tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post6051539501174191200..comments2024-03-27T11:16:36.951-07:00Comments on One Cʘsmos: On Discovering the Old World and Rediscovering the NewGagdad Bobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-23948594316548953352010-01-27T21:50:37.436-08:002010-01-27T21:50:37.436-08:00Ricky said "What do the nano-nano robots get ...Ricky said "What do the nano-nano robots get out of all this"<br /><br />Shazbot! Truly nothing Na nu Na nu under the Orson.<br /><br /><br />(sorry... rootcanal painkillers... it's all blending together...)Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-18046208271018880922010-01-27T21:34:58.452-08:002010-01-27T21:34:58.452-08:00"Kushner also emphasizes that the ultimate me..."Kushner also emphasizes that the ultimate meaning of scripture is that it is your narrative."<br /><br />A particular sticking point for our scientistic aninnies who choose not to believe in free will or consciousness (!).<br /><br />"It is not just about what happened "once upon a time," but what happens every time."<br /><br />24/7, 40 days and 40 nights or 40 years... or for a three hour cruise, bewilderness awaits you....Van Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08470413719262297062noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-38827487907013326192010-01-27T20:46:06.440-08:002010-01-27T20:46:06.440-08:00Walt:
I checked your link. Too funny. I think they...Walt:<br />I checked your link. Too funny. I think they ought to stick a PETA member in a hole somewhere, and if he sees his shadow at midnight they can let him out for six weeks in the winter.<br /><br />JWMJWMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05564732483476859555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-66096279915229501742010-01-27T17:47:32.422-08:002010-01-27T17:47:32.422-08:00This whole subject of blending is extremely deep. ...This whole subject of blending is extremely deep. I recently read Theodore Dalrymple's <i>In Praise of Prejudice: The Necessity of Preconceived Ideas</i>, and as good as he is, being a secular man, he just can't reach to the cosmic consequences of what's going on with this satanic inversion of hierarchy and distinctions.... <br /><br />Gandalin: Concur about Laws of Form. It's been a while, but the book is Gödelian in its implications, even if I only understood about 10% of it....Gagdad Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14249005793605006679noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-10733784812175418052010-01-27T17:38:41.799-08:002010-01-27T17:38:41.799-08:00NB:
The anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion deals...NB:<br />The anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion deals with that exact theme: the ultimate blending of the human race into one homogeneous bio-entity. It's been some years since I watched it in its entirety but it's definitely worth the time. Giant monster stuff notwithstanding, it is a superb, though flawed work. Some parts of it are actually terrifying, others transcendent, and deeply moving. If you have nineteen or twenty hours to spare, check it out.<br /><br />JWMJWMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05564732483476859555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-72531198078193861622010-01-27T15:48:28.701-08:002010-01-27T15:48:28.701-08:00Walt,
More proof PETA is their own worst enemy.Walt,<br />More proof PETA is their own worst enemy.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-66096777466796846092010-01-27T15:27:32.237-08:002010-01-27T15:27:32.237-08:00Speaking of separation, and drawing distinctions, ...Speaking of separation, and drawing distinctions, I would be remiss if I failed to mention a old love from my youth, the book "Laws of Form," by G. Spencer Brown. I do not think it still enjoys the esteem it did in that more naive time. However it does begin with what Brown considered the fundamental process of all algebras: "Draw a distinction." <br /><br />Without a membrane to separate the living individual from the world, there can be no life. And that may be what defines life. The ornithologist Alexander Skutch has written some very interesting things about that, too.Gandalinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09196550750055246901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-46668943212005541702010-01-27T14:40:38.439-08:002010-01-27T14:40:38.439-08:00Ricky -
An example of "compassionate" t...Ricky -<br /><br />An <a href="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/s_664283.html" rel="nofollow">example</a> of "compassionate" technology.walthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01388218390016612051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-71148746929869767072010-01-27T14:29:17.661-08:002010-01-27T14:29:17.661-08:00Gandalin, that book does look interesting. Both re...Gandalin, that book does look interesting. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Judaism-Being-David-Hillel-Gelernter/dp/0300151926/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264631014&sr=8-1" rel="nofollow">Both reviews</a> on Amazon indicate a Raccoonish perspective, imho.juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-8635571861545140022010-01-27T14:10:42.900-08:002010-01-27T14:10:42.900-08:00Sorry, NB. Jack’s comment is more to your point, o...Sorry, NB. Jack’s comment is more to your point, obviously.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-83200676631861855312010-01-27T14:06:48.214-08:002010-01-27T14:06:48.214-08:00NB-
I think it's part of a leftist worldview ...NB-<br /><br />I think it's part of a leftist worldview that clarifying and even maintaining distinctions (i.e. prevent indiscriminate blending) is seen as some "theo-facist" conspiracy against freedom. It is seen as the height of cultural enlightenment to be supportive of such blendings. <br /><br />(though note that these same people would balk at, say nambla-type "blendings"-and properly so, of course...but seem to be at a loss as to why exactly they justify the line being drawn there. Since Thailand doesn't seem to mind it, and woe unto them who thinks they are culturally superior!)<br /><br />I recently reread "Radical Evolution" by Joel Garreau which goes into various scenarios of technological development predicated on the continued reality of Moore's Law (that computing power doubles every 2 years). He goes into the "grey-goo" possibility amongst others. But the upshot to me is that the trend/temptation to start "blending" is going to be one that we may face on a much larger scale in the relatively near-future. <br /><br />What is it stake is the very meaning of what it means to be human. If we take Nietzsche's view that Man is "a rope, tied between beast and overman—a rope over an abyss" (and this existentialist view is increasingly the norm on the left. Sartre's "existence precedes essence" writ large and unexamined) then there is no grounds to claim that one form should take precedence...only the "stronger" form will win, no matter how horrific and debased. <br /><br />For those of us who believe that there ARE distinctions and that though these do evolve and deepen are not to be transgressed, a much deeper acknowledgment/response to the issue is warranted. A tepid response is a losing one.Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06708393262849661076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-71840390618915983362010-01-27T13:59:48.404-08:002010-01-27T13:59:48.404-08:00What's their power source?
