Posts by MadGiant

You might expect to see or hear something that isn't actually there if you were taking an illegal drug like LSD or even a heavy painkiller like morphine. However, some of the most unlikely prescription drugs have "may cause visual and auditory hallucinations" as one of their side effects, and it's probably not the ones that you'd expect.

Mirapex, along with its many other potential side effects, can also cause hallucinations. Parkinson's disease patients have reported seeing everything from snakes crawling the walls to people hiding in their closets. Though it's frightening and disturbing to have these hallucinations, reducing or even ceasing the medication often leads to the return of their tremors and other impairments.

Lunesta (generic name eszopiclone) is a hypnotic drug -- meaning, it induces sleep -- prescribed for sleeplessness with directions to take on an "as needed" basis. But its users, as well as those of Ambien (generic name zolpidem), have also reported night terrors and nightmares. Both Lunesta and Ambien patients, though, have experienced an even weirder effect: performing activities in their sleep.

These activities include not only sleepwalking, but eating, making phone calls, having sex and driving -- yes, driving. Patients taking these sleep aids have woken up while backing their cars out of driveways or while shopping at all-night grocery stores. Some "Ambien drivers" have been arrested for driving while impaired and causing accidents. Both drugs' makers include warnings about these side effects and emphasize that they shouldn't be taken with alcohol (which can exacerbate the effect).

Ismael

94

just what am I supposed to believe now??

by purrpurr in

while i'm glad i found this site, it has also crumbled to bits everything i've believed in my whole life.

i feel like the certainty, magic and wonder has gone out of my life.

this has left a huge hole in my soul.

MadGiant

"Just what do I believe in now?" - purrpurr
That is up to you, I choose to critically examine and evaluate all available information and make decisions, including those involving my "beliefs", based on thought, facts and reason.

"Is there a god?" - purrpurr
There is no evidence to back up the existence of a god, any god.

"I feel like I need god in my life," - purrpurr
Why?
We should hold no personal stake (aka heaven, earth, hell, nirvana, etc.), in any of the beliefs we hold, but simply in the rational assurance that whatever beliefs we do hold are indeed correspond with reality.

You can create one, the one you create it's going to be as proficient as any.

"I just don't know where to find him anymore???" - purrpurr
You are not going to find "him/her/it", they are imaginary. Feel free to do your own version of a god.

Help??
Try reading some books, do some research.

Take care,

Ismael

42

God listens and RESPONDS to your prayer if you know how to log on to Him! Here is the proof.

by exWTslave in

all my family members and friends (that include some elders) advised me to divorce my wife whose only joy was to pick up fight with me for everything i do, except my grand-mother who said: when you married her, you looked for only her good pointher regular pioneering despite having an opposing family.

for being good, you will ultimately reap something far better through her.

stick on to her.

MadGiant

And your logical fallacy is...

Anecdotal:
You used a personal experience or an isolated example instead of a sound argument or compelling evidence.

Anecdotal evidence is the practice of using an anecdote (or anecdotes) to support a scientific claim. In the world of pseudoscience, an anecdote is the equivalent of a peer-reviewed, double-blind, repeatable scientific experiment with consistent results. In other words, the true believers accept that just because something once seemed to work for someone.

Respectfully,

Ismael

35

Do You Think That Animals Truly Understand Human Language?

by minimus in

jw
friends

they say horses communicate with their ears.

mr. ed talked, though.

pet owners, do you think that your cat or dog or goldfish really understands you?.

MadGiant

Nope: Theory of mind refers to a creature understanding that other beings have different perceptions, and that those perceptions can be valuable. It's a shockingly advanced societal concept.

But dogs:
http://m.livescience.com/5093-dogs-catch-human-yawns.html

http://m.livescience.com/20823-canine-comfort-dogs-understand-emotion.html

http://redwood.berkeley.edu/bruno/animal-eyes/left-gase-bias-in-dogs.pdf

http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1865847,00.html

http://m.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/201111/do-dogs-feel-jealousy-and-envy

http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(11)01393-5

Ismael

29

Would You Convert to Islam to Avoid getting Your Head Chopped Off? Atheist to Polytheist, what say you?

by BucketShopBill in

would you convert to islam if they were holding your head on a ax block, ready to swing the ax or sword to cut your head off?

we know there are people who died for their political and spiritual values, would you convert to islam to avoid death?

for atheists, can you justify conversion to preserve life since there is no life after death?

