Welcome! I too realized TTATT fairly recently (shortly before I joined JWN), and I haven't figured what I want to do with my life either. But I think it's good for an exiting Witness to just take some time to educate himself and sort of start over, find himself, and acclimate to the real world. No need to rush into a new career when there's so much to learn. I'm actually excited about finally understanding evolutionary science, Biblical scholarship, etc. So much stuff I just had no clue about.
Apognophos
JoinedPosts by Apognophos
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29
Hi
by LucidChimp ini've been lurking here for a year or two now (since i stumbled across ttatt and was stumbled by it), i even started an account some while back and asked a couple of questions.. but i never actually stood up and said hi... so hi, my name's jon and i'm a dubaholic.. .
i was "born in" in the 80s - and grew up on a liquid diet of cheap suits and revelation book pictures (i mean really, group after group just staring at the pictures while not listening, i must have spent more time staring at those pictures than i have any work of art in my life, literally hours at each lurid picture).
i "left" in my teens, but apparently lacking any kind of actual sense, returned to studying with a childhood friend from the congregation in my twenties (although i was never baptised, my entire small family were dubs, so i saw more witnesses than "worldly people" on a regular basis.. they love bombed my arse for years!)..
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RNWT: Has anybody else noticed this:
by TD in--not a big screaming deal, but the heading at the top right of the page is wrong here:.
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Apognophos
Haha! Nice catch! I bet their 'team of proofreaders' didn't check the scripture headers... but how the heck did that even happen? Those things should have been generated by computer.
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Conjuring Uo Our Own Gods
by startingover infound this interesting article in the ny times.
i had never heard of a tulpa before.
for those of us that don't buy into certain posters claims, this may be an explanation.. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/opinion/luhrmann-conjuring-up-our-own-gods.html?_r=0.
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Apognophos
Wow, very interesting. Some real food for thought here, especially the implication that religions that teach a more impersonal God may dwindle in the modern age. I agree with the article that paranoia (the belief that one is being watched without hard evidence) is a trait that was selected for by evolution for its survival benefits.
There's more that could be said on that subject, taking into account theory of mind (ToM). Paranoia is basically theory of mind gone awry, which is to say that a person starts attributing motive or intent to events or behaviors when there is none. Theory of mind in turn comes from our being social animals, and needing to be able to simulate another individual's train of thought in order to work better with them and to compete against them. Other primates have also been observed showing theory of mind.
It's not surprising that primitive man would extrapolate ToM in order to try to understand frightening events like droughts ("Is there a rain god who's mad at us?") and lightning strikes ("Oh no, someone in the sky is trying to kill us!").
Anyway, that's all an aside to the subject of this article. I'd just like to highlight, in line with the OP's suggestion vis a vis certain forum members, that the young man in the article who develops a fox tulpa can actually hear thoughts from it in his head, which seem distinct from his own thoughts. I've never heard of this phenomenon before.
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just when you think you've made friends with a "normal" person
by Hortensia inrode over to the farmer's market with a couple of neighbors, nice women, seem sensible.
the driver stopped in the middle of a block and stared at the coca-cola truck that was parked there.
she said, "do you see the round tower?
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Apognophos
No I don't live in a town with more than the normal amount of mentally ill people. I live in a town that is considered to be "spiritual" by many different groups of true believers, because it's on Mount Shasta.
Warning: Oxymoron detected
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Comprehensive NWT Comparison Project (calling all technically skilled members)
by Apognophos inis anyone aware if this project is already being done by someone?
if not, perhaps we can brainstorm how to go about this, now that the pdf for the revised nwt is out.
a couple initial impressions:.
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Apognophos
I wouldn't be surprised if the format is the same one that was used for the WT Library app for Windows. Some years ago I briefly investigated whether I could read the literature text out of the Society's files with a self-made program, but I gave up when I saw how obfuscated it was. Not being good at reverse-engineering, I didn't get as far as you have with the JW Library files, so I can't say if it's the same method.
