[quote author=“Machiavelli”]
Therefore it is unnecessary for a prince to have all the good qualities I have enumerated, but it is very necessary to appear to have them. And I shall dare to say this also, that to have them and always to observe them is injurious, and that to appear to have them is useful; to appear merciful, faithful, humane, religious, upright, and to be so, but with a mind so framed that should you require not to be so, you may be able and know how to change to the opposite.
I think it was in a psych class that I saw a study done that showed in a group of college students that the ones who were perceived as leaders were also the ones who could record a totally false story but make the listeners think it was true. Results: our leaders tend to be the best liars and actors.
[quote author=“Rod”]I think it was in a psych class that I saw a study done that showed in a group of college students that the ones who were perceived as leaders were also the ones who could record a totally false story but make the listeners think it was true. Results: our leaders tend to be the best liars and actors.
Rod
So, so true. And it’s in our genes to follow them. The strong leaders will protect us, just like in our nomadic, tribal days.
[quote author=“Rod”]I think it was in a psych class that I saw a study done that showed in a group of college students that the ones who were perceived as leaders were also the ones who could record a totally false story but make the listeners think it was true. Results: our leaders tend to be the best liars and actors.
Rod
We respond to confidence and control, to men (sheesh, I’m so well-trained) who seem to present a sane and lucid plan. Same is true of men convincing women that they will prove the best mate - a woman responds to confidence. Ugh.
I’ve often wondered… do you think men are just as vulnerable to the lies of a politician as a woman is?
[quote author=“Rod”]I think it was in a psych class that I saw a study done that showed in a group of college students that the ones who were perceived as leaders were also the ones who could record a totally false story but make the listeners think it was true. Results: our leaders tend to be the best liars and actors.
Rod
I read recently that the ‘virgin birth’ idea was hatched 400 years after Jesus died. It would be interesting to see the ‘Mythbusters’ TV show tackle one like that; or Monty Python, or Saturday Night Live. Maybe a new reality show to see which contestant could pull off the most outlandish hoax? Three judges, one with an English accent, “That has got to be the dumbest hoax I’ve ever heard in my life!” or, “Hey, I believe you dawg. Welcome to three thousand years of being God’s word!”
[quote author=“im4mary”]It seems to me that sincere believers and hypocrits are one and the same!
. . . but does the sincere believer, like Champ for example, know that he is a hypocrite?
Dictionary: hypocrite - (from the Greek - actor) one who affects virtues or qualities he does not have.
Is this why true believers claim that all are sinners? In that case you can claim not to be acting, or feigning goodness - not a hypocrite - but only doing your best to live up to your sincere beliefs - ‘coping’ in the body of a fallible human. (the fallible human can then do just about anything he or she wants and still be sincere - a kind of psychological mobius strip).
Is this why true believers claim that all are sinners? In that case you can claim not to be acting, or feigning goodness - not a hypocrite - but only doing your best to live up to your sincere beliefs - ‘coping’ in the body of a fallible human. (the fallible human can then do just about anything he or she wants and still be sincere - a kind of psychological mobius strip).
I like that! If you believe there is a god, and furthermore that nothing happens in god’s world by accident, then WHATEVER you do is, therefore, god’s will. Doesn’t matter anyway, if you screw up, you can always beg for, and always are granted, complete and utter forgiveness. Even if society sends you to jail for your actions, as long as you are “right” with god, you will go to everlasting reward.
From what I understand, the only exception to this is if you diss’ the holy spook. For that, there is no forgiveness possible. Sooooo you better watch out, better not….........
Is this why true believers claim that all are sinners? In that case you can claim not to be acting, or feigning goodness - not a hypocrite - but only doing your best to live up to your sincere beliefs - ‘coping’ in the body of a fallible human. (the fallible human can then do just about anything he or she wants and still be sincere - a kind of psychological mobius strip).
I like that! If you believe there is a god, and furthermore that nothing happens in god’s world by accident, then WHATEVER you do is, therefore, god’s will. Doesn’t matter anyway, if you screw up, you can always beg for, and always are granted, complete and utter forgiveness. Even if society sends you to jail for your actions, as long as you are “right” with god, you will go to everlasting reward.
From what I understand, the only exception to this is if you diss’ the holy spook. For that, there is no forgiveness possible. Sooooo you better watch out, better not….........
You better watch out
better not spout!
better not shout, I’m telling you why . . .
Santa Claus is coming . . . to town!
It doesn’t matter what you believe. If the universe is ordered by natural laws then it is those laws that consistently prevail. It would be fun to discover what those laws are rather than making them up and pretending to already know them.
Intuitively, we probably already know a few. Like, if you hurt some one you will be hurt back. My guess is there are alot more we don’t know about.
[quote author=“lightning_fast_draw”]It doesn’t matter what you believe. If the universe is ordered by natural laws then it is those laws that consistently prevail. It would be fun to discover what those laws are rather than making them up and pretending to already know them.
Intuitively, we probably already know a few. Like, if you hurt some one you will be hurt back. My guess is there are alot more we don’t know about.
Zen Buddhism suggests that, for many of us, these ‘natural laws’ are covered by the clouds of thought, ideas, beliefs - (as you say, ‘making them up and pretending to already know them’). We’re obstructed by all the data and conditioning accumulated since birth. When the clouds disperse, the moon shines bright in the sky. When the mind is peaceful and still it ‘shines unobstructed through the universe’.
Wild plants and animals all have this open channel or open window to their ‘extended self’. Such unconditioned organisms aren’t something separate from natural law. Natural law isn’t something they know, it’s something they manifest.
Thoreau thought there were times when he could ‘rest like a field stone in the palm of God’, meaning that when his mind was quiet and peaceful he was a manifestation of natural law.
“The mountains, rivers, earth, grasses, trees, and forests, are always emanating a subtle, precious sound, demonstrating and expounding to all people the unsurpassed ultimate truth.” - Zen Master Yuansou (14th century)
