How can the immaterial (Soul) affect the material (brain)

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I just read a little of above thinker. Looks really boring and dragged out. . If theres something that is interesting why not produce it, so it can be appropriately sliced up, where required
Which above thinker?

Which philosophers do you like?
 
I hasten to add that I’m not a Republican of the political variety. I was born poor and have always been opposed to vested interests which inflict unnecessary suffering on the underdog. You see how the immaterial affects the material? (It’s not so off-topic after all.) Our thoughts determine to a large extent the world in which we live… The first one I want to see deposed is Gadaffi - then Assad - followed by several others…
Tony,
You’ve corrected my misunderstanding and returned the thread to track in one swell foop. My kind of guy. I take back all the bad things I posted about you on other threads. 😉

I agree with you, absolutely and without reservation, that the beliefs we hold about the nature of being and the purpose of existence determine our political choices. Obama voters, IMO, are largely disenchanted Christians who were raised to believe that Jesus would take care of them, and who transferred their desire to be cared for to the federal government. (Remember the infamous, “Obama money” quote? He’s printing it by the billions and doling it out to welfare slugs as we write. Without the free money, they’d have to go to work and would miss The View, and Oprah.)

But I could be wrong, probably am. The woman in the “Obama money” quote is probably a hard working lady who worked her way through grade school and high school, earning top grades, and at the time of the quote was holding down three jobs to finish her PhD in Social Studies and Community Organizing.

You obviously believe that getting rid of the occasional bad guy will get rid of evil. Kind of like, capture a drug dealer or cartel leader and the drug problem will go away. Au contraire. The drug problem runs deeper. It is rooted in the need of American citizens and their aimless, godless children, to numb whatever passes in them for minds. Until that problem is corrected, killing one drug kingpin changes only the opportunity for others who are stronger and even more ruthless to take his place.

Again, I’m probably entirely wrong on this. Nevermind the facts, that when a cartel leader is killed, the cartels become more bloodthirsty. But you probably don’t pay attention to the border news.

Likewise, you seem to think that getting rid of Quadaffi and Assad will make the well programmed hatred of Muslims for Israel and the U.S. disappear, and all will be right with the world. Pay attention. Removing Hussein may have saved a handful of rapes and murders and tortures at the hands of his offspring and police, but it also removed the only stop to Iranian power in the Mideast. Every torture we prevented by terminating Hussein was replicated a hundred-fold in Iranian chambers after the short-lived revolt of the people during which our President went golfing.

Iranian power is building, and will result in millions of deaths and maimings, and tortures unseen since the Nazi and Japanese surgery rooms. It will be the power that controls the Islamic Caliphate, which will come into power when Quadaffi and Assad are gone, and it will wreak hell upon the innocents and the naive. In times to come, your grandchildren will be included in the carnage.

Are you paying enough attention to notice that with the “evil” President Mubarik out of Egypt, Churches and Christians are going the way of your favorite house rat? What do you honestly think will happen under a Muslim Caliphate? Have you ever read a history book?

Religious beliefs are far more important to Muslims than they are to Christians. While American Christians are squabbling over abortion rights and supporting their Muslim President, Muslims are taking over the world.

Short-sighted thinkers are washing the plates upon which we are handing Muslims our way of life and our right to believe and worship as we choose. I am dismayed and disappointed. Of all people, you should have a wider vision.
 
Hey greylorn!

What kind of description of heaven is that? Tradition and Scripture both consider heaven to be a place of perfection in which God has a “room” or “mansion” for each of us. Now I can’t promise that the concept of room or mansion is how we define these terms on earth. Whatever bodily imperfections we had on earth due to the human condition will be non-existent in heaven. 🙂
Hey to you, Horsemen!

It was a somewhat facetious description of heaven. I do not believe that the afterlife includes bodies in any shape or form. IMO the point of our lives on earth is to develop a level of consciousness such that bodies are no longer necessary to sustain it.

Really. Study a little physics. Make a serious mental examination of how an afterlife with bodies might work. Evaluate the many contradictory possibilities. Give serious thought to the manner in which ordinary humans derive gratification. Is it through cogent thought, or through eating, drinking, sexual gratification, and power-mongering? Is it through owning a large and comfortable home with central heating and A/C, or a house like Christ’s?

Every human lowlife wants a nice mansion, so that’s what religions promise. But think about it. If every turkey in heaven who got there because he obeyed mickey-mouse rules and did no particular harm, other than turning a lot of perfectly good oxygen into carbon dioxide, gets a mansion, who gives a hoot?

