[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RedStateGreen', '
')We just can't understand it fully because we only know causality and a linear progression of time.

[yippleflipple]

sorry 3aidlillahi, Im kind of a noob if you havent noticed, so still looking for what I like and dont like

[Auntie_Cipation]

Atheist, Taoist, Animist, Deep Ecologist

[mercurygirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RedStateGreen', '
')We just can't understand it fully because we only know causality and a linear progression of time.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Quinny', 'I')t's more likely to support the existence of other life out there than god.

I think the possibility of life out there is slim but there is a chance.

The existence of God seems ridiculous. I was always told at Sunday School that 'God is Good' - I thought they were being literal, and I suppose still accept it that way ie. a symbol of all that is good in the world.

Problem is that many religions/religious people use God/religion as an excuse for intolernce and hatred neither of which could be described as good.

Non-Atheists explain this?
If God created the world. Who created God?

[outcast]

Pineal gland function:


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he pineal gland was originally believed to be a "vestigial remnant" of a larger organ (much as the appendix was thought to be a vestigial digestive organ). Aaron Lerner and colleagues at Yale University discovered that melatonin, the most potent compound then known to lighten frog skin, was present in the highest concentrations in the pineal.[8] Melatonin is a derivative of the amino acid tryptophan, which also has other functions in the central nervous system. The production of melatonin by the pineal gland is stimulated by darkness and inhibited by light.[9] Photosensitive cells in the retina detect light and directly signal the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), entraining it to the 24 hour clock. Fibers project from the SCN to the paraventricular nuclei (PVN), which relay the circadian signals to the spinal cord and out via the sympathetic system to superior cervical ganglia (SCG), and from there into the pineal gland. The function(s) of melatonin in humans is not clear; it is commonly prescribed for the treatment of circadian rhythm sleep disorders.

The pineal gland is large in children, but shrinks at puberty. It appears to play a major role in sexual development, hibernation in animals, metabolism, and seasonal breeding. The abundant melatonin levels in children is believed to inhibit sexual development, and pineal tumors have been linked with precocious puberty. When puberty arrives, melatonin production is reduced. Calcification of the pineal gland is typical in adults.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('outcast', '[')url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pineal_gland#Function]Pineal gland function:[/url]


$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he pineal gland was originally believed to be a "vestigial remnant" of a larger organ (much as the appendix was thought to be a vestigial digestive organ). Aaron Lerner and colleagues at Yale University discovered that melatonin, the most potent compound then known to lighten frog skin, was present in the highest concentrations in the pineal.[8] Melatonin is a derivative of the amino acid tryptophan, which also has other functions in the central nervous system. The production of melatonin by the pineal gland is stimulated by darkness and inhibited by light.[9] Photosensitive cells in the retina detect light and directly signal the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), entraining it to the 24 hour clock. Fibers project from the SCN to the paraventricular nuclei (PVN), which relay the circadian signals to the spinal cord and out via the sympathetic system to superior cervical ganglia (SCG), and from there into the pineal gland. The function(s) of melatonin in humans is not clear; it is commonly prescribed for the treatment of circadian rhythm sleep disorders.

The pineal gland is large in children, but shrinks at puberty. It appears to play a major role in sexual development, hibernation in animals, metabolism, and seasonal breeding. The abundant melatonin levels in children is believed to inhibit sexual development, and pineal tumors have been linked with precocious puberty. When puberty arrives, melatonin production is reduced. Calcification of the pineal gland is typical in adults.

[Munqi]

Im an atheist.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Munqi', 'I')m an atheist.

[vision-master]

Looks like the Atheists are baffled?

How was this done?

Temple of Jupiter



$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he sad truth is that regarding the Trilithon, some scholars have mental blocks its own size. Admissions that blocks weighing over a 1000 metric tons were quarried and transported in prehistoric times would invite uncomfortable questions on what technology had made it all possible. Regardless of such touchy issues, I have several personal observations, which support dating of Baalbek's megalithic walls to the megalithic era. Have a look at this nice northwestern view of the wall (right image) as it was circa 1870.

[yippleflipple]

thats a good question VM, so what is your opinion on how to move those things? God came down from the heavens to lend a helping hand?

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('yippleflipple', 't')hats a good question VM, so what is your opinion on how to move those things? God came down from the heavens to lend a helping hand?

[yippleflipple]

oh okay, anybody else know how they moved those things?

[outcast]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Munqi', 'I')m an atheist.

