Phatmike

314 if you were careful!

Cheers Andy. The MAD team & I got back late last night, it was a fantastic trip! Martin, I've replied to your email, any more questions just give me a shout. If anyone else is interested in some Phat Pads (not a big block of elastomer in the states, Ali ) or wants any info, don't hesitate to email me at the address below. Mike.

Old lines dude, doesn't even look like you're trying any more New cam sounds fun, was a cool vid - deffo wanna see a proper one again

Haha! If only Gonna have to halt you there I'm afraid Simps! Gravity (as I assume you're defining it in the sense of gravitational field strength on earth at sea level) isn't a constant. It's dependent on height above sea level, the sea level itself (tides), proximity of mountains or large objects, and even celestial movements - the list goes on. I'd definitely concur that change is the only constant, as change just is. I do agree with the first sentence to an extent, death of our bodies is one part of life - a brick wall in the road if you will, but one that hopefully we can jump over a few times before we find we can't knock it down! However we can definitely go beyond existing long before we hit that wall. :wink2: Then try your hardest to suceed (nail the gear change), be grateful when you get it almost right, marvel when you get it perfect. People all talk about different things, perhaps you might feel a bit awkward when trying to talk about physics to Steven Hawking, in the same way that some people might feel a bit awkward when I'm blabbing on about camera aperture and shutter speed when someone just wants to point and click. I think you need to find that connection with people, whatever level it is on. It doesn't have to be awkward small talk, and perhaps there are some people that you might never find that connection with. Does that mean you should block them out of your lives? Maybe, or maybe you just need to wait until either of you can find that connection. The key is to find out what level you're on first, and that may be harder than it sounds.

Alan, you have a beautiful mind! You're right in that 'this type of discussion' is best discussed when you're free from the grips of a controlling consciousness (though not a controlling conscience), be it under the effects of drugs or not. The use of cannabis and nitrous has, and will probably continue to help open my eyes up a lot, after which I always try to use what I've learned and understood to apply to 'real' life. I think my philosophical rollercoaster over the last 18 months so far has led me to this; "Seeing the true beauty and joy in things often comes from a previous conscious understanding of them. When this knowledge is then drawn upon subconsciously, the appreciation of them can then increase exponentially. When understanding applies to any aspect of our lives, we are able to see beauty in a limitless amount of things. (Think the "Little Pleasures" thread) The opposite of this, pessimism, is where instead of seeing the good in things, we focus on the bad, creating a worsening illusion of the world we live in. But by seeing the negatives (and understanding them and their motives), we can draw upon our collective knowledge, power and tools to fix problems, without even having to apply conscious thought. The more this is done, and the more people in the world collaborate, the more problems can be solved leading to less bad, more good and thus, more beauty in our world." As for most eloquent member, I think it's definitely fair to award Ben that one! However eloquence isn't always easy to understand, so I'll see your avatar and raise you one :wink2:

Yeah, I'm glad you made the distinction between pain and suffering there. Pain, as Ben said is simply an experience; whether to raise attention to danger eg putting your hand on a stove, or pain you feel from a breakup or the grind of the 9-5 regime! Either way it's raising awareness to a situation, and hopefully to do something about it. Unfortunately due to the therapy culture these days, most treatment for pain is simply to numb it and reduce awareness, rather than to promote awareness and encourage action! (ie moving your hand off the stove :wink2:) I'd consider suffering to be when that pain denies you of your human needs, for an extended period of time. Suffering is defined as 'the state or an instance of enduring pain', so I'd suggest that this belief is fairly consistent. Definitely. If you're always hungry or always lonely or always acting immorally, then one may never catch a glimpse of what it feels like to not be hungry/lonely/whatever, and as such may not strive to have those human needs met constantly (which I think should be the goal of the world). Hence, since thinking about this, I now always go for a slash as soon as I feel necessary, rather than waiting!

