Dan, apparently you just took a sarcasm fastball looking. :)
It was a comment intended to show that IMHO Ross is a bit over-the-top.
Phantom Stranger
JoinedPosts by Phantom Stranger
-
10
Scientologists Seem WORSE than the JWs!
by teenyuck inthis was in the local paper today, in the gossip section of all things: research into the church of scientology has revealed that some of hollywoods most powerful stars may have signed documents giving up their right to psychiatric care (a major concession in hollywood) and to see relatives.
tom cruise, john travolta, kirstie alley, juliette lewis and lisa marie presley are among the celebrities who could have signed contracts banning the privileges as they moved up the churchs hierarchy, the web site page six reports.
documents relating to the bans have been uncovered by david touretzky, a research professor at carnegie mellon university who has been studying the religion for six years.
-
-
-
12
Prison of the Future--Cruel and Unusual?
by IronGland inimagine a few years in the future when it is possible to remove the brain from the body and keep it alive artificially.
everything that is 'you' is contained in your brain.
so, even though it would appear to simply be a lump of meat plugged into a life support machine, you would be trapped inside of it.
-
-
Phantom Stranger
Actually, you've stated what has been called Descartes' Error - that everything that makes us who we are lives in our brains.
Our entire bodies are involved with experiencing the world, feeling emotions, etc. Check out Pulitzer winner Antonio Damasio's book Descartes' Error - Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain. This is from the Amazon page:
The idea that the mind exists as a distinct entity from the body has profoundly influenced Western culture since Descartes proclaimed, "I think, therefore I am." Damasio, head of neurology at the University of Iowa and a prominent researcher on human brain function, challenges this premise in a fascinating and well-reasoned argument on the central role that emotion and feelings play in human rationality. According to Damasio, the same brain structures regulate both human biology and behavior and are indispensable to normal cognitive processes. Damasio demonstrates how patients (his own as well as the 19th-century railroad worker Nicholas Gage) with prefrontal cortical damage can no longer generate the emotions necessary for effective decision-making. A gifted scientist and writer, Damasio combines an Oliver Sack-like reportage with the presentation of complex, theoretical issues in neurobiology.
Pioneering scientist Damasio's international reputation is based on his explorations into the neurology of vision, memory, and language. His influence will extend far beyond the parameters of the scientific community with this marvelously lucid and engaging presentation of his innovative ideas about the interconnectedness of mind and body. Damasio begins with some dramatic case histories of people who have survived brain damage without severe physical impairment only to experience bizarre degradations of personality and thought processes. He explains these puzzling maladies by analyzing the various systems at work in the brain, from those associated with life support to the highest echelon of cognition. After discussing how emotions and feelings are expressed by the bodypounding heart, trembling hands, blushingDamasio launches into one of his main themes: how essential emotions are to our ability to reason and make decisions. As he illuminates numerous ways the body and the mind work together to process stimuli, draw upon memory, and fuel thought and judgment, Damasio convinces us that the self is a perpetually recreated neurobiological state. Descartes' error, then, was his belief that the mind and body are separate entities. On the contrary, Damasio tells us, their continual collaboration is the key to consciousness and individuality.
-
22
Evil Jehovah?
by Pleasuredome inis jehovah evil?
does he mess around with peoples minds?
i samuel 16:19-23.
-
-
Phantom Stranger
The writers of the bible were inspired.
The editors, however, were drunk.
-
10
Scientologists Seem WORSE than the JWs!
by teenyuck inthis was in the local paper today, in the gossip section of all things: research into the church of scientology has revealed that some of hollywoods most powerful stars may have signed documents giving up their right to psychiatric care (a major concession in hollywood) and to see relatives.
tom cruise, john travolta, kirstie alley, juliette lewis and lisa marie presley are among the celebrities who could have signed contracts banning the privileges as they moved up the churchs hierarchy, the web site page six reports.
documents relating to the bans have been uncovered by david touretzky, a research professor at carnegie mellon university who has been studying the religion for six years.
-
-
Phantom Stranger
1) Scientologists exist, I think, just to make Witnesses look "normal". They do get the hotties, though. Man, I though JW doctrine was bad...L.Ron was totally wack.
2) Rick Ross thinks that Mary Kay is a mind-control cult.