If you want to park your posterior in a comfy lounge chair in your private mansion for eternity, go ahead. I imagine it will have a nice sign on the front, reading something like, “I went to Church every Sunday and didn’t use more than my fair share of oxygen.” Well, you’ll be forever turning away visitors who want to come by and laud your achievements.

No doubt they will be extremely interesting visitors. You can talk about the perfect weather, and how nice God is to treat you so well. You can do hosanna practice in between steak and mushroom luncheons that never make you fat, in between which you’ll never need to poo. .:eek:

It gets even better than that! You’ll never need to do anything useful, ever again. You’ll never need to have an imaginative thought or make a contribution. Lay around and drink lite beer without needing to get up and visit the sandbox. Maybe there will be an equivalent of tv sitcoms, complete with chuckle-tracks. Sounds like fun! I can hardly wait… except, ooops! I won’t be invited. 😦

But before you go to heaven, prepare yourself. Put Captain Stormfield atop your reading list. 🙂
 
Which thinker was “really boring and dragged out”?
To be honest , thats why I omitted that info when posting. I forgot. Funny. Anyway as you know there are many different categories of Philosophy. Most writers are so obviously focused on
half way educated overview, it disturbs presentation. Unnecessary, un-orthodoxed adjectives,
repetition, words used in twisted contexts in order to change a manipulated impression, to try and sound fresh. abstract on top of abstract until a point which is lost, becomes turned and changed into a maze, all winding with something like…There is no reason why we exist or …there is a reason why we exist. (what I saw looked like more of the same)
The older guy, I forget his name, not good with names , the fella who is one of the Worlds top 100 read. Hes good. Although all he can really offer and at least hes honest about it is…We know , we must pursue a humanitarian initiative.

Then when they have there little to do’s , all they can say with respects to dis-agreement in public is…“While I don’t disagree with so and so”…They protect each other and at the same time try to annihilate each other for top dog. no biggy in that regard but many of the PHD’s have virtually nothing to really offer. I don’t enjoy it anymore because I’m tired of the reaching in all delivery.
the best writers are the Physicists, , try a few… Whats his name …uh…Paul Davies has a nice flow really good and introduces a skeptic role, supposing of course a layman reader asking possible questions. I feel science in place of philosophy is the only way to go on consciousness esp with all the experiments on the go. Not to mention the time business in experiments…or experiencer… entwining its results and significance… In todays world, theres almost to much too soon for philosophy… trying to keep up with science. they can’t do it. I think the focus should be on nailing down the Field… Conscious moment not within the physical brain and so on. A vibratory resonance across rather than within physical parts in brain…Are you into that ? Thats the target for myself , and its got my interest now. Soul…? talk about the cart before the horse.
.
 
Tony,
You’ve corrected my misunderstanding and returned the thread to track in one swell foop. My kind of guy. I take back all the bad things I posted about you on other threads. 😉

I agree with you, absolutely and without reservation, that the beliefs we hold about the nature of being and the purpose of existence determine our political choices. Obama voters, IMO, are largely disenchanted Christians who were raised to believe that Jesus would take care of them, and who transferred their desire to be cared for to the federal government. (Remember the infamous, “Obama money” quote? He’s printing it by the billions and doling it out to welfare slugs as we write. Without the free money, they’d have to go to work and would miss The View, and Oprah.)

But I could be wrong, probably am. The woman in the “Obama money” quote is probably a hard working lady who worked her way through grade school and high school, earning top grades, and at the time of the quote was holding down three jobs to finish her PhD in Social Studies and Community Organizing.

You obviously believe that getting rid of the occasional bad guy will get rid of evil. Kind of like, capture a drug dealer or cartel leader and the drug problem will go away. Au contraire. The drug problem runs deeper. It is rooted in the need of American citizens and their aimless, godless children, to numb whatever passes in them for minds. Until that problem is corrected, killing one drug kingpin changes only the opportunity for others who are stronger and even more ruthless to take his place.

Again, I’m probably entirely wrong on this. Nevermind the facts, that when a cartel leader is killed, the cartels become more bloodthirsty. But you probably don’t pay attention to the border news.

