Posts by Doug Mason

24

Are Jehovah’s Witnesses competent to resolve the issue of blood transfusion?

by 30LPP in

hello everyone.. first of all, i would like to say hello to all of you.i am not a jehovah's witness but i have been a child with "truth" because of my family.

i am interested in the subject of this sect in the hope that i will be able to wake up the rest of my family.i would also like to share with you another interesting book of polish author włodzimierz bednarski, which was released in 2019, quite recently, and which is a small guidebook for the medical community and criticism of the watchtower society’s teachings.the book in pdf format is available for download at: .

are jehovah’s witnesses competent to resolve the issue of blood transfusion?known books of this author are also:armageddon in 1975 'probability' or 'possibility'?year 1925 and millions now living will never die!ever-changing teachings of jehovah's witnessesthis book will probably be released later at:https://wtsarchive.com/pubs/3rd-party-publicationsi encourage you to read the above materials, because they are really worth it.. i wish everyone perseverance and health..

Doug Mason

Biblically, "Blood" represents DEATH, not life. The presence of blood showed that the previous owner had died. People are saved by Jesus' blood -- his death. The life was in the blood, therefore its presence indicates that life had been extinguished. The blood in a medical procedure does not indicate the previous owner is dead. It is a gift of life.

https://jwstudies.com/The_Meaning_of__Blood_.pdf

https://jwstudies.com/Blood_is_a_religious_issue.pdf

The WTS is inconsistent, in that it arbitrarily permits the use of products made from blood.

They used to decry vaccination, since it often requires the use of blood.

https://jwstudies.com/1931_02_04_Golden_Age__Pattillo_on_vaccinations__blood.pdf

Here is communication with the GB

https://jwstudies.com/The_Jensen_letters_analysis_and_commentary.pdf

Significantly, its booklet "Jehovah's Witnesses and the Question of Blood" consistently misquotes and misrepresents sources.

https://jwstudies.com/Handling_Medical_Evidence.pdf

The following is a Guide I prepared that was intended to be a Guide for those developing policies within the medical industry:

https://jwstudies.com/Loyalty_Test.pdf

Doug

6

A Veblen good?

by Doug Mason in

please forgive me and do not castigate me for overthinking this.. there is a marketing "law" named veblen good (goods, effect) which says that if you make something very expensive, that will make it more desirable.

i know that sounds counter intuitive but think of the dyson fan, ferrari car, expensive perfume, and so on.

put the price really high and people will clamour for it.

Doug Mason

Please forgive me and do not castigate me for overthinking this.

There is a marketing "law" named Veblen Good (goods, effect) which says that if you make something very expensive, that will make it more desirable. I know that sounds counter intuitive but think of the Dyson fan, Ferrari car, expensive perfume, and so on. Put the price really high and people will clamour for it. (Check online for further examples).

My over thinking ask myself if this can be extended to religions, with their "out-of-this-world" promises. Will people do anything in order to grasp that highly priced promise?

Just thinking.

Doug

12

Mathematical Challenges to Darwinism

by Sea Breeze in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=678&v=noj4phmt9oe&feature=emb_logo.

these scientists all seem to agree that the traditional view darwinism cannot possibly be true.

.

Doug Mason

Sea Breeze,

I firmly accept that life has evolved on Earth for billions of years. Just as I hope others respect my right to my views, you are equally entitled to hold your views.

Rather than knowing what you do not hold to, I want to know exactly what you DO accept, and the reasons. If your interest lies with spirit beings, then which version is acceptable to you?

Darwinism comes in several forms. When Darwin posed his findings, he was a giant among many. Ideas related to the development of living entities had been proposed 100 years earlier, Lamarck presented his ideas in the year that Charles Darwin was born. Even Darwin's father Erasmus was an evolutionist earlier than his son.

Science is constantly growing in knowledge and understanding. It is not static, and some of Darwin's ideas are no longer foundational to many evolutionists. I have previously explained that I, a mere graduate of the University of Life, have moved away from the gradualism espoused by the early evolutionists, including Darwin.

I have also indicated my liking for quantum mechanics, having taught semiconductor theory more than 40 years ago (along with Bohr's model of the atom).

But I keep my mind open to challenges and it now appears that the mathematics associated with black holes in the cosmos is challenging some of the precepts of quantum mechanics. (. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/escape-from-a-black-hole/ )

Accepting evolution as fact opens so many possibilities, so many mental exercises, so much freedom of thought and meaning to life. I never want to be thought of as a beton (concrete that is all mixed up and set).

Doug

9

Punctuated equilibria

by Doug Mason in

incorrect assumptions surrounding evolution and creation include:.

life was inevitable.

changes were improvements.

