The Immense Power of Philosophy and the Mind

[James_S_Saint]

Very long ago in very ancient times, it was discovered that even a single mind had the hidden potential to affect the entire world. But the problem is that each mind has that same potential and it would not do to have very many exercising such immense domination over the entire existence of mankind. So very quickly, that reality was hidden and great efforts were installed to keep it a secret.

Words were redefined, new stories were told, both logic and magic were used to their maximum capacity to ensure that the secret was clouded beyond discovery. Wars were started for no more purpose than to distract the masses from ever thinking about their inherent potential. Religions and perplexing philosophies were created and spread throughout the world in a desperate attempt to maintain the secret. But trying to keep a deep truth from all of mankind is an eternal task and futile in the long run.

So let the secret be known and get it over with.

Your mind, sitting right where you are at this moment has a potential so immense that you cannot believe and can barely even comprehend it. Yet it can be tapped so easily. You can cause the entire world and everything in it to become nothing but confusion and chaotic non-sense or you can even more quickly turn it into perfect serene order, all from where you are sitting right now. But take extreme care, you get the consequences of your actions so quickly you can’t even realize that you are the one that has done it.

To learn how to affect something without learning how to undo what you have caused would be extremely dangerous, so always keep both of these two thoughts in mind;

To cause the entirety of the world to become total absurd chaos and non-sense, with urgent desperation, try to understand it. To turn it back into perfect serene order, merely presume that you do.

But also remember that everyone else has the same potential and is exercising it.

 

[geometer]

But also remember that everyone else has the same potential and is exercising it.

Jesus said to pray in secret. And, this idea that prayers compete over a finite good, was proven by recent history of the Olymic games. Eastern european atheletes used meditative visualization, and won the majority of the gold medals. When it was found out what they were doing all of the competing countries began using the visualization techniques.

 

[grannymh]

Very long ago in very ancient times, it was discovered that even a single mind had the hidden potential to affect the entire world. But the problem is that each mind has that same potential and it would not do to have very many exercising such immense domination over the entire existence of mankind. So very quickly, that reality was hidden and great efforts were installed to keep it a secret.

Words were redefined, new stories were told, both logic and magic were used to their maximum capacity to ensure that the secret was clouded beyond discovery. Wars were started for no more purpose than to distract the masses from ever thinking about their inherent potential. Religions and perplexing philosophies were created and spread throughout the world in a desperate attempt to maintain the secret. But trying to keep a deep truth from all of mankind is an eternal task and futile in the long run.

So let the secret be known and get it over with.

Your mind, sitting right where you are at this moment has a potential so immense that you cannot believe and can barely even comprehend it. Yet it can be tapped so easily. You can cause the entire world and everything in it to become nothing but confusion and chaotic non-sense or you can even more quickly turn it into perfect serene order, all from where you are sitting right now. But take extreme care, you get the consequences of your actions so quickly you can’t even realize that you are the one that has done it.

To learn how to affect something without learning how to undo what you have caused would be extremely dangerous, so always keep both of these two thoughts in mind;

To cause the entirety of the world to become total absurd chaos and non-sense, with urgent desperation, try to understand it. To turn it back into perfect serene order, merely presume that you do.

But also remember that everyone else has the same potential and is exercising it.

Are you equating mind with the spiritual soul?

 

[James_S_Saint]

Are you equating mind with the spiritual soul?

Fascinating question. I have no idea what you are asking or why you are asking it. Thus I can easily see that you have accomplished the first method by desperately trying to understand. Now restore order by trying the second method; Presume that you do.

 

[grannymh]

Fascinating question. I have no idea what you are asking or why you are asking it. Thus I can easily see that you have accomplished the first method by desperately trying to understand. Now restore order by trying the second method; Presume that you do.

Presuming to understand sounds so boring. It eliminates fascinating questions.

Now if one considers the human person to be just another material being in the brute animal kingdom, one would not even have the choice between truly understanding and presuming understanding of anything.

