I hope someday to write about the process of actively "remaking" oneself, but for today I'll settle with the easier topic of what some other folk have said about this kind of rebirth.

An incorrect myth has survived for thousands of years. Even though Plato tried to correct the matter in his day, the wrong myth still persists. The swan song is ( Read more... )

Hopefully
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Researchers have discovered that frankincense is a psychoactive substance and may lead us to a new class of drugs that can be used to treat anxiety and depression.

They found that "burning frankincense (resin from the Boswellia plant) activates poorly understood ion channels in the brain to alleviate anxiety or depression." When tested in mice, it ( Read more... )

I notice that this original art of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is quite similar to this gem art of Abraxas.


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I'm not Christian myself, but I do tend to encounter them. The obvious counterpoint is a dinosaur bone, even complete skeletons. My life is seldom so obvious though. Some days, I keep a slab of coprolite in my pocket. If I lick it to make it wet, it shows very pretty shades of green and brown. (Coprolite is fossilized dinosaur "remains". See ( Read more... )

A University of Chicago study presents an interesting theory about anthropomorphism, the attribution of human-like characteristics and traits onto nonhuman agents. They found that certain things increase the effect and other things decrease it. For instance:

• Loneliness greatly increases the tendency to anthropomorphize.
• Fear seems to have no effect ( Read more... )

Reuters has an article describing the defection of two journalists who report on matters of religion.
"Two leading religion journalists - one in Britain, one in the United States - have quit the beat in recent months, saying they had acquired such a close look at such scandalous behaviour by Christians that they lost their faith and had to leave."

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