You’ve been accused of a crime you did not commit. It’s impossible to prove your innocence. If you insist that you’re innocent anyway, you’ll likely be found guilty and executed. But if you confess, apologize, and implicate (accuse) others, you’ll be set free and they will be arrested. Hmm, what to do?
This was the choice facing those accused by killer Christians of "witchcraft" in Salem, Massachusetts in the 17th century. How did it happen? Brian A. Pavlac investigates.
Hollywood giveth, and Hollywood taketh away. Movie makers and TV show runners create our image of "witches," warts and all. Thanks, Disney! *Sarcasm* But there's a serious his-story of oppression being promoted behind the scenes. No cat ladies allowed, no herbalists, healers, doulas, or "warlocks."
Fine and proper Christians go on rampages they say are ordered by the genocidal tribal god they worship and praise. Why do the war-god's bidding? It's very sad. Living in Judeo-Christian culture, it's difficult to recover what it meant to be "pagan."
What accoutrements do I need to get started?
Those Old Ways, which served us for many pre-Christian centuries, deserve to be preserved. The Wisdom of the East contributed to that wisdom.
It seems "Christians" (Cretins, Yahoos), imperial Romans promoting Ceasar's Messiah, just could not stand any competition of ideas, even if the main character in their narrative traveled to the mystic East to gain his realization and bring his healing gifts to the surface. All this to ask, sexy sponge cake The Craft, helpful or harmful?
Lesson by Brian A. Pavlac, directed by Lucy Animation Studio (silviaprietov.com); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly COMMENTARY
Schrödinger's cat: A thought experiment in quantum mechanics
(TED-Ed) Oct. 14, 2014: View full lesson: ed.ted.com/lessons/schrodinger... Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger, one of the founders of quantum mechanics, posed this famous question: "If you put a cat in a sealed box with a [radioactive] device that has a 50% chance of killing the cat in the next hour, what will be the state of the cat when that time is up? Chad Orzel investigates this thought experiment. Lesson by Chad Orzel. Animation by Agota Vegso.
I misunderstood Schrödinger's cat thought experiment for years (Now, I finally get it!)
When will cat lovers strike back?
(FloatHeadPhysics) Why is Schrödinger's cat both dead and alive? It's not! This video looks at what quantum superposition is (and is not). How many mental cats must be mutilated and die in these gruesome thought experiments, which lead to real-life desensitization, vivisection (painful experiments and mutilation of living animals, just as dissection is the cutting up of dead ones), and the "sacrificing" (a euphemism for execution of living subjects after an experiment is concluded and every participant must be murdered to clean up). Though scientists go home and pet their spouse's kitties, at work, dressed in white (lab coats) like a priestly class, they callously commit excruciating atrocities in the name of research and their religion, Science (Scientism).
This is not limited to science. There is a shocking Japanese Buddhist koan (riddle, paradox, lit. "case") about a cat.
Nansen Kills the Cat: a vintage koan
Roshi Philip Kapleau (Zen Bow | Winter 2018, Vol. XL, No. 4, a vintage koan commentary by the Rochester Zen Center’s late founder) edited by Wisdom Quarterly
(Shōkei Andreas Praefcke/Wiki)
Mumonkan Number 14: THE CASE: Once the monks of the Western and Eastern Halls were arguing about a cat. Nansen, holding up the cat, said, “You monks, if you can say a word of Zen, I will spare the cat. Otherwise, I will kill it!”
No one could answer, so Nansen sliced the cat in two.
That evening, when Joshu returned, Nansen told him of the incident. Joshu thereupon took off his sandal, put it on his head, and walked off.
Nansen said, “If you had been there, the cat would have been saved!”
Only riddles and koans. No answers anywhere!
THE COMMENTARY: Just say, what is the real meaning of Joshu’s putting his sandal on his head? If you can give a turning word on this point, you will see that Nansen’s action was not in vain. But if not, beware!
THE VERSE: Had Joshu only been there, he would have taken charge. He would have snatched away the sword, and Nansen would have begged for his life. The two protagonists of this koan, Nansen and Joshu, are two of the great masters in Zen.
Nansen was the teacher of Joshu (Chinese Zhaozhou). Nansen (Chinese Nanchuan) in turn was a disciple of the great Baso (Chinese Mazu).
Nansen’s dates are 748 to 835. He had his head shaved at the age of 9, and at 30 took full ordination vows and devoted himself to Buddhist study for several years.
Finally, he knocked on the door of Zen Master Baso and “forgot all that he had previously learned.” At 47, in the year 795, Nansen built with his own hands a retreat hut on Mount Nansen, from which he took his name.
