Midget-Sasquatch

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Posts by Midget-Sasquatch

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  66

  What do you know "without googling" about the reputed mechanisms for evolution?

  by gubberningbody in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i see people take positions all day long and i rather suspect both sides are woefully ignorant.. i read and hear people speak of the volumes of data pro or con and when i ask for specific examples of what each may be referring to, i am often met with silence.. .

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  Honestly gubberningbody, this pretense of you knowing how ignorant the rest of us are, and how we're not getting it is, is condescending.

  You've gotten an excellent summary on the key drivers of evolution with natural and sexual selection as well as a solid description of the way chance can come into play with bottlenecks and genetic drift.

  Yes the mutations themselves are to the best of our knowlegdge undirected, but the selective pressure on the phenotypes that result from those altered genotypes tends to direct in someway. Now that direction may not always be towards complexity, but it sure has generated alot of diversity.

  Let's have something more relevant to the discussion instead of insults.
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  25

  Soma Food Of The Gods, And Amanitas Muscaria

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you think a person can use hallucinogens to get enlightened?

  did humankind use them in the past with good results, for the benefit of their tribe, or community?

  did some preform healings under the influence of them, wasn't this ritualistic use a predate of any organized type of religion.. in fact the way i see it, for government to forbid its use is,, not only a gross infringement of one's civil liberties, but also shows its capitalistic, and feed the factories with productive tax paying workers mentality, which were no doubt the main reason for the government sponsored smear campaign done under the guise of public service announcements for the public's own good along with long prison sentences to reinforce the message.

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  So if enlightenment is just coming to realize one's true reality and its just about knowing that, then I can see how using a drug or some other method to achieve it once can be acceptable to some.

  But isn't enlightenment about achieving and regularly returning to a state, an experiential condition, where you're no just you but merged with the infinite? Then wouldn't you have to repeatedly use the method that got you to that point? I really am a novice/unsuccessful with respects to all this.

  I'll blame it on my fear to kill my ego. Now, I've never been subjected to a sensory deprivation tank, but I would imagine that some forms of meditation induce something very similar to that. The safety net something like that offers a person is being able to come out of it almost as quickly as they wanted to with minimal repurcussions.
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  5

  Evolution is not Random: Natural Selection

  by rebel8 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "some christians who are not educated about the evolutionary process seem to think that evolution is about random chance.

  the fact is that evolution is brought about by a process called natural selection.

  natural selection is definitely not random.

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  Along with natural selection, evolution is also driven by the choices that individuals make for prospective mates. Certain traits or features are highly desired and the individual with them get lucky. Sometimes those traits don't even have significant survival advantages. For example: males with larger....tails....yeah... lets go with that bird example.
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  25

  Soma Food Of The Gods, And Amanitas Muscaria

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you think a person can use hallucinogens to get enlightened?

  did humankind use them in the past with good results, for the benefit of their tribe, or community?

  did some preform healings under the influence of them, wasn't this ritualistic use a predate of any organized type of religion.. in fact the way i see it, for government to forbid its use is,, not only a gross infringement of one's civil liberties, but also shows its capitalistic, and feed the factories with productive tax paying workers mentality, which were no doubt the main reason for the government sponsored smear campaign done under the guise of public service announcements for the public's own good along with long prison sentences to reinforce the message.

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  Well I'll definitely agree that feeling like you're going to lose yourself is downright scary. It should be. What is so wrong about cherishing our individual consciousness? A few hallucinogens that seem to help people detach from their ego are probably doing funky things in the temporal lobes. So I have to doubt that the drugs are actually aiding one to perceive another external layer to reality.

  I'm not entirely skeptical about the tenets and basic realizations buddhism aims a person to learn. But I'm just not fully persuaded either. Meditating without drugs, could just be training our brain to fire certain neuro-cascades and affect our perception. However, why I feel meditating is the superior path, even though longer is because we have much fuller control in shaping the outcome and have the time to make changes to ensure it. Drugs can have nasty unexpected results. AKA acid trips and flashbacks.
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  25

  Soma Food Of The Gods, And Amanitas Muscaria

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you think a person can use hallucinogens to get enlightened?

  did humankind use them in the past with good results, for the benefit of their tribe, or community?

  did some preform healings under the influence of them, wasn't this ritualistic use a predate of any organized type of religion.. in fact the way i see it, for government to forbid its use is,, not only a gross infringement of one's civil liberties, but also shows its capitalistic, and feed the factories with productive tax paying workers mentality, which were no doubt the main reason for the government sponsored smear campaign done under the guise of public service announcements for the public's own good along with long prison sentences to reinforce the message.

