Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
TurquoiseB wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: I'm just sayin' to you guys...'Lost' is a much better obsession, and with far better-lookin' babes than the Old Testament... :-) I've never seen Lost but I understand Michelle Rodrigues is in it. Loved her in Girl Fight. She just died. Thanks for that. Now I don't have to see the series. Well, maybe its all a dream anyway... You haven't been paying attention. In the last episode there was a scene from the outside world, the first since the series began except for flashbacks. And the outside world can perceive the existence of the island. It's all in the details... :-) Was it live in France or were you watching it off the Internet since ABC has free downloads of the episodes? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Skeptic Kurtz on God.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I love this guy. His book the transcendental Temptation was such an important piece of my intellectual discovery after leaving the movement. Thank you for posting this. Funny, I thought Transcendental temptation was full of it. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, matrixmonitor matrixmonitor@ wrote: --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], purushaz purushaz@ wrote: Free Inquiry, p 31, June/July 2006; Why I am a Skeptic about Religous Claims by Paul Kurtz: Succinctly, I maintain that the skeptical inquirer is dubious of the claims ... 1. that God exists; 2. that he is a person; 3. that our ultimate moral principles are derived from God; 4. that faith in God will provide eternal salvation; and 5. that one cannot be good without belief in God. I reiterate that the burden of proof rests upon those who believe in God. If they are unable to make the case for belief in God, then I have every right to remain a seeptic. --- End forwarded message --- To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] I have to imagine that the advent of this technology is responsible for the drop in movie box-office. Of course, theatre box office only represents about 25% of a movie's total revenue. But, hey, why go to a theatre when you have a home theatre, eh? Waited for the DVD before watching LoTR or King Kong? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: shempmcgurk wrote: ...at least get an upscaling DVD player. You won't regret it. Makes all the difference in the world, if your monitor/TV supports HD. A good cheap one, and one that can be easily converted to multi-region (no region codes, which is very important if you're a film freak) is the Samsung DVD-HD950. I have to imagine that the advent of this technology is responsible for the drop in movie box-office. That and a general level of fear in America. The French still go out to the movies, on the average of once or twice a week (for city dwellers). They have home theaters, but enjoy the theater experience as well. Of course, theatre box office only represents about 25% of a movie's total revenue. But, hey, why go to a theatre when you have a home theatre, eh? I almost never go to a theater. It's not a 'better' or 'worse' experience, just a different one. I'm a film freak who lived in L.A. for years. There is something neat about going to a theater with other film freaks and seeing a film in conjunction with others that is not conveyed by the home theater experience. (And I have a pretty good home theater, so I know whereof I speak.) Part of it may be where I live. The French are pretty damned *serious* about film as art form. (Overly serious, I would say...they are not as able to enjoy a film fantasy or comedy piece as they should be IMO.) No one talks during films, and the theaters are often comfortable, nice places to go. Same with the Netherlands; there are theaters there that have full bars and cafes in the lobbies, places that are so nice that people go there to socialize, even if they're not going to see a film. They are settings for a nice social evening out with friends, or with strangers who will shortly become friends if the film is good enough. It's not unusual after a great film for the viewers to sit around discussing it over coffee or drinks, even though they didn't know each other previously. Syriana provoked such reactions in Paris, as did Crash and Million Dollar Baby. I developed good friendships with a few people as the result of seeing a film with them, even though we didn't know each other beforehand. I'm just presenting the case for film to be a mechanism for a meeting of the minds, for it providing an opportunity to meet people and get to know them while discussing some- thing you found mutually interesting. There is a 'credo' printed over the bar in one of my favorite theaters in Avignon that says it all IMO: There are no strangers here, only friends you haven't met yet. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk shempmcgurk@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: I'm just sayin' to you guys...'Lost' is a much better obsession, and with far better-lookin' babes than the Old Testament... :-) I've never seen Lost but I understand Michelle Rodrigues is in it. Loved her in Girl Fight. She just died. Thanks for that. Now I don't have to see the series. Well, maybe its all a dream anyway... You haven't been paying attention. In the last episode there was a scene from the outside world, the first since the series began except for flashbacks. And the outside world can perceive the existence of the island. It's all in the details... :-) Hmmm. Missed that, but just because the outside world can be *portrayed* as being able to see the island, doesn't mean that that portrayal isn't part of the dream. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
I'm just sayin' to you guys...'Lost' is a much better obsession, and with far better-lookin' babes than the Old Testament... :-) I've never seen Lost but I understand Michelle Rodrigues is in it. Loved her in Girl Fight. She just died. Thanks for that. Now I don't have to see the series. Well, maybe its all a dream anyway... You haven't been paying attention. In the last episode there was a scene from the outside world, the first since the series began except for flashbacks. And the outside world can perceive the existence of the island. It's all in the details... :-) Was it live in France or were you watching it off the Internet since ABC has free downloads of the episodes? ABC has started providing free *streaming* versions of the shows, but not all of them and not necessarily as quickly as I wanted them. So I've been downloading them via BitTorrent. The second series has not even started being broadcast here in France for some reason. The French have very different ideas of when the TV 'season' starts than Americans do. Most new hot series premiere in the Summer, not the Fall. Go figure. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: was No yellow stars -Northern arrogance
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: Leaving aside the debate about whether or not the ME works, why do you say that I should take my medication because I say that the ME strategy is completely benign? Relying on the Maharishi Effect to solve the world's problems is 'benign' in the same way as walking by a family starving in the gutter and saying, God will provide for them. It's putting one's fantasies where one's wallet or sweat should be. So, people who believe in the ME should forgo group meditation because the time spent heading to the dome or someone's house or whatever could be spent working for habitat for humanity? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Einstein on Buddhism
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, coshlnx coshlnx@ wrote: --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], matrixmonitor matrixmonitor@ wrote: Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual; and it is based on a religious ense aspiring from the experiene of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. ...Albert Einsein So, the Buddha talked about Unity Consciousness? That you don't know says a great deal about how completely you have limited your spiritual education to Maharishi- approved topics. Howabout you answer the question? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: was No yellow stars -Northern arrogance
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, bob_brigante no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: So, Caucasians= Sattva dominates, rajas secondary Semitic = Rajas dominates, sattva secondary Oriental = Rajas dominates, tamas secondary Black = Tamas dominates, rajas secondary Someone doesn't know math, or is fudging it to make things come out according to their racist theories. There are two missing combinations: Sattva dominant, tamas secondary. Tamas dominant, sattva secondary. *** If you RTM, you will discover why. MMY commentary on Ch 4, v. 13 of the Gita: This is the fourfold order in creation. Every species, whether vegetable, animal or human, is divided into four categories, acccording to the four divisions of the gunas, which determine the natural mode of activity of each category. If you have discarded your copy of the B.G., you can buy it here: http://tinyurl.com/jl3qh I did throw away my copy of Maharishi's Gita decades ago, but couldn't really replace it right now if I wanted to because I've already exceeded my yearly budget for fiction. :-) I simply cannot believe that you answered the question on the possible mathematical combinations of three items by quoting a passage from an interpretation of a translation of a work of fiction, a passage that doesn't even deal with the question, and in fact creates it by pretending there are (conveniently) only four possible combinations of three items. Some people are Bible-thumpers...Bob's become a Gita-thumper... Don't remember the exact passage, but there was some explanation about how certain combinations were illogical or something. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
I'm just sayin' to you guys...'Lost' is a much better obsession, and with far better-lookin' babes than the Old Testament... :-) I've never seen Lost but I understand Michelle Rodrigues is in it. Loved her in Girl Fight. She just died. Thanks for that. Now I don't have to see the series. Well, maybe its all a dream anyway... You haven't been paying attention. In the last episode there was a scene from the outside world, the first since the series began except for flashbacks. And the outside world can perceive the existence of the island. It's all in the details... :-) Hmmm. Missed that, but just because the outside world can be *portrayed* as being able to see the island, doesn't mean that that portrayal isn't part of the dream. So it's just like your relationship with TM and Maharishi? Your theory about what's going on is more important than what's going on? The important thing is to keep on believing the same thing no matter what? :-) :-) :-) To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: was No yellow stars -Northern arrogance
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: Leaving aside the debate about whether or not the ME works, why do you say that I should take my medication because I say that the ME strategy is completely benign? Relying on the Maharishi Effect to solve the world's problems is 'benign' in the same way as walking by a family starving in the gutter and saying, God will provide for them. It's putting one's fantasies where one's wallet or sweat should be. So, people who believe in the ME should forgo group meditation because the time spent heading to the dome or someone's house or whatever could be spent working for habitat for humanity? Do you ever *listen* to the things you say before you write them? Someday, dude, you really have to get beyond the black- and-white way you see things. What's to prevent some- one from doing *both* -- going to the dome *and* doing things for humanity? The thing is, *most* TB TMers *don't* do both, and the reason is that they've been taught for decades that the latter is ineffective or a waste of their time, and that only bouncing on their butts and giving their money to the TMO is worthwhile. Same with a lot of other faith-based approaches to solving the world's problems. I know people who are strong Christians and *both* go to church and support their church's programs for the poor and disadvantaged *and* get down and dirty helping those people them- selves. As opposed to those who just go to church and slip a few bucks in the collection plate and think that covers their responsibility to humanity. What I'm suggesting is that the predominant teaching in the TM movement is the latter. There has *always* been a strong dogma against gettin' down and dirty and working to solve the world's problems on the level of the problem. And there has *always* been an equal reluctance to use any of the immense amounts of money that the TMO has accumulated to actually help people who are starving, and thus not really potential candidates to learn TM. I know that you probably believe the bullshit you spout here, that the important thing is to convince all the rich people of the world to pay for TM for those who can't afford it, but I think that's just a line of bull that you've been indoctrinated in by the TMO. Let's face it, dude...given what you've said here about your success in finding consulting gigs regularly, if you hadn't learned TM decades ago, you would never be able to afford to learn it today. You certainly wouldn't take out a loan to learn it, and so its benefits would pass you by. And the True Believers in the TM movement would not lose a moment's sleep because you couldn't learn TM. It wouldn't touch them in the least, because they've been taught to not really care about the *individuals* in society who are needy. Instead, they've been taught to care only about generalities, vague descriptions of the problems of humanity that they don't have to *feel* or participate in. Hey, you got me started... :-) To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Einstein on Buddhism
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, coshlnx coshlnx@ wrote: --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], matrixmonitor matrixmonitor@ wrote: Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual; and it is based on a religious ense aspiring from the experiene of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. ...Albert Einsein So, the Buddha talked about Unity Consciousness? That you don't know says a great deal about how completely you have limited your spiritual education to Maharishi- approved topics. Howabout you answer the question? How 'bout you get off your butt and do your own homework for a change? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm just sayin' to you guys...'Lost' is a much better obsession, and with far better-lookin' babes than the Old Testament... :-) I've never seen Lost but I understand Michelle Rodrigues is in it. Loved her in Girl Fight. She just died. Thanks for that. Now I don't have to see the series. Well, maybe its all a dream anyway... You haven't been paying attention. In the last episode there was a scene from the outside world, the first since the series began except for flashbacks. And the outside world can perceive the existence of the island. It's all in the details... :-) Hmmm. Missed that, but just because the outside world can be *portrayed* as being able to see the island, doesn't mean that that portrayal isn't part of the dream. So it's just like your relationship with TM and Maharishi? Your theory about what's going on is more important than what's going on? The important thing is to keep on believing the same thing no matter what? :-) :-) :-) So which characters died in the last episode? IOW, I've seen more of the series than you have, as far as I can tell... To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: was No yellow stars -Northern arrogance
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: Leaving aside the debate about whether or not the ME works, why do you say that I should take my medication because I say that the ME strategy is completely benign? Relying on the Maharishi Effect to solve the world's problems is 'benign' in the same way as walking by a family starving in the gutter and saying, God will provide for them. It's putting one's fantasies where one's wallet or sweat should be. So, people who believe in the ME should forgo group meditation because the time spent heading to the dome or someone's house or whatever could be spent working for habitat for humanity? Do you ever *listen* to the things you say before you write them? Someday, dude, you really have to get beyond the black- and-white way you see things. What's to prevent some- one from doing *both* -- going to the dome *and* doing things for humanity? The thing is, *most* TB TMers *don't* do both, and the reason is that they've been taught for decades that the latter is ineffective or a waste of their time, and that only bouncing on their butts and giving their money to the TMO is worthwhile. Most TB TMers don't contribute to this forum, or go to the dome or whatever. Those who ARE going to the dome, may be doing it as a full-time activity, which means they do NOT have time to do both. Because someone prioritizes their time differently than you doesn't make them bad people. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Einstein on Buddhism
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, coshlnx coshlnx@ wrote: --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], matrixmonitor matrixmonitor@ wrote: Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual; and it is based on a religious ense aspiring from the experiene of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. ...Albert Einsein So, the Buddha talked about Unity Consciousness? That you don't know says a great deal about how completely you have limited your spiritual education to Maharishi- approved topics. Howabout you answer the question? How 'bout you get off your butt and do your own homework for a change? Where should I look? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: I'm just sayin' to you guys...'Lost' is a much better obsession, and with far better-lookin' babes than the Old Testament... :-) I've never seen Lost but I understand Michelle Rodrigues is in it. Loved her in Girl Fight. She just died. Thanks for that. Now I don't have to see the series. Well, maybe its all a dream anyway... You haven't been paying attention. In the last episode there was a scene from the outside world, the first since the series began except for flashbacks. And the outside world can perceive the existence of the island. It's all in the details... :-) Hmmm. Missed that, but just because the outside world can be *portrayed* as being able to see the island, doesn't mean that that portrayal isn't part of the dream. So it's just like your relationship with TM and Maharishi? Your theory about what's going on is more important than what's going on? The important thing is to keep on believing the same thing no matter what? :-) :-) :-) So which characters died in the last episode? IOW, I've seen more of the series than you have, as far as I can tell... I've seen them all. When talking about Michel Rodriguez I was (unlike you) trying not to provide spoilers to Shemp in case he decided to watch the series. Obviously, you didn't care about that. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Pope Benedict at Auschwitz: Where was God?
