Posts by Pinku

Wonderful summation—It’s as though you took it out of my mouth. Actually I didn’t want to say it. But if someone else felt that way, means—it’s great!

20

JW stand on Philosophy is inexcusable!

by Pinku in

paul knew that torah with all its rituals and sacrifices did not originate with god (jeremiah 7:22; 8:8), hence he warned christians to guard against deceptive philosophy that would take them back to torah.

(colossians 2:8 compare 2:11, 16, 17) in view of the over-all view of the bible, there is no excuse to use the word philosophy with any negative connotation.

jws built their stand on philosophy based on this wrong (negative) use of the word philosophy found in colossians 2:8.. the greek word philosophi a means love of wisdom.

Pinku

OnTheWayOut

My conclusion is obviously beyond any doubt--doing good to others without any expectation of a reward in return. And this can never be misleading. Yet you use the terms such as misleading ....narrow view.... !

It's difficult to grasp your view! Yet I wish you all the good.

18

Will it someday be possible to read another person's mind, without his or her even knowing it?

by Pinku in

scientists transmit thoughts from one brain to another.

sep 7, 2014, 6:27 am et.

column by lee dye.

Pinku

Scientists Transmit Thoughts from one Brain to Another

Sep 7, 2014, 6:27 AM ET

COLUMN By LEE DYE

An international team of scientists has succeeded in transmitting the thoughts of one individual into the brain of a second person, located thousands of miles away, combining some of the latest technological marvels with the long arm of the Internet.

This is thought to be the first time that two brains have communicated with each other directly over a long distance without the sender having to utter a single word.

Two greetings -- "hola" and "ciao" -- made the historic trip from India to France, where they were received and spoken by a researcher who was blindfolded and equipped with earplugs. The scientists wanted to ensure that the receiver knew what his colleague 5,000 miles away was thinking because of the brain-to-brain transmission, not because of some other cue.

The research, published in PLOS One, was conducted by scientists in Spain, India, France and the United States.

The scientists wanted to prove, even with technology that will likely seem arcane in the near future, that it's possible for two human brains to communicate with each other directly, Alvaro Pascual-Leone of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, co-author of the study, said in a telephone interview.

Brain to brain transmission is a hot topic among scientists around the world, and last year researchers at the University of Washington claimed to be the first to carry it off when a student on one side of the campus moved a finger while a colleague thought about the command on the other side of the campus.
The Harvard team took that one step further with the first transmission of specific words.
But the breakthroughs also include a warning. This should be very valuable for medical applications, especially for patients with communication problems, but it could also be a source of devastating misuse. Does it pave the way for humans to read the minds of others, even without their consent?
"I always worry that as we do this initial step with healthy subjects, even under all the regulatory oversight, that it could lend itself to the fancy of people who just want to play with it," Pascual-Leone said.

Or as the study concluded in its final line: "The widespread use of human brain-to-brain technologically mediated communication will create novel possibilities for human interrelation with broad social implications that will require new ethical and legislative responses."

Or in plain language, this could be the start of something really, really big, or really, really bad.
It should be emphasized though that the current level of research poses no such threat.

Simply transmitting two words required both the "emitter" and the "receiver" to be hooked up to robots and sophisticated hardware that makes the participants look more like captives in a psycho ward than casual greeters. And the feat required the conscious cooperation of both participants, who had to be trained for the task.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

PHOTO: Scientists have succeeded in transmitting thoughts from one brain to another.

An electroencephalogram captured the brain activity of the emitter in India, and converted the letters of the two words to binary code, which was sent to a nearby computer and then over the Internet to the receiver in France. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) on the receiver's end enhanced the electrical signals in a key part of the brain, making the receiver aware that a message would be coming through.

"TMS was basically a way to inject the information into the receiver's brain," Pascual-Leone said.

This technology is a noninvasive way to alter functions inside a brain. An electromagnetic coil attached to the skull emits magnetic pulses, which in turn generate electric currents that stimulate nerve cells in the brain.

It doesn't hurt, and bares no similarity to the shock treatments of yesteryear, and it holds promise for modifying emotions and neural activity.
It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2008 for use on patients who suffer from severe depression. But it is so new that it is authorized only for those who do not respond to traditional medications.

