherapy, by explaining what goes on in a hypnotherapy session, and addresses the specific concerns that people commonly have. Published by: WHole-Being Books, 268 pp, March 2003. Ordering: Copies can be purchased from www.amazon.co.uk.

Chapters written by Peter B Lloyd, published elsewhere ...
Mental Monism Considered as a Solution to the Mind-Body Problem This essay was commissioned by Alexander Batthyany and is a concise statement and defence of Berkeleyan mental monism. pp 101-145 in: Mind and its Place in the World: Non-Reductionist Approaches to the Ontology of Consciousness, edited by Alexander Batthyany and Avshalom Elitzur, published by Ontos Verlag, Frankfurt, December 2005. Ordering: The book can be purchased from Ontos (www.ontosverlag.com) as a hardcopy or as an e-book.

3.2 DVD publications

Interviews published on the Matrix DVD boxed set by Warner Brothers.

The Hard Problem: The Science behind the Fiction and
Return to Source: Philosophy and 'The Matrix'

These interviews were recorded by Josh Oreck in London. They cover aspects of the allusions to science, philosophy. and religion found in the Matrix trilogy.

Ordering: Available from www.amazon.com or www.amazon.co.uk.

3.3 Conference papers & other essays

Application of Mental Monism to Parapsychology (PDF, 2005)
If mental monism is correct, what implications does it have for explaining how psi phenomena work? In this essay, I apply mental monism to parapsychology, and argue that it provides the only serious pointer so far to an explanatory framework for psi.

This is an unpublished follow-on from the published essay Mental Monism Considered as a Solution to the Mind-Body Problem, in ‘Mind and its Place in the World: Non-Reductionist Approaches to the Ontology of Consciousness’, edited by Alexander Batthyany and Avshalom Elitzur, published by Ontos Verlag, Frankfurt, December 2005. It was originally planned as a final section of that essay but, at forty-four pages the latter was already oversize, so the parapsychology section was dropped from that publication.
Length: 3,760 words.

Berkeleian model of psi phenomena
On using Berkeley's immaterialist philosophy as a framework for understanding paranormal phenomena.

Poster paper presented at the international conference, Toward a Science of Consciousness, Tucson, April 2000.
Length: 2,100 words.

Berkeleian Ontology as a Fundamental Approach to Consciousness
This paper presents a modernised version of Berkeley's semantic argument for mental monism, and examines the implications of this ontology for the foundations of parapsychology.

Poster paper presented at the international conference, Toward a Science of Consciousness, Tokyo, May 1999.
Length: 20,l200 words.

Berkeley Revisited: The Hard Problem Considered Easy
What Chalmers calls the 'hard problem' of consciousness, which is the Cartesian mind-body problem, admits of an easy solution with Berkeley's mental monism, which also makes possible a rational account of psi phenomena.

Poster paper presented at the international conference, Toward a Science of Consciousness, Tucson, April 1998.
Length: 3,800 words.

Discussion of Amit Goswami's Science Within Consciousness
A short and informal discussion of Goswami's concept of consciousness and its relation to physics. I argue that Goswami's use of the term 'consciousness' is very different from its use in mainstream consciousness studies, as exemplified by David Chalmers' writings.

Informal web essay, 1999.
Length: 3,000 words.

3.4 Podcasts

I have started an experimental series of podcasts on philosophical topics. To subscribe, right-click the RSS logo, copy the link, and paste it into your RSS feed. To play individual recordings now, click the speaker icon.

Philosophical Mindfuck

1. Thinking Matter If your brain can be conscious, why can't your chair? What light does Frank Jackson's Black and White Mary throw on the nature of consciousness?

2. Cyborg Experience What is it like to be a cyborg? What would you feel if your brain cells were to be replaced, one by one, with electronic devices? Does this thought-experiment provided solid support for materialism?

4 Other web sites maintained by me

www.marshall-warren.com is my wife's web site, concerning interactive hypnotherapy. Deborah sees clients for hypnotherapy in London, Malta, and selected international spas.

External links

Letter: War on terror in Iraq: A short letter I had published in the Independent newspaper (London), on the inadequate reporting of terrorism. Online at findarticles.com (The Independent, 10th November 10 2004).
Skinning dogs alive for their fur: There is a lot of evil in the world. Some evils are greater than others; some evils are more gratuitous than others; some evils are easier to eliminate than others. Skinning dogs alive for their fur scores pretty highly in nasty, gratuituous, preventable evil. I would recommend that you visit the web site animalsaviors.org. Watch the video of dogs being beaten and skinned alive. Look into the animals' eyes and imaginatively step into their paws: what is it like to have your skin ripped off you and then be left to die slowly? There is no need for humans to use animal skins. Even if you decide you want to wear animal skins for some reason, there is no need to do it like this. Please read through this web site, and consider what you can contribute in some way to helping eradicate this barbarity.

	1. Thinking Matter If your brain can be conscious, why can't your chair? What light does Frank Jackson's Black and White Mary throw on the nature of consciousness?
	2. Cyborg Experience What is it like to be a cyborg? What would you feel if your brain cells were to be replaced, one by one, with electronic devices? Does this thought-experiment provided solid support for materialism?