Posts by OldSoul

87

Why Fundyism is Irrational

by jgnat in

lately i've been putting a lot of thought in to what is rational and what must be relegated to faith alone.

ever since the scientific method was discovered, humanity has attempted to put it to work in so many areas.

after all, discoveries exploded once we were set free from the shackles of tradition.

In my opinion the upshot is, it is bad science to start loading 1s into the equation. To get an accurate measure of probability we should start by measuring the probability that life would occur on any planet, excluding the one we know of. Then, as we find planets capable of supporting life (ours being 1), the odds of finding another should decrease progressively. The way the formula is presented now, if we find three other inhabited planets it becomes incredibly likely there is life on Jupiter (statistically speaking). That has to be false premise.

Respectfully,
OldSoul

{Gosh, you wouldn't think I'd screw up that much in such a short post...the capacity of man is astounding}

33

any coffee addicts here?

by enigmatic in

jw
friends

i been drinking alot of coffee these days.

i start off my day with four shots of espresso, than a few hours later i'll make a pitcher of frozen latte's and i usually will burn thru a pot if im out working on the ocean.

i even got to the point where i grind all my coffee myself...

OldSoul

Well, I thought so until I read your post. SHEEZE!!! You can walk? I would be too jittery, LOL!!

Guess I'm not.

87

Why Fundyism is Irrational

by jgnat in

lately i've been putting a lot of thought in to what is rational and what must be relegated to faith alone.

ever since the scientific method was discovered, humanity has attempted to put it to work in so many areas.

after all, discoveries exploded once we were set free from the shackles of tradition.

OldSoul

I am enjoying this, too.

Firstly, please note that the allegory was of Lime Jello (a brand name in the U.S.) gelatin. For some reason there are a variety of occasions on which and circumstances under which Americans consume the stuff although, I confess, I have never enjoyed the experience. Further, said gelatin need only be somewhere within my walls. There is some in my refrigerator , so I know it exists.

Aside from an estimate of the number of stars (probably a low estimate) and a definite of less than 20 planets known for sure to orbit any stars, every other variable has a known value of one.

If I injected the gelatin into ONE wall, then claimed that there was also gelatin somewhere else within the walls I would have produced the needed allegory to match Drake's Equation perfectly. In the gelatin allegory, if I knew it was inside at least one wall, then every tad bit of space down to the size of a Jello atom (inside joke, "wood atoms" lol) between the sheetrock making up the internal walls of my home could correspond to the number of stars, the number of wall segments could correspond to the planets (we empirically know it is in one wall, because we put it there). It is still just as unlikely that there is gelatin in another place within my walls as it was before I injected it. I have a value of one for all variable in the equation except for the weighty estimation of the total space within the walls where one Lime Jello atom (Hah! I kill me!) might be found.

At this stage in the game of our development as a species, it seems silly to me for us to try to make contact. Given that the 8 steps laid out for jgnat are reasonably well representative of what we would expect to occur before we could state that we had successfully made contact (unless they pop down uninvited for a nip of biscuit and tea) I would say it is not possible withing the next billion lifetimes for us to make contact with a civilization at approximately, in terms of geologic time, our stage of development. The very fact that it would not have been possible to make long distance contact with us some 110 years ago should obviously decrease the likelihood considerably. But, as I stated before in the voice of Marvin (Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy), "Some very brilliant minds are bent to the task with feverish intensity. And they will continue, however much I piss and moan about it."

Respectfully,
OldSoul

18

"JW's only help other JW's!" - So what?

by AlmostAtheist in

jw
friends

oops, hit enter too early.

i'll post the actual message next.

lol!

OldSoul

In my experience, it is the most destitute in the congregations who are the most charitable. I am not talking about the leeches who have no job so they can bum lunch off everyone else and have glory parts on convention programs about their pioneer hardships. I'm saying that the ones who work hard and still have nothing seem more willing to share what little they have.

OldSoul

18

"JW's only help other JW's!" - So what?

by AlmostAtheist in

jw
friends

oops, hit enter too early.

i'll post the actual message next.

lol!

OldSoul

WOO-HOOOO, DAVE!!!!

87

Why Fundyism is Irrational

by jgnat in

lately i've been putting a lot of thought in to what is rational and what must be relegated to faith alone.

ever since the scientific method was discovered, humanity has attempted to put it to work in so many areas.

after all, discoveries exploded once we were set free from the shackles of tradition.

