♫♪ ( ( ◙=◙ ) ) ♫♪ @soundwave@qoto.org

@FailForward
Cable.
Your hub may not exist ... yet. You might be just one of the earliest customers to have identified the need. The market will fulfil the need eventually, when there are enough numbers of buyers with the demand.

@FailForward
My TV Headphones are bluetooth, they come in a set of two - ie. (a pair of(a pair of(headphones)). They both *separately* connect to one little broadcast thingy, which takes a single input and sends it to two headphone receivers simultaneously. So, what you want already definitely exists. At least, for TV-watching headphones it does, anyway. Brand name = Avantree.

@iron_bug

At least, we need laws that empowers Truth in Parliament/Senate/Congress/House of Lords/etc. Such laws exist in the Judiciary - (can't make baseless claims - must back up with evidence upon request, else the claim is struck out/erased). Why not in the other two branches of Government as well?

Would also be great if there were Truth in Broadcast Media Laws (with actual teeth) so that the Media outlets aren't free to literally just be a Propaganda Mouthpiece for a specific political party. I mean the OCEANS of BULLSHIT that Rupert Murdoch's filthy lie-generating machines gush out 24/7 ... he has gotta be stopped before he convinces the great unwashed to burn all the books and hang all the scientists.

@Pat
I'm starting to do that on mainstream social media. The silence after I ask for evidence is deafening.

I think body modification surgery is perfectly acceptable for people to do to themselves, or consensually to each other.
Just, try not to do it on public transport, though.
The cleaning bills can be unpleasant.

PROVE IT.
It should be a basic Human Right that everybody, everywhere, should have the right to demand that anybody who makes any claim should be required to PROVE IT when asked, or otherwise to retract the claim.

There is no such thing as a "soul".

"Souls" don't exist.

However, there is an observable phenomenon called "consciousness".

Most people are not very "conscious". In that sense, most people are not much more of a superior organism than any of the higher mammals.

Most people are living life in a constant state of being in an instinctive, animalistic, biological "ground state". They are usually so "un-conscious" that they are effectively trapped in a semi-hypnotic trance, most of the time. In that sense, most people are not fully "awake" - they are mostly "asleep".

To grow a "soul" is to get steadily more practiced and skillful at actively maintaining your mind in a state of "consciousness".

MINDFULNESS is one extremely effective way of achieving heightened state of consciousness.

If you can maintain constant Mindfulness, you can maintain constant consciousness.

Another word used to describe the state of living in a sustained state of Constant Consciousness is "ENLIGHTENMENT".

Some quotes on what it means to stay in a state of heightened awareness, hyper-consciousness, or "enlightenment":

"Before Enlightenment: Chopping wood and carrying water. After Enlightenment: Chopping wood and carrying water."

Kuòān Shīyuǎn's "Ten Bulls"
Verses by Kuòān Shīyuǎn translation by Senzaki Nyogen (千崎如幻) and Paul Reps

The Ten Bulls:
1. In Search of the Bull
In the pasture of the world,
I endlessly push aside the tall
grasses in search of the Ox.
Following unnamed rivers,
lost upon the interpenetrating
paths of distant mountains,
My strength failing and my vitality exhausted, I cannot find the Ox.

2. Discovery of the Footprints
Along the riverbank under the trees,
I discover footprints.
Even under the fragrant grass,
I see his prints.
Deep in remote mountains they are found.
These traces can no more be hidden
than one's nose, looking heavenward.

3. Perceiving the Bull
I hear the song of the nightingale.
The sun is warm, the wind is mild,
willows are green along the shore -
Here no Ox can hide!
What artist can draw that massive head,
those majestic horns?

4. Catching the Bull
I seize him with a terrific struggle.
His great will and power
are inexhaustible.
He charges to the high plateau
far above the cloud-mists,
Or in an impenetrable ravine he stands.

5. Taming the Bull
The whip and rope are necessary,
Else he might stray off down
some dusty road.
Being well-trained, he becomes
naturally gentle.
Then, unfettered, he obeys his master.

6. Riding the Bull Home
Mounting the Ox, slowly
I return homeward.
The voice of my flute intones
through the evening.
Measuring with hand-beats
the pulsating harmony,
I direct the endless rhythm.
Whoever hears this melody
will join me.

7. The Bull Transcended
Astride the Ox, I reach home.
I am serene. The Ox too can rest.
The dawn has come. In blissful repose,
Within my thatched dwelling
I have abandoned the whip and ropes.

8. Both Bull and Self Transcended
Whip, rope, person, and Ox -
all merge in No Thing.
This heaven is so vast,
no message can stain it.
How may a snowflake exist
in a raging fire.
Here are the footprints of
the Ancestors.

9. Reaching the Source
Too many steps have been taken
returning to the root and the source.
Better to have been blind and deaf
from the beginning!
Dwelling in one's true abode,
unconcerned with and without -
The river flows tranquilly on
and the flowers are red.

10. Return to Society
Barefooted and naked of breast,
I mingle with the people of the world.
My clothes are ragged and dust-laden,
and I am ever blissful.
I use no magic to extend my life;
Now, before me, the dead trees
become alive.

@namark

OK, well, then, thanks, I suppose. Although, you have a strange way of helping.
From this side, it kind of feels like the opposite.

@namark

Your Straw Man's name was Dichotomy.

Nothing that I said had anything to do with a dichotomy.

