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News Briefs 17-01-2013

Now that we finished moving I have Internet at the office again. What I don’t have anymore? privacy :-/

Thanks to Holly & Inanawhimsey

Quote of the Day:

“I call that mind free, which jealously guards its intellectual rights and powers, which calls no man master, which does not content itself with a passive or hereditary faith, which opens itself to light whencesoever it may come, which receives new truth as an angel from heaven.
I call that mind free, which sets no bounds to its love, which is not imprisoned in itself or in a sect, which recognises in all human beings the image of God and the rights of his children, which delights in virtue and sympathizes with suffering wherever they are seen, which conquers pride, anger, and sloth, and offers itself up a willing victim to the cause of mankind.”

~William Ellery Channing

  1. Killing Room
    [quote=red pill junkie]Now that we finished moving I have Internet at the office again. What I don’t have anymore? privacy :-/[/quote]

    Now I’m totally seeing you as Dexter…

  2. Death of Free Will – not so fast
    The problem with the death of free will argument is the same problem with most of science – studying complexity is too difficult so it incorporates reductionist methodology; studying only parts rather than the whole. The argument given is that the unconscious brain makes decisions before the conscious mind is aware of them – presuming the conscious is independent and a slave to the unconscious mind. This is the chicken/egg debacle.

    The conscious and unconscious are interlinked on a two way highway so to speak. Each influences the other. Of course the unconscious must prepare the conscious for action or we’d all be operating in slow motion and unable to function if we had to consciously think through every action. BUT it is our conscious mind that programs the unconscious for its automatic response for any given set of circumstances and that programming is the source of our free will.

    This is why when we react inappropriately and have regrets after the fact we must exert effort to “change” our reaction the next time – to reprogram our unconscious, or we simply repeat the same undesirable behavior. So yes Dorothy – we have free will, but it must be proactively applied to future actions since our reaction at the given moment is mostly the result of our past programming and a result of our unconscious response, as required to function effectively/efficiently.

    1. voluntary sacrifice
      Kat’s first rule of psychology is: defense mechanisms always cause the problems they’re designed to prevent.

      So, if anyone’s thinking of taking the idea of reprogramming the unconscious to heart, sacrificing your unconscious defense mechanisms might be a good place to start.

      1. it’s a dieting craze
        sweeping Europe, whereby you vacuum the food out of your stomach that you just ate……like your own personal liposuction machine 😛

        i thought it was gross, everyone seems to be talking about in the US, crazy bastards…and Europeans.
        it was my red pill of the day…

      1. free willy
        not even animals have free will, they have bliss because they are unaware of free will, yet they are aware when they are free and not in a cage. but humans are always in some form of cage. my cell phone and computer prove i lack free will…………….and i need a vacation 😛

        1. Experiment as proof of free will?
          [quote=LastLoup]not even animals have free will, they have bliss because they are unaware of free will, yet they are aware when they are free and not in a cage. but humans are always in some form of cage. my cell phone and computer prove i lack free will…………….and i need a vacation :P[/quote]

          Here is an experiment I ran on myself that I consider proof of free will. Some years ago I noticed when something was falling say off a table I often didn’t react and just watched it fall – even if there was time to react. So I began speaking to myself – directly to my subconscious/unconscious mind telling/commanding it: “you will react perfectly and instantly. You have instant reflexes. Your reflexes are perfect and immediate every time. Etc…” I continued this for weeks and continue til today to reinforce it. Soon I found my reflexes did improve and remain so today. Just this morning I was eating some fruit and part of it dropped from my hand at my mouth, without conscious thought my left hand shot out and caught it mid-fall perfectly. This happens almost daily – saving many a broken glass, etc…

          Do I lack free will because I don’t consciously command my hand to shoot out and catch what is falling? Or is the fact that I thought of the correct language to use in programming my subconscious based on my research that it only comprehends the positive and not the negative; and the fact I chose to persist knowing I was creating a new pattern of behavior, and the fact that now I have reflexes like Peter Parker in Spiderman catching a falling glass before it hits the floor – don’t these provide evidence of free will? I was as surprised as anybody my method actually worked. But it did – anybody can do it.

          I used free will to intentionally bypass my conscious mind and instruct/direct my unconscious to take charge in the matter of reflexes and falling object for the precise purpose of eliminating any delays in action caused by the normal feedback loop that incorporates the conscious mind. I interpret this as evidence of my free will in action.

          Contrary explanations? The mind fascinates me so I enjoy these discussions…

          1. ….
            you are a deeper person than me. to be honest i never had to tell myself to catch something falling off the table. i’ve always had these strange “cat like” reflexes that work so instantly i don’t seem to control it. i seem to be able to tell something is going to fall or move before it does. i even had to do an experiment like this in high school physics about reflexes, and my teacher didn’t believe my answers that i reacted that fast. i suppose i’m taking your example too literally, again i don’t think that deeply. i don’t have the time to. maybe a few years ago i could have but now my life is too complex and difficult. this week alone has been terrible and it’s just getting worse.

          2. LastLoup I didn’t have those
            LastLoup I didn’t have those cat like reflexes, but saw no reason I shouldn’t. And it was also in my high school physics class where my teacher had us try to catch a dollar bill he dangled between two fingers to introduce us to the idea of reflexes and the delay caused by conscious thought. Some of us are gifted with certain talents and some of us have to learn them. The fact the latter is possible is one of many reasons I question the no free will crowd. More likely what their “science” reveals is their “science’s” limitations.

          3. LOL
            wow, i wish we got a dollar bill (though you probably didn’t get to keep it) we used a ruler, and one of those metal old kind with the sharp edges 😛

          4. Higher Self
            Perhaps these experiments are proving what many Eastern religious doctrines have posited for millennia: that behind what we consider our real self (the ego or personality) there exists a deeper aspect of our consciousness (our true or higher self) which is the only thing able to survive physical death.

            Or it could also be that our consciousness can often peer into the future so to speak, if only for a few milliseconds.

          5. RPJ I agree. If only we can
            RPJ I agree. If only we can bypass our conscious mind, i.e. our Ego and communicate directly with our subconscious – or as some say our superconsious – the next and highest level if you believe that, then we would presumably be able to access the universal source of knowledge that every once in awhile filters through to our conscious level as inspiration, or psychic vision, premonition, etc…

            Scientists researching the brain and free will presumably are well entrenched in the consciousness arises from brain activity paradigm, meaning the they will have a narrow and limited interpretation of any findings. While an entirely different interpretation of the same results are possible outside that paradigm.

            There is so much static noise continusouly blaring in our minds that access to our subconscous is generally drowned out. That is why eastern philosphies practice the quieting of the mind to seek enlightenment…

          6. to catch a fly…
            i totally agree with this thought, and realized it before the experiments. there always seems to be some other, perhaps “higher” consciousness present in my life…

          7. Contrary explanations?
            >> Contrary explanations? The mind fascinates me so I enjoy these discussions…

            Not contrary – just a comment on a different aspect of the mind.

            Observation of my thoughts has led me to the conclusion that I always know what my internal dialogue is going to say before it says it – because I’ve already completely thought that thought before the infernal internal idalogue starts to repeat it. So why does the internal dialogue insist on putting every thought into words — and then ruminate on that particular choice of words?

            Monkeys in the dark…

    1. Foxy Lady
      If Meryl Streep had gone on the record & said she believes in UFOs, it would be more difficult for the media to exploit it the same way they approach the subject, specially when celebrities are involved –for the giggle factor.

      Having said that, one has to give this sexy gal credit for making her personal beliefs public.

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