Domain: sidis.net
Stories and comments across the archive that link to sidis.net.
Comments · 9
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Re:Something From Nothing.
"You gullible idiots really think matter and giant 'big bang'"
Something eternal can exist and not be god, I know you find that hard to fathom. You're hung up on the idea of "creation" and "destruction" the reality is human concepts and idea's break down when dealing with nature. You're reasoning from the concepts you've derived from human sized world (aka models your brain developed to deal with human sized world). William James sidis thought the universe was similar to a circuit and that we are on one side of the universe and there is a universe that mirrors ours going in the opposite direction. The point being that those who espouse God usually always have an idea of who/what god is and a book with teachings that go against what we know about the universe.
William James Sidis, the animate and inanimate (for those interested).
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Re:Isn't religion an epidemic itself ?
Religion is a pretty complicated topic, but it does involve a lot of fear and ignorance, which is really what is behind a great deal of suffering.
Here's a pertinent chapter from a famous book on psychology: American Mental Epidemics -
Re:Isn't religion an epidemic itself ?
Religion is a pretty complicated topic, but it does involve a lot of fear and ignorance, which is really what is behind a great deal of suffering.
Here's a pertinent chapter from a famous book on psychology: American Mental Epidemics -
Re:Connecting ideas
"Imagine the following: a huge amount of mass and/or energy increases the density of space-time, creating acceleration known to us as gravity. In fact a bend in space-time tissue attracting everything around, like a curved depression in a surface."
Or is it that the universe is a strange kind of circuit? See: The animate and inanimate
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William James Sidis
Reminds me of some writing by William James Sidis, published in 1925.
Our previous consideration on the production of radiant energy from the stars indicates that such production of radiant energy is only possible where the second law of thermodynamics is followed, that is, in a positive section of the universe. In a negative section of the universe the reverse process must take place; namely, space is full of radiant energy, presumably produced in the positive section of space, and the stars use this radiant energy to build up a higher level of heat. All radiant energy in that section of space would tend to be absorbed by the stars, which would thus constitute perfectly black bodies; and very little radiant energy would be produced in that section of space, but would mostly come from beyond the boundary surface. What little radiant energy would be produced in the negative section of space would be pseudo-teleologically directed only towards stars which have enough activity to absorb it, and no radiant energy, or almost none, would actually leave the negative section of space. The peculiarity of the boundary surface between the positive and negative sections of space, then, is, that practically all light that crosses it, crosses it in one direction, namely, from the positive side to the negative side. If we were on the positive side, as seems to be the case, then we could not see beyond such surface, though we might easily have gravitational or other evidence of bodies existing beyond that surface.
Furthermore, just as in the positive section of space, light is given out uniformly in all directions, so, in the negative section, light must be absorbed by a star equally from all directions. Thus, to any star in the negative section, light must come in about the same amount from all directions; and, since most of this light comes from the positive sections, it follows that the negative sections must be completely surrounded by positive sections and must therefore be finite in all directions. By reversing this (since we have seen that all physical laws are reversible), it follows that any positive section must also be finite in all directions, and be completely surrounded by negative sections. We thus find the universe to be made up of a number of what we may call bricks, alternately positive and negative, all of approximately the same volume; a sort of three-dimensional checkerboard, the positive spaces counting as white (giving out light), and the negative spaces as black (absorbing light).
Thus what we see is simply the white space that we are in. The surrounding black spaces are invisible, and in addition, absorb the light from the white spaces beyond, so that even those cannot be seen, and, if we judge from the distribution of light in the sky, we get an idea merely of the size and shape of our special white space.
