--- Santosh Helekar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Selma's characterization below of my assertions in > this thread is totally wrong.
Response: There you go again Santosh with those words "totally wrong". Of late, you've even begun calling for the pastoral exile of people who you find "totally wrong". Very disappointing that was coming from you. I had truly held you in much higher esteem. Now, let me at the onset point out that I don't have a bone in my body that understands anything in the realm of science, so I am by no means attempting to discredit your knowledge in these subjects but let me respond nonetheless to some of your points from a layman's point of view. Santosh wrote: multiple > ghostly apparitions, religious experiences, merging > with universal consciousness, etc have all been > shown > to result from certain patterns of electrical > activation in specific parts on the brain. Response: Now, this statement alone is fudging the truth a bit isn't it? What you mean to say is that certain patterns of electrical activation have been known to reproduce apparitions, religious experiences etc. In order for the converse to be true, you would have to round up centuries of "fools" who have had apparitions, religious experiences, near death experiences, heightened sense of awareness, etc and conclusively prove that at that precise moment, their brains were undergoing "certain patterns of electrical activation in specific parts of the brain". Now, Eric Von Daniken also has "conclusive evidence", that religious apparitions are holograms beamed to us from aliens in outer space. What if in 50 years from now, we find out that Eric Von Daniken was right. It would certainly disapprove that apparitions were divinely motivated but it would also disprove your theory. My point is simply this, by all means let science move ahead, dispelling truths and half-truths that have crowded our lives. Humanity doesn't owe anyone a dime except the Deity of Truth but just as I'm wary of religious zealots who insist they have uncovered the whole truth, I'm becoming anxious about scientific inquiry which seeks to prematurely euthanise the indomitable fakir that resides in all of us. selma PS: Re Dualism and Monism, I shall certainly add the recommended reading to my list. Sincere thanks. ____________________________________________________________________________________ Sick sense of humor? Visit Yahoo! TV's Comedy with an Edge to see what's on, when. http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/222