tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post411089482083384657..comments2024-03-29T06:03:45.545-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: Don't Poop Under the Dinner Table, and Other Rules of EtiquetteGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-31325788052511928042008-01-23T19:23:00.000-08:002008-01-23T19:23:00.000-08:00Re: MPThat's shocking. But maybe once I warm up f...Re: MP<BR/><BR/>That's shocking. But maybe once I warm up from tonight's freeze, I'll see it as not so... I can't think of the word. Would need to finish thawing first. [It's VERY cold in my neck of the woods this week. Getting home after work, my fingers lost feeling. Where are those gloves when I really need them.)<BR/><BR/>I guess the thing missing from MP is some kind of smell representation. Then it would be closer to then. I can't believe I am writing this long in re: that.<BR/><BR/>Ciao.Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16900344453710081874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-44766267125005782222008-01-23T00:07:00.000-08:002008-01-23T00:07:00.000-08:00It may have been the 1600s that the upper class ge...It may have been the 1600s that the upper class gentlemen of Europe stopped pointing out turds to each other and holding them to smell.<BR/><BR/>But some of the rabble here <A HREF="http://www.misterpoo.com" REL="nofollow">are still doing it.</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-42804339018428789842008-01-18T20:44:00.000-08:002008-01-18T20:44:00.000-08:00A better way to put it:THANK YOU for the post!!!A better way to put it:<BR/><BR/>THANK YOU for the post!!!Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16900344453710081874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-32018517337621658212008-01-18T08:36:00.000-08:002008-01-18T08:36:00.000-08:00In a half-light of judgment, I ask, would it be ap...In a half-light of judgment, I ask, would it be appropriate or relevant for me to shout "thank you for this post!" Three cheers for civilization! I'm just hoping a display of thanks isn't uncivilized.<BR/><BR/>Civilization tops my list of what I'm grateful for; it probably vies for a number 2 spot.Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16900344453710081874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-18008498893282135622008-01-18T07:03:00.000-08:002008-01-18T07:03:00.000-08:00My personal favorite theory is that women civilize...My personal favorite theory is that women civilized men by inventing the <A HREF="http://www.temple-telegram.com/story/2008/01/18/46440" REL="nofollow">BALL.</A><BR/><BR/>"Here - ya'll take THIS <I>outside</I> and throw it, kick it, bat it, punch it, knock it around."Mizz Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02325435271880036807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-771871377229022792008-01-17T23:55:00.000-08:002008-01-17T23:55:00.000-08:00NoMo,in short: The main characters of the Bible, t...NoMo,<BR/>in short: The main characters of the Bible, those who lived close to the ever growing light God shone into the world, became the main civilizing impulse for what eventually became our culture. It was not the only place where divine grace dripped into the world, but it was a special project for that express purpose. This is why they stood out from their neighbors then, and still do. I am not surprised to see that we largely agree after all.Magnus Itlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18445902788427523461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-58632025890761840682008-01-17T22:00:00.000-08:002008-01-17T22:00:00.000-08:00Two late thoughts ...Thought the smaller: Some of ...Two late thoughts ...<BR/><BR/>Thought the smaller: Some of the Manchester's conclusions (though not the facts) are contested by Rodney Stark in <I>The Victory of Reason</I>. It's a controversial book, but I find it convincing.<BR/><BR/>Thought the larger: At one time children had no time to grow up. They had to do it as fast as they could. Then we 'invented' childhood and gave children time to practice responsibility, and created institutions (Boy Scouting, schools, etc.) to help. Then we decided that adults should have to be responsible, and we shouldn't expect children to be responsible either. I've just passed my half-century, and when I was in fourth grade I carried a pocketknife. Not everyone did, but as we got older more and more did. Today a fourth grader can be hauled off to jail (with his parents) if he has a plastic knife to cut his lunch with. We have not only washed off the dirt, but we've taken the skin and are working on the muscle and bone.<BR/><BR/>Personally, I think it irresponsible for an adult <I>not</I> to have a pocketknife or multitool. The TSA obviously disagrees.