Should I take this class on conspiracies?

[FourthBase]

William Henry Anderson, MD, Lecturer on Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. <br>4 units. Noncredit $325, undergraduate credit $550, graduate credit $1,450. <br>Monday, Jan. 30, 7:35-9:35 pm, Sever Hall, Room 113. Spring term <br><br>This course examines conspiracies, both real and imagined: their origins, development, and consequences. What psychobiologic factors, personality traits, and social institutions predispose to this perspective? What parts have been played by sects, secret societies, and political parties? How are these beliefs formed, and how may they be supported or refuted? Prerequisite: introductory course in biology, psychology, or anthropology. <br> <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=fourthbase>FourthBase</A> at: 11/23/05 1:37 pm<br></i>

[marykmusic]

At Harvard, they will most likely be debunking rather than educating. If you take it, keep your mouth shut, lest you be ripped to shreds. --MaryK <p></p><i></i>

[FourthBase]

Well, if I take it, I wouldn't be there to study conspiracies (that's what this site is for) so much as to study the professor, the other people in the class, the background of the sources of whatever bullshit I'd be fed. I'd be spying on the anti-conspiracy-theory community, which is just another term for the pro-CIA-etc. community.<br><br>That's my goal, and my suggestion to you all:<br>Become citizen spies. Spy on the spies. Subvert <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>them</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->.<br><br>Of course, maybe I'll be surprised and the class will be fair to conspiracy theory.<br>I'm in a win-win situation, I guess.<br>I'll probably take it.<br><br>Anyone have any suggestions for me?<br>I doubt I will keep my mouth shut, but I don't intend on arguing in class.<br>Probably just ask a pertinent question here and there. <p></p><i></i>

[kornholio]

at one of the foremost elite finishing schools. The fact that it's being taught by a psychiatry professor also gives you a pretty good idea where they're coming from.<br><br>FWIW, the one Harvard Extension School course I ever took (totally unrelated, a computer science course) was excellent and very rigorous. <p></p><i></i>

[FourthBase]

If I were to raise a stink, what do you think the best angles would be for me to pursue in that particular class, taught by a psychiatrist? I bet he's a FMS supporter, for one. <p></p><i></i>

[vondardenelle]

i think it's a good idea. if it's all debunking, then it will help you hone your arguments. if it's not, maybe you'll learn something? <p></p><i></i>

[Col Quisp]

Is that cost per unit or for the whole course? If it is per unit, then forget it.<br><br>Seems like you could just buy a book and learn this yourself. My suggestion is, take only courses that will boost you in your chosen career. I took lots of useless courses as an undergrad that seemed interesting but turned out to be a waste of time (like "Concrete Poetry") and now I regret it.<br> <p></p><i></i>

[FourthBase]

$550 is totally worth it to me.<br>I'm in a situation where I just need to use my brain.<br>I don't exactly have a chosen career.<br>Unless gadfly counts as a career. <p></p><i></i>

[hmm]

lesson one should be.don't enter into conspiracies?<br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><br>I'd be spying on the anti-conspiracy-theory community, which is just another term for the pro-CIA-etc. community.<br><br>That's my goal, and my suggestion to you all:<br>Become citizen spies. Spy on the spies. Subvert them.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>this is not a game.<br>think before you speak.<br>think before you act..<br>think again.<br>take care!<br> <p></p><i></i>

[FourthBase]

<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.seacoastonline.com/2003news/yorkstar/ys10_30g.htm">www.seacoastonline.com/20...10_30g.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Anderson is a lecturer at Harvard University, a senior psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital, and <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>a member of the New England AFIO</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->. He gave his speech, entitled "The Mind of a Terrorist," at the fall meeting of the New England branch of the <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>Association of Former Intelligence Officers</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> at the Nonantum Resort on Saturday.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <br><br>Hee hee, I'm <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>definitely</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> taking this class.<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://listarchives.his.com/intelforum/2004-June/msg00016.html">listarchives.his.com/inte...00016.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>In his positions as Harvard Lecturer in psychiatry, Senior Psychiatrist at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and former <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>U.S. Navy Chief of Neuropsychiatry at Guantanamo Bay</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->, presumably he has had opportunity to test his conjecture. Yet he offers no empirical evidence whatever.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.discoveryourpsychologicaltype.org/JUNGANDFREUD.html">www.discoveryourpsycholog...FREUD.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>One of the fascinating courses I attended early on at Harvard University Extension School was called the "Madness of Crowds." It attracted students from far and wide. Recently, I heard that <!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>a student actually flew in every weekend from California, just to attend the class</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END-->. The professor, William Henry Anderson, was a brilliant psychiatrist, with a Darwinian bent, who once described Carl Jung as “crazy” during a class. He thought Jung might have had a mental illness because he wrote so many books.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <br><br>WTF?<br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://listarchives.his.com/intelforum/2000-April/msg00009.html">listarchives.his.com/inte...00009.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Which contained a link to...<br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.intelforum.org/">www.intelforum.org/</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.intelforum.org/news.html">www.intelforum.org/news.html</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://listarchives.his.com/intelforum/2000-April/threads.html#00009">listarchives.his.com/inte...html#00009</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><br>Some fascinating reading...<br>And the best part: a message board with actual spooks.<br><br><!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :lol --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/laugh.gif ALT=":lol"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>