One of his disciples was the governor of the province, and there’s an intriguing mondo between the two. After the governor had had dokusan with Nansen, Nansen said to him, “When you return to your office in the city, how will you rule the people?”
The answer was, “I will use wisdom to govern them.”
Nansen said, “In that case, every last one of them will suffer.”
What we see here is a sense of self-intentionality which, on the face of it, seems to be a very fine thing: to endeavor to govern with wisdom, compassion. But once you talk about it, it’s already gone. You’re already assured that there won’t be any wisdom or compassion.
You don’t need to set about to govern with wisdom or compassion if you just govern fully, put yourself wholly into any activity: nothing held back, without any notions of being wise or being this or being that. The action will be a true action.
We all have this compassion and innate wisdom, this prajna wisdom, that will emerge once we remove the obstacles to its functioning. More: Rochester Zen Center (rzc.org)
CHAPTERS
00:00 The big misconception about Schrödinger's cat
02:24 A deep perspective on the electron double slit experiment
09:12 An inconceivable tool of the 21st century
10:48 What is quantum superposition (not)?
12:52 Are probability waves real?
14:14 Quantum superposition and measurement
16:42 Electron spin quantum superposition
17:37 The real meaning of Schrödinger's cat!
18:54 How quantum superposition gives us life [because the covalent bonds to form H20 are in superposition and not otherwise interacting]
SPONSOR: This video is sponsored by Squarespace. Head to squarespace.com/floatheadphysics to save 10% off first purchase of a website or domain using code FLOATHEADPHYSICS
Float Head (FloatHeadPhysics, YouTube, Aug. 23, 2024); Sheldon S., CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Sometimes, the only way to make an impact is to be loud. This hour, three female performers talk about the rewards — and uncomfortable consequences — that come from speaking out and making people feel discomfited. One who knows more about that than most is Pussy Riot's Nadya, the face of a collective feminist movement and music group in Vlad Putin's Russia. Loudmouths: TED Radio Hour, Aug. 30, 2024 (NPR)
You're making Russia a police state, you Cossacks and puppets for The Man! Anarchy for liberty!
Nadya is now in Los Angeles. Her Pussy Riot now plays hyper-sexualized, Satanic-themed, Die Antwoord-style (rip off) punk rock in clubs and was scheduled to open for Avenged Sevenfold
Our balaclavas (knitted caps) gave us anonymity and voices to speak up for social justice!
This segment of the TED Radio Hour was produced by James Delahoussaye and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour. Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email at TEDRadioHour@npr.org
Paul Shapiro, TEDxSouthLakeTahoe, 1/3/18; Ash Wells, S. Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
The best, cleanest, healthiest, tastiest "burgers" will be made from mushroom fibers.
Clean meat: the clean energy of food | Better Meat's Paul Shapiro
We're not cannibals. We won't eat animals.
(TEDx Talks) Since the dawn of Homo sapiens, animals have satiated one species’ craving for bloody meat.
But with a growing human population and capitalist demand for animal products increasing, raising such huge numbers of animals to become food poses serious challenges.
But what if human could have animals and eat them, too? Enter "clean meat" — real meat, grown without animals — which has now moved from science fiction to science fact.
We would sooner eat each other.
Paul Shapiro serves as the vice president of policy for The Humane Society of the United States, the world’s largest animal protection organization.
In 1995, Shapiro founded Compassion Over Killing as a high school club, building it into a national organization over the next decade.
An inductee into the Animal Rights Hall of Fame, Shapiro has published dozens of articles about animal welfare in publications ranging from daily newspapers to academic journals.
He’s also the author of a book on the clean meat movement (Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books). This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx.
What young women believe about their own sexual pleasure | Peggy Orenstein
"I'm a Barbie girl in a Barbie world," says plastic surgery-loving Valeria Lukyanova, Ukraine.
.
(TED) Why do girls feel empowered to engage in sexual activity but not to enjoy it? For three years, author Peggy Orenstein interviewed American girls ages 15 to 20 about their attitudes toward and experiences of sex.
It's a Barbie world so I'm a Barbie girl.
She discusses the pleasure that's largely missing from their sexual encounters and calls on us to close the "orgasm gap" by talking candidly with our girls from an early age about sex, bodies, pleasure, and intimacy.
NOTE: Comments are disabled for this video because YouTube's comment moderation tools are not up to the task of maintaining a quality discourse here. All are welcome and invited to comment on the talk at TED.com (go.ted.com/Cy26).
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment, and Design (T.E.D.) -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts, and more. Twitter, Facebook, subscribe to channel: TED.
(After Skool) Jan. 17, 2023. Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, Ph.D., is a biologist and author best known for his hypothesis of morphic resonance.
Do science and Eastern religions mesh?
