View Full Version : Now this is really interesting.....
Some of the threads here have over 700 views. The membership list goes for many pages .... so it's no a shortage of members which makes this forum as slow as a wet week ... it's some sort of unwillingness by the bulk of members to participate. So I ask why are you in this forum?
What's the worst that could happen if you contribute?
Oh ... you might make a post some deem wrong/ or unpopular/ or ....
Big deal. Mistakes is how we learn. Until you dive in you wont really test/discover your own assumptions/prejudices/conditionings/ ...
Sitting on the sidelines will not tell you much about yourself.
Why do you ask? I participate as I have time and inclination not to some one else's idea of what is appropriate.
May I suggest that you participate according to your interests and let others do likewise?
There are close to 600 members here. Many of them are not active. People often sign up on boards and never return for many reasons - life has a way of distracting us. And compared to other small forums, this one is quite active.
The spirituality and religion forum here tends to not be as active as some other rooms at SL. There are threads at SL with many more 'views' than 700 - One I noticed yesterday was almost at 2,000. I'm sure other threads have even more.
Some 'views' aren't even real people, but google bots and the like that keep 'inventory' of what's on the internet. And many 'views' are actually the same people who revisit active and interesting threads numerous times to read the latest posts. Each look generates another 'view'. And if someone has posted something and then edits it, that generates another 'view'. Non-member hits also generate 'views'. So 'view' numbers are probably quite misleading.
The main point however is that people will read and comment on threads they find interesting. If something isn't interesting to them, they move on...
Fair comment razz ... question isn't for you. The questioin was asked because I really don't understand why one would join a forum and not
participate ... because for the number of members this forum seems rather slow... yet is has the potential to be a place of challenge and growth.
loosechickens
3-22-11, 1:08am
nithig......I'm sure there are as many reasons for participation or nonparticipation in these forums as there are people viewing them.
However, the spirituality and religion area, like public policy, sometimes tends to attract those with an axe to grind, ideas to disseminate, or true believers of one persuasion or another. And so it is an area where people tend to end up arguing, or getting their feelings hurt, or just recognizing that few minds are changed by the discussion, so don't waste their time, and move on to other areas where they feel their ideas will find more fertile ground.
we are, primarily a board about simple living, not about religion or spirituality, nor about politics. We have forums for those areas of life, both because they touch on aspects of lives lived simply, or affect simple living in some way, and also, frankly, because it keeps discussion of these often touchy subjects out of the other forums on the board, because many of our members do not want to be involved in discussing spirituality, religion, politics, public policy because of the potential for upset.
I often find myself wondering about members who join, but don't seem to have much interest in simple living, and focus most of their attention on this forum or on the public policy one. Because if that is their primary interest, there are boards specifically for the discussion of spiritual issues that might be a better fit for them, or a forum purely for political discussion where they might be more at home.
Perhaps if people have this as a primary focus, they choose to participate on one of those forums, instead.
don't know if this answers your questions, but are, at least, some of my observations regarding what you asked.
thanks loose chickens (btw - love yr name as I grew up with chooks)
Yes, I understand.
And I must confess to giving the tree a little shake to see what fruit is there.
I came from a really vibrant forum which closed as the owner was unable to maintain it and there I learned some wonderful lessons ... this forum has that potential but at present it seems to lack some energy. Shame as increasingly awareness is mounting that indeed this is a time of a quickening ... which means it's also a window for rapid evolution (including individuals) ... but one must dive in to experience the water.
Now to upload an image ... which can speak for itself:-
oh...can't upload from my computer ... never mind.
I rarely read the spirtual board for reasons that LC mentioned. And when I do read it I rarely reply to any posts. To be honest, I often don't understand what is being said (gosh dern blonde-brained head again :-)) and so have nothing to input.
Great perfection seems incomplete,
But does not decay;
Great abundance seems empty,
But does not fail.
Great truth seems contradictory;
Great cleverness seems stupid;
Great eloquence seems awkward.
As spring overcomes the cold,
And autumn overcomes the heat,
So calm and quiet overcome the world.
Great perfection seems incomplete,
But does not decay;
Great abundance seems empty,
But does not fail.
Great truth seems contradictory;
Great cleverness seems stupid;
Great eloquence seems awkward.
