Apech

@TM Well thanks in return for your view. I think that this idea of treating reality (in the life sciences) as dead comes from the same scientific paradigm which emerged in the late 17 Century. That is reality is an object which can be dissected, broken down into parts and therefore understood. Hence the tendency to kill things to understand them. What they are looking at of course is the gross precipitation of higher and more subtle life functions which they cannot detect. The use of ancient ... what you call dead languages is not necessarily such a bad thing. For large periods of history Latin was the lingua franca of the intelligentia and a such allowed people from different countries to converse ... and thus promoted learning. Ancient Greek was interestingly enough the lingua franca of the Roman Empire and also the language through which the philosophy and science of the ancient world has come down to us (in the West). No bad thing in my view. In the truly ancient world of course learning was the province of the priesthoods. Mathematics, geometry, architecture, medecine and so on were linked to a spiritual view. This view was preserved in subjects like alchemy (which even the likes Newton studied) and did not separate the spiritual from the empirical. Empiricism does have a virtue though in that it has to try to explain facts. As much a scientific dogma may think it has the 'answer' always in every discipline, sooner or later, actual detectable physical effects undermine the standard model. By recording actual observable facts the scientist is actually able to move forward. For instance the penguin man saw homosexual behaviour at a time when such things were both illegal and socially unacceptable in human society ... despite being widely practiced. Sooner or later this forces a reassessment of homosexuality as un-natural or whatever. So I think there is something to be said for pragmatic empiricism as distinct to received and untested ideas.

Well since you ask I would say that the modern scientific paradigm emerged in the mid 17 century to the beginning of the 18th. This is when for instance Alchemy and Chemistry first became separate disciplines. I think your assessment is a little harsh. I think there are scientist who are genuinely interested in the natural world and try to understand it (within the limits of the paradigm). I think the funny thing about the article is that the scientist in 1911 projected his values onto the penguins. But he did observe and record presumably accurately and those bits of information can be used to increase understanding despite the fact that he did not himself understand. I think it was Marx who said society and the zeitgeist project the philosophy for the time ... so the prevalent ideas which gain general acceptance at different periods reflect the way in which people were living. So for instance a feudal society would propagate very different philosophies to democratic one and so on. The scientist wrote about the activities of the penguins in Greek so that only educated people - which presumably means people sufficiently ok with ideas - could understand ... it was his judgement that others (i.e. the proles) would react strangely to the discoveries he had made. If it was discovered today I think this would not apply which is why it appeared in a mainstream newspaper. So the commentary or subtext of the article was that today we would not necessarily jump to the conclusion that the penguin activity was depraved and so on. I do not share your view of science which seems entirely negative. Although I would naturally gravitate to Blake rather than Newton ... I still think that the insight of the application of mathematics to things such as the laws of motion and gravity is a significant and helpful breakthrough for mankind. I don't understand the Simpson quote at all ... I have no idea what you are saying there.

Er did you guys read the article it was about a scientist from 1911 who wrote this stuff up in Greek so the hoi poloi could not read it. That was the funny part ... i.e. the reflection on humans.

You could try this:

Ok we can take in the view and do some window shopping on the way .

I like the yellow ones.

Based on a totally superficial and quick look at some of his Youtube vids I would say Michael Roach is very gifted man ... and probably a good man if maybe a little innocent. I think sometimes people push themselves too hard to get power/enlightenment and it distorts them badly. Speaking as a plodder myself ... I am glad I am that way ... or at least I was caused to be that way by one of my teachers. He said 'no urgency' ... apply yourself with all the energy you can but do not rush. He also said 'to want means to lack' ... so if you really want power you lack power ... if you really want enlightenment then you lack it. Not sure I've done justice to this insight but maybe you see what he meant by this. In fact he used to say that if you look around at those who obviously want real power they will never get it ...hmmm

Myth of eight hour sleep Hmmm interesting .....

Its one thing to be gifted intelligent and well taught in a school of practice and another to be genuinely wise and enlightened.

