Lawrence R. Spencer's Blog, page 19

A FREE SOCIETY

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Adlai Ewing Stevenson II (pronounced /ˈædleɪ/; February 5, 1900 – July 14, 1965) was an American politician, noted for his intellectual demeanor, eloquent oratory, and promotion of liberal causes in the Democratic Party. He served as the 31st Governor of Illinois, and received the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in1952 and 1956; both times he was defeated by Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower. He sought the Democratic presidential nomination for a third time in the election of 1960, but was defeated by Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts. After his election, President Kennedy appointed Stevenson as the Ambassador to the United Nations; he served from 1961 to 1965.

BONEPONY

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The Best Little Band You Probably Never Heard Of….

SOME THEORIES OF REALITY

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Every sentient being seems to have their own unique point of view or ideas of what “reality” is or is not, or could be, maybe, theoretically.  Here is part of an article by Anna LeMind about a variety of philosophical theories of “reality” that you may find useful as alternatives to your own views of “reality”.  What is your “theory of reality”? — LRSSolipsism Solipsism is a philosophical theory, which asserts that nothing exists but the individual’s consciousness. At first it seems silly – and who generally got it into his head completely deny the existence of the world around us? Except when you put your mind to it, it really is impossible to verify anything but your own consciousness.Don’t you believe me? Think a moment and think of all the possible dreams that you have experienced in your life. Is it not possible that everything around you is nothing but an incredibly intricate dream? But we have people and things around us that we cannot doubt, because we can hear, see, smell, taste and feel them, right? Yes, and no. People who take  LSD , for example, say that they can touch the most convincing hallucinations, but we do not claim that their visions are “reality”. Your dreams simulate sensations as well, after all, what you perceive is what different sections of your brain tell you to.

As a result, which parts of existence can we not doubt? None. Not the chicken we ate for dinner or the keyboard beneath our fingers. Each of us can only be sure in his own thoughts.

Idealist Philosophy

George Berkeley, the father of Idealism, argued that everything exists as an idea in someone’s mind. Berkley discovered that some of his comrades considered his theory stupid. The story goes that one of his detractors kicked a stone with his eyes closed and said, “There I’ve disproved it!”

The idea being that if the stone really only exists in his imagination, he could not have kicked it with his eyes closed. Refutation of Berkeley is hard to understand, especially in these days. He argued that there is an omnipotent and omnipresent God, who sees all and all at once. Realistic, or not?

Plato and Logos

Everybody has heard of Plato. He is the world’s most famous philosopher. Like all philosophers he had a few things to say about reality. He argued that beyond our perceived reality there lies a world of “perfect” forms. Everything that we see is just a shade, an imitation of how things truly are. He argued that by studying philosophy we have a chance of catching a glimpse of how things truly are, of discovering the perfect forms of everything we perceive.

In addition to this stunning statement, Plato, being a monist, said that everything is made of a single substance. Which means (according to him) that diamonds, gold and dog feces all consist of the same basic material, but in a different form, which, with science’s discovery of atoms and molecules, has been proven true to an extent.

Presentism

Time is something that we perceive as a matter of course, if we view it at the moment, we usually divide it into past, present and future. Presentism argues that the past and the future are imagined concepts, while only the present is real.

In other words, today’s breakfast and every word of this article will cease to exist after you have read it, until you open it again. The future is just as imaginary, because time cannot exist before and after it happened, as claimed by St. Augustine.

Eternalism

Enternalism is the exact opposite of presentism. This is a philosophical theory that says that time is multi-layered. It can be compared to a pound cake (however, unlike the time, a biscuit is not up for philosophical debate). All time exists simultaneously, but the measurement is determined by the observer. What he sees depends on which point he is looking at.

Thus dinosaurs, World War II and Justin Bieber all exist simultaneously but can only be observed from a specific location. If one takes this view of reality then the future is hopeless and the deterministic free will is illusory.

The Brain in a Jar

The “brain in a jar” thought experiment is a question discussed by thinkers and scientists, who, like most people, believe that human’s understanding of reality depends solely on his subjective feelings.

So, what is the debate? Imagine that you are just a brain in a jar that is run by aliens or mad scientists. How would you know? And can you truly deny the possibility that this is your reality?

This is a modern interpretation of the Cartesian evil demon problem. This thought experiment leads to the same conclusion: we cannot confirm the actual existence of anything except our consciousness. If this seems to sound reminiscent of the movie “The Matrix“, it is only because this idea was part of the very basis of the story. Unfortunately, in reality we have no red pills…

The Multiverse Theory

Anyone who has not spent the last ten years on a desert island, has at least once heard of “the multiverse”, or parallel universes. As many of us have seen, parallel words, in theory, are worlds very similar to ours, with little (or in some cases, large) changes or differences. The multiverse theory speculates that there could exist an infinite number of these alternate realities. 

