03.30.09
Posted in 1848+, The Eonic Effect at 8:45 pm by nemo
Ends and Beginnings: Out Of Revolution
After discussing Marx and Engels, we can look at how the issue intersects with the eonic model.
The study of the eonic effect cruises straight through the terrain of birth of socialism, but please note that Marx and Engels appear just at the end of the eonic sequence, and this curious fact, if you study of the eonic effect/sequence carefully, will reveal a thing or two about the relative failure of the socialist ideal next to the liberal ideal.
And it might help to explain why, first, the idea of revolution as an historical dynamic arose, and why the Marxist version mis-predicted the future, and doesn’t work.
The eonic model has a much better approach to historical theory than what Marxists were left with, and might be a useful study for those who try to mix causal dynamics and Hegelian dialectic into a toxic soup that doesn’t work.
The eonic model notes the resemblance of the issue of theory to the noumenal/phenomenal distinction of Kant, and the result is the ‘incredible disappearing theory’.
The alternative is useless concoctions like historical materialism, which doesn’t work.
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Posted in 1848+, Ultra Far Left at 7:50 pm by nemo
No Marx without Engels
Tristram Hunt’s new biography of Friedrich Engels, The Frock-Coated Communist, is published by Penguin on May Day.
The place of Engels next to Marx has been completely misunderstood, and in many ways the result has been a misfortune for the left. We don’t need any more of the game if we want to create something here for the future.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Evolution at 7:26 pm by nemo
Nature v nurture? Please don’t ask
The question has fuelled some of history’s fiercest scientific and political feuds. Now we have an answer
The opponents of genetic determinism and E.O. Wilson, etc, are often maligned, but the plain fact is that those who trumpeted all sort so nonsense about human nature and genetics never grasped anything about human nature.
This situation has not changed, and the self-imposed ignorance created by scientists on themselves should warn anyone to be wary of the endless amount of incorrect thinking emerging in the wake of genetic research.
Though well-intentioned, and in some respects an important antidote to pseudoscientific genetic determinism, this view was dangerously inflexible. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in General at 2:30 pm by nemo
James also comments on neuroscience/meditation post
James said,
March 29, 2009 at 7:17 pm
It looks like the orgy between New Agers and scientists will totally destroy Buddhism and with it any memory of human knowledge about the essence and nature of action. It’s painful to see how much we are missing because of the pseudo-meditation espoused by these two groups:
“c. Silabbata-paramasa: When the heart abandons this Fetter, it no longer dotes on theories concerning moral virtue; it’s no longer stuck merely on the level of manners and actions. Good and evil are accomplished through the heart; activities and actions are something separate. Even though people who reach this level do good — taking the precepts, making gifts and offerings, or meditating in line with the good customs of the world — they’re not caught up on any of these things, because their hearts have reached the nourishment of virtue. They aren’t stuck on the particulars (byañjana), i.e., their actions and activities; nor are they stuck on the purpose (attha), i.e., the meaning or intent of their various good manners. Their hearts dwell in the nourishment of virtue: tranquillity, stability, normalcy of mind. Just as a person who has felt the nourishment that comes from food permeating his body isn’t stuck on either the food or its flavor — because he’s received the benefits of the nourishment it provides — in the same way, the hearts of people who have reached the essence of virtue are no longer stuck on actions or manners, particulars or purposes, because they’ve tasted virtue’s nourishment.”
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Science & Religion at 2:14 pm by nemo
Comment on Neuroscience destroying meditation
Stephen P. Smith said,
March 30, 2009 at 7:49 am
I don’t see the problem in this book that looks at the health benefits from meditation, among other things. The whole field of alternative medicine is expanding right now. You need only look to the scientific journals dedicated to these new treatments: e.g., see Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. As long as these new treatements are not seen as replacements for religion and spirituality, I don’t see the issue.
You’re right. What’s wrong with it?
However, why is meditation needed for alternative health practice?
In any case, the attempt by mainstream society to trivialize meditation is significant in itself.
Note that scientists NEVER refer to ‘enlightenment’, the context of all references to ‘meditation’, to do so would constitute a threat to their dominant world view, something they can’t explain. To discuss meditation without this term is disingenuous at best, dishonest at worst.
In any case using meditation for ‘cooling out’ will backfire. If you actually do it, tremendous tension will arise at some point as latent emotions come to the surface. Meditation can induce severe disorientation and personality disorder. I fail to see how its often beneficial relaxation effect which soon wears off can be hyped here. What are we talking about?
