Dedroidify: Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Great RAW interview

I have a huge archive of bookmarks, much of which unchecked, that I decided to post a few things out of once or twice a day. So here's the first! A great RAW interview. He talks about the alien abduction phenomenon, leary, pkd, crowley, and more.

I have an open mind about things

I don't have any dogmas

I await further enlightenment

2007 Zorgy Awards

First time I heard about this. Check out the results.
It's interesting to learn a few new sites and people.

James Koehnline art

Alan Watts: Om

OM The sound of Hinduism 1

OM The sound of Hinduism 2

Boltzmann Brain Paradox

A Boltzmann brain is a hypothesized self-aware entity which arises due to random fluctuations out of a state of chaos. The idea is named for physicist Ludwig Boltzmann (1844 - 1906), who had advanced an idea that the known universe arose as a random fluctuation, similar to process through which Boltzmann brains might arise.

The concept arises from the need to explain why we observe such a large degree of organization in the universe. The second law of thermodynamics states that the entropy in the universe will always increase. We may think of the most likely state of the universe as one of high entropy, closer to uniform and without order. So why is the observed entropy so low?

Boltzmann proposed that we and our observed low-entropy world are a random fluctuation in a higher-entropy universe. Even in a near-equilibrium state, there will be stochastic fluctuations in the level of entropy. The most common fluctuations will be relatively small, resulting in only small amounts of organization, while larger fluctuations and their resulting greater levels of organization will be comparatively more rare. Large fluctuations would be almost inconceivably rare, but this can be explained by the enormous size of the universe and by the idea that if we are the results of a fluctuation, there is a "selection bias": We observe this very unlikely universe because the unlikely conditions are necessary for us to be here.

This leads to the Boltzmann brain concept: If our current level of organization, having many self-aware entities, is a result of a random fluctuation, it is much less likely than a level of organization which is only just able to create a single self-aware entity. For every universe with the level of organization we see, there should be an enormous number of lone Boltzmann brains floating around in unorganized environments. This refutes the observer argument above: the organization I see is vastly more than what is required to explain my consciousness, and therefore it is highly unlikely that I am the result of a stochastic fluctuation.

The Boltzmann brains paradox is that it is more likely that a brain randomly forms out of the chaos with false memories of its life than that the universe around us would have billions of self-aware brains.

V For Vendetta: A Study of the Rise of Fascism

V For Vendetta: A Study of the Rise of Fascism 1

V For Vendetta: A Study of the Rise of Fascism 2

T.S. Eliot: Four Quarters

"Although logos is common to all, most people live
as if they had a wisdom of their own."
1. p.77. Fr.2

"The way upward and the way downward are the same."
1. p.89. Fr.60

T.S. Eliot

The Mind is a Liar and a Whore part 1

If you don't know what she's talking about, sit or lie quietly for ten minutes, and try not to think about anything... see what kind of random bs your mind 'throws up'. Do it!

You are not your thoughts.

Visual Futurist: the art & life of Syd Mead

God, the Universe, & Everything Else

Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, Arthur C. Clarke

The Illusion of Duality

The Illusion of Duality

"There is nothing good or bad,
but thinking makes it so."

Shakespeare, from Hamlet

Thanks OceanShaman

'Skeptics' take on Accupuncture

'Skeptics' take on Accupuncture (read here)

Ok just had to butcher my own article :p

I opened with a statement that "The Chinese do freaking open heart surgery with accupuncture anaesthetic while the patient is conscious with its chest open, the BBC has shown it in a documentary even."
Edit: Holy crap, someone posted a comment with a link that the entire segment in the docu was fake, thanks to the poster, but real gratitude goes out to the BBC! :p

For example, the scene showing a patient punctured with needles and undergoing heart surgery left viewers with the strong impression that acupuncture was providing immense pain relief. In fact, in addition to acupuncture, the patient had a combination of three very powerful sedatives (midazolam, droperidol, fentanyl) and large volumes of local anaesthetic injected into the chest.

With such a cocktail of chemicals, the needles were merely cosmetic. In short, this memorable bit of television was emotionally powerful, but scientifically meaningless in building a case for acupuncture. I have spoken to several experts who say that the procedure was neither shocking nor impressive, but it was unconventional because the Chinese surgeons seemed to have used a higher level of local anaesthetic to compensate for the lack of general anaesthetic.

When I put this to Professor Sykes, she replied: "The suggestion that the operation could have taken place without the acupuncture and it would have been fine is an interesting idea and might possibly be the case."

Well you don't have to be a scientist to know that do ya Sykes? Fuck :p

My main point though was this:
What the thinker thinks, the prover proves. That goes for scientists (even methodologists! :p) too. You have to look first, make up your mind later. And belief or openness to the treatment is an actual necessary factor as it relies on the neurosomatic mind body connection... So I think it's kinda logical you have to be awake in a MIND-BODY Healing modality.

