MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'collapse'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:23:53 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5139895&cid=t_176885_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F16%2Fthe-cause-of-rioting-thats-easy-rioters%2F British Prime Minister David Cameron attributed the recent riots in his to “the slow-motion moral collapse that has taken place in parts of our country these past few generations.”   The message may seem vaguely situationist at first blush, as Cameron emphasizes the problem of a “broken society.” But what he really seems to care about are the bad “choices” made by selfish, irresponsible individuals. Cameron’s comments resemble remarks he’s made in the past.  In 2008, according to one account, he declared that “people who are fat, poor or addicted to drugs could only have themselves to blame.” It’s a one-size-fits-all ideology:  If you have problems, look in the mirror! To be fair, Cameron does acknowledge one situational... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5139895 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 18:42:14 +0100 5139895 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975123&cid=t_176885_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FVirologyBlog%2F%7E3%2FafmmTOiAVac%2F Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Dickson Despommier Vincent, Alan, and Dickson discuss the reduction in genome size of Mimivirus upon passage in amoeba, and analysis of the microbiome of honeybees. Click the arrow above to play, or right-click to download TWiV #139 (96 MB .mp3, 80 minutes). Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, by email, or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Links for this episode: Mimivirus genome reduction after amoebal culture (PNAS) Carbohydrate-Active enZYmes database Analysis of the honey bee microbiome (PLoS One) The colony-collapse blues (TWiV 104) Blessed are the beekeepers (Wall Street Journal) TWiV on Facebook Letters read on TWiV 139 Weekly Science Picks Alan – Life Before the Dinos... virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975123 Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:18:27 +0100 4975123 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4580905&cid=t_176885_88_f&fid=38129&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifeinthefastlane%2FWZHV%2F%7E3%2Fb_8uqx_i6EA%2F The LITFL Review is your regular and reliable source for the highest highlights, sneakiest sneak peaks and loudest shout-outs from the webbed world of emergency medicine and critical care. (Source: Life in the Fast Lane) Life in the Fast Lane blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4580905 Mon, 14 Mar 2011 02:19:27 +0100 4580905 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4460009&cid=t_176885_109_f&fid=34817&url=http%3A%2F%2Fshrinkwrapped.blogs.com%2Fblog%2F2011%2F02%2Fsimplifying-complexity.html Studying complex systems and the failure of complex systems is fascinating in and of itself, but it has become a more serious discipline in the last few years and understanding how complex systems fail is increasingly relevant to our understanding of our increasingly complex world.  Joseph Tainter takes the position that complex societies start to fail when the marginal returns on increased complexity in solving societal problems peaks and starts to diminish; it is all down hill from there.  More and more resources are devoted to shoring up a system that is becoming more and more inefficient in addressing the needs of the population.  Two stories today bring up the issue of complexity and how it impacts problem solving.  Dinocrat links to articles discussing (some i... ShrinkWrapped blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4460009 Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:05:54 +0100 4460009 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4377228&cid=t_176885_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.rawvoice.com%2Fpmn_twiv%2Ftraffic.libsyn.com%2Ftwiv%2FTWiV116.mp3 Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit On episode #116 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Dickson, Alan, and Rich review an adenovirus-based vaccine strategy against drug addiction, a field trial of RNAi to prevent Israeli acute paralysis virus infection in honeybees, and suppression of avian influenza transmission in transgenic chickens. Right click to download TWiV #116 (64 MB .mp3, 89 minutes). Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, or by email, or listen on your mobile device with Stitcher Radio. Links for this episode: Cocaine analog coupled to disrupted adenovirus Field application of RNAi in honeybees Suppression of avian influenza transmission in GM chickens (EurekAlert) Phage tailspike protein therapy Use... virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4377228 Sun, 16 Jan 2011 20:02:43 +0100 4377228 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4294708&cid=t_176885_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F12%2F28%2Fwhen-you-see-hoofprints%2F One of the best instructors I had in grad school was the first person to say the phrase “when you see hoofprints look for horses, when you don’t find horses, look for zebras.” The importance of this did not strike me until I was deeper into practicing as a psychologist. I have a lot of people come into my office at various stages of explaining what is happening with them. Some people will say “I don’t know” straight away, whereas others have created a complex narrative. But we can have a tendency in our search for explanations to latch onto things that we read online or heard about on a TV show that have very little probability of being accurate. That is looking for zebras before horses. Sometimes the zebra explanations can be comforting because we can put a name to so... