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Octafish

(55,745 posts)

20. Alan Watts saved my life...

Tue Jun 24, 2014, 04:42 PM

Jun 2014

...I was driving to a new job near Los Angeles from about an hour from where I lived in Orange County, summer 1986. On the radio, a guy with a sophisticated Oxford accent was talking about Zen and Christianity and psychoanalysis and nuclear physics and consciousness and everything good and bad under the sun and I thought, "This must be Alan Watts." And it was. I, a longtime reader of his, first heard him broadcast on KPFK and recognized him, even though he'd passed more than a dozen years earlier. What a great day it was -- changed the course of my day, summer, year and life.

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Higgs Boson Seems To Prove That The Universe Doesn't Exist [View all] Octafish Jun 2014 OP

are you sure that you exist, and are not a ChairmanAgnostic Jun 2014 #1

Solipsist and Zombie Octafish Jun 2014 #4

awesome cool! thanks for the link! ChairmanAgnostic Jun 2014 #23

OOooo, This looks like a fun read! icymist Jun 2014 #53

Either way, I'm having a pretty good time OriginalGeek Jun 2014 #35

this must be a matrix that our common consent dreams into existence roguevalley Jun 2014 #58

or a combo of prescription and OTC meds taken in all the wrong doses. ChairmanAgnostic Jun 2014 #62

You're a fragment of my imagination. hobbit709 Jun 2014 #65

better than the wrong pigment. ChairmanAgnostic Jun 2014 #68

Yup, thought so! elleng Jun 2014 #2

Would explain a lot. Octafish Jun 2014 #5

Except to the woman who has her hand out for a handshake! japple Jun 2014 #30

Her fault for not being bald. Octafish Jun 2014 #61

That poor man--scarred for life! eom japple Jun 2014 #72

I believe the guy Bush treats like an egg is Jeff Gannon, male prostitute and GOP utility man. Octafish Jun 2014 #77

Oh yeah! I remember that guy. Had full access to the pres didn't he? japple Jun 2014 #83

I'm cool with this PasadenaTrudy Jun 2014 #3

Jane English and Gia-fu Feng got it. Octafish Jun 2014 #7

I call bullshit. GeorgeGist Jun 2014 #6

What Voltaire and Descartes said. Octafish Jun 2014 #8

Descartes: The later years... pinboy3niner Jun 2014 #14

. Lurker Deluxe Jun 2014 #15

Is that Captain Kirk getting accosted by a space yeti? Quantess Jun 2014 #19

A Mugato of the planet Neural, I believe aint_no_life_nowhere Jun 2014 #22

That's the one. Octafish Jun 2014 #24

Yeah but can a Higgs Boson think? chknltl Jun 2014 #26

Brilliant analysis. Wow, I am impressed! n-t Logical Jun 2014 #47

I've tried. It never returns my calls. ChairmanAgnostic Jun 2014 #64

LOL "The Big Crunch". For some reason that really got me laughing. snagglepuss Jun 2014 #9

Found some good explanation of It All from Comcast, of all places... Octafish Jun 2014 #17

There is no safety in the cosmos. Alan Watts Tierra_y_Libertad Jun 2014 #10

Alan Watts saved my life... Octafish Jun 2014 #20

I used to listen to him on KPFK, too. Tierra_y_Libertad Jun 2014 #21

WABX Detroit safeinOhio Jun 2014 #34

The wisdom of insecurity. Vattel Jun 2014 #51

Good I can't make my rent for the first Ichingcarpenter Jun 2014 #11

Which is the crux of the biscuit, the Apostrophe. Octafish Jun 2014 #57

certain people will use this to claim it proves God exists JI7 Jun 2014 #12

Maybe we ARE just denizens of a virtual reality with incomplete rules aint_no_life_nowhere Jun 2014 #13

Nah--it's turtles all the way down, not denizens of tblue37 Jun 2014 #32

We exist because the Universe drank a bottle of Vytautas in the first milliseconds of existence derby378 Jun 2014 #16

What....have....you....done.....to.....brain......mine? daleanime Jun 2014 #28

Thanks a lot.... abakan Jun 2014 #48

Ok, ok, who has alerted on this nadinbrzezinski Jun 2014 #56

Thanks! And done! derby378 Jun 2014 #60

Awesome. Octafish Jun 2014 #66

Hoo boy derby378 Jun 2014 #79

Funnier still, I have actually drunk Vytautas. ChairmanAgnostic Jun 2014 #67

Cool! How long ago? derby378 Jun 2014 #78

I had it several years ago. There is a large ChairmanAgnostic Jun 2014 #86

This is a perfect example of how science works much differently than faith. Maedhros Jun 2014 #18

That is not the definition of religious faith. Gravitycollapse Jun 2014 #37

Point of Clarification: Maedhros Jun 2014 #38

Behold: The Infallible Proof of EXISTENCE ECHOFIELDS Jun 2014 #43

It's like Lennon said... deutsey Jun 2014 #25

Nothing to get hung about. Octafish Jun 2014 #63

I'd prefer a Schrodinger Universe Demeter Jun 2014 #27

That idea is hard to just wave off. retread Jun 2014 #42

Dark Matter whether cold, warm or hot is the placenta of the Universe. Uncle Joe Jun 2014 #29

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live. Rex Jun 2014 #31

Generally, if your study finds something you know for an absolute certainty is wrong... gcomeau Jun 2014 #33

Really? Another explanation is that... Helen Borg Jun 2014 #36

I was thinking of that one. Benton D Struckcheon Jun 2014 #39

Science continues to produce such amazing insights! Now we're not actually here! struggle4progress Jun 2014 #40

Cool! well, we might as well take the rest of the day off Ken Burch Jun 2014 #41

I think, therefore I am ECHOFIELDS Jun 2014 #44

Juicy magic, Thanks. n/t Whisp Jun 2014 #45

I am not eating the spaghetti, sausage and zucchini LuvLoogie Jun 2014 #46

I Got Higgs Bosoned Just A Couple Of Weeks Ago, Right Here On DU !!! WillyT Jun 2014 #49

The no shit Sherlock award goes to the PhD student who said Vattel Jun 2014 #50

First, there is a Universe; then there is no Universe; then there is! LongTomH Jun 2014 #52

Mellow Yellowish Octafish Jun 2014 #69

! Alex P Notkeaton Jun 2014 #54

well, that's a relief. Warren DeMontague Jun 2014 #55

Whew. opiate69 Jun 2014 #73

Who says it does? n/t pnwmom Jun 2014 #59

Maybe we all exist within that "fraction of a second..." hunter Jun 2014 #70

I think you win this thread with that statement pediatricmedic Jun 2014 #85

Thank you. Atman Jun 2014 #71

And So It Goes colsohlibgal Jun 2014 #74

I read about that ismnotwasm Jun 2014 #75

Was that sarcasm? KamaAina Jun 2014 #76

Clearly there is a flaw in their research Takket Jun 2014 #80

Sounds like they have no idea what happened Renew Deal Jun 2014 #81

Gawd done it. Arugula Latte Jun 2014 #82

This is a problem for "Flo". CK_John Jun 2014 #84