….Most educated Romans were eclectic in their philosophical opinions, but the most influential school was Stoicism. It had the favor of Cicero at the end of the Republic, and of Marcus Aurelius at the zenith of the Empire. That Stoics professed a form of monotheism is beyond discussion. In a famous Hymn to Zeus, Stoic philosopher Cleanthes (third century BC) called God “Nature’s great Sovereign, ruling all by law,” to whom men must turn their minds in order to live “the noble life, the only true wealth.” Cleanthes prayed that people who do evil by ignorance can be enlightened: “Scatter, O Father, the darkness from their souls.”
It is said that Stoics confused God with the Cosmos or with Nature, and for that they have been labelled in modern times as “pantheists”. But we must be careful with Greek words and their translations: Kosmos means “order”, implying an “Intelligent Design”, and Nature (Phusis) has a dynamic meaning: it is the animating principle within Nature.
Greeks and Romans, however, did not pretend to know God, even less what God wants, what God says, or what God likes. Such anthropomorphism was acceptable for gods, not for God. God is, for the philosopher, the unknowable, or at least the unspeakable, since saying anything about God was putting a limitation on the infinite. This, we may call philosophical humility, which contrasts with theological arrogance.
But if God is unknowable, the laws by which He rules the Cosmos are partly accessible to human science. These laws constitute a sort of intermediate principle, the creative thought or wisdom of God, called Logos in Platonic tradition, sometimes identified as the feminine Sophia, the Wisdom of God. The fact that the universe is ruled by natural laws is proof of the existence of God, according to Cicero (Of the nature of gods II.12.34):
For when we gaze upward to the sky and contemplate the heavenly bodies, what can be so obvious and so manifest as that there must exist some power possessing transcendent intelligence by whom these things are ruled?
…We must remember that the struggle between Rome and Jerusalem is a central dialectical force in ancient history. This reality has been largely underestimated in Western historiography, heir to a Christian civilization whose vocation was to reconcile Rome and Jerusalem.
Psychedelics show promise in enhancing brain plasticity
Recent studies have started uncovering the potential benefits of psychedelics on the brain, especially concerning cognitive and emotional health. A recent meta-analysis published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology has found that individuals who consume psychedelics exhibit significantly higher levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) compared to healthy non-users. This increase in BDNF suggests that psychedelics might enhance the brain’s ability to adapt and reorganize itself, potentially offering new avenues for treating mental health disorders.
BDNF is a protein that plays a critical role in the health and functioning of the brain. It supports the survival of existing neurons and encourages the growth and differentiation of new neurons and synapses. BDNF is vital for long-term memory, learning, and the overall plasticity of the brain—its ability to change and adapt in response to new experiences.
Alterations in BDNF levels have been linked to various neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Higher levels of BDNF are generally associated with better cognitive function and mental health, making it a key area of interest for researchers studying the brain and its many functions.
The Great Cholesterol Scam and The Dangers of Statins
Story at a Glance:
•There is a widespread belief that elevated cholesterol is the “cause” of cardiovascular disease. However, a large body of evidence shows that there is no association between the two and that lower cholesterol significantly increases one’s risk of death.
•An alternative model (which the medical industry buried) proposes that the blood clots the body uses to heal arterial damage, once healed, create the characteristic atherosclerotic lesions associated with heart disease. The evidence for this model, in turn, is much stronger than the cholesterol hypothesis and provides many important insights for treating heart disease.
•The primary approach to treating heart disease is to prescribe cholesterol lowering statin drugs (to the point, over a trillion dollars have now been spent on them). Unfortunately, the benefits of these highly toxic drugs are minuscule (e.g., at best taking them for years extends your life by a few days) and the harms are vast (statins are one of the most common pharmaceuticals that severely injure patients).
•In this article we will explore the specific injuries caused by statin drugs, the forgotten causes of cardiovascular disease, and our preferred treatments for heart and vascular diseases.
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano Refuses Vatican Summons
Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano has refused to obey a summons to the Vatican, and has restated that he does not recognize Pope Francis as the head of the Catholic Church, the Catholic News Agency reported on Friday.
“As I stated in my Communiqué of June 20, I do not recognize the authority of the tribunal that claims to judge me, nor of its Prefect, nor of the one who appointed him. This decision of mine, which is certainly painful, is not the result of haste or a spirit of rebellion; but rather is dictated by the moral necessity which, as Bishop and Successor of the Apostles, obliges me in conscience to bear witness to the Truth, that is, to God Himself, to Our Lord Jesus Christ,” Vigano’s statement begins.
Vigano is facing charges of schism due to his denial of the legitimacy of Francis as the Pontiff and rejection of the doctrines set forth during the Second Vatican Council.
Schism is a crime within the church. The Code of Canon Law defines “schism” as “the withdrawal of submission to the supreme Pontiff or from communion with the members of the church subject to him.”