Real meditation over many hours, days, years, alone, can induce nervous breakdown, insanity. Or…
We must be talking about two different things.
Actually, you are right in a way, though: explicit relaxation exercises, such as the yogic type, can be very good things to do, if done honestly. And they can help real meditation begin. Perhaps.
And who is to prevent someone from redefining meditation?
Some sufis I have met have only contempt for ordinary meditation of this type, and use extreme stress instead, instead of ‘meditation’ practice.
Highly questionable, but meditation can have divergent meanings.
In the end, however, the culture of meditation will die out. And everyone will lose.
Meditation, let us recall, has a long history, but its source lies in the search for liberation, asking world renunciation, social disengagement, an overall committment to a spiritual ethic and way of life, etc,…
Exceedingly onerous tasks.
All that is thrown away as the practice is streamlined to make sure it results in nothing.
So we can at least request that ‘meditation’ be accompanied by references to its original context, the path of enlightenment.
Scientists don’t want to do that because neuroscience has no handle on it, threatening its dominance.
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Posted in Evolution at 1:59 pm by nemo
More of the usual high-priced sophistry from Hitchens, what he is paid for, it seems.
The Texas-Size Debate Over Teaching Evolution
Sure, discuss Darwin’s ‘strengths and weaknesses.’ Just not in biology textbooks.
Why not in biology text books? That’s what the dispute is about. The Protestant evangelicals may be open to world view collisions with the secular world, but they have rightly latched onto the problems with Darwinism, and over time produced a genuine threat to the propaganda behind Darwinian biology.
Why is it so impossible for secularists to grasp this point?
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Science & Religion at 1:46 pm by nemo
Taliban blocks UN polio treatment in Pakistan
by Isambard Wilkinson in Islamabad and Ashfaq Yusufzai in Mingora
Reposted from Dawkins site http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/5057026/Taliban-blocks-UN-polio-treatment-in-Pakistan.html
Miliants in northern Pakistan have triggered a medical emergency by refusing to allow health officials to conduct a polio vaccination campaign.
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Posted in Science & Religion at 1:41 pm by nemo
Following atheist trend, Britons seek ‘de-baptism’
by AFP
Reposted from Dawkins site
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.ae71a038e9b3b47af4f0e9eac9598fd8.2b1&show_article=1
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Posted in Science & Religion at 1:39 pm by nemo
Dispute evolves on OU speech by scientist
by Shannon Muchmore
Reposted from Dawkins site
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20090330_11_A1_Statel165138
State lawmakers hit the University of Oklahoma with a barrage of paperwork earlier this month, crafting resolutions to condemn the school for inviting a noted evolutionary biologist and requesting reams of information about his visit.
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Posted in Science & Religion at 1:37 pm by nemo
Aberystwyth embraces Monty Python’s Life of Brian
by Ian Johnston
Reposted from Dawkins site
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/5067927/Aberystwyth-embraces-Monty-Pythons-Life-of-Brian.html
In contrast to the reaction in 1979, when the town banned the film, a sell-out crowd turned up to see the two Pythons and the film that outraged many Christians.
Jones, who said he was a frequent visitor to the town as he owns a cottage around 30 miles away, said: “This is the first time publicly that Life of Brian has been shown so we thought we had to celebrate that wonderful fact.
“I think it is going to be dangerous on the streets of Aberystwyth tonight (following the screening) with such loose living.”
Jones said the film was never about mocking religious belief.
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Posted in Evolution at 1:35 pm by nemo
It is worth re-citing this article on Texas evolution debate: Jarstfer and Coghlan: Don’t censor questions of evolution
04:35 PM CDT on Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The State Board of Education is about to vote on standards that will govern science teaching in Texas for the next 10 years. The required standard for decades has been to teach both “strengths and weaknesses” of all scientific hypotheses and theories. Evolution is not, and has never been, singled out. Students are required under the existing standards to learn Darwinian theory, and we support this requirement.
Also Online
Daniel Foster: Bible teaches not to mix faith with science
What’s The Big Story? Find out at dallasnews.com/opinion
Blog: Opinion
The issue confronting the board is whether textbooks and teachers will continue to be required to inform students of scientific evidence that conflicts with scientific theories and hypotheses.
In January, the evolution lobby convinced a slim majority of the board to tentatively remove the required teaching of “weaknesses” from the standard. Now the same activists are demanding that the board cut the words “analyze and evaluate” from the high school biology standards dealing directly with evolution. It is the Darwinian activists who are picking the fight.
These proposals represent an extreme attempt to censor the science curriculum and will harm the interests of both students and science. We must not permit scientific data to be concealed to serve a political agenda.