-
22
Evil Jehovah?
by Pleasuredome inis jehovah evil?
does he mess around with peoples minds?
i samuel 16:19-23.
-
-
Phantom Stranger
"Do you think God gets stoned once in a while? Look at the platypus. I think so."
Robin Williams, Live at the Met
-
18
How do we make a difference now?
by Mr Lebowski inthose of us raised as jw's were taught that "it does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step".
we were repeatedly told that without god, humans were incompetent and doomed to fail at any endeavour.. i personally believe that this teaching, that we as individuals do not make a difference, is possibly the largest doctrinal harm done to jw's, and one of the toughest to overcome.. so, for those of you who were raised in the wts and left, what do you choose to do now to make a difference in the world?
why did you pick that avenue - or why do you think you've waited up till now?.
-
-
Phantom Stranger
OK... every year I volunteer with a group that puts on a summer camp/responsibility seminar for kids from the housing projects of the SF Bay area. It's a lot of work, and it's really an act of faith, because it's not something that brings immediate gratification. But this year, the 8th, I think, two girls from the very first year came and spoke to the kids. One of them is in college, and they are both doing very well. I was floored to see them and how they've changed over the years, and seeing those two young women address the group helped me see that this project is making a difference.
-
26
Hooray! I Start My New Job Today!
by Robdar ini never thought that i would ever say this again in my life time: it's good to be back in radio!!!
i suppose i will be staying late today because of settling in and all that.
you should see the shambles the former ops man left my office in.
-
-
Phantom Stranger
Congratulations, and they'll respect you, no mater waht!
Phantom.
-
34
Throwing the baby out with the bath water?
by Steve Lowry insometimes i think that because we jws were so deceived, tricked and flat out lied to by an organization that claims to be the sole representative of god, when we take the step to leave the group we (may) have a tendency to discard god as well, in the process.
i realize also there are those who by their nature (perhaps) and their point of view and ideology, that its just a natural personal kind of evolution that brings them to the point that god doesnt exist.
or, that if he does, it doesnt really play any kind of a roll in their lives.
-
-
Phantom Stranger
Well, I spent the first nine years believing in nothing bigger than myself and nothing that I couldn't get my mind around.
Then some things happened.
Now I will go so far as to ackowledge the possiblity of a universal mind or force that we are all somehow part of. Not a seperate old man with a beard.
This solves several problems for me... it explains the things I needed to explain. It makes us bigger than ourselves, and it makes us simultaneously divine and mortal. It affirms our amazingness and holds us responsible to not keep our own light under a bushel - if we're as divine as the next person, what's our excuse for not being amazing?
And finally, it holds us capable and responsible for fixing our own problems, since there's no "person" watching us with the fire extinguisher at the ready.
Of course, I can't see it, can't prove it, and am only bringing it up due to the topic of the thread. I expect that funkyderek will now figure I shouldn't be entrusted with navigating a traffic circle:) but there it is.
-
51
(unaided by God)Things we can not do!
by Deputy Dog inin the world today (especially in america) we believe that we can do what ever we want or will to do, but god still rules the universe, and according to his word there are some things that we can not do.
unless god wills!
i thought i might list a few things that (unaided by or apart from god) we can not do.
-
-
Phantom Stranger
uhhh, Dawg...(irony rolls in like San Francisco fog).
WE ARE ALL IN REALLY BAD SHAPE! LOOK AROUND THE WORLD! WHY DO YOU THINK THINGS ARE HOSED? BECAUSE WE' RE NOT KISSING DIVINE ASS HARD ENOUGH? OR BECAUSE TOO MANY PEOPLE ARE WAITING FOR THE GREAT FIREMAN TO COME DOUSE THE CONFLAGRATION WE ARE CREATING THROUGH NEGLECT, APATHY, AND FEAR, RATHER THAN GETTING OFF THEIR COUCH-POTATO ASS AND DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT?
Be the change you want to see in the world.
Mohandas K Gandhi
-
48
How Does Your Internet Persona Differ From....
by Frannie Banannie inhow does your internet persona differ from your face-to-face personality?
do you interact with people differently on the internet than you would face to face?
yes...i know.....the second and third questions are a re-phrasing of the first...that's in case someone doesn't "get the drift" of the first question.... frannie b
-
-
Phantom Stranger
Congratulations, sfj... you beat me into book form! But I'm a-comin!