dimreepr

Well, prepare to be disappointed. He wasn’t shown to have validity, at best; he was shown to, not have obvious tricks.

I don’t wish to offend, but I think I’ll skip reading about supernatural speculation. The topic title has been twisted to the point of abuse in this thread.

So, supernatural.

How?

You misunderstand, Nicholas: “ but I believe that is infrequent, it is against the spirit of the reputation system, and it soon becomes clear what is happening and other members will rectify it.” By this he simply means, when a different member see’s a post’s reputation is misplaced he will press the opposite coloured arrow to cancel it, within the same post. Edit/ cross posted

Lighten up, dude, life’s too short to be offended quite so easily.

Did they test the voltages he produced? Or examine his physiology? This isn’t so farfetched given the existence of electric eels; it’s feasible his muscles had a genetic mutation that allows it and through practise, he developed it, maybe it’s a talent we could all develop. No reason to seek a supernatural explanation.

New environments = a new niche. The only certainty is that niche will be filled by nature; who knows what life form will fill it?

...

That’s contrary to what was said on the video, but OK, I’ll accept your word. What was he tested for? How is it relevant to this thread, because if the video is to be believed, he just seemed to generate electricity?

It’s not about pessimism it’s about realism, TBH I hope you’re right, but I very much doubt it. The future is impossible to predict, but with an eye on history it’s possible to have a very good guess, you’re guess, however, doesn’t seem to be based on anything quantifiable.

Through the overuse of all of these things we have just created bugs that are immune to just about every weapon we have, however much we think we’re in control, we just aren’t...

We don’t only destroy habitats, we create them; evolution doesn’t care which, it will just fill the niche. Good luck trying to eradicate cockroaches or rats, to name but millions.

It’s a beautiful bike I’d love to ride it; shame about engine noise though, the sound of my Triumph through a tunnel gives me goosebumps.

On reflection, all that would be needed for this formula too, not only work but, become a self perpetuating phenomenon; educations the key, teach others the pit falls of expectation and how karma creates peace. It’s great to be wrong in this context.

I think in the long term CB would show that it wouldn’t be a good formula. “Today’s privilege is tomorrows right” is essentially, for me, the reason the formula doesn’t work. As the karma spreads and people, as a matter of course let others out in traffic, it would eventually become the cultural norm and therefore it would be expected. We all know the phrase “if you don’t expect you won’t be disappointed” some of us apply this rule of thumb, but we only tend to apply it to the big things; but the fast majority of our expectations are hidden: like turning on the lights, certain behaviour, cultural norms, communication etc..The disappointment, however, is just great as the big stuff, often more so and anger can easily be the result; anger as we know is very destructive, and in my opinion a useless emotion, in this context, in all sorts of ways not least of which is how it effects karma, you tend not to smile, be grumpy with everyone and be much less likely to let someone out in traffic.

Really? Claim magic and not accept scientific scrutiny, what a surprise.

OK, how are you going to die? And what do you intend to do about it?

The situation I’m in, is, at some point in the future I will die, I have no idea when or how; what can I do other than accept that fact?

The future is unknown just as the unknown is; it’s never a case of just settling, it’s more a case of acceptance.

Fear is necessary, in specific situations; such as being hunted by a hungry tiger or clinging to a rock over a 1000 m drop. Fear of the future is the same as fear of the unknown; completely useless. When death is imminent or inevitable, all one can hope is a peaceful end, but who knows what one will think.

OK, yes, I see your point. I think this bleeds into the realm of temporary truths, like when you’re in a hurry, you expect others to understand the need and react favourably and when you’re not, it’s difficult to understand why everyone else is; Recognition seems to be the key word here. Selfish needs and wants, is I think at the heart of this and the more one can overcome that, the better for all.

For me karma is a direct appropriation of cause and effect; whilst conformational bias is the misappropriation of cause and effect. They are therefore mutually exclusive; smile and the world smiles back, as opposed to smile and you get paid in cash.

You must see, Peter, that this line of reasoning is both specious and fallacious; and that you can’t expect anyone except yourself to take it seriously.

I think karma is internal and personal and works because of, what you call, ‘negative energy’. When one acts negatively against others, like theft or violence, it’s never without emotional consequences (a negative act = negative consequences) and psychological turmoil ensues, however much they appear to not suffer. I admit that universal karma is compelling, when things like you describe happens, it appears justice has been done, but it is just coincidence and doesn’t happen to every ignorant racist. I personally take solace in the knowledge, there’s no punishment worse than that dealt by oneself.