Thursday, February 26, 2009

Alas, I must bail on my promise to list my unexplainable personal coincidences. As a member of the psychedelic generation, I cannot exceed certain social mores which prescribe the endless detailing of marvelous trips. If you've ever been buttonholed by a gibbering panhandler, you'll know why. I can assure you however that the stories were more fantastic then the fever dreams of the entire Bush Administration, though unfortunately they didn't include sex, violence, money, or world domination. Not a lot anyway.

But they did offer some interesting etiological questions about cause and effect. In fact, without another explanation, it would be reasonable to attribute the phenomena to influences of an unseen social entity. Some people say the world is a result of the social interaction between people and unseen beings, who 's awareness adds coherency and who created physical stuff so it could fulfill some kind of destiny (which obviously happened, so that's the proof).

For example: Some guy is having trouble with his car's clutch, he can't afford to have it fixed in a shop, he's never pulled an engine, and doesn't have the tools. What to do? He walks uptown to have some coffee, he doesn't drive because his clutch is out (in a fairly large city) and while crossing a random street, glances up the block and spies an innocuous brown paper lunch sack on the curb. He has a distinct impression that the sack contains the tools he needs. "That's illogical" he tells himself and continues up to the Café. Thoughts about the bag keep gnawing on him though, so he resolves to look on the way back, if it's still there. It is, he does, and there are the tools.

What happened?

  • If it was it god or the devil, then whatever happened to the guy and that car since, is the intended result. As superior social beings, it's their fault or credit. They are accountable, and he's just a hapless pawn.
  • It was god "A" getting revenge on god "B", concerning some fracas that took place long ago in a galaxy far, far away.
  • He subconsciously overheard someone talking about exactly what he needed, when he needed it, giving the location. So it was a simple matter to go over and pick it up.
  • Good or evil had nothing to do with it. Like Remote Viewing, used by the US and Russia during the Cold War (and practically every shamanic culture), it was his own desire and awareness that located the nearest available tools that he needed. ("cosmic consciousness" dude) The Café excursion was just an excuse of logic. (rent the DVD "Suspect Zero", the movie is kind'a harsh, but there's a bonus clip on remote viewing that seems authentic).
    • A word of caution about Remote Viewing: I decided to buy a course from Ed Ames was appalled by his crass & commercial presentation. It's possible that the problem lies with the ad agency, but even so, it's an insult to the buyers who make up that market. It cost $300 which is another way of saying "Greedy stupid people pay outlandish money for our unproven product because they think it will give them anything they want! We have nothing to loose by insulting your intelligence because we don't respect you anyway!". You have to ask to get off their spam list, or they'll assume you'll want to buy 50 other CDs w/ similar crap for the same price.
  • The story could be fake.


Although I have that story from the most credible source possible, there's no way to prove it. The only reason for you to take my word would be if believing benefits you somehow. for example:

  • someone offers you 72 virgins &/or a place at gods right hand after you're dead.
  • retelling will amaze your friends so you gain stature (unless you blow it). You get to be seen, at ease, with rich guys and your social superiors if you tell their story and lend them credibility. By retelling their story, you establish your own social superiority, and can then qualify to join the republican party, or the church & be saved from the forked tongue of The Deceiver.
  • it agrees with your previous experience.


How many times have you picked up the phone and knew who the caller was before they spoke? Some other occasions might be: knowing that something is imminent, like a cop car is behind you, your kid is waking up, someone or a piece of information is about to arrive.

Stuff happens all the time, the problem is that it's a sin to question god.
godbuster

church essentials
Atheism in search of an identity more (I don't like the asterisk, #9 is my choice)

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Ok, Ok, so god doesn't ignore you because he answered your secret longing. I can't argue specifics if someone wants to hang gods name on the cause, but there are other possibilities. The framework of expectation determines the probable cause, ask a cop, even an objective one. Unreasonable faith is not a credible aspiration.

