TimB

Oh yeah, I believe in the power of narratives. On the site about “unplugging from the big story” they said “When we unravel from our persistent self-narratives that shape our realities and avoid the temptation to relocate too quickly into new stories, all stories become available for enquiry.”

Sounds to me like they are encouraging to selectively…[Read more]

Some righties have been talking about Civil War should things not go well for T rump.  A Civil War would probably not go well for us lefties.  T rump, being Commander in Chief would have the advantage in controlling the military, tho a substantial part of the military would probably rebel against being used against citizens. Beyond that, the r…[Read more]

I don’t think the guy was arguing for free will, I think that he just said that something he was working on might have implications for it.

I noticed the guy mentioned the possibility of some potential support of the idea of free will. But he also said something at the end about the potential development of a computer that does not rely on algorithms.  He definitely seems to be trying to push the boundaries of what is known.  Scientists do that sometimes  (maybe most of the ti…[Read more]

Seriously, many of the asylum seekers that were able to get on the list to eventually have a court case, were sent back to the other side of the border, to wait, in Mexico.  They are in closely packed hovels of camping tents, in very unhygienic conditions (including people just using open areas to relieve themselves of pee and crap – with crap…[Read more]

Religions are perpetrators of widespread societal fraud, hooking their members into believing a set of false dogma, while providing group acceptance, and expecting money from those members (aka tithes).  A difference from a typical scam is that all of the participants tend to be complete believers in the dogma which typically includes influencing…[Read more]

In a visit to one of the construction sites in September, T rump said the border wall is “virtually impenetrable” and could not be climbed.

Now he is trying to defend his wall concept from the reports of all the episodes of it being defeated in real life by simple reticulated sawing or ladders.

I imagine that the billions wasted on the wall…[Read more]

All you have in your apparent quest, it seems, is to try to undermine “science” by going to the unknown and saying “See science is not adequate, therefore “God did it”.  Science accepts that there are unknowns and tries to know them.  The religious cannot accept the unknown.  They MUST have an ultimate answer. “God did it” is that answer.  It is…[Read more]

Oh my, don’t let me waste your time.

Indeed, I, personally, do not know the mechanisms by which the Big Bang, or whatever initiated the Universe, led to the existence of the “laws of nature”.  I repeat, I don’t say that science as a concept explains why we have science, or the “laws of nature” explain why we have “laws of nature”. (Do I have tim…[Read more]

Scientists push the boundaries of the known. What is “known” is always subject to potential modification with new evidence.

Your sense of self is also a construct of your mind (constructed of mental behaviors).  Anything that you are aware of is a construction of the mind (constructed of mental behaviors, specifically, awareness related behaviors).  All of it, the feelings of awe, the recognition of beauty –  a construction of mental behaviors.

But mental behaviors ta…[Read more]

Should we organize and go to right wing discussion sites on the web to spread the truth?

So how about a pic of Maddy (Isn’t that your dog’s name?)  put next to Conan, here, so we can judge whether they may be compatible?  (Tho she would have to understand that he probably has PTSD issues.)

I think you are damn right of the need and urgency to somehow rescue what is left of truth.  But I too, am about to sign off, so Hopefully, I will get back to this thread tomorrow.

We humans are built (by evolutionary processes) to perceive patterns. We are also exceptional at creating explanatory narratives.  Sometimes we might come up with an explanatory idea like “God is the creator and is the source of everything”  then we can come up with rationale to support that idea, that “God did it.”  (As you have done in your la…[Read more]

One’s “self” is a construct of one’s mind.  Constructed, I say, by the various mental behaviors required that form the sense of “self”.  Also, our mind and body are part of the same entity.  One’s mind perceives sensory input and interprets it.  Sometimes the interpretation is an illusion.  But these mental behaviors that occur in what we may call…[Read more]

I am proud if I ever can beat the legendary CC to the punch.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-whimpering-terrorist-only-trump-seems-to-have-heard/ar-AAJIrLi?ocid=spartanntp

T rump apparently got info about the last moments of Bagdaddy’s life from a highly classified but oft used source (his butthole).

There are things beyond the ken of human experience (so far).  There is more in heaven and earth than is dreamt of in Horatio’s philosophy. (Tho that more would be a bit less today, due to discoveries thru science, had Horatio survived til now.)

Now scientists everywhere can have a common underlying paradigm (the scientific method) upon which to…[Read more]

I have respect for anyone, intellectuals included, who say things that make sense.  But “intellectuals” who say nonsense don’t get any bonus credit from me for being considered an intellectual.