The whole techno-t...What's their power source?<br /><br />The whole techno-take-over-word-thing obviously reminds of the matrix, terminator, etc.<br /><br />Why do the machines have any motivation at all? Aren't they just mechanical atheists?<br />Waitaminute. That's redundant.<br />(No offense atheists)<br /><br />But seriously, if you could achieve consciousness, self-awareness, this is what it would do with it?Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-63591848625568698852010-01-27T13:52:37.949-08:002010-01-27T13:52:37.949-08:00David Gelernter's new book might be more inter...David Gelernter's new book might be more interesting than Kaplan's. Gelernter identifies four underlying themes or images in Jewish thought: separation, asymmetry, the veil, the inward pilgrimage. His meditations on these themes are not without interest.Gandalinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09196550750055246901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-33377802606167436642010-01-27T13:50:48.428-08:002010-01-27T13:50:48.428-08:00RR:
Heh. There is TONS of nanotech all around us ...RR:<br /><br />Heh. There is TONS of nanotech all around us today that didn't exist even 10 years ago. Lots of the stuff is military, and most of it so far is materials (tubes, crystals, catalysts, filters, composites, etc). Nano-<i>machines</i> exist mostly in the laboratory.<br /><br />I question whether the runaway nano-machine hypothesis is possible not because we can't create the necessary machines, but rather because there is no conceivable way to deal with the heat generated by such a explosive scenario. Either they'd be too slow, or burn up.Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-60394832680413214772010-01-27T13:40:22.699-08:002010-01-27T13:40:22.699-08:00NB,
What do the nano-nano robots get out of all th...NB,<br />What do the nano-nano robots get out of all this?Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-91164151792081266012010-01-27T13:27:17.211-08:002010-01-27T13:27:17.211-08:00I was thinking more about what Bob said concerning...I was thinking more about what Bob said concerning the Orthodox aversion to erasing separation or <i>blending</i>. David P. Goldman reviews <a href="http://www.firstthings.com/article/2010/01/the-hitchhikerrsquos-guide" rel="nofollow">Contemporary American Judaism: Transformation and Renewal<br />by Dana Evan Kaplan</a>, a depressing book which celebrates this very blending and erasing quite openly. <br /><br />This whole concept also caused me to recall Eric Drexler's seminal book <i>Engines of Creation</i> from the 1980s where he predicted a nano-technological revolution. This "revolution" has indeed been achieved on a very limited scale, but the theoretical soundness of his more spectacular predictions remains very controversial.<br /><br />Assuming for a moment Drexler was more or less correct, he warned of a possible future total catastrophe which has come to be known as the "grey goo scenario". In a nutshell, self-replicating nano-bots capable of disassembling matter at the molecular level somehow get out of control and proceed to do just that. They literally <b>blend</b> all material on the surface of the earth into one grey goo (destroying all life in the process of course). This is NOT science fiction. The accuracy of these scenarios are unproven in practice of course, but his predictions are based on physics as it was understood in 1986. Nothing fundamental has changed to rule all of this out entirely.<br /><br />From a Raccoon perspective the interesting thing here is how man unmoored from God can at least conceive of (unintentionally) extending the blending beyond mere <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/7079941/Worlds-second-pregnant-man-expecting-baby-boy-next-month.html" rel="nofollow">cultural depravity</a> to the very material substrate itself. (Drexler of course warned against allowing this to happen -- he considered it to be a massively dangerous threat to the earth)Stephen Macdonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13474300559219020772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-46820726474950628212010-01-27T12:58:53.011-08:002010-01-27T12:58:53.011-08:00I haven't had time to read much lately, but I&...I haven't had time to read much lately, but I'll make an exception for Kushner. Strong gong.<br /><br /><i>But this is where we can find a drop of spiritual nourishment in "something as mundane as a rock" (Kushner). </i><br /><br /><a href="http://robinstarfish.blogspot.com/2010/01/helpmates.html" rel="nofollow">I couldn't agree more</a>.<br /><br />Also, any post that references tree skiing automagically grabs my attention. ;-)<br /><br />Fantastic post today, Bob. Enjoy your time alone with FL.robinstarfishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15665546554663005609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-19691306918086394042010-01-27T10:04:35.746-08:002010-01-27T10:04:35.746-08:00Julie's illustration is seared (SEARED!) into ...Julie's illustration is seared (<i>SEARED!</i>) into the Raccoon Unconscious!walthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01388218390016612051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-4517733062976638802010-01-27T10:00:23.543-08:002010-01-27T10:00:23.543-08:00Bob,
