Alex Tsakiris | The Consciousness Quarantine, Skeptiko, & Data From ...

How long until mainstream science catches on? Is it inevitable? I think that it is and that the timeline is the only thing in question. 10 years? 100 Years? As we continue to share ideas and grow, they won't be able to continue this denial forever. There will reach a breaking point.
 
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Just a contrast to Alex's views on "the best NDE evidence" being EEG science; I have always considered the best NDE evidence to be the various forms of veridical reports (which I think Alex did mention actually in conjunction with the EEG science as being the best, I think, with regards to the reports people give of their resuscitation), along with the blind seeing for the first time, and the shared death experiences. It was actually the latter two pieces which won me over convincingly.
 
I don't think it is inevitable that science ever catches on. Look at the political situation in the US. Half the country believes the opposite of what the other half believes. Neither side will ever change their minds.

What is going to change in the next 100 years that hasn't changed since 1882 when the Society for Psychical Research was founded 136 years ago?

People do not adapt their beliefs to maintain consistency with facts. We think we do, but we are hallucinating. In reality we accept or reject, acknowledge or ignore, "facts" depending on whether they are consistent with our beliefs. This is as true for materialist scientists as it is for everyone. Why else would there be so many controversies in the history of science? To understand the controversies over paranormal phenomena, you have to consider the science of persuasion. None of the factors experts recognize as being important in persuasion are based on logic or reason.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/you-do-not-think-alone/

People overestimate how well they understand how things work. Direct evidence for this comes from the psychological laboratory. The great Yale psychologist Frank Keil and his students first demonstrated the illusion of explanatory depth, what we call the knowledge illusion. He asked people how well they understand how everyday objects (zippers, toilets, ballpoint pens) work. On average, people felt they had a reasonable understanding (at the middle of a 7-point scale). Then Keil asked them to explain how they work. People failed miserably. For the most part, people just can’t articulate the mechanisms that drive even the simplest things.
"Is the “Skeptical Thing” Over?"

In the video below, Scott Adams, who is a trained hypnotist and writer on the psychology of persuasion (in addition to being the author of the comic strip Dilbert), says people are 90% irrational and 10% rational. We make decisions based on emotions not facts. He says you can't be a hypnotist if you don't understand that because otherwise nothing about hypnotism would make sense. He also brings up the argument that evolution selects for reproductive success not rationality.

I wanted to understand more about this so I looked into some references on persuasion to see how people are influenced by factors other than facts and logic. Adams has a list of recommended books on persuasion and I tried to find information online about what those authors wrote. What I found is that the vast majority of the techniques of persuasion identified by experts are based on psychological or rhetorical "tricks" that have nothing to do with facts and logic. I think that is what Adams means when he says people are not rational.

Part of the problem is that groupthink creates an illusion of understanding. People think they believe things because they understand them, but they really believe them only because other people believe them.

https://www.economist.com/news/book...g-knowledge-between-minds-making-people-think

DO YOU know how a toilet works? What about a bicycle, or a zipper? Most people can provide half answers at best. They struggle to explain basic inventions, let alone more complex and abstract ones. Yet somehow, in spite of people’s ignorance, they created and navigate the modern world. A new book, “The Knowledge Illusion” sets out to tackle this apparent paradox: how can human thinking be so powerful, yet so shallow?

...

The authors call this the illusion of understanding, and they demonstrate it with a simple experiment. Subjects are asked to rate their understanding of something, then to write a detailed account of it, and finally to rate their understanding again. The self-assessments almost invariably drop. The authors see this effect everywhere, from toilets and bicycles to complex policy issues.


Let me put it this way: You might be rational, but if you weren't you wouldn't know it. People who have a mental illness and exhibit distorted thinking don't realize it, they think they are rational or even smarter than those who do not understand what they do. Does that sound familiar?
 
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I don't think it is inevitable that science ever catches on. Look at the political situation in the US. Half the country believes the opposite of what the other half believes. Neither side will ever change their minds.

What is going to change in the next 100 years that hasn't changed since 1882 when the Society for Psychical Research was founded 136 years ago?

People do not adopt beliefs to maintain consistency with facts. We think we do, but we are hallucinating. In reality we accept or reject, acknowledge or ignore, "facts" depending on whether they are consistent with our beliefs. This is as true for materialist scientists as it is for everyone. Why else would there be so many controversies in the history of science? To understand the controversies over paranormal phenomena, you have to consider the science of persuasion. None of the factors experts recognize as being important in persuasion are based on logic or reason.