Likewise, you seem to think that getting rid of Quadaffi and Assad will make the well programmed hatred of Muslims for Israel and the U.S. disappear, and all will be right with the world. Pay attention. Removing Hussein may have saved a handful of rapes and murders and tortures at the hands of his offspring and police, but it also removed the only stop to Iranian power in the Mideast. Every torture we prevented by terminating Hussein was replicated a hundred-fold in Iranian chambers after the short-lived revolt of the people during which our President went golfing.

Iranian power is building, and will result in millions of deaths and maimings, and tortures unseen since the Nazi and Japanese surgery rooms. It will be the power that controls the Islamic Caliphate, which will come into power when Quadaffi and Assad are gone, and it will wreak hell upon the innocents and the naive. In times to come, your grandchildren will be included in the carnage.

Are you paying enough attention to notice that with the “evil” President Mubarik out of Egypt, Churches and Christians are going the way of your favorite house rat? What do you honestly think will happen under a Muslim Caliphate? Have you ever read a history book?

Religious beliefs are far more important to Muslims than they are to Christians. While American Christians are squabbling over abortion rights and supporting their Muslim President, Muslims are taking over the world.

Short-sighted thinkers are washing the plates upon which we are handing Muslims our way of life and our right to believe and worship as we choose. I am dismayed and disappointed. Of all people, you should have a wider vision.
I have enjoyed reading your fascinating ideas but I fear we are heading even further away from the topic after a brief recovery. I shall just ask whether a wider vision can be genuinely based on any particular belief in the outcome of worldly events…

The real question is whether** all** our beliefs are the product of **physical **events.
 
What about my wisdom teeth ? 😃
Therein lies wisdom – in one’s wisdom teeth! 😉

Actually, you won’t have need of them in heaven, since we’ll have Wisdom itself, God in His glory. As for our bodies, they will be glorified bodies, and as mentioned in another post we will have the ability to walk through walls. We most likely will have bi-location or multilocation – being in more than one place at a time. Even on earth, the great saint, Padre Pio had the gift of bi-location. As I mentioned earlier, we will have infused knowledge (so don’t bring any books or laptops). Heaven will be “out of this world!”
 
Hey to you, Horsemen!

It was a somewhat facetious description of heaven. I do not believe that the afterlife includes bodies in any shape or form. IMO the point of our lives on earth is to develop a level of consciousness such that bodies are no longer necessary to sustain it.

Really. Study a little physics. Make a serious mental examination of how an afterlife with bodies might work. Evaluate the many contradictory possibilities. Give serious thought to the manner in which ordinary humans derive gratification. Is it through cogent thought, or through eating, drinking, sexual gratification, and power-mongering? Is it through owning a large and comfortable home with central heating and A/C, or a house like Christ’s?

Every human lowlife wants a nice mansion, so that’s what religions promise. But think about it. If every turkey in heaven who got there because he obeyed mickey-mouse rules and did no particular harm, other than turning a lot of perfectly good oxygen into carbon dioxide, gets a mansion, who gives a hoot?

If you want to park your posterior in a comfy lounge chair in your private mansion for eternity, go ahead. I imagine it will have a nice sign on the front, reading something like, “I went to Church every Sunday and didn’t use more than my fair share of oxygen.” Well, you’ll be forever turning away visitors who want to come by and laud your achievements.

No doubt they will be extremely interesting visitors. You can talk about the perfect weather, and how nice God is to treat you so well. You can do hosanna practice in between steak and mushroom luncheons that never make you fat, in between which you’ll never need to poo. .:eek:

It gets even better than that! You’ll never need to do anything useful, ever again. You’ll never need to have an imaginative thought or make a contribution. Lay around and drink lite beer without needing to get up and visit the sandbox. Maybe there will be an equivalent of tv sitcoms, complete with chuckle-tracks. Sounds like fun! I can hardly wait… except, ooops! I won’t be invited. 😦

But before you go to heaven, prepare yourself. Put Captain Stormfield atop your reading list. 🙂
Wow, greylorn, you really outdid yourself in describing your imaginative version of heaven. Maybe that should be the topic of your next book ;). The reference to “mansions” or “rooms” is metaphorical IMO anyhow. Heaven is being with God and in Him. We can begin our heaven by doing good on earth, as many saints have said. As for the General or Universal Judgment (as opposed to the Particular Judgment after death), it is after that that we receive back our bodies but in a glorified way. Read how Jesus prevented His recognition after the Resurrection in Scripture.

I know that’s dogma to you. You don’t believe in an afterlife yet you believe the soul can live on in a different form.

