March 27, 2003

Common Forgetting This entry is about an experience I keep having as long as I remember. When someone in my presence cannot remember something, a name, for instance, usually something they usually know, it seems that I, in their presence cannot remember the exact same thing! We both get on-the-tip-of the brain together. Does this imply part of my memory is dependent on those around me? Do we share facts? Another thing I experience is when I am around people who are good at trivia (eg. at NTN bars/pubs) I get quite good at it. Forgetting/Remembering, is it corellated with the knowledge of the people you are with? 11:09:22 PM    comment []

The Ancient Egyptian Religion http://www.kemet.org/home.html A religion called "Kemetic Orthodoxy" is based upon the ancient Egyptian practices and beliefs. Their tenets are quite fascinating, and worth a look. Particularly interesting to me was quite a basic term that I had never come across, "monolatry", which Kemetic Orthodoxy is one example. Quote: "Monolatry is a different concept than monotheism, where it is believed God manifests in one form and one form only, nor is it an undifferentiated polytheism, where many gods appear in many separate and distinct forms. Monolatry is a special form of polytheism, having a multi-god structure still providing the possibility of understanding all divine beings as part of one divine source." I'm surprised this sect is not more well known than it is... 10:44:23 PM    comment []

March 19, 2003

A Fish Tale? Observer Article BBC News Article I'd be neglecting my journalistic duties if I didn't report on this one even though it has been quite common in the blogosphere so far. This time the oracle of God was a 20 lb carp. I hope by reporting on such occurrences that people don't think I am scoffing. I am trying to point out how contact with the divine manifest themselves in the 21st century. The truth of the matter is you have no more evidence that this experience was from God than it was imagination of men. Are you sure you want to be an arbiter on this question?   4:10:18 PM    comment []

March 18, 2003

Clarence Darrow, Agnostic Extraordinaire http://www.sacred-texts.com/aor/darrow/whyagn.htm This one is for the history/trivia buffs. Darrow, the leading defense attorney in the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 was well known for his zealous agnosticism. I just came across this piece written by him, "Why I Am An Agnostic" that exhibits a well-honed legal mind focused in on his agnosticism. I hope you enjoy this interesting bit of history as much as I did. 11:59:57 PM    comment []

March 13, 2003

Sports Explained http://exn.ca/Stories/2002/02/27/51.asp?t=dp Probably my favourite show on TV is Daily Planet on the Discovery Channel here in Canada. This video clip from the show is a really quite interesting look at people's responses to sports, in this case hockey. Basking in reflected glory and cutting off reflected failure are two very natural responses that we share with other primates. 9:46:57 PM    comment []

March 12, 2003

A Different Look at Multiple Personalities http://www.astraeasweb.net/plural/ Very often we get educated into a way of thinking that is hard to see beyond, even though other ways of looking at things may be extremely valid. For instance, we usually see Multiple Personalities as a horrible disorder. This web site gives a different viewpoint of the "condition". Perhaps the site is on to something, or maybe not; but different viewpoints are very often worth considering.   8:14:17 PM    comment []

March 9, 2003

A Visitor to Both Heaven and Hell Ottawa Citizen story This clergyman, Rev. Gabriel Dagunduro, recently visited Ottawa with a tale of having visited not only heaven in a (near) death experience, but hell too. Fortunately, he returned to life to give us the details. I've heard several such stories and what I am struck with is not their similarities, but their uniqueness. If these were true objective experiences, wouldn't they all give corroborations of very similar events? Or is it just that everybody's after death experiences are necessarily going to be different? Unanswerable questions. 1:40:28 PM    comment []

March 8, 2003

Why He's Not A Buddhist http://www.johnhorgan.org/work11.htm Ever since I read "Why I am not a Christian" by Bertrand Russell, I have been not only facinated by people's apologetics, but by their reasons for not believing something. Particularly interesting are those that spend some time in one belief system and eventually decide against it. This item is an interesting piece by John Horgan (who seems to have some other interesting writings) about why he is not a buddhist. 11:49:06 PM    comment []

March 5, 2003

The Intuition Network http://www.intuition.org This real gem of a site is focused on intuition, parapsychology and spirituality. "The goal of the Intuition Network (IN) is the creation of a world in which people feel encouraged to rely on their inner resources in their work and in their personal lives."  The IN website contains hundreds of interviews with leading figures in psychology, philosophy, science, health and spirituality and shouldn't be missed. If I am not mistaken, some of these were from the PBS program Thinking Allowed.  Another highlight is reading lists and some excellent papers including this one on intuition. Enjoy! 7:44:24 PM    comment []

March 2, 2003

How to Cheat on the Rorschach Test http://www.deltabravo.net/custody/rorschach.htm Psychological testing is being done these days for all sorts of reasons; failing such a test could cost you a job or worse. The problem is many of the tests that are being used these days have little reliability and/or validity. This is particularly a problem with the ever-popular Rorschach Ink-Blot Test. The author of this site maintains nobody should take the test and shows you the particular ink blots in the test to "spoil" you. If you do take the test, the author shows you how to answer on the test in the proper ways, so you can pass with flying colours. If you seriously want to take this test for some reason, don't go to this page, but be warned that the Rorschach Test may be total garbage...   4:53:24 PM    comment []