Let me put it this way: You might be rational, but if you weren't you wouldn't know it. People who have a mental illness and exhibit distorted thinking don't realize it, they think they are rational or even smarter than those who do not understand what they do. Does that sound familiar?

I quit listening to THC because it seemed to me that Greg did not bother distinguishing between guests who had really good cases to make and those who were, in my estimation, living with a delusional disorder. While I am not qualified to diagnose mental illness I am sufficiently familiar with occult and esoteric literature to discern a person who plainly has no actual idea about the material they are quoting or referring to with great enthusiasm. Their misuse is so grave their error has to be either mental illness or an intellectual disability, and after 20 years in the disability sector I can rule the latter out with confidence.

I know I am missing out on some good guests on THC, but I have made a personal stand on giving a platform to people who have nothing of merit to talk about and who should not be exposed to ridicule. I don't think there is any good service performed, and I really wish Greg was more discriminating. I can't believe that real conspiracies are so scarce the show has to be padded out with fake ones.

Yes I am being a judging crank here. I recommended THC to a friend who, innocent of any depth knowledge in matters occult, was impressed and persuaded by the guy I knew had no actual grasp of the stuff he was talking about. My friend is not a fool. He assumed that Greg's guest was bona fide because Greg seemed to vouch for him and validate him. That's an abuse of implicit trust in my book, and I don't like it and will not support it.
 
I don't think it is inevitable that science ever catches on. Look at the political situation in the US. Half the country believes the opposite of what the other half believes. Neither side will ever change their minds.

What is going to change in the next 100 years that hasn't changed since 1882 when the Society for Psychical Research was founded 136 years ago?

People do not adapt their beliefs to maintain consistency with facts. We think we do, but we are hallucinating. In reality we accept or reject, acknowledge or ignore, "facts" depending on whether they are consistent with our beliefs. This is as true for materialist scientists as it is for everyone. Why else would there be so many controversies in the history of science? To understand the controversies over paranormal phenomena, you have to consider the science of persuasion. None of the factors experts recognize as being important in persuasion are based on logic or reason.




Let me put it this way: You might be rational, but if you weren't you wouldn't know it. People who have a mental illness and exhibit distorted thinking don't realize it, they think they are rational or even smarter than those who do not understand what they do. Does that sound familiar?
I don't think it is inevitable that science ever catches on. Look at the political situation in the US. Half the country believes the opposite of what the other half believes. Neither side will ever change their minds.

What is going to change in the next 100 years that hasn't changed since 1882 when the Society for Psychical Research was founded 136 years ago?

People do not adapt their beliefs to maintain consistency with facts. We think we do, but we are hallucinating. In reality we accept or reject, acknowledge or ignore, "facts" depending on whether they are consistent with our beliefs. This is as true for materialist scientists as it is for everyone. Why else would there be so many controversies in the history of science? To understand the controversies over paranormal phenomena, you have to consider the science of persuasion. None of the factors experts recognize as being important in persuasion are based on logic or reason.




Let me put it this way: You might be rational, but if you weren't you wouldn't know it. People who have a mental illness and exhibit distorted thinking don't realize it, they think they are rational or even smarter than those who do not understand what they do. Does that sound familiar?

I think the big change since 1882 has been the ability to share and spread information. (I know I think you meant “what has changed with regards to the scientific attitude”, but 50 years ago a person couldn’t learn the first thing about NDEs if they were to look. Not even a single book. I do think progress has been made, largely as a result of this ability to share stories worldwide instantaneously, through quantum physics, and through folks like Tom Campbell. We are still firmly entrenched in materialism, don’t get me wrong. But I think the seeds are being planted. And I think further research and communication will lead to more growth. More and more people are coming forward with stories, and it seems (though I could be wrong) that more scientists are coming over from, or arguing against materialism.

Certainly I May be wrong.
But At any rate, let’s hope I’m right.
 
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People do not adapt their beliefs to maintain consistency with facts. We think we do, but we are hallucinating. In reality we accept or reject, acknowledge or ignore, "facts" depending on whether they are consistent with our beliefs.


adams_cf.JPG


2:59: Scott Adams: "We humans ignore facts but we think we don't. The great illusion of life is that we're rational beings making rational decisions most of the time. But when you become a hypnotist, the first thing you learn is that that's backwards and that mostly we're deciding based on our team, our feelings, our emotions, irrational reasons, we make our decision and then we rationalize it no matter how tortured that rationalization is."