Other researchers are testing it for a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders including migraine headaches and Parkinson's disease.
The technology used for this research is obviously state of the art, but technology is advancing so rapidly that in a relatively short period of time this work will probably look clumsy. So the limitations of today could well be the opportunities of tomorrow, both for good and for bad.

Will it someday be possible to read another person's mind, without his or her even knowing it? Will our innermost secrets belong to everyone? Or will we be able to alter antisocial behavior, transforming the criminally insane into responsible citizens?

"The rational for doing this type of research, at least for us, is to help patients," Pascual-Leone said. "But could you use some form of noninvasive stimulation, even with people who are unaware, and insert a message into them?
"Not the way we have done it, not with technology that's available now, but maybe that's something that could eventually be developed," he said.
The research is evidence that we've passed through the starting gate, but to where?

http://topdailyinfo.com/scientists-transmit-thoughts-from-one-brain-to-another/

"Nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them."--Genesis 11:6 For God to transmit His thoughts to human minds, and for human mind to communicate with another mind using means such as telepathy--must all be possible!?

48

How much of our mind is our own?

by jgnat in

margaret singer, pioneer in the study of cults, chaired the alberta psychological association (apa) task force on deceptive and indirect methods of persuasion and control (dimpac) from 1983-1987. the final report of this task force was rejected by the apa, and has not been published.

the apa noted that the brief characterized the theory of brainwashing as not scientifically proven and lacking scientific and methodological rigor.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/apa_task_force_on_deceptive_and_indirect_methods_of_persuasion_and_control#reported_conclusions_of_the_dimpac_task_force.

the apa has since dismissed the use of the word "cult" and switched to the term "new religious movements".

Pinku

I feel it is not about coercion or brain-washing. Fault lies largely on the adherents themselves. Most of them are ruled by the thought: “I left one organization and joined JWs; now how can I retreat? How will my power of judgment will be judged by people.”

This is what the only member in my family who is still a JW despite the bold stand the rest of family members and other witness relatives took.

11

Need help talking with my JW mom who's now willing to "listen" to what we have to say...

by 2pink in

my husband and i (both born in jws--entire extended families all still in excpet for my sister) left the church 5 years ago.

i literally woke up one day and realized it wasn't the "truth".

i did not fade, i just left and told my family i didn't believe it anymore.

Pinku

What I have found effective is using just one scripture--it is really an atom bomb: James 1:17 which says 'God does not change.' Hence an organization that claims to be "spirit-guided" can't make changes in their teaching.

6

Finally some good news for JWs from science!

by Pinku in

now jws can ask: what is the big deal about bringing changes in teaching!

did not such a great scientist, stephen hawking, create ripples by saying that his most famous discovery of black holes did not actually exist, after all?

and hawking is only a tip of the ice-berg!

Pinku

Sparky1,

There is one more difference! JWs claim that theirs is a “spirit-guided organization,” and still make mistakes! Whereas the scientists are in an advantaged state—they do not claim that they are dealing with certainties: "Not only is it not certain, but it's the lack of certainty that grounds scientific thinking (that) is a constant reminder to us that we don't know the answers," writes physicist Carlo Rovelli in Universe, an anthology on the origin, mysteries and future of the cosmos .

6

Finally some good news for JWs from science!

by Pinku in

now jws can ask: what is the big deal about bringing changes in teaching!

did not such a great scientist, stephen hawking, create ripples by saying that his most famous discovery of black holes did not actually exist, after all?

and hawking is only a tip of the ice-berg!

Pinku

Now JWs can ask: What is the big deal about bringing changes in teaching! Did not such a great scientist, Stephen Hawking, create ripples by saying that his most famous discovery of black holes did not actually exist, after all?

And Hawking is only a tip of the ice-berg! Here is a list of greatest scientific hoaxes!

http://list25.com/25-greatest-scientific-hoaxes-in-history/

20

JW stand on Philosophy is inexcusable!

by Pinku in

paul knew that torah with all its rituals and sacrifices did not originate with god (jeremiah 7:22; 8:8), hence he warned christians to guard against deceptive philosophy that would take them back to torah.

(colossians 2:8 compare 2:11, 16, 17) in view of the over-all view of the bible, there is no excuse to use the word philosophy with any negative connotation.

jws built their stand on philosophy based on this wrong (negative) use of the word philosophy found in colossians 2:8.. the greek word philosophi a means love of wisdom.

Pinku

sparrowdown

You made it complete! Thank you for that!