BBW, Cofty writes “fiction” and you respond by posting links to two movies. That’s rather odd to say the least.
Sam Harris gave a TED talk agreeing with your thesis.
You may, or may not, enjoy his discussion on the subject:
i think it is inevitable.
i don't worry about it but it just seems that the human race is going down a road that they can't make a turn off.. they are probing/discovering how the human mind works and produces intelligence down to the individual molecule.
now with the invention of the super quantum computer soon we will be able to build even better artificial intelligence greater than our own, so it will be easily able to out smart us because will we be a bunch of dumb apes first discovering how to make fire in it's eyes.. it will have it's own different agendas than us humans.
BBW, Cofty writes “fiction” and you respond by posting links to two movies. That’s rather odd to say the least.
Sam Harris gave a TED talk agreeing with your thesis.
You may, or may not, enjoy his discussion on the subject:
so i woke up this morning with nothing planned for the day.
i rolled out of bed around 9am and went to local mcky ds to get some breakfast, and lord and behold there was a group of jdubs sitting around eating and sipping on coffee, probable counting time.
anyway, i glanced over and recognized all of them and they glanced back at me.
That’s what you get for going to McDonald’s. It’s bad for your health!
Seriously, it takes time to change our view of things and no longer be bothered by their judgmental stares.
Have you ever read Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter?
It’s an important read for all ex-cult members, particularly those if us that have had to deal with shunning and public shaming. No spoilers, but the way Hester Prynne, the protagonist, handles the situation with courage and dignity is really inspiring.
so i'm at work and go to my vehicle parked outside the empty property i'm working at and an elderly man comes out of next door and we recognise each other from when we were elders in the same circuit.
he is early 80's in age, a jw since the 1960's and so the next generation in age up from me.. he's an outwardly jolly sort and asks how i am etc.
(knows i'm not an elder but thinks i'm pimi) and asks if i want a cup of tea so i go in and sit in his kitchen for my lunchbreak and have a chat.. i have a little fish around and ask about how jw's in his hall are.
Wasaelder: Cant fault the old guy.
Sure we can. We might understand him, but that doesn’t excuse the inexcusable. Everyone—EVERYONE—is ultimately responsible for the consequences of their decisions and their actions.
is your retreat .
an actual location, or simply a quiet place in your mind?.
i attended a concert on sunday, a featured piece having been commissioned by a composer who lives in the city but retreats to an island in the puget sound (usa) to write his music.
zeb: Chumash people? a little info please.
The Chumash People ... once numbered in the tens of thousands and lived along the coast of California. At one time, their territory encompassed 7,000 square miles that spanned from the beaches of Malibu to Paso Robles.
You know how Google works, right?
is your retreat .
an actual location, or simply a quiet place in your mind?.
i attended a concert on sunday, a featured piece having been commissioned by a composer who lives in the city but retreats to an island in the puget sound (usa) to write his music.
is your retreat .
an actual location, or simply a quiet place in your mind?.
i attended a concert on sunday, a featured piece having been commissioned by a composer who lives in the city but retreats to an island in the puget sound (usa) to write his music.
Good question, HB. I dunno. I wasn’t there at the time!
Seriously though, both mammoths and mastadons have been found near here.
is your retreat .
an actual location, or simply a quiet place in your mind?.
i attended a concert on sunday, a featured piece having been commissioned by a composer who lives in the city but retreats to an island in the puget sound (usa) to write his music.
Tallon,
That is one of my favorite getaways too!
Music can take us to places we could never travel to in the real, physical world!
jp
is your retreat .
an actual location, or simply a quiet place in your mind?.
i attended a concert on sunday, a featured piece having been commissioned by a composer who lives in the city but retreats to an island in the puget sound (usa) to write his music.
Not far from where I live is an ancient (now abandoned) Chumash village. I like to walk the path through the narrow valley, following the trail to its end.
Along the way there are two spots that I will sometimes stop just to enjoy the peaceful solitude.
The first is where there are a few large flat rocks. One has several places where the Chumash would grind acorns to make meal. Some of the hollows are five or six inches deep. How many generations of hands must have done that work to make such a deep and lasting impression? What kinds of things did they talk about while they worked? What were their hopes, their dreams, their fears?
A hundred feet or so farther up the trail is a rock formation about 15 feet tall. It has the distinctive shape of an elephant when approached from the west, which is the direction of the village. For anyone that has ever seen an elephant, the resemblance is remarkable and immediately recognizable.
But I often wonder what these ancient peoples thought of this rock. Wooly mammoth remains have been discovered not far from this spot so perhaps they were familiar with them from their very distant past. Did the elders pass on tales of an unforgotten, but long-gone monster? Surely the last Chumash that lived near here would never have seen such a beast. So maybe for them this was merely on oddly shaped rock resembling nothing familiar or recognizable and therefore was meaningless to them. Or did their imaginations allow them to conjure up stories of a mighty, mythical beast inspired by the lines and shadows of this living rock sculpted by nature alone?
Even though this place is well known locally, it’s easy to find times to go there when there are few, if any, other visitors. Because of how it’s set in a small, narrowing valley it can be extremely quiet there. Except for the intrusion of an occasional plane passing overhead, I can enjoy extended moments of near total silence there, immersed in only the sounds of nature.
It is a sacred place.
Perhaps I’ll go there this morning.
a couple of times at the meetings this year we've been told that in the future we might get some strange directions from the society that might not make any sense to us.
then they've said will we show our loyalty to jehovah by still obeying?
seems a rather unusual thing to say.
“At that time, the life-saving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not.” - Watchtower, November 2013 Study Edition, “Seven Shepherds, Eight Dukes,” paragraph 17
FYI: The day they studied this article in January of 2014 was the last time I set foot in a Kingdom Hall.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/how-to-escape-from-jehovah-s-witnesses-religion#/.
for $150: collaboration with the backer so that their story of successfully escaping an abusive belief system (300 words max) features along with others in the final pages of how to escape from jehovah's witnesses.
the text will be written by the author but will include a minimum of one quote worded by the backer.
Diogenesister: I was using air quotes so you knew I was being facetious.
Yes, I knew that because I'm familiar with your postings.
Sorry if it wasn't clear. I was running with the joke.
jp