 
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Change is extraordinarily difficult and near impossible for many. But change does occur. The compilation and sharing of this info in question, along with testimonials, and new discoveries about reality will continue to increase exponentially. So long as we are free to discuss and explore these things.
 
How long until mainstream science catches on? Is it inevitable? I think that it is and that the timeline is the only thing in question. 10 years? 100 Years? As we continue to share ideas and grow, they won't be able to continue this denial forever. There will reach a breaking point.
I don't quite agree... I think it's one of the themes of the interview.
 
The internet allows faster communication and it allows anyone to express their views. But in the past people read books and magazines and information about spirituality and spiritual subjects was available to most people who were interested. And the internet is just as good at spreading materialist beliefs as it is at spreading spiritual beliefs, and the internet is better at spreading false information than it is at spreading truth.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...farther-faster-deeper-than-truth-study-finds/
Fake news spreads ‘farther, faster, deeper’ than truth, study finds
...
A new study in Science quantifies the spread of Twitter rumors.
...
False news moved through Twitter “farther, faster, deeper and more broadly” than the truth, said Sinan Aral, a professor of information technology at MIT who studies social media networks.​
 
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But in the past people read books and magazines and information about spirituality and spiritual subjects was available to most people who were interested.

Here is an archive of old Spiritualist and Occult periodicals:

http://www.iapsop.com/archive/materials/index.html
Eastern Star
Echo d'Alem-Tumulo
Echo de l'Au-dela
Echo de l'Invisible
Echo du Magnetisme
Echo du Merveilleux
Echo du Monde Occulte
Echoes from Mount Ecclesia
Eclectic Medical Journal
Eleanor Kirk's Idea
Eltka
Entretiens Idealistes
Eon
Equinox
Esoteric
Espiritismo (Seville)
Espiritista (Madrid)
L'Esprit (Paris)
Essence of Common Sense
Essene
La Estrella (Madrid)
Estudios Teosoficos (Barcelona)
Eternal Progress
L'Etoile
L'Etoile d'Orient
Etudes Traditionnelles
Evolucion (Barcelona)
Exodus (Gestefeld)
Expression
F Facts
Facts (Friendship Centre -- UK)
Faithist
Federator
Feniks
Fiat Lux
First Divine Science Church Weekly Bulletin
Flaming Sword
Fleche, La
Fohat (US)
Force de la Verite
Forces Mentales, Les
Foundation Principles
The Fountain (Spokane)
Fountain of Light
Fra
Fraternidad Universal
France Antimaconnique, La
Freedom (Wilmans)
Freelight
Freemason (UK)
Freethinkers' Magazine
Freethought (Australia)
Free Thought Magazine
Friend of Progress
F. U. D. O. S. I.
The Future
G Galilean
Gallery of Spirit Art
Ghosts
Ghourki
Gleaner (Divine Science)
Glowworm
Gnose
Gnose (Rio)
Gnostic
Golden Dawn
Golden Gate
Golden Way
Goldfield Gossip
Grail (NY)
Der Gral
Great Work in America
Greeley
Greeting Messenger
Growth
Guiding Star
H Hamsa
Harbinger
Harbinger of Light
Harmony
Harmony (Ponca City)
Haute Science
Hazelrigg's Astrological Almanac
Hazelrigg's Astrological Herald
Healing Voice
Heat and Light for the Nineteenth Century
Herald of the Cross
Herald of the Golden Age
Herald of Light
Herald of Progress (UK)
Herald of Progress (US)
Herald of the Star
Herald of Truth (Cincinnati)
Heraldo Rosacruz
Hermes
Hermetic Brotherhood of Atlantis, Luxor and Elephanta, Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the
Hermetist
Herold (Prague)
Hesperia
The Hierophant
Higher Law
Higher Science of the Motion of Matter
Hindu Spiritual Magazine
Historic Magazine and Notes and Queries (Gould)
Horev (Prague)
Horlick's Magazine
Horoscope (London)
Human Culture
Human Faculty
Human Nature
Human Nature (San Francisco)
Humanitarian
Humanite Integrale
Hypnotic Magazine
I Ideal et Realite
Ideal Review
Ilisos
Illumination
Illustrated Annual of Phrenology and Physiognomy
Illustrated Phrenological Almanac
Immortality
Immortality (New York)
Independent Pulpit
Independent Thinker
Index
Iniciacion (Montevideo)
Initiates
Initiates and the People
L'Initiation
Inner Life
Inspiration
Instructive Light
International Journal of the Tantrick Order
International Metaphysical League Proceedings
International Psychic Gazette
International Standard
International Theosophist
Irish Theosophist
Isis Moderne
Iz Teozofskoga Svijeta
J Jewish Theosophist
Journal of the Alchemical Society
Journal of Ayurveda
Journal of Borderland Research
Journal du Magnetisme
Journal du Magnetisme (Durville)
Journal of Practical Metaphysics
Journal of Progress
Journal of Scientology
K Kalpaka
Keeler's Comments
Kingdom of Heaven
Kneph
Kosmicke Rozhledy
Kosmon Unity
Krur
Kuntur
L La Courriere/The Messenger
La Fleche
La France Antimaconnique
La Gnose
Lake Pepin Gazette
Lamp
Leaflet (NY)
Leaves of Healing
Liberator (San Francisco)
Liberty
Library of Health (Patterson)
Lichtstrahlen
Life and Action
The Life (Kansas City)
Life Culture
Light
Light and Life (Glasgow)
Light for Thinkers
Light from the Spirit World
Light in the West
Light of Ages
Light of India
Light of the East
Light of Truth
Light of Truth (Ida Mingle)
Light on the Path (Brotherhood of the White Temple)
The Lindlahr Magazine
L'Initiation
Little Bouquet
Little Brown Book
Living (Mayer)
Living Word
Loto Blanco
Le Lotus Bleu - Revue Theosophique
Lotusbluten
Lucifer
Lucifer the Lightbearer
Lucis Magazine
Lumiere d'Orient
Lumen
Lumen de Lumine
Lucifer's Lantern
Lyceum Banner (Chicago)
Lyceum Banner (Liverpool)
M MacDonald's Farmers Almanac
Macrocosmo (Barcelona)
Magazin fur die Psychische Heilkunde
Magic (Kansas City)
Magicien
Magikon
Magnet
Magnetic Journal (Weltmer)
Magnetiseur
Magnetiseur Spiritualiste
Magnetiseur Universel
Mahatma
Lo Maravilloso (Madrid)
Mansion Builder
Marden's Magazine
Mas Alla del Manana
Master Mind
Mastery
Mazdaznan
Mazdaznan (Paris)
Medium and Daybreak
Medium (Los Angeles)
Memoires d'une Ex-Palladiste