--- good question!! Where was God?' The leader of 1.1 billion Roman Catholics also prayed for peace in his native German, which he has mostly avoided to not hurt Polish and Jewish sensitivities. He was forced to join the Hitler Youth and drafted into the army during the war. Scattered rain fell over Auschwitz until the main ceremony, when the skies cleared and a rainbow appeared. Benedict said it was almost impossible, particularly for a German Pope, to speak at the place of the Shoah. In a place like this, words fail. In the end, there can only be a dread silence, a silence which is a heartfelt cry to GodWhy, Lord, did you remain silent? How could you tolerate all this? Where was God in those days? Why was he silent? How could he permit this endless slaughter, this triumph of evil? Benedict, one of the Church's leading theologians, said humans could not peer into God's mysterious plan to understand such evil, but only cry out humbly yet insistently to Godrouse yourself! Do not forget mankind, your creature! --- End forwarded message --- To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Kurtz: Is God needed for people to be moral?
--- Paul Kurtz says no. (Free Inquiry, June/July, 2006, p. 33 Why I am a Skeptic about Religious Claims): ...theists maintain that one cannot be good unless one believes in God. Skepticism about God's existence and divine plan does not imply pessimism, nihilism, the collapse of all values, or the implication that anything goes. It has been demonstrated time and again, by countless human beings, that it is possible to be morally concerned with the needs of others, to be a good citizen, and to lead a life of nobility and excellence -- all without religion. Thus, anyone can be righteous and altruistic, compassionate and benevolent, without belief in a deity. A person can develop the common moral virtues and express a goodwill toward others without devotion to God. It is possible to be empathetic toward others and at the same time be concerned with one's own well-being. Secular ethical principles and values thus can be supported by evidence and reason, the cultivation of moral growth and development, the finding of common ground that brings people together. Our principles and values can be vindicated as we examine the consequences of our choices and modify them in the light of experience. Skeptics who are humanists focus on the good life here and now. They exhort us to live creatively, seeking a life full of happiness, even joyful exuberance. They urge us to face life's tragedies with equanimity, to marshall the courage and stoic forbearance to live meaningfully in spite of adversity, and to take satisfaction in our achievements. Life can be relished and is intrinsically worthwhile for its own sake, without any need for external support. --- End forwarded message --- To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: I'm just sayin' to you guys...'Lost' is a much better obsession, and with far better-lookin' babes than the Old Testament... :-) I've never seen Lost but I understand Michelle Rodrigues is in it. Loved her in Girl Fight. She just died. Thanks for that. Now I don't have to see the series. Well, maybe its all a dream anyway... You haven't been paying attention. In the last episode there was a scene from the outside world, the first since the series began except for flashbacks. And the outside world can perceive the existence of the island. It's all in the details... :-) Hmmm. Missed that, but just because the outside world can be *portrayed* as being able to see the island, doesn't mean that that portrayal isn't part of the dream. So it's just like your relationship with TM and Maharishi? Your theory about what's going on is more important than what's going on? The important thing is to keep on believing the same thing no matter what? :-) :-) :-) So which characters died in the last episode? IOW, I've seen more of the series than you have, as far as I can tell... I've seen them all. When talking about Michel Rodriguez I was (unlike you) trying not to provide spoilers to Shemp in case he decided to watch the series. Obviously, you didn't care about that. A thoughless act doesnt necessarily mean you don't care. I wasnt thinking... To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Bios -- some notable secular humanists
--- http://www.pointofinquiry.org/ --- --- To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Paul Kurtz: secular humanist declaration on evolution
-- from http://www.secularhumanism.org Evolution Today the theory of evolution is again under heavy attack by religious fundamentalists. Although the theory of evolution cannot be said to have reached its final formulation, or to be an infallible principle of science, it is nonetheless supported impressively by the findings of many sciences. There may be some significant differences among scientists concerning the mechanics of evolution; yet the evolution of the species is supported so strongly by the weight of evidence that it is difficult to reject it. Accordingly, we deplore the efforts by fundamentalists (especially in the United States) to invade the science classrooms, requiring that creationist theory be taught to students and requiring that it be included in biology textbooks. This is a serious threat both to academic freedom and to the integrity of the educational process. We believe that creationists surely should have the freedom to express their viewpoint in society. Moreover, we do not deny the value of examining theories of creation in educational courses on religion and the history of ideas; but it is a sham to mask an article of religious faith as a scientific truth and to inflict that doctrine on the scientific curriculum. If successful, creationists may seriously undermine the credibility of science itself. --- End forwarded message --- To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: A thoughless act doesnt necessarily mean you don't care. I wasnt thinking... If you'd read more Buddhism you'd possibly understand that a thoughtless act *does* mean that you don't care. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Sam Harris on the religious roots of history's greatest atrocities.
--- from http://www.secularhumanism.org 2. If religion were necessary for morality, there should be some evidence that atheists are less moral than believers. People of faith regularly allege that atheism is responsible for some of the most appalling crimes of the twentieth century. Are atheists really less moral than believers? While it is true that the regimes of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot were irreligious to varying degrees, they were not especially rational. In fact, their public pronouncements were little more than litanies of delusiondelusions about race, economics, national identity, the march of history, or the moral dangers of intellectualism. In many respects, religion was directly culpable even here. Consider the Holocaust: the anti- Semitism that built the Nazi crematoria brick by brick was a direct inheritance from medieval Christianity. For centuries, Christian Europeans had viewed the Jews as the worst species of heretics and attributed every societal ill to their continued presence among the faithful. While the hatred of Jews in Germany expressed itself in a predominantly secular way, its roots were undoubtedly religiousand the explicitly religious demonization of the Jews of Europe continued throughout the period. (The Vatican itself perpetuated the blood libel in its newspapers as late as 1914.) Auschwitz, the Gulag, and the killing fields are not examples of what happens when people become too critical of unjustified beliefs; on the contrary, these horrors testify to the dangers of not thinking critically enough about specific secular ideologies. Needless to say, a rational argument against religious faith is not an argument for the blind embrace of atheism as a dogma. The problem that the atheist exposes is none other than the problem of dogma itselfof which every religion has more than its fair share. I know of no society in recorded history that ever suffered because its people became too reasonable. --- End forwarded message --- To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. Guide Rating - Is there some basic connection between religious beliefs and paranormal beliefs? Some commonality which helps explain not only their similarities, but also why they have been so appealing to so many people throughout human history? Although there are many books which offer critiques of either religion or the paranormal, few are willing to do both, probably because people who are skeptical of one aren't necessarily skeptical of the other. But Paul Kurtz is willing to create such a unified critique, and his book The Transcendental Temptation is the result of his efforts. In it, he argues that there are some striking similarities between religion and the paranormal which can account for their natures and their popularity. The first part of the book comprises of a solid explanation and defense of both skepticism and the scientific method. There are, on the one hand, people who defend a practical stance towards knowledge and belief - people who are usually called empiricists, rationalists or skeptics. But on the other hand are people who are not content with mundane reality and who are susceptible to claims about deeper mysteries and truths which require faith for acceptance. Being a skeptic does not mean disclaiming any access to knowledge in the world - it is possible to form rational beliefs based upon the use of reason and logic. Faith, however, is the antithesis of both reason and logic. Following a lengthy critique of faith-based religious and paranormal beliefs, including Jesus and other prophets, UFOs, ESP and more, Kurtz examines one of the primary causes of people accepting such faith: what he calls the transcendental temptation. The basis for this temptation is magical thinking - the belief that people or events are magical, in that they have access to an unseen and hidden realm of power which lies behind our visible world but which can nevertheless be tapped into and used to affect our lives. People tend to associate such thinking with primitive cultures, but it continues even today and early scholars of religion, like Sir James G. Frazer, identified magical thinking as constituting the core of religion. Magical thinking, whether involved with supernatural or paranormal beliefs, requires two preconditions. The first is an actual ignorance of the natural causes of events in question, and the second is the assumption that, in the absence of an obvious natural cause, there must be an unknown and un-natural cause. These two factors in conjunction allow for the development of ad hoc explanations, often relying upon an assumption that correlation demonstrates causation. For example, praying just before something good happens leads one to the belief that the positive event was caused by the prayer. This magical thinking is certainly irrational, in that it deliberately bases conclusions upon a clear lack of demonstrable evidence and without regard for logical coherence or consistency. It is also anti-scientific because methodologically, science seeks knowable, testable and repeatable explanations for events. Science does not get involved with ad hoc pseudoexplanations which cannot be tested or understood in by any coherent means. But where does the temptation part come in? It is obvious how this magical thinking can be described as transcendental, because it seeks to find explanations which transcend our normal world and experience, but why are people tempted to accept these stories? The explanation is twofold - first our innate creativity, and second our penchant for seeking patterns. Together, they can lead people to false beliefs: The imagination draws a fanciful picture of a transcendental reality, some kind of celestial kingdom. Time and again theistic myth appeals to the hungry soul; it feeds the creative imagination and soothes the pain of living. There must be something beyond this actual world, which we cannot see, hear, feel or touch. There must be a deeper world, which the intellect ponders and the emotions crave. Here is the opening for the transcendental impulse. Yes, says the imagination, these things are possible. It then takes one leap beyond mere possibility to actuality. Religous and paranormal belief systems then become constructions of this process of imagination. The patterns we see in events in our lives become the symbols of this hidden world, open to view for those who know enough to properly interpret and understand them. They thus provide explanations for what is currently happening in our lives and tell us where we are heading in the future, providing solace on both fronts. Because of the comprehensiveness of Kurtz's analysis, this book provides valuable insights which other books on skepticism and atheism fail to
[FairfieldLife] Indian Matrimonial Site - Email and IM for Free!
Hello, If you use matrimonial sites, you should check Happy Harmony out. You can email and IM other members without paying anything on this site. They also have many nice features and lots of member signing up everyday. The cool thing is every thing is free. Please click on this link to visit Happy Harmony. http://www.happyharmony.com/?idAff=8751 Regards, Chopra To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: A thoughless act doesnt necessarily mean you don't care. I wasnt thinking... If you'd read more Buddhism you'd possibly understand that a thoughtless act *does* mean that you don't care. Ah, thanks for the insightful comment. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozguru@ wrote: shempmcgurk wrote: snip I have to imagine that the advent of this technology is responsible for the drop in movie box-office. That and a general level of fear in America. Uh, no, not fear. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Skeptic Kurtz on God.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: I love this guy. His book the transcendental Temptation was such an important piece of my intellectual discovery after leaving the movement. Thank you for posting this. Funny, I thought Transcendental temptation was full of it. As in tilting at windmills, if the quotation from the article is any indication. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, matrixmonitor matrixmonitor@ wrote: --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], purushaz purushaz@ wrote: Free Inquiry, p 31, June/July 2006; Why I am a Skeptic about Religous Claims by Paul Kurtz: Succinctly, I maintain that the skeptical inquirer is dubious of the claims ... 1. that God exists; 2. that he is a person; 3. that our ultimate moral principles are derived from God; 4. that faith in God will provide eternal salvation; and 5. that one cannot be good without belief in God. I reiterate that the burden of proof rests upon those who believe in God. If they are unable to make the case for belief in God, then I have every right to remain a seeptic. --- End forwarded message --- To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Skeptic Kurtz on God.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: It was his articulation of ethics without religion that had the most important influence on me. Have you read it? No, just asking on the basis of the bit that was quoted, assuming that was representative of his outlook. I was curious about what you thought before reading it that made it revelatory for you. So I guess I'd ask a similar question based on your response above: Had you previously believed that ethics without religion was impossible, or inferior? --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: I love this guy. His book the transcendental Temptation was such an important piece of my intellectual discovery after leaving the movement. Before you read the book, you thought it was up to you to *disprove* the existence of God, otherwise you had no right to be skeptical? Thank you for posting this. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, matrixmonitor matrixmonitor@ wrote: --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], purushaz purushaz@ wrote: Free Inquiry, p 31, June/July 2006; Why I am a Skeptic about Religous Claims by Paul Kurtz: Succinctly, I maintain that the skeptical inquirer is dubious of the claims ... 1. that God exists; 2. that he is a person; 3. that our ultimate moral principles are derived from God; 4. that faith in God will provide eternal salvation; and 5. that one cannot be good without belief in God. I reiterate that the burden of proof rests upon those who believe in God. If they are unable to make the case for belief in God, then I have every right to remain a seeptic. --- End forwarded message --- To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: was No yellow stars -Northern arrogance
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: So, Caucasians= Sattva dominates, rajas secondary Semitic = Rajas dominates, sattva secondary Oriental = Rajas dominates, tamas secondary Black = Tamas dominates, rajas secondary Someone doesn't know math, or is fudging it to make things come out according to their racist theories. There are two missing combinations: Sattva dominant, tamas secondary. Tamas dominant, sattva secondary. Actually MMY says explicitly that mathematically, there are six possible combinations, and he lists all six. But practically, he says sattva/tamas and tamas/sattva aren't found in nature because they're opposed to each other. How that could be perceived to support or imply racist theories is beyond me. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'm just sayin' to you guys...'Lost' is a much better obsession, and with far better-lookin' babes than the Old Testament... :-) I've never seen Lost but I understand Michelle Rodrigues is in it. Loved her in Girl Fight. She just died. Thanks for that. Now I don't have to see the series. Well, maybe its all a dream anyway... You haven't been paying attention. In the last episode there was a scene from the outside world, the first since the series began except for flashbacks. And the outside world can perceive the existence of the island. It's all in the details... :-) Hmmm. Missed that, but just because the outside world can be *portrayed* as being able to see the island, doesn't mean that that portrayal isn't part of the dream. So it's just like your relationship with TM and Maharishi? Your theory about what's going on is more important than what's going on? The important thing is to keep on believing the same thing no matter what? You never saw The Matrix? :-) :-) :-) To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: was No yellow stars -Northern arrogance
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: Leaving aside the debate about whether or not the ME works, why do you say that I should take my medication because I say that the ME strategy is completely benign? Relying on the Maharishi Effect to solve the world's problems is 'benign' in the same way as walking by a family starving in the gutter and saying, God will provide for them. It's putting one's fantasies where one's wallet or sweat should be. So, people who believe in the ME should forgo group meditation because the time spent heading to the dome or someone's house or whatever could be spent working for habitat for humanity? Do you ever *listen* to the things you say before you write them? Someday, dude, you really have to get beyond the black- and-white way you see things. What's to prevent some- one from doing *both* -- going to the dome *and* doing things for humanity? The thing is, *most* TB TMers *don't* do both, and the reason is that they've been taught for decades that the latter is ineffective or a waste of their time, and that only bouncing on their butts and giving their money to the TMO is worthwhile. What *I* always understood is that the ME would make direct action more effective, especially by enhancing the ability to come up with creative solutions to problems. snip To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Kurtz: Is God needed for people to be moral?