However, If one grants that the human person has a spiritual soul which includes intellective powers and choice, one can find a way of obtaining serenity.

Now, if you are desperately trying to understand me, I congratulate you. It shows that you have an active and powerful mind.

Actually, I have no idea of what I am asking or why (presumed understanding) so order is restored but it is at a cost which I don’t want to pay.

Blessings,
granny

All human life is worthy of profound respect.

 

[James_S_Saint]

Presuming to understand sounds so boring. It eliminates fascinating questions.

…Actually, I have no idea of what I am asking or why (presumed understanding) so order is restored but it is at a cost which I don’t want to pay.

That is exactly why “pathos” and chaos abound and rule the night.

In your understanding, don’t leave out that the mind confounds itself into chaos as it “desperately” attempts to do anything and leads others into the same chaos - posing too many non-sense questions that lead to utter faithlessness even in oneself.

Having Faith that you understand, although certainly a misleading thought, yields a calmness from which greater understanding can be gained and leads others into the same. But cannot be maintained in real life without be re-assessed into updated understanding - learning through direct empirical revelation.

Try impatiently in desperation to understand, and you see only chaos “out there” and believe that it is an order of chaos.

Presume to understand and you see only perfect order “out there” and believe that it is truly ordered, yet not quite perfectly understood.

 

[grannymh]

That is exactly why “pathos” and chaos abound and rule the night.

In your understanding, don’t leave out that the mind confounds itself into chaos as it “desperately” attempts to do anything and leads others into the same chaos - posing too many non-sense questions that lead to utter faithlessness even in oneself.

Having Faith that you understand, although certainly a misleading thought, yields a calmness from which greater understanding can be gained and leads others into the same. But cannot be maintained in real life without be re-assessed into updated understanding - learning through direct empirical revelation.

Try impatiently in desperation to understand, and you see only chaos “out there” and believe that it is an order of chaos.

Presume to understand and you see only perfect order “out there” and believe that it is truly ordered, yet not quite perfectly understood.

First of all, I do not see only chaos “out there”. True that there is chaos but there is also beauty. The beauty of the Alaskan mountains is a source of serenity for me. The sweet beauty of a child in the slums tells me that there is more to life than chaos. If I go blind, I tell my children to take me to the art museum and sit me in front of a Monet painting for the beauty of Impressionism is already imprinted in my soul.

The curiosity to know the meaning of life is part of my nature. I do not try to impatiently understand in desperation because there is a lot of chaotic slums and children dying which I will never understand. I will never understand the greed that kills. But to turn my soul away from the chaos is also to turn my soul away from the purpose of living. In the midst of chaos, there is beauty. In the midst of beauty there is God.

 

[James_S_Saint]

First of all, I do not see only chaos “out there”. True that there is chaos but there is also beauty. The beauty of the Alaskan mountains is a source of serenity for me. The sweet beauty of a child in the slums tells me that there is more to life than chaos. If I go blind, I tell my children to take me to the art museum and sit me in front of a Monet painting for the beauty of Impressionism is already imprinted in my soul.

The curiosity to know the meaning of life is part of my nature. I do not try to impatiently understand in desperation because there is a lot of chaotic slums and children dying which I will never understand. I will never understand the greed that kills. But to turn my soul away from the chaos is also to turn my soul away from the purpose of living. In the midst of chaos, there is beauty. In the midst of beauty there is God.

All that means is that you are [not] trying desperately enough to accomplish the task.

Congratulations, because you aren’t really supposed to.

 

[grannymh]

All that means is that you are trying desperately enough to accomplish the task.

Congratulations, because you aren’t really supposed to.

It is your choice to describe my quest as desperate. If it is seen as desperate or futile, so be it.

The power of philosophy should not deaden the mind/soul. However, there are philosophers who claim that not only is God dead but so are we.
Being fully human and fully alive is worth the discomforts of any task.