MadGiant

Oh, and by the way, it's happening as we speak.

http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/columns/article/interview-with-a-saudi-atheist_11146

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2014/07/09/in-the-middle-east-some-atheists-fake-fast-during-ramadan-to-avoid-detection/

http://atheistuniverse.net/m/group?id=6381005%3AGroup%3A5421

29

Would You Convert to Islam to Avoid getting Your Head Chopped Off? Atheist to Polytheist, what say you?

by BucketShopBill in

would you convert to islam if they were holding your head on a ax block, ready to swing the ax or sword to cut your head off?

we know there are people who died for their political and spiritual values, would you convert to islam to avoid death?

for atheists, can you justify conversion to preserve life since there is no life after death?

MadGiant

"Atheists, can you justify conversion to preserve life since there is no life after death?" -

Yes, I'm not dying for an imaginary friend.

Swear allegiance to the flag, whatever flag they offer
Never hint at what you really feel
Teach the children quietly, for someday sons and daughters
Will rise up and fight while we stood still

Mike & The Mechanics - Silent Running

Ismael

16

I had a Tarot card reading

by LisaRose in

jw
friends

so, i am in washinton state visiting my son and his family and we went to a concert that had a fortune tellers booth, actually a gypsy wagon.

i decided to do something no jw would ever do, have a tarot card reading.

i wasn't really expecting anything, as i don't believe they are connected with the satan, but i don't believe they can actually read your future either.

MadGiant

" I feel like I just had a reading. All that applies to me as well (not the specifics you gave, but the generalities of what the reader gave you)." - One

Cold reading is a technique used by mentalists and fortune tellers, psychics, and mediums to determine details about another person in order to convince them that the reader knows a great deal more about a subject than he or she actually does. Even without prior knowledge of a person, a practiced cold reader can still quickly obtain a great deal of information about the subject by carefully analyzing the person’s body language, clothing or fashion, hairstyle, gender, sexual orientation, religion, race or ethnicity, level of education, manner of speech, place of origin, etc. Cold readers commonly employ high probability guesses about the subject, quickly picking up on signals from their subjects as to whether their guesses are in the right direction or not, and then emphasizing and reinforcing any chance connections the subjects acknowledge while quickly moving on from missed guesses.

Hot reading is the use of foreknowledge when giving a “psychic” reading in stage magic performances. The reader can gather information about the sitter (person getting the reading) through a variety of means, such as research or overhearing a conversation. Hot reading is commonly practiced in conjunction with cold reading (where no foreknowledge is available) and can explain how a psychic reader can get a specific claimed “hit” of accurate information.

Ismael

70

Is there any good (im serious) in this religion JW

by dugout in

jw
friends

i know this has been talked about in the past but im new here..

MadGiant

"Maybe you should.. milk and poison often work quite well together." - Dis-Member

You are missing more that a point. But in my metaphoric example, the milk is already poisoned. Even if the poison represented only a small percentage of the whole, drinking more milk means, drinking more poison.

Take care,

Ismael

15

Communication with minds of people (alive or dead) is possible!

by exWTslave in

there are people who mock at the reports of ndes and communication from the dead and so on.

things are changing now!

a new finding has discovered that the whole universe is intimately interconnected.

MadGiant

"If we bring it down to the level of our minds, then the same thing should be applicable. We're all connected too."-

I don't know how you read so deep into the article. With all due respect, we are NOT linked up. We might share a few genes, relatives, friends, likes/dislikes, society, but that's more or less it. We are individual entities, your mind and what is in it, belongs to you and only you.

Quantum physics is absurdly accurate in describing the motion of particles and subatomic particles. Classical physics and Quantum Physics don't agree mathematically.
Particles are proven to behave as waves, meaning they are in several positions of space AT THE SAME TIME. This is called Superposition. It is also called badass.

To grossly simplify it, on a scale smaller than atoms, the quantum level, everything suddenly turns into a goddamn circus. Quantum physics has nothing to do with everyday physics. We're talking particles popping in and out of existence, being in two places at the same time, and generally acting like a-holes. And even though quantum physics appears to be the closest science has ever come to prove magic exists, there is no such thing as magic.

Ismael