 |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I got 85% on my last piece of coursework (OU degree, Social Sciences), which I am well happy with because it's a good pass and I was severely disrupted during the period I was doing it. I have got a busy few days work (following closely on from the last weeks' busy work!), (only had a few hours on Wed. off) but after that I have some good periods of off-time so I'll be around more. After that, my timetable looks to be quite regular and I'll get two or three days off a week until August when I go back to Germany. Working this weekend, Sunday -> Monday, most of Tues, and then I think I may have until Sunday off. Woo hoo! This means I'll make Sluts meet, a nightclub, and will be hanging around Camden and the British Library. Tags: london, open university, sociology, work
Current Location: Tower of London Guardroom, London, UK
Current Mood:  okay
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I just got 80% on my first piece of coursework for my 2nd module (DD205), woo :-). And it was on a really boring subject that I'm not personally interested in (the USA/Mexico border). I got two 80%-courseworks for my last module (DD100), and an average of 71%. (With the last half of the course being completed in Afghanistan, away from my library and mostly offline!). So, what I learned from this first piece is: Leave it to the last minute, and then rush it! Tags: academia, afghanistan, degree, offline, sociology, studying, university, vexen
Current Location: Monchengladbach, Germany
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New: "What Causes Religion?" by Vexen CrabtreeThe conclusion reads: "Religions arise as collections of popular beliefs, codified and institutionalized by the progression of Human organisation. Eventually, the changing beliefs of the masses out-evolve the more dogmatic, established religions. The causes of the religious beliefs of Humankind are rooted in our psychology. Psychologists, sociologists, ethnographers and scientists tend to view religious beliefs as the result of mostly normal psychological systems being applied in the wrong context. A prime example is the way we get angry with cars and computers, and shout insults at them, or the way we tend to see patterns in random behaviour such as brownian motion (our 'hyperactive agent detection device'). Historical investigators such as William James have found that outstanding religious innovaters and leaders have frequently been psychotic, suffered from various mental problems and nervous instability. Experiments on the Human brain have allowed us to discover many of the specific neuronal networks that can misfire to cause us to have 'religious' feelings and experiences. Childhood fantasies, including an absence of death and the seemingly all-present, ever-caring and all-knowing parental figures who give us comfort, often become the basis for religious beliefs in adults. This hidden wishful-thinking mechanism feeds our ego (that someone cares about everything we do) and gives us consolation from death in the idea of an afterlife. Many strange things we 'experience' are cultural (therefore an aspect of upbringing), and once a scientific and critical understanding of them is attained, the beauty of the natural world displaces the appeal of the supernatural. Religion is self-inflicted delusion, illusion, smoke and mirrors." Related to: "Experiences of God" by Vexen Crabtree (2002)</p> </div> Tags: belief, beliefs, experiences, faith, fantasy, god, illusion, irrationality, myth, religion, science, sociology, supernaturalism, theology
Current Location: Germany
Current Mood:  happy
Listening To: "Aiges Mortes" by Ataraxia
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I've added quotes on The Great Prayer Experiment to my page "Prayer: Scientific Studies of Prayer". The results come after this nifty little quote from Prof. Richard Dawkins:
"Darwin's cousin Francis Galton was the first to analyse scientifically whether praying for people is efficacious. He noted that every Sunday, in churches throughout Britain, entire congregations prayed publicly for the health of the royal family. Shouldn't they, therefore, be unusually fit, compared with the rest of us, who are prayed for only by our nearest and dearest? Galton looked into it, and found no statistical difference. His intention may, in any case, have been satirical, as also when he prayed over randomized plots of land to see if the plants would grow any faster (they didn't)."
Anyway, the results of the 1800-patient scientific double-blind study, was: (the patients were divided into 3 groups): - Group 1: Received prayers, but were not told about them. This tests if prayers helped them recover more than normal patients. Their recovery was average.
- Group 2: Received no prayers, and were not told so. This tested if there was something about the experiment that was affecting the results. Their recovery was also average.
- Group 3: Received prayers and were told so. This tested the psychosomatic effects of knowing that one is being prayed for. This group "suffered significantly more complications".</p>
What amazing results!
The rest of my page on Prayer is my normal blunt arsenal of stark truths! Tags: charles bethea, christianity, health, prayer, praying, psychosomosis, richard dawkins, satanism, science, sociology, templeton foundation
Current Location: Germany
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Secularisation theory states that as modern society advances it will become increasingly secular, and religion will become increasingly hollow. Since the rise of science in the 17th Century, sociological commentators have realised that religion may be in a permanent decline, and some have proposed the science and intelligence, both rooted in the Enlightenment, are anathema to religious faith. Karl Marx (1818-1883), Durkheim (1857-1917), Max Weber (1864-1920), the founders of sociology, and William James (lectures from 1901-1902) are four eminent men who all noted this decline. http://www.vexen.co.uk/religion/secularisation.htmlTags: atheism, religion, secularism, sociology
Current Location: Afghanistan
Current Mood:  mellow
Listening To: "Can you Mend Hearts?" by Mesh
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
My new web domain is a collection of pages and texts on society, sociology, subculture, human sexuality, epistemology (how do we know what's true?) and a little philosophy. It replaces two previous subdomains. Here are some *new* locations for two popular pages: Tags: culture, furry, goth, poly, sexuality, sociology, subculture, websites
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cultural Religion Versus Scholarly ReligionThe conclusion reads: "It is difficult to say if a religion is what is believed by most of it's followers, or if a religion is what is preached by it's scholars. Frequently the formal doctrine of a religion contradicts what the popular beliefs are of most of it's adherents. The grassroots of a religion is nearly always a watered-down, mixed-up, confused and ignorant set of cultural traditions and folk lore mixed in with popularist beliefs. The more formal scholarly religion is often complex, more complete, demanding to study and frequently convoluted as the religions' scholars debate it's weakspots and difficult spots. The more difficult the area of study of a religion, the more maze-making it's scholars will do in attempts to explain away irrationality. You will need to engage the grassroots religion or the scholarly religion in different circumstances. Frequently you will need to address cultural beliefs amongst the religions' followers, who are more stupid; and address more scholarly concerns and political concerns amongst the religions' scholars and leaders. So what you consider a religion to be is a contradictory mix of both what the leaders say the religion is, and what the actual believers believe. The difference between the intellectual top of a religion is normally quite an opposite to the grassroots bottom of the same religion!" Tags: religion, sociology, theology, untermensch
Current Mood:  busy
Listening To: "With or Without You" by U2
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Previous
tired
productive