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-36672713932932969912008-01-17T21:32:00.000-08:002008-01-17T21:32:00.000-08:00"aggression, on its own, is motivating, and that t..."aggression, on its own, is motivating, and that the well-known positive reinforcer dopamine plays a critical role"<BR/><BR/>yup 'splains why trouncing ananoMice is sooooo much funAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-65871135433795505192008-01-17T21:23:00.000-08:002008-01-17T21:23:00.000-08:00Here's the thing. Just like God's chosen people in...Here's the thing. Just like God's chosen people influenced the behavior of the ancient world around them for good - and have always been despised by Evil for it, so do God's people influence the world around them today - and are also despised by Evil for it. <BR/><BR/>Short of the influence of the light of God's people in the world, there's nothing left but unabated evil, violent and black. Falleness only devolves into further blackness. Falleness doesn't evolve into light short of individual acts of God's grace towards individual human beings. <BR/><BR/>If every small light were removed from the world all in a moment - well, its hard to imagine the horror left behind. Oh wait, <A HREF="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=73&chapter=9&version=72" REL="nofollow">number 9</A> comes to mind.<BR/><BR/>Oops, sorry, did I poop under the dinner table?NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-39310814432650609332008-01-17T20:23:00.000-08:002008-01-17T20:23:00.000-08:00Magnus, 11:14 AM:"The reason we execute witches is...Magnus, 11:14 AM:<BR/><BR/>"The reason we execute witches is that we do not believe there are such things. If we did - if we REALLY thought that there were people going about who had sold themselves to the devil and received supernatural powers from him in return, and were using these powers to kill their neighbors or drive them mad or bring bad weather - then surely we would all agree that if anyone deserved the death penalty, these filthy quislings did? There is no difference of moral principle here; the difference is simply about matter of fact. It may be a great advance in knowledge not to believe in witches: it is no moral advance in not executing them when you do not think they are there. You would not call a man humane for ceasing to set mousetraps if he did so because he believed there were no mice in the house." -- C S LewisAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-16361770208020306892008-01-17T20:17:00.000-08:002008-01-17T20:17:00.000-08:00I just saw this on Yahoo. The coincidences that ta...I just saw this on Yahoo. The coincidences that tally up here at OC are kind of spooky sometimes.<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>Humans Crave Violence Just Like Sex Jeanna Bryner<BR/>LiveScience Staff Writer<BR/>LiveScience.com <BR/>Thu Jan 17, 10:16 AM ET<BR/> <BR/><BR/><BR/>New research on mice shows the brain processes aggressive behavior as it does other rewards. Mice sought violence, in fact, picking fights for no apparent reason other than the rewarding feeling. <BR/><BR/> <BR/>The mouse brain is thought to be analogous to the human brain in this study, which could shed light on our fascination with brutal sports as well as our own penchant for the classic bar brawl. <BR/><BR/><BR/>In fact, the researcher say, humans seem to crave violence just like they do sex, food or drugs. <BR/><BR/><BR/>Love to fight <BR/><BR/><BR/>Scientists have known that mice and other animals are drawn to fights. Until now, they didn't know how the brain was involved. <BR/><BR/><BR/>The new study, detailed online this week in the journal Psychopharmacology, reveals the same clusters of brain cells involved in other rewards are also behind the craving for violence. <BR/><BR/><BR/>"Aggression occurs among virtually all vertebrates and is necessary to get and keep important resources such as mates, territory and food," said study team member Craig Kennedy, professor of special education and pediatrics at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. "We have found that the reward pathway in the brain becomes engaged in response to an aggressive event and that dopamine is involved." <BR/><BR/><BR/>Mouse brawl <BR/><BR/><BR/>For the experiments, the researchers placed a pair of mice, one male and one female, in a cage. Then, the female was removed and a so-called male intruder mouse entered the cage. That triggered aggressive behavior in the resident male. The tell-tale signs of aggression included tail rattle, an aggressive sideways stance, boxing and biting. <BR/><BR/><BR/>After the initial scuffle ended, the resident male mouse was trained to nose-poke a target to get the intruder to return. Results showed the home mouse consistently poked the target and fought with the introduced mouse, indicating, the researchers say, that the aggressive encounter was seen as a reward. <BR/><BR/><BR/>"We learned from these experiments that an individual will intentionally seek out an aggressive encounter solely because they experience a rewarding sensation from it," Kennedy said. <BR/><BR/><BR/>To figure out whether the brain's reward pathway was involved, the scientists treated the home mice with a drug to block dopamine in certain parts of the brain known to be involved in rewards like food and drugs. <BR/><BR/><BR/>The treated mice were less likely to instigate the intruder's entry. “This shows for the first time that aggression, on its own, is motivating, and that the well-known positive reinforcer dopamine plays a critical role," Kennedy said. <BR/><BR/><BR/>Human violence <BR/><BR/><BR/>Kennedy explained that the experiments have implications for humans. The reward pathway in the brains of humans and mice are very similar, he said. <BR/><BR/><BR/>"Aggression is highly conserved in vertebrates in general and particularly in mammals," Kennedy told LiveScience. "Almost all mammals are aggressive in some way or another." <BR/><BR/><BR/>He added, "It serves a really useful evolutionary role