Encephalon

The second you split off the prefix "bio-" from bioelectromagnetism and then proceeded to compare it to an EM generator, CT disappeared. But I wasn't clear enough; the chi generated by oue own bods is what I was referring to. I read the same stuff you do! Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming makes it clear enough, but I think Francesco Garripoli has compiled a lot of good stuff.

Creation, on 31 March 2011 - 11:32 AM, said: “I cannot believe that conscious/spirit did not have a major role in the development of life on this planet.” It is with this sentence that you seem to set aside rationality and join the ranks of the nonrational – not the irrational – and seek out the emotional comfort of a teleological/theological explanation. There are millions of people, probably in the minority, who can and do believe that conscious/spirit did not have a major role in the development of life on this planet who still have rich and vibrant spiritual lives. Typically, they are people who have powerful imaginations and a sense of unitive consciousness that perceives awe and wonder in the midst of ambiguity but without the need to annihilate that ambiguity, since there is a high degree of probability that human beings in their present state of consciousness lack the imaginative ability to conceive ultimate explanations anyway.. Many people say they adore the mystery of the universe but they go to great links to replace mystery with religious fantasies. I spent many years as a “theistic evolutionist” taking comfort in what seemed like a sensible reconciliation between my spiritual ideas and my humanist convictions. But at a critical juncture some of us give up our emotional need to have everything spelled out for us and simply open up to life. My moment began when a philosophy professor challenged me to examine whether my strong intuitive convictions about the role of divinity in the universe might be better accounted for by my strong emotional prejudicies than an internally compelling but illusory inner narrative. Years later I learned that detecting the difference between intuition and prejudice is notoriously difficult for most people. (Hopefully, my usage of the word 'prejudice' is not interpreted in the context of 'racial' prejudice.) Presenting your sentence “After all, the whole point about life on this planet is spirits getting to incarnate in bodies!” as a foregone conclusion is evidence enough that the demarcation line between what we can know and what we cannot know – critical thinking in other words – is not something you take seriously at this time. (This sounds like a point taken straight out of the Book of Mormon, but that's another story.) The irony for me is that I do not categorically reject the possibility of a teleological explanation with some similarity to your model. I just don’t cling to it, and I don't need it for my spiritual integrity, and as fledgling Buddhists we are regularly counseled on the pitfalls of attachment, including attachment to ideas like these.

Ain't no presentation. Just delivering a message!

Antibiotics are unnecessary. So are painkillers. The trigeminal nerve is a mighty sensitive one that runs throughout the jaw and face, but if you believe in Thor and don't take his name in vane, the pain will become a thing of the mind. Antibiotics contain sentient resins that propagate in the intestinal tract. These can be reasoned with unless Thor suspects you of collusion with union activity, in which case you're better off just buying a copy of National Review and drinking a fifth of scotch. Hope this helps.

I posted this once before and it was rejected out of hand except for a couple folks. Maybe it will serve some function. This is one document that all participants get when the attend the annual CT conference. Just so we're clear, I didn't compose this. It was written and refined over many years by the academic CT crowd. Speedreading it and then posting all the egregious omissions may not reveal its full potential, but it's great to post in front of your toilet! Valuable Intellectual Traits Intellectual Humility: Having a consciousness of the limits of one's knowledge, including a sensitivity to circumstances in which one's native egocentrism is likely to function self-deceptively; sensitivity to bias, prejudice and limitations of one's viewpoint. Intellectual humility depends on recognizing that one should not claim more than one actually knows. It does not imply spinelessness or submissiveness. It implies the lack of intellectual pretentiousness, boastfulness, or conceit, combined with insight into the logical foundations, or lack of such foundations, of one's beliefs. Intellectual Courage: Having a consciousness of the need to face and fairly address ideas, beliefs or viewpoints toward which we have strong negative emotions and to which we have not given a serious hearing. This courage is connected with the recognition that ideas considered dangerous or absurd are sometimes rationally justified (in whole or in part) and that conclusions and beliefs inculcated in us are sometimes false or misleading. To determine for ourselves which is which, we must not passively and uncritically "accept" what we have "learned." Intellectual courage comes into play here, because inevitably we will come to see some truth in some ideas considered dangerous and absurd, and distortion or falsity in some ideas strongly held in our social group. We need courage to be true to our own thinking in such circumstances. The penalties for non-conformity can be severe. Intellectual Empathy: Having a consciousness of the need to imaginatively put oneself in the place of others in order to genuinely understand them, which requires the consciousness of our egocentric tendency to identify truth with our immediate perceptions of long-standing thought or belief. This trait correlates with the ability to reconstruct accurately the viewpoints and reasoning of others and to reason from premises, assumptions, and ideas other than our own. This trait also correlates with the willingness to remember occasions when we were wrong in the past despite an intense conviction that we were right, and with the ability to imagine our being similarly deceived in a case-at-hand. Intellectual Integrity: Recognition of the need to be true to one's own thinking; to be consistent in the intellectual standards one applies; to hold one's self to the same rigorous standards of evidence and proof to which one holds one's antagonists; to practice what one advocates for others; and to honestly admit discrepancies and inconsistencies in one's own thought and action. Intellectual Perseverance: Having a consciousness of the need to use intellectual insights and truths in spite of difficulties, obstacles, and frustrations; firm adherence to rational principles despite the irrational opposition of others; a sense of the need to struggle with confusion and unsettled questions over an extended period of time to achieve deeper understanding or insight. Faith In Reason: Confidence that, in the long run, one's own higher interests and those of humankind at large will be best served by giving the freest play to reason, by encouraging people to come to their own conclusions by developing their own rational faculties; faith that, with proper encouragement and cultivation, people can learn to think for themselves, to form rational viewpoints, draw reasonable conclusions, think coherently and logically, persuade each other by reason and become reasonable persons, despite the deep-seated obstacles in the native character of the human mind and in society as we know it. Fairmindedness: Having a consciousness of the need to treat all viewpoints alike, without reference to one's own feelings or vested interests, or the feelings or vested interests of one's friends, community or nation; implies adherence to intellectual standards without reference to one's own advantage or the advantage of one's group. Valuable Intellectual Traits (June 1996). Foundation For Critical Thinking, Online at website: www.criticalthinking.org