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- Paul Kurtz says no. (Free Inquiry, June/July, 2006, p. 33 Why I am a Skeptic about Religious Claims): ...theists maintain that one cannot be good unless one believes in God. Well, *some* theists do. Not all by any means. snip satisfaction in our achievements. Life can be relished and is intrinsically worthwhile for its own sake, without any need for external support. *External* support?? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. Guide Rating - +++ Once upon a time, the world was flat. With the passing of time and more expierience gained, it has become round. This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal becomes normal. Isn't it generally agreed that people are using ten to fifteen percent of their brain but now we have someone saying that this or that expierience is not possible. I have a more optimistic view of the benefits of integrated brain functioning even tho it is only a theory. N. Is there some basic connection between religious beliefs and paranormal beliefs? Some commonality which helps explain not only their similarities, but also why they have been so appealing to so many people throughout human history? Although there are many books which offer critiques of either religion or the paranormal, few are willing to do both, probably because people who are skeptical of one aren't necessarily skeptical of the other. But Paul Kurtz is willing to create such a unified critique, and his book The Transcendental Temptation is the result of his efforts. In it, he argues that there are some striking similarities between religion and the paranormal which can account for their natures and their popularity. The first part of the book comprises of a solid explanation and defense of both skepticism and the scientific method. There are, on the one hand, people who defend a practical stance towards knowledge and belief - people who are usually called empiricists, rationalists or skeptics. But on the other hand are people who are not content with mundane reality and who are susceptible to claims about deeper mysteries and truths which require faith for acceptance. Being a skeptic does not mean disclaiming any access to knowledge in the world - it is possible to form rational beliefs based upon the use of reason and logic. Faith, however, is the antithesis of both reason and logic. Following a lengthy critique of faith-based religious and paranormal beliefs, including Jesus and other prophets, UFOs, ESP and more, Kurtz examines one of the primary causes of people accepting such faith: what he calls the transcendental temptation. The basis for this temptation is magical thinking - the belief that people or events are magical, in that they have access to an unseen and hidden realm of power which lies behind our visible world but which can nevertheless be tapped into and used to affect our lives. People tend to associate such thinking with primitive cultures, but it continues even today and early scholars of religion, like Sir James G. Frazer, identified magical thinking as constituting the core of religion. Magical thinking, whether involved with supernatural or paranormal beliefs, requires two preconditions. The first is an actual ignorance of the natural causes of events in question, and the second is the assumption that, in the absence of an obvious natural cause, there must be an unknown and un-natural cause. These two factors in conjunction allow for the development of ad hoc explanations, often relying upon an assumption that correlation demonstrates causation. For example, praying just before something good happens leads one to the belief that the positive event was caused by the prayer. This magical thinking is certainly irrational, in that it deliberately bases conclusions upon a clear lack of demonstrable evidence and without regard for logical coherence or consistency. It is also anti-scientific because methodologically, science seeks knowable, testable and repeatable explanations for events. Science does not get involved with ad hoc pseudoexplanations which cannot be tested or understood in by any coherent means. But where does the temptation part come in? It is obvious how this magical thinking can be described as transcendental, because it seeks to find explanations which transcend our normal world and experience, but why are people tempted to accept these stories? The explanation is twofold - first our innate creativity, and second our penchant for seeking patterns. Together, they can lead people to false beliefs: The imagination draws a fanciful picture of a transcendental reality, some kind of celestial kingdom. Time and again theistic myth appeals to the hungry soul; it feeds the creative imagination and soothes the pain of living. There must be something beyond this actual world, which we cannot see, hear, feel or touch. There must be a deeper world, which the intellect ponders and the emotions crave. Here is the opening for the transcendental impulse. Yes, says the imagination, these things are possible. It
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozguru@ wrote: shempmcgurk wrote: snip I have to imagine that the advent of this technology is responsible for the drop in movie box-office. That and a general level of fear in America. Uh, no, not fear. Judy, I will answer this because it was short and I wound up reading the entire reply in the preview window before I could get to the Next button. :-) But also because it's a matter of opinion, one on which you and I disagree, but on which a lot of other people do agree. One of the things that, *without exception*, every American who has visited me here in France has remarked on is the comparative levels of fear in the two countries. We're talking dozens of people, from all walks of life. When you visit a foreign country, the first things you notice, naturally, are the things that are different from home. But after a few days, as you get used to the surface level of the new country, you start to notice the things that are *missing*. No Starbucks every block or so. Very few SUVs and unconscionable gas-guzzlers on the road. That sort of thing. Well, in my experience and in the experience of literally all of my American friends, one of the first things you notice in France, even in a big city like Paris, is the comparative absence of fear. In the general population, and in yourself. It's a remarkable realization, one that I can only imagine you haven't felt personally, or you wouldn't have replied so definitively. An example, directly related to theater attendance. The last time I was in L.A., I wanted to see a movie so I went to Westwood, the area near UCLA just filled (in my memory) with bustling crowds, nice restaurants, and movie theaters. Well, I got there, parked, and started walking around. There were no crowds, even though it was a Friday night. The restaurants were near-empty. So were the movie theaters; no waiting on line to get in, and when you did, you found yourself sitting in a half- empty theater. I couldn't help but wonder why, so I asked. It turned out that about five months previously, the crowds (at that time) had gotten so big on week- ends that Westwood had become a kind of where it's happening Mecca in L.A. Everybody would show up there to see and be seen. Unfortunately, those who showed up one weekend included members of two rival L.A. gangs, and they got into a shooting war. One bystander was killed. Five months later and the place was still empty. That's the kind of fear I'm talking about, not (as you possibly thought) fear directly related to 9/11 and terrorism. *In general*, Americans are fearful about going to public places on a level that is generally unheard of in Europe. Does that, *in addition to* the easy access to cable/satellite TV and rental videos, affect the number of people going out to see movies, Well, duh. I'm really not trying to start an argument with you, merely expressing something that is pretty damned obvious to international travelers -- there is something *wrong* with America. *Bad* wrong. People should not look fearful when they park at a convenience store and have to walk the 20 feet to the door. But they do. Women should not be afraid to walk in a city after dark. But they are. Parents should not be afraid to let their kids go trick-or-treating on Halloween without accompanying them. But they are. They aren't everywhere. Really. And it's quite a revelation to live without that constant threat of possible violence pressing down on you. It's like losing thirty pounds. I know that I can't convey this to you in words, but I had to try. America *is* more fearful than almost any country I have visited lately. And that's really sad, but I honestly believe it's sadly true. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Skeptic Kurtz on God.
I believed that ethics and morals were like natural laws that came from God to mankind through the scriptures in each culture. Now I believe that we choose our ethics while shaped by our reason and our social contract with others. Much of this was created in our primate past as we learned the value of the group and the behaviors necessary to live together. I think under each point of view some people act ethically and some do not. I don't know which is more effective for helping people act in a kind way towards others. I just know what point of view I hold and I do my best from that perspective. So what do you believe? --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: It was his articulation of ethics without religion that had the most important influence on me. Have you read it? No, just asking on the basis of the bit that was quoted, assuming that was representative of his outlook. I was curious about what you thought before reading it that made it revelatory for you. So I guess I'd ask a similar question based on your response above: Had you previously believed that ethics without religion was impossible, or inferior? --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: I love this guy. His book the transcendental Temptation was such an important piece of my intellectual discovery after leaving the movement. Before you read the book, you thought it was up to you to *disprove* the existence of God, otherwise you had no right to be skeptical? Thank you for posting this. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, matrixmonitor matrixmonitor@ wrote: --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], purushaz purushaz@ wrote: Free Inquiry, p 31, June/July 2006; Why I am a Skeptic about Religous Claims by Paul Kurtz: Succinctly, I maintain that the skeptical inquirer is dubious of the claims ... 1. that God exists; 2. that he is a person; 3. that our ultimate moral principles are derived from God; 4. that faith in God will provide eternal salvation; and 5. that one cannot be good without belief in God. I reiterate that the burden of proof rests upon those who believe in God. If they are unable to make the case for belief in God, then I have every right to remain a seeptic. --- End forwarded message --- To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. snip The first part of the book comprises of a solid explanation and defense of both skepticism and the scientific method. There are, on the one hand, people who defend a practical stance towards knowledge and belief - people who are usually called empiricists, rationalists or skeptics. But on the other hand are people who are not content with mundane reality and who are susceptible to claims about deeper mysteries and truths which require faith for acceptance. Or which stem from direct personal experience. snip This magical thinking is certainly irrational, in that it deliberately bases conclusions upon a clear lack of demonstrable evidence and without regard for logical coherence or consistency. It is also anti-scientific because methodologically, science seeks knowable, testable and repeatable explanations for events. Science does not get involved with ad hoc pseudoexplanations which cannot be tested or understood in by any coherent means. There's a long and fascinating article here-- http://cura.free.fr/xv/14starbb.html --documenting the tendency of CSICOP (the skeptics' organization co-founded by Kurtz and the writer of the article, Dennis Rawlins) to deal with evidence without regard for logical coherence or consistency, or even integrity. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: --- Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. Guide Rating - +++ Once upon a time, the world was flat. With the passing of time and more expierience gained, it has become round. This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal becomes normal. Well said. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Einstein on Buddhism
On May 28, 2006, at 10:09 PM, sparaig wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, coshlnx [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], matrixmonitor matrixmonitor@ wrote: Buddhism has the characteristics of what would be expected in a cosmic religion for the future: it transcends a personal God, avoids dogmas and theology; it covers both the natural and spiritual; and it is based on a religious ense aspiring from the experiene of all things, natural and spiritual, as a meaningful unity. ...Albert Einsein So, the Buddha talked about Unity Consciousness? Advaita Vedanta, where you may first have heard of Unity Consciousness (Brahma Chetana) is Shankara's countermovement to Buddhism and the dualism of his day. Both echo upanishadic and vedic ideas of unity. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. Guide Rating - +++ Once upon a time, the world was flat. With the passing of time and more expierience gained, it has become round. This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal becomes normal. Indeed. However... Isn't it generally agreed that people are using ten to fifteen percent of their brain but now we have someone saying that this or that expierience is not possible. ...to the extent that this is generally agreed, it's agreed on the basis of a misunderstanding of the findings of early EEG research. See this article from Scientific American: http://tinyurl.com/4pp8h It's one thing to speculate that we use only 10 percent of the brain's *potential* (although it's hard to say how one would arrive at a specific percentage); but the notion that we use only 10 percent of the brain itself is simply inaccurate. snip To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] 100K mark passed
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/message/10 We quietly passed the 100,000 mark, and matrixmonitor, who was on a roll, was the lucky winner. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozguru@ wrote: shempmcgurk wrote: snip I have to imagine that the advent of this technology is responsible for the drop in movie box-office. That and a general level of fear in America. Uh, no, not fear. Judy, I will answer this because it was short and I wound up reading the entire reply in the preview window before I could get to the Next button. :-) But also because it's a matter of opinion, one on which you and I disagree, but on which a lot of other people do agree. One of the things that, *without exception*, every American who has visited me here in France has remarked on is the comparative levels of fear in the two countries. We're talking dozens of people, from all walks of life. When you visit a foreign country, the first things you notice, naturally, are the things that are different from home. But after a few days, as you get used to the surface level of the new country, you start to notice the things that are *missing*. No Starbucks every block or so. Very few SUVs and unconscionable gas-guzzlers on the road. That sort of thing. Well, in my experience and in the experience of literally all of my American friends, one of the first things you notice in France, even in a big city like Paris, is the comparative absence of fear. In the general population, and in yourself. It's a remarkable realization, one that I can only imagine you haven't felt personally, or you wouldn't have replied so definitively. An example, directly related to theater attendance. The last time I was in L.A., I wanted to see a movie so I went to Westwood, the area near UCLA just filled (in my memory) with bustling crowds, nice restaurants, and movie theaters. Well, I got there, parked, and started walking around. There were no crowds, even though it was a Friday night. The restaurants were near-empty. So were the movie theaters; no waiting on line to get in, and when you did, you found yourself sitting in a half- empty theater. I couldn't help but wonder why, so I asked. It turned out that about five months previously, the crowds (at that time) had gotten so big on week- ends that Westwood had become a kind of where it's happening Mecca in L.A. Everybody would show up there to see and be seen. Unfortunately, those who showed up one weekend included members of two rival L.A. gangs, and they got into a shooting war. One bystander was killed. Five months later and the place was still empty. That's the kind of fear I'm talking about, not (as you possibly thought) fear directly related to 9/11 and terrorism. Ah, I see. *In general*, Americans are fearful about going to public places on a level that is generally unheard of in Europe. However, you cited as an example of this kind of fear a public place at which violence had actually occurred. That's not terribly surprising. The U.S. *does* have a problem with violence and has had for a very long time, and certainly in more violence-prone areas, fear of violence affects how folks conduct their lives. Whether the behavior constitutes an overreaction to the actual danger or is simply a prudent response to circumstances is another question. Your L.A. example sounds like an overreaction. On the other hand, once people start avoiding a place because an incident of violence had occurred there, it can be self-perpetuating: people avoid it because violence is more likely when there aren't a lot of people around. But you mentioned a Starbuck's on every corner. I'd suggest that if the level of fear were as overwhelming as you suggest, there would not *be* a Starbuck's on every corner because they wouldn't have any customers. Does that, *in addition to* the easy access to cable/satellite TV and rental videos, affect the number of people going out to see movies, Well, duh. I think you're generalizing wildly about fear of going to the movies based on that one example. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
