do we do philosphy in here?

[tiddlywinks]

I checked out this dvd from the public library and not sure how to categorize it:
Peter Russell's 'The Global Brain' and 'The White Hole in Time'
Very interesting mix and applies it to the current crises mankind is in and posits we're on a cusp of the next phase of our evolution, inward/mental. Ok, he referred to it in some places as spiritual and did mention gawd. So, I guess, he's gonna take that back to intelligent design. Anybody know?

[cosmik debris]

1. "next phase of our evolution..." Minus 10 points

Anyone who talks about the "next phase of our evolution" is a charlatan.

Evolution is not a directed process. It is a reactionary process.

It does not come in phases, it comes in eons. There are no cusps short of cataclysmic events.

The guy is a quack who hasn't got a clue about evolution. I'll bet he also misuses the word "quantum" too!

[amyrose2712]

2. Forty Six & 2 - Tool

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tja6_h4lT6A


The title references an idea first conceived by Drunvalo Melchizedek concerning the possibility of reaching a state of evolution at which the body would have two more than the normal 46 total chromosomes and leave a currently disharmonious state.<2><3> The premise is that humans would deviate from the current state of human DNA which contains 44 autosomes and 2 sex chromosomes. The next step of evolution would likely have 46 and 2 chromosomes in their DNA, according to Melchizedek.

Given Tool's developed sense of humour, it should perhaps be noted that chimpanzees have 46 autosomes and 2 sex chromosomes. From that perspective, it could be argued that the song is perhaps parodying the prediction of Melchizedek or at the very least very sarcastically musing about the choices that humans tend to collectively make.

Furthermore, the song references a wish to experience change through the "shadow"; an idea which represents the parts of one's personality that one hates and fears, which also exists as a recurring theme in the work of Carl Jung.<4>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forty-Six_&_2


Just thought I add this for fun.

[trotsky]

4. Shrimp have 254 chromosomes.

I guess they're WAY more advanced than us!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_number_of_chromosomes_of_various_organisms

[amyrose2712]

6. I just like the song man....

Chimps have 46 and 2. If you read the post it also says the song may be a parody of that theory.

[onager]

3. I do philosophy like H.L. Mencken...

More applicable than ever after wading thru all the recent Dawkins-hating gloop by Serious Philosophical Intellectuals:

Metaphysics is a refuge for men who have a strong desire to appear learned and profound but have nothing worth hearing to say.

Their speculations have helped mankind hardly more than those of the astrologers. What we regard as good in metaphysics is really psychology: the rest is only blah.

Ordinarily, it does not even produce good phrases, but is dull and witless. The accumulated body of philosophical speculation is hopelessly self-contradictory.

It is not a system at all, but simply a quarreling congeries of systems. The thing that makes philosophers respected is not actually their profundity, but simply their obscurity. They translate vague and dubious ideas into high-sounding words, and their dupes assume, as they assume themselves, that the resulting obfuscation is a contribution to knowledge.

[trotsky]

5. The genius of Mencken.

I've loved those last few sentences on their own for years - but that first one pretty much nails it too.