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Posted in Evolution at 1:29 pm by nemo
Nature blog: losers win?
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Posted in Evolution at 1:27 pm by nemo
New Texas science standards saddled with incoherent changes
The Texas State Board of Education managed to keep the “strengths and weaknesses” language out of the science education standards, but passed a series of small amendments that provide guidance that is, at times, scientifically incoherent.
The Darwin establishment is on the spot: they have to find something wrong with “analyze, evaluate, and critique scientific explanations”, clearly what Darwinism needs. Try hitting their grammar.
So, instead of “strengths and weaknesses,” the new standards call for students to “analyze, evaluate, and critique scientific explanations” based in part on “examining all sides of scientific evidence of those scientific experiments.” Not only is the grammar fractured, but scientific experiments are usually notable for not supporting “all sides” of an argument.
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Posted in 1848+ at 1:17 pm by nemo
Published on Monday, March 30, 2009 by Inter Press Service
Khmer Rouge Trials May Expose US, China
by Marwaan Macan-Markarq
PHNOM PENH, Mar 30 – Limits placed on a United Nations-backed war crimes tribunal in prosecuting surviving leaders of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime may not prevent revelations about international actors linked to Cambodia’s dark period.
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Posted in Evolution at 1:15 pm by nemo
‘Peking Man’ Older Than Thought; Somehow Adapted To Cold
ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2009) — A new dating method has found that “Peking Man” is around 200,000 years older than previously thought, suggesting he somehow adapted to the cold of a mild glacial period.
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Posted in Evolution at 1:13 pm by nemo
Optimal Running Speed Associated With Evolution Of Early Human Hunting Strategies
ScienceDaily (Mar. 30, 2009) — Runners, listen up: If your body is telling you that your pace feels a little too fast or a little too slow, it may be right.
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Posted in you've got mail at 12:58 pm by nemo
Published on Monday, March 30, 2009 by The Telegraph/UK
Expert: Global Recession Could Be Time to Reverse ‘the Culture of Consumerism’
The Government spent seven times more on paying off bankers and 20 times more money bailing out the car industry than on environmental initiatives, campaigners have claimed
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Posted in you've got mail at 12:56 pm by nemo
Published on Monday, March 30, 2009 by TruthDig.com
Obstruction of Justice
by Chris Hedges
U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema is scheduled to issue a ruling in the Eastern District of Virginia at the end of April in a case that will send a signal to the Muslim world and beyond whether the American judicial system has regained its independence after eight years of flagrant manipulation and intimidation by the Bush administration. Brinkema will decide whether the Palestinian activist Dr. Sami Amin Al-Arian, held for over six years in prison and under house arrest in Virginia since Sept 2, is guilty or innocent of two counts of criminal contempt.
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Posted in you've got mail at 12:54 pm by nemo
Published on Monday, March 30, 2009 by The New York Times
America the Tarnished
by Paul Krugman
Ten years ago the cover of Time magazine featured Robert Rubin, then Treasury secretary, Alan Greenspan, then chairman of the Federal Reserve, and Lawrence Summers, then deputy Treasury secretary. Time dubbed the three “the committee to save the world,” crediting them with leading the global financial system through a crisis that seemed terrifying at the time, although it was a small blip compared with what we’re going through now.
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Posted in you've got mail at 12:50 pm by nemo
How the West Lost Its Way in the East
By PATRICK COCKBURN
After seven long years in which it seemed a sideshow to the bigger conflict in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan has reached a critical point. The US must now choose how far it will become further embroiled in a messy conflict which affects its relations with Pakistan, India and the wider Middle East including Iran. At a moment when the world is convulsed by the worst economic disaster since 1929, Washington will have to decide if it really wants to invest time, money, military and political resources in beating back the ragged bands of Taliban who increasingly control southern Afghanistan.
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Posted in you've got mail at 12:44 pm by nemo
mxmail
http://nymag.com/news/business/55687/
My Manhattan Project
How I helped build the bomb that blew up Wall Street.
By Michael Osinski
I have been called the devil by strangers and “the Facilitator” by
friends. It’s not uncommon for people, when I tell them what I used to
do, to ask if I feel guilty. I do, somewhat, and it nags at me. When I
put it out of mind, it inevitably resurfaces, like a shipwreck at low
tide. It’s been eight years since I compiled a program, but the last one
lived on, becoming the industry standard that seeded itself into every
investment bank in the world.
I wrote the software that turned mortgages into bonds.