You accused me of positing a dichotomy (which I did not) and then you insulted me for doing so. Strawman.

@namark
You seem to enjoy doing an awful lot of presuming and assuming that I am a simpleton.
You have demonstrated that your preferred means of rebuttal is to selectively attack only a small part of my thesis, which is only one of the supporting points of my argument (and I note that the particular part that you attack is never actually the concusion itself) and then you perform a classic Straw Man. This kind of schoolyard tactics is really not enticing me to invest much effort into properly engaging with you.

In a Democracy, the Right to Protest must be sacred, it must be defended tooth and claw.
Any attempts by a government in a democratic country to reduce or restrict the right to protest must be resisted and fought.
Like it or not - the dangerous, ridiculous, foolish, deranged idiots who are protesting against lockdowns and vaccine mandates, are exercising their Democratic Rights.
It's a difficult thing to accept, but in fact: Democracy is nothing more than Mob Rule.
If the majority of the population were joining in those demonstrations, then by definition - they would be able to influence Government Policy and thereby also indirectly have the Laws changed to suit their demands. That is Democracy, because the Elected Representatives roles are literally to represent the will of the majority of people.
Eg.: if your friends want to jump off of a cliff, you don't have to join them. But in a Democracy, if the majority of people demand that we ALL jump off a cliff - then Democracy MUST obey.
It would be an error to think of this as a "flaw" of Democracy. It's not true that Democracy is the "best" type of Government, it's not true that Democracy is an "almost perfect" type of Government that regrettably has a few flaws.
The truth is that Democracy is deeply, fundamentally flawed.
The Inmates are already running the Asylum, and they always have been.

What is better than Democracy? I don't know. It seems that the world has not yet invented a better system.
But Democracy is very far from perfect.
If humanity and the Earth are to survive, we need to invent a better system of Government than Democracy.
I don't know what it would look like.
But it needs to look better than the sight of streets full of deranged idiots demanding that they be allowed to put everyone (including themselves) in serious danger.

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Now, stop and think about that, and realise that most people make their voting decisions based on a little bit of knowledge about current affairs and a little bit of knowledge about the election candidates' policies, aims and ulterior motives.

And most elected leaders make their decisions based on their own limited knowledge and their biased predilections.

@freemo
Because, by definition, Juries are comprised of people who were not smart enough to get out of jury duty.

@freemo
Well if you elaborate and explain your policies and aims a bit more, I might vote for you.

The IQ of a mob is lower than the IQ of the dumbest member.
This is the main problem with Democracy.
Democracy is literally Mob Rule.
The problems that the world faces today are complex.
Comprehending them requires a person to have a basic understanding of science, economics, history, and humanism.
Democracy means that the people who decide our actions to approach and tackle these problems are in fact the least qualified to lead our efforts.

I'm sorry, I don't have an alternative form of government to advocate in preference to Democracy.

All I do know, is that Democracy dooms us to be collectively no smarter than Lemmings. In that sense, Democracy is no better than any other form of rulership in its ability and probability that we might avoid a similar fate.

Opinions are like assholes: everyone's got one.

This is what almost everyone does about almost every topic:
* Take in some information. By necessity, it will be a limited amount of information. Contemplate it. Consider it. Let their cognitive biases loose upon it. Arrive at a conclusion (ie. conclusion means to STOP. So, now, Conclude the Thinking = Stop Thinking. Stop considering additional information.).
* ASSUME that the conclusion that they have reached is the SAME conclusion that they would have reached, if they'd had additional information.
* Frame and display on the wall of their mind's eye's hall of memories, "The Conclusion" for future reference.
* Discard memory/stored copies of the input information.
* Cease allowing input of additional information for further consideration.
* In all future situations related to that topic, read and speak the words written in the Framed Thing On The Wall of Their Mind, verbatim. Loudly.
* Defend the Framed Words with barbed wire fence, crocodile-filled moat, and machine-gun towers.
* Never, ever, EVER take the framed thing down off the wall and contemplate if it might perhaps need revision, updating, or to be burned at midnight in a ritual of mental cleansing.

@freemo @Science

I produce exactly the same types of diagrams for sound waves & rays in atmospheric layers.

Navy acoustics experts also do this for different layers of seawater so that submarines can hide from each other and from ships

Hi. All helpful comments & constructive criticism are welcome:

Observation: “Scientism” shares some commonalities with religions.

Speculation: “Scientism” is effectively a type of religion.

H0 (Null Hypothesis): “Scientism” is not a type of religion.

H1 (Hypothesis to be tested): “Scientism” is effectively a type of religion.

Aim: Disprove the Null Hypothesis.

[If H0 is demonstrated to be NOT true, then H1 is implied to be true]

Task: Design experiment(s) to disprove that “Scientism” is not a religion.

Test: Approach a Science-ist (one who behaves as though they are an adherent of “Scientism”). Challenge their open-mindedness and willingness to re-consider their righteousness. Probe the Science-ist with a series of Aristotlean-style questions to test the robustness of their weltanschauung. The Science-ist should be posed with a series of thought experiments designed to bypass, stealthily penetrate or neutralise a weakness in their cognitive scaffolding and mental shielding. If their defensive counterarguments sooner or later devolve into logical fallacies such as Ad-Hominem attacks, then H0 will have been disproven, and it will be implied that H1 should be accepted as True.