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 12 Feb 2007 @ 21:54
From Bostrom's philosophical Simulation Argument to channelled New Age spirituality, philosophers, mystics, science-fiction writers and scientists have been toying for some time with the notion that we are living in a simulation.
Suppose it's true.
In that case, whose simulation are we living in?
David Brin has a humorous tongue-in-cheek take about it: More >
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 12 Feb 2007 @ 18:43
He is a “heart” person, as pollster John Zogby’s Wizard of Oz characterization would have it (where Kerry was perceived as the Tin Man, all brains and no heart, Bush is the Scarecrow, nothing but heart and straw).
When he speaks of "wonderworking power" (a reference to the gospel standard "Power in the Blood"), as he did in his now infamous "mission accomplished" speech, he is drawing that power into being, to make his desires into reality. Politics, strategy, books, the Bible -- everything falls away in the realm of magical realism...
That beautiful...sentiment is a rebuke to all systems, to all theories, to the disenchantment of the world; indeed, it exists on a sort of astral plane, where Christ floats freely, unbound by scripture...
Some will note the Gnostic resonance of such a belief system, but in the modern world it owes more to the resilience of magical thinking than to Gnosticism...
Such beliefs emphasize that certainty is easy, if you'll just give up the illusion of reality, since certainty is as close to you as your own heart. One need not investigate with the tools of rationalism, but rather, simply---the simplicity of it all is key ---feel.
And, well, apparently it works:
If you believe you can do something---become president despite losing the popular vote, launch a war without evidence, and maybe, if you REALLY believe, get re-elected anyway---you can.
More >
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 11 Feb 2007 @ 03:11
Feb 10, 2007
Saturday
Canada
Fascinating article
about a lethal mutation that occurred
in primates 60 million years ago
and presents in modern humans.
link = [link]
it involves absorbic acid somewhat
and the inability of the human body to produce its own
that was lost through a mutation
ed
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 10 Feb 2007 @ 22:22
Very little grows
on jagged rock.
Be ground.
Be crumbled,
so wildflowers
will come up
where you are.
Try something different.
- Rūmī More >
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14 Feb 2007 @ 19:33