| Topic: |
Science > Philosophy |
| User: |
"Sir Frederick" |
| Date: |
17 Jun 2007 05:08:49 AM |
| Object: |
On alt.philosophy as a Ritual |
alt.philosophy, or any Usenet activity may be a Ritual.
From some of the Medieval rants that get posted here, it may
be a full blown religious act for some.
An amazing aspect of these acts and considerations is the
primitive ignoring of brain functions. This depicts the Medieval
state of human culture. The instrument exercised in rituals is the
human brain, yet, like with music, it is ignored.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual
Ritual :
A ritual is actually the words of a "rite", which are said as a part of a ceremony which is a set of actions, performed mainly for
their symbolic value, which is prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. There has been confusion over the terms
"ritual" and "ceremony" in popular parlance. For the purpose of this article, the popular use of the word "ritual" meaning
"ceremonial" will be used. Note that such usage should not be used in academic writing.
A ritual may be performed at regular intervals, or on specific occasions, or at the discretion of individuals or communities. It may
be performed by a single individual, by a group, or by the entire community; in arbitrary places, or in places especially reserved
for it; either in public, in private, or before specific people. A ritual may be restricted to a certain subset of the community,
and may enable or underscore the passage between religious or social states.
The purposes of rituals are varied; they include compliance with religious obligations or ideals, satisfaction of spiritual or
emotional needs of the practitioners, strengthening of social bonds, demonstration of respect or submission, stating one's
affiliation, obtaining social acceptance or approval for some event — or, sometimes, just for the pleasure of the ritual itself.
Rituals of various kinds are a feature of almost all known human societies, past or present. They include not only the various
worship rites and sacraments of organized religions and cults, but also the rites of passage of certain societies, oaths of
allegiance, coronations, and presidential inaugurations, marriages and funerals, school "rush" traditions and graduations, club
meetings, sports events, halloween parties and veteran parades, Christmas shopping, and more. Many activities that are ostensibly
performed for concrete purposes, such as jury trials, execution of criminals, and scientific symposia, are loaded with purely
symbolic actions prescribed by regulations or tradition, and thus partly ritualistic in nature. Even common actions like
hand-shaking and saying hello are rituals.
In any case, an essential feature of a ritual is that the actions and their symbolism are not arbitrarily chosen by the performers,
nor dictated by logic or necessity, but are, at least in part, prescribed and imposed upon the performers by some external source.
Ritual actions :
Due to their symbolic nature, there are hardly any limits to the kind of actions that may be incorporated in a ritual. The rites of
past and present societies have typically involved special gestures and words, recitation of fixed texts, performance of special
music, songs or dances, processions, manipulation of certain objects, use of special dresses, consumption of special food, drink, or
drugs, and much more. Religious rituals have also included animal sacrifice, human sacrifice, ritual suicide, and ritual murder.
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Purposes :
Ritual serves diverse purposes including, but not limited to:
Worship
Ritual purification with the aim of removing uncleanliness, which may be real or symbolic.
Atonement
Dedication
Education
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Religious :
In religion, a ritual can comprise the prescribed outward forms of performing, the cultus or cult of a particular observation within
a religion or religious denomination. Although ritual is often used in context with worship performed in a church, the actual
relationship between any religion's doctrine and its ritual(s) can vary considerably from organized religion to
non-institutionalized spirituality, such as ayahuasca shamanism as practiced by the Urarina of the upper Amazon. Rituals often have
a close connection with reverence, thus a ritual in many cases expresses reverence for a deity or idealized state of humanity.
Sociology :
Rituals have formed a part of human culture for tens of thousands of years. The earliest known evidence of burial rituals dates from
around 20,000 years ago. (Older skeletons show no signs of deliberate 'burial', and as such lack clear evidence of having been
ritually treated.)
Alongside the personal dimensions of worship and reverence, rituals can have a more basic social function in expressing, fixing and
reinforcing the shared values and beliefs of a society. This function can be exploited for political ends, though it lies at the
heart of most sociological understandings of religious ritual.
Rituals can aid in creating a firm sense of group identity. Humans have used rituals to create social bonds and even to nourish
interpersonal relationships.
Archaeology :
Any artifact found in an archaeological assemblage that is not immediately recognised as a tool or decoration is sometimes assumed
to be or initially described as a ritual object. For example, the Red Deer skulls with antlers as found at Star Carr or explanations
of the Beaker culture.
Anthropology :
Anthropologists have found rituals performed across the globe, in every conceivable culture. In its most basic elements ritual is
one of many cultural universals, yet cross-cultural variation in form, content and social function is often great. Of particular
interest to anthropologists has been the role of ritual in structuring life crises, human development, religious enactment and
entertainment. Among anthropologists, and other ethnographers, who have contributed to ritual theory are Victor Turner, Ronald
Grimes, Mary Douglas, and the Biogenetic Structuralists.
Fraternal :
Nearly all fraternities and sororities have rituals incorporated into their structure, from elaborate and sometimes "secret"
initation rites, to the formalized structure of convening a meeting. Thus, numerous aspects of ritual and ritualistic proceedings
are engrained into the workings of the societies.
Psychology :
In psychology, the term ritual refers to a repetitive, systematic behavioral process enacted in order to neutralize or prevent
anxiety and is a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
----------------------
Lots more stuff on Wiki on this topic.
--
Frederick Martin McNeill
Poway, California, United States of America
mmcneill@fuzzysys.com
http://www.fuzzysys.com
http://members.cox.net/fmmcneill
**************************************
"Age is a very high price to pay for maturity."
- Tom Stoppard
"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.
The second best time is now." - Old Proverb
**************************************
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| User: "Sir Frederick" |
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| Title: Re: On alt.philosophy as a Ritual |
17 Jun 2007 06:11:43 AM |
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Then there are the rituals we practice in our brain that invoke
the qualia, both sensor and self.
