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Topic:
Free Will .vs. Determinism
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The old fate versus choice question.... Is our destiny determined by our choices or by a random series of events that have taken place. The truth of the matter i believe is that that the two are intwined and that one creates the other which in turn creates the one. Kinda alot like the Yin and Yang in eastern thinking. We have a tendency in western philosphy to view things as seperate,opposite and not the same. This has lead to a lot of conflict. Really i think we should begin to think about the way things naturally occur. As a series of choices that bring about events which influence and affect our future choices. Some things are decided for us while other things are up to us to determine
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Topic:
The existence of Black Holes
Edited by
Maikuru
on
Mon 11/24/08 04:01 AM
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Can one black hole consume another? Yes, the one with the greatest mass would consume the other. If they both had the same mass, then I assume they would merge into one black hole with the combined mass of both. As I understand it, BHs aren't really "things". There is no physic substance to a BH. There is a singularity that has no dimension (thus no "physical" existence per se), and there is a spherical area (the "event horizon") that marks the size of the gravitational field from which nothing can escape. http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/980101c.html This is all theoretical, as it has never been observed. So the "merging" of black holes is simply the overlap of two gravitational fields - like the gravitational fields of the earth and the moon overlap. Now as to how a dimensionless point can have any gravity all, that's the part that I can't wrap my wit's around. Think of grid on two demisional chart. now place a dot or point on that grid. Does the dot or point have a dimension? No it is merely a point in space. The same is true of quantum singularites or black holes. Only this time imagine it in a three deminsional grid, it would still be a point in space. Theoritical physics and mathematics have suggest that there could be numerous deminsions beyond the third deminsion. Black holes are points of such emmense gravity created by a collapsing star that ruptures the space/time fabric of our three dimensional universe. Where does all the water go when it goes down the drain? Into another dimension or universe or perhaps even somewhere far more complex. It has even been suggested that qusars are black holes of another dimension or universe on the form of white holes spilling into ours. Yes these can collide and interact with one another. They do what i call a "merge and purge" or they can push eachother away. It all depends on the flow of gravity 
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I never listen,watch or attend such things. They are merely somebody else's way of changing your perceptions and attitudes towards things. Anyone can do those very things on their own and it would be a waist of time and money that could be better spent. People have the tools and skills already within themselves to make the necessary changes they need to make. If someone lacks willpower or motivation or perhaps is to depressed or stubburn to change i offer this simple phrase my grandfather gave me. "People only do the things they do becuase they believe it gets them what they want or need. They only time they will change what they do is when they realise what their doing is not getting them what they want or need."
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Topic:
Mind your brain.....
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The mind is merely the seat of the conciousness. Having had a near death exprience and surviving a diabetic comatose i can speak to the individual having a brain but lacking a sense of mind as it were. Since i went into a coma my brain lost its conciousness but the brain continued to function and support the body. Yet i have memories of sensations and experiences despite my brain not having its mind as it were. We arrive at a paradox here. If memories are part of the mind and since my mind was absent during the comatose, is it not plausible to state then that the mind can also be absent from the brain. My sensei told me this when i put the question to him. The brain and body are like a car. They merely act as a place for our mind(thoughts,intents,memories)to reside and interact with the physical world. He then asked me,"Can you not exit the car and still continue to travel on?" The point i think he was trying to make was that the brain and the body can be independent of the mind and the soul.
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Topic:
The brain vs the mind.
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there is nothing to take personal in these threads. Semantics, definitions and counter views of ones opinions (be them supported by fact or not is nothing to be bothered by. The mind is merely the seat of the conciousness. Having had a near death exprience and surviving a diabetic comatose i can speak to the individual having a brain but lacking a sense of mind as it were. Since i went into a coma my brain lost its conciousness but the brain continued to function and support the body. Yet i have memories of sensations and experiences despite my brain not having its mind as it were. We arrive at a paradox here. If memories are part of the mind and since my mind was absent during the comatose, is it not plausible to state then that the mind can also be absent from the brain. My sensei told me this when i put the question to him. The brain and body are like a car. They merely act as a place for our mind(thoughts,intents,memories)to reside and interact with the physical world. He then asked me,"Can you not exit the car and still continue to travel on?" The point i think he was trying to make was that the brain and the body can be independent of the mind and the soul.