Because of the news, you probably know more about this than you ever
wanted to. The packaging of heterogeneous home mortgages into uniform
securities that can be accurately priced and exchanged has been singled
out by many critics as one of the root causes of the mess we’re in. I
don’t completely disagree. But in my view, and of course I’m inescapably
biased, there’s nothing inherently flawed about securitization. Done
correctly and conservatively, it increases the efficiency with which
banks can loan money and tailor risks to the needs of investors. Once
upon a time, this seemed like a very good idea, and it might well again,
provided banks don’t resume writing mortgages to people who can’t afford
them. Here’s one thing that’s definitely true: The software proved to be
more sophisticated than the people who used it, and that has caused the
whole world a lot of problems.
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Posted in you've got mail at 12:36 pm by nemo
sciftp
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/29/AR2009032902280.html
Winds of Change Evident in U.S. Environmental Policy
By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 30, 2009;
Daniel Reifsnyder, a 25-year State Department veteran, knew even before President Obama was elected that U.S. environmental policy was going to change. So in early November, he called a couple of his Environmental Protection Agency counterparts about drafting documents to lay the groundwork for endorsing a treaty to curb global emissions of toxic mercury.
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Posted in you've got mail at 12:33 pm by nemo
sciftp
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7971200.stm
Published: 2009/03/30 00:15:56 GMT
Evolution study focuses on snail
By Sarah Mukherjee
Environment correspondent, BBC News
Members of the public across Europe are being asked to look in their gardens or local green spaces for banded snails as part of a UK-led evolutionary study.
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Posted in Booknotes, you've got mail at 12:29 pm by nemo
sciftp
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/books/review/Galison-t.html?
March 29, 2009
Sons of Atom
By PETER GALISON
THE AGE OF ENTANGLEMENT
When Quantum Physics Was Reborn
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03.29.09
Posted in New Age at 7:58 pm by nemo
The discussion of Tibetan Buddhism is strangely caught up in New Age mythologies, and these are discussed in World History And The Eonic Effect: New Ages.
However Buddhists, in some cases, were well aware of the coming of a new era, although its form was not what they expected.
I have perhaps been too harsh to New Age movements, but nothing in what i have said denies them their right to exist!
In fact, such movements, as Schopenhauer chronicles it (among others), were built into modernity from the start.
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Posted in General at 7:51 pm by nemo
Atheism and Buddhists
My point here is that I was righter than I knew, without getting too alarmist in the eyes of some: one of the comments actually suggested indirectly extermination of Tibetan Buddhists. As you can see, I just don’t trust these New Atheists.
Exterminating buddhists has a long history. The only safe tactic is to take threats seriously.
My position here on Tibetan Buddhism has long been contorted.
I have long been both an admirer and a critic of Tibetan Buddhism. Those criticisms are in fact present here on this blog, some time back.
Our first responsibility at this point, however, is the protection of Tibetans. I find it sad that the atheist left can make nothing out of Buddhism.
The medievalism of Tibet is easy to get indignant about, and leftists like Michael Parenti have written on this. OK, but the next you realize is the venoumous hatred and will to destroy, or else studied indifferent silence when someone else does the jog, e.g. the Chinese.
In any case, the degenerate culture of Marxist China is not much of a substitute for the culture of all these terrible Tibetans.
More generally, Tibetan Buddhism is a mystery. After the destruction of the Buddhist project in India, over a millennium of work, the remmants of the Sangha were desperate, and sought refuge in the Himilayas.
One is left with the suspicion (clearly recorded in plain sight) that the operatives of Buddhism performed a ‘take over’ job on Tibet, and constructed a refuge for what was left of their hopes, and an ark for Buddhism teachings.
There is something indecipherably strange about Tibetan Buddhism: you see endless bodhissatvas, but no Buddhas, an immense treasure of teachings and practices, as if stored for the ages, to be released back into the world in some future age (like ours!).
There seems a loss of innocence in the Tibetan Buddhist world. One always suspects politicians and their tactics, but how else could it have been after the destruction of so many hopes. In any case, the different character of this late result, as James notes, is the result of historical chaotification and the efforts to change gears in a new environment….
The Tibetan Buddhism that we see is only the tip of the ice berg: most of it is invisible to the public, and always has been. And the hidden part has fallen into a kind of spiritual power politics that would be astounding if it were made public.
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Posted in links at 7:22 pm by nemo
Some recent posts of interest
Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Booknotes at 7:11 pm by nemo
Get smart
Good discussion of the hereditarian I.Q. question, and its fallacies.
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