probably, which is you defend territory; you defend your mate; if you're a female, you defend your offspring." <BR/><BR/><BR/>Even though it served a purpose for other animals, in modern human societies, Kennedy said, a propensity toward aggression is not beneficial and can be a problem. <BR/><BR/>Top 10 Mysteries of the Mind <BR/>10 Things You Didn't Know About You <BR/>Life's Little Mysteries <BR/>Original Story: Humans Crave Violence Just Like Sex<BR/>Visit LiveScience.com for more daily news, views and scientific inquiry with an original, provocative point of view. LiveScience reports amazing, real world breakthroughs, made simple and stimulating for people on the go. Check out our collection of Science, Animal and Dinosaur Pictures, Science Videos, Hot Topics, Trivia, Top 10s, Voting, Amazing Images, Reader Favorites, and more. Get cool gadgets at the new LiveScience Store, sign up for our free daily email newsletter and check out our RSS feeds today!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-44477060221563722272008-01-17T17:05:00.000-08:002008-01-17T17:05:00.000-08:00nomo, i agree...different circumstances, different...nomo, i agree...different circumstances, different customs, etc...but still human. not as alien as it could be made to sound.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-84367906148163750692008-01-17T17:02:00.000-08:002008-01-17T17:02:00.000-08:00Looking inside a different toolbox. Music to my ...Looking inside a different toolbox. Music to my <I>besotted</I> ears:<BR/><BR/>"Theology must instead continue to draw from a source of knowledge that it has not invented and that is always greater than itself, and which always renews the process of thinking since it is never totally exhausted by reflection." ~ PB16<BR/><BR/>From <B>the speech Pope Benedict did not deliver</B> at Rome's Universita degli Studi "La Sapienza", scheduled for today and cancelled yesterday. <A HREF="http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=56017" REL="nofollow">Full gallon here.</A>Mizz Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02325435271880036807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-3383119267203286122008-01-17T16:22:00.000-08:002008-01-17T16:22:00.000-08:00" I certainly don't romanticize their lives, I jus..." I certainly don't romanticize their lives, I just don't view them as somehow far less evolved."<BR/><BR/>With the exception of Israel, they seemed to have stopped evolving many centuries ago in the ME, unless they are making a conscious choice to behave like barbarians, which is even worse.debasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13546940741042023260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-85546406382464722942008-01-17T16:15:00.000-08:002008-01-17T16:15:00.000-08:00Will--Cooncur! (p. 285, f. 104)Will--<BR/><BR/>Cooncur! (p. 285, f. 104)Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-363877872999724982008-01-17T16:05:00.000-08:002008-01-17T16:05:00.000-08:00>>Everyone just "knew" that the air was filled wit...>>Everyone just "knew" that the air was filled with ghosts, ghouls, incubi, the spirits of unbaptized infants, water nymphs, sprites, fairies, and vampires<<<BR/><BR/>In Medieval times the average Hans knew the exact safety protocols to be performed in case one encountered a ghost in the woods - pretty much like many of us know how to conduct ourselves in late-night, crime-infested areas. Of course, the threats to us are real enough. And, I might argue, the ghostly threats to Medieval citizens might well have been real enough, at least in many situations. <BR/><BR/>Being that the Medieval citizen was of aboriginal, pre-self awareness consciousness level, he or she might very well have had an intuitive awareness that more readily bridged dimensional levels than does our modern objective awareness. This is to say that they could have had an non-reflective "astral" awareness".<BR/><BR/>The whole evolutionary scheme is, according to folks like Rudolph Steiner, the movement from non-self reflective, aboriginal awareness (with it's astral dimension intuition) to self-reflective, individualistic objective awareness, and then eventually to a indiviudalistic awareness that consciously extends into the higher planes of being.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-91152223965703413862008-01-17T16:04:00.000-08:002008-01-17T16:04:00.000-08:00Aren't the middle ages notorious for being particu...Aren't the middle ages notorious for being particularly "uncivilized"? In other words, wasn't that time clouded by the obscurity of non-objective thinking as propagated by the Catholic Church at the time? <BR/><BR/>I am at work and am distracted but trying to cobble this meager attempt of a question together.<BR/><BR/>There were about 1,000 years where progress and culture were eclipsed;<BR/>the culture was affected, etc...<BR/><BR/>So perhaps the middle ages as a reference point only applies to that time but not all times, psychologically and in some other respects. <BR/><BR/>A rather pathetic attempt but consider it rough notes for a rough draft.Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16900344453710081874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-3952811502990704142008-01-17T16:01:00.000-08:002008-01-17T16:01:00.000-08:00Magnus - I certainly don't romanticize their lives...Magnus - I certainly don't romanticize their lives, I just don't view them as somehow far less evolved.NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-35998286975630658132008-01-17T15:40:00.000-08:002008-01-17T15:40:00.000-08:00NoMo,The characters of the Bible aren't random peo...NoMo,<BR/>The characters of the Bible aren't random people who happened to live long ago. They were certainly not typical of their time. (Of course, neither are we.)<BR/><BR/>Even so, I really think most of us would shrink back from having children with our slaves, celebrating a good harvest by visiting a prostitute, massacring the children and livestock of idolators, or sacrificing the first person of the household who meets us after a God-given victory. They were certainly people like us, but they were also people very unlike us, all at the same time.<BR/><BR/>The truth is that even these, we tend to see through the lens of our own age. Not least these, because they had the same spirit that we are drinking, and so we are sorely tempted to think they also had the same soul. That is not entirely the case, though.Magnus Itlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18445902788427523461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-46692570340191043842008-01-17T15:22:00.000-08:002008-01-17T15:22:00.000-08:00...and back to the here and now, I still like Fred......and back to the here and now, <A HREF="http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0108/colon.php3" REL="nofollow">I still like Fred.</A>NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-55027563677885922402008-01-17T15:16:00.000-08:002008-01-17T15:16:00.000-08:00"The poorest Americans today are better off than t..."The poorest Americans today are better off than the European middle class."<BR/><BR/>One shall hear much before the ears fall off.Magnus Itlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18445902788427523461noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-1725944206468716922008-01-17T15:10:00.000-08:002008-01-17T15:10:00.000-08:00boozophile says it all.boozophile says it all.debasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13546940741042023260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-54519314647304391692008-01-17T14:12:00.000-08:002008-01-17T14:12:00.000-08:00Debass,"I'm not a NASCAR fan and I don't watch spo...Debass,<BR/><BR/>"I'm not a NASCAR fan and I don't watch sports at all."<BR/><BR/>You poor, poor soul.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-81584806602361118642008-01-17T14:09:00.000-08:002008-01-17T14:09:00.000-08:00At most any point in human history there are those...At most any point in human history there are those who have much for which to be truly thankful, and aren’t - and those who have little for which to be thankful – and are. And by truly thankful, I mean via faith relationship with the Creator / Provider. The “fruits of the spirit” - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness - were identified and written down at least a couple millennia ago as very real then. They are also very real now. What is required for true quality of life? Is it material or is it otherwise? The Bible describes and tells the stories of real people who happened to live long ago. The more time I spend seeking how the truths revealed in that book have application for my life and my spiritual growth, the less fundamental difference I see between those people and us.NoMohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01100042056270224683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-50824387285566543122008-01-17T14:03:00.000-08:002008-01-17T14:03:00.000-08:00You know, I hear a lot of Buddhist trashing from p...You know, I hear a lot of Buddhist trashing from people in this circle, and though I do I accept their criticisms, I only apply it to early Theravada Buddhism, whose whole motivation and aim was to reach the cessation and extinction of Nirvana. This was to be taken as the end itself, the world only thought of as an illusion to be escaped (rightfully given the topic of the post). But then came "The Heart Sutra" with its famous line: "That which is Emptiness is not other than Form, that which is Form is not other than Emptiness." This statement is one of adherence to the reality principle, unlike prior Buddhist history. <BR/><BR/>I mean, even Valentin Tomberg makes the same generalized argument (that Buddhist long for escape)about the Buddhist, that the Buddha and the Christ "came to the same diagnosis, but prescribed different medicine," one being resurrection, the other cessation. <BR/><BR/>Traleg Rinpoche, in his "Liberation through the Mahamudra Meditation", goes as far as to suggest that "In the Buddha's early discourses on the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path begins with the cultivation of the correct view...," which is to say "don't be stupid and forget to form accurate concepts of the world of form." <BR/>I try not to bitch to much and cry like a baby. And I'm not a Buddhist (I'm a wasp , which makes Christianity almost inescapable); and could never imagine myself as one, something Alan Watts taught me. <BR/><BR/>(I actually laugh when people call them self Buddhist around me, since it's obvious to me that they're trying to escape from the infantile forms of Christianity that they were raise on)<BR/><BR/>Just say'n with a smile on my face.<BR/><BR/>I have to go to work now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com