(November 1, 2015 at 11:20 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote:(November 1, 2015 at 10:15 pm)Combanitorics Wrote: Why is intellectual bankruptcy often unavoidable in peace? What, in your opinion, is the ultimate cause of intellectual bankruptcy?
What did he say? I have definitely heard reports by soldiers (my mother's brother in Vietnam) that war engenders a substantially altered state of consciousness.
I've never been in organized combat, but I was a firefighter in the Air Force and as such saw a few SHTF moments, where the balance between living and dying was pretty fine. I didn't have the time nor inclination to notice any paranormal stuff. I was too busy working on the problem at hand, taking charge of my own survival and where necessary the survival of my brotha firedogs.
I also survived another man's attempt to kill me in a fight, and there even more was I too busy with the matter at hand to pray (not that I would have, I was already an atheist) or notice ghosts, angels, etc.
Religious/Paranormal considerations totally aside, did these experiences "give you meaning" in any way beyond what meaning you already attached to your life? As a personality or character, were these experiances extremely formative for you, or did you find that you yourself did not essentially change, including in your worldview?
"You cannot ask us to take sides against arithmetic." --Winston Churchill