BTW, what is the OP about? Hussein, Islam, world events, etc . . . , or the “immaterial (Soul)” affecting the “material (brain)”? Actually, both are interesting topics, and I agree wholeheartedly with your post to tonyrey.
 
The real question is whether** all**
  1. Our beliefs are mental constructs based on what we understand to be true.
  2. Truth is a universal which implies an objective reality.
  3. Truth does not ultimately depend on physical events.
  4. Our beliefs reflect what is rationally and objectively true if they are universally true.
Does that make sense? 🙂
 
I have enjoyed reading your fascinating ideas but I fear we are heading even further away from the topic after a brief recovery. I shall just ask whether a wider vision can be genuinely based on any particular belief in the outcome of worldly events…

The real question is whether** all** our beliefs are the product of **physical **events.
I understand the pullback. Thanks for absorbing my late night rant w/o rancor. I’d been watching the news, sickened but not surprised by our Muslim President. Today I’m trying to restore my faith in happy endings by watching The Monster that Challenged the World, and Mongolian Death Worms. It is so wonderfully inspiring watching people try to outrun the Law of Unintended Consequences.

You ask excellent questions.

I think that a “wider vision” is often dependent, sometimes entirely dependent, upon beliefs in the outcome of events. The Jews saw themselves as God’s chosen people, which didn’t prevent them from losing their homeland several times and finding themselves consistently at the mercy of large military states. The Nazis saw themselves as the perfect race, destined for world domination. They acted accordingly, but the outcome did not meet their expectations.

A good case can be made for divine assistance in the founding of the United States, but look at what our country has become. I’m no longer proud to be an American, and given the course we’ve taken, this nation will not survive another half century. Were I the angel who protected Washington from being shot by a sniper during the Revolutionary War, I’d be asking myself why I bothered to do that. Were I an angel in charge of protecting the United States, I’d be asking for a new job in China. Were I the soul of the Earth itself, I’d have put in a large order for General Purpose Vermicide right after Johnson got elected.

Lots of believers have lived according to their expectations for divine assistance, but I see no good evidence that divine assistance persists for long. That may be because humans are ignorant of their history, and imagine that they are to be taken care of forever by divine entities. Once we acquire that arrogant mindset we become collectively lazy, and indifferent to higher values. Divine assistants tire of wasting their time and go away, leaving us to be the recipients of our own incompetence.

Re your question, “whether* all** our beliefs are the product of **physical **events,*” logic dictates a yes, of course, reply, because there are no other kinds of events.

But, you probably are contrasting physical events with psi-type events which many regard as spiritual, and for which I have considerable respect. (I’ve experienced several varieties of psychic phenomena, but none which I’d put into the “spiritual” category.)

I can first speak for myself. I was programmed to be a Catholic. Early on I was an “intellectual” (I hate that word) Catholic, proud of my ability to recite the Catechism answers, and to vocalize the Latin Mass w/o error. (I.e. I was a little dcikhaed.) I morphed into a questioning Catholic, and stopped vocalizing my questions after a couple of beatings. Then I went to school where my doubts solidified and I should have become an atheist. IMO something beyond my physical programming kicked in. I’d call it old knowledge, perhaps from a previous life or residual memories from intermediate states. I don’t know.

IMO for most people, physical events, particularly societal programming, determine most people’s beliefs.
 
  1. Our beliefs are mental constructs based on what we understand to be true.
  2. Truth is a universal which implies an objective reality.
  3. Truth does not ultimately depend on physical events.
  4. Our beliefs reflect what is rationally and objectively true if they are universally true.
Does that make sense? 🙂
It does indeed! And it also implies that we have the power to choose what to believe - which poses an insurmountable problem for physicalists. How can biological machines do anything but follow their genetic and environmental instructions? 🙂
 
Wow, greylorn, you really outdid yourself in describing your imaginative version of heaven. Maybe that should be the topic of your next book ;). The reference to “mansions” or “rooms” is metaphorical IMO anyhow. Heaven is being with God and in Him. We can begin our heaven by doing good on earth, as many saints have said. As for the General or Universal Judgment (as opposed to the Particular Judgment after death), it is after that that we receive back our bodies but in a glorified way. Read how Jesus prevented His recognition after the Resurrection in Scripture.