El Mensaje
Mental Science Magazine
Mental Science (Denver)
Mentalizm
Mercury
Mercury (Theosophy, San Francisco)
Mesmeric Magazine (Collyer)
Message Theosophique et Social
Le Messager
Messenger
Messenger (Theosophy)
Metaphysical Magazine
Microcosm
Millennial Gazette (Robert Owen's)
Mind
Mind, Inc.
Mind and Matter
Mind Cure and Science of Life
Mind Cure Journal
Mind In Nature
Mind The Builder
Mitteilungen des Gral-Ordens
Mitteilungen des Neuen Gral-Ordens
Modern Miracles
Modern Mystic
Modern Philosopher
Modern Thought (Unity)
Monde Invisible
Monde Occulte
Monde Psychique
Monthly Planet Reader (Broughton)
Moore's Almanac
Morning Star
Mountain Cove Journal
Mountain Pine
Mouvement Cosmique
Mysteria
Mystic Key
Mystic Light Library Bulletin
Mystic Magazine
Mystic Messenger
Mystic Triangle
Mystic World
N National Messenger
National Transition Moonly Voice
Nationalist (Boston)
Nautilus
Neue Gedanken
Neue Metaphysische Rundschau
Neue Wissenschaft
New Age
New Californian
New Century
New Century Path
New England Spiritualist
New Era
New Liberator
New Life (Idaho)
New Man
New Theology
New Thought Bulletin
New Thought (Chicago)
New Thought Library (Chavannes)
New Thought (Moses Hull)
New Thought (Massachusetts)
New Universe
New Way
New York Beacon Light
NY Magazine of Mysteries
Nichols' Monthly
Nouveaux Horizons
Now
NSAC Summit
Nueva Era (Barcelona)
O Occidental Mystic and Occult
The Occult (Detroit)
Occult and Biological Journal
Occult Digest
Occultist (Los Angeles)
Occult Life (Los Angeles)
Occult Magazine (Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor)
Occult Observer
Occult Press Review
Occult Quarterly
Occult Research Gladiator
Occult Review
Occult Review (Boston)
Occult Science Library
Occult Truth Seeker
Occult Truths
Occult Word
Occultism (The Key of Nature)
Occultist (Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor)
OE Library Critic
Official Theomonistic Record
Ohio Spiritualist
Okkulistische Rundschau
Okkultizm i Ioga
Old Moore's Almanack
Old Moore's Monthly Messenger
Olive Branch
Op De Grenzen Van Twee Werelden
Open Court
Open Road
Open Sesame
Open Way
Oracle (Boston)
Orient Magazine
Oriental Department [Oriental Department Paper] (Theosophical Society American Section)
Oriental Esoteric Society Bulletin
Oriental University Bulletin
Oriflamme
Ostara
Our Race
Our Race News-Leaflet
P Pacific Theosophist
Paix Universelle
Pansophic Intellectualizer
Path (Theosophical)
Pearls
Pelecan (Theosophical)
Phalanx
Philomathean (Chaney)
Philomathian
Philosopher's Stone
Phoenix (Manly Hall)
Phrenology and Physiognomy, Illustrated Annual of
Phrenological Almanac
Phrenological Era
Phrenological Journal (Combe)
Phrenological Magazine (Story)
Phreno-Magnet
The Pilgrim (Theosophical)
Planets and People
Platonist
Pleasure Boat
Plus Ultra
Popular Phrenologist
Pneumatologist
Practical Ideals
Practical Psychology (Barnes)
Practical Psychologist
Prana (Leipzig)
The Prasnottara (Theosophical)
Present Age
Primitive Occult Journal
Prince Immanuel's Journal
Principle
Problem of Life
Progres Spirite
Progres Spiritualiste
Progress Magazine
Progression
Progressive Thinker
Prophet
Psyche (W. H. Harrison)
Psyche (London)
Psyche (Paris)
Psychiana
Psychic (Atlantic City)
Psychic Observer
Psychic Power
Psychic Research Quarterly
Psychic Science
Psychic Science Monthly
Psychic Studies
Psychic Truth
Psychical Research Review
Psychical Review
Psychische Studien
Psychological Review
Psychometric Circular
Public Circle
Purdy's Monthly
Q Ye Quaint Magazine
Quest
R Radiant Centre
Radiant Life
Radical Spiritualist
Radium
Raja-Yoga Messenger
Rays from the Rose Cross
Reality
Reality (William Dudley Pelley)
Realization
Reason
Reincarnation
Religion
Religio-Philosophical Journal
Religious Evolutionist
Religious Science (Holmes)
Research Gladiator
Reveil des Albigeois
Revista de la Estrella (Madrid)
Revista Teosofica Uruguay
Revue Contemporain des Sciences Occultes et Naturelle
Revue Cosmique
Revue Francaise d'Astrologie
Revue des Etudes Psychiques
Revue des Hautes Etudes
Revue Internationale des Societes Secretes
Revue du Monde Invisible
Revue Magnetique
Revue Mensuelle Diable au XIX Siecle
Revue de Psychopotence
Revue Scientifique et Morale de Spiritisme
Revue Spirite