But if it is, it makes a bit more sense because files are easier to get to on a desktop app and I don't think the Society wanted people "ripping" their literature and then printing it online, or making competing Library apps.
This seems somewhat futile, as I understand that there are actually a number of unauthorized mobile apps for JWs out there. Does anyone know more about this? I was shown one that displays the daily text, but you can also tap on the scripture and Watchtower citations and the linked text from the NWT or WT actually pops up! If this isn't an app from the Society, it implies that someone is already ripping Watch Tower content successfully. I just learned about this yesterday, and don't have a smart phone to check it out myself, so I could be wrong.
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The governing body are so scared... so very, very scared. (see video)
by apocalypse in.
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http://e-watchman.com/home/2012/11/11/who-really-is-the-faithful-and-discreet-slave.html.
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Apognophos
I was not at the Stanley for the AM, but I've been there for assemblies in the past and gotten a walkaround tour from one of the brothers who helped restore it. I attended the AM at a remote site (assembly hall).
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Heroes of the Bible
by Oubliette inthe thing that first attracted me to a study of the bible was what i got from reading the gospel accounts of jesus.
i was a teenager at the time attending a private religious school.
(i was going there for sports, not religious reasons).. in our religion 101 class, we were required to read all the gospels.
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Apognophos
Yes, I agree. I've come to the conclusion over time that JWs should probably be considered a branch of Judaism, if you go by what they actually do (the focus on rituals, sacrifices, expulsion, blame, guilt, following the letter of a written law and making oral laws), not the ideals they claim to espouse (Christian love, etc.).
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Why doesn't the GB come out with specific rules on counting time
by trujw ini think we all know the reason millions of less hours.
when i was in we went to a rv by the kingdom hall then drove 30 minutes out to the country to knock on a door then back to the city for one more door.
god must be so proud!
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Apognophos
I was pretty naive as a believing Witness. I never paid much attention to how the pioneers stretched their time as much as possible. I hadn't heard of the concept of the pioneer shuffle until I joined JWN, but the last time I worked with a pioneer, having read about the shuffle, it was suddenly obvious that he was wasting time on purpose.
One thing I did notice, that bothered me, was the time spent on mid-morning breaks. Now, I was all for having breaks, I needed one too. But it often seemed that a group had no sense of urgency once the break started; they would chat at length with each other, order foods that took a long time to prepare, etc. If the break went over 15 minutes, I would stop counting my time. I sometimes wondered how the other friends in the car group were handling 30 minute breaks when it came time to fill out their time report.
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The governing body are so scared... so very, very scared. (see video)
by apocalypse in.
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http://e-watchman.com/home/2012/11/11/who-really-is-the-faithful-and-discreet-slave.html.
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Apognophos
Oh my God, this topic is stupid beyond belief. I hope it dies as soon as possible to avoid making the community look bad to lurking JWs.
Did not the curtains open and close several times during the Meeting? I can't remember clearly now if there were any speakers at lecterns positioned behind the curtain, but the tech guy who demoed the JW Library app had his table set up behind the curtains. Curtains are used for obscuring the changing of the stage setup from the audience, and that's what they were used for at the AM.
Perhaps more to the point, the audience at the Stanley was delighted to see the GB in person, as you can tell from how long they clapped at everything. Naturally they were the safest possible group to be in front of for a leader of the religion. How on Earth could that group pose a physical threat to the GB?
Did you even see the Meeting, apocalypse? And were you on your meds when posting this?
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Comprehensive NWT Comparison Project (calling all technically skilled members)
by Apognophos inis anyone aware if this project is already being done by someone?
if not, perhaps we can brainstorm how to go about this, now that the pdf for the revised nwt is out.
a couple initial impressions:.
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Apognophos
Ha, wow. I was thinking before of suggesting trying to look for the app's function for deciphering the text, but I didn't know if it was reasonable to suggest REing the app (I don't know much about Java), so I decided to just wait quietly on the sidelines. It's strange if they really zipped each verse individually, since as Simon said, that's probably not even saving any space.
I assume the encryption key is somewhere in the app package?