The archbishop has accused the Pope of “heresy and schism” over his endorsement of COVID-19 vaccines, the “promotion of sodomy and gender ideology,” and the “climate fraud,” which Vigano describes as “a mad neo-Malthusian superstition engendered by those who, hating the Creator, cannot help but also detest creation, and man along with it, who is made in the image and likeness of God.”
Joe Biden’s dementia, as seen from 10,000 miles away
An evidence-based critical review of the mind-brain identity theory
Abstract
In the philosophy of mind, neuroscience, and psychology, the causal relationship between phenomenal consciousness, mentation, and brain states has always been a matter of debate. On the one hand, material monism posits consciousness and mind as pure brain epiphenomena. One of its most stringent lines of reasoning relies on a ‘loss-of-function lesion premise,’ according to which, since brain lesions and neurochemical modifications lead to cognitive impairment and/or altered states of consciousness, there is no reason to doubt the mind-brain identity. On the other hand, dualism or idealism (in one form or another) regard consciousness and mind as something other than the sole product of cerebral activity pointing at the ineffable, undefinable, and seemingly unphysical nature of our subjective qualitative experiences and its related mental dimension. Here, several neuroscientific findings are reviewed that question the idea that posits phenomenal experience as an emergent property of brain activity, and argue that the premise of material monism is based on a logical correlation-causation fallacy. While these (mostly ignored) findings, if considered separately from each other, could, in principle, be recast into a physicalist paradigm, once viewed from an integral perspective, they substantiate equally well an ontology that posits mind and consciousness as a primal phenomenon.
UPDATE: Below is a comment from a reader. I am reposting it closer to the article it refers to because it greatly widens the discussion of what consciousness is and how to understand it. ABN
Please allow me to point out a clear oversight in this abstract. This abstract implicitly suggests that if one rejects material monism, they must subscribe to either dualism or idealism. This binary framing excludes other philosophical perspectives such as Radical Empiricism (R.E.) that do not fit neatly into these categories, which prioritize substance (whether mental or physical) over pure experience.
As proposed by William James, Radical Empiricism offers a distinct alternative that is neither strictly materialistic nor dualistic/idealistic. It posits that consciousness and experience are integral and interconnected aspects of reality. It’s core tenets embrace two assertions which fundamentally align with Buddhist aggregate theory: (1) the primary substance of reality is pure experience, which includes both the subjective and objective aspects of reality without privileging one over the other. (2) Experiences are fundamentally interconnected and relational.
In R.E., consciousness is not an independent fundamental substance (as in idealism) nor merely an epiphenomenon of the brain (as in material monism). Instead, consciousness is a function of the elements of pure experience, which are continuous and interwoven.
Other non-dualistic and non-materialistic perspectives, such as process philosophy and phenomenology, also challenge this simplistic binary framing.
However, R.E. is the most explicit in asserting elements of pure experience as more ontologically fundamental than either the mental or physical worlds of experience, which are seen to be mere abstractions from pure experience.
In Radical Empiricism, consciousness is not the fundamental substance of reality but a manifestation of the dynamic interplay of experiences. This view avoids the pitfalls of both dualism and material monism by grounding consciousness in the relational fabric of pure experience.
What I wish to emphasize in this commentary is that consciousness, while central to understanding human experience, is not an isolated phenomenon but intricately linked with the flow of experiences.
The abstract’s presupposition that rejecting material monism necessitates adopting dualism or idealism is a form of a false dilemma, which is a logical fallacy. By not considering other viable philosophical approaches, it limits the scope of the discussion and potentially misleads readers about the diversity of thought in the philosophy of mind.
Thus, an integral perspective stemming from a more holistic approach (such as the chain of interdependent originations in Buddhist aggregate theory) aligns well with Radical Empiricism by considering the interconnectedness and relational nature of experiences. This is the justification for explicitly asserting such discussions, as this abstract invokes, must include R.E. as a valid and valuable approach to understanding consciousness.
Radical Empiricism’s emphasis on direct experience and empirical grounding aligns with the empirical findings in neuroscience that challenge simplistic materialist explanations. Highlighting this alignment is important in order to show how and in what manner R.E. can bridge empirical data and philosophical insights.
In conclusion: The abstract’s oversight in presenting a false dichotomy between material monism and dualism/idealism is a significant limitation. Radical Empiricism provides a nuanced and comprehensive alternative that views consciousness as a function of the elements of pure experience, rather than as a separate fundamental entity. A more inclusive and accurate discussion would acknowledge this and other philosophical perspectives, enriching the debate and providing a more robust framework for understanding the nature of consciousness.
Ontario school board resource demands teachers believe Canada is founded on white supremacy, racism
One Ontario school board wants educators to indoctrinate kids with gender ideology, to “decentre whiteness,” and vilify Canadian culture.