What’s the point? In a parallel reality you have already killed the dinosaurs, and you are lying under the ground at a depth of eight feet (because that’s what happened there.) In the other you might be a powerful dictator. In another you might never have even been born since your parents never met. Now that’s a memorable image.

Fictional Realism

This is the most fascinating branch of multiverse theory. Superman is real. Yes, some of you would probably choose a different story, for argument’s sake, Harry Potter might be real too. This branch of the theory argues that given an infinite number of universes, everything must exist somewhere. So, all of our favorite fiction and fantasy may be descriptive of an alternate universe, one where all the right pieces came in to place to make it happen.

Phenomenalism

Everyone is interested in what happens to things when we aren’t looking at them. Scientists have carefully studied this problem and some of them came to a simple conclusion – they disappear. Well, not quite like this. Phenomenalist philosophers believe that objects only exist as a phenomenon of consciousness. So, your laptop is only here while you are aware of, and believe in its existence, but when you turn away from it, it ceases to exist until you or someone else interacts with it. There is no existence without perception. This is the root of phenomenalism.

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LRS — The article above is re-posted from http://in5d.com/10-mind-blowing-theories-that-will-change-your-perception-of-the-world/

About the author:
Anna LeMind is the owner and lead editor of the website Learning-mind.com, and a staff writer for The Mind Unleashed.

FEMALE PHOTO COMPOSITES BY NATION

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TREE THOUGHT

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“Thought is a force – a manifestation of energy – having a magnet-like power of attraction. You say “I” feel; “I” think; “I” believe; “I” know; “I” will; etc., etc. Now which is the Real Self? The Mental States just mentioned, or the “I” which is the subject or Real Cause of the mental phenomena? It is not the Mind that knows, but the “I” which uses the Mind in order to know. “ 

~ William Walker Atkinson ~

ESCAPE BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE

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This is a short scene from the 1981 film, “My Dinner With Andre”:

To understand this scene in the context of the entire film, see it here:

ORGANIZED CRIME CAREERS

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THE PERFECT MAN

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Mankind remains virtually unchanged, in essence or fundamental behavior, during the past 2,400 years.  There is a great deal in Aristotle’s description of “the perfect man” to recommend as a path for living now, just as there was during his lifetime ca. 350 B.C.E..

Aristotle (384 BCE — 322 BCE) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology. Together with Plato and Socrates (Plato’s teacher), Aristotle is one of the most important founding figures in Western philosophy. Aristotle’s writings were the first to create a comprehensive system of Western philosophy, encompassing morality and aesthetics, logic and science, politics and metaphysics.

TIME IS NOT LINEAR

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Official Transcript of the U.S. Army Air Force

Roswell Army Air Field, 509th Bomb Group

SUBJECT: ALIEN INTERVIEW, 25. 7. 1947, 1st Session

“Before you can understand the subject of history, you must first understand the subject of time.  Time is simply an arbitrary measurement of the motion of objects through space.

Space is not linear.  Space is determined by the point of view of an IS-BE when viewing an object.  The distance between an IS-BE and the object being viewed is called “space”.

Objects, or energy masses, in space do not necessarily move in a linear fashion.  In this universe, objects tend to move randomly or in a curving or cyclical pattern, or as determined by agreed upon rules.

History is not only a linear record of events, as many authors of Earth history books imply, because it is not a string that can be stretched out and marked like a measuring tool.  History is a subjective observation of the movement of objects through space, recorded from the point of view of a survivor, rather than of those who succumbed.  Events occur interactively and concurrently, just as the biological body has a heart that pumps blood, while the lungs provide oxygen to the cells, which reproduce, using energy from the sun and chemicals from plants, at the same time as the liver strains toxic wastes from the blood, and eliminates them through the bladder and the bowels.

All of these interactions are concurrent and simultaneous.  Although time runs consecutively, events do not happen in an independent, linear stream.  In order to view and understand the history or reality of the past, one must view all events as part of an interactive whole. Time can also be sensed as a vibration which is uniform throughout the entire physical universe.”

— Excerpt from the book ALIEN INTERVIEW

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EVOLUTION OF XMAS

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“The Theory of Evolution postulates all living creatures, including man, are solely and only physical beings. The theory ignores ALL evidence of spiritual activity in living creatures. In the absence of the spirit, flesh will do nothing except lay there, be dead, decay, smell bad and eventually turn to dust. Brains will not think and hearts will not feel love…”.

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“The celebration of Christmas, held during the Winter Solstice to commemorate the birthday of Jesus was adapted from a variety of pagan cults. The celebration of the Roman holiday season of “Saturnalia”, for the god Saturn, was adapted to become Christmas in 336 AD. Saturnalia was a festival during which Roman slaves were given control of the household for one day each year. The festival was held between December 17th and 23rd during which families feasted together, slaves were given time off and presents were exchanged.”

Excerpts from THE OZ FACTORS by Lawrence R. Spencer