slimboyfat

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Posts by slimboyfat

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  8

  Composition of members of the Watch Tower Society at the annual meeting in 1945

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  .

  just came across this info from 1946 yearbook.

  it would be fascinating to have the same information on members at this year's annual meeting.

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  slimboyfat

  

  Just came across this info from 1946 Yearbook. It would be fascinating to have the same information on members at this year's annual meeting.
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  11

  Another changed WT publication from when it was first published to now

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is as it was originally, or at least at the time that paul grundy saw it, because he has this picture on jwfacts:.

  this is what it says on jwfacts right now:.

  watchtower articles on evolution contain a consistent pattern of poor research, such as quotes from both the january and august awake!

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  slimboyfat

  Yes it's going to become important to keep physical copies of the material as long as they keep producing it, and keep track of electronic versions and revisions too.

  In this case it seems they fixed a factual error in attributing a statement to the wrong author, which is fair enough. On other occasions they cover their tracks in more revealing ways. Such as when they revised comments about 1975 in the truth book after the date passed.
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  405

  Origin of Life

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

  as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

  there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

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  slimboyfat

  Viv, I used "computation" in the context of human thought. It was you who applied it to computers.

  Anyway, claims of a soul treat it as a thing. Unless you've something or some reason to show it should be treated differently, your trolling is of no value.

  If a soul is a thing, it does not need to be a physical thing, in order to be a thing. You are presupposing reductionist materialism, and therefore begging the question. (Yeah, yeah, you will say I'm wrong, I don't know what begging the question is, and I'm dishonest. There I'll save you the bother. Predictably what you won't do is supply any argument or evidence for any assertion you make)

  Frankly I am doubtful about "souls", but dismissing them on the grounds that they are not material is stupid, because they are not claimed to be material.

  Non-physical things do exist, such as numbers and thoughts. The question is not whether non-material things can exist, the question is whether a "soul" is among them or not.
  
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  405

  Origin of Life

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

  as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

  there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

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  slimboyfat

  Yes Ruby, reductionist materialists, I stand corrected.

  What's interesting is that some such as Viv who hold to this view, apparently cannot conceive that there are other ways of understanding reality. It's just taken for granted as an article of faith. Viv doesn't show any signs of being aware of alternatives or the problems identified with reductionist materialism.
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  405

  Origin of Life

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

  as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

  there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

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  slimboyfat

  Which previous unfinished business do you refer to? The WT saying that scientists may one day create cells, yet Cofty saying JWs teach the opposite? You really want to revisit that? If the statement in the WT saying it might happen one day doesn't satisfy you, what exactly would you accept as proof?

  Even a cursory examination of your list exposes all of the flaws with your comparisons. Thoughts, dreams, realisations and disappointements exist physically within your body, they are chemical changes that can be watched and measured.

  Yes well that's what materialists claim, of course, that thoughts are identical to the chemical reactions of the brain. There is little doubt that consciousness arises largely from the brain, but that is different than saying a thought is identical to those physical mechanisms. There are more possibilities to explain the complex nature of reality, including consciousness, than materialism or dualism. Materialism is one way of understanding the world, it is not the only way, and it has its problems.

  Tallis explains some of the reasons for thinking that consciousness is not identical to reactions in the brain.

  http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/what-consciousness-is-not
  

  
  

  
  

  
  
  
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  405

  Origin of Life

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

  as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

  there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

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  slimboyfat

  No, I am talking about the challenges to materialism presented by Mary Midgley, Raymond Tallis, Thomas Nagel and others. Do you seriously think Deepak Chopra is the main intellectual challenge to materialism today? It might explain why you produce such naive "killer questions" as where is the soul and what is it made of.

  Of course not. Don't be ridiculous. If it's in a human, it must be somewhere.

  Why "must"? You are apparently so committed to materialism you cannot possibly conceive of an answer outside its frame of reference. And once again, you finding something "ridiculous" does not constitute an argument.

  
  https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/23/mary-midgley-philosopher-soul-human-consciousness
  https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/2419/against-humanism
  http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/bringing-mind-to-matter
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  405

  Origin of Life

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

  as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

  there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

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  slimboyfat

  What is this "soul"? Where does it reside in the human body? Can we find it? What is it made of? Can it be surgically removed?

  
  

  These questions suppose that only things with a physical location and a material composition exist. Just because such materialist reductionism is currently fashionable doesn't necessarily make it true. There are clearly some things without a physical location that do exist, such as the number 34, and human thoughts: dreams, realisations, computations, disappointments. Are souls among the things with no physical presence, yet nevertheless exist? Souls are not generally conceived as physical entities, so their existence or otherwise will not be settled by a surgical operation.

  Asking where the soul is and what it is made of are rather stupid questions. One might even say obtuse or pseudo intellectual.

  https://billdembski.com/documents/1999.10.spiritual_machines.htm
  
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  27

  Directed panspermia - a plausible theory of intelligent design?

  by EdenOne in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have just read an interesting article by astrobiologist jacob haq-misra.. in this article he describes a process called "directed panspermia" as a plausible way that one form of intelligent design - one not related with religious driven agendas involving theism - could be involved in the process by which life developed on earth and possibly in other planets as well.. sounds like a speculation that's worth entertaining.

  your thoughts?.

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  slimboyfat

  I remember this Star Trek episode. Humanoid races from Vulcans to Klingons were all the creation of an ancient godlike people.
• 
  30

  Jesus walked into a bar...

  by Slidin Fast in

  1. social
  2. humour

  he asks the barkeep for 13 glasses of water.

  he turns to his 12 companions and winks....

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  slimboyfat

  After all these terrible jokes I had to visit my doctor.

  I also told him how on Mondays I feel like Donald Duck and on Tuesdays I feel like Mickey Mouse.

  He says to me, how long have you been having these Disney spells?

  Then he told me it looks like I've got Tom Jones disease.

  I said, is that a rare condition?

  He sald, it's not unusual.

  I also mentioned about me shrinking.

  He said: you'll just have to be a little patient!
• 
  405

  Origin of Life

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in recent years significant progress has been made in solving the question of how life originated on our planet.. how do you think theists will respond when it finally happens?

  as a former christian i know my reaction would have been something like "well that just goes to show that it takes intelligent life to make life", but for two reasons that defense doesn't work.. firstly it would prove that life is not an ethereal force that originates with god.

  there is no 'ghost in the machine', no elan vital.

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  slimboyfat

  I read both WT pages. Neither of them contradicts their own brochure which says scientists may one day succeed in creating living cells.

  Can you quote where either page says scientists will never be able to create life from non-life? I can't find any such comment.