Re: OT: Scott Ridder on Fallujah

From: Rich The Philosophizer (null_at_example.net)
Date: 11/13/04 

Date: Sat, 13 Nov 2004 20:25:28 GMT

On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 02:15:35 -0800, Bill Sloman wrote:
> John Fields <jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote in message news:<0a97p0lcfahof4p79bjls30923618h2jlt@4ax.com>...
...
>> So, everybody in the world should kow-tow to al-Qaeda's demands for
>> the destruction of the US in order to gain themselves a little
>> temporary safety? Until al-Qaeda later decrees that some other
>> infidel country is on their hit list? And then...???
>> ---
>
> And how did invading Irak do anything against al-Qaeda? The invasion -
> as I've already said - did nothing to harm al-Qaeda - and the Arab
> reaction to the invasion seems to have done lots to help al-Qaeda.
>
>> >We'd much prefer not to be sharing the results of your rash adventure.
>>
>> ---
>> You don't want to share the risk, but you won't mind sharing the the
>> reward, huh?
>
> What reward?

I think the problem with Fields and the other neocon dupes is
that their brains are actually hard-wired to be polarized so
intensely that they're literally incapable of grasping any
scenario other than their programming.

Of course, I claim that your neural net _can_ be reprogrammed,
and stand as one example that I know of of exactly that taking
place.

The thing is, the brain's neural net is "hard-wired" only to
the extent that the wiring is dendrites, axons, and synapses.
And it has been shown in the laboratory that, even though
you can't grow any new neurons, they _do_ make new synapses.
And I haven't read any studies that say anything about deactivating
or losing _existing_ synapses but it certainly seems logical that
if neurons can make new synapses, they _should_ have the ability
to at least change the firing potentials of existing synapses.

My theory, of course, is that the flow of enzymes or hormones
or whatever caused by emotionsl movement can stimulate, or
maybe just catalyze, this synapse growth. I.e., emotional
release dramatically empowers the learning process.

Think back. Most of your most prominent memories involve some
event with some (or maybe a lot of) emotional content, am I
right?

How would we design an experiment?

Thanks,
Rich

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