[FourthBase]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>this is not a game.</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--><br>think before you speak.<br>think before you act..<br>think again.<br>take care!<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>Yeah, I guess I just figured that out, looking up the professor.<br>If it is not a game, what is it? Until I know...<br><br>I'll just take the class, shut up unless called upon, and write whatever papers he assigns...but I'll be myself. I refuse to not be myself. <p></p><i></i>

[starroute]

<!--EZCODE AUTOLINK START--><a href="http://www.exeternewsletter.com/2003news/yorkstar/ys10_30g.htm">www.exeternewsletter.com/...10_30g.htm</a><!--EZCODE AUTOLINK END--><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>"I might be guilty of hubris saying that I know something of the mind of a terrorist," Anderson said. "But I might know something about the brain of a terrorist." He theorized in his speech that there could be damage to a portion of the temporal lobe of some terrorists that help foster "over-valued ideas." . . .<br><br>Anderson's hypothesis is that this group of individuals could have damaged a portion of their amygdala. Anderson said this portion of the brain deals with priorities and damage to it could skew the importance people assign to an idea. One characteristic symptom of this damage is prolific writing as if everything the person is thinking is vitally important, Anderson said. Damage to this portion of the brain could occur when a person is very young and, as scar tissue develops, grow progressively worse, he said.<br><br>There are several practices in the Middle East that could cause this damage. According to Anderson, in some areas the preferred marriage is between first or second cousins, which could pass on the damage if it is hereditary. Birth injury could be another cause, and as most obstetricians are men and the sexes are kept separate in many Muslim countries, inadequate care could cause damage. Exposure to heavy metals, which tend to collect in arid climates, could also cause amygdala damage, Anderson said. In some Middle Eastern cultures a baby's umbilical stump is even painted with lead, he said.<br><br>Anderson had little evidence to support his hypothesis, although he suggested that terrorists being held at the base in Guantanimo Bay be tested for amygdala damage. He also suggested that Mohammed Atta's drooping eye is "typical of birth injury" and could be an indication of amygdala damage.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br>Well, it explains why he thinks Jung was crazy . . . <p></p><i></i>

[NewKid]

I would sign up for the class. Maybe you could do a paper on "the Nine" or something.<br><br>But if the professor pulls you aside and starts asking you things like "is it safe?" then I'd drop it . . .<br><br> <p></p><i></i>

[slimmouse]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Anderson had little evidence to support his hypothesis, although he suggested that terrorists being held at the base in Guantanimo Bay be tested for amygdala damage. He also suggested that Mohammed Atta's drooping eye is "typical of birth injury" and could be an indication of amygdala damage.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br> Ahh. So thats why <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>they</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> done 9/11 <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :lol --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/laugh.gif ALT=":lol"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br> Is this guy for real or what ?<br><br> Anyone who can go on one of these courses and keep a straight fucking face ( not break down in fits of laughter) while this guys at the helm, deserves the Town hall clock if you ask me.<br><br> They say that laughter cant kill you. I sure hope so if you go FB, and you have anything like my sense of humour. <br><br>One of the major reasons Id be laughing so hard of course, is because that would be a "release valve" to stop me from accusing him of being either a lying SOAB, or telling the fella to Wake TFU. <p></p><i></i>

[FourthBase]

"Is it safe?"<br><br>Yeah, that would suck. But maybe I could stay in the class a little longer, get a few more threats...then sue him for the $550.<br><br><!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :p --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/tongue.gif ALT=":p"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br>I seriously doubt I would pose a threat to him or his peeps.<br>That's what makes me a pretty good candidate for parapolitical activism, I don't have much of a life for them to damage. But conversely, few people take me seriously. <p></p><i></i>