Letters to the Editor
rocket999
Published Letters: 139 Editor's Choice: 11
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And mattwa33186 nailed it too
[Read the article: Survey: Women looser with their passwords than men]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]To continue the stereotyping, men don't give away their passwords because they think they matter. Women know they don't, and don't need to feel self-important by pretending that they do.
Like I said, at my work the passwords are taped to the communal computers, so my personal password *only* protects my personal machine, not the network drives. And no, you can't access the network drives over the internet using that password; vpn is a separate entity altogether. So what's the point of password protecting my personal computer? Oh yeah, there isn't one. It's just the standard corporate paranoia coupled with a one-size-fits-all approach to computer security.
If someone has an explanation for why I should have a password, I'd love to hear it. Mattwa33186, this is your chance to overcome that communication barrier between IT and everyone else.
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why is it necessary
[Read the article: You are the river: An interview with Ken Wilber]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm no expert, but it seems to me that most religions have at least three components in common:
1. There is more to the world than we can see with our 5 senses. Represented here by the "Big Mind."
2. Values and morals come from somewhere outside human experience "If you try to reduce those to matter...you can't even make the claim that some are right and some are wrong."
3. Humans are the pinnacle of existence, and constantly moving forward. Represented here the "evolution" of consciousness and religion
The thing is, although I haven't experienced it, I believe that some (perhaps most) people do occassionally achieve a state of sartori, or oneness with God, or whatever their religion happens to call it. Those feelings are real, that state of being is real. But then that feeling leads to the adoption of the three positions above, which are not, in my opinion, real.
What I don't understand is, why isn't it enough just to have that feeling. Why does it have to be inexplicable? Even if the human experience is simply a lucky by-product of evolution, that doesn't make the Sistine Chapel any less beautiful, or morality any less important and complex.
Maybe it's because I was raised an atheist, but I just don't understand why the world needs to be anything more than I can see, feel, and experience inside my own head.
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@Monty
[Read the article: You are the river: An interview with Ken Wilber]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree with you, the experiences Ken Wilbur describes are real, and there's a lot to be learned from them. The problem non-mystics have with his method (as described in the interview), is that he conflates internal experience with external reality.
No doubt meditation, prayer, and/or certain drugs can lead to a mental state very different than what we normally experience. Perhaps this state is even similar from person to person, which can be verified by talking to other practitioners.
This problem is, this doesn't indicate God, or god, or a higher being, or a Big Mind, or even "the connectedness of all thing" (a favorite of my hippie friends). It's just another thing that happens inside our head. An interesting, intriguing thing, but just a bunch of chemicals swimming around in the brain nonetheless. This fact need not to diminish the experience.
Remove the interiority/Big Mind mumbo-jumbo, and observing our mental state becomes interesting to an atheist/non-mystic indeed.
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it's not like playing the piano
[Read the article: You are the river: An interview with Ken Wilber]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Jack36: It's not "mere" brain chemistry. It's our minds, and they are unique and wonderful things- and totally explicable in terms of brain chemistry. There's no contradication there. Pretty neat, huh?
Chad: As an atheist who has a passionate dislike of metaphysical mumbo-jumbo, I can tell you that meditation seems to have tangible benefits for some people. All I can say is, don't knock it until you've tried it. It's not for everyone (me included), but I've seen it tone down arrogance and bring peace. It can make a real, positive, difference in people's lives and personalities. Perhaps it has the strongest effect on those who are not naturally introspective, which is a lot of people.
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@The Fool
[Read the article: You are the river: An interview with Ken Wilber]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Touche! I was going to defend you, but you clearly don't need it.
Have you really spent 1000's of hours meditating, and if so, what do you get out of it (serious question, not a veiled insult)?
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Wright is a fool
[Read the article: Obama: "I am outraged"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]So is Wright deliberately trying to sabotage Obama, or is he just totally clueless?
I'm a Clinton supporter and usually I find the Obamabots beyond annoying, but this sucks for Obama and for the nation. That he has to deal with this kind of BS makes me a lot more likely to actively support him if he wins the nomination.