Yes there must be a complete awareness of the perfection of the now, but sadly the world we live in doesn't make this possible to everyone. Right, the reason this awareness isn't available widespread is not just down to lack of learning, understanding, and knowledge but also to the lack of basic human needs. The real reason, I feel, that the best moments of our lives were so great was because all of our fundamental needs as a human (I'm talking Maslow triangle here), were either met and exceeded, or your senses dulled so much that they just plain don't matter!

Wrong, if the value of the item and the cost of postage are over £18, then it will be charged. If it's not marked as a gift, that figure goes up to £36. On something around £80-90, expect to pay roughly 20-25%

Could you really see and believe this hypothetical infinite beauty (something that is a divine product of virtue), in something you know isn't perfect? Maybe you are right in the sense that in order to see and be part of this this perfection, you must see every tiny thing that is not perfect as an opportunity for divine change. FB Chat is a great example - that's not a thing of perfection and beauty in any sense, but maybe there is beauty in the belief that it could be?

Food for thought. I really like the little pleasures thread. It's a great illustration of something we all know about, those little pleasures, of such an odd indescribable joy we get from as mentioned, a sweet gear change, nailing a catch unexpectedly, or that unexpected line you pull out when riding every now and again. It's like a little moment of perfection, or a tiny slice of enlightenment. What if you lived your life in such a way that every action you took, every step you made, you did your up most best to achieve those moments of perfection?

Wooo! You've finally got the white one Lee! Congratulations mate, I can only imagine how happy you must finally be after so many years of dreaming. Looks shit hot dude.

What about proof in the other direction, then what do you believe? Whatever the facts tend towards. Edit: Nice, boumsong

Beer is cheaper! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/156...than-water.html

Without thinking of the Christian notions of 'god' you're probably(?) associating with there, what proof is there that there is no connection between things/'god'? That's the key here, we as a culture, society and a world have been through an era of massive growth and development, not change. Whilst all the knowledge and technology we've accumulated over the last few decades will continue to grow and develop, what is happening (largely with the internet as the new medium) is the ability for anyone to draw upon it - hence why open source research (like Von Neumann's pioneering work into the architecture of computers in the 40's and 50's, that was available and used world-wide during it's development) has and will continue to be so popular and influential. Encyclopedia Britannica did a study not so long ago and concluded that human knowledge, collectively, could be mapped as an exponential graph over the last 6000 years or so. Before that, the 'human' (as it was then) race underwent massive physical and bodily changes that allowed us to be more successful in the animal world. This exponential growth of knowledge is now reaching such a huge peak, that I think a new graph will start to emerge. Perhaps that of collective human consciousness?

Well, if the cheese becomes 'body weight', what constitutes as 'human'? If the 150kg man is 80kg cheese, he'd probably be 50kg water, and most of the rest of that carbon, iron, etc etc. To what extent does more of any physical element make us more human?

If you maintain the balance point just right, you remain in a blissful state of balance for as long as is possible. Once you break the balance point, you need to work to reattaining it. Thus, if you butter your bread just right and drop it, it will probably hover for a bit until the butter comes out of balance. What happens if you freeze the butter so it can't come out of balance? You end up with horrible cold toast you don't even want to eat.

Maybe the plan is to create an indestructable sphere (or spheres in the universe?), but to do that, that sphere must in itself be a single conscious entity, which must be understood in order for that to happen?

Thats a very specific metaphor for something, I think much bigger. What do you think the situation is meant to symbolise?

Like I said, what questions have you got?

Ask some more questions.

We've got most things we need, so why not look at what we've not got for a change. There are a fair few people I'm sure who do a lot of thinking, and it'd be cool to have a platform for that to develop, be it metaphysiology, or epistemology, or whatever - discuss! I'll pose a thought; 'If I were in the zone right now, what would I do?'

QFT

Just wrong!

Life as we know it.

“We have always felt that the American motorcycle community is an untapped resource of great eating talent,” said George Shea, chairman of the International Federation of Competitive Eating. “We believe the GoldenPalace World Grilled Cheese Eating Championship contest at the Buffalo Chip Campground could unearth tomorrow’s next great champion.”