I’m a first-time novelist, who was once an Internet entrepreneur. I’m currently in the middle of a multi-year research project for a book that will probably be called Finding the Li: Towards a Democracy of Consciousness. It’s about how human consciousness has lost its balance in the past two thousand years, and how we can go about regaining a harmony within ourselves.
I was born in London, England, studied English Literature at Cambridge , and left England in 1981 to move to the United States. After spending some time with the indigenous Mayans of the Guatemalan highlands, I got married, went to business school at the University of Chicago, and became a corporate executive, raising two kids over the ensuing twenty years.
A few years back, I began working on my first novel, Requiem of the Human Soul, which was published early in 2009 by Libros Libertad. I wanted to write about where I saw our world going, and what it means for our human soul. Not the Judaeo-Christian immortal soul, but the kind we mean when we say: “That’s got soul, man.” I wanted to explore how genetic engineering may put the final nail in the coffin that Western civilization’s been building around our soul for the past 500 years. I tried to make the story believable – not some angst-ridden dystopia, but a realistic view of our future may hold for our species.
You can find out lots more about my novel, Requiem of the Human Soul, at www.humansoul.com.
Since finishing my novel, I became entranced by an idea of one of the novel’s characters, about the growing ascendancy of the power of our prefrontal cortex over other aspects of human consciousness. That’s what led to both a companion blog called Tyranny of the Prefrontal Cortex, and this blog. If you’d like to understand more, please read About the Blog.
Enjoy the blog!
Jeremy Lent
Feel free to e-mail me at jeremylent@gmail.com
Finding the li 
Paolo Podrescu said,
June 19, 2010 at 3:57 am
Hi Jeremy,
Extremely interested in the trajectory of your thesis! And your angles on it sound great ! Discovered your work while working on an article related to Naomi Klein’s article 2day about the Gulf catastrophe in the Guardian… and a theme i’m working on called the Great Technotopian Brainspill ( also related to the directions that Francis Bacon calls enlightment , i.e the Harnessing of nature ) …
Plan on following yur blog(s).
Would love to read your novel too, if there’s ever any time, warm greetz from Berlin!
Pod aka Paolo
Rupali Mokashi said,
July 1, 2010 at 7:56 am
NICE
kiki felix said,
July 14, 2010 at 9:10 am
I just stumbled on to these ideas about Li. So excited about your perspective.
Also can’t wait to give your book “Requiem of the Human Soul” to my husband (a history teacher)
Would your book be something my step son (a very precocious 15 year old) could read. I don’t mind him reading somewhat adult books but not too much. Is there much sex or violence in it?
Sorry if this is a stupid question.
Kiki
jeremylent said,
July 14, 2010 at 11:24 am
Thanks, Kiki, for your interest in my novel. Your question about your stepson is not stupid in the slightest. I’d say the book is “R”-rated. It has one sexual scene, and a couple of rather gruesome descriptions of the 19th century massacre of American Indians at Sand Creek, and a brutal regime in the future known as Toboism. Fortunately, my website has links to relevant excerpts that you can preview, as follows:
Love scene between the hero, Eusebio, and his wife-to-be Sarah.
19th century massacre at Sand Creek, Colorado.
The brutal regime of Toboism
Although the Sand Creek and Toboism sections are difficult to read, I don’t think it’s too much for a precocious 15-year-old.
I hope you enjoy the read!
Lisa Falk said,
July 24, 2010 at 8:44 pm
Hi Jeremy, I’m calling my latest drawing ‘ Li and the Sila Stones ‘ – it’s of rocks in The Bay of Fires area in Tasmania. My drawings are meditations which also attempt to draw out the spiritual essence of things – thus I came upon your site whilst researching Li. I’m about to read Zukav’s ‘ The Dancing Wu Li Master ‘s and Ilya Prigogne’s ‘ Order Out Of Chaos ‘ and was wondering whether you’ve read ‘ The Whispering Ponds ‘ by Ervin Laszlo ? I enjoyed your site. When I get around to compiling the notes/quotes for this particular drawing I would like to use some quotes on Li from your site – would you mind ? Li
jeremylent said,
July 25, 2010 at 8:44 pm
Great reading material, Lisa! And your website gallery pictures are truly beautiful. I’d be honored if you used any quotes from my website.