I know that’s dogma to you. You don’t believe in an afterlife yet you believe the soul can live on in a different form.
4H,
While you logically recognize “mansions” as a metaphor, your brain does not. That physical image, and many others including your need to bring a body along, form your brain’s basis for belief. For most people, that’s all there is. Most minds are too limited to imagine existence without bodies, because right now that’s the only existence they have. Few people have any sort of mental life at all. Few read books, or have ideas which they personally invented. Ask yourself, and friends, to consider the possibility of living for a month without human contact, without TV, with nothing but a pencil and a supply of blank paper. Few could stand it. In prison they call a similar state of being, “solitary confinement.”

For most people, the “mansions” are real. They expect physical places where they reside in a state of universal high regard and esteem. Just as they look upon mansions as places where important people live, they expect to be regarded as important, but without doing squat of importance.

Very few people can imagine a conscious existence without a body, Very few people can imagine existence without physical structures around. Very few people can imagine.

I believe that the continuity of consciousness is possible. That’s not what you’d call an afterlife. Most people cannot retain consciousness after death.

I cannot imagine a human mind being able to relate to God in any way, shape, or form. There is a serious impedance and intelligence mismatch. Human beings cannot abide long term relationships outside a range of 30 I.Q. ticks. I.e: anyone 15 ticks beneath you is too stupid to converse with; anyone 15 ticks above will find you too stupid to converse with.

Now ask yourself how many I.Q. ticks God has on you. If you really believe that God is going to talk to humans, why not get an idea of what that dreadful experience might be like for him by finding your nearest prison, mental institution, or biker bar, and try visiting the inmates with the intention of forming mutually interesting mental relationships.

I never implied that the “soul” changes form. IMO it cannot. It can adapt to various matter-based mechanisms such as bodies, but in most cases the mechanism requires an adaptive interface to facilitate the connection.

BTW, a writer by the name of Hugh Schonfield wrote a book about 40 or so years back, reinterpreting Christ’s resurrection from the Jewish perspective. He did a fairly logical job of it. Its title is, The Passover Plot. IMO his interpretation is slightly more credible than Christianity’s.
BTW, what is the OP about? Hussein, Islam, world events, etc . . . , or the “immaterial (Soul)” affecting the “material (brain)”? Actually, both are interesting topics, and I agree wholeheartedly with your post to tonyrey.
My poor back is red and sore from wet-noodle slaps.

Yet, there is a connection, and I was mindful of it. Ultimately the OP is about brain/soul interfaces, and this leads us into religious beliefs about such things, There is a very serious set of religious wars going on today, as more people become even vaguely aware of the importance of core beliefs.

Nonetheless, mea culpa.
 
I understand the pullback. Thanks for absorbing my late night rant w/o rancor. I’d been watching the news, sickened but not surprised by our Muslim President. Today I’m trying to restore my faith in happy endings by watching The Monster that Challenged the World, and Mongolian Death Worms. It is so wonderfully inspiring watching people try to outrun the Law of Unintended Consequences.

You ask excellent questions.

I think that a “wider vision” is often dependent, sometimes entirely dependent, upon beliefs in the outcome of events. The Jews saw themselves as God’s chosen people, which didn’t prevent them from losing their homeland several times and finding themselves consistently at the mercy of large military states. The Nazis saw themselves as the perfect race, destined for world domination. They acted accordingly, but the outcome did not meet their expectations.

A good case can be made for divine assistance in the founding of the United States, but look at what our country has become. I’m no longer proud to be an American, and given the course we’ve taken, this nation will not survive another half century. Were I the angel who protected Washington from being shot by a sniper during the Revolutionary War, I’d be asking myself why I bothered to do that. Were I an angel in charge of protecting the United States, I’d be asking for a new job in China. Were I the soul of the Earth itself, I’d have put in a large order for General Purpose Vermicide right after Johnson got elected.

Lots of believers have lived according to their expectations for divine assistance, but I see no good evidence that divine assistance persists for long. That may be because humans are ignorant of their history, and imagine that they are to be taken care of forever by divine entities. Once we acquire that arrogant mindset we become collectively lazy, and indifferent to higher values. Divine assistants tire of wasting their time and go away, leaving us to be the recipients of our own incompetence.

Re your question, “whether* all*** our beliefs are the product of **physical **events,” logic dictates a yes, of course, reply, because there are no other kinds of events.

But, you probably are contrasting physical events with psi-type events which many regard as spiritual, and for which I have considerable respect. (I’ve experienced several varieties of psychic phenomena, but none which I’d put into the “spiritual” category.)