As spring overcomes the cold,
And autumn overcomes the heat,
So calm and quiet overcome the world.
Great wisdom can be quoted,
But should be properly attributed.
-Tao Te Ching
there are many times I do not give my opinion because I know what the response will be, and the ones who will be slamming me. It is predictable and at times seems mean-spirited. You correct in that this is why we have this board, to discuss matters. I will do better.
I've been here since the late '90s sometime and I've had two incarnations since then. Time flies ... (... like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana -- sorry, couldn't help myself ...) Anyway, I posted a lot in the "olden days" beause I had a lot to learn. I still have a lot to learn, but I don't feel much inclination to post mostly because I don't think I have any "words of wisdom" or interesting comments anymore. However, I enjoy reading so I check in several times a day.
Great wisdom can be quoted,
But should be properly attributed.
-Tao Te Ching
"A deep understanding of reality is the same thing as laziness." "Have you ever seen a statue of the Buddha jogging?"
- Dibert comic strip :-)
"A deep understanding of reality is the same thing as laziness." "Have you ever seen a statue of the Buddha jogging?"
- Dibert comic strip :-)
"It's true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?" ~Ronald Reagan
"Every time I feel the urge to exercise, I lie down until it goes away!” ~ Mark Twain.
"I'm like a haiku. Sometimes I don't make much sense. Refrigerator." ~ Alan
there are many times I do not give my opinion because I know what the response will be, and the ones who will be slamming me. It is predictable and at times seems mean-spirited. You correct in that this is why we have this board, to discuss matters. I will do better.
hi Tenngal, that sounds really uncomfortable and unpleasant. So perhaps it might help you 'do better' to understand that
no one is slamming 'you'. They are slamming the image in their own head, the image they have of what you posted.
I've been here since the late '90s sometime and I've had two incarnations since then. Time flies ... (... like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana -- sorry, couldn't help myself ...) Anyway, I posted a lot in the "olden days" beause I had a lot to learn. I still have a lot to learn, but I don't feel much inclination to post mostly because I don't think I have any "words of wisdom" or interesting comments anymore. However, I enjoy reading so I check in several times a day.
Hi Serendipity, yes I understand. But actually none of us knows. Since there are so many quotes in this thread from the Tao let's take another one:
It's not what is added , but what is taken away.
Beyond knowing that 'I exist' I know nothing (at the metaphysical level) so it's more a process of loosing prejudices, bad (mental) habits, conditionings, distorted memories (and all memories are untrustworthy), represssed tendencies .... and so on. This 'loosing' of course feels very uncomfortable to the ego ... which squirms and argues and tried to justify & rationalise ... but once you get used to that it becomes quite liberating.
And how subtle and deep it all runs: a few weeks ago I caught myself being a 'know all'. What a shock as I thought I'd really dealt long ago with the father not giving approval issue. As he was scholarly I tried to get his approval by learning ... all the way to the first degree. Thought it was dealt with. What I discovered was that in my youthful drive to gain approval I formed a habit ... a habit of trying to know enough and while the issue as such was dealt with the habit remained ...so there I was still trying to show how much I knew - not to the person I was talking with - but to my long-dead father!
So it's all about loosing stuff ... subtracting...there is nothing to add ... we are already THAT! but we can't recognise it because the ego consciousness is like the clouds which hide the sun.
Beyond knowing that 'I exist' I know nothing (at the metaphysical level) ...
But even "I exist" is questionable. There are good odds that you are simply an autonomous subroutine in some grad student's computer simulation. (See Bostrom's paper "Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?", Philosophical Quarterly (2003), Vol. 53, No. 211, pp. 243-255)
Well, that would certainly explain all the empty Red Bull cans lying around.
"And are there biscuits in computer simulations?" -pug logic
http://www.scientificamerican.com/media/inline/blog/xfer/brain_vat.gif
For those who find the print in the cartoon too small to easily read:
In the bubble: "Darling... I know we have just recently met and I know you have some issues with my being a millionairess, but you're the most amazing man I've ever known... marry me?"
The caption: It was at that precise moment Stanley realized that he may very well be a brain in a vat.
But even "I exist" is questionable.
"I Am That I Am".
The 'I Am' is, and is the substratum of everything.
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