Lost in Translation

For a brief moment I thought this topic said "Freedom from Goats"...

This is a very sad fact, but absolutely true. I have followed this trend for several years. I used to give an annual scholarship to graduating high school seniors to help them with college expenses, but it has grown so bad that I have cancelled my scholarship. I cannot in good conscience contribute to the behaviors that I witness now and many universities. Yours is an excellent example.

This is an excellent observation, but was it Zeno's intent to convey this or has this been attributed to him by those that followed?

My apologies. The course is 1.6 x 10^3 meters long.

It does not matter. All that matters is that the locations of the tortoise and of Achilles are functions on the length of the race, not of each other.

If Achilles' desire were to reach the tortoise then the paradox would hold. But Achilles' desire is not to reach the tortoise but surpass him. Thus Achilles has as his benchmark not the distance that the tortoise has travelled but the length of the racecourse.

Did anyone watch the new Doctor Who? I saw it a couple days ago and must admit that it was really good. They regenerated the Doctor into a female, which I admit is a real SJW kinda thing to do, but Jodie Whittaker seems to be doing a good job. She's channeling the David Tenant Doctor - all manic, talking a mile a minute - which I think is a good move. Peter Capaldi was good but just too dark. I'm looking forward to the new episodes. As long as they can avoid hitting me over the head with the PC message I think I'll be alright.

Season 11 is officially over. Overall, I found this season to be lacking the grand adventure we saw in the past. This does not feel like of the same Doctor. The character is much softer, less decisive, less sure of herself. Honestly, I can't imagine Jodie Whittaker going up against The Master or Weeping Angels, much less the Daleks or fellow Time Lords, which brings us to the finale... The Doctor against a single Dalek without its armored shell. Was the Dalek frightening? Hell, yes! But did it feel like global threat? Not so much. I recall the similar episode, "Dalek", from 2005 with Christopher Eccleston. That Dalek was frightening while also feeling like a genuine threat to humanity. This episode felt like a derivative of something from the "Alien" franchise.

"Woperchild" and "Huperchild"... LMFAO!!!

Zeno's paradoxes seem to conflict with observation, thus either observation is flawed or the paradoxes are flawed.

Most people think of a kind of conscious flow-state when they mention pure awareness, but you are correct. Pure awareness is technically always there.

If you think something drains you then it probably does. Why else would you ask the question?

Start with Tao Te Ching and Chuang Tzu, then look into I Ching. You may find also stories of the Eight Taoist Immortals interesting. Meditation is essential. You don't need to sit in lotus for hours on end but you must find some practice and stick to it. Martial arts can help, but might also distract. Give it a try to see what works. Focus on your breath. Breathing is an underrated skill. Borrow mindfulness from the Buddhists. It's just a form of meditation after all. Beware of desire for power, you will never be powerful enough. But if you release your need for power you may find a new power you never knew existed.

These all describe the same thing. It's like a car driving down the highway. The center of the lane is #1 or #3 whereas the lane dividers are #2. If one allows the car to drift towards the edge of the lane, the rumbling of the tires on the lane markers wakes one up and reminds one to return to the center. But one cannot drive in the same lane forever, and similarly one cannot maintain a pure awareness state forever. It's the nature of life.

Taoism means many things to many people. To some it means a specific form of internal alchemy while to others it means something more philosophical. I suppose you'll need to determine which direction you wish to travel. Of course there are points where both paths converge. Depending upon whom you speak with, you will get an answer that leans more or less in on of these general directions. The degree to which a person is knowledgeable of other schools of thought (Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Shamanism, etc) will influence their view of Taoism. There are many who will answer a resounding "Yes!" to the above question. These folks tend to be few and far between, and generally guard their knowledge for only the select few. Many others call this BS. Again, you'll need to make the determination yourself. Perhaps some of the older members will come out of hiding and respond to this topic in detail. There are also some good threads in the backlog of this site that discuss these topics and more. Spend some time with the search feature. You may be pleased with what you find

This! Everyone knows there is no atmosphere in space, so why have a craft with wings? Totally fake!

I'm stuck on the opening header: I'm trying to understand this sentence. Subject: "Matrix Film type" Verb: "Interfaced" (past tense) Direct object: "People" So far so good, but what were the people interfaced in to? "a Duplicated Population Simulation Argument Reality Combination" What the hell does this mean? Is this is combination? Is this is an argument? Is this is simulation? I hate to nit-pick.. Actually, that's a lie. I love to nit-pick, and there are too many nits in this sentence for me to pick. The opening topic is supposed to be powerful. It's supposed to draw the reader in. This topic tells me to run the hell away!

I don't know. Perhaps neanderthals lived each day being able to see ghosts and converse with deities. Perhaps they went extinct because there was nothing more to learn by being flesh. Yes, absolutely.

Low/high - how can you say human consciousness is low? Compared to what? Small/large - what does that mean? What is the "mean average" chance to awaken among living creatures? How can you say we have a small chance? Such words are meaningful only in a relative sense. Like "evil", it is a point of view.

From a certain point of view that is correct. But evil is also a will, an intention. In your example the wind has neither.

There was an "orange glow" in the air this morning above Vandenberg Air Force Base. Don't know what it was but probably some kind of missile test. https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2018/12/19/did-you-see-the-bright-light-in-the-sky/

@rideforever I was a soldier once upon a time. I served in Bosnia as part of the peacekeeping force. You are projecting onto soldiers. Most just want to stay warm and dry, and to make it home alive. Beware of "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence" syndrome. A boring job, a decent house, a loving spouse and a few kids -- that is a good life.

I'm new to scrying but in the limited time I've been doing it one thing has become apparent: scrying is a form of "deep seeing." Instead of looking upon, scrying is looking within. This looking within yields unexpected results - flashes of light, sounds, impressions, memories, feelings. These flashes don't necessarily make sense in any traditional way, but just because they aren't obvious in their meaning does not mean they lack meaning. Think of the flashes as words in a new language, and like all language you need exposure to build a vocabulary and grammar.

I went out and got me a fancy crystal ball. It's a blend of Smokey Quartz and Golden Healer, about the size of a baseball or cricket ball. I took it home, cleaned it up, soaked it overnight in a saltwater bath. During the next full moon I'll let it outside to soak up the yin energy. Last night I introduced myself to the ball. It was a good session as far as I can tell. Scrying is new to me so we'll have to see how it goes over time. Anyone got any comments, suggestions... war stories?