gdp's Comments

a robot, i am not : a modern exorcist

Tue, 9 Jun 2009 00:39:05 +0000

Our spirits likely hang on to this world in some situations. Much like the Catholic notion of purgatory. Perhaps our prayers truly can help...

a robot, i am not : the crisis of attention

Thu, 28 May 2009 01:45:24 +0000

John posted this great comment a few days ago but Intense Debate screwed it up so I'm reposting his comment here, "Outsourcing our attention to drugs like Ritalin and Adderal turns us into robots," Interesting. The question though, is that a bad thing? Like in Dune the guys that are super developed logical think tanks, that take a drug to obtain higher levels of logic capacity. I agree that the using it as a crutch is poor... like weakness oriented (quick fix) vs developing myself to focus the way I want to when I want. But... who knows, maybe supplementing later on? A pill you would take to become enlightened... would you want to? The question that comes up as I write is, are these things more than just the body. Are they more in the spirit realm? They do say though, as the body so the mind, and as the mind so the body... so maybe if you took a pill that created the effects of enlightenment... it would have the same effect on the soul/mind/spirit? On the emotional side of things, I know that utilitarian philosophers are crazy left minded, while at the same time extremely ethical. I don't think that the emotional leaning necessarily means that you are ethical. The book Liars Poker kind of outlines the culture created in wall street that lead us to where we are, and they were all very very emotional, just horribly ethically and morally bound. Basically they didn't think there was anything outside of themselves.. like no empathy, and very low level consciousness as according to Ken Wilber. Red level or something. I definitely hear you on the information overload... and thats interesting on the email, and doing a stress inducing pattern as you read. Dude, your post has a beard. I laughed when I saw it. Great article. John

a robot, i am not : fantastical imagination

Sun, 24 May 2009 13:24:05 +0000

You should start out with Philosophy of Freedom or Gary Lachman's Rudolph Steiner, both make great introductions.

a robot, i am not : Existentialist board games

Thu, 7 May 2009 19:08:04 +0000

You can get a nice WebDomain through GoDaddy.com, if you need help, let me know.

a robot, i am not : a final warning

Wed, 6 May 2009 00:02:21 +0000

String theory isn't directly related to Gaia theory but receives far more media attention, scientific community attention and funding than a theory like Gaia theory that has immediate implications for human survival. The incident at Chernobyl has definitely caused serious problems for the land surrounding it, but an accident like that will never happen again. Modern fission reactor control systems are designed to shut everything down. The moderator in the reactor at Chernobyl accelerated the reaction, in US systems the moderator will slow the reaction. For more on CO2 emissions follow Anthony Watts' blog linked to above. Many have tried to communicate with celestial bodies, with little solid evidence. However, if the Earth is "alive" that leaves room for other levels of consciousness to be explored. Being alive and conscious are two different things. Are we the Earth's consciousness?

a robot, i am not : confronting the American Paradox

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:11:56 +0000

EconTalk maybe? http://econtalk.org

CLT Blog | Charlotte, NC : Environmental Groups Protest at Duke Energy HQ

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:19:46 +0000

That's a perspective you won't see anywhere else! A CLT Blog exclusive

a robot, i am not : planning the roadtrip to Vancity

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:50:06 +0000

we'll be couchsurfing in the cities and camping in the national parks, might even extend it out to 18 days so we can do more hiking in yellowstone/glacier/banff/jasper

a robot, i am not : planning the roadtrip to Vancity

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:20:19 +0000

Excellent points. Burning Man would likely be something to do next summer but working it into a trip like this is pushing it just over the top. Plus the $300 would be out of my budget at this point. However, after some discussion I'm probably not doing a UHaul trailer. I'm planning to pack everything in freight, it can be as cheap as $350 to move across country. Besides, who wants to deal with a big trailer when driving along narrow mountain roads?

CLT Blog | Charlotte, NC : Duke Energy protest pre-view

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:59:52 +0000

Riverbend Steam Station and Buck Steam Station in Spencer are amazing pieces of history. On the top level of Riverbend, there is an old room made out of old, rich wood. It's where teams of workers spent their days moving coal from bins into a moving belt. It was like I could feel the sacrifices made by those people. Industrial society has a dirty history but I was truly in awe standing in that place, contemplating the sacrifices those people made. Duke's hydro stations are even older, like Ninety-Nine Islands in SC which went online in 1910, http://www.flopeye.net/story.htm The company relied on hydro until the mid-50s when air conditioners became the norm. That's when Duke transitioned from being a hydro company to a fossil company.

CLT Blog | Charlotte, NC : Shahrazad Improv gets laughs for charity

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 19:12:36 +0000

Saw these guys at Dugg Dugg last night and they were great! I hope to see another show... and to bring some more friends along!

CLT Blog | Charlotte, NC : The Old Coliseum is now Bojangles Coliseum

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:25:53 +0000

The Bojangles Coiseum will have a hard time competing with the Fillmore and other NC Music Factory Venues.... but best of luck to 'em. The Kings of Leon/Walkmen show will be awesome!

CLT Blog | Charlotte, NC : CLT Blog is a Five Ventures finalist

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:28:17 +0000

haha, I know what you mean but I can't blame Erik for this one, he had zero chance to set up his camera before we started talking, he wasn't even allowed to see the room before the presentation began

CLT Blog | Charlotte, NC : UNC Charlotte's Center City Building

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 10:53:17 +0000

Wow, spectacular. I wish UNC Charlotte work towards better design on the main campus.

Tattoo Projects Born to Blog : UNC Charlotte Hires Tattoo

Tue, 17 Mar 2009 13:44:52 +0000

Thanks for doing a great job with the UNC Charlotte marketing campaign. Ideally we could market ourselves as just Charlotte because everyone outside the state of NC associates those first three letters with a school in Chapel Hill but sometime you just gotta do what those with the paycheck tell you to.

DCAMD : Student Grade Expectations aren't on Par with Teacher Realities

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:36:11 +0000

As I worked internships and co-ops during my college career, I found that my interest in grades dropped off tremendously. My focus during freshman level classes was in getting good grades, doing just enough to get an A and no more. But as my "real world" experience mounted, I cared less about grades and more about learning. Now that I'm preparing for grad school, I'm worried that I'll have little motivation to make good grades and will want to focus on doing something completely rather than just meeting what is expected of me for an A. I hope that my classes will align with my viewpoint.