Yep.

This conclusion isn't consistent with the material I've examined, but I'm a long way from making such definitive statements. I absolutely agree that they are two different mental processes that have to be cultivated separately, and that CT skills require a certain amount of isolation to hone, whereas creativity tends to resist straightjacketing. I like the writing metaphor. You write one day without letting your impulse for editing get in the way. The following day you whip out your editing mind and go to work. Another way CT and creativity are linked is the musical metaphor. If you're improvising in a jazz clinic, and the rhythm section suddenly gets very conservative with its beat and chord progressions, the narrower parameters suddenly imposed upon you can unleash creative solutions (music). I'll have to revisit the two processes as separate. What I do know is that when the Muse comes knocking, you gotta let her in!

It depends. Cryptic writing is an invitation for misinterpretation, but we can always follow through with clarification later. In any event, using this forum as a means of practicing written communication, especially if you're addicted(!) can serve a valuable purpose.

This is precisely why I have introduced the subject of CT to this forum from time to time, when I witness the confusion and ill-will that can result from poor writing, and the frustration from knowing that just a few tweaks here and there in the way we compose our messages can avoid so much negativity. But it's usually rejected. Maybe it'll be different now.

whatever...

That's really the point of clear thinking and CT - the ability to communicate and articulate with precision. It gets even more important as the subject matter drifts into philosophy, mysticism, and states of interiority. Neverthelss, many in here think it can be skipped over on the way to enlightenment. Not gonna happen!

A really great question, pal, probably one of the most important ones we can ask, because once we get critical numbers of energy practitioners testifying to the benefits, evewn more people will be asking the questions, and I believe a "Chi" renaissance is up ahead. One of the reasons I'm looking forward to this year's CT conference up in Berkeley, CA is because Teja Bell, a 5th degree aikidoist, chi kung master,Vipassana instructor and amazing musician will be presenting his work on how to quantify and explain interior states of chi manifestation from a critical thinking perspective. Teja studies the same CT format that I've cited regularly here. We know that chi is bioelectromagnetism, but this presentation is going to break new ground. I'll be looking for materials to post online when they become available. Besides that, B. Frantzis does a pretty good job of demystifying the practice of working with the nervous system. in his book on the energy gates. The conference is still 4 months away.

Granted, the wording is strong, but unless you can come up with examples where believing things for insufficient reasons yielded an advantage of some kind, the jokes on you! This isn't about proof. It was his conclusion about avoiding the ethical pitfalls of believing things without evidence. You probably know more about him than I do though, but I;ll post this anyway if you're interested. -http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/w_k_clifford/ethics_of_belief.html

Even more than that, I4L is describing a state of mind that can accept neither the inherent ambiguity of the universe or the limits of human imagination. For people like him who cannot find a sense of meaning or wonder just by virtue of being alive, the only tolerable option becomes the practice of anthropomorphism and the absolute annhilation of ambiguity, This impulse is the same now as it was 10,000 years ago; fear of the unknown. The remedy? Religious fairy tales.

Beyond the natural desire to see my child born healthy, I'm not expecting anything in particular. Given the state of the nature vs. nurture debate, I want to create as healthy an environment as I can during the formative years with the tools mentioned.

You would've spared this board a lot of haggling and heartache if you had simply declared your allegience to these ideas from the beginning, rather than disguising your beliefs beneath the facade of 'scientific inquiry.' When people on this board demand an explanation from me about why I get so emotional and abrasive, it's because I have nothing but contempt for your disengenuous posturing and intellectual dishonesty. But, people have insisted that treating you with courtesy is the prime directive, so I guess i just have one question: Since your points are so dramatically antithetical to Taoism, what real reason did you have for coming in here besides proselytizing?