I can first speak for myself. I was programmed to be a Catholic. Early on I was an “intellectual” (I hate that word) Catholic, proud of my ability to recite the Catechism answers, and to vocalize the Latin Mass w/o error. (I.e. I was a little dcikhaed.) I morphed into a questioning Catholic, and stopped vocalizing my questions after a couple of beatings. Then I went to school where my doubts solidified and I should have become an atheist. IMO something beyond my physical programming kicked in. I’d call it old knowledge, perhaps from a previous life or residual memories from intermediate states. I don’t know.

IMO for most people, physical events, particularly societal programming, determine most people’s beliefs.
I have never been proud to be British - in view of our colonial history - but Africans told me after ten years of independence they wished we were back. At least the DOs administered justice, corruption wasn’t rampant and the economy flourished.

I remember that you’re an elitist with little respect for the masses yet I’ve found poor people have more wisdom than Ph.Ds - who cannot see the wood for the trees! Poverty sharpens the wits while wealth produces nitwits…

What is promising is your use of “most”, allowing a loophole for beliefs that are not determined and raising another excellent(!) question - which I leave you to answer. I’m sure you know what it is. 🙂
 
tonyrey,

Re your question, "whether all our beliefs are the product of physical events. . . "

I believe the question can also be turned around to ask “whether physical events are the product of all our beliefs.” Just reading the history of philosophy from Aristotle’s realism to the relativism and mechanical philosophies of atheism as well as the diabolical thinking of Karl Marx’ Communist Manifesto and Hitler’s Nazism, we can see the events that proceeded from different philosophical worldviews.

A point of interest: Ayn Rand is in vogue again. I read her book Atlas Shrugged around 1970. Her popularity is mostly on college campuses although her philosophy of Objectivism – that the individual, using reason alone, should be free to set the standards for his/her life would conflict with the Leftist groups in part because she was anti-government. They’d like her anti-religion and pro-abortion stance though. She called “faith the worst curse of mankind. . . . the exact antithesis of and enemy of thought,” a “short-circuit destroying the mind.” She had a few other nasty things to say. Her book has been made into a movie. I haven’t seen it yet.
 
tonyrey,

Re your question, "whether all our beliefs are the product of physical events. . . "

I believe the question can also be turned around to ask “whether physical events are the product of all our beliefs.” Just reading the history of philosophy from Aristotle’s realism to the relativism and mechanical philosophies of atheism as well as the diabolical thinking of Karl Marx’ Communist Manifesto and Hitler’s Nazism, we can see the events that proceeded from different philosophical worldviews.
Very neat! For the materialist it means matter has become capable of destroying itself as well as controlling itself… 🙂
A point of interest: Ayn Rand is in vogue again. I read her book Atlas Shrugged around 1970. Her popularity is mostly on college campuses although her philosophy of Objectivism – that the individual, using reason alone, should be free to set the standards for his/her life would conflict with the Leftist groups in part because she was anti-government. They’d like her anti-religion and pro-abortion stance though. She called “faith the worst curse of mankind. . . . the exact antithesis of and enemy of thought,” a “short-circuit destroying the mind.” She had a few other nasty things to say. Her book has been made into a movie. I haven’t seen it yet.
Feminine and fashionable but unoriginal and inconsistent! For her reason is grounded in irrational reality. 🤷
 
I have never been proud to be British - in view of our colonial history - but Africans told me after ten years of independence they wished we were back. At least the DOs administered justice, corruption wasn’t rampant and the economy flourished.
Glad to hear that. I predicted that the Africans were making a big mistake. There’s been a lot of butchery since you guys left. IMO British colonialism was the best start that the U.S. and Canada could possibly have had. You gave us laws, a sense of social order, and a great language. Without you we’d be speaking French and eating snails. Or we’d be speaking Spanish and eating tacos… oops. 😦

Be proud of being a Brit. Every nation you guys colonized is the better for it. Incidentally, my only two grandkids are Brits, and my first book was honoured by a true British translation.
I remember that you’re an elitist with little respect for the masses yet I’ve found poor people have more wisdom than Ph.Ds - who cannot see the wood for the trees! Poverty sharpens the wits while wealth produces nitwits…
That is about the funniest thing I ever heard! I’m lower middle class at the core, worked my way through a state university doing road construction in summer and setting bowling pins mid-term. I’ve always fixed my own cars, including engine swaps and overhauls. I currently live in an isolated mountain cabin which I heat by cutting and bucking my firewood. I live pretty much hand-to-mouth, still maintaining a day job years after I “retired.” I paid $500 for my car, now 13 years old, and haul my firewood with a old pickup that’s been totaled once. I’m as comfortable in a biker bar as at a faculty party, but to survive either experience I’ve found it necessary to make very small talk, because there’s rarely anyone interesting in either environment. Ah Ha! That must be where the elitism comes in!