Here are a few authors whose works in Englis...Bob,<br /><br />Here are a few authors whose works in English on Jewish mysticism and the Kabbalah are certainly consonant with the tradition: first I would cite the works of the late Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, in particular his books on Jewish meditation and his annotated translation of the Sefer Yetsirah (a Kabbalistic text attributed to Abraham). The works of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz are certainly without error. (I think you are familiar with his "13-Petalled Rose.") Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag's school of Kabbalah is well-represented by the works of Professor Michael Laitman, and an introductory volume translated by Mark Cohen. Rabbi Lazer Brody has translated some of the works of Rabbi Shalom Arush, and his website also contains features that are directed at non-Jewish seekers, and not at all with the intent of proselytizing. There are other sources of great value, but I think that short list would provide most people with an excellent start.Gandalinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09196550750055246901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-58320238806450879112010-01-27T09:19:42.954-08:002010-01-27T09:19:42.954-08:00Thanks Bob and Gandalin.Thanks Bob and Gandalin.Rickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589423819039764711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-70078303513040644012010-01-27T09:07:45.012-08:002010-01-27T09:07:45.012-08:00Future Leader will be remanded to my care for the ...<i>Future Leader will be remanded to my care for the duration. Between picking up pizza three times a day and letting him outside to pee, I don't think I'll have the time.</i><br /><br />lol - that <a href="http://juliecork.wordpress.com/2007/05/19/divine-inspiration/" rel="nofollow">reminds me</a>...<br />I'm guessing he's a little faster these days. That poor pizza doesn't stand a chance.<br /><br />Back to reading...juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975754287030568726noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-22407762966191960772010-01-27T08:55:52.496-08:002010-01-27T08:55:52.496-08:00Bob,
Thank you for mentioning me again in your po...Bob,<br /><br />Thank you for mentioning me again in your post today. I am not really qualified to offer guidance about the Kabbalah to seekers of Truth, but I agree with your perception that most published works on the Kabbalah in English are either difficult scholarly works by authors who are not themselves mystical practioners, or New Age tomes by mystical practitioners who may or may not know anything about Kabbalah.<br /><br />Kabbalah means the received tradition, and traditionally it was only taught to worthy and properly qualified individuals, who had previously mastered the written Torah, the Mishnah, and the Talmud, and whose personal practices were known to be within the boundaries of the practical tradition.<br /><br />I don't see the Kabbalah as purely religious, per se. To me, the Jewish religion consisted in the sacrifical activities of the priests in the Temple, which has now been replaced by the liturgy, that is, by prayer. The traditional Jewish way of life is just that, a way of living, and is only "religious" in the sense that it understands all of its practices to be derived ultimately from the Creator's explicit and implicit instructions. The Kabbalah then is a sort of philosophical science, which describes the real vertical/horizontal world in a manner akin to the way the conventional secular sciences or natural history, if you will, describe the natural world. But the Kabbalah does serve to tie religion, practice, and natural history together.<br /><br />I tend to see the texts of this tradition as musical scores. I am not sure that merely posessing a musical score and a musical instrument enables you to produce music. Hence I am not sure if studying a Kabbalistic text on your own will necessarily reveal to you the traditional meaning. In this day and age, however, I do not think exposure to the material is actually dangerous, and I think that the individual perusal of Kabbalistic texts may lead to great wisdom and insight, even if not entirely traditional.<br /><br />Remember that the only real Teacher is everywhere accessible to the prepared student. Ultimately, one can, I believe, learn from the Source from which the Masters themselves learned. But it is much easier and much better to be instructed by a master. The ArtScroll publishing group, interestingly enough, one of the largest English-language traditional Jewish publishing projects with advisory leadership from Haredi (God-fearing or "ultra-Orthodox") scholars of repute, have been advised not to publish anything from or on the Kabbalah.<br /><br />There are authors whose works in English do provide a glimpse into the world of traditional Kabbalah. I am away from my bookshelf at the moment, but I will think out loud about some of these texts later on today, if I can.Gandalinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09196550750055246901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8580258.post-50403407630331174642010-01-27T08:47:37.764-08:002010-01-27T08:47:37.764-08:00I have loved these last two posts.
I wish I could...I have loved these last two posts.<br /><br />I wish I could show you the bits and pieces of stories I have written that correspond to so many things you have written in this latest post. It's just that I don't even know what it is I'm trying to say.<br /><br />"For you see, we are the stories." <br /><br />Yes!sehoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00398831051769112602noreply@blogger.com