Joseph Joachim

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Posts by Joseph Joachim

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  9

  No hope for understanding the universe?

  by sleepy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  is there no hope for truly understanding the universe?.

  if a person believes that we were created by a supreme being who is in control of and fully understands the universe, he may reason that we were created with the ability to also understand the universe.. but if we are not created and have just evolved as part of a natural prosses why should we asume that our brain should have any grasp on a true understanding of things.. how can we know that our brains just are not in tune or cannot grasp any of the fundementaly important concepts that case this universe to exist?.

  maybe in trying to understand the universe we are just tying ourselves up in knot trying to know the unknowable?

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  Joseph Joachim

  Sleepy, you said: But if we are not created and have just evolved as part of a natural prosses why should we asume that our brain should have any grasp on a true understanding of things.

  The brain and the human mind are products of millions of years of natural selection and are adapted to the environment we live in. Suppose that a primitive antropoid sees two lions getting into his cave but only one getting out, what would he conclude? Well, you bet that those who couldn't figure there was a lion still inside are not among our ancestors. That's how our innate sense of arithmetics evolved. The problem is, our senses are only adapted to our environment (ie: macroscopic phenomena on Earth). We can still understand very well certain phenomena in the Universe; even Relativity is understandable, although counter-intuitive. Quantum mechanics, on the other hand, is just sets of equations on paper; it's comprehensible but not understandable. Most likely, there are things in the Universe that cannot even be mathematicized and thus will always be beyond our capabilities of abstraction and comprehension.
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  11

  Will Cloning Disprove the Resurrection?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok, we take a skin cell from you.. we use its nucleus to create a clone - of you.. we train it in all your memories and abilities.

  we use "false memory" techniques to convince the clone.

  that its memories are real.. is it you?

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  Joseph Joachim

  Sleepy, you said: this statment is based on too many asumptions"There's no "you" appart from your neural conections".

  Actually, my statement is based on only one assumption: that all thaught processes take place in the brain. Most people will agree with that, except those who were taught until not too long ago that the literal heart was the source of human feelings - guess whom?

  I do admit, though, that neuroscience has only a very faint idea of how the brain actually works, and what conscience really is (if it really is something at all).

  It turns out that I'm just reading a very interesting book on the topic (which also deals with the problem of vision you ask for): "How the mind works" by Steven Pinker. Highly recommendable.

  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393318486/qid=1014053959/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/102-6339765-8508147
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  Swiss cult leader: ain't she cool?

  by Joseph Joachim in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  why is it that us-spawned sects are always led by men?

  the most renowned swiss cult leader is uriella.

  she calls herself "jesus christ only speaking-tube" (sic).

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  Joseph Joachim

  

  Why is it that US-spawned sects are always led by men? The most renowned Swiss cult leader is Uriella. She calls herself "Jesus Christ only speaking-tube" (sic). Her heavenly appointment was somewhat similar to Paul's: she landed on her head while riding a horse, in 1970. Last week they were expecting UFOs to take them to Heaven, but again they didn't show up.

  More info: http://www.uni-mainz.de/~gruensch/UFO/fiatlux.html
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  11

  Will Cloning Disprove the Resurrection?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok, we take a skin cell from you.. we use its nucleus to create a clone - of you.. we train it in all your memories and abilities.

  we use "false memory" techniques to convince the clone.

  that its memories are real.. is it you?

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  Joseph Joachim

  2SYN says: There is no way to reproduce the quantum-level influences that compose your psyche, as they can only be described using higher-dimensional functions [8>]

  Darling, do you think you're going to impress me with your gibberish? You have no idea what you're talking about. Quantum-level phenomena affects the functioning of neurons as much as an atomic explosion on Earth affects the orbit of Jupiter.

  Erich: Ich spreche nur ein bischen Deutsch. I do live in Switzerland but I'm originally from Argentina. And you're right that neurons could be replaced by any other material (such as a silicon chip) and you wouldn't notice it as long as it performs exactly the same functions as the good old neurons.

  J.J.
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  11

  Will Cloning Disprove the Resurrection?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok, we take a skin cell from you.. we use its nucleus to create a clone - of you.. we train it in all your memories and abilities.

  we use "false memory" techniques to convince the clone.

  that its memories are real.. is it you?

