The Official Website of Michael Corthell

by Michael Corthell Define happiness in terms of  living  a good life, or flourishing,  rather than simply as an emotion.  A happy life is a positive life. Life is both a serious business and a game we all play. Some of us play at it better than others, and they are the people you see smiling all the time - they are happy, and joyful in their lives. Do you want to be one of them? I believe that you do. There are some parts of life that are seemingly secret. I say secret because they are so obvious we often take them for granted sometimes. Some of us need to be reminded often, others are just naturally happy. ''The way to happiness: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind from worry. Live simply, expect little, give much. Scatter sunshine, forget self, think of others. Try this for a week and you will be surprised.''   ― Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking What is the number one secret?   Choose ...

Noam Chomsky, Steven Pinker, Evelina Fedorenko,  and Daniel Dor join Brian Greene to grapple with the foundations of language.  Language ranks among the most powerful influences on human existence. Even so, language presents many mysteries that are the subject of heated debate. Was there a rewiring of the human brain which gave us the capacity for language? Or is it a human invention developed to facilitate group cooperation? Is language primarily a communication tool or the substrate of inner thought? And how is it that with a few choice phrases language can fire the imagination or transport us to the stars?

 '' W ords are tools, extensions of self, used to craft ideas into  reality and emotions into pictures in order to share with others.'' Michael Corthell 

  Semantics: the branch of linguistics and logic concerned with meaning. There are a number of branches and subbranches of semantics, including formal semantics, which studies the logical aspects of meaning, such as sense, reference, implication, and logical form, lexical semantics, which studies word meanings and word relations, and conceptual semantics, which studies the cognitive structure of meaning. The Story of A-town and B-ville (From:  Language in Thought and Action , S.I. Hayakawa.) Once upon a time, said the Professor, there were two small communities, spiritually as well as geographically situated at a considerable distance from each other. They had, however, these problems in common: both were hard hit by a recession so that in each of the towns there were about one hundred heads of families unemployed. The city fathers of A-town, the first community, were substantial and sound-thinking businessmen. The unemployed tried hard, as unemployed people usually do, to fi...

  ''The Universe itself which is all that it contains, including us is a system  ―  I will go so far as to say it is, in fact, a living organism. All material systems require balance to function properly(picture a swirling galaxy or planets orbiting stars). In physiology, we call this homeostasis or that is to say, 'the same state'.'' 

  The first exercise in  ''Revelation '22 Eden Restored'' is to read and then discuss the 1972 book "The Limits to Growth'' . <<You can download it free and/or buy the update >> '' Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update '' (we do not have a stake in the sale, in fact, The Vegan Project never asks for or accepts money). The Exercise Read the book and watch the videos Post your comments and opinions to The Vegan Project's Facebook page If you would like further information or want to comment privately DM us SUMMARY Published 1972 – The message of this book still holds today: The earth’s interlocking resources – the global system of nature in which we all live – probably cannot support present rates of economic and population growth much beyond the year 2100, if that long, even with advanced technology. In the summer of 1970, an international team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology began a study of t...

 

 

 

by Michael Corthell You Play, You Pay ''Wealth from gambling quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows'' Proverbs 13:11 Greed The desire for an abundance of money in one fell swoop, by chance, inheritance or by theft is a common dream among many of us, but when that windfall comes upon us the 'having' turns out not to be nearly as fulfilling and satisfying as the 'wanting'. ''For the love of money is the root of all evil; and while some have coveted after it, they have erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.'' 1 Timothy 6:10 Dark and fearful is the 'curse' of unearned money. Regarding Lottery winnings.   Jack Whittaker found the $90-some million that he took home after taxes from his $314.9 million lottery ticket (he chose a lump sum payment instead of an annuity) to be different from the $17 million he had earned himself, working his way up from poverty to the o...

''We and every creature with eyes are the lenses with which the Universe sees and explores itself.'' Michael Corthell    

 ''Peace is hiding in plain sight...peace can be made only by those who are peaceful, and love can be only be manifested by those who love...look in the mirror.'' Michael Corthell

“We seldom realise, for example, that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own. For we think in terms of languages and images which we did not invent, but which were given to us by our society.” Alan Watts _____________________________________ by Michael Corthell Why then is today's language inadequate in a future technocratic society? First, we must make a distinction between conversational (or emotional language) and technical language. Conversational Speak: Conversational language is sometimes referred to as “everyday language,” “natural language,” or “social communication.” It includes informal language that students might use with peers or adults while playing, shopping, and completing household tasks. MORE Technical Speak: Technical language refers to written or oral communication that has specialized content. ... The differences between technical and everyday language center on the use of jargon and assumptions about the audience. However, there a...