I do find the general glut of human beings to be untrustworthy, lazy, greedy, and dreadfully ordinary. About 3% of humans actually think for themselves, and this is independent of class, intelligence, or education level. These are the interesting ones. I’ve worked for and with a number of PhD’s, and was lucky to have spent about 12 years of that with mavericks, interesting and imaginative men. The general glut of PhD’s is as you’ve described— ordinary, pedantic, and too protective of their “knowledge” to think imaginatively. I’ve divided my time between the educated and the uneducated and have come to blows with both. I’ve lived in cities, towns, suburbs, farmlands, in trailers, crummy rentals, houses, and briefly, a car. I don’t share your respect for “the poor.” The poor are what they are, lazy and fearful, because they prefer to watch TV than read books. They will embrace socialism and communism in a heartbeat, in hopes of getting free wealth (i.e. your money and home, and mine).

All things considered, it seems unfair to label me an “elitist.” While it is true that I don’t care much for people, my lack of caring has nothing to do with any particular group. I look for trust, imagination, mental courage and integrity, scarce properties anywhere.
What is promising is your use of “most”, allowing a loophole for beliefs that are not determined and raising another excellent(!) question - which I leave you to answer. I’m sure you know what it is. 🙂
You’ve got me there. I’ve never received a question from you that I anticipated. So, it would be stupid of me to try to read your mind. I’ve learned to not hold beliefs, which are hard to rid oneself of, so have at it!
 
I had to look up “sortal.” It seems to mean a singular noun. I can’t see that a person is not a sortal noun like homo sapiens and yet a singularity. :confused: (This is rather new to me).
A proper name, e.g., John Doe, designates an individual person. We use the proper name to respond to a question about a “who” not a “what”. When we call someone a human being, we are responding to a question about a “what”, not a “who”.

The “who” is the singularity. The “what” is the universal corresponding to a nature or type (the Aristotelian form).

The “who” is at issue in existentialism. In Heidegger, for example, anxiety is over the “who”, not the “what”.

Aristotelian matter cannot be the basis of the “who” because in itself it is not actual, it is indefinite potentiality. So the individual person must have another basis. And that basis can’t be the Aristotelian form which is indifferent to the individual. So what would that basis be? A singularity. That is, a mystery.
 
Glad to hear that. I predicted that the Africans were making a big mistake. There’s been a lot of butchery since you guys left. IMO British colonialism was the best start that the U.S. and Canada could possibly have had. You gave us laws, a sense of social order, and a great language. Without you we’d be speaking French and eating snails. Or we’d be speaking Spanish and eating tacos… oops.
What a fascinating post you’ve given us! So unlike the English: totally uninhibited!
Be proud of being a Brit.
I am in some respects - although I’m half Irish, thank God! I was thinking of the colonial atrocities - in Ireland and elsewhere.
Every nation you guys colonized is the better for it.
Apart from the ones we decimated… :eek:
Incidentally, my only two grandkids are Brits, and my first book was honoured by a true British translation.
I hope they’re not inhibited - and your ideas faithfully expressed. 🙂
That is about the funniest thing I ever heard! I’m lower middle class at the core, worked my way through a state university doing road construction in summer and setting bowling pins mid-term. I’ve always fixed my own cars, including engine swaps and overhauls. I currently live in an isolated mountain cabin which I heat by cutting and bucking my firewood. I live pretty much hand-to-mouth, still maintaining a day job years after I “retired.” I paid $500 for my car, now 13 years old, and haul my firewood with a old pickup that’s been totaled once. I’m as comfortable in a biker bar as at a faculty party, but to survive either experience I’ve found it necessary to make very small talk, because there’s rarely anyone interesting in either environment. Ah Ha! That must be where the elitism comes in!
Elitism doesn’t consist in what you have done but in your concept of the majority. The majority are often mistaken but they’re not often seriously “wrong”… The average person is not diabolical. 😉
I do find the general glut of human beings to be untrustworthy, lazy, greedy, and dreadfully ordinary. About 3% of humans actually think for themselves, and this is independent of class, intelligence, or education level. These are the interesting ones. I’ve worked for and with a number of PhD’s, and was lucky to have spent about 12 years of that with mavericks, interesting and imaginative men. The general glut of PhD’s is as you’ve described— ordinary, pedantic, and too protective of their “knowledge” to think imaginatively. I’ve divided my time between the educated and the uneducated and have come to blows with both. I’ve lived in cities, towns, suburbs, farmlands, in trailers, crummy rentals, houses, and briefly, a car. I don’t share your respect for “the poor.” The poor are what they are, lazy and fearful, because they prefer to watch TV than read books. They will embrace socialism and communism in a heartbeat, in hopes of getting free wealth (i.e. your money and home, and mine).
Your diagnosis doesn’t apply to the poorer countries.
All things considered, it seems unfair to label me an “elitist.” While it is true that I don’t care much for people, my lack of caring has nothing to do with any particular group. I look for trust, imagination, mental courage and integrity, scarce properties anywhere.
I shall be naughty and ask how many countries you have lived in…
You’ve got me there. I’ve never received a question from you that I anticipated. So, it would be stupid of me to try to read your mind. I’ve learned to not hold beliefs, which are hard to rid oneself of, so have at it!
It’s an old trick of mine! I used to write plays but never mastered the art of suspense. Sometimes my liking for it reveals itself in my posts. 🙂