: It's one thing to speculate that we use only 10 percent of the brain's *potential* (although it's hard to say how one would arrive at a specific percentage); but the notion that we use only 10 percent of the brain itself is simply inaccurate. I read somewhere recently that we only use around 10% of our brains at a time because if every neuron fired at once we would keel over with shock. The point was we don't use the SAME 10% all the time but vary it according to what we are doing. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Skeptic Kurtz on God.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I believed that ethics and morals were like natural laws that came from God to mankind through the scriptures in each culture. Now I believe that we choose our ethics while shaped by our reason and our social contract with others. Much of this was created in our primate past as we learned the value of the group and the behaviors necessary to live together. I think under each point of view some people act ethically and some do not. I don't know which is more effective for helping people act in a kind way towards others. I just know what point of view I hold and I do my best from that perspective. So what do you believe? I think the scriptural ideas of morality reflect the ethics of the cultures for which the scriptures were written. I think there *may* be some innate human sense that shapes and reinforces ethical behavior, and is perpetuated because it's been found to work, but where that sense came from, I couldn't say. I wouldn't rule out that it comes from an inherent orderliness (in the very-big-picture sense) from which the universe emerged and which humans intuit. But the rules put forth in scripture that are said to have been laid down by God I think are just a (relatively clumsy) approximation of what we intuit of that orderliness. With that one caveat--that ethical behavior may arise from some intuition of an abstract natural law (but coming through humans, not some divine lawgiver)--I agree with everything else you said. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson nelsonriddle2001@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. Guide Rating - +++ Once upon a time, the world was flat. With the passing of time and more expierience gained, it has become round. This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal becomes normal. Indeed. However... Isn't it generally agreed that people are using ten to fifteen percent of their brain but now we have someone saying that this or that expierience is not possible. ...to the extent that this is generally agreed, it's agreed on the basis of a misunderstanding of the findings of early EEG research. See this article from Scientific American: http://tinyurl.com/4pp8h It's one thing to speculate that we use only 10 percent of the brain's *potential* (although it's hard to say how one would arrive at a specific percentage); but the notion that we use only 10 percent of the brain itself is simply inaccurate. snip +++ Interesting article. Maybe integrated hemisphere functioning would be the better term. I was thinking of Mr. Peake (sp) (the Rain man) who still continues to absorb knowledge and be able to recall it. His ability to memorize large numbers of books would indicate some brain function that is not generaly in use by the average person. I have some problem remembering more than a few phone numbers and this guy looks like he has more than a terrabite memory. I definitely don't have ten percent of this kind of memory- maybe I am getting bit of old timers syndrome N. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Skeptic Kurtz on God.
De Waal's work with bonobo chimps has facinating information about primate cultures. His work Peacemaking Among Primates is a great book for finding the roots of many social customs in our ancient past. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067465921X/103-7153482-6367068?v=glancen=283155 --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: I believed that ethics and morals were like natural laws that came from God to mankind through the scriptures in each culture. Now I believe that we choose our ethics while shaped by our reason and our social contract with others. Much of this was created in our primate past as we learned the value of the group and the behaviors necessary to live together. I think under each point of view some people act ethically and some do not. I don't know which is more effective for helping people act in a kind way towards others. I just know what point of view I hold and I do my best from that perspective. So what do you believe? I think the scriptural ideas of morality reflect the ethics of the cultures for which the scriptures were written. I think there *may* be some innate human sense that shapes and reinforces ethical behavior, and is perpetuated because it's been found to work, but where that sense came from, I couldn't say. I wouldn't rule out that it comes from an inherent orderliness (in the very-big-picture sense) from which the universe emerged and which humans intuit. But the rules put forth in scripture that are said to have been laid down by God I think are just a (relatively clumsy) approximation of what we intuit of that orderliness. With that one caveat--that ethical behavior may arise from some intuition of an abstract natural law (but coming through humans, not some divine lawgiver)--I agree with everything else you said. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson nelsonriddle2001@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. Guide Rating - +++ Once upon a time, the world was flat. With the passing of time and more expierience gained, it has become round. This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal becomes normal. Indeed. However... Isn't it generally agreed that people are using ten to fifteen percent of their brain but now we have someone saying that this or that expierience is not possible. ...to the extent that this is generally agreed, it's agreed on the basis of a misunderstanding of the findings of early EEG research. See this article from Scientific American: http://tinyurl.com/4pp8h It's one thing to speculate that we use only 10 percent of the brain's *potential* (although it's hard to say how one would arrive at a specific percentage); but the notion that we use only 10 percent of the brain itself is simply inaccurate. snip +++ Interesting article. Maybe integrated hemisphere functioning would be the better term. I was thinking of Mr. Peake (sp) (the Rain man) who still continues to absorb knowledge and be able to recall it. His ability to memorize large numbers of books would indicate some brain function that is not generaly in use by the average person. On the other hand, he lacks other abilities that average people have. Maybe the brain has room for only so many abilities, and average people have more abilities but each ability is allotted a smaller portion of the brain's capacity, compared to the larger portions of Peake's brain allotted to each of his smaller number of abilities? Did that make any sense?? It's sort of like a library with a limited amount of shelf space. It can have books on a wide range of books, with only a few on each topic; or it can specialize in only a few topics and have lots of books on each. I have some problem remembering more than a few phone numbers and this guy looks like he has more than a terrabite memory. I definitely don't have ten percent of this kind of memory- maybe I am getting bit of old timers syndrome N. We're all heading in that direction... Lately I've consoled myself with the thought that the older one gets, the more memories one has, and the brain has a harder time fitting in new stuff that comes along on the fly. The memory begins to get fragmented, like a hard disk, so it's harder to access what you want to remember. And sometimes the brain can't find a space for the item before it falls out of short-term memory and is lost. As I get older, I more often find myself unable to bring to mind names I know well when I want to cite them. But if I stop searching my memory consciously and think about something else, most of the time the name pops up after a few minutes. It's as if there's a subconscious search mode that continues until it finds the memory fragment tucked away in a far corner somewhere. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: kuurma-naaDii-saMyama (III 32): Bhojadeva's comment!
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, cardemaister [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: | yadi vaa kaayasya sthairyam utpadyate na kenacit spandayitum shakyata ityarthaH | (sandi-vigraha: ... shakyate; iti; arthaH) Our best guess: The meaning is [also?](ityarthaH; iti + arthaH: thus the meaning): if (yadi vaa) steadiness (sthairyam) of the body (kaaya_sya) is obtained (utpadyate) it's not possible (na... shakyate) to move [it] (spandayitum) by anyone (kena-cit). To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
TurquoiseB wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: shempmcgurk wrote: ...at least get an upscaling DVD player. You won't regret it. Makes all the difference in the world, if your monitor/TV supports HD. A good cheap one, and one that can be easily converted to multi-region (no region codes, which is very important if you're a film freak) is the Samsung DVD-HD950. I have to imagine that the advent of this technology is responsible for the drop in movie box-office. That and a general level of fear in America. The French still go out to the movies, on the average of once or twice a week (for city dwellers). They have home theaters, but enjoy the theater experience as well. Of course, theatre box office only represents about 25% of a movie's total revenue. But, hey, why go to a theatre when you have a home theatre, eh? I almost never go to a theater. It's not a 'better' or 'worse' experience, just a different one. I'm a film freak who lived in L.A. for years. There is something neat about going to a theater with other film freaks and seeing a film in conjunction with others that is not conveyed by the home theater experience. (And I have a pretty good home theater, so I know whereof I speak.) Part of it may be where I live. The French are pretty damned *serious* about film as art form. (Overly serious, I would say...they are not as able to enjoy a film fantasy or comedy piece as they should be IMO.) No one talks during films, and the theaters are often comfortable, nice places to go. Same with the Netherlands; there are theaters there that have full bars and cafes in the lobbies, places that are so nice that people go there to socialize, even if they're not going to see a film. They are settings for a nice social evening out with friends, or with strangers who will shortly become friends if the film is good enough. It's not unusual after a great film for the viewers to sit around discussing it over coffee or drinks, even though they didn't know each other previously. You have to remember that here in the US film is just a cash cow for a select bunch of jerks. They put out low common denominator films that anyone with any taste would not waste their time seeing even for free on HDTV. Yet the lemming go to the film in droves even if the critics declare it a disaster. I go to matinees just to avoid crowds. Next week I'll go see Al Gore's film at the local Cinearts which is a Century Theater art house. And I will go during a matinee. Why pay $10 when I can pay $6 (still too high). Of course being self employed helps because I can decide when to go to a film rather than when I have time. Not only is film important to the French but to Asians as well. There are many excellent films coming out of Asia these days save India which still as a pretty screwed up industry. And with a home theater I have movie nights and invite friends over. Not long ago I read an article stating that Starbucks was popular because it was a place one could go and sit alone. Geez, if I recall right the guy who started it was trying to recreate the Italian espresso scene where as you say people would socialize. That's America for you. :( Syriana provoked such reactions in Paris, as did Crash and Million Dollar Baby. I developed good friendships with a few people as the result of seeing a film with them, even though we didn't know each other beforehand. I'm just presenting the case for film to be a mechanism for a meeting of the minds, for it providing an opportunity to meet people and get to know them while discussing some- thing you found mutually interesting. There is a 'credo' printed over the bar in one of my favorite theaters in Avignon that says it all IMO: There are no strangers here, only friends you haven't met yet. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=msk=Religion+and+spiritualityw1=Religion+and+spiritualityw2=Maharishi+mahesh+yogic=2s=58.sig=mnaGbg3D6T1bd0dym0UVXA Maharishi mahesh yogi http://groups.yahoo.com/gads?t=msk=Maharishi+mahesh+yogiw1=Religion+and+spiritualityw2=Maharishi+mahesh+yogic=2s=58.sig=e1tSf4ok7xZqdmgAO84esw YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS * Visit your group FairfieldLife http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife on the web. * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This
[FairfieldLife] Re: Einstein on Buddhism
I know you're more capable then your inane comment (below). Just in case you are that incapable you can start here. http://home.btconnect.com/scimah/einstein.htm You can also go to google and type in Einstein Buddhism --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Where should I look? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: snip You have to remember that here in the US film is just a cash cow for a select bunch of jerks. They put out low common denominator films that anyone with any taste would not waste their time seeing even for free on HDTV. Yet the lemming go to the film in droves even if the critics declare it a disaster. I go to matinees just to avoid crowds. B-b-b-but Barry says people here are *afraid* to go to the movies! I mean, he's quite sure of that; it's so obvious he can see it all the way from France. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Einstein on Buddhism
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shirleybrahman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I know you're more capable then your inane comment (below). Just why is it inane to ask for a recommendation for a good source of information about a topic you aren't familiar with? That would seem to me to be the intelligent thing to do. Just in case you are that incapable you can start here. http://home.btconnect.com/scimah/einstein.htm You can also go to google and type in Einstein Buddhism This, however, is not so intelligent. If you had actually read the context, you'd have seen Lawson was asking for a good source on Buddhism, not on Einstein, nor even on Einstein and Buddhism. It would seem you're not exactly in a position to criticize others for not being as capable as your oh-so-splendid self. Jerky knees can do that to you. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: Where should I look? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: You have to remember that here in the US film is just a cash cow for a select bunch of jerks. They put out low common denominator films that anyone with any taste would not waste their time seeing even for free on HDTV. Yet the lemming go to the film in droves even if the critics declare it a disaster. Hey, I go to the movies when the critics declare it a disaster. :-) I have learned to trust my intuition more than I trust any of the critics. I go to matinees just to avoid crowds. Next week I'll go see Al Gore's film at the local Cinearts which is a Century Theater art house. And I will go during a matinee. Why pay $10 when I can pay $6 (still too high). Of course being self employed helps because I can decide when to go to a film rather than when I have time. I've got that luxury, too, at least as regards the theaters in the big cities like Nimes and Avignon and Montpellier. The established theaters in the small towns rarely have matinees. There's also an interesting phenomenon here called 'Cinema Itinerant' which is a kind of movie house that travels from village to village. They'll play a movie in one village on Wednesday, and then play it it in the next village on Thursday. It's neat, because most of these places are far too small to support a full-time theater. With this arrangement, the residents of tiny (1000-3000 people) villages get to see movies without driving at least once a week. Not only is film important to the French but to Asians as well. There are many excellent films coming out of Asia these days save India which still as a pretty screwed up industry. Yes, it certainly does. Bollywood ranks right up there with the polyester leisure suit in terms of Bad Ideas Humans Have Come Up With, IMO. :-) And with a home theater I have movie nights and invite friends over. Yeah, me too. That was one of the reasons I sprung for a home cinema when I moved here. I have a fairly large collection of DVDs and share them with friends. Not long ago I read an article stating that Starbucks was popular because it was a place one could go and sit alone. Geez, if I recall right the guy who started it was trying to recreate the Italian espresso scene where as you say people would socialize. That's America for you. :( It is an interesting difference between Europeans and Americans. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozguru@ wrote: snip You have to remember that here in the US film is just a cash cow for a select bunch of jerks. They put out low common denominator films that anyone with any taste would not waste their time seeing even for free on HDTV. Yet the lemming go to the film in droves even if the critics declare it a disaster. I go to matinees just to avoid crowds. B-b-b-but Barry says people here are *afraid* to go to the movies! I mean, he's quite sure of that; it's so obvious he can see it all the way from France. Well, that should teach me not to treat Judy as if she were a grownup. :-) Seriously, Judy, if you'd like to learn something for a change, why don't you do what I do and read the movie trade papers? There is an article almost every week about declining movie attendance, percentagewise per population, with one of the primary reasons given being a reluctance of audiences to go out at night, especially to movie houses that aren't in safe, well-lit shopping malls. As I remember from a recent article, a huge percentage of city-center movie houses have folded in the last decade, and the primary reason given for it was *not* competition from videos (because there was no such mass failure among suburban theaters) but fear of crime in the city centers. That said, back into the Pissant Bin you go... To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Fear in the Streets
