If not the WT/JW relgion where else are 'we' to go? Why not atheistic/scientific philosophical naturalism?

by Disillusioned JW 99 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • Disillusioned JW
    Disillusioned JW

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_A._Sinclair makes the following claim of David Sinclair. "He has expressed the view that advances in aging research could enable humans to live to be 200 years old." An article published on February 11, 2019 (located at https://www.tampabay.com/health/medical-news/scientists-may-be-closer-than-you-think-to-an-anti-aging-pill-but-beware-of-the-hype-20190212/ ) says the following.

    'Renowned Harvard University geneticist David Sinclair recently made a startling assertion: Scientific data shows he has knocked more than two decades off his biological age.

    What's the 49-year-old's secret? He says his daily regimen includes ingesting a molecule his own research found improved the health and lengthened the life span of mice. Sinclair now boasts online that he has the lung capacity, cholesterol and blood pressure of a "young adult" and the "heart rate of an athlete." '

    However a CNN article of this year says David Sinclair "has a biological age of 42 in a body born 53 years ago".

  • peacefulpete
    peacefulpete

    We all want a simple solution for complex medical issues. I have cancer and am currently taking a fairly high dosage of D3 and Magnesium as well as Pterostilbene. Enough studies have shown a value for D3 those with cancer, ironically it has been recently connected with a higher risk of some cancers for those who do not have cancer. Resveratrol has good invitro results but problem is it is very low absorption and pretty worthless as a supplement as a result. Pterostilbene is a related compound that has better absorption. I'm not endorsing it, just saying it may have value, it might yet prove to do harm who knows.

    https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/11/221111155632.htm

  • Disillusioned JW
    Disillusioned JW

    Hi peacefulpete. That is too bad you have cancer.

    A few days ago I came very close to death.

    Starting nearly two weeks I began having profuse bleeding from an undetermined location in my intestinal tract. I eventually went to the ER section of a hospital. Over the course of more than a week (starting a few days before the hospital visit) my hemoglobin levels dropped rapidly to 5.7 gm/dl (14 gm/dl is the normal level for men, according to doctors I spoke to). The doctors warned that it put me in a very very dangerous situation and I noticed (while in the hospital) that my pulse became extremely high when I would stand up. I also passed out during one day before before going to the hospital, and I passed out during one day while at the hospital while taking a laxative to flush out my digestive tract). I had resisted blood transfusions for days and I had opted for other kinds of infusions and received the alternative infusions/injections, but the alternatives by themselves were not enough to save me.

    In order to save my life and my health I accepted two transfusions of packed red blood cells. I did not tell my JW family (nor any other JWs, not even the JW elders I talked to about alternative treatments) that I accepted them, but I told my mother and the elders that the doctors on multiple times urged me to take a transfusion of red blood cells. The doctors said it was the best treatment and had lower risk than the alternatives. I felt much better very soon after each of the two transfusions. The bleeding stopped and my hemoglobin count went up dramatically. I went home two nights ago. The donor blood was very carefully matched with samples of my blood for compatibility and tested with it see if it would case any adverse reactions. [The doctors said that is now the standard procedure before giving a transfusion.] The donor blood tested safe in the lab, and knowledge of that greatly contributed to me accepting it.

    My mother doesn't want me to tell her if I accepted a blood transfusion. She and the elders also had told me it my decision to make. My sister told me an elder (one whom I had talked to) told her I made the right decision. The two elders were very nice to me. I thus don't anticipate getting disassociated. I do need to avoid telling (for the rest of my life) every co-worker of mine at work (and every personal acquaintance) that I took it, since one of them (including people I meet in the future) might be a JW.

    Fortunately while was an independent minded Christian (years ago), I had concluded that the WT was scripturally wrong in concluding that transfusions of human blood (extracted from a willing human donor) are wrong. If I had not learned that the WT position on transfusions of whole blood and of red blood cells was scripturally wrong (if I had remained a believer in Jehovah and the Bible), then I would have turned down the life saving transfusions I had this month and thus I would very likely be dead by now (or end up suffering very serious organ damage).

    Regarding Pterostilbene I read about it hours ago today at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29210129/ . The article is called "Effect of resveratrol and pterostilbene on aging and longevity - PubMed". I am might take it. In fact I might even already be taking it. That is because the Trans-Resveratrol supplement I am taking also includes Polyphenols from red wine extract, and Pterostilbene is a Polyphenol.

    Sinclair says that a tremendously higher percentage of Resveratrol is absorbed when it is taken with fat, compared to when it is not taken with fat. He says he takes with yogurt in the morning. Research I read says that Trans-Resveratrol is more absorbed than cis-Resveratrol (the primary kind of Resveratrol).

    I am thinking about taking a vitamin K2 supplement (besides the multti-vitamin multimineral supplement I already take, which has a tiny amount of vitamin K in it).