Revue du Spiritualisme Moderne
Revue Spiritualiste
Revue Teosofica (Havana)
Revue Theosophique - Lotus Bleu
Rhode-Island Banner
Rising Tide
Robert Owen's Millennial Gazette
Rose Croix (Peladan)
Rosa Alchemica
Rosa Cruz
Rosa-Cruz (Berlin)
Rosicrucian
Rosicrucian Brotherhood
Rosicrucian Digest
Rosicrucian Fellowship
Rosicrucian Forum
S Sacred Circle
Sauveur des Peoples
Sbornik Pro Filosofii Mystiku a Okkultismus
Science Astrale
Science of Mind (Holmes)
Seer
Seer and Celestial Reformer
Segnogram
Self-Culture
Self-Culture (Braun)
Sendero
Sentido Comun
Seraph's Advocate
Sermon
Sesamums
Shekinah
Shiloh's Messenger of Wisdom
Shrine of Wisdom
Social Revolutionist
El Sol (Lima)
Soleil Mystique
Sophia (Theosophy, Barcelona)
Sophia (Theosophy, Madrid)
Society for Psychical Research, Proceedings of and Journal of
Soundview
Sower
Sphinx (Boston)
Sphinx (Breslau)
Sphinx (Leipzig)
Spirit Guardian
Spirit Messenger
Spirit of the Age
Spirit Voices
Spirit World
Le Spirite (Lyon)
Spiritisme a Lyon
Spiritual Age
Spiritual Analyst
Spiritual Clarion
Spiritual Eclectic
Spiritual Herald
Spiritual Magazine (UK)
Spiritual Magazine (Memphis)
Spiritual Manifestations
Spiritual Monthly and Lyceum Record
Spiritual Notes (UK)
Spiritual Offering
Spiritual Philosopher
Spiritual Record
Spiritual Reporter
Spiritual Republic
Spiritual Review
Spiritual Rostrum
Spiritual Scientist
Spiritual Telegraph
Spiritual Truth
Spiritual Universe
Spiritualisme Moderne
Spiritualist (UK)
Spiritualist (US)
Spiritualist (Moscow)
Spiritualist at Work
Spiritualiste de la Nouvelle Orleans
Spiritualistic Free Press
Sri Aurobindo Circle
St. Louis Magnet
Star
Star Lore
Star of the Magi
Star of the West (Bahai)
Stellar Ray
Success
Suggestion
Suggestive Therapeutics
Summerland Messenger
The Sunbeam
Sun-Worshiper (Mazdaznan)
Sunflower (NJ)
Sunflower (NY)
Super-Psychology
Supernatural Magazine
Survival
Swastika
Sword of Truth
T Table Parlante
Temple
Temple Artisan
Temple Messenger
Temple Mystique
Teosoficheskoye Obozreniye
Teosofia (Madrid/Barcelona)
Teosofo (Adyar)
Teosofski Glasnik
Teosofski Radnik
Teozofija (Zagreb)
Theosophia
Theosophia (Madrid/Barcelona)
Theosophic Messenger
Theosophic Voice
Theosophical Forum
Theosophical Messenger
Theosophical Outlook
Theosophical Path
Theosophical Quarterly
Theosophical Ray
Theosophical Review
Theosophical Siftings
Theosophische Forum
Theosophisches Leben
Theosophist
Theosophy
Theosophy (Los Angeles)
Theosophy in India
Thought (Alameda)
Thought (Leavitt)
Tiffany's Monthly
To You
To-morrow
Tour Saint Jacques
Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge
Triangle
True Light
True Mystic Science
Truthseeker
Twee Werelden
Twin City Spiritualist News
Two Worlds
U Ubersinnliche Welt
U. L. T.
Union Espiritualista Americana
Union Occulte Francaise
Union Spirite Bordelaise
Unity
Univercoelum
Universal Brotherhood
Universal Free Mason
Universal Harmony
Universal Masonry
Universal Republic
Universal Truth
The Universe (Chicago)
Unknown World
Unseen Universe
Ur
Urania
Uriel
V Vahan (1890)
Valor (Pelley)
Vanguard
Vanguard (Wisconsin)
Veritable Almanach Astrologique
Verite (Lyon)
Vestnik Teosofii
Vie Mysterieuse
Vie Future
Vision
Voice of Angels
Voice of the I AM
Voice of the Magi
Voices from the Open Door
La Voie (Paris)
Voile d'Isis
Voile d'Isis Etudes Traditionnelles
Vril-Ya Club (Transactions of the)
W Wahrheit-Sucher
Washington News Letter
Watchman
Water-Cure Journal
Wee Wisdom
Weekly Discourse
Weekly Truth Sheet (Brotherhood of the White Temple)
Weisse Fahne
Weltmer Journal
Weltmer's Magazine
Weltmerism
Western Star
Whisper
White Cross Library
Wilford's Microcosm
Wings of Truth
Wise Man
Woodhull and Claflin's Weekly
Word (Percival)
Word (Princeton)
World Liberator
World's Advance Thought
World's Paper
World Theosophy
Das Wort (St. Louis)
Das Wunder
Wynn's Astrology
X
Y Ye Quaint Magazine
The Yogi (Flower)
Yorkshire Spiritual Telegraph
Z Zadkiel's Magazine
Zanoni (Theosophy)
Zeitschrift fur Kritischen Okkultismus
Zeitschrift fur Metapsychische Forschung
Zeitschrift fur Parapsychologie
Zeitschrift fur Phrenologie
Zeitschrift fur Spiritismus
Zentralblatt fur Okkultismus
Zoist
Zum Licht
http://www.iapsop.com/archive/materials/banner_of_life/banner_of_life_v5_n209_oct_3_1914.pdf

