Reincarnation makes perfect sense from the standpoint of human learning. We need “do overs” to get it right. Most of us in the West (modern world), have a “one and done” view of life. We are born, grow up, grow old, and die. Then we (our souls) go either to heaven or hell, depending, or we just cease to exist. Throughout history, most people have rejected the concept of simply ceasing to exist. They want something more, so they establish religions and rituals that they think will give them a wonderful “afterlife” if they follow the right rules of behavior . . . → Read More: Reincarnation
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 Comments are closed  Blog  afterlife, belief, cards, death, energy, Energy Medicine, God, healing touch, heaven, Hell, heroes of our own life, human learning, John Keats, Life, old souls, one-and-done, past lives, poker, Reiki, reincarnation, seeing through a glass darkly, seeing through the glass darkly, seven deadly sins, sheep and goats, St. Paul, vale of soul-making Going to Hell in a Handbasket is an old saying typically used to describe a situation heading for disaster. That seems to be the current situation in the United States. In many ways, the States reached its zenith during World War II because everyone—at least nearly everyone—worked together for the common good. This is not to say that everything was wonderful during that time. We unjustly imprisoned Japanese Americans and excessively rewarded those whose companies produced munitions we needed for the war effort. In doing so, we created what has become the military-industrial complex. President Eisenhower, who had been . . . → Read More: The Handbasket to Hell Comments are closed Blog 1920s, 1930s, Allies, banking, butcher, Chine, Chinese Revolution, Civil, Civil War, conservative intellectuals, corporate greed, cuts of meat, earn a living, finance, financial laws, follow the money, France, French revolution, Gordon Gekko, Great Depression, greed, greedy, handbasket, handbasket to hell, Hell, hell in a handbasket, industrial age, Investing, Michael Douglas, Military Industrial Complex, Nineteenth century, political influence, president, repeating history, revolution, robber barons, Russia, Russian revolution, slavery, tax code, tax laws, Teamsters, the States, the wealthy, thumb on the scale, trade unions, Trump, Wall Street, war, wealth, wealthy, WW II, WWII I owe the title of this blog entry to William Shakespeare, who put those words in the mouth of King Richard III. Richard’s words were a metaphor for difficult times under the previous king rather than commentary on a polar vortex of the sort we’ve been experiencing in much of the U.S. this winter. For many in the States, this has been the coldest winter with the most ice and snow that we’ve had for several years. Meanwhile, Melbourne, Australia, has been so hot that those playing tennis in the Australian Open have been wilting in the heat, . . . → Read More: The Winter of Our Discontent Comments are closed Blog agriculture, alternative, argue, auditory acuity, bees, Byron Katie, CAM, cancer, change, cold, complementary, crime, discontent, environment, find, genetically modified, global climate, GMO, Hamlet, hearing, Hell, herbicides, I-94, ice, ICIM, integrative, International College of Integrative Medicine, Jackson, Jenny Rymer, Lakeshore Acupuncture, Leah Ke, medicine, MI, Milton, ND, Paradise Lost, persist, pesticides, Polonius, poverty, reality, resist, Richard III, risk, Satan, seek, seeking and finding, Shakespeare, snow, St. Joseph, war on According to a top Saudi cleric, driving damages women’s ovaries. Does the fact (reality) that some people believe that make it true, if only for them? What—exactly—is the relationship between reality and what we believe? You may know people who believe that their beliefs accurately reflect reality. If you’ve been reading this blog for very long, you know that one of my recurrent themes is the need for an evidence procedure that allows individuals to base their beliefs on reality to the degree that it’s possible. It was, for example, perfectly logical for our ancient ancestors to believe that . . . → Read More: The Reality of Beliefs Comments are closed Blog ancestors, ancient, atheism, atmosphere, babies, beliefs, border, Byron Katie, Catholic, cleric, CO2, driving, earth, fossil fuels, geography, global climate change, global warming, heaven, Hell, humans, Imagine, Islam, John Lennon, microscopes, mountain, Mr. Everest, Muslim, oceans, ovaries, Protestant, reality, river, Saudi, Shia, Sunni, technologies, technology, telescopes, war, women One of the things I’ve been paying increasing attention to (perhaps because of the ongoing political debate in the U.S.) is fear marketing. I find it amazing at how pervasive “fear appeals” are and the various ways they are used to sell “stuff,” including politicians and political “talking points.” The basic concept is that we really need to be afraid of X, and, if we want to be safe, we need to stock up on (or vote for) the anti-X. The world has a lot of risky stuff in it, of course, and we are undoubtedly safer when we . . . → Read More: Selling Fear in the New Year Comments are closed Blog 2012, advertising, airport, Alabama, ancestors, B.F. Skinner, ballot, big government, bogeyman, corporate profits, deficit, Democrats, elections, emotion, evidence, evil, FDR, fear, fear marketing, goblins, goons, Hell, illegal immigrants, jungle, Korzybski, long-term, metamodel, persuasion, persuasive appeals, political advertising, politicians, reality, reality-based, Republicans, risk, risk aversion, safe and secure, Satan, security, security theater, serious injury, smoke detectors, snakes, socialism, statistical, talking points, Tea Party, tobacco, trickle down, TV, voter fraud, warning, X-ray |
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