Recent content by Jim_Smith

The many controversies in the history of science show that the best explanation for data is ultimately an opinion. And you can't prove a scientific theory you can only disprove one. Here is my opinion: I don't believe any physical process can explain consciousness. The evidence from quantum...

Hallucinations are produced by the brain. NDEs are not produced by the brain.

http://www.skeptiko-forum.com/threads/overlap-of-nde-features-with-drug-induced-states.3598/#post-105430 NDE's are not like drug trips. Here is a typical NDE http://www.near-death.com/science/experts/barbara-whitfield.html As I left my body, I again went out into the darkness, only this time...

The cat came back https://youtu.be/0i9adZprEK0?t=35m47s 35:47 Full video

I won't shut up. But I think you should.

I knew you were going to ask this because you asked it before, which is why I re-posted the lyrics to that song. In the other realms, there are girls but they don't have kaleidescope eyes. There are skies, but they are not marmalade. And there are no rocking horse people eating marshmallow pies.

I don't understand why people think drugs that are known to cause hallucinations could be giving a reliable view into other realms. What is the use of going to another realm while hallucinating? What can you reliably learn from that? I can sort of understand that if drugs can show you that what...

A wild crow adopts (feeds, protects, etc) a stray kitten.

Try this and I think you will see it: https://sites.google.com/site/chs4o8pt/meditation-1#meditation_serenity You are telling me that people who don't meditate are unhappy. I agree 100%.

I'm not sure what you describe would be the result if everyone started meditating a lot. If people are less happy after meditating they will stop meditating and go back to work. It's not like they are brainwashed and lose the ability to reason. The reason many drop out of the rat race is because...

What I find hard to understand is why Dr. Martin has such greater success than the inventors of the meditation techniques he uses. He says it's because he assigns the technique that is most appropriate for the student. But if that were all, then the traditional schools should still have greater...

If science is wrong about almost everything, maybe it's better if the government funded mainstream science is kept as far away as possible. Lot's of people offer meditation classes with little financial reward for themselves and at little expense for the student. Dr. Martin is trying to...

Is that because when you are sick you stop doing all the things that normally keep you busy busy busy and create mental turbulence? Half of the benefit of meditation comes from what you are not doing during the time you spend in meditation. That's why it's important for beginners not to be too...

Try to see the distinction between physical sensations and mental anguish. The physical sensation is unavoidable. The mental anguish is optional. That might seem hard to realize but it is possible. That doesn't make an unpleasant experience pleasant but it can make it less unpleasant. How you...