Buddha on the Brain

[Eyecre8]

...To protest the talk, some scientists set up an online petition, which was immediately hacked by the pro-Dalai Lama faction.

Actually, the whole story is very interesting. The Dalai Lama contributed
10 monks, highly skilled in meditation, to a neuroscience study.
VERY interesting results!

Full story here:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.02/dalai.html

[nihil]

"The motivations of both Davidson and the Dalai Lama are questionable."

Hmmmmm........................../me goes to get Tibetan book of the dead

Yes, I do have one in the house

[bballad]

I wonder why this shocks any body. we know that repetitive activity rewitres the nural pathways in our brain..why would meditation be any diferent.

[Aspman]

As you do

Right next to my dictionary and thesaurus.

That was an interesting article Eyecre8 thanks.

I don't agree with the protestors in the article. I don't think that the Dalai Llama can possibly be qualified to talk on neuroscience BUT I doubt many people are better qualified to talk on meditation and the inner effects on his consciousness.

I can understand how some scientist could question Davidson's closeness to the Dalai Llama and it's possible effect on his interpretation of his results.

It's refreshing to see a religious order (sect?) being open to science and allowing it to examine some of it's claims. IF teh religion is open to it then it should be quite possible for the experiments to be repeated by other researchers to confirm or dispute claims made by Davidson.

Same story in Time:
http://brainimaging.waisman.wisc.edu...ary%202006.htm

bballad: I think it's the scale of the changes and the changes to brain function that are surprising. Most natural changes to the brain are small scale both physically and in effect.




http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...G=Search&meta=

[nihil]

Sorry to question you old chap:

Most natural changes to the brain are small scale both physically and in effect.

I would suggest that the Speer 485 grain semi jacketed, semi wadcutter, hollowpoint might transcend your analysis...............even before I put in the mercury?

[Eyecre8]

At first I found it kind of humorous that the Dalai Lama has a hacking "faction".

I now understand why though:

1) China caught hacking Tibet supporters A Beijing-based Internet company has been implicated in creating a program specifically designed to spy on computers of Tibetan Government-in-Exile (TGIE) and Tibet Support Groups (TSG).
2) China implicated in Dalai Lama hack plot China has repeatedly attempted to crack into the Dalai Lama's computer network, according to its administrators.......
3) China denies trying to hack Dalai Lama's network Tuesday that Chinese hackers had designed a special virus to
plug into the network and steal information.....
4) Chinese, Tibetan dissidents report state-sponsored hacking from Beijing
Overseas-based dissident groups have been bombarded with Internet virus and hacking attacks from mainland sources in what they say is a coordinated attempt to disrupt their operations and spy on their computer networks....

[dalek]

But if they allow reverence for him to cloud their judgment, they will cease to be scientists and take rebirth as something quite different: acolytes.

That last word is telling....IMO I believe that the Buddhist's are pretty much the most openminded of the lot...very tolerant of all....(maybe we should throw a few monks in amongst the Islamists, and hope it rubs off)..

Have to laugh though as soon as I saw the name "Leary"....I suppose we'll have to throw out our Prozacs now and get ready for the next generation of "Mind Altering Drugs".....lets see LSD was such a big hit......."Drop In and Drop Out"

“There are three side effects of acid: enhanced long-term memory, decreased short-term memory, and I forget the third.”

Timothy Leary......


As far as the Monks, being able to do what they do,it requires massive "Self Discipline", and you think that by introducing this into school like PE is going to work for today's kids......Sh*t half of them are allready on "Ritalin" so they can suppossedly concentrate.....so trying to have a class full of kids, sit in the lotus position and hhhuuummmm mantras until they can find that spot for nirvana is well..........loopy......

[Aspman]

Nihil I reckon there might be a scientist hiding under those bandoliers and the .50 caliber sniper rifle.


I do like the quote from the site about the rifle:

“My spotter positively identified a target at 1400 meters carrying an RPG on a water tower. I engaged the target. The top half of the torso fell forward out of the tower and the lower portion remained in the tower.” 325th PIR Sniper

Mwahaha look at my BOOM stick!!!

[nihil]

Hi Aspman

The "Lite .50" is an impressive bit of kit..............I would say that they underestate it............I would certainly feel comfortable out to 3500x

Unertyl make the optics, an old German outfit who have been making sniperscopes since WWI.

They are right about UEDs...............I used to use an L34-A1 (SMLE rebored for 7.62NATO and with a heavy Enfield hammered target barrel..........Cooke Trout & Simms 4x scope)

A .50 explosive round does up the ante somewhat...........I could generally scrounge some purple spot

And killing people is bloody bad manners...........unless you voted for them first, in which case it is allowed

[Aspman]

They just withdrew the SLRs when I started shooting and left us with the L81-A1 which got withdrawn itself 4 years later when the breach started to crack on some of them (some dirty little Welsh toerags hadn't been cleaning them properly so I heard) leaving us with the L98. Horrible bit of kit. The split pins use to break all the time and the fecker would fall apart half way through a comp. Got to Bisley 3 times with the L81 but I couldn't shoot the L98 for ****.

We used to store our L81s in RAF Leuchers. It was always good going in to pick them up from the armoury. All those nasty bits of kit on the racks (that and having to step over the RPGs lying on the floor). It was gun porn when your 15.