Doug Mason

Hi Cofty,

I suppose if I were to put "survival of the fittest" in contemporary terms, perhaps "fit for purpose"?

Doug

9

Punctuated equilibria

by Doug Mason in

incorrect assumptions surrounding evolution and creation include:.

life was inevitable.

changes were improvements.

Doug Mason

Thank you both for your thoughts, which I agree with.

My understanding of evolution is evolving and I learn more every day. It is a subject that I, living in Australia as I do, have not needed to address. So it is a huge learning curve for me.

I can see that that period of the Cambrian age would be known as a "radiation". Tell me if my understanding is incorrect, but I expect this was the outcome of the development of complex cells and hence the formation of animal life (0.6 GYA). I did not know that the subsequent mass extinctions would be known as a "radiation". Have I got that wrong?

No additional phyla have been formed since the Cambrian radiation and each subsequent cataclysmic saw massive removal of species, with each event survived by species that possessed the appropriate mutations.

Doug

9

Punctuated equilibria

by Doug Mason in

incorrect assumptions surrounding evolution and creation include:.

life was inevitable.

changes were improvements.

Doug Mason

Yes, I fully agree with you, Simon.

There is a limit available to me to expose the full significance of my terse statement.

As you say, the improvement lies in terms of the ability to cope with the changed environment. In terms of my diagram, I am referring to the massive massive life threatening events following the rise of animals during the Cambrian "explosion".

I feel, and I am open to other views, that this does not mean the "survivors" of each cataclysmic event are therefore an improvement (such as stronger or faster) over the previous iteration.

I guess I am saying that in my opinion, I do not align with the gradualism that featured with the early evolutionists, including Lamarck, Darwin and Wallace, among others. I do not see an "ascent" of Man. I do not see Homo Sapiens necessarily being faster and stronger than other iterations of the homo species.

Doug

9

Punctuated equilibria

by Doug Mason in

incorrect assumptions surrounding evolution and creation include:.

life was inevitable.

changes were improvements.

Doug Mason

Incorrect assumptions surrounding Evolution and Creation include:

Life was inevitable
Changes were improvements
Homo Sapiens is the purpose and objective; hence there was an intended design (with Creationists and their fellow travellers ignoring the issue of Theodicy).

The present danger of ignoring the lessons provided through Evolution's story of Punctuated equilibria include denying the present extinction phase by saying that "God will not allow his Earth to be destroyed", ignoring the earlier several mass extinctions of life. The outcome is that Man is speeding the process as it raids Earth's finite resources.

I hope my illustration will provoke thoughts:

https://jwstudies.com/Science_or_Myothlogy.pdf

Doug

14

The Biotic Message, alternative to Evolution

by hooberus in

lecture by walter remine:.

https://youtu.be/o2usdd_8eay.

Doug Mason

What is "life"?

29

WT study 8 December

by road to nowhere in

had to look.

first paragraph mentions that most of were probably born after 1914. most?

i bet the dubs 105 and older can be counted on your fingers..

Doug Mason

The fact is that the guys who wrote 2 Timothy, Matthew, and Luke were writing about their own time.

Why warn Timothy if it had no relevance to him?

When in human history has there been no war, famine, earthquake, etc.?

If times are so terrible today, when would these Watchtower writers have preferred to have lived? Maybe the Lisbon earthquake? Maybe the Plagues of the middle Ages? Or weren't they bad?

Little wonder the writers of Matthew 24, who were writing about 15 years after the temple was razed by the Romans, were telling their own people to disregard wars, famines, and earthquakes as a sign. There would be people claiming to be "Christ", that is -- Anointed - who were doing so.

Doug

78

What The Fossils Say

by cofty in

the old creation book had a lot to say about the fossil record.

if i remember correctly it was some lie about all the fossils ever found would fit on a single table.

the reality is that there is an embarrassment of riches illustrating the evolution of life.

Doug Mason

Thanks Diogenesister. I do have Jim's book. I also have "A Guide for the Perplexed" and I downloaded some of his YouTube presentations.

Right at this moment, I am trying to get my head around "The Shape of Life" by Rudolf Raff, but mine eyes glazeth over. I wish I could locate a soft copy (PDF or Kindle).

The Critique I am currently writing has almost reached the first draft stage. It will be some time before I will be comfortable enough to release it widely.

Do you have expertise in the subjects associated with Evolution that could be of assistance to me?

The subject of Quantum mechanics is personally interesting as I had to teach semiconductor theory in the late 1960s and early 1970s, just as things were very fresh and new, with new devices being rolled out (LEDs, SCRs, etc.). Prior to that I was teaching the theory and application of electron tubes (valves).

Doug