Your loophole for beliefs that are not determined raises the question of their origin…
 
Hey common guys its story time:coffeeread:
Don’t think I’ll be on forum much longer, so good to kick around the realities. One reality I know of is that now in the cabin aways from the concrete, wood heat is the best. Slabs if you can get them…costs me 150 per yr for heat:thumbsup:Solitary confinement, this is it. Wait a minute, hold on…theres a neighbor, a violent alcoholic
who watches crime related junk on TV , beats up his Company, swears and continuously upsets his sister, in and out of jail for beating up his girlfriend, on a peony dis ability where he bit his tongue and faked epilepsy, and also drove his father nuts until the ole guy passed on and junior got the house. He thinks were the best friends possible. I enjoy short chats with him because
his attention span is a challenge to try and explain things to him.
I explained the difference between a dog, and human thought re abstract and self awareness.
It took about 3 months , and he finally decided on what he wants most.
He would like to assume the brain of a shepherd and be confined to a moment to moment thought only. This way he explains he will not be bothered with self worth issues, as well guilt.
Did not say guilt, but does not use the word and I need to translate alot.
Bird, insect behavior as well squirrels and other critters are a fascinating exploration. Laugh all you like but birds will talk to you if you know what your doing. You’ve got to really listen, and never interrupt until there finished, then offer your thought. Try to get the feeling or idea. Once accomplished at this, you can do many things. You can ask them where they are in the tree…and they will show by changing a branch(no food going on here) I played some Chopin (thats what I do) and noticed Robin sitting on branch just outside. It was a nocturne and I went to lie down on Chesterfield just outside window. Well you would not believe it. The bird started to sing a tune. It sounded really weird. So I listened best I could. You know what she was doing?
She was trying with all her might to hit the notes in sequence of melody in the piece. It was un-believable. So me and the birds have developed a little musical interlude for the nice days. The one sits on the same branch. Sometimes if its raining I have to go out and tell her to get out of the rain. These are strictly wild unfed birds. Just music and talking. They tease me with the lawn more…won’t get out of the way until I stop the mower and chase them They know exactly what there doing…Attention…just like little kids. The other critters will bring you food once you learn how every thing works. Saw a cougar large one, will be careful with that.
Make sure they know your voice and associate a non threat to voice. Then in the dark at least you’ve got something. I’m also working on insects. I can really communicate with insects well.
Territory is imp. They know they are in your territory and will always follow a procedure to determine if the invasion is acceptable…(same with the critters) Spiders are really interesting…they either can hear, or its a sound vibration. Voice is recognized by many insects so the testing can go from there.All these things are part of our environment are important as it is the setting., theres prob nothing better than fresh air for a good night sleep I put a note on the front door SLEEPING…to dissuade the boozer next door from asking for rides to get booze all the time. Now…he leaves a note on the car windshield. I complied for the last time and told him this rounds on me, but Dave…its the last round. The bar is closed on my wallet. The dentist is taking the whole load. So we’'ll see. .
 
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