Lawrence R. Spencer's Blog, page 398
June 26, 2017
PROTECT ME
“Protect me from knowing what I don’t need to know. Protect me from even knowing that there are things to know that I don’t know. Protect me from knowing that I decided not to know about the things that I decided not to know about. Amen. Lord, lord, lord. Protect me from the consequences of the above prayer.”
~ Douglas Adams ~
from “Mostly Harmless”
Originally posted 2014-06-03 22:54:45. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
June 25, 2017
LOVE SURVIVES
“The ancient Sanskrit legends speaks of a destined love, a karmic connection between souls that are fated to meet and collide and enrapture one another. The legends say that the loved one is instantly recognized because she’s loved 
in every gesture, every expression of thought, every movement, every sound, and every mood that prays in her eyes. The legends say that we know her by her wings–the wings that only we can see–and because wanting her kills every other desire of love.
The same legends also carry warnings that such fated love may, sometimes, be the possession and the obsession of one, and only one, of two souls twinned by destiny. But wisdom in one sense, is the opposite of love. Love survives in us precisely because it isn‘t wise.”
~ from the book Shantaram by Gregory Roberts ~
Originally posted 2015-09-01 13:43:42. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
June 24, 2017
PAGES OF THE COSMIC ALL
http://lawrencerspencer.com/books/
Originally posted 2015-07-22 19:01:26. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
June 23, 2017
SOME THEORIES OF REALITY
Solipsism
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.
Originally posted 2015-02-27 20:25:46. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
June 22, 2017
PARALLEL UNIVERSES
Mostly Harmless is the FIFTH book in the Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy Trilogy, by Douglas Adams. I read all of Douglas Adams books this year, a few for the second time. I consider Adams to be one of the greatest philosophers in human history, although, like Mark Twain, he was considered to be a humorist. Any valuable philosophy must expose the random absurdities of human existence, which is also a definition of humor. – LRS
Originally posted 2015-11-25 00:31:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
June 21, 2017
OZ FACTOR # 9: AGREEMENT
The Oz Factors
1/ We’ve Got to Verify It
2/ Are you a good witch?
3/ The Hour Glass
4/ Which way do we go?
5/ She Fell From a Star
6/ The Ruby Slippers
7/ We’re Not In Kansas Anymore
8/ Who’s Them?
9/ Doesn’t Anybody Believe Me?
10/ You Ain’t Using Your Head
11/ Over The Rainbow
12/ Seeing Reason
__________________
” Doesn’t anybody believe me?“–Dorothy
“Of course we believe you, Dorothy…“–Uncle Henry (from the 1937 film The Wizard of Oz)
Is reality really real?
As Dorothy discovered when she returned back to Kansas, her friends and family did not agree that the Land of Oz was “reality”.
Conversely, gaining agreement from one’s friends does not guarantee that the information agreed upon is true or workable or survival. Agreement is not necessarily reality. Although Man seems to crave agreement with his fellows, the fact that “everyone agrees that the world is flat” or that “the sun revolves around the Earth”, does not make it a reality.
History has shown that agreements among people have very frequently proven to be disastrous.
Example: Adolph Hitler gained the complete, unabated agreement of the majority of the German population before he led them into total self-destruction.
Lots of people agree when fast food franchise advertisements tell them that cheeseburgers, fries and milk shakes are good for them. We were, and still are, told, based on “medical research” that these foods contain nutrients from all the “four basic food groups”. This doesn’t change the fact that you get fat, develop hardened arteries and die an early death from heart disease or cancer if you keep eating cheeseburgers, fries and shakes.
The unprecedented multi-billion dollar profit margins earned by the beef and dairy industry and sugar growers in cooperation with the fast food restaurant cartels have a heavy influence on “truth in advertising”. In addition, the quality of information we receive, as consumers, from the American Medical Association regarding “the science of nutrition” is directly influenced by fast food commercial interests.
Only one generation ago the Japanese people were nearly free of heart disease and cancer. In just 20 short years, since they have openly adopted the Standard American Diet (SAD)–cheeseburgers/French fries/milk shakes and liquid caffeine-filled sugar water called cola–the incidence of heart disease and cancer among the Japanese people has skyrocketed. The Japanese agreement with Western lifestyles is killing them.
Reality is often heavily influenced by the Oz Factor of agreement. Agreements influence our perception of reality. A child’s perception of his environment, his religious and political ideas and viewpoints about people are often heavily influenced by agreement with his mother and father.
Be cautious with whom you agree. Carefully examine ideas and information before you agree. Just because the preacher says, “sex is evil” or the President says, “I’m not a crook”, does not make it reality. Be careful about agreeing with Wicked Witches and Wizards who promote unworkable solutions. By your own observation decide what is real in the Physical Universe and in Your Own Universe. Your reality is based on your agreements.”
— ExcerptED from THE OZ FACTORS, by Lawrence R. Spencer, Edited by Carol South
Originally posted 2015-05-12 14:27:51. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
June 19, 2017
AN INVOCATION OF THE GODS!
” Where upon Olympus stand the gods who once ruled over Man? Fallen from the Lofty Land to dwell on Earth as mortal men?
Who remembers how to fly as freeborn spirits through the sky? What powers can be exercised while trapped within a mortal guise?
The gods once caused themselves to bring The Breath of Life itself to being. Their very thoughts made every thing: the sea, a sigh, the sky, the spring!
The Gods of Old, like you & me, created everything we see. Have they lost causality? Abandoned their abilities?
Where are the gods of history? What happened to their memory? If we are them and they are we, who will cause our destiny?
Merchant Lords now rule the fold. They want us all to fit their mold: “Be a Man! Do as you’re told! The only god there is, is gold!”
How did we ever sink so low, pretending we don’t really know that we’re the spark that makes life grow, like springtime flowers through the snow?
Infinity is passing by, but time is really just a lie. Are we immortal, you and I? A question states its own reply…
We never really know we’re blind until we search around to find a simple way to leave behind the suffering that is Mankind.
Can godly powers be regained, like oceans fall to Earth as rain? Can we go back from whence we came, to greater heights and bigger games?
Lead us homeward once again, to realms beyond the dreams of men. We’ve gone astray, we’ve lost our ken*. We need your help, Immortal Friends! “
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*ken = perception; understanding, range of vision, view; sight.
Originally posted 2013-04-18 12:00:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
