The cave only contains what you bring with you.

Sadly that video was dead so I couldn't see it. I would like to ask how you actually go about verifying spirituality.

Spirituality may be a real experience, but that does not mean that it is actually real. Paranoia is a real experience too.

Faith is a virus in many ways (obviously not biologically), but it acts as one. That said. you can say that for any meme.

Twisting religion and/or faith for "evil" is easy - anything can be twisted. The fundamental problem is that at the very core, religion is, well, bad. It's detrimental for the human race. We would be in a better place without it. By no means perfect, other factors are at work, tribalism, fanaticism, greed, etc. but nonetheless, it would be a better place, because you could not justify your evil actions through a supreme being. Do you realize how dangerous it is when someone is absolutely convinced they are right? Skepticism is a healthy attribute in a benign society. Spirituality (moreso religion and faith) is detriment to that.

When people argue "oh, look at all the culture and art that religion inspired", I think that's a bunk argument. The art and culture is there in spite of the religion smothering it. The reason all the classic art is about religion, is because churches leeched the money of everyone and therefor were the only ones who could pay for great works of art. If Catholicism had not had a stranglehold on Europe for some 1000 years, the art of the whole period would have been far more varied and fantastic.

I'm ashamed of my fellow man not growing up to face what's really out there, because it's crazy enough as it is without lunacy on top of it.
>> ^jonny:

>> ^gwiz665:
Spirituality is a hoax.
Faith is a virus.
Spirituality is a real, verifiable human experience. There are many paths to having such an experience, some of them involving religion, ritual and/or psychoactive drugs. However much we might disdain the belief in some bearded man in the sky as the source of such experiences, it would be absurd to deny their existence, power, or importance. Religion provides the most accessible path for many people.
I'm not sure what you mean by that second sentence. Do you mean faith in general, i.e., belief in something of which you have no direct knowledge or evidence? Or do you mean faith in the existence of Jehovah, the divinity of Jesus, or some other specific religious doctrine? I'd rather avoid getting into an epistemological argument, but the fact is that everyone relies on faith to a greater or lesser extent. More importantly, though, is just how useful faith can be. No one would argue that it can't be twisted to serve "evil" ends, sometimes without the twister or twisted even being aware of it. But to disregard the usefulness of faith entirely based on its misuse and abuse is ridiculous. It's like telling people not to have sex because of the potential negative consequences.
When I look at religion, I don't understand why it is blamed for so many of the atrocities humans have committed upon each other. The deeper cause is (fundamentalist) tribalism, and it comes in many forms - religious, ethnic, geographic, ideological, etc. All of these have been used as "psychic levers" to inspire people to act in ways they never would otherwise. Even in a hypothetical parallel world in which religion and belief in gods doesn't exist, all of the horrors of which humans are capable would still be found. I'd like to think the artistic output inspired by religion and faith would have other sources as well, but I'm not completely certain of it.

>> ^gwiz665:

Spirituality is a hoax.
Faith is a virus.

Spirituality is a real, verifiable human experience. There are many paths to having such an experience, some of them involving religion, ritual and/or psychoactive drugs. However much we might disdain the belief in some bearded man in the sky as the source of such experiences, it would be absurd to deny their existence, power, or importance. Religion provides the most accessible path for many people.

I'm not sure what you mean by that second sentence. Do you mean faith in general, i.e., belief in something of which you have no direct knowledge or evidence? Or do you mean faith in the existence of Jehovah, the divinity of Jesus, or some other specific religious doctrine? I'd rather avoid getting into an epistemological argument, but the fact is that everyone relies on faith to a greater or lesser extent. More importantly, though, is just how useful faith can be. No one would argue that it can't be twisted to serve "evil" ends, sometimes without the twister or twisted even being aware of it. But to disregard the usefulness of faith entirely based on its misuse and abuse is ridiculous. It's like telling people not to have sex because of the potential negative consequences.

When I look at religion, I don't understand why it is blamed for so many of the atrocities humans have committed upon each other. The deeper cause is (fundamentalist) tribalism, and it comes in many forms - religious, ethnic, geographic, ideological, etc. All of these have been used as "psychic levers" to inspire people to act in ways they never would otherwise. Even in a hypothetical parallel world in which religion and belief in gods doesn't exist, all of the horrors of which humans are capable would still be found. I'd like to think the artistic output inspired by religion and faith would have other sources as well, but I'm not completely certain of it.

Your "amazon" invocation could not be processed - you did not specify a valid Amazon URL

>> ^dag:
They missed that incredibly great game from the early 90s called "way out" or "out there" or something like that.
The one where the guy is transported to a parallel world and befriends an ape that helps him on his journey. Kind of a side-scroller, but with a lot of style and fun.

Are you thinking of "Out of This World"? (aka "Another World") That game did have a sequel: Heart of the Alien, for the Sega CD.

"3- Beyond Good & Evil: Now getting a sequel. Busted off the list."
That was announced May 2008, about a year after this article was written, I suspect.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

They missed that incredibly great game from the early 90s called "way out" or "out there" or something like that.

The one where the guy is transported to a parallel world and befriends an ape that helps him on his journey. Kind of a side-scroller, but with a lot of style and fun.

that's hilarious. salvia, one strange ticket.
I took a bong rip sitting alone in the dark in closet of some powerful extract.
I turned into the plant and like a vine grows along a wall, I morphed into the floor I was sitting on and felt some sort vegetable overmind trying to talk to me all while flying thru a warp which felt almost too fast, almost violent in chaos and strong sensation of flying. Then before I knew it, the world came back and stepping out of my closet, I saw a cristalline flash radiating from every object in my room and I think I saw objects as pure concepts, not matter but merely ideas. Each object looked so fucking singular and purposeful, as if glowing/hovering/rotating all at the same time, that I understood a deeper minimalist approach to objects.
Anyway, at one point through all that, I saw cathedral looking archways in my carpet with people dancing inside them, maybe elves.
Good good stuff. I like the objectiveness of this drug, as if it's a parallel world everyone can just step in and start pointing things out in common.
Terrence Mckenna and others...
Ok enough for now...

Michio Kaku - Parallel Worlds or Brian Green The Fabric of The Cosmos

Anything by Ed Witten, he is the guy that invented m-theory

In reply to your comment:
“I find this stuff extremely fascinating. Out of curiosity, can anybody suggest any good books to read on the subject matter? Thanks.”

I really think the preamble from www.tenthdimension.com is worth mentioning alongside this video. It's included right at the end of the video, but is only seen for a fairly short time:

"The "theory of reality" that I advance on this website and in the book "Imagining the Tenth Dimension" is not the one that is commonly accepted by today's physicists. Anyone wanting to know more about the currently established thinking behind string theory and the tenth or eleventh dimension should refer to such excellent books as "Parallel Worlds" by Michio Kaku, "The Fabric of the Cosmos" by Brian Greene, or "Warped Passages" by Lisa Randall.

I invite you to think of this as an entertaining diversion that for some people will have a strong and thought-provoking connection to their impression of how the world really works. If you click on "The Forum", you will be taken to a page that gives readers an opportunity to debate the concepts presented in the book and this website more fully. Enjoy! " - Rob Bryanton

The presentation in the video suggests that it is presenting factual information, so I think it's important that it be qualified as what it really is: a hypothesis.

With all that said, an excellent video.