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Lars_H
SFN Regular
Germany
630 Posts |
 Posted - 05/15/2002 : 06:56:19
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Studying ancient texts on warfare like Sun Tzu's Art of War or even Ceasars Bellum Gallium and trying to apply the wisdom in modern environments is nothing new. Using Religion to bolster your troops moral ain't uncommon either. But this recent approach to apply ancient wisdom is certainly original.
They want to take the instructions and recipes in a two millennia old Hindu text literally to create 'magic' weapons.
They are concentrating at the moment on recreating special meals that will allow a soldier to go without food for a month and special camel-skin shoes that will enable them to walk hundreds of miles without getting tired.
A night-vision increasing magic powder will be the next step. Eventually they want to research other texts that will allow them to build UFOs.
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I forgot to include the link to the BBC story where I got this from:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south_asia/newsid_1986000/1986595.stm
Edited by - Lars_H on 05/15/2002 06:59:50
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Lisa
SFN Regular
USA
1223 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2002 : 07:31:03 [Permalink]
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Boy, I'll bet Pakistan is scared!
L
If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room. |
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Slater
SFN Regular
USA
1668 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2002 : 10:57:45 [Permalink]
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quote:
Boy, I'll bet Pakistan is scared!
OHMYGOSH, today at lunch suddenly every spoon in every Pakistani resturant was bent!!! AHHHH, Run!!!!
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My business is to teach my aspirations to conform themselves to fact, not to try and make facts harmonize with my aspirations. ---Thomas Henry Huxley, 1860 |
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Lisa
SFN Regular
USA
1223 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2002 : 11:21:28 [Permalink]
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There is a very sad side to this. Over at the JREF, Mr. Randi has discussed the enormous amount of superstition that is pervasive in India. These soldiers will probably believe anything they're told. This will result in a lot of gullible, albeit dead, soldiers.
On the other hand, the Pakistanis will be praying 5 times a day in the belief that Allah will help them, so maybe things will even out.
Lisa
If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room. |
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Tokyodreamer
SFN Regular
USA
1447 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2002 : 11:28:48 [Permalink]
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quote:
They want to take the instructions and recipes in a two millennia old Hindu text literally to create 'magic' weapons.
What's worse is that when soldiers can't go without food for a month, and they get tired after walking a few miles, the "magician" who performed the "magic creation process" or whatever will probably be blamed for not doing it right.
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Truth above pride and ego; truth above all |
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Lisa
SFN Regular
USA
1223 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2002 : 12:39:12 [Permalink]
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quote:
quote:
They want to take the instructions and recipes in a two millennia old Hindu text literally to create 'magic' weapons.
What's worse is that when soldiers can't go without food for a month, and they get tired after walking a few miles, the "magician" who performed the "magic creation process" or whatever will probably be blamed for not doing it right.
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Truth above pride and ego; truth above all
So he gets what he deserves? Excuse me while I run for a tissue. I'm inclined to feel a little bit more sorry for the poor credulous folks this crap is going to be foisted upon.
Anyone here read the "Shamen" series over at North Texas Skeptics? Shamen told their warriors that "magic oil" could repel bullets. The result was that they were "mowed down".
Who knows? After there's a lot of funerals, maybe the skeptisim level in India will raise a few notches.
Lisa
If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room. |
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Slater
SFN Regular
USA
1668 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2002 : 12:43:25 [Permalink]
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quote:
...the "magician" who performed the "magic creation process" or whatever will probably be blamed for not doing it right.
That never happens, Magicians are too smart for that. (Live magicians that is.)
Look at the Xian "magicians" here who cure people of all sorts of incurable things. When the person dies it isn't because the magician...er, umm, minister...is a crack pot. It isn't because the super being that is conjured up isn't really there. The person with the cancer, or what have you, is at fault for not being holy enough.
It's a sweet racket if you have no sense of values. You sell something that isn't there and blame the buyer for not having it. Then you resell it to the next sucker.
There was a comedy act in burlesque whose name I forget but the bit was she called herself the Jewish Madam and made jokes about that in a stage Jewish accent. Her main line was "Ya got it, ya sell it, and ya still got it!" Same with magicians as with madams only "they ain't got it, they sell it and they still ain't got it!" Low overhead when you make your living selling the non-existent.
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My business is to teach my aspirations to conform themselves to fact, not to try and make facts harmonize with my aspirations. ---Thomas Henry Huxley, 1860 |
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ktesibios
SFN Regular
USA
505 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2002 : 14:46:05 [Permalink]
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Actually, if this could be taken farther, to the point where the soldiers were left out altogether, it might not be a bad thing.
If war consisted of opposing formations of magicians busily mumbo-jumboing away at each other it would be an improvement over the way we do it now. 
Unfortunately, it would probably just be a matter of time before one of them thought of bashing one of the opposition on the head with his magic wand, and we'd end up right back where we started...
Ford, there's an infinite number of monkeys outside who want to talk to us about this script for Hamlet they've worked out. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2002 : 17:44:56 [Permalink]
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I find myself reminded of the, "Ghost Dance."
f
"He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice."
- Albert Einstein
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Tokyodreamer
SFN Regular
USA
1447 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2002 : 19:13:25 [Permalink]
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So he gets what he deserves? Excuse me while I run for a tissue.
No no no! You misunderstand!
What I think is sad is that instead of the soldiers realizing that there's no such thing as magic, they'll just think the magician did it wrong, while continuing to believe in nonsense.
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Truth above pride and ego; truth above all
Edited by - tokyodreamer on 05/15/2002 19:14:33 |
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