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: But also because it's a matter of opinion, one on which you and I disagree, but on which a lot of other people do agree. One of the things that, *without exception*, every American who has visited me here in France has remarked on is the comparative levels of fear in the two countries. We're talking dozens of people, from all walks of life. ... Well, in my experience and in the experience of literally all of my American friends, one of the first things you notice in France, even in a big city like Paris, is the comparative absence of fear. In the general population, and in yourself. ... Five months later and the place was still empty. [from one bystander killing] That's the kind of fear I'm talking about, ... Americans are fearful about going to public places on a level that is generally unheard of in Europe. ... And it's quite a revelation to live without that constant threat of possible violence pressing down on you. It's like losing thirty pounds. I know that I can't convey this to you in words, but I had to try. America *is* more fearful than almost any country I have visited lately. And that's really sad, but I honestly believe it's sadly true. Well personal observations of several cities are interesting, but are antecdotal, hardly conclusive, nor the valid basis for sweeping generalizations. I lived in urban France some years ago, and I felt nor observed fear on the streets. But in that era, I didn't find fear in the US either. And I visited Paris for a week several years ago. I didn't observe or feel fear much, even wandering streets at 2am (clearly off the program.) But in visits within a year of two of that, I felt a distinct feeling of safety in urbane Oslo -- something I did not feel in a more neutral Paris (no fear, but no mother is at home). Also parts of Thailand (Chaing Mai) and India felt quite safe -- as much or more so than France. In the last 7 years, I have lived in, or stayed extensively in, about seven distinct locations. Two were right in the middle of large city urban areas. Another is 5 miles from such. One was a heavily ethnic neighborhood. In general, I didn't feel or observe fear levels much different than what I observed in France. But it varied by area. Generally, I felt safest in more rural and low-density suburban areas. But in one high desnity urban setting I felt totally safe and walked around late at night at times. Another urban area was the one area I would be more aware of potential crime -- but was not fearful. It did not prevent me from walking at night. It seems to me that fear/caution/security/totallysecure feelings correspond to crime levels in an area.. Such varies tremendously in the US. Thinking of crime and fear in walking at night in my current location is laughable. A loose very territorial dog might be my only concern. But even there, its not fearful. Just a slight caution. Overall, crime levels in the US are a bit higher than France, but not a huge difference. 62 vs 80 total crimes / capital. Though auto thefts are higher per capita in France. http://www.nationmaster.com/country/fr/cri http://www.nationmaster.com/country/us/cri Though interesting, Portugal -- which has a nice peaceful image for me -- has a higher crime rate than the US. Several reasons for lower crime rates. France appears to have way more police per capita than the US. And the US is more youthful. Youth cohorts are highly associated with crime levels. And, these are national averages. There are many areas in the US with substantially less crime rates than the national average. See the following site for comparing cities with national average. http://www.bestplaces.net/city/ Though I just noticed that FF has almost twice the property crime rate as the national average. So much for the ME effect. But it highlights a point. Do people in FF walk the streets full of fear? Even with higher than national crime rates? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Skeptic Kurtz on God.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: De Waal's work with bonobo chimps has facinating information about primate cultures. His work Peacemaking Among Primates is a great book for finding the roots of many social customs in our ancient past. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067465921X/103-7153482-6367068? v=glancen=283155 Aside from the fact that their societies are matriarchal, and that they would apparently rather make love than war, of course. I'd guess you cited the bonobo as evidence against my speculative suggestion that humans may intuit orderliness and that this intuition may be a source of their sense of ethics. However, bonobos are among the very few species of non-human animals who have passed the mirror test, which is thought to be a sign of self-consciousness. So I suggest that they may also have a primitive intuitive capacity that can sense orderliness. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: I believed that ethics and morals were like natural laws that came from God to mankind through the scriptures in each culture. Now I believe that we choose our ethics while shaped by our reason and our social contract with others. Much of this was created in our primate past as we learned the value of the group and the behaviors necessary to live together. I think under each point of view some people act ethically and some do not. I don't know which is more effective for helping people act in a kind way towards others. I just know what point of view I hold and I do my best from that perspective. So what do you believe? I think the scriptural ideas of morality reflect the ethics of the cultures for which the scriptures were written. I think there *may* be some innate human sense that shapes and reinforces ethical behavior, and is perpetuated because it's been found to work, but where that sense came from, I couldn't say. I wouldn't rule out that it comes from an inherent orderliness (in the very-big-picture sense) from which the universe emerged and which humans intuit. But the rules put forth in scripture that are said to have been laid down by God I think are just a (relatively clumsy) approximation of what we intuit of that orderliness. With that one caveat--that ethical behavior may arise from some intuition of an abstract natural law (but coming through humans, not some divine lawgiver)--I agree with everything else you said. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozguru@ wrote: snip You have to remember that here in the US film is just a cash cow for a select bunch of jerks. They put out low common denominator films that anyone with any taste would not waste their time seeing even for free on HDTV. Yet the lemming go to the film in droves even if the critics declare it a disaster. I go to matinees just to avoid crowds. B-b-b-but Barry says people here are *afraid* to go to the movies! I mean, he's quite sure of that; it's so obvious he can see it all the way from France. +++ I hadn't noticed that problem here in FF although you could say FF isn't representative of the national average. With the old folks discount, it is a little less expensive and on some occasions there are so few people there it might as well be a private showing and,they make the popcorn. N. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Skeptic Kurtz on God.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I believed that ethics and morals were like natural laws that came from God to mankind through the scriptures in each culture. When people refer to living the Dharma -- while mutiple meanings are possible -- it generally implies some cosmically correct, a priori, way of acting. Thus we get cosmically correct, dharmic codes of action like laws of manu -- much or which is laughable, if not horrifying, if applied in the modern age. I like the NLP's vison (not its implementation): laws should be based on the latest scientific research. (Not gut feelings of some bible thumping good ol boy elected 20 times to congress by a jerrymandered -- aka jerryRigged -- district.) To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozguru@ wrote: snip You have to remember that here in the US film is just a cash cow for a select bunch of jerks. They put out low common denominator films that anyone with any taste would not waste their time seeing even for free on HDTV. Yet the lemming go to the film in droves even if the critics declare it a disaster. I go to matinees just to avoid crowds. B-b-b-but Barry says people here are *afraid* to go to the movies! I mean, he's quite sure of that; it's so obvious he can see it all the way from France. Well, that should teach me not to treat Judy as if she were a grownup. :-) Seriously, Judy, if you'd like to learn something for a change, why don't you do what I do and read the movie trade papers? There is an article almost every week about declining movie attendance, percentagewise per population, with one of the primary reasons given being a reluctance of audiences to go out at night, especially to movie houses that aren't in safe, well-lit shopping malls. Yet you cited an example of people avoiding a well-lit shopping mall in L.A. as evidence for your fear thesis. As I remember from a recent article, a huge percentage of city-center movie houses have folded in the last decade, and the primary reason given for it was *not* competition from videos (because there was no such mass failure among suburban theaters) but fear of crime in the city centers. As you apparently don't remember from my post, I acknowledged that the U.S. has a problem with high levels of violent crime, obviously in particular in city centers. That's never been in dispute. As you note, the suburban theaters are doing just fine. The problem is crime, not some pervasive sense of fear, as you had originally suggested. That said, back into the Pissant Bin you go... Pissant: Somebody who doesn't agree with Barry. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. snip The first part of the book comprises of a solid explanation and defense of both skepticism and the scientific method. There are, on the one hand, people who defend a practical stance towards knowledge and belief - people who are usually called empiricists, rationalists or skeptics. But on the other hand are people who are not content with mundane reality and who are susceptible to claims about deeper mysteries and truths which require faith for acceptance. Or which stem from direct personal experience. Which is a middle ground -- personally empirical. Not yet universally empirical. But personal skepticism is also called for along with personal empiricism. We experiece, but also interpret that experience. We need to question our interpretations. Is this the only possible interpretation of the experience? It appears to me, a lot of interpretations of experiences are based on faith / scripture / peer practice / magical thinking, etc. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson nelsonriddle2001@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: --- Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. Guide Rating - +++ Once upon a time, the world was flat. With the passing of time and more expierience gained, it has become round. This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal becomes normal. Thats pretty funny. And seems to ignore the history of science. Are you suggesting Kurtz is ignorant of, or denies the history of science? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. snip The first part of the book comprises of a solid explanation and defense of both skepticism and the scientific method. There are, on the one hand, people who defend a practical stance towards knowledge and belief - people who are usually called empiricists, rationalists or skeptics. But on the other hand are people who are not content with mundane reality and who are susceptible to claims about deeper mysteries and truths which require faith for acceptance. Or which stem from direct personal experience. Which is a middle ground -- personally empirical. Not yet universally empirical. But quite distinct from mere faith. But personal skepticism is also called for along with personal empiricism. We experiece, but also interpret that experience. We need to question our interpretations. Is this the only possible interpretation of the experience? It appears to me, a lot of interpretations of experiences are based on faith / scripture / peer practice / magical thinking, etc. Oh, unquestionably. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson nelsonriddle2001@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: --- Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. Guide Rating - +++ Once upon a time, the world was flat. With the passing of time and more expierience gained, it has become round. This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal becomes normal. Thats pretty funny. And seems to ignore the history of science. Are you suggesting Kurtz is ignorant of, or denies the history of science? FWIW, I understood him to be saying that Kurtz lacks experience of the paranormal. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 100K mark passed
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/message/10 We quietly passed the 100,000 mark, and matrixmonitor, who was on a roll, was the lucky winner. About as significant a personal achievement as Barry Bond's. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson nelsonriddle2001@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote ...to the extent that this is generally agreed, it's agreed on the basis of a misunderstanding of the findings of early EEG research. See this article from Scientific American: http://tinyurl.com/4pp8h snip +++ Interesting article. Maybe integrated hemisphere functioning would be the better term. I was thinking of Mr. Peake (sp) (the Rain man) who still continues to absorb knowledge and be able to recall it. His ability to memorize large numbers of books would indicate some brain function that is not generaly in use by the average person. On the other hand, he lacks other abilities that average people have. Maybe the brain has room for only so many abilities, and average people have more abilities but each ability is allotted a smaller portion of the brain's capacity, compared to the larger portions of Peake's brain allotted to each of his smaller number of abilities? Did that make any sense?? It's sort of like a library with a limited amount of shelf space. It can have books on a wide range of books, with only a few on each topic; or it can specialize in only a few topics and have lots of books on each. +++ That seems logical as in specialization but also, in a recent story on him, it said he had gotten used to public speaking and was absorbing more knowledge in different fields. I have some problem remembering more than a few phone numbers and this guy looks like he has more than a terrabite memory. I definitely don't have ten percent of this kind of memory- We're all heading in that direction... Lately I've consoled myself with the thought that the older one gets, the more memories one has, and the brain has a harder time fitting in new stuff that comes along on the fly. The memory begins to get fragmented, like a hard disk, so it's harder to access what you want to remember. And sometimes the brain can't find a space for the item before it falls out of short-term memory and is lost. + that must be it- my memory needs to be de-figmented. N. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Einstein on Buddhism
For all of the years Lawson has posted on amt and here on FFL and who knows where else I know he is quite capable of using google or any of the other varieties of searches available on the internet. TO me, he was just riffing on Barry. If I got that wrong my apologies, however, their interactions seem fairly contentious and dripping with not liking each other very much. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shirleybrahman shirleybrahman@ wrote: I know you're more capable then your inane comment (below). Just why is it inane to ask for a recommendation for a good source of information about a topic you aren't familiar with? That would seem to me to be the intelligent thing to do. Just in case you are that incapable you can start here. http://home.btconnect.com/scimah/einstein.htm You can also go to google and type in Einstein Buddhism This, however, is not so intelligent. If you had actually read the context, you'd have seen Lawson was asking for a good source on Buddhism, not on Einstein, nor even on Einstein and Buddhism. It would seem you're not exactly in a position to criticize others for not being as capable as your oh-so-splendid self. Jerky knees can do that to you. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: Where should I look? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson nelsonriddle2001@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: --- Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. Guide Rating - +++ Once upon a time, the world was flat. With the passing of time and more expierience gained, it has become round. This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal becomes normal. Thats pretty funny. And seems to ignore the history of science. Are you suggesting Kurtz is ignorant of, or denies the history of science? FWIW, I understood him to be saying that Kurtz lacks experience of the paranormal. ok. I read him to say This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal BECOMES normal. [caps added] My mistake. :) To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Einstein on Buddhism