banner.GIF
 
People do not adapt their beliefs to maintain consistency with facts. We think we do, but we are hallucinating. In reality we accept or reject, acknowledge or ignore, "facts" depending on whether they are consistent with our beliefs.


View attachment 1031


2:59: Scott Adams: "We humans ignore facts but we think we don't. The great illusion of life is that we're rational beings making rational decisions most of the time. But when you become a hypnotist, the first thing you learn is that that's backwards and that mostly we're deciding based on our team, our feelings, our emotions, irrational reasons, we make our decision and then we rationalize it no matter how tortured that rationalization is."



"The problem isn’t that people don’t reason. They do reason. But their arguments aim to support their conclusions, not yours. Reason doesn’t work like a judge or teacher, impartially weighing evidence or guiding us to wisdom. It works more like a lawyer or press secretary, justifying our acts and judgments to others."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/books/review/the-righteous-mind-by-jonathan-haidt.html

SUNDAY BOOK REVIEW
Why Won’t They Listen?
‘The Righteous Mind,’ by Jonathan Haidt
By WILLIAM SALETAN MARCH 23, 2012
...
Jonathan Haidt, [is] a social psychologist at the University of Virginia
...
Like other psychologists who have ventured into political coaching, such as George Lakoff and Drew Westen, Haidt argues that people are fundamentally intuitive, not rational. If you want to persuade others, you have to appeal to their sentiments.
...
Haidt seems to delight in mischief. Drawing on ethnography, evolutionary theory and experimental psychology, he sets out to trash the modern faith in reason. In Haidt’s retelling, all the fools, foils and villains of intellectual history are recast as heroes. David Hume, the Scottish philosopher who notoriously said reason was fit only to be “the slave of the passions,” was largely correct. E. O. Wilson, the ecologist who was branded a fascist for stressing the biological origins of human behavior, has been vindicated by the study of moral emotions. Even Glaucon, the cynic in Plato’s “Republic” who told Socrates that people would behave ethically only if they thought they were being watched, was “the guy who got it right.”
...
The problem isn’t that people don’t reason. They do reason. But their arguments aim to support their conclusions, not yours. Reason doesn’t work like a judge or teacher, impartially weighing evidence or guiding us to wisdom. It works more like a lawyer or press secretary, justifying our acts and judgments to others.
 
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The internet allows faster communication and it allows anyone to express their views. But in the past people read books and magazines and information about spirituality and spiritual subjects was available to most people who were interested. And the internet is just as good at spreading materialist beliefs as it is at spreading spiritual beliefs, and the internet is better at spreading false information than it is at spreading truth.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...farther-faster-deeper-than-truth-study-finds/
Fake news spreads ‘farther, faster, deeper’ than truth, study finds
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A new study in Science quantifies the spread of Twitter rumors.
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False news moved through Twitter “farther, faster, deeper and more broadly” than the truth, said Sinan Aral, a professor of information technology at MIT who studies social media networks.​


And the internet is bad for mental health - which cannot be good for spiritual development or discerning truth.



What spiritual practices are best?

I think that for many people to stop using the internet would be a great way to start. It would give the biggest result for the least effort.

I lost power for two days a couple of weeks ago because of a snow storm, so I am speaking from experience.

Stay away from the internet, TV, radio, and newspapers for two days. Try it this weekend. See what happens.


Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?JEAN M. TWENGE SEPTEMBER 2017
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazin...the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/
Around 2012, I noticed abrupt shifts in teen behaviors and emotional states. The gentle slopes of the line graphs became steep mountains and sheer cliffs, and many of the distinctive characteristics of the Millennial generation began to disappear. In all my analyses of generational data—some reaching back to the 1930s—I had never seen anything like it.

...

The arrival of the smartphone has radically changed every aspect of teenagers’ lives, from the nature of their social interactions to their mental health. These changes have affected young people in every corner of the nation and in every type of household. The trends appear among teens poor and rich; of every ethnic background; in cities, suburbs, and small towns. Where there are cell towers, there are teens living their lives on their smartphone.