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  Joseph Joachim

  Metatron,

  There's no "you" appart from your neural conections. If someone could manage to reassemble each and all of your neural conections 100 years after you pass away, that person would feel the same sense of continued existence that you feel each morning when you wake up. It would be "you", in other words. Now, if someone put together two identical copies of your brain, then both persons will see themselves as "you". I think the problem arises when the concept of "you" is contemplated in a prospective way; in my opinion, it only makes sense in a retrospective way.

  J.J.

  PS: This post should not be interpreted as an endorsement of any sort of Christian belief in afterlife, JW-type or other.
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  125

  Criminal , new US ally

  by Norm in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the norwegian newspaper vg, reports: iraqi general nizar al-khazraji was the man behind the butchering of 180,000 iraqi kurds in 1988. he was one of saddam's faithful generals.

  he later had to flee iraq and is living on a secret address in denmark.

  he is under investigation by the danish police.. ---------------------------------------------------.

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  Joseph Joachim

  Has it slipped your collective minds that each and every one of America’s friends across the sea would be speaking German as its native language if America had not taken the actions it has in the past?

  Freeman, I have little to add to Abaddon post; just wanted to remind you that the US didn't enter WWII just to help their European friends but to protect itself after Pearl Harbour, when you realized that you were not invulnerable. Exactly the same thing happened after 9/11. Do you remember the TV series Babylon 5? Well, I think Americans are like the Vorlons. You basically defend your own interests; helping others is just a side effect. This is perfectly legitimate, on the other hand; the problem is that you don't want to admit it.
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  125

  Criminal , new US ally

  by Norm in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the norwegian newspaper vg, reports: iraqi general nizar al-khazraji was the man behind the butchering of 180,000 iraqi kurds in 1988. he was one of saddam's faithful generals.

  he later had to flee iraq and is living on a secret address in denmark.

  he is under investigation by the danish police.. ---------------------------------------------------.

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  Joseph Joachim

  Well, Osama bin Laden himself was supported by the US when Afghanistan was under Soviet ocupation. But it seems that americans have now learnt the lesson.
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  57

  SEX, LIES, DEMONS, & APOSTASY

  by You Know in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  the issue is as old as eden itself, that being: does god have the right to tell us what to do?

  that core question, more than anything else, defines what jehovahs witnesses are about, in that we are outspoken advocates and supporters of jehovahs right as sovereign to require obedience from his creatures.

  the flip side of that is, of course, rebellion against god, which is expressed in numerous ways and on all levels of society.

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  Joseph Joachim

  Interestingly, verse 10 goes on to say: “Yet these men are speaking abusively of all the things they really do not know ...”

  Interestingly, verse 10 applies to you but you can't see it.
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  Revelation and a time line?????

  by lydia in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been studing the book of revelation for some time now... the understanding i have of the dubs is that it is a time line...i have always had a hard time with that since so many of the visions give the similar description about it.. recently i have read the augsburg comentary on the new testament revelation..... it gives the opinion that it is not ment as a time line but as a cycle of viions that are giving a diffrent version of the same idea...and the main theme is worship... anyone have a diffrent pespective?

  ?

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  Joseph Joachim

  Lydia, the book of Revelation is not a profetic book, it's an apocalyptic book. Actually, there are no profetic books in the Bible, there are books writen by Profets (or their associates), which is not the same thing. Anyways, that's besides the point. It turns out that I've been reading some serious books about the topic to reply to my father, who recently sent me a letter saying that the recent world events are in accordance with the WT explanation of Babylon the Great, blah blah blah (perhaps I should post the letter here because it's really funny). OK, to make the story short, this is the book I recommend: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0664253636/qid%3D1012325779/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F0%5F1/002-5805857-8268815 There must be some others, but this one is the one I know (in english) that I can recommend.
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  16

  The Pope...

  by Abaddon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ... well, in addition to condoms being bad, now the pope says lawyers who work on divorce cases are doing something bad.. poor old guy; he should retire, but he really believes and will likely die in harness or become so decrepit that he is no longer capable and will be replaced.. however, at least jw's don't corner the market in saying stupid things!.

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  people living in glass paradigms shouldn't throw stones...

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  Joseph Joachim

  I thought the dead Popes were more interesting as they are preserved and presented in glass caskets inside St. Peters.

  Dang, I didn't take a picture of John XXIII's mummy because I thought it was a replica. I was there for Christmas too (not for the Mass, though). The church in Rome that I liked most was not San Pietro but San Paolo fuori le Muri, where the aposle Paul is buried. I bought a cross there, that I wear every day. Heck, I think I've definitely turned into an apostate.