Ron Kornfeld, LMT said,
August 25, 2010 at 9:36 am
Greetings. Found your Li series while looking for material for a
Shiatsu textbook project, integrating “Western” and Asian Body Therapy.
Interesting to contrast Descartes and Chu Hsi re epistemology of science.
Really appreciate your clarity re Neo Confucianism and the systems bio links.
I’m posting this series as recommended reading for my fall semester
Eastern Massage classes at Queensborough Community College in Bayside, NY. Rare to have philosophy in regular language! Thanks.
Ron Kornfeld
You might find Zhang Yu Huan and Ken Rose’s look at classical Chinese
semiotics useful – Who Can Ride the Dragon ? An exploration of the cultura
roots of TCM
jeremylent said,
August 25, 2010 at 11:49 am
Thanks for the feedback, Ron. The book by Zhang Yu Huan & Rose looks interesting – I look forward to reading it.
Thom Selover said,
September 5, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Greetings, Jeremy
Love your site on li. I’ve been studying and teaching about li here and there for many years, with the intuitive sense that li is/are very exciting. After all, those Song dynasty folks traveled long distances just to share what they’d discovered.
What I like especially is your dynamic sense of li, and the wave image is brilliant.
I’ve just recommended your site to a good friend who is also quite interested in li, in ways I think you’d find fascinating. His name’s Frank; hope he shows up here.
Best,
Thom
Guillermo Uriarte said,
October 21, 2010 at 6:23 am
Hey Jeremy,
Just wanted to say I love the site. You are an inspiration, and I’m sure the book will turn out great. Your analysis has helped my own understanding. Thanks for the contribution.
Guillermo
Peter O.P. said,
February 13, 2011 at 5:52 pm
Hello Jeremy,
I just wanted to say I thoroughly enjoyed your piece on emergent properties and the existence of free will. It was a very logical and well-written argument for the existence of free will. Keep up the good work.
Peter
Lana Mina said,
May 14, 2011 at 5:40 pm
Hi
Thank you for posting all the wonderful information. I am pursuing my Masters degree in Industrial Design (product design) and my thesis subject has to do with patterns and textures. It’s due in December of this year! Your information on Li will be helpful!
Good luck with your upcoming work.
Lana
exploderator said,
August 28, 2011 at 8:34 pm
Thank you Jeremy.
I came to your site by Googling: free will emergence complex. I am on a lifelong philosophical journey, motivated largely by a deep inherent revulsion for dualistic thinking and its profound effects on our world, which I have always urgently felt are leading us rapidly to terrible and total disaster. I have always counted myself an atheist who’s church is the forest, and have been greatly appreciative of the modern atheist movement now flying high, largely thanks to the internet. I was reading Sam Harris’ blog, and was aghast at his obvious (to me) complete missing of the point about free will (the existence of which which he denies) flowing so easily and inevitably from emergence, as does everything (emergence / li is something Sam seems to have missed the point of). I was trying to figure out how to express that when I thankfully found your excellent blog here.
After reading most of this blog, I thank you for helping me finally be able to express this knowledge cogently (I lack the formal academic training and years of study you have). Your blog has been like a bomb going off in my head, of knowledge finally finding words that set it free to move ahead with clarity.
Briefly, on atheism: the deep intuitive rejection of dualism, the recognizance of the implicit truth of li + chi, is what is driving the atheist movement. We rail against the disaster of dualistic thought, by proxy of its religious championers. Often the atheist movement mistakes the messenger for the message, although the two are also inseparable.
