tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15056781.post1832100546598346895..comments2023-07-19T01:47:37.907-07:00Comments on philosophy autobiography: The Mechanics of Psychological Self-AwarenessJeff Meyerhoffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00495041879727609927noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15056781.post-59204941073089554932009-05-24T10:12:32.234-07:002009-05-24T10:12:32.234-07:00Hi Z,
Tart's been around a long time. I'm more c...Hi Z,<br /><br />Tart's been around a long time. I'm more curious about Carter's book. I'd like to see how strong his case is.<br /><br />It's hard to give Slumdog stars because it was so disturbing. But yes, it was technically impressive; fine in the non-moral sense, although the core story was trite: rags to riches, hero saves princess from monster. So the content was bad but the form was good.Jeff Meyerhoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00495041879727609927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15056781.post-11892178680482089992009-05-01T23:43:00.000-07:002009-05-01T23:43:00.000-07:00Hi Jeff,
If you're interested in some good recent...Hi Jeff,<br /><br />If you're interested in some good recent literature on the paranormal, I'd suggest you a couple of books (in addition to Meyer's book):<br /><br />-Charles Tart's "<B>The end of materialism</B>" have been recently published. Tart is a psychologist, and my impression is that he has got an encyclopedic knowledge of technical literature on consciousness, psychology and parapsychology.<br /><br />This is one of the best books I've ever read about these topics. I just finished reading it some days ago.<br /><br />-Chris Carter's "<B>parapsychology and the skeptics</B>"<br /><br />This book is more about the philosophical aspects of the debate on parapsychology. <br /><br />Carter has a degree in philosophy from Oxford, he is not a psychologist like Tart or Meyer. So his book is more about philosophical questions than about the psychological aspects of the debate.<br /><br />For instance, he has a chapter dealing with Hume's arguments against miracles (which have been used against the possibility of the paranormal too), and another dealing with Popper's philosophy of science.<br /><br />There are good books about the philosophical aspects of the paranormal (e.g. Stephen Braude's books are the best I've read about it), but Carter has made a very original contribution to this debate.<br /><br />In other topic, I read you review of the "slumdog" movie. I agree with your moral criticism of it. Maybe it could have been of help if you give a specific rate (e.g. 2 of 5 stars) to the reviews to know more or less accurately how do you rate it, or if you recommend it or not.<br /><br />Also, I wasn't impressed with such movie. In fact, for me, "Benjamin Button" was a more interesting and better movie. I was very surprised that "Slumdog" win more Oscars.<br /><br />Obviously, many people would disagree with this opinion. But as a fan of movies, I wasn't very impressed with it (it is not a bad movie either, in a technical and non-moral sense)Zetetic_chickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06520593161180787019noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15056781.post-59350328546499637842009-04-18T12:05:00.000-07:002009-04-18T12:05:00.000-07:00A lot of good reviews for this book on amazon. My...A lot of good reviews for this book on amazon. My interests have been elsewhere lately, but periodically I cyclical back to the paranormal question. Thanks for the referenceJeff Meyerhoffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00495041879727609927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15056781.post-54283140362176854482009-04-02T08:49:00.000-07:002009-04-02T08:49:00.000-07:00Hi Jeff,Regarding the psychological and beliefs qu...Hi Jeff,<BR/><BR/>Regarding the psychological and beliefs questions that you commonly analyzes in this blog, I read a book by late psychoanalist and psychology professor Elizabeth Mayer entitled "<B>Extraordinary Knowking</B>"<BR/><BR/>She had a paranormal-like experience with a dowser, and it caused in her a very strong cognitive dissonance and attempts to rationalize that experience. She was very skeptical of these things, and her own experience made no sense to her (hence, the cognitive dissonance). <BR/><BR/>You can read a review of this interesting book here:<BR/><BR/>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2320/is_2_70/ai_n24386204/pg_2/?tag=content;col1<BR/><BR/>I think this book would be of your interest, because it's very informative from a psychological point of view. Also, Mayer's reflections, ideas and thoughts as a trained psychoanalist are very interesting and informative.<BR/><BR/>It remember me of your articles on psychology of beliefs.<BR/><BR/>Regardless of one opinion about the paranormal (or spiritual experiences in general), the book is worth reading, especially for psychologists or psychoanalists.Zetetic_chickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06520593161180787019noreply@blogger.com