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Reality is truth. Not your version of it, but what actually is. Our inability to see it does not alter it. Then whose version is true? oh no, please don't open that can of worms, or since everybody thinks their right this thread will go down in flames.... 
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Topic:
Legalize Marijuana?
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Drug: something to be used for medicinal purposes; to aid,alleviate, treat and or cure ailments. Now should it be legalized for such use, I believe so. However (sorry to rain on your parade drug addicts) it should be regulated through FDA and its distribution and treatment measures monitored by the state and federal governments. Another thing that bothers me about this thread. Alcohol is not and has never been a drug. At best the only thing you can use alcohol for in a hospital is to sterilze open wounds. So i don't see where we get off saying alcohol and weed are the same thing. Alcohol is a highly addictive substance that resusts in thousands of deaths every year. I can't ever remeber opening a paper and finding an article about someone dying from a "weed induced" automotive accident or a weed related diesease. No but i bet all of you can think of someone who was killed in a DUI, or died from alcohol poisioning,or perhaps cancer and or cirrohsiss of the liver which is related to alcohol abuse. Weed is only lethal if you smoke it your entire life. Yes boys and girls..smoking kills you. Drug addicts typically move from weed to the drugs that kill them,e.i: meth,coke,crack,opium,prescription drugs and even over the counter medication. So lets stop trying to compare alcohol to any other substance as a way to get it legalized. It is just plain stupid.  Actually the arguement that marijuana is a gateway drug is false. The truth is marijuana is usually the second drug that people try. Alcohol is the first, and hence, gateway drug of most individuals. The gateway drug arguement is also spurious. What the arguement says is that if you try marijuana you will eventually try harder drugs, like heroin. What the evidence of the agrument actually suggests is that people who are willing to try illegal drugs, are willing to try different types of illegal drugs, nothing more. But ask, and you will find that 95% of all potheads, drank alcohol first. I never put forth the gateway drug arguement, if you review my statement you will note that i stated drug addicts typically move from weed to the actual drug that kills them. I am not saying that you are wrong only that you misinterpeted what i stated. Point of fact is you are basically saying the same thing i am. The only difference is alcohol is not used for medicinal purposes and therefore can not be called a drug. Your right in the sense that it is the first substance abused by addicts but it is not a drug by definition. Just semantics really. 
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Topic:
Legalize Marijuana?
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Drug: something to be used for medicinal purposes; to aid,alleviate, treat and or cure ailments. Now should it be legalized for such use, I believe so. However (sorry to rain on your parade drug addicts) it should be regulated through FDA and its distribution and treatment measures monitored by the state and federal governments. Another thing that bothers me about this thread. Alcohol is not and has never been a drug. At best the only thing you can use alcohol for in a hospital is to sterilze open wounds. So i don't see where we get off saying alcohol and weed are the same thing. Alcohol is a highly addictive substance that resusts in thousands of deaths every year. I can't ever remeber opening a paper and finding an article about someone dying from a "weed induced" automotive accident or a weed related diesease. No but i bet all of you can think of someone who was killed in a DUI, or died from alcohol poisioning,or perhaps cancer and or cirrohsiss of the liver which is related to alcohol abuse. Weed is only lethal if you smoke it your entire life. Yes boys and girls..smoking kills you. Drug addicts typically move from weed to the drugs that kill them,e.i: meth,coke,crack,opium,prescription drugs and even over the counter medication. So lets stop trying to compare alcohol to any other substance as a way to get it legalized. It is just plain stupid.
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Religion and religous institutions have no place in dictating to the masses who they should or should not put into power. Last time i checked America was a democratic republic and not a theocracy. Those who choose to let their morals, virtues and personal convictions guide their choices earn my respect not those who throw sense and reason out the window. Those who have eyes should use them rather then choosing to blindly follow the edicts of those who claim to be close to the divine and therefore percieve themselves to always be in the right.  Individuals have the right to believe in and follow whatever doctrine thy so chose..... Lindyy  I believe that is what i stated in my previous post Lindyy. I just pray for those individuals sakes that their "belief in doctrine" does not become the shackles of their minds and spirits. 
