About a decade ago the suggestion of a wall-hung telly might have appeared like an electronics heaven. It was out of the reach of most avid customers, with high fees that commanded taking out a 2nd mortgage to secure these specially sleek TVs. Nonetheless, over a period these dream TV products reached the point of attainability. While currently not something you might just go out & pay for, it has these days all of a sudden become much more of a chance. Costs for these flat panel High Definition TV sets are at this instance decreasing faster than new home prices, and have made the electronics vision a reality.
Currently there are 2 opposite flat-panel equipment; plasma and LCD. Though each model delivers a superb picture and these sets do deem almost the same from the front, the technology on the inside is a great deal different. And thought LCD TVs have been limited to thirty-seven inches & below, TV sets with the liquid crystal display technology are at this present time in sizes as big as plasma.
Although, despite that, loads of shoppers conclude plasma to offer numerous considerable benefits over LCD televisions. The largest benefit is that plasma sets naturally feature deeper black levels-endorsing that the blacks are really black & not merely a dark side of gray. This in turn means that the colours are much more eye-catching and realistic. The hottest models from Pioneer and JVC have in actual fact taken the black levels to incredible depths, & as a result have created the greatest pictures we’ve observed to date. Find Cheap 26″ LCD TV?s. Great brand Tellies at reduced prices from Digital Direct!
Regardless of the rumours that plasma television sets “needs to be recharged” after five-thousand hours, nothing could be far more from the truth. Today’s flat panel plasma TV’s should often operate for sixty thousand hours or more, offering you years of immense telly viewing. Even though there has been a nervousness over problems like that of burn-in (rightly so, as this may well ruin that expensive television), the up-to-the-minute products have equipment to manage picture retention, supplying pixel alter techniques that slowly move the full display, and more decisively, eliminate any ghosting should static pictures actually “stick” the image. This has a white wash mode over and above an inverse mode to take out all burn-in.
Can you prove the universe exists outside your perceptions of it?
Everything you experience of the universe comes through your perceptions or takes place in your imagination. Everything. All that you perceive to be scientific or logical or objective still comes through your senses and thoughts people, places, events, dreams, … everything.
Here are some questions to consider:
How do you know you aren’t inside a simulation where everything you perceive is being fed to you, including the memories you claim as your own?
How can you be certain you even existed a year ago or a minute ago? If you came into being just now with all your memories, how would you know?
How do you know any of the other people you encounter are actually conscious themselves and aren’t just projections, like NPCs in a role-playing game? Have you ever experienced anyone else’s consciousness but your own?
How can there be any validity to claims of the existence of an objective universe outside yourself when you have no way of escaping your own limited viewpoint?
How can you prove the existence of anything outside your simulation without reference to the simulation itself?
When you aren’t perceiving or thinking about something, does it still exist? Can you even prove that a rock still exists when you aren’t actively perceiving it? Do the people in your life continue to exist when you aren’t with them? Or is the simulation more efficient than that, only generating what you’re experiencing right this instant?
When you have a dream, are the characters in your dream conscious, or are they projections of your own mind?
If you dream you’re in a room, does anything outside that room exist? Does your dream world bother to simulate what you cannot perceive?
Why do you think your waking world is any different than your dream world? Why do you think one occurs in your mind and the other outside it? Is it possible that both are occurring only within your mind?
Are you perhaps the only conscious being that exists in your universe? Is this a more or less valid assumption than to conclude that all the other characters you encounter are just as conscious as you are? Do you make this assumption when you dream?
You’ve been taught that you are a thinking object walking around in a material world. But is it possible that the material world is only a simulations that exists within your mind?
What if the entire universe only consists of what you perceive right now in this moment? What if outside of what you perceive lies nothing at all?
Have you ever seen glitches in your simulation?
Have you ever tried consciously directing your thoughts to make changes in the simulation (i.e. acting upon the simulation itself instead of within it)? Are you aware of what happens when you do this?
When your thoughts become incongruent with the simulation, which one of you adapts to the other?
When you focus on something intensely, does its presence in your universe increase?
Do you simulate a past and future for yourself to create the illusion of time? Do you project your past onto your future? Are you aware that you don’t have to do that?
Does your simulation teach you what to think about, or do you teach it what to simulate?
Why do you become tired the longer the simulation runs continuously? Why do you need to sleep? What happens to your simulation when you do?
What does your belief in objective reality do to your simulation? What would happen to your simulation if you believed it was totally subjective?
Are you free to think whatever you want?
When was the last time you created a thought that was not a reaction to some part of the simulation?