Like this

Ah right ... that's how Egyptian obelisks are suppose to be ... with the sun on the point. All goes back to the creation myth. A mound or stone called the Benben emerges from the infinite waters of the void (called the Nun) and as it does so the sun rises over it. It is a recreation of the zep tawy - first time - the moment when the perceived world comes into existence ... as in 'let there be light'. the sun is Ra of course. All pyramids and temple in Egypt were recreations of this scene.

Weird but strangely fascinating read the comments on this blog: Blog page ... ?

Have you found the photo? Is it online?

Can anyone tell me what Gestaltfahigkeit means? Thanks.

Well thanks for tying me in ... I think. And congrats on mentioning the euro at least I understood that bit. The eurozone is a disaster because it was an economic policy based on a) a political ideology b ) an attempt to rival the dollar as a currency of choice. The only thing that makes any sense to me economically is that wealth is based on something ... either raw materials, products from those materials or services that people/countries need. That's it ... nothing else. Everything that governments do that does not accord with this is based on their own self interest or delusions of greatness. So I think economic policy has to be based on ways of creating wealth and not on speculation, currency manipulation, quantitive easing or anything else. The Eurozone should be dismantled and each country should have its own currency which links directly to the GDP of that country. instead of waiting for Greece, then Portugal, Spain and Italy to tumble they should act now to deconstruct the whole edifice ... in as controlled and least expensive way that they can. LZ would say go back to basics in the sense of study what makes this thing (the Global Economy) work and harmonize with it.

Thanks but I've just checked and the term is Gestaltsfahige(n) (with two dots over the a). It comes together with these other terms: Verkorperung(en) and Erscheinungsbild(er) They are all used by an Egyptologist called Wolf-Brinkmann to describe the concept of the Ba. So maybe they are technical/philosophical terms.

Could you translate that for non-americans? I assume the ss is not Hitlers storm troopers. How should a Taoist view taxes anyway. You can't run a modern (or any) state without them. And I am sure in Ancient China there were plenty of bushels of rice going the way of the sage-king. Is the criticism about efficiency ... i.e. any taxes raised should be spent on things that profit the state and therefore everyone and not on wasteful ideologically based policies???

Ah. Thank you for the French lesson. I was trying to translate the expression 'enjoy' as you imperative not infinitive so I stand corrected. I didn't realise there was a sexual connotation ... ha ha! 'I love this country' ... means where you are now ... presumably France ... so you should say 'I love that country' ... if you mean Portugal. ... ... but otherwise I have to say your English is excellent ... Portugal is indeed a lovely place. Hope you enjoy (profit from) your ppf.

Done. You can set it up how you like. Just use New Topic to open a thread. Jouir.

You can't delete ... just stop using.

What I was referring to as the nanny state has nothing to do with the Great Society. In the country where I live now, Portugal the literacy rate in 1970's was about 40% because of an oppressive right wing government which lasted from 30's till a communist revolution (bloodless in the 70's). There are still many in the older generation who cannot read or write and who had to leave schooling at 10,11 and 12 years old. Lifting people out of poverty - or providing the opportunities for people to do it for themselves is not nanny-state. Nanny state is where the state decides it must rule on detailed aspects of daily life through legislation. i.e. nothing to do with real human need. There seems to be an overall thrust in the TTC which aims at government doing less. However what I am arguing is that if a Taoist administration were to come to power (unlikely I know) it would have to deal with the reality of the situation as of now. So what principles could be distilled from TTC etc. which would inform the programme of this new government? I think that a Taoist would be able to support the idea of individual liberty as defined by the ideals of western liberalism (small 'l') because I doubt if a Taoist would want to legislate about how people lived their day to day lives. i.e. not a nanny state.

I would suggest that LZ would say ... as few laws as needed for the state to function and none which are about interfering with peoples own business (i.e. no nanny state). The Tea Party is surely just a reaction to recent US government failures. I doubt if LZ would have very much to say about it. I would like to know what LZ's economic policy would be.