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shirleybrahman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: For all of the years Lawson has posted on amt and here on FFL and who knows where else I know he is quite capable of using google or any of the other varieties of searches available on the internet. I'm sure he is. In your alleged mind, does that capability therefore make it inane for him to ask for a recommendation for a good source of information, given the zillions available on the Web (31,400,000 hits for the term on Google)? TO me, he was just riffing on Barry. If I got that wrong my apologies, however, their interactions seem fairly contentious and dripping with not liking each other very much. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shirleybrahman shirleybrahman@ wrote: I know you're more capable then your inane comment (below). Just why is it inane to ask for a recommendation for a good source of information about a topic you aren't familiar with? That would seem to me to be the intelligent thing to do. Just in case you are that incapable you can start here. http://home.btconnect.com/scimah/einstein.htm You can also go to google and type in Einstein Buddhism This, however, is not so intelligent. If you had actually read the context, you'd have seen Lawson was asking for a good source on Buddhism, not on Einstein, nor even on Einstein and Buddhism. It would seem you're not exactly in a position to criticize others for not being as capable as your oh-so-splendid self. Jerky knees can do that to you. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: Where should I look? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hugheshugo [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: : It's one thing to speculate that we use only 10 percent of the brain's *potential* (although it's hard to say how one would arrive at a specific percentage); but the notion that we use only 10 percent of the brain itself is simply inaccurate. I read somewhere recently that we only use around 10% of our brains at a time because if every neuron fired at once we would keel over with shock. The point was we don't use the SAME 10% all the time but vary it according to what we are doing. I'm not sure about this. My understanding is that neurons are always at least a little active, firing-wise. Certainly, if you've ever watched a neuron, they're always active, physically. Fred Travis gives the statistic that 70% of the connections of our brain change every day. I don't know if the 70% figure is correct, but I think ANY reconfiguration of connections is due to the neurons seeking the maximum level of input from the surrounding neurons. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. snip The first part of the book comprises of a solid explanation and defense of both skepticism and the scientific method. There are, on the one hand, people who defend a practical stance towards knowledge and belief - people who are usually called empiricists, rationalists or skeptics. But on the other hand are people who are not content with mundane reality and who are susceptible to claims about deeper mysteries and truths which require faith for acceptance. Or which stem from direct personal experience. Which is a middle ground -- personally empirical. Not yet universally empirical. But personal skepticism is also called for along with personal empiricism. We experiece, but also interpret that experience. We need to question our interpretations. Is this the only possible interpretation of the experience? It appears to me, a lot of interpretations of experiences are based on faith / scripture / peer practice / magical thinking, etc. +++ You stand out in the rain- you get wet- some expieriences have a very limited range of interpretation and require little faith. Some would rather overlook the obvious and, others don't see what they are looking at. N To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] On the other hand, he lacks other abilities that average people have. Maybe the brain has room for only so many abilities, and average people have more abilities but each ability is allotted a smaller portion of the brain's capacity, compared to the larger portions of Peake's brain allotted to each of his smaller number of abilities? Did that make any sense?? It's sort of like a library with a limited amount of shelf space. It can have books on a wide range of books, with only a few on each topic; or it can specialize in only a few topics and have lots of books on each. It's more like the brain is a network of computers dedicated to specific tasks. While any arbitrary computer might be able to take over some part of the tasks of an adjacent computer, the most efficient way to go is to use the dedicated unit. If a given unit is really large, it can do its task really well, but there's only so much physical space available in your head, so if there's a larger-than-average unit there, there's bound to be one or more smaller-than-average units also, and if they're too small, they can't do their assigned task very well. If they don't exist, some other unit has to take over, with drastically reduced efficiency. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Einstein on Buddhism
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shirleybrahman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: For all of the years Lawson has posted on amt and here on FFL and who knows where else I know he is quite capable of using google or any of the other varieties of searches available on the internet. TO me, he was just riffing on Barry. Exactly. I never got the impression he was going to read a word of anything I recommended. If I got that wrong my apologies... Mine, too, but I'll still let him do his own homework. ...however, their interactions seem fairly contentious and dripping with not liking each other very much. Can't speak for Lawson, but it's not true in my case. I actually like the guy. But sometimes his anal-compulsiveness with regard to hanging on to what he already believes gets on my nerves. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] +++ Interesting article. Maybe integrated hemisphere functioning would be the better term. I was thinking of Mr. Peake (sp) (the Rain man) who still continues to absorb knowledge and be able to recall it. His ability to memorize large numbers of books would indicate some brain function that is not generaly in use by the average person. I have some problem remembering more than a few phone numbers and this guy looks like he has more than a terrabite memory. I definitely don't have ten percent of this kind of memory- maybe I am getting bit of old timers syndrome N. My recollection is that people who show some radically gifted ability often have relatively large brain structures associated with that ability, generally at the expense of OTHER brain structures, which are often drastically smaller than average or even non-existent. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Skeptic Kurtz on God.
I'd guess you cited the bonobo as evidence against my speculative suggestion that humans may intuit orderliness and that this intuition may be a source of their sense of ethics. No, I liked what you wrote. I should have said so to avoid my post sounding like a refutation. The bonobo's forgiveness rituals are the behaviors that I found fascinating. It seemed to be evidence that forgiveness is necessary to allow primate cultures to exist, rather then something taught to man by religious thought. I appreciated your phrase: I wouldn't rule out that it comes from an inherent orderliness (in the very-big-picture sense) from which the universe emerged and which humans intuit. I think that can be appreciated from a wide variety of religious and non-religious perspectives. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: De Waal's work with bonobo chimps has facinating information about primate cultures. His work Peacemaking Among Primates is a great book for finding the roots of many social customs in our ancient past. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067465921X/103-7153482-6367068? v=glancen=283155 Aside from the fact that their societies are matriarchal, and that they would apparently rather make love than war, of course. I'd guess you cited the bonobo as evidence against my speculative suggestion that humans may intuit orderliness and that this intuition may be a source of their sense of ethics. However, bonobos are among the very few species of non-human animals who have passed the mirror test, which is thought to be a sign of self-consciousness. So I suggest that they may also have a primitive intuitive capacity that can sense orderliness. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: I believed that ethics and morals were like natural laws that came from God to mankind through the scriptures in each culture. Now I believe that we choose our ethics while shaped by our reason and our social contract with others. Much of this was created in our primate past as we learned the value of the group and the behaviors necessary to live together. I think under each point of view some people act ethically and some do not. I don't know which is more effective for helping people act in a kind way towards others. I just know what point of view I hold and I do my best from that perspective. So what do you believe? I think the scriptural ideas of morality reflect the ethics of the cultures for which the scriptures were written. I think there *may* be some innate human sense that shapes and reinforces ethical behavior, and is perpetuated because it's been found to work, but where that sense came from, I couldn't say. I wouldn't rule out that it comes from an inherent orderliness (in the very-big-picture sense) from which the universe emerged and which humans intuit. But the rules put forth in scripture that are said to have been laid down by God I think are just a (relatively clumsy) approximation of what we intuit of that orderliness. With that one caveat--that ethical behavior may arise from some intuition of an abstract natural law (but coming through humans, not some divine lawgiver)--I agree with everything else you said. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson nelsonriddle2001@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: --- Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. Guide Rating - +++ Once upon a time, the world was flat. With the passing of time and more expierience gained, it has become round. This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal becomes normal. Thats pretty funny. And seems to ignore the history of science. Are you suggesting Kurtz is ignorant of, or denies the history of science? FWIW, I understood him to be saying that Kurtz lacks experience of the paranormal. ok. I read him to say This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal BECOMES normal. [caps added] I would guess that it becomes normal when you have lots of it. In other words, Kurtz hasn't had enough (if any) for it to become normal for him. Still not sure what this has to do with your notion that he was suggesting Kurtz is ignorant of or denies the history of science. My mistake. :) To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozguru@ wrote: snip You have to remember that here in the US film is just a cash cow for a select bunch of jerks. They put out low common denominator films that anyone with any taste would not waste their time seeing even for free on HDTV. Yet the lemming go to the film in droves even if the critics declare it a disaster. I go to matinees just to avoid crowds. B-b-b-but Barry says people here are *afraid* to go to the movies! I mean, he's quite sure of that; it's so obvious he can see it all the way from France. Well, that should teach me not to treat Judy as if she were a grownup. :-) Seriously, Judy, if you'd like to learn something for a change, why don't you do what I do and read the movie trade papers? There is an article almost every week about declining movie attendance, percentagewise per population, with one of the primary reasons given being a reluctance of audiences to go out at night, especially to movie houses that aren't in safe, well-lit shopping malls. As I remember from a recent article, a huge percentage of city-center movie houses have folded in the last decade, and the primary reason given for it was *not* competition from videos (because there was no such mass failure among suburban theaters) but fear of crime in the city centers. That said, back into the Pissant Bin you go... There are likely as many primary reasons for this issue as there are writers of articles on the issue. One important issue is the existence of cell phones since you can text-message your friends in line for the next show with the message don't see this! it's really lousy). Some people give this as a reason why opening day lines are often less crowded than expected from the amount of money spent on marketing certain films. Word gets around WHILE the movie is still playing. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Einstein on Buddhism
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shirleybrahman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: For all of the years Lawson has posted on amt and here on FFL and who knows where else I know he is quite capable of using google or any of the other varieties of searches available on the internet. TO me, he was just riffing on Barry. If I got that wrong my apologies, however, their interactions seem fairly contentious and dripping with not liking each other very much. Just one more point, because I find this kind of lame pot-shot so annoying: If, again, you had actually read the exchange, you would have seen that the riffing in this case was entirely on Barry's part. Yet you chose to dump on Lawson for ignoring Barry's insults and instead asking a perfectly reasonable question about good sources of information. Now, *that's* inane. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shirleybrahman shirleybrahman@ wrote: I know you're more capable then your inane comment (below). Just why is it inane to ask for a recommendation for a good source of information about a topic you aren't familiar with? That would seem to me to be the intelligent thing to do. Just in case you are that incapable you can start here. http://home.btconnect.com/scimah/einstein.htm You can also go to google and type in Einstein Buddhism This, however, is not so intelligent. If you had actually read the context, you'd have seen Lawson was asking for a good source on Buddhism, not on Einstein, nor even on Einstein and Buddhism. It would seem you're not exactly in a position to criticize others for not being as capable as your oh-so-splendid self. Jerky knees can do that to you. --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: Where should I look? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson nelsonriddle2001@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: --- Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. Guide Rating - +++ Once upon a time, the world was flat. With the passing of time and more expierience gained, it has become round. This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal becomes normal. Thats pretty funny. And seems to ignore the history of science. Are you suggesting Kurtz is ignorant of, or denies the history of science? +++ NO.. It's more like when science finally figures everything out, there shouldn't be antything left to be classified as paranormal. N. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Skeptic Kurtz on God.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: De Waal's work with bonobo chimps has facinating information about primate cultures. His work Peacemaking Among Primates is a great book for finding the roots of many social customs in our ancient past. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067465921X/103-7153482-6367068? v=glancen=283155 Aside from the fact that their societies are matriarchal, and that they would apparently rather make love than war, of course. I'd guess you cited the bonobo as evidence against my speculative suggestion that humans may intuit orderliness and that this intuition may be a source of their sense of ethics. However, bonobos are among the very few species of non-human animals who have passed the mirror test, which is thought to be a sign of self-consciousness. So I suggest that they may also have a primitive intuitive capacity that can sense orderliness. I've seen housecats who apparently passed the mirror test. I've also seen house cats look both ways before crossing busy streets, and if they see a car coming, they step back on the sidewalk. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson nelsonriddle2001@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: --- Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. Guide Rating - +++ Once upon a time, the world was flat. With the passing of time and more expierience gained, it has become round. This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal becomes normal. Thats pretty funny. And seems to ignore the history of science. Are you suggesting Kurtz is ignorant of, or denies the history of science? the sTARBABY article suggests that he has been trapped in hubris before. Of course, another article (CRYBABY) claims that the author of sTarbaby was the one trapped in hubris. http://www.freeinquiry.com/skeptic/resources/ To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Einstein on Buddhism
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shirleybrahman [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: For all of the years Lawson has posted on amt and here on FFL and who knows where else I know he is quite capable of using google or any of the other varieties of searches available on the internet. TO me, he was just riffing on Barry. If I got that wrong my apologies, however, their interactions seem fairly contentious and dripping with not liking each other very much. Eh. Barry and I generally get along save when I poke at him concerning Judy. My own problem with the Buddha claiming Unity is that I can't find stuff online that addresses this issue that isn't tainted with cultural/religious assumptions about what Buddha said on the subject. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: [...] On the other hand, he lacks other abilities that average people have. Maybe the brain has room for only so many abilities, and average people have more abilities but each ability is allotted a smaller portion of the brain's capacity, compared to the larger portions of Peake's brain allotted to each of his smaller number of abilities? Did that make any sense?? It's sort of like a library with a limited amount of shelf space. It can have books on a wide range of books, with only a few on each topic; or it can specialize in only a few topics and have lots of books on each. It's more like the brain is a network of computers dedicated to specific tasks. While any arbitrary computer might be able to take over some part of the tasks of an adjacent computer, the most efficient way to go is to use the dedicated unit. If a given unit is really large, it can do its task really well, but there's only so much physical space available in your head, so if there's a larger-than-average unit there, there's bound to be one or more smaller-than-average units also, and if they're too small, they can't do their assigned task very well. If they don't exist, some other unit has to take over, with drastically reduced efficiency. +++ That looks like a good analogy but I would wonder if a person who continues to be able to memorize books and supposedly doesn't have a seperation of brain hemispheres would be likely to run out of space. I would be willing to bet he has more available space on his hard drive than your Mac quad core. N. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 'Revelations/ Number:666 +G.W.Bush =?'
