witherflower on 7/5/2010 at 22:16
Quote Posted by Queue
Yes, but that mentality is the same one that causes people to fork over their life savings to some faith-healer (who is living large on scamming the rubes), then mercifully die without ever knowing the magnitude of debt and despair they have put their family in by being led on--and will do so even though
everyone knows that it's utter bullshit.
Isn't it possible for scepticism and an open mind to exist side by side?
CCCToad on 7/5/2010 at 22:27
Quote Posted by witherflower
Isn't it possible for scepticism and an open mind to exist side by side?
Only if you're agreeing with his opinion.
Epos: While the monk burning himself is impressive, I would like to point out that it isn't necessarily as impressive as it may seem. In one of my CLS classes we were taught that it is typical for a burning person to only feel pain for the first few seconds. After that, the nerve endings are destroyed and you can't feel anything.
That said, I don't mean to discount the feat. Whether or not you still feel the pain, you're still on FIRE, and you know it. Every instinct goes against sitting still.
Queue on 7/5/2010 at 22:41
Quote Posted by witherflower
Isn't it possible for scepticism and an open mind to exist side by side?
Only when pondering the improbable, not the impossible.
Man, I wish I had me a dead carp with a monkey's head glued to it, and about a ninety year-old midget. I'd make a fortune off my mermaid and the 2000 year-old hobbit that married it!
DDL on 7/5/2010 at 23:06
With regards to witherflower: while obviously the scientific method cannot actually "rule out" some sort of magical cosmic osmosis, the scientific method also cannot actually rule out the possibility that we all exist in the imagination of a turd-demon that looks like greg kinnear. We simply take what is known, and use that to assess what is likely, given the accepted 'knowns' (rumsfeld aside). If there is a totally simple, rational explanation for a given phenomenon, chances are that explanation is closer to the truth than a totally batshit insane explanation.
Thus we can assess the relative likelihoods of these possibilities: the possibility that there exists a source of energy and hydration beyond normal human ken, that one can tap via meditation, allowing one to survive without food and water, yet apparently do little else, and which has only been accessed by a single elderly man who has lived his life in a religious context that thoroughly encourages delusions that might well suggest to a suggestable mind that the above is occurring.....OR, that he's a bit mental and is simply snarfing food on the side, when nobody is looking. And (given the power of human self-belief) he may not even be aware he's doing this.
Seriously, while the human body will die pretty damn fucking swiftly if denied ALL food and water, it can nevertheless survive a truly spectacular amount of time on "the barest minimum" of food and water. It has a whole body to break down to supply..the remaining body, after all.
Ghandi lasted an age drinking nothing but water with a bit of lemon juice in it (water most important, assorted electrolytes next most important, touch of sugar almost a bonus under those circumstances).
And of course, when into deep starvation mode (as has been pointed out), your brain really, really starts cutting back on the thinky stuff: unlike all other tissues in your body (apart from red blood cells, which share this limitation), it NEEEEEDS sugar. Fat reserves? Useless. In true starvation you convert your remaining protein reserves (i.e muscle, organs, etc) into ketone bodies that can act as a stopgap replacement for sugar, pretty much purely to keep your brain and bloodcells going. All of this is not good for the brain, so I'd take anything this man believes he does with a really really hefty pinch of salt.
Queue on 7/5/2010 at 23:22
Don't forget eating cum!
...don't all turd-demons look like Greg Kinnear?
Tocky on 8/5/2010 at 01:00
I've been teaching dogs not to eat but every time I get one trained he lies down and won't get up again. Apparently knowing how not to eat makes one really lazy.
Dogs are shit at meditation too.
Maybe if I just stuck with people. I could open a camp and train them. Hmmm what to call it? Something sophisticated so maybe a foreign name. Something which captures the amazement of the possible and yet is from a fun ruddy cheeked people. Something like Camp Awe Swiss. My counselors are going to have great uniforms too. Maybe I could cater to a particular ethnic class to make it seem real exclusive. Man I'm going to really clean up with this idea.
Phatose on 8/5/2010 at 05:36
Wait, we really got to page 4 on whether or not some Indian dude managed to break the law of conservation of energy? Fuck, we fail at physics harder then the new Star Trek.
Sulphur on 8/5/2010 at 05:44
I believe we've already been discussing that for a bit with all the posts about energy loss and replenishment and the like. It's biology, foo.
Gingerbread Man on 8/5/2010 at 05:53
It's ridiculous, is what it is. Let's all believe in fairies and ghosts as well. At some point you'd think a human being would be a little too self-aware and conscious to want to flitter about after nonsense like this. But no. No, lots of them aren't. Most of them, if you include the God people. Ridiculous.