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Sounds like another case of poor journalism, someone needs to make sure the associated press does not end up like the Fox news network, and for god sake's people check the sources on these type of stories, it more likely to be one of two things, made up and passed around through the email or the guy got up and then laid back down after the train stopped. If it is "true" email me the actual "article" from the AP. give me a break people and stop being so silly.
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Topic:
Where are all the Taoists?
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I hope i am not the only person on here that believes in the Taoist teachings and philosophy. Anybody else out there? Let me know..
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Change is the one constance in this universe. We are all made of the same stuff and this stuff (matter and energy) is in a constant state of change. This is what i call a universal absolute so is reincarnation possible. With the above said i would have to conclude that even though one's ego or conciousness may not survive their matter and energy transform and continue on in another form or state. One could even conclude that through procreation this matter and energy is reincarnated through our genetic code. So yes i feel secure saying that i can believe in it.
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Topic:
The nature of reality
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Testing something that is beyond our scope of perception does make it hard to prove. We Taoists like to say that man is limited in his understanding of reality becuase of the "six thieves," The six senses more or less for you laymen out there. We (humans) have become so reliant on what we see,touch,taste and hear that we fail to be able to comprehend what is beyond these senses. So how do we move past this and begin to find the truth to the posed question? Quite simple actually... use the one tool we have ( our minds ) that comprehends all the senses data differently. Comprehension of truth goes beyond sensory reponses. The first step is conceptualization. Our minds allow creativity, heck many animals have the same ability,( chimps make tools). With creativity we are able to think outside the box. All reality is subject to intrepation. My sensei had a saying," No two men ever see the same blade or grass the same way but that same blade of grass sees every man exactly the same. As the foot that steps upon it." Open your mind is all i am saying, the truth is still the truth regardless of what we may think or believed proved true.
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Topic:
The future of mankind
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I would like to hope and believe that mankind as a whole would begin in the next 100 years to move towards complete social equality, no more caste system societies as it were, no more the haves and have nots. I hope there will be a global democratic social state. (not to be confused with communism) A state where there are no elected leaders only the masses themselves vote on every issue as a whole. I believe this could be made possible as our communication tech expands and improves. Hopefully health issues, environmental issues and resource issues will be addressed as tech improves. Only when earth itself has become a complete global community will it be able to start or join a interstellar community. This of course is just hopeful thinking here. I do trully believe in mankind's potential but whether it will be realised is another subject.
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Topic:
The nature of reality
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Reality is subject to the perception of the individual. What is real and what is not is determined by each mind. Since each individual is unique, their reality is unique and therefore a seperate state of reality and existence. Since every individual creates a seperate reality there are numerous realities that interact, combine, create and affect each other. Reality as a whole is like a flower with many petals that individually create the larger whole. Physics and science theories have themsevles suggested the potential for the number of these "flowers of reality" to be quite numerous. Quantum physics and the mathematical put forth in its theories suggest that there are numerous deminsions and states of reality. So it is well within reason to put forth a hypothesis that there is more than one reality.
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Religion and religous institutions have no place in dictating to the masses who they should or should not put into power. Last time i checked America was a democratic republic and not a theocracy. Those who choose to let their morals, virtues and personal convictions guide their choices earn my respect not those who throw sense and reason out the window. Those who have eyes should use them rather then choosing to blindly follow the edicts of those who claim to be close to the divine and therefore percieve themselves to always be in the right.
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Any government is subject to failure and disruption when those who have been given power forgets where that power comes from...the people. The repulicans and Bush were given almost absolute power for four years. They failed to keep the best interests of the american people at heart. They became currupt and only concerned with pushing their own political intrests and agendas. Those who are given power and abuse it lose it. " People should not fear their government, their government should fear and respect its people."
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