OldSoul

I didn't mean I was throwing it to you, jgnat.

I was calling t.s and Caedes the "ravenous beasts." Haven't you ever seen the gi-normous incisors on a large sample of cyanophyta? lol

Seriously, though: I know you are right, jgnat. I just wish we would not invent pseudo-scientific bases for doing exploration. You wanna try pinging planets with a hope that a carbon based critter across that great expanse would recognize it as a sign of intelligence? Go right ahead.

Just don't try and pretend that it is anything more than an exercise in wishful thinking that might pay off in the extremely remote chance that (1) there is life on another/other planet(s), (2) this life exists in some form we could identify as life, (3) the life is intelligent, (4) the lifeform's technology has advanced at least to the point where they can get our signal, (5) the life can understand its significance as indicative of intelligence, (6) the life can get funding from its government to start a SETI program to respond to us, (7) the life can figure out a way to make us know they received the message and are responding, (8) and that we receive the message they send.

I think I have stated the probable necessary steps. For all of man's existence, there has only been about a 100 year window in which we could have received a signal indicating life. We would not only have to reach them, we would have reach them at the right time in their technological advancement. Suppose we are being signalled right now by a means we haven't even developed the technology to detect, we would never even know. How do we know there aren't encoded messages in the rays of light from distant stars? I'm not saying I think that there are, but how would we ever interpret them? But for all we know, that could be a standard means of communication for another lifeform.

I see the odds of this succeeding as incredibly low, well below the realm of practically possible. I would expect rational people to avoid spending large amounts of time and heavy resources on the pursuit. However, some very brilliant minds are bent to the task with feverish intensity. And they will, however much I piss and moan about it.

Respectfully,
OldSoul

68

This One Is For Scholar And His Celebrated WT Scholars

by Honesty in

i have some quotes from several respected bible linguists regarding the new world translation: .

dr. julius mantey - "a manual grammar of the greek new testament" calls the new world translation "a shocking mistranslation".

dr. bruce metzger, late professor of new testament at princeton university -"a frightful mistranslation", "erroneous", "pernicious", and "reprehensible".

OldSoul

The sheer volume of posts would indicate minimus ...lol I don't think AlanF could stomach that character long enough to create this. [calls out into the distance] Oh, OZZIEPost! Wanna come claim the trophy for "Best Gag Ever" on JWD?

35

My Dad Isn't There Anymore

by BrendaCloutier in

it really struck me last night that my dad is pretty much gone.

he has advanced alzheimers, and is slowly dying of kidney failure from 40 years of diabetes.

the family stepped in and said no to dialysis, because it would be 5 hours per day 3 days per week - minimum, for limited return on quality of life.

OldSoul

(((Brenda)))

If there is any way I can help, let me know. I'm available for phone calls during the day.

Respectfully,
OldSoul

168

Has there been any "New Light" on the Blood Issue?

by Mastodon in

someone asked me if i knew anything about that.

oblviuosly i don't, so i'm reaching to all of you in this enlightened crowd to shed some light on this for me.

thanks!

OldSoul

Some of my relatives would go so far as to snort bloody noses so they could spit out their blood. It is cool, in a way, that they were so sensitive to not displeasing God. But on a deeper level, it is really tragic that they feared eternal condemnation for a bloody nose.

I think jgnat is correct on the command having to do primarily with demonstrating a deep respect for life, not for the blood itself which is clearly stated to symbolically represent the life. Further, it is an IMPOSSIBILITY to completely drain meat. If JWs really understood the implication of their dogma, as stated, they would all have to be vegans.

If I was in a wreck tomorrow, the EMTs wouldn't even know that I was a Witness. Acts 15 didn't say a word about carrying around a card in case of an accident.

Respectfully,
OldSoul

23

Scholar: Zechariah 12:10

by OldSoul in

scholar,.

please explain the meaning of the original hebrew in this text:(zechariah 12:10).

and i will pour upon the house of david, and upon the inhabitants of jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

OldSoul

Scholar,

Please explain the meaning of the original Hebrew in this text:

(Zechariah 12:10)
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

I'll give you some hints to get you started:

(1) Jehovah/Yahweh was speaking

(2) The New World Translation rendered the Hebrew "ayth" as "the One" with a capital "O" signifying the deity, where the King James version translated it "me".

Why do your celebrated WT scholars teach that this verse applies to Jesus but not to Jehovah?

OldSoul