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4294708 Tue, 28 Dec 2010 18:09:06 +0100 4294708 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4167360&cid=t_176885_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.rawvoice.com%2Fpmn_twiv%2Ftraffic.libsyn.com%2Ftwiv%2FTWiV107.mp3 Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit On episode #107 of the podcast This Week in Virology, Vincent, Dickson, Alan, and Rich answer listener questions about poliovirus, social media, dengue, influenza, evolution, gel filtration, and much more. Download TWiV #107 (68 MB .mp3, 94 minutes) Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, or by email, or listen on your mobile device with Stitcher Radio. Links for this episode: tre recombinase: paper one and two Universal influenza vaccines Mitochondrial and chlorophast phage-type RNA polymerase in plants Protein Data Bank Letters read on TWiV 107 Weekly Science Picks Rich – Protein Synthesis: An epic on the cellular level Dickson – The Patchwork Mouse by Joseph R.... virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4167360 Mon, 15 Nov 2010 02:46:32 +0100 4167360 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4105208&cid=t_176885_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.rawvoice.com%2Fpmn_twiv%2Ftraffic.libsyn.com%2Ftwiv%2FTWiV104.mp3 Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Dickson Despommier, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit On episode #104 of the podcast This Week in Virology, the entire TWiV family reviews the latest ideas about colony collapse disorder of honeybees, and resurgence of monkeypox in Africa. Download TWiV #104 (70 MB .mp3, 97 minutes) Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, or by email, or listen on your mobile device with Stitcher Radio. Links for this episode: The Harvey Lectures Iridovirus and microsporidian linked to colony collapse disorder CCD discussed previously on TWiV 64, 49, and 46 Why are they called iridoviruses? Iridoviruses at ViralZone Scientists and soldiers solve a bee mystery (NY Times, pdf) Edgewood research center involvement in CCD Resurgence of monkeypox in ... virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4105208 Mon, 25 Oct 2010 01:21:13 +0100 4105208 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3954308&cid=t_176885_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F09%2F09%2Fan-emotional-timeline-of-911%2F As we approach the ninth anniversary of 9/11, researchers writing in Psychological Science this week analyzed 85,000 text pages sent through pagers during the 2 hours before and 18 hours after 9/11 took place. (You do remember what a pager is, don’t you?) WikiLeaks, the website in the news lately for other reasons, has made the 573,000 lines consisting of 6.4 million words freely available on its website for the past year. What would these 85,000 pages tell us about the human emotion that people were expressing during those 20 hours? Researchers’ favorite tool when it comes to text analysis is the good ole Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC). So it’s no surprise that’s what these researchers also turned to to analyze the word content of these communications for... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3954308 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:30:44 +0100 3954308 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3629622&cid=t_176885_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FlozD2SQ86hs%2F By Christopher PrebleOver at National Journal’s National Security Experts blog, this week’s question revolves around the health of the U.S. economy, and its relationship to U.S. power.  The editors ask:  How serious a threat is the mounting debt to the nation’s standing as the world’s only superpower? Can the U.S. continue to spend more than all other countries combined on its military forces given burdensome debt levels? In what other ways does the mounting debt undermine the country’s strategic position? [...] My response: Our long-term fiscal imbalance, which increasingly amounts to a massive intergenerational wealth transfer, is clearly a sign of our decline. But it is a decline that has been a long time coming. (I first wrote about the insolvency of t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3629622 Thu, 03 Jun 2010 15:51:45 +0100 3629622 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3138856&cid=t_176885_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.rawvoice.com%2Fpmn_twiv%2Fwww.twiv.tv%2FTWiV064.mp3 Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove, and Rich Condit Vincent, Alan, and Rich discuss ten compelling virology stories of 2009. Download TWiV #64 (68 MB .mp3, 94 minutes) Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, or by email. Ten virology stories of 2009: Pandemic influenza: Swine-origin H1N1 virus (TWiV 36) XMRV, prostate cancer, and chronic fatigue syndrome (TWiV 50, 55) AIDS vaccine ’success’ (TWiV 51) Colony collapse disorder (TWiV 46, 49) AIDS-like disease in wild chimps (TWiV 45) Diverse viral community in Antarctic lake (TWiV 58) Polyomavirus seroepidemiology in humans (TWiV 26) Poxvirus threatens UK red squirrels (TWiV 63) Polio spreads from Nigeria (TWiV 29) How mosquitoes survive Dengue virus infection (TWiV 21) Picture book on ... virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3138856 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:03:44 +0100 3138856 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3084560&cid=t_176885_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FVirologyBlog%2F%7E3%2FHQxnyAUW-lY%2F There is some evidence that viruses are involved in colony collapse disorder, a phenomenon in which worker bees disappear. This condition is receiving a great deal of attention ranging from basic scientific research (summarized on TWiV 46) to a PBS episode to a documentary entitled Colony which says that “The unexplainable phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder has left landscapes of empty beehives all across America, threatening not only the beekeeping industry but our food supply.” From my view as a virologist, there is no compelling evidence for a single viral etiology in colony collapse disorder. I asked Tom, a honeybee breeder in California, whether he thinks that there is a pandemic that will wipe out the world’s honeybees. Here is his answer: “I can on... virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3084560 Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:56:39 +0100 3084560 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2963075&cid=t_176885_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FMm_riXGmVcI%2F The Berlin Wall fell 20 years ago this month, marking the collapse of Soviet communism. The anniversary is an appropriate time for stocktaking and for seeking to answer a number of questions associated with this historic event, its aftermath, and its continued influence. After 20 years, Paul Hollander looks back at why the Berlin Wall fell. Nazism and Communism: Why you rarely hear about the atrocities of Soviet communism. Imposing “paradise” at gunpoint. Flashback to 1990: Why the Soviets fell. Fear and Loathing in the Soviet Union: Cato president Ed Crane discusses his trip to the other side of the Iron Curtain in 1982. Podcast: Why Russia must confront the criminal nature of its communist past. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2963075 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:50:54 +0100 2963075 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2916082&cid=t_176885_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FCbCVCx6X__w%2F Senate Judiciary Committee abandons hope of bringing any real change to the Patriot Act. Julian Sanchez in The Nation: “The Obama administration makes vague, reassuring noises about constraining executive power and protecting civil liberties, but then merrily adopts whatever appalling policy George W. Bush put in place.” The imminent collapse of Social Security. Cognitive Dissonance: New poll shows rising support for a so-called public option in health care, even as the public continues to oppose greater government control over the health care system. It has been tried before: Why increasing the size of government won’t work. Talking with Tea Partiers. Podcast: The real problem with American health care: You are not the customer. More here. (Source: Cato-at-libe... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2916082 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:18:13 +0100 2916082 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2796414&cid=t_176885_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FgXSkReayefo%2F When Treasury Secretary Hank Paul proposed the bailout of Wall Street banks last September, I objected in part because the TARP meant that government connections, not economic merit, would come to determine how capital gets allocated in the economy. That prediction now looks dead on: As financial firms navigate a life more closely connected to government aid and oversight than ever before, they increasingly turn to Washington, closing a chasm that was previously far greater than the 228 miles separating the nation’s political and financial capitals. In the year since the investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, paralyzing global markets and triggering one of the biggest government forays into the economy in U.S. history, Wall Street has looked south to forge new business strategies... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2796414 Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:27:19 +0100 2796414 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2792869&cid=t_176885_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.rawvoice.com%2Fpmn_twiv%2Fwww.twiv.tv%2FTWiV049.mp3 Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dick Despommier On episode 49 of the podcast ‘This Week in Virology”, Vincent and Dick continue Virology 101 with a discussion of the seven different types of viral genomes, and how to use the pathway to mRNA to understand viral replication. Download TWiV #49 (45 MB .mp3, 62 minutes) Subscribe to TWiV in iTunes, by the RSS feed, or by email Links for this episode: Dick talks about hookworm on Radio Lab Dick’s video page at BigThink The seven types of viral genome Animation of HIV replication (thanks axiomatically atypical!) Changes in transcript abundance relating to colony collapse disorder in honey bee (thanks Judi!) Weekly Science Picks Dick Discovery Channel: Planet Green Vincent Influenza videos at BigThink: one, two, three, four, ... virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2792869 Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:45:35 +0100 2792869 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2726965&cid=t_176885_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.rawvoice.com%2Fpmn_twiv%2Fwww.twiv.tv%2FTWiV046.mp3 Hosts: Vincent Racaniello and Dick Despommier In episode #46 of the podcast “This Week in Virology”, Vincent and Dick continue virology 101 with a discussion of virus entry into cells, then answer reader email on colony collapse disorder and viruses that confer a benefit to their host. Download TWiV #46 (35 MB .mp3, 50 minutes) Subscribe to TWiV in iTunes, by the RSS feed, or by email Links for this episode: Illustrations of virus entry into cells Nice reference for biological items (thanks Jim!) Colony collapse disorder: PBS program,  descriptive study, metagenomic study, genetic analysis (thanks Swiss compass!) Potato virus Y and Alzheimer’s disease (thanks Jennifer!) A virus in a fungus in a plant (thanks Jennifer!) Weekly Science Picks Vincent PLoS Pearls ... virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2726965 Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:12:34 +0100 2726965 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2674330&cid=t_176885_111_f&fid=36048&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAHeartyLife%2F%7E3%2FNhyUZ7hnq2I%2F This news shouldn’t be surprising. A new report says that people involved in or exposed to the collapse of the Twin Towers have a greater chance of developing asthma. With all the dust and debris that flew during that event, it makes sense that there would be some lasting health effects. About “1 in 7, or 13.5 percent of adults who encountered intense dust clouds after the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11 were later found to have asthma.” Those with no dust exposure came in at 8.4 percent with asthma. This was true of those in buildings who were rescued and the rescue workers themselves. In fact, rescue workers had the highest rates of asthma. All the more reason we appreciate their brave efforts. Image: sxc.hu. Share and Enjoy: ... A Hearty Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2674330 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:53:07 +0100 2674330 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2375860&cid=t_176885_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FFDvXziEhntw%2F The latest Long Term Trends results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress are out. They reveal a productivity collapse unparalleled in any other sector of the economy. At the end of high school, students perform no better today than they did nearly 40 years ago, and yet we spend more than twice as much per pupil in real, inflation-adjusted terms. I can’t think of any other service that has gotten worse during my lifetime. Our school system has failed alone. While the stagnation in overall achievement masks a 3 to 5 percent gain in the achievement of African American 17-year-olds since 1970, the scores for whites at the end of high school are virtually unchanged. Anyone who points to the slightly higher scores in the early grades as cause for celebration is missing the point... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2375860 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:11:07 +0100 2375860 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1908882&cid=t_176885_111_f&fid=36048&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAHeartyLife%2F%7E3%2FcwVjzfE5Br8%2F * Chest compression alone nearly doubled the chances of a good neurological outcome in patients at greatest risk (those that stopped breathing, which accounted for 90 percent of those in the study). * The good outcomes were most likely if the rescue attempt began within four minutes of the collapse. * Mouth-to-mouth ventilation provided no real benefit. * Those given compressions alone survived as often as those given traditional CPR (chest compressions plus rescue breaths). What do you think about this?  This follows new research that shows mouth to mouth is not necessary for survival of cardiac arrest.  