If some of these beliefs continue to perpetuate themselves, these ideals do not have their roots in basic, human needs that transcend the survival impulse. Rather they are like vestigial limbs, or organs that were once useful in exercising dominance or finding food, but no longer serve a coherent function.
However, the Buddhist monk son involved with a debate with his philosopher of the Monk and the Philosopher would contend that it is possible to have a sense of mind that is distant from the demands of the body. Mathieu Ricard notes that his chosen path of Buddhism advocates a letting go of the self or 'I,' the very self whose drive to replicate enables the self's DNA to be passed on from generation to generation. The fact that persons have been able to transcend such a sense of fixated, selfish consciousness and detach from their bodies is proof, for Ricard, of the self's existence. Ricard is less interested, however, than finding a totalizing explanation for all of human existence, and is more interested in finding an effective way of dealing with the stresses of life. This orientation of Buddhism is why that his father Revel calls philosophy or religion a way of being in life, rather than a modality of knowledge or a way of explaining human existence. One key aspect of Buddhism is that an adherent must live the teachings of Buddha and rather than focus on understanding the teaching from an intellectual standpoint, including a scientific standpoint like Wilson's thesis.
Wilson would see the Buddhist tradition as merely one more product of genetically generated culture. and, in light of modern scientific knowledge (as opposed to theorization about 'being') a great deal of scientific evidence has accumulated that support's Wilson's essential contention. For example, consider the mutability of the self in light of drugs designed to treat psychological disorders. A formerly scatterbrained individual can become tremendously focused so long as he or she takes the correct Attention Deficit Hyperactivity medication to combat this tendency. In light of Wilson's...
Love "Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering…" These were the opening lines that began a love story so powerful that Alma Singer's parents were moved to name her after the story's heroine. These lovers, Alma's parents, would also be separated when death claimed her father, leaving Alma's mother consumed with her
"The Open Boat" may have been based on Crane's real-life experience but it also functions as symbolic "of man's battle against the malevolent, indifferent, and unpredictable forces of nature…This reading is confirmed by the final irony of the death of the oiler, physically the strongest man on the scene and the one most favored to withstand the ordeal" (Rath & Shaw 97). The futility of resisting the power nature with
Malware Attacks the Democratic Process Once upon a time, a candidate had to excel at kissing babies and stump speeches. These were the major ways in which the candidate got his -- or much less frequently her -- image out to voters. All that the candidate's staff had to do as to ensure that reporters and photographers showed up at the right time to capture the choreographed images. The world of
Bind Russell Hochschild, Arlie. The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work. New YOrk: Owl Books, 2001. Explain the title. What is the "Time Bind"? The author of The Time Bind, Arlie Russell Hochschild, states that for many parents today, particularly women, when the formal, paid part of their work shift ends, another unpaid work shift begins. This second shift comprises the demands of home and family care and
The names of the characters in Spy Kids, such as Floop, give a Willy Wonka-espionage-in-fun verbal as well as visual tone to the film, and the thumb-shaped henchmen of Floop seem like a tribute to the Wonka oompah-loompas. For students of Rodriquez, Spy Kids may not be the director's most significant film, but it is an argument that the director, even when making a mainstream Hollywood genre film, has a
Trace the roots of many of the traditional cannon of fairy tale - Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty etc. - and women and children are often subdued by the establishment. Stardust's suggestion that there might be greater things inside all of us seems perfectly in line with traditional fairy tales. If, however, you believe in more traditional gender roles and are very conservative in regards to family structure then Stardust
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