"but alternative medicine only seems to work when you are awake. You have to know (or think) you’re being treated."

This was my biggest issue with the article. It's the whole point of mind-body medicine. If they can't grasp that how can they investigate the modality well? Obviously mind-body healing can't be measured with old paradigm objective science - because it's subjective. I remain unconvinced by this research. Awareness cannot be measured (yet) either, is anyone silly enough to claim it doesn't exist?

Conclusion: Another lesson in BS (thanks again anonymous poster). I haven't tried accupuncture and don't like needles period. Though work with Chi energy and Meridians has proven very useful to me and I found this investigation unconvincing due to their basic assumptions about it.

Jacque Fresco: Research & Development

Daily Dedroidify: The Divine Ratio

Daily Dedroidify: Phi 1.618* | the Divine Ratio (aka Golden - Mean, Section, Proportion)

Phi is an irrational number that seems to be life's archetypal architecture. Reflecting nature's balance between symmetry and asymmetry and the ancient Pythagorean belief that reality is a numerical reality, except that numbers were not units as we define them today, but were expressions of ratios.
You can find this ratio everywhere: math, geometry, art, color, music, life, the human body, animals, plants, dna, architecture, population growth,...

The Fibonacci series: 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233...

Starting with 0 and 1, each new number is simply the sum of the two before it. The ratio of each successive pair of numbers in the series approximates Phi 1.618*, as 5/3 = 1.666*, 8/5 = 1.6. The successive numbers quickly converge on Phi. After the 40th number, the ratio is accurate to 15 decimal places: 1.618033988749895...

Greek philosophers considered the Golden Mean to be the middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency.

According to legend, the Greek Philosopher Pythagoras discovered the concept of harmony when he began his studies of proportion while listening to the different sounds given off when the blacksmith’s hammers hit their anvils. The weights of the hammers and of the anvils all gave off different sounds. From here he moved to the study of stringed instruments and the different sounds they produced. He started with a single string and produced a monochord in the ratio of 1:1 called the Unison. By varying the string, he produced other chords: a ratio of 2:1 produced notes an octave apart. (Modern music theory calls a 5:4 ratio a "major third" and an 8:5 ratio a "major sixth".) In further studies of nature, he observed certain patterns and numbers reoccurring. Pythagoras believed that beauty was associated with the ratio of small integers. With this discovery, the Pythagoreans saw the essence of the cosmos as numbers and numbers took on special meaning and significance. The symbol of the Pythagorean brotherhood was the pentagram, in itself embodying several Golden Means.

"Nature is not mute! Man has become deaf!"
Terence Mckenna

Tribute to Banksy

The Onion: Press Secretary Spins Wife's Death As A Positive

The Trip (1967) - Trailer

The "Star of David", Earth Grid and Free Vortex Energy

BBC near Tibet

Undercover filming near Tibet

The BBC's James Reynolds reports from Gansu Province, China, defying a ban on foreign media covering the Tibet protests.

Fox News: 2012 Conference

Fox News: 2012 Conference

Some interesting vids at disclose.tv, will explore this site later.

Is this the world we created?

Queen: Is this the world we created?

Just look at all those hungry mouths we have to feed
Take a look at all the suffering we breed
So many lonely faces scattered all around
Searching for what they need

Is this the world we created?
what did we do it for?
Is this the world we invaded?
Against the law?
So it seems in the end
Is this what we're all living for today?
The world that we created.

You know that every day a helpless child is born
Who needs some loving care inside a happy home
Somewhere a wealthy man is sitting on his throne
Waiting for life to go by.

Is this the world we created
we made it on our own
Is this the world we devastated
Right to the bone?
If there's a God in the sky looking down
What can he think of what we've done
To the world that he created?

Breathing For Beginners

If you can read this, then the chances are you don’t consider yourself a beginner at breathing. After all, you’ve been doing it for years. But are you really breathing or are you operating on automatic pilot and missing out on a whole host of breath related benefits.

Breath awareness helps the body detox, repair, regenerate and blow stress away.

Read on to discover the simple secrets of how your breath can calm your mind and heal your body.

Influencing Autonomy
Breathing is the only vital autonomic bodily function that can be consciously controlled and directed by the mind. This is so for a reason; your breathing is a bridge between your body and your mind. To allow your breathing to remain unconscious and automatic is to exist in a realm where that bridge is obstructed.

The breath is intended as a balancing device, a tuning tool that allows you conscious control of your emotions, and access to states of deep relaxation and harmony. Your breath holds the key to the door of compassion and understanding for all living beings. Why? Because it is in the moments of peace and stillness created by breath awareness that you can get in touch with the inner you. The peaceful, calm and competent you, and the you that can extend empathy, care and concern to others.