Blessings,
granny

The quest for understanding life is worthy of the adventures of the journey.

 

[James_S_Saint]

OOoopppss… My apologies,

I was too “desperate” in trying to write my reply and left out the word “not” (I knew I would do that some day )

I meant to say, “All that means is that you are not trying desperately enough to accomplish the task.”

Try reading it again (plz).

 

[grannymh]

OOoopppss… My apologies,

I was too “desperate” in trying to write my reply and left out the word “not” (I knew I would do that some day )

I meant to say, “All that means is that you are not trying desperately enough to accomplish the task.”

Try reading it again (plz).

Now you are in my league with leaving out words. Actually the only things I am ever really desperate about are chocolate, the health food ice cream, and trying not to laugh at posts while drinking Pepsi.

Need to do some errands. Dang, I am back in the real world. – so where are we in our conversation? I will catch up later on.

 

[James_S_Saint]

Now you are in my league with leaving out words. Actually the only things I am ever really desperate about are chocolate, the health food ice cream, and trying not to laugh at posts while drinking Pepsi.

Glad I wasn’t sipping my coffee when I read that.

Need to do some errands. Dang, I am back in the real world. – so where are we in our conversation? I will catch up later on.

I understand

{I presume}

 

[grannymh]

I understand

*Originally Posted by grannymh *
Need to do some errands. Dang, I am back in the real world. – so where are we in our conversation? I will catch up later on.

In my humble opinion, it seems that we should agree to disagree regarding “soul/mind” and the immense power of philosophy. You might be interested in a similar topic on the thread “Myth of evolution and new drug discovery” in the Philosophy Forum. Start at the last posting and back track for a bit, maybe three or four pages depending on how fast the thread is moving.

By the way, I do agree with philosophy having immense powers…

Blessings,
granny

All human life is sacred from the moment of conception.

 

[James_S_Saint]

Unless I hate you, why would I “agree to disagree” with you??

Frankly I was waiting to find out what my OP had to do with “soul/mind”.

 

[grannymh]

Unless I hate you, why would I “agree to disagree” with you??

Frankly I was waiting to find out what my OP had to do with “soul/mind”.

Well, I certainly respect you so I will go back to your OP and approach it with “soul/mind” in mind. You are right, there are a variety of interesting thoughts in the OP which can be explored further.

 

[James_S_Saint]

The OP was intended to be an exaggeration expressed as a “half joke”.

By people trying too hard, too “desperately”, to understand others, they question so many things that they can’t really see anything but their confusion and suspicions. They don’t see that they are lost in a maze that they created in their own minds. They are left to presume what wasn’t really there. They see that other people are confused rather than themselves. They see that God is insane rather than seeing that they are.

By just accepting (in faith) that it is all actually in order (presume that you understand), they lose that lust that had kept them blind. The “log/plank” drops from their eyes and then they can see. Once they can see, they begin to understand the order that was always there and thus they “come to be” right about understanding it.

The “joke” part is that the world itself doesn’t really change just because of what they think or not immediately. The non-joke is that by too many people lusting to understand others, they really do cause the world to become chaos or by everyone presuming that it is all understood, they actually cause it to become understood.

So it is half joke, half not.

I posted this same thing on an Atheist site and the only response (somewhat as expected) was how awesome it is that the mind actually has such tremendous magical power over reality… sigh.

 

[grannymh]

The OP was intended to be an exaggeration expressed as a “half joke”.

By people trying too hard, too “desperately”, to understand others, they question so many things that they can’t really see anything but their confusion and suspicions. They don’t see that they are lost in a maze that they created in their own minds. They are left to presume what wasn’t really there. They see that other people are confused rather than themselves. They see that God is insane rather than seeing that they are.

By just accepting (in faith) that it is all actually in order (presume that you understand), they lose that lust that had kept them blind. The “log/plank” drops from their eyes and then they can see. Once they can see, they begin to understand the order that was always there and thus they “come to be” right about understanding it.