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bhairitu noozguru@ wrote: You have to remember that here in the US film is just a cash cow for a select bunch of jerks. They put out low common denominator films that anyone with any taste would not waste their time seeing even for free on HDTV. Yet the lemming go to the film in droves even if the critics declare it a disaster. Hey, I go to the movies when the critics declare it a disaster. :-) I have learned to trust my intuition more than I trust any of the critics. I almost never read critics. Primarily because they usually give away too much of the movie and, secondly, I don't trust them. I will, however, read all the reviews I can get my hands on for a movie AFTER I've seen it if I really loved that movie. Intuition is also my best asset when determining which movie I'm going to see and believe it or not what comes in most handy for me here is the judging a book by its cover principal. And here the cover is the movie poster or still ad (and sometimes the trailer). The artwork, tagline and presentation of the movie poster actually gives me alot of information -- on an intuitive level -- whether or not I'll go see a movie. Of course, it's not 100% foolproof but I find it very effective. Another big factor is the director and, to a lesser extent, the producer. For example, Miramax has an almost automatic stamp of approval for me in terms of quality. Quentin Tarantino as well. Although he didn't produce alot of movies during his lifetime, George Harrison had a great record for producing great films. Saul Zaentz, too, although his are few and far between. As for Hollywood fare, 75% of it is crap and I usually don't go to see them although sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised. I do find the Superhero blockbusters -- X-Men, Spiderman, etc. -- are almost always very, very good quality and enjoyable (assuming you like action/adventure movies). I'm NOT a big fan, however of the Mission Impossible franchise. I go to matinees just to avoid crowds. Next week I'll go see Al Gore's film at the local Cinearts which is a Century Theater art house. And I will go during a matinee. Why pay $10 when I can pay $6 (still too high). Of course being self employed helps because I can decide when to go to a film rather than when I have time. I've got that luxury, too, at least as regards the theaters in the big cities like Nimes and Avignon and Montpellier. The established theaters in the small towns rarely have matinees. There's also an interesting phenomenon here called 'Cinema Itinerant' which is a kind of movie house that travels from village to village. They'll play a movie in one village on Wednesday, and then play it it in the next village on Thursday. It's neat, because most of these places are far too small to support a full-time theater. With this arrangement, the residents of tiny (1000-3000 people) villages get to see movies without driving at least once a week. Not only is film important to the French but to Asians as well. There are many excellent films coming out of Asia these days save India which still as a pretty screwed up industry. Yes, it certainly does. Bollywood ranks right up there with the polyester leisure suit in terms of Bad Ideas Humans Have Come Up With, IMO. :-) And with a home theater I have movie nights and invite friends over. Yeah, me too. That was one of the reasons I sprung for a home cinema when I moved here. I have a fairly large collection of DVDs and share them with friends. Not long ago I read an article stating that Starbucks was popular because it was a place one could go and sit alone. Geez, if I recall right the guy who started it was trying to recreate the Italian espresso scene where as you say people would socialize. That's America for you. :( It is an interesting difference between Europeans and Americans. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. snip The first part of the book comprises of a solid explanation and defense of both skepticism and the scientific method. There are, on the one hand, people who defend a practical stance towards knowledge and belief - people who are usually called empiricists, rationalists or skeptics. But on the other hand are people who are not content with mundane reality and who are susceptible to claims about deeper mysteries and truths which require faith for acceptance. Or which stem from direct personal experience. Which is a middle ground -- personally empirical. Not yet universally empirical. But personal skepticism is also called for along with personal empiricism. We experiece, but also interpret that experience. We need to question our interpretations. Is this the only possible interpretation of the experience? It appears to me, a lot of interpretations of experiences are based on faith / scripture / peer practice / magical thinking, etc. +++ You stand out in the rain- you get wet- some expieriences have a very limited range of interpretation and require little faith. Some would rather overlook the obvious and, others don't see what they are looking at. N But you seemto be leading quite a simple life if it primarily involves standing in the rain. :) Do you experience the sun rise? I do. Its personally empirical, but not consitent with what is scietifically empirical. My interpretation is limited. And are you really standing in the rain? And not some primordial quantum soup? On one level, that IS what is happening. As or more correct than your interpretation. And if you is only a construct, you standing in the rain is a weak, if not false interpretation. What if you know (primarily) the rain is IT and much as IT is within. Its then IT standing -- which is the act of IT -- in IT But my point is that some have an experience and interpret it as shakti, prana, kundalini, love, fear, pain, Brahman or CC or whatver. It may be. It may not be. Labels may be irrelevant. But labeling an experience by some name found in some scripture somewhere smells of a bit of faith. If not wishful thinking. Some will claim the self-evident defense. But as we have recently discussed, many have claimed things as self-evident when later we see they were false. The self-evident defense seems to me to be a spiffy faith-based defense in many cases. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hugheshugo richardhughes103@ wrote: : It's one thing to speculate that we use only 10 percent of the brain's *potential* (although it's hard to say how one would arrive at a specific percentage); but the notion that we use only 10 percent of the brain itself is simply inaccurate. I read somewhere recently that we only use around 10% of our brains at a time because if every neuron fired at once we would keel over with shock. The point was we don't use the SAME 10% all the time but vary it according to what we are doing. I'm not sure about this. My understanding is that neurons are always at least a little active, firing-wise. Certainly, if you've ever watched a neuron, they're always active, physically. Fred Travis gives the statistic that 70% of the connections of our brain change every day. I don't know if the 70% figure is correct, but I think ANY reconfiguration of connections is due to the neurons seeking the maximum level of input from the surrounding neurons. I've read that only a small portion of all possible neural connections are used daily or ever used. What is it 100 billion neurons (ok I lokked it up 10 billion - 1 trillion for entire NS). With up to 10,000 possible connections per neuron. How many possible states? (You do the math). How many do we use. Will ever use? How many does someone on Brahaman use? (ONE! haha) I believe that all the existing connections are used constantly, but the least-used tend to get pruned. The most used tend to become major branches. Major branches can get pruned eventually, and even the most tenuous thread can become a major branch. Someone in Brahman probably has a higher-than-average baseline activity level for all connections. A well-defined cosmic hum of neural activity that includes portions of the brain that aren't activated very much by simple TM practice, e.g., perceptual areas. interesting simple site on brain http://www.dana.org/pdf/brainweek/mindboggle.pdf To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Skeptic Kurtz on God.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I'd guess you cited the bonobo as evidence against my speculative suggestion that humans may intuit orderliness and that this intuition may be a source of their sense of ethics. No, I liked what you wrote. I should have said so to avoid my post sounding like a refutation. The bonobo's forgiveness rituals are the behaviors that I found fascinating. It seemed to be evidence that forgiveness is necessary to allow primate cultures to exist, rather then something taught to man by religious thought. Makes sense to me. The idea (if you can call it that in a bonobo) survives because it *works*. I appreciated your phrase: I wouldn't rule out that it comes from an inherent orderliness (in the very-big-picture sense) from which the universe emerged and which humans intuit. I think that can be appreciated from a wide variety of religious and non-religious perspectives. Indeed it can. Personally, if I couldn't appreciate it from a nonreligious perspective, I wouldn't entertain it at all. It's part of what's behind the *original* notion of intelligent design before the fundies got hold of it. Don't need no Designer; it's just something embedded in the nature of the cosmos. Or not. In any case, it isn't anything that belongs in a science curriculum. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Skeptic Kurtz on God.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: De Waal's work with bonobo chimps has facinating information about primate cultures. His work Peacemaking Among Primates is a great book for finding the roots of many social customs in our ancient past. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067465921X/103-7153482-6367068? v=glancen=283155 Aside from the fact that their societies are matriarchal, and that they would apparently rather make love than war, of course. I'd guess you cited the bonobo as evidence against my speculative suggestion that humans may intuit orderliness and that this intuition may be a source of their sense of ethics. However, bonobos are among the very few species of non-human animals who have passed the mirror test, which is thought to be a sign of self-consciousness. So I suggest that they may also have a primitive intuitive capacity that can sense orderliness. I've seen housecats who apparently passed the mirror test. Not sure what you're thinking of as the mirror test. It involves painting a spot of odorless dye on the animal's body, then putting it in front of a mirror. If it reacts in a manner consistent with recognizing that the dye is on its own body rather than in the mirror--e.g., reaching or looking for the spot on its body--that's passing the mirror test. Simply reacting to seeing one's image in a mirror doesn't constitute passing the test. In my observation, cats tend to react to their image in a mirror as if it's another cat; they don't appear to recognize it as an image of themselves. I've also seen house cats look both ways before crossing busy streets, and if they see a car coming, they step back on the sidewalk. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate [...] Thats pretty funny. And seems to ignore the history of science. Are you suggesting Kurtz is ignorant of, or denies the history of science? +++ NO.. It's more like when science finally figures everything out, there shouldn't be antything left to be classified as paranormal. N. One assumption scientists often make is that they CAN figure everything out. One of the tenants of Science is that they can't be sure if they have or not. It's one of those interesting contradictions: in order to be willing to work as a scientist, you gotta believe that you can figure things out, even though you KNOW it may not be so. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: +++ Once upon a time, the world was flat. With the passing of time and more expierience gained, it has become round. This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal becomes normal. Thats pretty funny. And seems to ignore the history of science. Are you suggesting Kurtz is ignorant of, or denies the history of science? FWIW, I understood him to be saying that Kurtz lacks experience of the paranormal. ok. I read him to say This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal BECOMES normal. [caps added] I would guess that it becomes normal when you have lots of it. In other words, Kurtz hasn't had enough (if any) for it to become normal for him. Still not sure what this has to do with your notion that he was suggesting Kurtz is ignorant of or denies the history of science. My mistake. :) Well, maybe I am still missing his point. But he appears to be saying that some things that seem magical, later become scientific truths. I don't think Kurtz would argue that. The history of science is that things unknown become known. At the turn of the century some prominent scientists proclaimed we know everything now. Boy were they in for a shock. Radio would have seemed a paranormal pehomenon in 1850. By 1920 or so it was normal. Kurtz would not dispute that. It seems to me that Nelson was implying he would. If not, my mistake. However, that some things that seem magical, later become scientific truths does not imply, as Nelson may be doing, that all things magical later become scientific truths. Some things are just bunk, and will always be bunk. The Arthur C. Clarke quote is germane -- Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. However, its important to understand that the following corallary is not true Any magic will someday be seen as advanced technology. That is lots of paranormal stuff today is bunk, will always be bunk. And some will become science in the future. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: [...] On the other hand, he lacks other abilities that average people have. Maybe the brain has room for only so many abilities, and average people have more abilities but each ability is allotted a smaller portion of the brain's capacity, compared to the larger portions of Peake's brain allotted to each of his smaller number of abilities? Did that make any sense?? It's sort of like a library with a limited amount of shelf space. It can have books on a wide range of books, with only a few on each topic; or it can specialize in only a few topics and have lots of books on each. It's more like the brain is a network of computers dedicated to specific tasks. While any arbitrary computer might be able to take over some part of the tasks of an adjacent computer, the most efficient way to go is to use the dedicated unit. If a given unit is really large, it can do its task really well, but there's only so much physical space available in your head, so if there's a larger-than-average unit there, there's bound to be one or more smaller-than-average units also, and if they're too small, they can't do their assigned task very well. If they don't exist, some other unit has to take over, with drastically reduced efficiency. +++ That looks like a good analogy but I would wonder if a person who continues to be able to memorize books and supposedly doesn't have a seperation of brain hemispheres would be likely to run out of space. I would be willing to bet he has more available space on his hard drive than your Mac quad core. N. Memory space probably is NEVER an issue in a healthy brain. Ability to ACCESS the memories is another issue. I was talking about the functioning of the various parts of the brain, not specific memories or the space they take up. Has there been brain imaging done on this guy's brain? Any description online of the results? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Skeptic Kurtz on God.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, curtisdeltablues curtisdeltablues@ wrote: De Waal's work with bonobo chimps has facinating information about primate cultures. His work Peacemaking Among Primates is a great book for finding the roots of many social customs in our ancient past. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/067465921X/103-7153482-6367068? v=glancen=283155 Aside from the fact that their societies are matriarchal, and that they would apparently rather make love than war, of course. I'd guess you cited the bonobo as evidence against my speculative suggestion that humans may intuit orderliness and that this intuition may be a source of their sense of ethics. However, bonobos are among the very few species of non-human animals who have passed the mirror test, which is thought to be a sign of self-consciousness. So I suggest that they may also have a primitive intuitive capacity that can sense orderliness. I've seen housecats who apparently passed the mirror test. Not sure what you're thinking of as the mirror test. It involves painting a spot of odorless dye on the animal's body, then putting it in front of a mirror. If it reacts in a manner consistent with recognizing that the dye is on its own body rather than in the mirror--e.g., reaching or looking for the spot on its body--that's passing the mirror test. Never tried to use that with the cat I'm thinking of. She's been dead 20 years now, so it's moot. Simply reacting to seeing one's image in a mirror doesn't constitute passing the test. In my observation, cats tend to react to their image in a mirror as if it's another cat; they don't appear to recognize it as an image of themselves. That's the usual reaction. They look behind the mirror and so on. I've seen a cat sit in front of the mirror and clean herself without [obviously] paying attention to the image in the mirror. She may not have made the connection that the image was of herself, but she appeared to realize that there was not really another cat to worry about. On the other hand, there was a one-legged roadrunner at Pima Community College, Tucson, who used to hop down the stairs to the entrance to the cafeteria and attack his image in the window at the same time every day. It was a hoot to watch. He would grandly hop down the steps, peck at his image for a few minutes, and then proudly hop away. I've also seen house cats look both ways before crossing busy streets, and if they see a car coming, they step back on the sidewalk. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 100K mark passed
