Just a short note to record the fact that I upgraded today to WP2.3.

If you experience any problems, please let me know, although I’d be surprised - I’ve been using the developer version for a while, and everything seems stable. Releases nowadays are far better than they weer when I first started using WP a few years back - well done guys!

Wait, There's More!

Thanks for stopping by to see what all the fuss is about. I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, and you'd like to be updated whenever I publish a new post (totally randomly, but never more than once or twice a week) you can subscribe - for free - and receive regular updates. To receive updates by email, simply complete the Subscription Form in the top right hand corner of every page or, if you're so inclined, click here for the main RSS feed.

And if you want to leave a comment at any time - even if it's just to say hi - you're more than welcome - just leave your thoughts in the block at the end of every post. I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks again!

Oh, and before I forget, you really should read my Why I Blog post. It might numb the shock of some of the heretical things I say!

Here’s a selection of similar terms other searchers are using when searching for Enlightenment.

Enlightenment Keywords (Right click and click Save As to download). It’s a file with of over 1,000 other terms related to Enlightenment. Enjoy!

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Female Orgasm Mastery is an instructional female orgasm video that will teach you to master ALL female orgasms including the squirting orgasm (female ejaculation). Continue reading

One of Amazon’s key to success has been their “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” program. What they’ve done is linked similarly themed items together - an extremely effective cross-selling and up-selling method.

I really am surprised that Google hasn’t found a way of doing the same thing. Sure, they have a “Find pages similar to the page” feature, but it’s not very effective. It lists other pages which use some of the same phrases, but it’s nowhere near as effective as Amazon’s program.

As a simple example, imagine if, after searching for “enlightenment”, you were presented with alternative phrases like “awareness”, “comprehension”, “critical thinking”, “philosophy”, “expanding the mind”, etc. Wouldn’t it be fantastic to see a little phrase saying

Googlers who searched for “enlightenment” were also interested in “ancient wisdom”.

Man, that would be astounding!

Well, until they develop this feature, I’ve manually extracted themes similar to those on this site, using a nifty piece of software called KeywordElite.  This program queries the Google, Yahoo, Ask and other databases to provide statistics on what people have searched for in the past 30 days.  It provides a unique insight into what other browsers are searching for.

All of the posts in this category will provide download files of related searches.  Useful stuff.

Has world class copy ever hooked you so forcefully it agitated every nerve in your body or even deprived you of sleep if you tried to resist?

Writing good copy is the key to building a world-class business.

The unfair asset that eliminates the hours of drudgery and frustration trying to create winning ads is a ’swipe file’. If you want to get your hands on the best swipe file ever put together, here’s the link:

http://www.ultimate-online-swipe-file.com/

One of the few Internet Marketers who understand the strategic value of creating an Internet Business, as opposed to jumping from opportunity to opportunity, is Rich Schefren of Strategic Profits.

He has written a series of reports differentiating Opportunists from Entrepreneurs. Read all three, and ensure you apply the principles he discusses before deciding to jump on the Internet bandwagon.

Download here (each link opens in a new window)
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Our ancestors’ beliefs contain within them the seeds of universal truths that have transcended time and can be found in many of our beliefs today. Indeed, in many parts of the world, inherent belief systems continue to be practiced. Ancient Wisdom looks at the fundamentals of these belief systems, how they have shaped the societies in which they are based, and what they can offer us in the fast-paced, technological society we inhabit today. The shared human quest to make sense of our lives and our place in the cosmos is the common characteristic to be found in all the spiritual and magical traditions that are included in Ancient Wisdom.

Ancient Wisdom from Tribal Life

Ancient Wisdom is often associated with tribes. Tribes have been around for the entire 100,000 years of known human history: the smallest tribal unit is the family, the largest historically has been 50 to a few hundred people.

Tribes have historically been highly successful human systems. From the dawn of human history until 7,000 years ago, tribes were the human race’s sole representatives over the entire planet.

As recently as 1800, tribes with their Ancient Wisdom populated half the earth.