The “joke” part is that the world itself doesn’t really change just because of what they think or not immediately. The non-joke is that by too many people lusting to understand others, they really do cause the world to become chaos or by everyone presuming that it is all understood, they actually cause it to become understood.

So it is half joke, half not.

I posted this same thing on an Atheist site and the only response (somewhat as expected) was how awesome it is that the mind actually has such tremendous magical power over reality… sigh.

The goal of the professor in my philosophy survey class was to show the direct line from Descartes to Communism. Along the way there were some strange philosophies about how to tell if one existed or if there were really reality. The professor proved his point and I passed the course trying not to laugh out loud.

Since then, it seems as if philosophy has gotten crazier. Now, when I want to get out of a philosophy discussion, I post something like --The author I was reading couldn’t figure out if he existed. So he tried to figure out if he at least existed in someone else’s imagination. I preferred to stick with the older philosophers who knew which end was up.

The beginning of the OP reminded me of Snoopy writing a novel on the top of his dog house. The opening line was: “It was a dark and stormy night …” Don’t know why that has always stuck in my head when I have trouble remembering what I did last week. When I got to the part about the “mind” the first thought was: Dang! I should have taken that philosophy class seriously.

I have noticed that some posters look at the mind as being an immaterial function of the spiritual soul and others look at the mind as a bunch of wobbly brain cells which, taken together, have slightly more impact than similar brain cells in our fellow animals, e.g., our cousin chimps.

Personally, I believe humans have spiritual souls with tremendous potential. Once we understand our purpose in life and where we should be headed after death, the soul becomes a source of strength for peace in the midst of every day chaos. On the other hand, I understand philosophy’s power to confuse issues by looking inward instead of outward. Could the idea of looking inward be similar to trying to understand with only one’s own brain? Without a basic understanding of the spiritual component of human nature, it would be easy to create a maze in one’s own head.

If one accepts a spiritual soul, then the world can be viewed by a spiritual point of view which would belong to a personal God. A belief in God would lead to personal peace in the midst of the hurricane.

Blessings,
granny

All human life is worthy of profound respect.

 

[James_S_Saint]

If one accepts a spiritual soul, then the world can be viewed by a spiritual point of view which would belong to a personal God. A belief in God would lead to personal peace in the midst of the hurricane.

Well there you go using the second method again and turning the world of chaos back into order. Make up your “mind”.

I certainly agree that those who look too deeply into themselves without first having a clear idea of the world outside will tend to create a maze of deception about the themselves, to themselves.

The only real problem of course, is people not really knowing who to listen to and who to basically ignore (never totally) in order to get a good start for further investigation. By the time they figure that out, if they do, no one will be listening to them.

The mind isn’t hard to understand, but it is hard for people to “come to understand”. There is a mental paradigm shift that has to take place, then it all suddenly comes together and becomes pretty simple (sort of).

I realized long ago that a single mind functions almost identically to how the US Congress is supposed to work. And of course, that leads to the correct notion of how both a mind and the US Congress share the same problem of getting lost in its own presumptions and attempts to maintain a belief system about itself (an ego/pride).

Of course the problem with the New World Order is that there will be no “outside” for it to maintain its sanity (or gain it to begin with). Thus that introspection problem will be the only option. The ego of that system has no choice but to absolutely control what is or isn’t to be accepted as true. And there can be no outside force for it to observe to make it clear when it goes astray - “relativity truth”. The world must become whatever the NOW believes it to be and it can only believe what it imagines which is what causes it to become what it imagines - an endless trap, a maze of deception about the themselves, to themselves.

 

[grannymh]

Well there you go using the second method again and turning the world of chaos back into order. Make up your “mind”.

Hey. I am feminine. As such I can “make up mind” any way, any time I wish.

This is not an insult. But I am wondering why your post sounds more coherent than others I have tried to read. Why does “New World Order” ring a bell?

 

[Geremia]

Read this from St. Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica.