March 2008 | Page 17 of 19

MonthMarch 2008

Moses was high on drugs: Israeli researcher

March 4, 2008 / Klint Finley

High on Mount Sinai, Moses was on psychedelic drugs when he heard God deliver the Ten Commandments, an Israeli researcher claimed in a study published this week.

Such mind-altering substances formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times, Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem wrote in the Time and Mind journal of philosophy.

“As far Moses on Mount Sinai is concerned, it was either a supernatural cosmic event, which I don’t believe, or a legend, which I don’t believe either, or finally, and this is very probable, an event that joined Moses and the people of Israel under the effect of narcotics,” Shanon told Israeli public radio on Tuesday.

Moses was probably also on drugs when he saw the “burning bush,” suggested Shanon, who said he himself has dabbled with such substances.

“The Bible says people see sounds, and that is a clasic phenomenon,” he said citing the example of religious ceremonies in the Amazon in which drugs are used that induce people to “see music.”

He mentioned his own experience when he used ayahuasca, a powerful psychotropic plant, during a religious ceremony in Brazil’s Amazon forest in 1991. “I experienced visions that had spiritual-religious connotations,” Shanon said.

He said the psychedelic effects of ayahuasca were comparable to those produced by concoctions based on bark of the acacia tree, that is frequently mentioned in the Bible.

From: Breitbart.

(Thanks Bill!)

I’d like to know what his evidence is. The idea that it’s all just a bunch of myths seems plenty plausible to me, but I’m obviously not privy to his research. I’m also curious what psychedelics were available in that part of the world (amanitas? psilocybin?)

Joe Coleman exceprt from Pranks!

March 4, 2008 / Klint Finley

also:

Top 10 Strange Phenomena of the Mind

March 3, 2008 / TiamatsVision

“The mind is a wonderful thing – there is so much about it which remains a mystery to this day. Science is able to describe strange phenomena, but can not account for their origins. While most of us are familiar with one or two on this list, many others are mostly unknown outside of the psychological realm. This is a list of the top ten strange mental phenomena.”

“We have all some experience of a feeling, that comes over us occasionally, of what we are saying and doing having been said and done before, in a remote time – of our having been surrounded, dim ages ago, by the same faces, objects, and circumstances – of our knowing perfectly what will be said next, as if we suddenly remember it! “– Charles Dickens

(via The List Verse)

Could Superman’s X-Ray Vision Really Exist?

March 3, 2008 / TiamatsVision

“So how does Superman do it! He can see through buildings and clothing (he checks out Lois Lane’s underwear in Superman 1 – more on this later). Many have attempted to answer this question of the ages yet few have explored this in as much depth as J.B. Pittenger who published a study in the journal Perception back in the stone ages (1983) entitled “On the plausibility of superman’s x-ray vision”. But first, before we get into the meat of the paper, lets see what others around the InterWebs have said about Superman’s amazing seeing through underwear powers.”

(via Of Two Minds)

Future by Design, a documentary about futurist Jacque Fresco

March 3, 2008 / Klint Finley

Future by Design web site.

(Thanks Danny!)

links for 2008-03-03

March 3, 2008 / Klint Finley

Original KILLING JOKE Lineup Reunites After 25 Years For New Album And World Tour

(tags: music)

New documentary about notorious hoaxer Alan Abel

March 3, 2008 / Klint Finley

More info: Slate.

(via The Agitator).

The Shiny Report: tracking the synergy of form + function

March 3, 2008 / Klint Finley

LINC phone

Irreality webmaster Squink launched a new gadget blog called the Shiny Report. Here’s his critique of the business model of a new “ecologically friendly” cell phone company:

Every now and then, a conceptual design company comes up with a really fantastic idea – and then you read it and realise that somehow, against all odds, they actually missed the mark. One latest example of this is Kaleidoscope, who did exactly this. I will explain why momentarily, but first, let’s take a quick look at their angle.

The LINC phone is an eco-friendly cellphone, which is leased to the user on a yearly basis. Once a year, the distributor of the LINC posts out a brand new LINC phone to the user. In exchange for this, the user is to then somehow (either through mail – eugh, or walk-in LINC stores) return the old LINC model to the distributor. The distributor then sends the phone back to the plant, where it is recycled and it’s components are harvested for use in other units.

The LINC model is designed to “[change] the entire paradigm of the production and consumption model”, and eliminate large amounts of hazardous waste material from the phone industry. The user (read: not owner) of the LINC phone can also log into the LINC website and get a warm fuzzy feeling about how eco-friendly they are.

This in itself is a reasonably good idea. But let’s face it, it’s not the primary reason you’d want a LINC phone. In actual fact, who wants to LEASE a phone from a distributor? Answer: nobody. That said, the phone itself is constructed of modular, environmentally-conscious components. Remove the leasing agreement and you’re left with something that almost constitutes a better idea: an eco-friendly, modular phone.

This is where the ‘obvious good idea’ comes into play.

Your eco-friendly, modular LINC phone can be disassembled and upgraded with new modular components. Take your LINC phone to the nearest LINC retailer, or order LINC components online. As new technologies and standards are introduced, simply upgrade your phone for a nominal fee. And you can still save the environment by handing your old components over to LINC to be re-harvested in exchange for future upgrade-credits (assuming you haven’t sold them on, or given them to a friend).

Original story (with more pics).

Exposed to Military Chemical and Biological Warfare Tests, They Walk Among Us

March 3, 2008 / TiamatsVision

“Thousands of people who may have been exposed to chemical or biological agents during military tests remain unaccounted for, and the Defense Department and Department of Veterans Affairs have given up on tracking them down, according to a new report.

Some of the tests were conducted as part of a weapons testing program known as “Project 112,” in others, individuals were intentionally exposed to hazardous substances such as blister, nerve, and biological agents as well as LSD and PCP, according to a Government Accounting Office report (PDF).

Any veteran who believes they sustained a disabilities from exposure during testing may file a claim for compensation with VA. The DOD stopped actively searching for test subjects in 2003 “but did not provide a sound and documented basis for that decision,” the GAO reported. At the time, it had identified 5,842 service members and about 350 civilians as having been potentially exposed during Project 112 alone (PDF). It is estimated that tens of thousands of military and personnel and civilians may have been exposed over the last 60 years.”

(via CNET)

(see also Project SHAD)