The human condition is based in functional deceit, inside and outside.
Evolution may incorporate anything that functions, even deceit.
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| User: "Milan" |
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| Title: Re: On alt.philosophy as a Ritual |
17 Jun 2007 10:17:57 AM |
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"Sir Frederick" <mmcneill@fuzzysys.com> wrote in message
news:ge5a739ilqcb024cv0vpjba5u8bm8dad63@4ax.com...
Then there are the rituals we practice in our brain that invoke
the qualia, both sensor and self.
The human condition is based in functional deceit, inside and outside.
Evolution may incorporate anything that functions, even deceit.
Dammit. A couple of years ago Fred read some stuff about qualia and there is
no stopping him ever since.
regards
Milan
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| User: "Sir Frederick" |
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| Title: Re: On alt.philosophy as a Ritual |
17 Jun 2007 11:25:59 AM |
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On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 16:17:57 +0100, "Milan" <mtklima@yahoo.com> wrote:
"Sir Frederick" <mmcneill@fuzzysys.com> wrote in message
news:ge5a739ilqcb024cv0vpjba5u8bm8dad63@4ax.com...
Then there are the rituals we practice in our brain that invoke
the qualia, both sensor and self.
The human condition is based in functional deceit, inside and outside.
Evolution may incorporate anything that functions, even deceit.
Dammit. A couple of years ago Fred read some stuff about qualia and there is
no stopping him ever since.
regards
Milan
I will die in a few years, then you can forget about me.
Too bad our rituals don't invoke immortality.
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| User: "Milan" |
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| Title: Re: On alt.philosophy as a Ritual |
17 Jun 2007 12:08:40 PM |
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"Sir Frederick" <mmcneill@fuzzysys.com> wrote in message
news:ivna739h2urajinofftu9fc4r0jh809kc8@4ax.com...
On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 16:17:57 +0100, "Milan" <mtklima@yahoo.com> wrote:
"Sir Frederick" <mmcneill@fuzzysys.com> wrote in message
news:ge5a739ilqcb024cv0vpjba5u8bm8dad63@4ax.com...
Then there are the rituals we practice in our brain that invoke
the qualia, both sensor and self.
The human condition is based in functional deceit, inside and outside.
Evolution may incorporate anything that functions, even deceit.
Dammit. A couple of years ago Fred read some stuff about qualia and there
is
no stopping him ever since.
regards
Milan
I will die in a few years, then you can forget about me.
Too bad our rituals don't invoke immortality.
How can you say that? I'll never forget you, Fred.
regards
Milan
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| User: "ZerkonX" |
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| Title: Re: On alt.philosophy as a Ritual |
19 Jun 2007 09:46:12 AM |
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On Sun, 17 Jun 2007 09:25:59 -0700, Sir Frederick wrote:
Too bad our rituals don't invoke immortality.
Ritual does just this, invoke immortality.
In your example.. upon news of your demise, a ritual might be started. One
day someone posts a Message...
Header: Fredrick is Deadrick..
Body: Long live Fred.
Somehow this catches. It becomes part of the alt.philosophy NG culture.
The regulars begin to post this at the beginning of every USENET day. The
post becomes a NG icon (a constant companion to ritual). It becomes a
representation of "[insert what you want to here] Thinking". You live on,
in a way.
Ritual helps keep things "alive" in thought, among other things.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: On alt.philosophy as a Ritual |
24 Jun 2007 04:49:19 PM |
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On 19-Jun-2007, ZerkonX <ZERKON@zerkonx.net> wrote:
Ritual helps keep things "alive" in thought, among other things.
Other things like pathologies, creating new rituals keeps thought alive.
--
It's not possible to turn a ho' into a housewife but by the same measure, it
is not possible to debase what is noble.
Philosophy is a thought experiment which ends the moment you turn in your
final exam.
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| User: "kettle" |
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| Title: Re: On alt.philosophy as a Ritual |
17 Jun 2007 12:23:18 PM |
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Sir Frederick wrote:
Then there are the rituals we practice in our brain that invoke
the qualia, both sensor and self.
The human condition is based in functional deceit, inside and outside.
Evolution may incorporate anything that functions, even deceit.
It's ironic to see scientists who want to play philosopher--that is,
offer opinions about what findings in an area of research might mean
beyond being the recorded results-- leap so enthusiastically upon this
hayride that the psycho-social representation of the world is an
illusion. This simply keeps alive that whole ancient skeptical
tradition that *realists* (under various guises through the ages)
having been fighting against; and in boomerang fashion it comes back
to eventually taunt any scientific claims of having cut through the
illusion.
If experience is a deceptive story that the brain paints over the
physicalist flux of particles-- then it becomes as suspect for getting
to a true nature of reality (like that which physicalism might claim)
as reason became after the Kant and Wittgenstein types got done
thrashing it as hotline to the metaphysical. At least the latter two
still maintained confidence in empiricism --the intersubjective world
of phenomena. But the 20th century harping about the perspective-
dependence and theory-ladenness of experiential *facts* sent that
confidence sliding down the mud-hill, too. What neuroscience tacks on
further is overkill.
Yet despite this, the theoretical scientist who still employs reason
in conjuction with empiricism has little choice but to run about
claiming that the sky has fallen on the average person's worldview,
since she keeps accumulating evidence for this. It is an insane loop,
where the psycho-social level exposes itself as a bogus "newspaper",
yet the bogus newspaper is the only source for indirectly testing
rational-spawned postulations about what the newspaper deceitfully
describes beyond itself. One has no choice but to work through
Descartes' mediating demon: in this case, the brain and its supposed
illusionary product of mental experience.
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