From: Ron Winchester (phaedruswolff@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Jan 19 2005 - 03:35:18 GMT
Hi Anthony,
I'm wondering how many here might remeber the stink caused by Darwanism
being taught in schools in the 50s and early 60s.
We are social animals, and it seems at times, such as in this period, we can
act like lemmings; no manner of reasoning can cut through our predetermined
prejudices, or the prejudices created by the 'Madness of Crowds."
The rally against Darwanism being taught in schools and currupting the
yourth was built from this madness, and seemed, at the time, to be as
rightful mindedness and moral as the current Tsunami Relief movement.
Being raised in the Bible Belt, I remember well the rage, and the strength
in their convictions that this was nothing but the Devil finding a way to do
his work through their children.
I still see this in people today, who hearing something from a newscast, or
reading something in the WSJ, or Star:), will tell you with certainty that
you do not know what you are talking about because it does not agree with
"What was said on TV!!!"
It seems to me, Quality's best attribute is the requirement you must think
to recognize it.
More than just metaphysics or Quality, I have seen this Darwin styled fear
in much that does not follow the conventional norm of the 'Ready-mades' that
allow us to go through life without ever being challenged to take a minute
to think independently in other fields I have studied as well; most
particularly finance.
Wolff (the artist previously known as Chin:)
>From: "Ant McWatt" < >
>Reply-To:
>To:
>Subject: MD The Long & Winding Road
>Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 23:03:58 +0000
>
>Chin stated January 14th 2005:
>
>This also fits in with what I call the “Null Hypothesis”. In short, it
>means “Don't buy it.” I believe rhetoric is a gift, and gifted individuals
>can make the unbelievable believable, or change an opinion without valid,
>supportive content. In other words, I believe the mind too easily
>manipulated. I feel this in science, philosophy, and the interpretations of
>the Bible by those who have a predetermined outcome in mind before the
>data, reason, or interpretations are applied.
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Ant McWatt replies:
>
>Chin,
>
>The “Null Hypothesis” test makes a lot of sense to me (regards thought
>manipulation) and came to mind while I was recently watching a TV
>documentary (titled “Messiah”) concerning an hypnotist (Derren Brown) who
>convinced five leading proponents/professionals of various popular beliefs
>that he was someone with special powers. Even though, Brown certainly
>hasn’t got any special powers, not one of these proponents questioned
>whether he was genuine. As Brown wondered, there are probably quite a few
>people in the various cults saying that they have supernatural powers but
>are really frauds (even if they are gifted as Brown is in hypnotism or
>other trickery). If the leaders that Brown met didn’t seem too sceptical
>of him, it does make you wonder who else is getting through.
>
>Anyway, the proponents that Brown met were Janet Nohavec (from the
>Spiritualist Church in New York), Ann Druffel (a leading ufologist from
>California), Lorraine Di Felice (an astrologer who publishes the “The
>Esoteric World News” magazine in Las Vegas), Abby Haydon (who is a
>proponent of psychic reading, sound and colour healing based in Arizona)
>and Curt Nordhielm (an Evangelical pastor from New England).
>
>During the program, Brown convinced Nohavec (a proclaimed medium) that he
>was himself a medium who could speak to the dead, convinced Druffel that he
>could sense someone’s medical history purely by touch (supposedly because
>an alien abduction had given him this power) and convinced Di Felice that
>he could read her dreams by using “crystal energy” in a black box. Of
>course, the so-called “Dream Catcher” he used with Di Felice had no such
>powers. The fourth leader, Abby Haydon was convinced by Brown that he was
>a psychic who could remotely view what she was drawing in another room.
>
>Finally – the big one – Brown convinced Curt Nordhielm that he was a
>preacher who can convert people to Christianity even with just a touch.
>
>An advert was placed by Brown and Nordhielm inviting non-believers and
>atheists to a discussion on spirituality. Out of a group of about 20, only
>one person believed in God at the beginning and though some people left
>halfway through the meeting (after an “instant conversion” by one touch),
>the remaining people ended-up all changing their sceptical beliefs. This
>was basically done by Brown using the power of suggestion. For instance,
>he told everyone to stand-up and without any further instruction, everyone
>fell backwards in their chairs, more or less at the same time. With just
>one exception, everyone of these previous non-believers said they now
>believed that God existed and even the exception said that she thought that
>“something” was there. As Brown noted, religious congregations generate
>high energy crowd activity or candle-lit monotony which tend to invoke a
>suggestible state in people that can be exploited. I’m sure similar states
>are invoked at political rallies and in the classroom.
>
>Above all, Brown emphasised that millions of people sincerely believe the
>ideas promoted by cults and make important life decisions based on the
>information they receive from them and their leaders. As Brown noted it’s
>not so much the beliefs themselves which is the critical issue but it’s
>more how people relate to these leaders and treat these beliefs.
>Unfortunately, as Brown concluded, even if we are outside any cult, we
>still all tend to notice what supports our own beliefs (including our own
>scepticism!) and discard what doesn’t.
>
>Best wishes,
>
>Anthony.
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>It's fast, it's easy and it's free. Get MSN Messenger today!
>http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger
>
>
>
>MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
>Mail Archives:
>Aug '98 - Oct '02 - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
>Nov '02 Onward - http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/summary.html
>MD Queries -
>
>To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
>http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
>
_________________________________________________________________
Don’t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search!
http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archives:
Aug '98 - Oct '02 - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
Nov '02 Onward - http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/summary.html
MD Queries -
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Jan 19 2005 - 03:57:11 GMT