Being able to control your breath means being able to control your mind and being able to deeply nourish, oxygenate and detox the cells and tissues of your body.

When you are rushing about too busy and too stressed to eat properly, breath properly etc etc you are also too busy to connect properly with others. Over years of observation it has come to my attention that stressed people are not popular people. They are snappy, selfish and a strain to be around. They are missing out on the sweetness and subtleties of life. Stress robs us of the pleasures to be found in simple things in life and can cause us to drive others nuts with our ranting about little inconveniences that become mountains of self-obsessed stupidity.

Stress is a personality spoiler - breathing practice is a personality nourisher. It may well be one of the most powerful, yet overlooked tools in personal development.

Deeply Does it
Deep breathing is also detoxing to the internal organs as the diaphragm assists the heart by massaging the organs as it draws down to breath deeply and then pumping blood strongly back up to the heart and lungs for more effective cleansing and re-oxygenation.

Detoxing, regeneration and repair of the body are further enhanced and triggered by the parasympathetic switch brought about by deep breathing. Slowing and deepening your breathing is a sign to your body to switch off the “fight or flight” responses that operate when you’re under duress.

The trouble with the hustle and bustle of modern life is that your body may perceive you to be always experiencing stress to some degree. If you are in the habit of breathing rapidly and shallowly, your nervous system may not get the message to “stand down” and you may be rapidly burning your energy reserves by living on constant standby.

That standby state keeps adrenaline coursing through your veins, puts your digestive system on hold, and causes excess heat and acidity in the body - which are two major causes of degeneration and disease.

Slow Your Breath & Lengthen Your Life
The Vedas teach that life duration is measured in breaths and that there is a direct relationship between how fast you breath and how long you live. To breath rapidly and high up in the chest squanders your vitality. It makes you gasp like a fish out of water. Slowing your breathing preserves your vital energy and calms your spirit.

A recent study in India concluded that the average volume of air inhaled can be increased by up to 50% after just 15 minutes of deep diaphragmatic breathing and that the average number of breaths per minute reduced from 15 to just 5 breaths a minute thus making breathing more efficient, energy producing, and stress reducing.

“When breathing is depressed or strained, all sorts of diseases will occur. Those who wish to nurture their lives must first learn the correct methods of controlling the breath and balancing energy. These breathing methods can cure all ailments great and small.

How to Educate Your Lungs
Both Qigong (which literally mean “energy work” or “breathing skill”) and Yoga teach a basic form of diaphragmatic breathing that can be learned and practiced easily and without complex instruction.

Daily sessions of 10 to 15 minutes are long enough to make a significant difference to your life, the added benefit of regular practice being that you will educate yourself to be always more mindful of your breath, or at least to know how to stand down and recover quickly from stress and emotional upsets.

Quick guide to deep diaphragmatic breathing

Stage 1: Inhalation
Inhale through your nose. Relax your diaphragm as you breath in and let it draw the air down deep into your abdominal cavity (i.e. Stomach area). Allow your ribcage to relax and expand as you breath in so that your lungs can get “topped up” right up to your collarbone area. Then press the air down into your diaphragm so that your stomach wall is pushed out.

Stage 2: Retention
Hold that breath. Consciously hold the breath for about 5 seconds then relax and let it out.

Stage 3: Exhalation
Pull your stomach in and up and let the breath out in a slow steady stream through your mouth. Be sure to fully empty your lungs.

Stage 4: Empty Retention
Pause for a few seconds with your lungs empty before starting again with the next complete and deep inhalation.

In pranayama, Yoga’s ancient system of breathing for health and longevity, it is this held empty state that is considered the most beneficial to the body and the mind.

Thanks Daily Om

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Great RAW interview

2007 Zorgy Awards

James Koehnline art

Alan Watts: Om

Boltzmann Brain Paradox

V For Vendetta: A Study of the Rise of Fascism

T.S. Eliot: Four Quarters

The Mind is a Liar and a Whore part 1

Visual Futurist: the art & life of Syd Mead

God, the Universe, & Everything Else

The Illusion of Duality

'Skeptics' take on Accupuncture

Jacque Fresco: Research & Development

Daily Dedroidify: The Divine Ratio

Tribute to Banksy

The Onion: Press Secretary Spins Wife's Death As A Positive

The Trip (1967) - Trailer

The "Star of David", Earth Grid and Free Vortex Energy

BBC near Tibet

Fox News: 2012 Conference

Is this the world we created?

Breathing For Beginners

Consciousness In Everything, Everything In Consciousness

Nobody ftw

Recommended Streaming Videos

Squirt & Swallow: Mushrooms

Triumph of the Hexagon

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