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  I've heard some proponents of entheogens refer to the "Good Friday" experiment as strong evidence for using them. Supposedly a significant number of the people who took the hallucinogen were more enlightened because of it. However I think a later follow up study on the participants found no real evidence for that, but instead the typical reactions to hallucinogens (good or bad depending on the individual).

  IMHO, shrooms, peyote, ayahuasca are just ways of getting lost in your head. Some people find it fun, but I really don't consider having my perceptions distorted by multicolored geometric shards, and having to routinely puke into a bucket for an entire night the path to enlightenment.

  I suck and am an entire utter failure at it because I can't keep up the concentration, but drug free meditation like zen or some forms of yoga are better for bringing a sense of inner contentment and feeling more united with others (which I've been told are major aspects of enlightenment).
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  17

  evolutionary progression

  by John Doe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so, if we came from apelike ancestors, what will we evolve into next, assuming we successfully avert extinction?

  are we the apes of tomorrow today?

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  BTS

  Why did I just ball park 40 yrs? Bureaucracy.

  There's some medical applications happening now thats true. I know there are studies trying to push and amplify the immune system, and am aware of several candidate genes for longevity. I know about the attempted use of adenoviruses with recombinant DNA to help cystic fibrosis, but the benefits of that particular therapy were not long term since the immune system were wiping out the infected cells. Each therapy then can reasonably be expected to have smaller challenges that would take a couple more years to circumvent. So just a few years if it was just about technology and discovery. But of course you know its not just that.

  Down with the pharmaceutical companies! I'm really only angry with them because they still haven't found the magic pill I need for ....well I'll stop before I give TMI.
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  17

  evolutionary progression

  by John Doe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so, if we came from apelike ancestors, what will we evolve into next, assuming we successfully avert extinction?

  are we the apes of tomorrow today?

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  I think over the near term (say the next 40 years) we'll be using genomics and biotech to curb metabolical diseases and other genetic defects. We'll also be tinkering with boosting the limits of our current bodies, like stronger cartilage and slower aging in adulthood.

  Then in the next century I can see people getting radical incorporating features from other animals to such an extent that humans will break off into different species.
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  10

  "Your choice of college major may affect your religious views"

  by BurnTheShips in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this may seem counterintuitive to some--bts.

  does the level of one's personal religious level affect what one studies in college, or even if they go to college?

  does a path of study influence a person's religious development?

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  Well religion can be pedantic just like the classical education system, so I can see there being a noticable correlation. And for the most part, those who take a part in both want to be helpful to others.

  No wonder I stunk in the classroom and never did more than supply teach.

  I know they mentioned that the physical sciences had a neutral influence but I would have thought that chemists would be slightly more directed towards religion because of the the periodic table showing "order".
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  199

  Why don't you just take it like a man?

  by AK - Jeff in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in a recent thread, i was basically called out in this manner.. here is part of the quote:.

  mean no disrespect with the following but i have to ask, when you disassociated yourself what did you think would happen?

  did you expect witnesses to suddenly change to accommodate you?

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  (((jam)))
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  61

  What the Family Worship Evening Arrangement Really Entails

  by cantleave in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as most people here know the combined book study allows an evening for "family worship".. the co visits march - august 2009 is really focussing on this.

  if a jdub family head doesn't do a full evening of family worship and uses this time to do recreational activities he is as guilty as isrealite who didn't use the sabbath for worship.

  the result, will of course be same as the unfaithful isrealite, death!!!!!!!!!

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  Midget-Sasquatch

  They're obviously trying to keep the conditioning going (trying to get the publishers to administer to themselves) after being forced to remove a meeting because of lack of male suckers doing all the parts that would have been required.

  No way the elders can check up on families routinely enough to ensure everyone is doing it. Maybe the bit of extra time the dubs have may actually get some to research more deeply and actually discover inconsistencies. Then again probably not.