Posted Today, 11:54 AM Gauss, on 30 March 2011 - 03:15 AM, said: All animals and plants etc exist for human beings. Comments like these leave me completely speechless, and that doesn't happen very often. I guess I'm still caught in the tractor beam of my intellectual heroes. "it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence." The Ethics of Belief (1877) William K. Clifford I'd laugh if a 5 yr old said this. That a grown man would submit this idea as a statement of fact in a forum ostensibly populated by people who are trying to tune into ecology and the cosmos and the Tao leaves me wondering what my measured response should be. But since all ideas are equal in weight I guess I'm obliged to accept his trenchant observation.

Promise? Cross your heart and hope to die? Thanks for being old, like me!

We are at liberty to believe anything we want. Within a 5 mile radius of my home, there are multibillion dollar defense contractors, the world's biggest pornography industry, giant billboards attesting to the Rapture on May 21 (gettin' close!), and CSU Northridge, my alma mater. I live next door to the Assemblies of God and have a dozen medical marijuana dispensaries, with the best Cajun, Thai, Mexican, Indian, Greek, and gourmet vegetarian restaurants one could ask for stateside. Ken Wilber's introductory sentence in "A Theory of Everything" goes like this - "We live in an extraordinary time: all of the world's cultures, past and present, are to some degree available to us, either in historical records or as living entities. In the history of the planet Earth, this has never happened before." This is one mind-blowing introduction, and the book has explanatory power to the nth degree, but lately I've been experiencing the "Dark Side" of this implication, especially when I come into this forum. I think it's pretty clear that just about anything goes at TheTaoBums, as long as the pablum comes wrapped in courtesy. If the theory of divine spirits creating the world is to be accorded the same intellectual weight as the theory of evolution, then personal responses seem clear enough; we can stay or leave, but if we choose to stay, it is incumbent upon us to remain civil, no matter how far beyond the pale these ideas come from. Okay. I get it. A little slow to catch on, but I get it. Hit the reset button, the "No Asshole" light has come on. I was asked to consider my emotionalism when confronting what I thought was a torrent of pseudoscience and misinformation flooding this board, and it wasn't immeditately obvious to me but it's clear that my years as a kid having to put up with a lot of aggressive ignorance and sadism has imbued within me a critical need to readily identify bullshit and keep it at bay. I see a planet soaking in gullibility and horrid patterns of social conditioning, so my tolerance for it is low and I clearly have allowed myself to get angry about it. It's possible that the vicodin is exacerbating it, but I'm sure I can find people who will insist that I was an asshole before I started taking pain-killers. I care about this board and am actually indebted to it. It was only two years ago that I joined in, but it was a different place. I seemed to be part of a group who were experiencing incipient chi flow and with the help of YaMu, Trunk, Eternal Student, Stig, Mal, and Taomeow, we were the lucky recipients of quality guidance on our chi flow path. I can't trust my memory completely but that seemed to be the predominant subject matter, with a bit of exercise (Pavel!) and marijuana thrown in. I remember early on getting reamed by others over the content of my posts, but it wasn't a problem. I didn't feel victimized. I was still working on my thesis and just assumed that supportable arguments could be fashioned and accepted on their own terms. And I think they were for the most part. I acquired friends and detractors, but implicit in the whole TTB experience was the idea that Taoism was a path for people who seek the truth and that "Scholar/Warrior" was not just the title of a book on Taoism but a noble goal. It is very clear to me that this is still the case, but for the very few. Gracious acceptance of all points of view seems to be the most important rule in force at this time. I think the world is full of lonely people who need to feel safe and secure in the knowledge that they can say whatever they want without being confronted.. I guess I just have to accept that, although it seems to betray the value of online discussion. But I will try to abide the advice to cool my jets. Hugs and kisses,

As I practice Calm- Abiding meditation, such feelings are generally seen as fabrications and to be observed, nothing more. However, I am wondering about Qi and this experience, wondering if they are infact what I have recently read about in Taoism as a potential path of awakening. Greetings. I can't comment on the nature of your feelings, but sensing one's chi flow comes with specific routines practiced consistently over time. It took several months for me to get to the point where I first acquired the ability to manipulate energy and sensation in my fingers, and three years before I could move it throughout my limbs, head, torso at will. I'm only in my fourth year, but my experience and rate of progress seems to be consistent with the average population of practitioners. There are a half dozen books that are regularly recommended for beginners, and since spending money on books is what I do best, I bought all of them! But "The Complete Book of Chinese Health and Healing" by Daniel Reid was the most comprehensive and really dug deeply to answer the questions you're posing. Besides, he's one of your countrymen, living in Byron Bay, which is only about 3,600 kilometers from you, so please, give him my regards! I practice an internal form of chi kung called nei kung. At www.neikungla.com you'll find an extremely informative but concise explanation of the practice. Chi has pretty much been identified as bioelectromagnetism, so if you're a westerner looking for a bridge to the chi phenomenon, Reid's book will be a lot of fun. Best wishes!

I don't think I4L is a fundie, but who knows or cares. Did you read Passion of the Western Mind by Richard Tarnas? I try to avoid the pitfalls of teleological arguments but I hafta say, pantheism had great appeal to me.