The Structure of a Tribal Group

Humans were organised tribally for 100,000 years or more and did quite well: they’re even still here, at least so far. The evidence of analysis from tribal peoples alive today is that tribal life is relatively stress-free, satisfying, produces more leisure time than city/state life and - perhaps most important - is sustainable indefinitely.

Tribes are characterised by 5 primary traits:

1. political independence
2. egalitarian structure
3. get their resources from renewable local sources
4. have a unique sense of their own identity
5. respect the identity of other tribes

This is Ancient Wisdom.

The Structure of a City/State Culture

Contrast tribal characteristics with the structure and nature of city/states.

1. political dominance
2. hierarchical: clear authority structures
3. get their resources through trade and conquest
4. absorb other cultures into their own identity
5. genocidal warfare against others

This is not Ancient Wisdom.

The preceding article was taken from The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight by Thom Hartmann.

Ancient Wisdom Links

The Ancient Wisdom by Annie Besant. In this book, Besant introduces and explains the Physical plane, Astral plane, Mental plane and other planes of existence.

A Collection of Ancient Wisdom

Ancient Wisdom for the 21st Century

New Thought, Ancient Wisdom - the history and future of the new thought movement (pdf)

Ancient Wisdom for a Modern World

Ancient Wisdom: The Blue Lotus by Chuan Zhi Shakya, OHY

Ancient Wisdom is also the name of a Dutch heavy metal band, but you probably weren’t looking for them.

This is an Ancient Wisdom stub. You can help by expanding it.

What is Critical Thinking?

Nobody said it better than Francis Bacon, back in 1605:

For myself, I found that I was fitted for nothing so well as for the study of Truth; as having a mind nimble and versatile enough to catch the resemblances of things … and at the same time steady enough to fix and distinguish their subtler differences; as being gifted by nature with desire to seek, patience to doubt, fondness to meditate, slowness to assert, readiness to consider, carefulness to dispose and set in order; and as being a man that neither affects what is new nor admires what is old, and that hates every kind of imposture.

A shorter version is the art of being right.

Or, more prosaically: critical thinking is the skillful application of a repertoire of validated general techniques for deciding the level of confidence you should have in a proposition in the light of the available evidence.

Definitions of Critical Thinking

• Critical Thinking is an ability to evaluate information and opinions in a systematic, purposeful, efficient manner.
• Critical Thinking is reasonable reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do. More precisely, it is assessing the authenticity, accuracy, and/or worth of knowledge claims and arguments. It requires careful, precise, persistent and objective analysis of any knowledge claim or belief to judge its validity and/or worth.
• Critical Thinking is focused, organized thinking about such things as the logical relationships among ideas, the soundness of evidence, and the differences between fact and opinion.
• Critical Thinking is a persistent effort to examine evidence that supports any belief, solution, or conclusion prior to its acceptance. The ability to think clearly, to analyze, and to reason logically.

Essay on Critical Thinking and Why It Counts

Peter Facione has authored an essay entitled Critical Thinking - What it is and Why it Counts, in which he says:

“Teach people to make good decisions and you equip them to improve their own futures and become contributing members of society, rather than burdens on society. Becoming educated and practicing good judgment does not absolutely guarantee a life of happiness, virtue, or economic success, but it surely offers a better chance at those things. And it is clearly better than enduring the consequences of making bad decisions and better than burdening friends, family, and all the rest of us with the unwanted and avoidable consequences of those poor choices.”

Use this link to download his Critical Thinking Essay.

Critical Thinking Links

Critical Thinking on the Web - Excellent collection of links from Austhink, who are leaders in argument mapping.
Critical Thinking - Get Enlightened - What you should think about the next time you encounter any information.
ConceptDraw MINDMAP - Critical Thinking - Critical thinking software
Critical Thinking Lab - A computer-assisted introduction to critical thinking, informal logic, and logic. (Site has annoying popups).

This post is a Critical Thinking stub. You can help by expanding it, or continue browsing the Categories on your left.

This blog is powered by Wordpress, an extremely flexible and powerful blog software which is available free at Wordpress. Part of Wordpress’ power is the ability to add any number of plugins to enhance functionality. I am often asked what Wordpress plugins I use for this site, so I thought I’d list them here.

The current theme is AjaxBerlee.
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