i left the jw's 11 years ago and even though i never looked back i'm constantly concerned about the things i do.
for example, my wife's family is fairly devout in their faith (catholic) and therefore i occasionally have to attend their church, and i am always riddled with guilt upon entering and participating in the services.
also, every time some calamity occurs around the world i am always wondering if "this is the beginning of the end"?
By the way,
You mentioned game theory. This concept was developed by Von Neuman, one of the great matemeticians, and the first to apply mathimatics to humam behavior. His analysis of the Prisoner's Delema gives a great insight into a source of conflict within and between organizations.
i left the jw's 11 years ago and even though i never looked back i'm constantly concerned about the things i do.
for example, my wife's family is fairly devout in their faith (catholic) and therefore i occasionally have to attend their church, and i am always riddled with guilt upon entering and participating in the services.
also, every time some calamity occurs around the world i am always wondering if "this is the beginning of the end"?
Another approch,
You could also consider Pascal's wager. You try to be good, whether there is an after life or not. In either case, you win, because being good gives a better life, over all, in the present. So if you reject the Null Hypothesis and are wrong (Type II error) it does't matter because you win in that case as well.
Pascal was a statistician, Decarte was the co-discoverer of analytical geometry (as in Cartesian coordinates). Therefore, the concept of Type I and Type II error is more applicable to Pascal.
Type I error - Accepting the null hypotheses when it is false.
Type II error - Rejecting the null hypotheses when it true.
By the way, statistics began when a gambler asked the mathimatician, Pascal, to help him improve his odds of winning. From that shady beginining, many important scientific contributions have occurred by the sophisticated use of statistics. For an example, look at 1999 volume of Psychological Bulleton for the Meta Analysis by Hunter and Schmidt regarding the most important predictors of job success. Simple topic, complex stats. Hunter and Schmidt's work on validity generalization in psychological testing won them a major scientific award.
Another interesting study is the work on Black Jack by a PhD. mathimatican, Thorpe, that turns the game into an even or better bet for the player. Using applied statistics, means that you are not gambling when you play this game properly you will in the long run - win. I have emopirical evidence to verify that.
beth sarim:.
beth sarim was built in 1929 as a proof that the resurrection would soon take place.
(salvation, p. 311).
Hey Lurker,
With your background in computer science and working with other gurus in R&D, I am sure that you will debug the demons in no time!
well someone had to do it, so it might as well be prim & proper prisca to do the honors in the sex forum...... .
this thread is for all newbies to introduce yourselves.
whatever you feel happy to reveal about yourself.
Hey normie,
I coulda beena valedictorian too, but I had more important things to do like playing baseball and hunting for and selling golf balls. I graduated 12th in my class. Hey, 12th out 13 students ain't bad!
well someone had to do it, so it might as well be prim & proper prisca to do the honors in the sex forum...... .
this thread is for all newbies to introduce yourselves.
whatever you feel happy to reveal about yourself.
normie,
I would recomend starting with one evening class, which will require attendance two nights a week. Take a class that looks interesting, one that yoiu would enjoy, whether you ever got a dgree or not. With all the discipline you learned as a Witness, you will be pleasantly surprised at how well you will do. JAVA started at the age 40, while working full time and now has a master's degree. Just think of it as your personal pioneering program to improve yourself.
DLJ,
Years ago you could get an adequate job without a high school degree. Why, however, should a high school valedictorian get an average job when they could get a good one? Both my sister and one of my cousins were valedictorians and never went to college. What a shame!
my first post here, but many of you know me from h2o.
thought i'd spread this post around to a few boards.. just had a nice long talk with a producer at nbc's dateline.
he is 99 percent certain that they will be doing a segment on the witnesses.
Seeker,
I am an academic type, but not neutral. Plus, my TV presence is not that good. Gerry Berman is another acedemic, but I think his work is debatable. Jim Penton is the most knowledgable xJW overall and has a very good stage presence. However, I don't know how current he is on the issues of concern here. Trevor, who posts here, has a strong acedemic background and is a very good writer. Those are a few leads.
Perhaps, someone who has written a book on the subject could give a good perspective, even if they don't know the Witness culture as well as we do. They can always be updated on that, and determine how it fits in with a broader perspective of the issue.
i left the jw's 11 years ago and even though i never looked back i'm constantly concerned about the things i do.
for example, my wife's family is fairly devout in their faith (catholic) and therefore i occasionally have to attend their church, and i am always riddled with guilt upon entering and participating in the services.
also, every time some calamity occurs around the world i am always wondering if "this is the beginning of the end"?
Trevor,
As always, you come up with good words.
Conflicted,
I think another thing you can do, is go to places that were forbidden, like large ornate churches. It can desensitize you to the negative emotions that have been conditioned into you to the point that anxiety becomes an automatic response. When you do this, I think that the tension you feel will start to evaporate.
well this is my 2nd post on this board, my first is down on the sex forum!
!i tried to give a little background on myself, sorry its a bit sporadic.
it is kind of tough to get your thoughts together.
I just washed off my computer screen. I had been underlining the important points made on this thread.
i have read with interest the discussions on this board and many good point have been well made, especially uncle bruce.
but over and over i keep thinking why do we need a god??.
are we such weak creatures who stand by and hope and yes i mean hope that there will be an end to injustice??
JAVA,
You saved me a lot of time. That's exactly, word for word, what I was going to say!
i left the jw's 11 years ago and even though i never looked back i'm constantly concerned about the things i do.
for example, my wife's family is fairly devout in their faith (catholic) and therefore i occasionally have to attend their church, and i am always riddled with guilt upon entering and participating in the services.
also, every time some calamity occurs around the world i am always wondering if "this is the beginning of the end"?
Conflicted,
I don't know if some facts will help, regarding our "time of trouble." From Jesus time until about 1850 the average life span increased from 35 years to about 50 years. Since then it had increased to 75 years. There is no difference between the number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions before and after 1914.
Sure, we have had our major problems, but taken over the long term, there has been a steady improvement in the human condition, not a decline.
