Oil replacement hype

Here we see a persistent problem not just on the internet but indeed all of the world's press -- how do you know what to believe and what to disregard.  People have many reasons to lie -- hype to raise money perhaps most common, but wishful thinking and pious fraud (frauds to "save souls" are seen by many as being acceptable behavior) ranks right up there.

I don't know about these stories; I tend to take technology at face value but usually it turns out to be hype.  This is why the conspiracy theories about evil giant oil companies suppressing new technology are around -- people get the wrong impression from the hype that replacing oil is easy.

Enlightenment

Musings About Enlightenment 06/19/05

I think that much that parades itself as "being in touch with oneself," or "being in harmony with the universe," and so on, is air-headed. The concept of enlightenment as the end product of Buddha-hood probably is the same. To have "answers" come to one sitting under the Bod-ha tree, as the myth reports, is not credible to me.

We all have moments of realization – of mental lucidity, and sitting quietly as we mull problems increases the chances we will find answers. However, a conversion on the way to Damascus is to be seriously questioned. We should never fool ourselves into thinking that we, too, do not have the ability to be carried away with ourselves.

Ignorance is one thing. We all are ignorant about most things and unfortunately tend to hide this from ourselves. We are all children trying to figure out the thunder and thinking we know. The desire to know leads to the desire for enlightenment, but one does not achieve enlightenment without removing desire. (I don’t practice Zen. That paradox is enough for me).

I do have faith in reason. “All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore Socrates is mortal.” What is there in reason not to put faith in? Where we get in trouble is not when we are rational, but when we are not. I and almost everyone I know can see the syllogism, and has no difficulty agreeing that the conclusion “follows.” Where does this ability come from?

Oh, sure, the ability does give us a certain advantage over species who cannot reason things out, so if ability to reason is available, we can understand that natural selection would favor individuals who have it. However, that doesn’t explain where it comes from. I figure it comes from our spirit.

Testimonial Evidence is Worthless (almost)

I don't trust my senses, and it follows I don't trust the claims of others based on what they have seen or heard.  Indeed, it is even worse since I see such claims as hearsay, although politeness generally prevents me saying as much.  Still, I know how people can elaborate.

There is just simply no way around this problem that I can see.  The claim, for example, of the presence of witnesses to some outlandish event does not increase credibility but actively reduces it.

Is it possible, then, to say we know something -- anything at all -- since all our knowledge of the outside world comes to us through our senses (highly manipulated and censored, I might add, by our subconscious minds working to keep our conscious minds from having too much to handle).

All I can say is that I don't think there is anything I can say I "know," and I think people who claim otherwise are delusional.  All we can say is that we think with varying degrees of certainty, based mainly on how we perceive probabilities, that some things are probably true and others probably not.

The only exception I would make to that is where what we conclude is based on logic rather than on experience, and even then we are dependent on the principles of logic being true.  For example, I strongly doubt the existence of the Christian God, based on what my senses tell me about suffering in the world and the behavior of the members of that religion, and am persuaded logically this is the case based on the self-referential contradictions claims about this god lead to.