I feel like you have exposed the core of the matter. Dualistic thinking is like a dark virus that ultimately threatens to destroy the current emerged reality of the world, at least enough to surely kill the human host, along with a vast portion of our living neighbors. The brash rock and roll is causing the orchestra to falter and lose tempo; but we must let this piece complete. You could call me too attached to a preferred outcome; PROUDLY so be it. I cannot endorse throwing it away.
The framework you elaborate here is the spiritual tool atheism needs, for many many reasons. It is spirituality brought home to the real. It is also the philosophical history that correctly illuminates and contextualizes the entire history of what atheism fights against. You are on track to the answers humanity needs. This is the path that leads us home.
I could go on and on, but I’ll just leave it with…
A huge heartfelt thank you, brother.
Criss.
j-man said,
August 30, 2011 at 11:33 am
Thank you so much for your comment, Criss. It means a great deal to me to read what you have to say. It inspires me to continue my long-term commitment of synthesizing my thoughts into a book that truly offers a meaningful alternative to the dualistic worldview that threatens the sustainability of our civilization. – Jeremy
johnnysoupJohn Campbell said,
September 26, 2011 at 4:15 pm
You reviewed a book by David Depew on Darwinism Evolving. and I was surprised that anyone but me made it through the huge, thorough tome. I’m impressed. I took a philosophy of biology class with Depew in 1995 at CSUF. I don’t know if you have met him, but I wanted you to know he is the most inspiring teacher I have ever had the fortune to experience. His father was the director of the Beverly Hillbillies. He made philosophy and critical thought romantic, exciting, inspiring and intoxicating. It was his style of teaching that informed my decision to become a teacher. He laid out the history of ideas like a great story and we sat on the edge of our seats as he jangled the change in his pocket and bounced around with that great smile of his.
Your blog review brought back great memories. Thank you and thanks David Depew…
iain carstairs said,
November 4, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Hi, I really enjoyed your blog and extracted a couple of quotes from Scott Kelos and Barbara Goodenough for my blog on Science and Religion, which I hope was ok. Also a great picture of an ants’ nest! Hope to read more of your stuff in due course.
Kind regards,
Iain
prisonpotential said,
April 6, 2012 at 7:59 am
Ive just found your blog and really enjoy the poetry. will explore more too. Where are your now on your book …..Finding the Li: Towards a Democracy of Consciousness. …. ??
j-man said,
April 6, 2012 at 9:49 am
Thanks for your feedback. I’ve been making slow but steady progress on my book – some excerpts can be found on my sister blog, Tyranny of the Prefrontal Cortex. And next week I’ll be presenting in Arizona at the conference, Towards a Science of Consciousness, on these themes.
pat said,
February 7, 2018 at 12:23 pm
Keep going, I have been teaching these subjects and issues for 35-40 years and we need more Warriors of Life to speak their/our Truth. well done x pat
sench9us said,
March 2, 2018 at 2:19 pm
I very much love what you are doing Jeremy. I keep coming back to your info about the role the prefrontal cortex plays for a section of humanity who identify and deify it in their typical reductionist way. AND my own brain and mind constantly surprises me because in this recent revisit, and finding another great essay regarding your ideas, titled ‘reductionism or dualism is a false choice, I found the link to your place here!! And I look forward top exploring here.
I have not ever published a book, but am exploring similar things to you, more so how TOXIC myth (which seeks disconnection rather than benign myth/stories which inspire reconnection) affects generations.
The other day in a mainstream newspaper I read they are thinking of making ‘robot bees’ because of declining bee populations. THAT is the epitome of the prevailing mindset. Despising nature they seek to impose their mechanical matrix of ‘order’ over it.
We MUST all of us now question and challenge and DEFY the ancient-into-modern patriarchal war on psychedelics which is their attempt to keep the people (their ‘slaves’) away from freedom to harvest, cultivate and ingest psychedelics.
Jeremy said,
March 3, 2018 at 4:08 pm
Thanks for your kind and thoughtful comment. If you’re interested you can find out more about my recent work at jeremylent.com.