How often do you turn off the simulation? How does it feel when you do this? Do you even know how to turn it off?
Thought for food…
Copyright © Steve Pavlina
Steve Pavlina
Personal Development for Smart People
http://www.stevepavlina.com
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog (blog)
http://www.stevepavlina.com/articles (articles)
Steve is intensely growth-oriented. He trained in martial arts, ran the L.A. Marathon, and graduated from college in three semesters with two degrees. He can juggle, count cards at blackjack, and make damn good guacamole. Steve is also a polyphasic sleeper, sleeping just 2-3 hours per day and only 20 minutes at a time. So chances are good that he’s awake right now.
Christmas Is The Most Celebrated Holiday In Christianity. Some Consider It The Most ‘Holy’ Day Of The Year.
The exaltation of Christmas is in itself a travesty. Most historians, and Christian scholars know that Jesus was not born on December 25th. They realize that his birth date was probably in the fall. This is backed up by circumstances surrounding Jesus’ birth.
People knowingly follow a false date - set aside to exalt Jesus. Not only is the date a fraud, but also so are the practices. Many manmade traditions have been mixed in with the worship of God. This is like mixing ‘dung with balsam’.
The majority of the activities associated with Christmas have no relationship to Jesus. Sure there is an adopted religious (paganish) Nativity scene about Christ. But there are many more adopted pagan customs that are totally unrelated.
Christmas originated in Rome in the 4th century. The tradition came after the Council of Nicaea met in 325 C.E. For kingdom unification, the Council adopted the idea that Jesus was God. Christmas was a Christian substitute for the pagan celebration of winter solstice.
The winter solstice usually occurred around December 25th on the ancient Julian calendar. This celebration was a part of another Roman celebration called Saturnalia. Saturnalia began each year on December 17th. At that time the Romans honored Saturn, the ancient god of agriculture. Also celebrated was the lengthening of daylight following the winter solstice. Romans did this by glorifying Mithra, the ancient Persian god of light. These and other winter festivities lasted until January 1.
The Roman Catholic Church chose December 25 as the day for the Feast of the Nativity. This was in order to give Christian meaning to existing pagan rituals. The Church replaced festivities honoring the birth of the Mithra by commemorating the birth of Jesus. They called Jesus the light of the world. The Church hoped to draw pagans into its religion by overlapping their revelry.
Traditionally, the sacred Christmas season starts with Advent. Advent continues to Christmas Day. During Advent, Christians make preparations for commemorating Jesus’ birth on December 25th. They also look forward to the Second Coming of Christ.
About 600A.D., Pope Gregory I decreed that Advent start the fourth Sunday before Christmas. He decreed that the season end on Epiphany, January 6th.
Over the next 1200 years, Christmas observances followed the expansion of Christianity. It expanded throughout Europe, into Egypt, and eventually into America. Along the way, Christian beliefs combined with other pagan feasts and winter rituals. This created many distorted long-standing Christian traditions of Christmas celebrations.
Some examples are:
1)The ancient Europeans believed that the mistletoe plant held magic powers to bestow life and fertility, to bring about peace, and to protect against disease. They associated the plant with the Norse goddess of love, Freya, and developed the custom of kissing underneath mistletoe branches.
2)The Roman Catholic Church first introduced the midnight Mass in the 5th century. The dramatization of the biblical story of Jesus’ birth was a practice begun by Saint Francis of Assisi in the 13th century.
3)Many cultures continue the pre-Christian custom of burning Yule logs during the midwinter season; the Yule log symbolizes the victory of light over the darkness of winter. According to ancient tradition, the ashes provide protection against bad luck during the year.
4)The German custom of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmastime has become one of the most popular images of Christmas around the world. At one time, Germany supplied the world with almost all of the decorative glass ornaments for Christmas trees. On the evening of December 5th, children wait for a visit from Saint Nicholas, who brings them gifts. Most children also receive gifts on Christmas Eve. In some parts of Germany, Santa Claus distributes gifts, but in other regions Knecht Ruprecht, a mythical figure dressed in animal skins, delivers children’s treats. On Christmas Eve, families traditionally gather around Christmas trees decorated with lights, ornaments, and Lebkuchen, which are spiced cookies cut into decorative shapes. Worshippers holding candles illuminate Church services on Christmas Eve. The Advent wreath, which consists of four candles anchored in a circle of evergreen branches, originated with German Lutherans; many churches and families have adopted the tradition. At the beginning of each of the four weeks preceding Christmas, Christians light an Advent candle as they say a prayer.
5)In Italian folklore Santa Claus is not a prominent figure. Instead, Italian children wait for La Befana, a good witch who rides her broom to their homes on Epiphany to distribute gifts. According to folk belief, La Befanawhose name refers to the word Epifania (Epiphany)was too busy to accompany the Three Wise Men on their journey to visit the infant Jesus in Bethlehem. Now, to atone for her failing, she visits all good children, leaving treats. She also visits bad children and leaves them lumps of coal or bags of ash.
6)In England religious customs of Christmas celebrations center on recounting the story of Christ’s birth. Most people who celebrate Christmas also participate in such secular customs as watching Christmas plays, feasting, singing, and helping the poor. Before Christmas Day, children write wish lists to Father Christmas, who is the British version of Santa Claus. They then throw these letters into the fire. Children believe that if a draft draws the letter up through the chimney, their wishes will be fulfilled. Children open their gifts on Christmas afternoon. Many people in England also make charitable contributions to churches and to the needy on the day after Christmas, known as Boxing Day. They also give small gifts known as Christmas boxes to those who have performed personal services throughout the year.
7)America has become a melting pot for many world Christmas traditions, with many new customs, many of which started in the 19th century. Before then Christmas had been an ordinary workday in many communities, particularly in New England, where early Puritan objections to Christmas celebrations remained highly influential. Families almost never exchanged Christmas gifts among themselves.
These early Christmas traditions in America quickly changed. Among some groups, Christmas became an especially boisterous event, characterized by huge feasts, drunkenness, and raucous public revelry. In an English tradition that survived in some parts of North America, Christmas revelers would dress in costume and progress from door to door to receive gifts of food and drink. Most holiday gifts were limited to small amounts of money and modest presents passed from the wealthy to the poor and from masters to their servants. The rapidly expanding industrial economy of the 19th century flooded the market with new goods for sale, and also helped establish a new middle class. Christmas gained increased prominence largely because many people believed it could draw families together and honor children. Giving gifts to children and loved ones eventually replaced the raucous public celebrations of the past, and Christmas became primarily a domestic holiday.
With the new custom of Christmas gift giving, the marketplace exerted an unprecedented influence on holiday celebrations. Commercial innovations such as department stores and mass advertising further expanded the custom of exchanging Christmas gifts. Seasonal retail sales helped fuel the economy, causing merchants and advertisers to become some of the season’s most dedicated promoters. Many holiday celebrants regretted these changes and began voicing the now common grieve that Christmas has become too commercial. With the influx of immigrants, who introduced a wide variety of religious and cultural practices to North American life, celebrating Christmas became a way for people from different parts of the world to create a sense of community in the cities. The holiday forged a sense of nondenominational Christian spirit in the communities, as it promoted a sense of collective good will.
Christmas, the most ‘Holy’ Day of Christianity, has many built-in errors and influences. Although it has become a Day to reflect on goodwill toward mankind, the core of Christianity’s foundation (Jesus’ birth) has pagan roots. Just imagine how many more pagan customs are embedded into other Christian holidays and beliefs. All of the Christian traditions need to be investigated thoroughly, if one is to take them literally.
With Christmas, like other holidays, Christians give reverence to images and symbols. With Christmas there is the symbol of the Christ child. In Rome this image is called ‘Santo Bambino Jesu’.
There are also other pagan images, adopted for various reasons. Some of these images include: mistletoe, prayer cloths and beads, people, spirits, Crucifixes, etc. To include the worship of any image or object is an abomination. God wants our total dedication to Him only, in spirit only.
Biblical Scriptures read:
“Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:” - Deut. 5:8.
“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” - Deut. 6:5.
Jesus said:
“Have ye ever seen dung mixed with balsam?”
“Now I tell you that there be in the world greater madmen, because with the service of God they mingle the service of the world. So much so that many of blameless life have been deceived of Satan, and while praying have mingled with their prayer worldly business, whereupon they have become at that time abominable in the sight of God. Tell me, when ye wash yourselves for prayer, do ye take care that no unclean thing touch you? Yea, assuredly. But what do ye when ye are making prayer? Ye wash your soul from sins through the mercy of God. Would ye be willing then, while ye are making prayer, to speak of worldly things? Take care not to do so, for every worldly word becometh dung of the devil upon the soul of him that speaketh.” - GB: 84.
More is revealed on this subject of: False holidays and customs, as well as on the subjects of: God’s Knowledge and Worship, and the Judgments of God, in the Guide Book: ONE GOD ONE WORD: The TRUTH About The KNOWLEDGE and WORSHIP of GOD.
Visit website:
http://OneGodOneWord.com/ for additional information.