Midget-Sasquatch

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Posts by Midget-Sasquatch

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  7

  Do selfish organisms prosper better than selfless organisms?

  by Elsewhere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here is an article about a thought provoking experiment.... .

  http://www.physorg.com/news67694761.html.

  survival of the selfless - scientists find cheats don't always prosper .

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  I find these sorts of experiments interesting. The idea of "group selection" has been around for some time, although most biologists now use the term "multilevel selection", or they're more specific like "deme selection" or "clade selection".

  I'm not sure what study Carl Sagan was writing about. I have yet to read his book Broca's Brain, does that sound like its it? Anyways, the study sounds roughly parallel to what's called the iterated prisoner's dilemma. Basically, if its likely that a prison would never deal with someone else ever again, they'll sell them out (cheat) if given a tempting opportunity (being set scott free). But if its likely that the person will be called on it in the future, either by the same person who was betrayed or his companions, then its better to cooperate with the other prisoner and both of them say nuttin' to the feds. Ratting on the other might get ya whacked. So in a way, cooperation can logically develop even on a basis of self-interest. If anyone likes to read more about it I think Wikipedia had a nice writeup on this.
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  20

  May 26, What Movie Opens------------Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  by blondie in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

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  x-men 3--the last stand

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  I've been looking forward to this for some time. They never disappointed me....unlike DareDevil.
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  107

  What do you do for living?

  by averyniceguy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am america sign language teacher and a caretaker of a house near the beach.

  what do you do for living?

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  Damselfly,

  Its not so much age for me. I was born in March of 73. Its just more a question of whether I've got what it takes. Greener pastures in eastern Canada than southwestern Ontario eh? Whoduhthunkit? :) I'm tempted.

  Thanks for confirming that it is possible to get some lab positions with just a BSc in other areas. Its heartening to see that the BSc isn't worthless. I've got to forget about staying where I am though, if I want to pursue something that I find stimulating and satisfying. I'm going to check out the local career centre and see if things have recently changed about the college courses over here.

  I'm really glad that you're jazzed about your studies, and wish you all the best.
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  107

  What do you do for living?

  by averyniceguy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am america sign language teacher and a caretaker of a house near the beach.

  what do you do for living?

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  ( Medical Labratory Technologist In 2 years time!)

  Damselfly, I was seriously considering this after finishing my biology degree, but I was told by the college that I'd be given zero credits from any of my bio courses and that I'd have to take the full 3 year program...I thought 7 years total?!! No bloody way....spent the next two years working at low paying jobs and decided I'd try being a teacher. So there was another year as a univeristy TA to get some needed experience, one year of teacher's college and about 3 and a half years now as a substitute teacher. I now really regret not having opted for the lab tech course.
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  47

  The DaVinci Code -- overreaction or a chance to rumble?

  by cruzanheart in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here's an excerpt from a bbc.co.uk article i just read:.

  "the holy koran recognises jesus as a prophet.

  what the book says is an insult to both christians and muslims," maulana mansoor ali khan, general secretary of the all-india sunni jamiyat-ul-ulema, told the reuters news agency.

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  DOGMA was a great movie. :)
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  47

  The DaVinci Code -- overreaction or a chance to rumble?

  by cruzanheart in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here's an excerpt from a bbc.co.uk article i just read:.

  "the holy koran recognises jesus as a prophet.

  what the book says is an insult to both christians and muslims," maulana mansoor ali khan, general secretary of the all-india sunni jamiyat-ul-ulema, told the reuters news agency.

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  I read the book already and since it was a very slow semester supplying, I'd rather spend the money on the X Men. Whats really funny is that my extremely zealous pioneer sister bought the book without really knowing what it was about. Now you all can figure how I ended up getting a free copy of the book and enough curiousity to read it. Too bad alot of the errors sorta detracted from my delving into the storyline. Funny how my being a bio major doesn't have the same negative impact on my opinion of the X Men.

  Kinda off topic: Storm and Jean Grey make for better representations of godesses IMHO than Mary Magdalene. Well as portrayed by Hale and Famke anyways.
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  33

  HAW...KEE...HAW....KEE Anyone else here a hockey fan?

  by jgnat in

  1. social
  2. physical

  i live in a sports city where hockey is the national sport.

  being an oil town, we've experienced the flush of success and the misery of defeat.

  we haven't seen the stanley cup since our heyday in 1990. we're so game-crazy, the city's motto is, "city of champions.".

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  I'll watch the final series for sure whoever the teams are, but I'm presently urked by the Sabres fans around here.
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  45

  MY DAD HAD A STROKE

  by Mary in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just got a call from my mom.

  my father's had a massive stroke and is in the hospital.

  i'm leaving now to go to the hospital and i probably won't have time to post here for a while until we know what's happening........

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  I'm so sorry Mary. Hoping that you'll get an encouraging prognosis in the next little while.
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  48

  What kind of thing do you want right now but cannot afford it right now?

  by averyniceguy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for me, i would like to have a leather recliner from rooms to go.

  what about you?

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  With the price of gas now (and the guzzler of a "boat" I own - old chrylser concorde), I'd love a Vespa Granturismo 200. 200cc baby!

  

  
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  111

  Sagan and anyone who care toreply

  by jw in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  !.

  only intelligent replys.. 2.no big bang replys.. what is your theory on how humans came into existence?

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  When it comes to the grey men, we are up to about 50 years. Only 1,950 years to go for the two millennia mark, and already we have a smattering whose rememberances were not regressed under hypnosis by hypnotists who make their living offering therapy to survivors of alien abduction.

  Their questionnaires can be funny (I was supposedly abducted according to 2 of them ) Although if one of those therapists were a really hot babe instead of Bud Hopkins, I might start having flasbacks and book a session.

  Back to topic:

  All experiences, all data, all input is interpretted at a basic level to some degree or other.

  Which to me at least points to a very light shade of nihilism. Here's what I mean by that. I prefer to hold to their being objective reality and objective truth....but then again the theory of relativity, and whats been learned in the neurosciences, brings out our limitations of ever knowing absolutely. Its our own current deficiency.

  I brought up alien abductions because even though they specifically have only been around for a few decades, the essential experience of being "visited" (often along with all its uncomfortable overtones) is actually a very old phenomenon. They were the wee people from Magonia or the daemons, etc. The large number of people who attested to them would strongly indicate to me that these experiences are triggered by something real. But the changing players would indicate to me that the experience is highly influenced by cultural backgrounds and some preconceived notions. So not all experiences are equally valid in telling us something about the larger reality. But any of them can be starting points for us to engage in a dialectic with reality.