Articles written by John Cowley

What is Helium

About me - John Cowley

My wife and I are both retired teachers. We recently moved from Tasmania to Queensland to be closer to our youngest son and family. We have two sons both married, one living in Western Australia and one in Queensland. We also have four grandchildren, three

+ more bio information

RSS Feed

Politics, News & Issues > Climate Change Thoughts on global warming: 3 of 73

Are we being realistic in expecting to overcome global warming by reducing industrial greenhouse gas emissions?For many the relationship between the emission of industrial greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and global warming is clear cut and not in serious dispute. To emphasize this relationship scientists have produced gr... More..
Sciences > Anatomy Do humans use only 10 percent of their brain?: 1 of 21
When discussing this question it can be quite misleading to assume that the brain is entirely under our volitional control. In fact many parts of the human brain, such as the cerebellum, the mid brain and the pons, control essential bodily functions such as breathing and other semi automated functions which we are mostly unaw... More..
Arts & Humanities > Meaning of Life Is peace on Earth realistically attainable?: 3 of 39

What the World needs Now- an essay for peaceThe title of my essay for peace is reminiscent of a line from a Beetles' song in which the answer to the rhetorical question is love, love, love'. Of course this is just as true today as it was then, indeed as it has always been. Unfortunately few have heeded the words as they have ... More..
Sciences > Physics Exploring the theory that time does not exist: 3 of 34
In order to understand why the writer believes that time is illusionary it will be important to consider how time, as a factor, is used in the process of determining speed. According to Einstein's theory of special relativity nothing can travel faster than the speed of light which consequently becomes a universal constant in ... More..
Society & Lifestyle > African & Middle Eastern Culture Why corruption is at such a high level in Africa: 1 of 9

Before we can pronounce a judgment on corruption levels in Africa it is necessary to clearly define what we, in the western world, understand by corruption. Accepting that the majority of people in North America and Europe have been raised within a Judea-Christian culture, our ethical judgments are predisposed towards a value... More..
Sciences > Astronomy The Big Bang Theory: 4 of 18
The writer has embarked on writing this article in response to the large amount of scientific literature which treats the Big Bang idea about the origin of the Universe as though it was an indisputable fact. In scientific circles, opinions either for or against any particular idea are sometimes swayed more by the number of ar... More..
Sciences > Psychology Thoughts on unconscious perception: 1 of 4
Modern studies of consciousness actually date back to the last quarter of the nineteenth century when the comparatively new science of psychology started to emerge from its roots in philosophy and physiology. According to Kihlstrom (1999) the structuralist school of psychology began with Wundt and Tichner who attempted to ana... More..
Sciences > Psychology Understanding the state of consciousness: 3 of 9
Scientists and philosophers have puzzled over human consciousness for thousands of years. Those familiar with the Greek classics and the writings of Plato, Aristotle and Democritus will already have read a great deal about the arguments as to whether consciousness is a unique quality of human life or whether it is a purely ab... More..
Sciences > Physics Is time real or relative?: 13 of 36
In order to support the idea that time is relative, an epiphenomenon, something that just helps us to explain our conscious experiences; it becomes critical to differentiate between ontological time and interval time. This is more difficult than it first appears since both are involved in making sense of our experiences. The ... More..
Sciences > Archaeology What is evolution: 17 of 37
The accepted biological viewpoint of evolution is one in which all life forms are the result of the expression of genes (segments of DNA), which have been modified and selected by the environment (Crick, 1994). Genes contain information on how to build an organism and the environment, internal and external, fine-tunes the out... More..