Hi Kathryn,
Respectfully, using infered and generalised ad hominem arguments, appeals
to an unverifiable authority ('intuition') and appeals to emotion do not
really refute my claim that the initial statement was so general as to be
meaningless.
I think there are some massively important issues to be explored around
remote viewing from an academic perspective - if it is real (and I
readily admit to being sceptical about this)what are the implications of
this in terms of civil liberties, for example? From a more sociological
standpoint that is, perhaps, more interested in the social phenomenon
rather than it's 'reality' there are also important questions to be asked
about the social and political uses of prophecy and prophesying. Indeed,
these were the issues that really prompted my concern about the initial
post - rather than burying my head in the sand, I think that
sacremongering (as I saw it) is not a productive way of addressing the
issues around terrorism. Indeed, I am of the opinion that such an approach
is more likely to exacerbate the problem.
Rather than seeing remote viewing as a kind of panacea for the threat of
terrorism, surely a more effective long term approach is to explore the
social, political and economic conditions under which extremism thrives as
a means of formulating policies that enable the conflicts that underlie
terrorism to be resolved? It is my opinion that this is where we as
academics - especially ones interested in interactions between religion,
belief, politics and society - can be of some help. Regardless of
whether remote viewing was or was not used in stopping IRA bombings, this
almost certainly had nothing to do with the way in which peace was
eventually brokered.
I also think that the claim that scientism is strangling educational
institions also needs significant qualification - I'm sure that there
are many on this list who would challenge said claim (especially those of
us from a social science background where there has been a long tradition
of investigating the social and cultural contexts in which 'authoritative'
knowledge is produced).
In any case, the discussion around the original post seems to be going off
in another direction and, wary that this will end up being an unproductive
flame war, I'll leave this as my final post on the matter.
Regards,
Justin
> On 9/11/08 10:06 AM, "Kathryn" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>
>> I agree on a "rational" level.
>>
>>
>> But, beneath that rational level of awareness are resources that some
>> reading this listserv are more in touch with than are many academics in
> the
>> ivory towers who buy into the scientism mindset that is strangling our
>> educational institutions.
>>
>> Perhaps we are interested in hearing about why esoteric studies might
>> be a practical tool in Academia: the "who cares" or "so what" in all
>> thoroughly rational arguments.
>>
>> In past years since "9/11" I have not had premonitions that something
>> catastrophic was going to happen around September 11th. This year I have
>>
> had
>> premonitions of such an event.
>>
>> Perhaps those of us who are paying attention to intuition are the
>> rational ones---those who are willing to look at the facts as to how
>> vulnerable to attack America really is. This isn't Disneyland anymore
>> and we can't
> afford
>> to close our minds to reality. You don't have to be a psychic or an
>> intuitive to have some common sense.
>>
>> This post is more appropriate than many I've heard here.
>>
>>
>> Kathryn LaFevers Evans
>> Independent Scholar
>> Chickasaw Nation
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Justin Woodman" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 3:33 PM
>> Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Pentagon think tank issues alert
>> based on precog dreams
>>
>>
>> I'm sorry if this sounds overly skeptical, but this sounds so
>> genralised a claim as to be meaningless - not to say alarmist (and
>> rather tasteless given the timing)?
>>
>> Justin
>>
>>
>> ---
>> Dr. Justin Woodman
>> Programme Convenor
>> Integrated Degree in Social Anthropology
>> Department of Professional and Community Education
>> Goldsmiths College
>> New Cross
>> London SE14 6NW
>>
>>
>> Tel: 020 7919 7034
>> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>>> Hey folks,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Juts got this alert from futurist John Petersen at the Arlington
>>> Institute--
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> think tank. Their ³Whether Map² project has been attempting to map
>>> global dream space for their clients as an early warning system for
>>> impending events, looks like they¹re witnessing something congealing
>>> out there...
>>>
>>> James John Bell
>>> http://www.smartmeme.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> TAI Alert 15 - Impending Event Alert
>>> ³Here at the Arlington Institute, we have worked with real
>>> precognizant dreamers who have had experience with intelligence
>>> services... in the
> last
>>> two days I have received four independent, explicit indications from
>>> far removed friends suggesting that something very substantial and
>>> disruptive is going to happen to the U.S. within the next 60 days or
>>> so. If these warnings
>>> manifest themselves in an event of the significance of something like
> 9/11
>
>>> then people...²
>>> http://www.arlingtoninstitute.org/tai-alert-15-impending-event-alert
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> The WHETHER MAP
>>> ³The Arlington Institute's project "WHETHER MAP" is predicated on the
>>>
> idea
>>> that before catastrophic, world changing events people have
>>> intuitional dreams that anticipate those events...²
>>> http://www.arlingtoninstitute.org/tai/whether-map
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
--
Dr. Justin Woodman
Programme Convenor
Integrated Degree in Social Anthropology
Department of Professional and Community Education
Goldsmiths College
New Cross
London SE14 6NW
Tel: 020 7919 7034
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
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