...

Rates of teen depression and suicide have skyrocketed since 2011. It’s not an exaggeration to describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. Much of this deterioration can be traced to their phones.

...



Is Social Media Contributing to Rising Teen Suicide Rate?by Elizabeth Chuck, Oct 22, 2017.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/social-media-contributing-rising-teen-suicide-rate-n812426

Recent studies have shown a rise in both teen suicides and self-harm, particularly among teenage girls Sadie's age.

...

And just this past week, researchers in the U.K. published similar discoveries in a study on self-harm that showed a dramatic increase in the number of adolescent girls who engage in it: Self-harm rose 68 percent in girls ages 13 to 16 from 2011 to 2014, with girls more common to report self-harm than boys (37.4 per 10,000 girls vs. 12.3 per 10,000 boys).
 
That was an enjoyable listen. You know, I'm not convinced that the materialist consensus is anything other than the tyranny of the status quo in action....

That being said, I have noticed that the litmus test of whether or not something is deemed acceptable to said status-quo is directly related to how much an idea decreases life's meaningfulness. So, for example, you can waffle on about something as bizarrely unlikely as the technological simulation hypothesis and still retain credibility. Whereas Rupert Sheldrake can politely raise his hand and suggest that people may be able to tell when they're being stared at and suddenly the establishment is getting a scientific death-squad together.

Strange.

And let's be honest, you can't really get less likely than the flesh automaton idea. In fact, it's so unlikely that materialist Galen Strawson says he's a little frightened by some of his fellow travellers willingness to buy into an idea that runs so incredibly against lived experience.

Strange again.
 
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I quit listening to THC because it seemed to me that Greg did not bother distinguishing between guests who had really good cases to make and those who were, in my estimation, living with a delusional disorder.

I think the better answer might be to join the conversation on THC and voice your opinion about which guests you think are full of crap/suffering from a delusional disorder. Otherwise, you are depriving those, like your friend, who might not know enough about a particular area to be able to easily make that determination. Be part of the solution to your complaint about THC. You are definitely missing out on some good guests.

Personally, I love Greg and think he's one of the remaining hosts dealing with conspiracy/alternative history issues who hasn't been completely taken in by the bizarre pivot to the "Trump is a savior/legitimate outsider because everyone seems to hate him" POV, which I find just so absurd. Greg also himself admits he's "a conspiratainment podcast" and that some of his guests are likely disinformation agents or just totally full of crap. Yet I always feel that Greg is a legitimate seeker of truth. He's incredibly kind and generous to all of his guests, open-minded, and generally asks the same questions I would like to ask. And I always find his end of show summaries spot-on.

Loved the Plus segment of this THC interview -- especially the stuff about Joe Rogan and the Wolfgang Halbig vs. Pozner litigation, which I didn't know before. I didn't look deeply into Sandy Hook, and haven't formed an opinion on it, but it seems pretty interesting (if true) that the father, Pozner, would drop his lawsuit right before his deposition. However, the problem I have with these mass shooting events being called "hoaxes" is that I see no reason why the deep state would flinch at killing real people -- they do it all the time. It seems far more plausible to me that these events are orchestrated to achieve an agenda, but that real people die. What better way to isolate those who question any official narrative than to make it appear that people who question the official version of events are so nuts that they even cruelly deny the death of real people -- and especially children? Anyone who has lost anyone in any of these events or knows someone who did will immediately become outraged by allegations of "hoax," which will have the effect of rallying even more people around the official narrative(s). Brilliant strategy really.
 
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Greg did not bother distinguishing between guests who had really good cases to make and those who were, in my estimation, living with a delusional disorder.
In this interview Greg said acquiring a continuous stream of top-quality guests is a very difficult part of podcasting, and that he felt bad about being occasionally forced to "pad" in order to produce scheduled content.

He did indicate he would endeavor to be more critical and confrontational like Alex is.

The problem with that is the Podcaster soon develops a reputation for "unkindness", which amplifies the problem of finding guests. If you podcast to earn your daily bread and buy health insurance, that's a BIG problem.
 
What did they say about Halbig in the +Plus part of the interview?

Just that Pozner, at the 11th hour, dropped the lawsuit -- right before he was scheduled to be deposed. If you aren't a Plus member, you can still see a short discussion of it in the THC comments for that show.
 
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