William James Sidis, The Animate and the Inanimate
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An Alternative to the DSM IV
http://www.sidis.net/nervousillscontents.htm
http://www.julianjaynes.org/index.html
If we are going to challenge the sanity of the mental health establishment, it would behoove us to employ better tools than they use. I recommend the above links. The first is a book published in 1923 by a scientist who wished to popularize his lifetime of work exploring the use of talk in curing mental illness. His name was Boris Sidis, and his ideas were apparently overshadowed by the Freud camp, so you are unlikely to know who he was. The second is a site devoted to the radical ideas of a psychologist named Julian Jaynes who presented the bulk of his ideas in a book called The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. If I am not mistaken, Jaynes' ideas are today supported by the likes of Daniel Dennett, Steve Pinker and Michael Persinger. -
WJ Sidis
I'm surprised that William James Sidis has not been mentioned in any replies. His father, a psychologist, claimed that "genius" is available to everyone. If you're curious, check out http://www.sidis.net/ for an archive of works by both father and son. It will seem like nonsense to most of you, but some of you will have the requisite experience to make use of it.
Memory is tied to emotion, so having a pleasant mood all of the time is a great benefit. Regular 7.5-8 hours of sleep appears to aid memory retention. Excellent health- the result of regular exercise, nutritious food, and relaxation is essential. Anxiety is a common distraction in peoples' lives- anxiety is overcome with sleep, diet, relaxation, and confrontation. Fear of knowledge is a common inhibitor to learning. Traditional education (largely indoctrination) causes most of us to summarily reject useful knowledge, not based on any sound reason, but because of conditioned associations like "it's ridiculous".
The desire for truth is a key motivator for genius. Critical thinking is the primary tool. Humility is an important facilitor for further acquisition of knowledge by keeping the ego under control. Concern for morality ensures that the aim of the quest for knowledge is to ensure the survival of humanity.
The social system that most of us inhabit maintains itself largely through fear. Truth is permitted in so far as it maintains that system, though falsehood is regularly spread (wittingly and not) via various authorities (pundits, rulers, teachers) to keep significant change from occuring. There are many of us who have known for years the structural weaknesses of our society, but to date we have been unable to effect meaningful change either through incompetence or fear. MLK died trying to change the system.
We can't make the mistake of giving up, but it is also imperative that we learn from the mistakes of the past. -
Sidis Web site
Facinating...
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RMS's place in history
RMS is truly a great visionary - i find that everything he has written about free software has been truly prescient, and penetratingly insightful.
Again, on the matter of BitKeeper, as far as i am concerned he is completely right. It's not a question of 'best tool for the job' - the creed of the technocrat - but the best tool if and only if that tool respects the user's freedom.
Interestingly, the movement to downplay RMS's role in the free software movement and his instigal role in the development of the GNU/Linux system is mirrored many times in history where the true visionaries and revolutionaries are brushed aside by later-comers who sell-out on the founding principles of a movement - and Linus Torvalds for all his strong contribution towards the linux kernel is rapidly coming into danger of falling into this camp.
As an example, and one i hope you do not find to off-topic, i ask this mainly american audience on slashdot to tell me who was america's first president?
If you answer george washington you are incorrect - george washington was the leader of a counter-coup after the first revolution.
As my supporting documentaion i give you this from the introduction to the brilliant alternative history of america called the Tribes and the States (written by william james sidis, on several objective grounds considered america's greatest genius of the 20th century).
There are other points of difference from the established text-book view of history, such as: picturing America as a country where popular revolts have been the rule rather than the exception, and even as the origin and inspiration of such revolts throughout the world; describing George Washington, not as the hero of the American Revolution, as he is ordinarily considered, but rather as one who had little sympathy with democracy, and finally overthrew by conspiracy the republic the Revolution established; the existence of a First Republic (John Hancock being its first president) representing the American Revolution, and a Second Republic representing a political counter-revolution; [my emphasis] the pre-revolutionary co-operative factory and civil disobedience systems in Massachusetts; or the various peculiar theories of economic and political functions and development as presented here. All these will doubtless be difficult for the average reader to swallow. And to this, let it merely be said, that what is being presented here is merely a new version of what happened, partly based on legends and traditions of what claims to be the continuation in modern America of the tribal organization of a nation of the old Indians of New England; so that even the existence of contradictions in the story as here presented would not be at all surprising. But let us also hope that the new point of view will make the reader "think it over"that it will excite his interest, and make him reconsider much that he has taken for granted about his country.
Don't stand by and let our new john hancock (RMS) be replaced in history by the new george washington (torvalds).