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/message/10 We quietly passed the 100,000 mark, and matrixmonitor, who was on a roll, was the lucky winner. When does he get his 2006 Corvette Stingray? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: 100K mark passed
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, shempmcgurk [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Rick Archer fairfieldlife@ wrote: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/message/10 We quietly passed the 100,000 mark, and matrixmonitor, who was on a roll, was the lucky winner. When does he get his 2006 Corvette Stingray? When the global climate change CRISIS hits? To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson nelsonriddle2001@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: --- Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. Guide Rating - +++ Once upon a time, the world was flat. With the passing of time and more expierience gained, it has become round. This author lacks expierience with which the paranormal becomes normal. Thats pretty funny. And seems to ignore the history of science. Are you suggesting Kurtz is ignorant of, or denies the history of science? +++ NO.. It's more like when science finally figures everything out, there shouldn't be antything left to be classified as paranormal. N. Thats even funnier if I am understanding what you mean. Do you supppose science and uncovering new knowledge will ever stop? Are you suggesting that ALL things paranormal today will someday be found normal? If so, thats bunk. Some paranormal things today will always be bunk -- even in 10,000 years. Some will become science. But clearly not all paranormal today, or even much of it, IMO, will someday become science in the future. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hugheshugo richardhughes103@ wrote: : It's one thing to speculate that we use only 10 percent of the brain's *potential* (although it's hard to say how one would arrive at a specific percentage); but the notion that we use only 10 percent of the brain itself is simply inaccurate. I read somewhere recently that we only use around 10% of our brains at a time because if every neuron fired at once we would keel over with shock. The point was we don't use the SAME 10% all the time but vary it according to what we are doing. I'm not sure about this. My understanding is that neurons are always at least a little active, firing-wise. Certainly, if you've ever watched a neuron, they're always active, physically. Fred Travis gives the statistic that 70% of the connections of our brain change every day. I don't know if the 70% figure is correct, but I think ANY reconfiguration of connections is due to the neurons seeking the maximum level of input from the surrounding neurons. I've read that only a small portion of all possible neural connections are used daily or ever used. What is it 100 billion neurons (ok I lokked it up 10 billion - 1 trillion for entire NS). With up to 10,000 possible connections per neuron. How many possible states? (You do the math). How many do we use. Will ever use? How many does someone on Brahaman use? (ONE! haha) I believe that all the existing connections are used constantly, Wow. way different than my sense of things. It would be useful and instructive to find what the research actually say. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] 'Forgive Them Father: They Know Not What They Do'
KILLING FIELDS Iraq Is the Republic of Fear By Nir RosenSunday, May 28, 2006; Page B01 Every morning the streets of Baghdad are littered with dozens of bodies, bruised, torn, mutilated, executed only because they are Sunni or because they are Shiite. Power drills are an especially popular torture device. I have spent nearly two of the three years since Baghdad fell in Iraq. On my last trip, a few weeks back, I flew out of the city overcome with fatalism. Over the course of six weeks, I worked with three different drivers; at various times each had to take a day off because a neighbor or relative had been killed. One morning 14 bodies were found, all with ID cards in their front pockets, all called Omar. Omar is a Sunni name. In Baghdad these days, nobody is more insecure than men called Omar. On another day a group of bodies was found with hands folded on their abdomens, right hand over left, the way Sunnis pray. It was a message. These days many Sunnis are obtaining false papers with neutral names. Sunni militias are retaliating, stopping buses and demanding the jinsiya , or ID cards, of all passengers. Individuals belonging to Shiite tribes are executed. Under the reign of Saddam Hussein, dissidents called Iraq "the republic of fear" and hoped it would end when Hussein was toppled. But the war, it turns out, has spread the fear democratically. Now the terror is not merely from the regime, or from U.S. troops, but from everybody, everywhere. At first, the dominant presence of the U.S. military -- with its towering vehicles rumbling through Baghdad's streets and its soldiers like giants with their vests and helmets and weapons -- seemed overwhelming. The Occupation could be felt at all times. Now in Baghdad, you can go days without seeing American soldiers. Instead, it feels as if Iraqis are occupying Iraq, their masked militiamen blasting through traffic in anonymous security vehicles, shooting into the air, angrily shouting orders on loudspeakers, pointing their Kalashnikovs at passersby. Today, the Americans are just one more militia lost in the anarchy. They, too, are killing Iraqis. Last fall I visited the home of a Sunni man called Sabah in the western Baghdad suburb of Radwaniya, where the Sunni resistance had long had a presence, and where a U.S. soldier had recently been killed. On Friday night a few days before I came, his family told me, American soldiers surrounded the home where Sabah lived with his brothers, Walid and Hussein, and their families and broke down the door. The women and children were herded outside, walking past Sabah, whose nose was broken, and Walid, who had the barrel of a soldier's machine gun in his mouth. The soldiers beat the men with rifle butts, while the Shiite Iraqi translator accompanying the troops exhorted the Americans to execute the Sunnis. As the terrified family waited outside, they heard three shots from inside. It then sounded to them as though there was a scuffle inside, with the soldiers shouting at each other. Thirty minutes later the translator emerged with a picture of Sabah. "Who is Sabah's wife?" he asked. "Your husband was killed by the Americans, and he deserved to die," he told her. At that he tore the picture before her face. Walid was then taken away, and inside the house the family found Sabah dead. His bloody shirt showed three bullet holes that went through his chest; two of the bullets had come out of his back and lodged in the wall behind him. Three U.S.-made bullet casings were on the floor. Sofas and beds had been overturned and torn apart; tables, closets, vases of plastic flowers, all were broken and tossed around. Even the cars had been destroyed. Photographs of Sabah had been torn up and his ID card confiscated. One photograph remained on his wife's bureau: Sabah standing proudly in front of his Mercedes. I later asked Hussein if they wanted revenge. "We are Muslim, praise God," he said, "and we do not want revenge. He was innocent and he was killed, so he is a martyr." Across town, U.S. troops had also raided the Mustapha Huseiniya, a Shiite place of worship in the Ur neighborhood. The Huseiniya, similar to a mosque, belonged to the nationalistic and anti-occupation Moqtada al-Sadr movement, and in front of its short tower were immense signs with images of the movement's important clerics. The Sadr militia, known as the Army of the Mahdi, had been using the Huseiniya as a base for counterinsurgency operations. Mahdi militiamen kidnapped Sunnis suspected of supporting the insurgency, tortured them until they confessed on video, and then executed them. When the Americans raided the Huseiniya, they brought Iraqi troops with them. They killed not only Mahdi fighters but also innocent Shiite bystanders, including a young journalist I knew named Kamal Anbar, in what witnesses described to me as summary executions. Although neighbors blamed the U.S. troops, Iraqi troops were so laden with gear, flak jackets
[FairfieldLife] Re: Skeptic Kurtz on God.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On the other hand, there was a one-legged roadrunner at Pima Community College, Tucson, who used to hop down the stairs to the entrance to the cafeteria and attack his image in the window at the same time every day. It was a hoot to watch. He would grandly hop down the steps, peck at his image for a few minutes, and then proudly hop away. Roadrunners are a trip. I had an encounter with one once that I wrote up into a little story. It's all true...I still have the Wile E. Coyote doll from the story, although the bird is still back in Santa Fe. http://ramalila.net/RoadTripMind/rtm27.html To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Nelson nelsonriddle2001@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate no_reply@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend jstein@ wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, hyperbolicgeometry hyperbolicgeometry@ wrote: Religion Paranormal The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal by Paul Kurtz. Published by Prometheus Books. snip The first part of the book comprises of a solid explanation and defense of both skepticism and the scientific method. There are, on the one hand, people who defend a practical stance towards knowledge and belief - people who are usually called empiricists, rationalists or skeptics. But on the other hand are people who are not content with mundane reality and who are susceptible to claims about deeper mysteries and truths which require faith for acceptance. Or which stem from direct personal experience. Which is a middle ground -- personally empirical. Not yet universally empirical. But personal skepticism is also called for along with personal empiricism. We experiece, but also interpret that experience. We need to question our interpretations. Is this the only possible interpretation of the experience? It appears to me, a lot of interpretations of experiences are based on faith / scripture / peer practice / magical thinking, etc. +++ You stand out in the rain- you get wet- some expieriences have a very limited range of interpretation and require little faith. Some would rather overlook the obvious and, others don't see what they are looking at. N But you seemto be leading quite a simple life if it primarily involves standing in the rain. :) +++ROFL,, Being simple, I enjoyed that one- thanks. Do you experience the sun rise? I do. Its personally empirical, but not consitent with what is scietifically empirical. My interpretation is limited. +++ Science, schmience, I enjoy life on a personal level with it's limitations. Idont understand digestion on the molecular level but make use of it and it adds to enjoying life. Most people use electricity but just about no one really knows what it is- put your finger in a light socket and you will become an instant believer of a theory. And are you really standing in the rain? And not some primordial quantum soup? On one level, that IS what is happening. As or more correct than your interpretation. And if you is only a construct, you standing in the rain is a weak, if not false interpretation. What if you know (primarily) the rain is IT and much as IT is within. Its then IT standing -- which is the act of IT -- in IT But my point is that some have an experience and interpret it as shakti, prana, kundalini, love, fear, pain, Brahman or CC or whatver. It may be. It may not be. Labels may be irrelevant. But labeling an experience by some name found in some scripture somewhere smells of a bit of faith. If not wishful thinking. Some will claim the self-evident defense. But as we have recently discussed, many have claimed things as self-evident when later we see they were false. The self-evident defense seems to me to be a spiffy faith-based defense in many cases. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Critique of The Transcendental Temptation
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, new_morning_blank_slate [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: [...] I believe that all the existing connections are used constantly, Wow. way different than my sense of things. It would be useful and instructive to find what the research actually say. Perhaps it would be better to say that there is a low-level random noise of firing from all neurons that gets sent to all connecting neurons. There's a threshhold of noise below which the receiving neuron doesn't respond, however. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Skeptic Kurtz on God.
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, sparaig sparaig@ wrote: On the other hand, there was a one-legged roadrunner at Pima Community College, Tucson, who used to hop down the stairs to the entrance to the cafeteria and attack his image in the window at the same time every day. It was a hoot to watch. He would grandly hop down the steps, peck at his image for a few minutes, and then proudly hop away. Roadrunners are a trip. I had an encounter with one once that I wrote up into a little story. It's all true...I still have the Wile E. Coyote doll from the story, although the bird is still back in Santa Fe. http://ramalila.net/RoadTripMind/rtm27.html Nice story. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' SPONSORED LINKS Religion and spirituality Maharishi mahesh yogi YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "FairfieldLife" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