  • Disillusioned JW
    Disillusioned JW

    Interestingly while I was in hospital (even before accepting the transfusions) I was not afraid to die, though I wanted to live. It surprised me that I was not afraid to die, despite noticing my life rapidly becoming increasingly in danger of ending. While I was in the bed in the hospital I felt completely fine physically. Furthermore, during the whole time of my poor health I had no physical pain. [However a moment before passing out while at home, before going to the hospital, I was very afraid since I physically felt I was in great danger.]

    Probably my very strong conviction that there is no conscious existence after death contributed greatly to me not being afraid of death (except for the brief moment mentioned above), despite me wanting to live. During the time I was passed out I had no awareness of what was happening and I even didn't notice that I was beginning to pass out while I was passing out. Likewise while I was under anesthesia during a colonoscopy I had no awareness of what was taking place. Such lack of awareness will also be case when I am eventually dead.

    Folks, being convinced of atheistic scientific naturalism can be comforting. Do you see that?

    I need to finish writing pro-atheism book and get it published. People need to have a chance to read it. If I had not received the transfusion and thus not had my life saved a few days ago, the book would never become finished. Now the possibility once again exists for it to become finished. I need to finish the book and get it published. Doing such will likely be best contribution I will ever make to humanity.

  • peacefulpete
    peacefulpete

    Wow, so glad you came through. No idea why the bleeding?

    No worries about offending me, I left the JWs 22 years ago. I left mentally and physically. My wife gets irked by my having been on this forum for 20 years. But for me it was a valuable sounding board and place to vent my new outlook on life. I've matured some in my understanding but basically I came to terms with the Bible being cultural literature not a message from God long ago. I feel like a detective trying to put together clues when discussing the theological evolution of the Jews and Christians.

    Well anyway, I wish you well and lets try to revitalize this board with real conversations.

  • Disillusioned JW
    Disillusioned JW

    I had the major bleeding problem a few times before, but never this severe. This was the first time I went to the hospital because of it. The doctors did not identify the location of the former bleeding, but a future colonoscopy (after a more complete cleanse of my digestive tract) might reveal where the bleeding came from. The colonoscopy I had revealled that I have diverticulosis. That health condition consists of pockets called diverticula which form in the walls of the digestive tract (see https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/what-is-diverticulosis and https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2009/1101/p977.html ). I was told I have numerous such pockets. Sometimes an artery (near or in a pocket) can break and bleed into the colon. The doctors told me that the gastroenterologist suspects that is what caused my bleeding, but the view of the inside of right side of my intestines was partially blocked (due to my intestines not being flushed out well enough).

    The health problem might happen to me again and a doctor told that it happens again I might need a transfusion again. https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/what-is-diverticulosis says the medical field does not know for sure what causes diverticulosis. That web page also says the following.

    "Possible Complications

    ...

    You can get a diverticular hemorrhage. This is rare. It happens when your arteries wear through the intestinal wall. It causes massive bleeding and requires hospitalization and blood transfusions."

    https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2009/1101/p977.html says the following. "Diverticular bleeding is the source of 17 to 40 percent of lower gastrointestinal (GI) hemorrhage in adults, making it the most common cause of lower GI bleeding.1 In one study of 1,593 patients with diverticulosis, severe life-threatening diverticular hemorrhage occurred in 3.1 percent of patients.2 Most diverticular bleeding is self-limited, although it should be suspected in patients with massive and painless rectal hemorrhage."

  • smiddy3
    smiddy3

    I`m here out of the cult and that`s all that matters .

  • punkofnice
    punkofnice

    I say, ol' bean. What a long thread. Far too long for me to read.

    Smiddy summed it up for me

    I`m here out of the cult and that`s all that matters

    Here, here!

  • Disillusioned JW
    Disillusioned JW

    Hi punkofnice. Lately in thread I have been making posts about nutritional/medicinal supplements which seem to prolong good health and which seem to prolong lifespan.

  • Disillusioned JW
    Disillusioned JW

    A number of authors and apologists of intelligent design (a type of creationism, even if it entails a biosphere of hundreds of millions of years on Earth) make arguments about alleged irreducible complexity in regards to biochemistry. But does the science really support their interpretation? Well today I read something from Christopher Hitchens' book called god is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (copyright 2007) which comments on that idea. Page 87 of the hardcover edition of his book says the following.

    'In early April 2006 a long study at the University of Oregon was published in the journal Science. Based on the reconstruction of ancient genes from extinct animals, the researchers were able to show how the nontheory of "irreducible complexity" is a joke. Protein molecules, they found, slowly employed trial and error, reusing and modifying existing parts, to act in a key-and-lock manner and switch discrepant hormones "on" and "off." This genetic march was blindly inaugurated 450 million years ago, before life left the ocean and before the evolution of bones. We now know things about our nature that the founders of religion could not even guess at, and that would have stilled their overconfident tongues if they had known them."

    Page 289 of the book (in the References section of the book) says the following. 'For the University of Oregon "irreducible complexity" study, see Jamie T. Bridgham, Sean M. Carroll, and Joseph W. Thornton, "Evolution of Hormone-Receptor Complexity by Molecular Exploitation," Science 312:5770 (April 7, 2006); pp. 97-101.'

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