Thames Valley District School Board staff training materials for last year’s Pride Month were released to the public through a freedom of information request obtained by podcaster and host of the Weekly Canadian Gender Wars Report podcast Melanie Bennett.
The ideological material included self-assessments designed to shame teachers who do not conform to woke world views and links to activist organizations educating staff on the proper use of neo-pronouns and the importance of gender-neutral parenting.
The educational resources were prefaced with the statement that the school board does not necessarily endorse the material from external websites that they link to. At the same time, the board directs staff to learn from and use resources from those organizations for themselves and in their classrooms.
TVDSB encouraged staff to use a self-assessment tool developed by School Mental Health Ontario to reflect on their own “cultural humility,” or an admission of ignorance about other cultures and a willingness to learn from them. It said cultural humility incorporates “redressing” or correcting power dynamics and involves a continuous commitment to “reflection and critique of race, ethnicity, culture, language, sexual orientation and class.”
The assessment initially asked school staff to reflect on their own biases but presented a series of ideological positions as facts that teachers either “know” or are ignorant of, rather than being a matter of personal belief.
If you allow your enemies to educate your children, you will be destroyed. ABN
A practical outline on how to save the West from becoming an ‘ant farm’ — a talk with Ivor Cummins
UPDATE: This is a very good talk by Cummins. He provides a basic overview that many people will be able to understand and agree with because they can see it with their own eyes. He skillfully and deliberately avoids going too deep into the weeds or into subjects which can be divisive. It is this kind of overview that we need today because this kind of thinking is most able to unite large numbers of people to resist what our ruling elites are doing. I have not heard anyone else provide such a clear summary. Those of us who understand the Western world is facing annihilation can most effectively unite behind this basic outline provided by Cummins. Is it Jews at the top or the USIC or the British royal family or European nobles and old money who are trying to seize control of the West and through that the world are not matters we all need to spend all of our time on. We will be much more effective if we encourage uniting around a general recognition of the disasters that have happened and why we must prevent them from continuing. ABN
Survey finds public perception of scientists’ credibility has slipped
Presidential Debate: President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump
Biden’s trans HHS assistant sec Dr Rachel Levine pressured WPATH to eliminate age guidelines for child sex changes
…researcher Dr. James Cantor said that the internal communications of WPATH show that Levine “strongly pressured WPATH leadership to rush the development and issuance of SOC-8,” their latest standards of care for trans persons, “in order to assist with Administration political strategy.” Levine has said that “trans kids” are an “inspiration.“
This means that Levine pressured a group of medical professionals to hurry up and issue guidance on how to treat children with gender dysphoria in order to aid her boss’ political aims. Joe Biden, Levine’s top boss, instructed all federal agencies to be more trans-inclusive on his first day in office in 2021.
The previous guidelines had said that sex change drugs could be administered as young as 14, surgeries to remove healthy breasts could be done at 15, and genital surgeries, other than phalloplasty for females, could be done at 17. Phalloplasty was not recommended until age 18 due to complexity of the process of removing tissue from one part of the body, reconstructing it to resemble a phallus, and surgically grafting it onto the pubic area.
Yen falls to 37-year low of 160 against U.S. dollar
June 26 (UPI) — The Japanese yen fell below 160 against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, its lowest point in more than 37 years as Tokyo scrambled to determine what appropriate intervention measures to take.
The record fall of the yen follows Japanese and South Korean national forecasters expressing alarm on Tuesday after the depreciation of their currencies. The United States had placed Japan on its watch list of currency manipulators last week.
The yen fell to 160.39 during London trading hours at one period, its lowest point since 1986. On April 29, the yen fell to 160.24 against the U.S. dollar, leading to intervention by Japan’s central bank.
AI Started a New Storm in Geopolitics
As the AI market matures, there is a stark realization in public sectors elsewhere that this is America’s AI world.
You can just picture Sam, Elon, Satya, and Jensen in a Silicon Valley karaoke joint somewhere belting out that ‘80s classic: We are the world.
While governments try to wrap their heads around how to legislate for the Brave New World the US tech industry has thrust upon them, they’re also jostling to grow domestic AI industries. As the AI market matures, there is a stark realization in public sectors elsewhere that this is America’s AI world — the rest of us just live here.
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Incentivize ‘Em
Reining in Big Tech means different things in different countries, of course. In China, the Great Firewall is being maintained, more or less. Starting July 9, developer access to ChatGPT will be cut off in China, and domestic rivals are flocking to fill the Sam Altman vacuum. Slightly further down the sliding scale of governmental control is the European Union, which passed the AI Act in March and recently told Meta to stop scraping people’s Facebook data (oh, Meta!) to train its large language models. But EU member states are keen to set themselves up as an AI hub — especially France, which CNBC reports is vying with ex-EU member the UK to attract AI investment.
American Buddhist Net 