Markfromcali

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Posts by Markfromcali

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  3

  Fake it till you make it policies

  by Markfromcali in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was thinking about the practice of not celebrating birthdays and holidays, and even though i've been out a good 10 years i actually am not that big on those celebrations - but i have nothing against them.

  and it occurs to me that if the birthday celebration policy is seen from the perspective of not encouraging individuality or even say ego, it is very much a fake it till you make it approach.

  besides, is there really any indication that people who celebrate gets the big head or something?.

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  Markfromcali

  Hey Jeff, well I wouldn't call that faking it though. I mean you learn in life, but you are actually living it then, taking responsibility and the whole 9 yards. To follow the kind of nit picky things like not celebrating is faking it, because that's not really something YOU are doing, but you're just told it's a good idea.

  But I guess in terms of the JW context it's ultimately fake it till you make it because there's all this talk about you're imperfect and sinful, so actually by that belief system -you- never make it until you reach this absolute state of sinless perfection that's just given to you, and meanwhile you fake it and that's supposed to protect you from the world. This just completely ignores the natural process of maturation, but like you say we are all a work in progress.
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  8

  Collective Intelligence: Number of Women in Group Linked to Effectiveness in Solving Difficult Problems

  by Markfromcali in

  1. social
  2. current

  to arrive at their conclusions, the researchers conducted studies at mit's center for collective intelligence and carnegie mellon, in which 699 people were placed in groups of two to five.

  the groups worked together on tasks that ranged from visual puzzles to negotiations, brainstorming, games and complex rule-based design assignments.

  the researchers concluded that a group's collective intelligence accounted for about 40 percent of the variation in performance on this wide range of tasks.

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  Markfromcali

  It'd be interesting to see what the results are like if the problems were of a social nature. When you stop and think about it, a dictatorial relationship is by nature not socially sensitive. It is like Cartman from South Park riding his bigwheel, playing cop barking "You will respect my authoritayyyy!"

  And it only creates uniformity, not unity.
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  3

  Fake it till you make it policies

  by Markfromcali in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was thinking about the practice of not celebrating birthdays and holidays, and even though i've been out a good 10 years i actually am not that big on those celebrations - but i have nothing against them.

  and it occurs to me that if the birthday celebration policy is seen from the perspective of not encouraging individuality or even say ego, it is very much a fake it till you make it approach.

  besides, is there really any indication that people who celebrate gets the big head or something?.

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  Markfromcali

  Oh yeah, I forgot to point out that when you deny something that is naturally a process of development, maybe people never make it, or certainly you may stop or stifle the process. I'm sure those of you raised as JWs can speak to that.
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  3

  Fake it till you make it policies

  by Markfromcali in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was thinking about the practice of not celebrating birthdays and holidays, and even though i've been out a good 10 years i actually am not that big on those celebrations - but i have nothing against them.

  and it occurs to me that if the birthday celebration policy is seen from the perspective of not encouraging individuality or even say ego, it is very much a fake it till you make it approach.

  besides, is there really any indication that people who celebrate gets the big head or something?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Markfromcali

  I was thinking about the practice of not celebrating birthdays and holidays, and even though I've been out a good 10 years I actually am not that big on those celebrations - but I have nothing against them. And it occurs to me that if the birthday celebration policy is seen from the perspective of not encouraging individuality or even say ego, it is very much a fake it till you make it approach. Besides, is there really any indication that people who celebrate gets the big head or something?

  People naturally become less self centered as they grow up, that's the way maturation works. To impose something like this, or any behavioral policy is really to deny the reality that people behave according to where they're at in their development, and is essentially backwards because you're only concerned with how it looks. Of course, being concerned with your image is a self centered attitude. So as an organization, then, it seems the WTS is rather immature.

  What are some other things that show this fake it till you make it approach? Of course there's also a question of whether what you're trying to fake is even good and desireable..
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  38

  I'm back with a new computer and feeling better

  by Lady Lee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the last 15 days have been hard.. 10 days without a computer is hell.. i said this on another thread but want to say it again.. thank you so much to those of you who have contributed to getting me a computer and back on line.

  this new baby of mine is awesome.

  it would have taken me months to save up enough money to either fix the old (which i think would have needed to be rebuilt) or buy another.

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  Markfromcali

  for the support
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  49

  I've noticed a peculiar human trait lately....

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  at the bookstore where i work free coffee has been provided for at least 6 years now.. the customers (and non-customers who just come in and mooch) go through a dozen or so pots a day!.

  our store manager decided we could ill afford to provide both caffeine free and regular coffee because of 2 reasons.. 1.we are always running out of regular and not that many people drink caffeine free.. 2.when we do run out of regular the customers get really pissed off and hunt employees down to complain!.

  i began noticing how easily a gift or a courtesy extended to a person suddenly becomes viewed as a right!.

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  Markfromcali

  Though cliche' this makes me think of the saying, or is it a bumper sticker that the best things in life aren't things. People are hardly aware of the rights they naturally have, let alone exercise them, but give them something tangible like coffee then they have something to fixate on.

  I was also just reminded of Max Webers definition of the state as an institution that claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of force. Hmm, how does that relate to our rights?
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  9

  Dec 2010 Awake: Recycled Well-to-Asians WT "Commentary"

  by Red Piller in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  *** w94 12/15 pp.

  3-4 what does christmas mean to you?

  what does christmas mean to you?.

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  Markfromcali

  ... and then?
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  6

  While you were df'd and coming back to the meetings, did you talk to JWs?

  by asilentone in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i was surprised about my df'd friend that sent me an email very recently that he has been going to the meetings for 2 months.

  i would not try to stop him because he loves his jw family too much.

  we were very good friends before he got df'd.

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  Markfromcali

  I was never DF'd but I have heard of many people from the younger generation talking to friends who are DF'd.
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  8

  Collective Intelligence: Number of Women in Group Linked to Effectiveness in Solving Difficult Problems

  by Markfromcali in

  1. social
  2. current

  to arrive at their conclusions, the researchers conducted studies at mit's center for collective intelligence and carnegie mellon, in which 699 people were placed in groups of two to five.

  the groups worked together on tasks that ranged from visual puzzles to negotiations, brainstorming, games and complex rule-based design assignments.

  the researchers concluded that a group's collective intelligence accounted for about 40 percent of the variation in performance on this wide range of tasks.

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  2. 
  3. 
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  Markfromcali

  To arrive at their conclusions, the researchers conducted studies at MIT's Center for Collective Intelligence and Carnegie Mellon, in which 699 people were placed in groups of two to five. The groups worked together on tasks that ranged from visual puzzles to negotiations, brainstorming, games and complex rule-based design assignments. The researchers concluded that a group's collective intelligence accounted for about 40 percent of the variation in performance on this wide range of tasks.
  
  Moreover, the researchers found that the performance of groups was not primarily due to the individual abilities of the group's members. For instance, the average and maximum intelligence of individual group members did not significantly predict the performance of their groups overall.
  
  "We didn't design this study to focus on the gender effect," Malone says. "That was a surprise to us." However, further analysis revealed that the effect seemed to be explained by the higher social sensitivity exhibited by females, on average.

  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100930143339.htm
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  12

  Why do I come here

  by Luo bou to in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i believe i have completely freed myself from any borg influence yet i am drawn to this board.

  like many of you ,i lost my wife and family, but i don't believe i can do anything about that, and if i could, i doubt that it would be a kindness on my part to do so.

  they have so much invested.

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  Markfromcali

  Yes, and for that matter even if the dream continues, it's no longer your dream.