Hi, I'm Jay, and I built this place.

The front page already says where I stand, so I'll say it plainly. I think consciousness comes first. The brain doesn't make it. It's the ground everything else stands on. I didn't get that from a book. I got there through years of looking into it for myself. That's the one thing I'm sure of. Almost everything past it is wide open. What else is out there, what an AI really is, what happens when we die. I don't know, and I'm wary of anyone who says they do. So I wanted somewhere for people who take this seriously without pretending to have it all worked out. Somewhere you can say "this happened to me and I don't know what it was" without someone explaining it away or turning it into a religion. And if you think I've got the first part wrong, you're welcome to argue it. The name is Welsh, like me. Awen is the old word for inspiration, the state the bards reached for, when something bigger comes through you. The gate is whatever gets you there. There's one line I try to live by. For the good of all, and harm to none. You don't need to be an expert here, and you don't need a big story. If you're quiet, that's fine. So am I. So, what brought you to the gate? A line or two is plenty. Was it something that happened to you, something you read, or a question you couldn't put down?