Yaaaah! Awaken oh religious people, you're not gullible enough, you should be ashamed! wups that's what got you into this mess, silly me. Unreasonable Faith isn't something to brag about, it's swallowing 7200 pounds of pure and unblemished virgin crap in one gulp. It might make the Guinness world record for credulity, but the only way you'll ever be respected for "unreasonable faith" is by explaining the reasoning behind it. Good luck. You do it because everyone else in your community does it. If they all went to war, would you go too? ... OK, wrong question, how about: If they all met weekly to recite banal platitudes that justify righteous arrogance and condescension toward others, would you do it ... ahh .. too? Why is this so hard? The Lord must be messing with me. OK but which Lord? Hamlet had this problem when a ghost claiming to be his Dad told him that he'd been murdered.

Thus I propose a Play to be staged, the plot shall be such that it shall portray the symphony of society, wherein the wealthy shall be played by the homeless, the homeless shall be played by the rich, the Devout shall portray Atheistst, the clergy shall play the whore, .. uh ok, but every other station and situation shall be interpreted by it's nemesis. I myself shall be the director and everyone shall surely give me timely advice in all that I should do.

Well that looks like a mess, but we'll see who chickens out first.

How to create less selfish societies (physorg) a kind-of-hard read.
Atheists banned from public service in 6 states

Coming soon: My personal list of unexplainable coincidences. Don't miss it!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Not enough Jihad lately?
Islam makes the offer of 72 virgins, like it's an incentive. Most men have enough trouble with only one. It's true girls can be sweet, but 2 or more can also be remorselessly catty & vindictive. With just one person's attention to compete for, I imagine all those martyrs will about now be hiding out in heavens tractor shed, speaking in whispers. No wonder it's part of the offer, it probably screens for total ignorance, or a tendency to suicide. Wasn't Mohammed famous for being an honest judge, a critical thinker and peacemaker, like when some tribes were at war, or about to start one? Duh.

Meanwhile in other news, more religious myth: The Jewish "Race"

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The case for multiple gods
(I'm not selling this, it just seems worth considering since the 3 main western religions are all monotheistically attached to the same god, and behave like selfish idiots):

Without feedback, how would you know you exist? You'd be like in a coma. If you're God, where do you get self awareness? There needs to be something "other" for perception to occur. Where does the other come from? If you're God and are self aware, there must be something else. If you're "The One God", you should be completely spaced out and unaware of everything, without need or conflict. (even dreams require hormonal plumbing and a physiology to support it). Seem trivial? I think not, it's absolute proof that god ignores you because he doesn't exist. religions are all part of a big plot, see ... yawn.

ok, it's not just Yaweh, they're all full of bullying manipulators, (you're not guilty enough). So why do we even consider something as unprovable as a god? More about playing the "getting conned" game: 20% of crime confessions are false (Scientific American), and false confessions (also Scientific American). I keep coming back to it so much that it's starting to sound (to me) like old news. There's a thesis there, get on it (somebody).

Maybe I'm going at this wrong: Here's someone in a hut throwing rocks at shadows, or a van full of hippies channeling Seth, or a bunch of people in a laboratory trying to retro-engineer a primary algorithm. Their results all conflict, since causality is lacking & nothing makes sense, we'll just trust that the folks that feed us, won't eat us (no guarantee, so keep your head down) and faith claims the day.

But non conclusion doesn't equate w/ confusion, it's not the result that's of interest, it's the process of formulation. nonsense is relative to the observer. The part of the brain that makes sense of what we see, is connected to the part that trusts. It's like basic orientation, the confidence that an observation won't change when one blinks (which is a dead giveaway that you're dreaming, and/or proof of hallucination). Said confidence is taken for granted (especially if you're a slight-of-hand artist), and used for locating ones self in relation to the world, a ram buffer for short term memory. Bummer when you find you've been driving for 10 minutes and forgot where you are & don't recognize landmarks? Why would that make a person feel insecure, & insecure of what? getting mugged? going crazy? wandering empty streets till you starve, run out of gas & are finally eaten by zombies (happens all the time)? Believing in confusion is what makes it confusing. "God is unknowable" no kidding, duh, if that's part of the definition, why go there? It's also possible that god is just another word for whatever happens, & life goes on as well by any other name, except without all the guilt & exploitation.