General Chat

I (and, it appears, others for and against me) do not wish to deny anyone the right to disagree. All I ask is that you give a rational argument in support of your disagreement; to merely shout, 'Rubbish' through the metaphorical letterbox does little to enhance the general debate. (And giving the argument in reasonably well-punctuated and grammatical language helps, too!) Kay - had a peek at Snopes... good for a chuckle, as well as exposing many of the urban myths of our times. Rob

No human progress can be made without finding out everything about everything The greatest fields of exploration remaining to science are those of space and the mind. Most scientists still claim (having failed to define it) the mind to be purely physical but emerging evidence shows it is quite clearly non-physical. It is not so fanciful to suppose, therefore, that once we fully understand the enormous power of the mind and how to harness its product, thought, we will be on the threshold of a development far more revolutionary for humanity than the industrial revolution. It does little to help progress when doltish individuals, who probably have never in their lives read a scientific paper above the level of Playboy, like to bawl 'rubbish'. Little do these individuals, mostly males, realise that their present comforts and even their laptops, Ipods and mobiles are brought to them by courtesy of past thinkers the world. No doubt, though, their dads and grandads before them would, in their time, have bawled similar inanities at the concept of computers. Len

Hi Bendy But there is a logical connection between people of a generation or two ago, who could not accept concepts that today we take for granted, and people of today with minds closed to new research and findings. I accept that much of what is in the bible is ancient spin and raising the dead is different from reincarnation. It would seem logical, though, that if conciousness is a free entity and may leave and return to a brain, it is not a great leap to concede it may enter a different brain? If a human being has a soul/mind/consciousness/spirit (different words, same thing) which is not a brain function, where does it come from and at what stage does it appear? Don't ask me - even the medics can't define consciousness although they are getting there. Latest research in genetics indicates that genetically transmitted characteristics may skip a generation or two so how is this achieved? Perhaps its magic. I'm trying to lead you into deeper water of course. len Ps. I've been indisposed for a few weeks.

Wendy, I think that you are missing the point that the erudite Len is trying to make - having a machine that can give you access to almost all human knowledge, and help you to sort it and arrange it as you wish would have been frighteningly close to magic in the not-so-distant past; that this machine could be so small as to be so easily portable would seem impossible to your close ancestors. To be able to go back in time to chat with Darwin, or Dickens, and you would no doubt be laughed out of the auditorium if you suggested much of what we now consider commonplace. The ONLY reason these things are commonplace is because some (mainly men - oh, and British, too!) thought to think the outrageous, and to dabble in their dreams. Personally, I do have my doubts about reincarnation, but will not consider it to be 'twaddle,' unless and until there is some definitive proof that it is so. It is what I like to refer to as 'an open mind.' Your reference to the 'great thinkers' shows that even the best of us can close our minds. It was the even greater thinkers, who discussed the 'twaddle' of their day, and proved your great thinkers wrong. Rob

Have a care, Robert, Wendy is brighter than me and she knows it. She's very kind, though, and won't trample me too much. len

At this point len goes to bed.

To dream, perhaps, of being trampled by Wendy? hehehehe... Naughty Boy Rob