This was studied due to the fact that when an average bystander witnesses someone go down from cardiac arrest, they are not super psyched about swapping spit with the unknown. This was ... A Hearty Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1908882 Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:25:07 +0100 1908882 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1491956&cid=t_176885_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F06%2Flead-into-gold-ips-cells-used-to-study.html This is precisely the kind of experiment for which we were told that cloning was required; creating patient specific, tailor made stem cells for study. From the story:Researchers at Johns Hopkins have established a human cell-based system for studying sickle cell anemia by reprogramming somatic cells to an embryonic stem cell like state. Researchers at Johns Hopkins have established a human cell-based system for studying sickle cell anemia by reprogramming somatic cells to an embryonic stem cell like state. Publishing online in Stem Cells on May 29, the team describes a faster and more efficient method of reprogramming cells that might speed the development of stem cell therapies. The scientists hope this will help facilitate drug testing.The argument on behalf of human cloning research fo... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1491956 Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:56:00 +0100 1491956 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1352897&cid=t_176885_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2008%2F04%2F05%2Fill-pay-for-less-security%2F After the collapse of three airlines here in the U.S. in the past week, I will say this — I will pay more for a U.S. airline that can treat me like a respected customer of theirs (instead of a possible security threat), and I’ll pay for it. I’ll pay for expedited check-in through security. No, I won’t upgrade to 1st class or anything, but if you can find a way to work the TSA to reduce the burden on me — an average American citizen who has no criminal record — to board the freakin’ plan without a 5 minute pat-down and a 15 minute wait in a security line while taking off my shoes, yes, I will pay for that “privilege” in our free society. I can’t imagine that George Washington or Thomas Jefferson ever imagined their great nation tr... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1352897 Sun, 06 Apr 2008 02:30:23 +0100 1352897 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1173039&cid=t_176885_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F01%2Fuk-nhs-continues-its-meltdown-as-bma.html You know it's really getting ugly when the British Medical Association, not exactly known for radical agitation, may urge its member doctors to walk out of the UK's National Health Service. From the story:A mass exodus of GPs from the NHS is being considered by the British Medical Association as it steps up its campaign against the government's plan to impose extended surgery opening hours in England, internal documents have revealed.The move, which could result in patients paying up to £25 for a short consultation, was among options drawn up by leading GPs who object to being made to offer evening and weekend appointments. The health secretary, Alan Johnson, has threatened to cut the income of practices refusing to provide the extended hours. The BMA is preparing to ballot GPs next month... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1173039 Thu, 24 Jan 2008 04:39:00 +0100 1173039 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=551444&cid=t_176885_140_f&fid=35440&url=http%3A%2F%2Fspiritualemergency.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F01%2Fspirituality-trauma.html Traumatic experiences force victims to face issues lying outside the boundaries of personal and collective frames of reference. As a result they are forced to confront psychological and spiritual challenges that are unfamiliar to the average person. Therapists need to recognise that organisations of self and God are often thrown into question or destroyed by experiences of trauma. The deconstructive power of trauma exposes the lack of substance and cohesiveness that comprises identity and images of God.Initially, trauma is grounded in pain, loss, and fear. Often it leads to breakdowns. Ultimately, with proper support and guidance, it has the potential to transform individuals into compassionate and deeply spiritual beings. Traumatic events expose victims to aspects of life that most would ... Spiritual Emergency blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=551444 Wed, 11 Jan 2006 02:27:00 +0100 551444 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=551443&cid=t_176885_140_f&fid=35440&url=http%3A%2F%2Fspiritualemergency.blogspot.com%2F2006%2F01%2Fspirituality-that-transforms.html In a series of books (e.g., A Sociable God, Up from Eden, and The Eye of Spirit), I have tried to show that religion itself has always performed two very important, but very different, functions.One, it acts as a way of creating meaning for the separate self: it offers myths and stories and tales and narratives and rituals and revivals that, taken together, help the separate self make sense of, and endure, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. This function of religion does not usually or necessarily change the level of consciousness in a person; it does not deliver radical transformation. Nor does it deliver a shattering liberation from the separate self altogether. Rather, it consoles the self, fortifies the self, defends the self, promotes the self. But two, religion has also ser... Spiritual Emergency blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=551443 Wed, 11 Jan 2006 02:23:00 +0100 551443