[yippleflipple]

I like animism, i can get into that... stoicism too

Any serious arguments for theism? Can anyone here blow my mind? I WANT TO BELIEVE

nice moniker, btw

[outcast]

Yeah, one thing that really makes no sense is if they had such advanced tech, why build their stuff out of stone instead of something better?

[kakkerlak]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')f God created the world. Who created God?

[kakkerlak]

My complex beliefs are inspired by quantum mechanics (this is a joke) and are best described as "possible uncertainties". For example; there is a real possibility that aliens fly distances of many light years in order to do sexual experiments on intoxicated individuals. I'm also uncertain about the existence of God. However, the possibility of his existence is greater then the possible existence of perverse aliens.

Because it is not possible (or maybe it is) to assign a value of 100% to either of these important (another joke) questions, everything is uncertain. In fact, i'm not even certain if everything or anything is uncertain.

Purpose of religion
One of the purposes of religion and spirituality is to answer those "unanswerable questions" in life. Questions like "who am i?", "where do i come from?" and "why am i here?". Most if not all people ask those questions at some point and attempt to find an answer.

The problem is that these questions can't be answered with a 100% certainty. It's impossible. Any answer you give on these questions is potential false. And even that's not a certainty.

In an attempt to make a joke here; Super intelligent aliens are not the answer. Aliens have to deal with the same questions and are, just like we, not able to answer them.

Quantum mechanics
It's just like in quantum mechanics. You can't tell the speed and the location of a certain particle at the same time. The only thing you can do is estimate both values and accept the possibility that you're wrong on at least one of those values.

As the saying goes: "If you can't calculate it, you have to estimate it."

Have fun!
Roach

[vision-master]

Dogon mythology and Ancient Egypt

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A') comparison of ancient and modern models of the structure of the universe reveal unexpected similarities. As our most recent scientific understanding is bringing the subatomic realms into ever clearer focus, the strange world of quantum mechanics and string theory are finding a remarkable consistent echo in the cosmology, or creation myth the ancient Egyptians.

What we encounter when we examine the myths presented in The Pale Fox are symbols, drawings, and descriptions which unfold –in the words of Germaine Dieterlen – “like the petals of a flower”. Once we realize that the descriptions are about science, it takes almost no effort at all to show that the drawings match diagrams from the same science. We also understand that the symbols of myth which relate to science superbly embody the concepts they are supposed to represent, and therefore must be have been deliberately chosen. For instance, the Dogon drawing of the sene seed – one of the mythological components of an atom - is the image of an electron orbit; Amma’s egg – the Dogon counterpart to the unformed universe - is almost exactly Stephen Hawking’s diagram of the event-horizon of a black hole.

[vision-master]

Dogon Tribe

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')llegedly, when the Dogon left Egypt, they brought with them sacred knowledge in the form of oral traditions, perhaps handed down by the ancient priests of Egypt.

The Dogon creational tale is laced with metaphors that are similar to other legends of creation throughout the world. One need only compare them and understand their metaphoric content, to understand the nature of our reality, past, present, and future.

The Dogon are famous for their astronomical knowledge taught through oral tradition, dating back thousands of years, referencing the star system, Sirius. Sirius is the dog star. It is linked with the Egyptian goddess Isis. The astronomical information known by the Dogon since that time, was not discovered and verified until the 19th and 20th centuries, making one wonder how the Dogon came by this knowledge. Their oral traditions say it was given to them by the Nommo. The source of their information may date back to the time of the ancient Egyptian priests.


As the story goes ... in the late 1930s, four Dogon priests shared their most important secret tradition with two French anthropologists, Marcel Griaule and Germain Dieterlen after they had spent an apprenticeship of fifteen years living with the tribe. These were secret myths about the star Sirius, which is 8.6 light years from the Earth.

The Dogon priests said that Sirius had a companion star that was invisible to the human eye. They also stated that the star moved in a 50-year elliptical orbit around Sirius, that it was small and incredibly heavy, and that it rotated on its axis.

Initially the anthropologists wrote it off publishing the information in an obscure anthropological journal, because they didn't appreciate the astronomical importance of the information.

What they didn't know was that since 1844, astronomers had suspected that Sirius A had a companion star. This was in part determined when it was observed that the path of the star wobbled. In 1862 Alvan Clark discovered the second star making Sirius a binary star system (two stars).

In the 1920's it was determined that Sirius B, the companion of Sirius, was a white dwarf star. White dwarfs are small, dense stars that burn dimly. The pull of its gravity causes Sirius' wavy movement. Sirius B is smaller than planet Earth.