  Michael Corthell

 Rejoice! Each and every morning, we are all born again. What we do in this present day is what matters most. Everything has a beginning and has an ending. Accept that truth and all will be well. Peace, my friends! Michael Corthell

by Michael Corthell I've saved the 'best' for last, in this series on phobias and how to overcome them. How to conquer the fear of death or Thanatophobia. The fear of death can suck the life right out of you. The American Psychological Association says that officially there are 100 phobias, but there are actually more than 500 of them in existence them according to medical literature. Thanatophobia, the fear of kicking the bucket(rightly fear of the dying process) is one of them.  ''The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.'' —Mark Twain The fear of death is one of the major fears we all have. It can be so intense, that in many cases it becomes debilitating — it ruins the person's ability to enjoy life. It is the second greatest fear just behind poverty. It is my contention is that the two fears are basically one and the same because in our minds we equate lack of money with ...

Xenotransplantation is any procedure that involves the transplantation, implantation or infusion into a human recipient of either (a) live cells, tissues, or organs from a nonhuman animal source, or (b) human body fluids, cells, tissues, or organs that have had ex vivo contact with live nonhuman animal cells, tissues or organs. The development of xenotransplantation is, in part, driven by the fact that the demand for human organs for clinical transplantation far exceeds the supply. _______________ ''...Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man That he didn't, didn't already have And cause never was the reason for the evening Or the tropic of Sir Galahad...'' —  America According to CNN a 57-year-old Maryland man is doing well three days after receiving a genetically modified pig heart in a first-of-its-kind transplant surgery, University of Maryland Medicine said in a news release Monday. David Bennett had terminal heart disease, and the pig heart was "the ...

 ''Living with less stuff is not about suffering more, but instead, it's a way to discover what is most important. Sometimes, the only way to determine what is really important in your life is to get rid of everything that isn’t.'' Michael Corthell _______________ MINIMALISM: LIVING WELL AND DOING MORE WITH LESS Paring it down. Finding out that you really don't need all this 'stuff'. But, being a minimalist doesn't mean that you are poor or have to live poorly. It is  not  a life of poverty. As you can see below, minimalism is not a new idea. One of America's founding fathers and prolific over-achievers was spot on... '' There are two ways to increase your wealth. Increase your means or decrease your wants. The best is to do both at the same time.''   ―Benjamin Franklin

''If we start each day with a positive purpose, and if we vow to do at least one good thing for someone other than ourselves, every day will be a good day.'' Michael Corthell

  Jesus, came into his physical body with the awareness that he was a subset of God or God incarnate. He of course understood The Law of Divine Oneness ( plus all Universal Laws ) and called himself the Son of God.  He taught, '' I can assure you that whoever believes in me(what I teach) will do the same things I have done. And they will do even greater things than I have done because I am going to the Father.   And if you ask for anything in my name, I will do it for you. Then the Father’s glory will be shown through the Son.   If you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it... All who love me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them. My Father and I will come to them and live with them. '' He also said,  “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” He points to the disciples and says, “Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister  and mother.”   Finally,  God...

We and all things are indeed all one — in substance and in spirit. Humanity at large does not understand this yet and that is the cause of nearly all the suffering in our world today.

  Time is a concept of the human mind, that can exist only within the mind. Outside of our minds and its multiplicity of concepts and theories, there is only the ever-present, continuous, and uninterrupted present. (The ensō I used in this meme symbolizes absolute enlightenment, strength, elegance, the universe, and mu (the void))

''When we photograph in color, we receive the full spectrum of light, and that's a 'true' picture of what is. But when we photograph people or any object in black and white, we reveal the spirit of was is and thereby expose mood.''  - Michael Corthell 

A dispersive prism is used to break up light into its constituent spectral  colors  (the colors of the  rainbow ). by Michael Corthell The symbolic meaning of a color can vary depending on the society, the culture, and the historical time period. Each color has many properties, but the symbolic meanings are fairly straightforward. Knowing color symbolism is helpful in understanding human behavior. Color, as a symbol, is a form of non-verbal communication, and expression. Color influences human perception in ways that are not always obvious. The sense of taste for example. Colors can also be helpful for their placebo-like effects. For example, red and orange capsules are generally used to package stimulants . Color can indeed influence peoples' perceptions, but they are not even across the board. It is very important to remember that the effect of color symbolism can vary depending on gender, age...