At Cambridge University he worked in developmental biology as a fellow of Clare College. He was principal plant physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Hyderabad, India.
From 2005 to 2010 he was director of the Perrott-Warrick Fund project for research on (parapsychology) unexplained human and animal abilities, funded by Trinity College, Cambridge. Dr. Sheldrake has written many books:
A New Science of Life (1981)
The Presence of the Past (1988)
The Rebirth of Nature (1991)
Seven Experiments That Could Change the World (1994)
Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home (1999)
The Sense of Being Stared At (2003)
The Science Delusion (Science Set Free) (2012)
Science and Spiritual Practices (2017)
Ways of Going Beyond and Why They Work (2019)
Banned for questioning science?
Banned by gatekeepers for telling it like it is.
Dr. Sheldrake gave a talk entitled "The Science Delusion" at TEDx Whitechapel on Jan. 12, 2013.
The theme that night was "Visions for Transition: Challenging existing paradigms and redefining values (for a more beautiful world)."
Not good at math yet I'm its poster boy
In response to protests from two materialists in the US, the talk was taken out of circulation by TED, relegated to a corner of their website and stamped with a warning label.
More about Dr. Sheldrake and his research: sheldrake.org
Subscribe to After Skool for more insightful videos
Collins Key, TEDx Santa Barbara, 12/18/17; Crystal Q., CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Hoo-hoo, Collins, magic is Key! Dont'cha know it's all about misdirection and perception?
The surprising secret that solves your problems quickly | Collins Key | TEDxSantaBarbara
Hi, I'm Collins. I have the Key!
(TEDx Talks) The answer to EVERY problem is hiding in plain sight. This is an education and entertainment focused TEDx Talk by Collins Key.
He gained national notoriety for becoming the first magician to become a finalist on America’s Got Talent and is currently one the world’s biggest family and kid friendly comedy YouTube influencers with over 8 million subscribers.
He uploads viral videos and teaches his millions of fans how to make fun comedy and humor DIY food experiments/technology life hacks.
In this engaging performance Collins Key breaks down learning the surprising secret that solves our problems quickly by using the art form of magic. He explains that the answer to every problem is hiding in plain sight: It's a matter of perception, that is, of avoiding misperception.
The only question left to learn in this TED talk is, Do you see it?
ABOUT: Collins Key, with 6.5M+subscribers, is one of the fastest growing channels on YouTube, having gone from 1M to 6M subscribers in less than a year. His unique blend of viral trends and family-friendly content makes his channel unlike any other with over 100M views in the last 30 days.
At the age of 17, he was the first magician to be voted into the finals in eight seasons of America’s Got Talent.
On the show, he completely changed the perception people had of magic with his innovative style and mind-blowing performances. Soon after, he embarked on a 30-city tour opening for Demi Lovato in front of 12,000 to 15,000 screaming fans a night, something a magician had never done before.
His record-breaking and award-winning scripted series with AT&T, The Disappearing Girl, showcased his brilliant innovation and a new way to partner with brands. And recently Collins and his brother have been featured on the newly perverse Disney Channel.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx.
How to tap into awareness | Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche | TED
(TED) Meditation asks us to slip into a state of serene presence, this moment. But why does something that sounds effortless often feel so difficult? In this lighthearted invitation, Tibetan Buddhist monk and spiritual leader Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche shares three steps to help us accept the ebb and flow of our emotions and learn to meditate anytime and anywhere. #TEDTalks#TED#meditation
Love watching TED Talks like this one? Become a TED Member to support its mission of spreading ideas: ted.com/membership
Inside the Wellness Festival for Millionaires | Fringes
(VICE) Fringes (Season 1, Episode 4). "A-Fest" is an annual super-elite, invite-only festival that promises to radically change an attendee's life.
Run by MindValley, this is distilled Silicon Valley alt-wellness marketed to millionaires, entrepreneurs, and aspirational millionaires across the planet. The man behind the whole business is Vishen Lakhiani.
He has progressed from selling meditation CDs online to owning a $40 million company with thousands of loyal followers around the world.
Although normally over $3,000, VICE’s Sydney Lima has been gifted a golden ticket to the event to discover whether she can become less negative and pathetic, setting herself up for a future of spiritual and business success. [Spiritual consumerism, anyone?]
Check out the VICE World News playlist for global reporting not found elsewhere: youtube.com/playlist...
ABOUT: VICE calls itself "The Definitive Guide to Enlightening Information." From every corner of the planet, VICE's immersive, caustic, groundbreaking, and often bizarre stories have changed the way people think about culture, crime, art, parties, fashion, protest, the internet, and other subjects that don't even have names yet. Browse the growing library and discover corners of the world never known to have existed. Welcome to VICE.
Connect with VICE:
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