sholomar

I would legalize prostitution and encourage the setup of regulated places to rent women for sex that are tested to be clean. It would really help the problem of thirsty incels in society or socially awkward people who can't get their biological cravings met. I think this is going to be a growing problem going forward, I really do, as men are becoming more feminine in their demeanor and women's biology still craves the dominant male. More and more men are being simply left out of the loop, and it's going to cause problems. It's just a matter of time. I believe it contributes to the labor shortages we are seeing. If a man doesn't have a family to work for, what's the point of working? For many of them there is no point. Of course the piss pour wages relative to the price of housing would be the other major component. Porn can lead to unrealistic expectations in relationships, but so do Hollywood movies. Content in general I believe is poisoning people's minds. We are a generation of dopamine addicts, always looking for our next fix. How many hours does the average person spend on a screen these days? I've found that to be toxic. I so enjoy my time I sit in present moment meditating, it makes me want to buy a cabin in Northern Wisconsin and live the simple life sitting in the back yard, or along the beach, just being... this hamster wheel chase for more and more "things" or even more and more "experiences" ... eventually it just becomes taxing...

I think there's going to be a major problem funding social programs in all western nations in the future. We have low birth rates, high levels of aging population, and labor shortages in the medical field basically everywhere. It's going to take major inflation and central bank QE to fund all these social programs and has been seen post pandemic, wages don't keep up with the inflation squeezing the working class majorly. If you continue to spend more money than you produce, you will keep having inflation. Central bank quantitative easing has been the new magic trick post 2008 to keep the system solvent and liquid. Central banks control interest rates and buy surplus government bonds in all major countries now. It's the new normal... basically a form of debt monetization, as these bonds will never be wound down or paid off. We also have a housing affordability problem. Too many investors buying homes like stocks, and renting them out or turning them into AirBNBs. The good old days of baby boomers being able to pay 2.5X their annual income for a home are gone, and probably not coming back. A good start would be to have a higher top end income tax... we survived for 75 years in the early part of the 20th century with a top tax bracket of well over 50% and this nation did just fine. CEO pay is now at 400 times the amount of the typical worker, a new record. I also believe people should be banned form owning more than 3 homes, and that corporations should not be allowed to own single family residential real estate, nor should non US citizens. That said, aren't taxes in Europe more regressive than progressive? Does it vary by country? If I was president I'd peg the capital gains tax rate to the income tax rate, meaning no discounts on long term capital gains or dividends. I'd also lower the 22% tax bracket to 18%, raise the 35% bracket to 38%, the 35% bracket to 42%, and create a 50% tax bracket for all income over $2 million, and a 65% tax bracket on income over $5 million. I'd eliminate itemizing. Business deductions create too many opportunities to abuse the system. People want to brag about writing off their new boat as a business expense? Eliminate that loophole. It's also way too easy to use LLCs, trusts, and other vehicles to shield and hide assets. I'd largely eliminate these loopholes.

I see this forum isn't immune to long videos posted in threads that have no synopsis and give you no clue as to their subject matter in the topic or post. Here's a couple of good ones. The Changing World Order... talks about looking at the past to predict the future, that the things that surprised the author the most are things that did not happen during his lifetime, and that by looking at history, you can predict the future. He basically predicts the fall of the US Empire as the global superpower and the rise of China. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xguam0TKMw8 and The Century of the Self ... a great BBC documentary on how the masses are manipulated by the people in charge, focusing on the early 20th century.

Becoming Supernatural is literally a how-to guide of how to both reprogram your ego and transcend it for the science minded person. It talks about the why of our behaviors using brain chemistry and brainwaves and how to reprogram the ego using a combination of getting into the present moment combined with visualization. I find it incredibly useful, just like The Power of Now. When I read about the author's enlightenment experience in his "Becoming Supernatural" book it reminded me of Leo's newer videos on the topic such as "An Advanced Explanation of God Realization" where he talks about multiple levels of enlightenment that can literally go to an infinite level. Just like Leo, the author said his enlightenment became so strong it was almost painful... he described it as "electric." It's often said that you need to build up your lower needs on Maslov's hierarchy before trying to achieve enlightenment, which means basic ego needs and ego reprogramming. Though it's possible to achieve enlightenment through ego death during a "dark night of the soul" experience, it's often spontaneous and won't occur if you try to force it. If you'd rather not hit rock bottom, reprogramming the ego with positive habits, emotions, etc. is what this book covers. Meditation combined with creative visualization and mental rehearsal. It's necessary to free up all that energy that is used on "past, future" baggage in order to achieve that creative flow state where change is possible. Activity plus repetition equals habit. A lot of people are stuck in their thought/emotional addictive loops, and this is the easiest way to break those and reprogram. I was going to make my own thread, but I searched for one I could bump.

Seems to me believing in soul mates could turn into infatuation, unhealthy obsession, or a co-dependent situation that is not healthy. The brain tends to get addicted to it's own thoughts and emotional states and pining over a person can literally turn into an addiction, particularly crushes and fantasies.

I guess I enjoy being a contrarian and getting a person to open up their minds and think about another person's perspective rather than getting stuck in their own echo chamber. It doesn't matter what cult they subscribe to. It's good to have an open mind. I chuckle sometimes at the smug self-righteousness of the modern left. It reminds me of the religious right of 40 years ago who always thought they had the moral high ground on everything. They are so convinced they are right on everything and they want you to be assimilated into their collective. I find in the United States both political parties rather low-consciousness.

They either talk about gossip because people like to compare each other which allows them to give each other some idea of where they stand in the social hierarchy or they'll simply talk about things that are fun from hobbies to stories to movies and sports. A big one is people love to tell stories about their past especially their youthful antics. Since I don't really have any youthful antics I admit I do struggle with small talk because though I'm a good listener I don't really have a lot of stories to tell and stories spur the emotions and spur the imagination stories provide a sense of adventure and novelty. Men also joke with each other at least the type of men that women are attracted too. They poke fun at their flaws and personality quarks and don't take things too seriously or get butt hurt over a comment or a joke. People who are good Jokers and can make others laugh are going to be popular all around. I get more stimulation from deep esoteric conversations and science discussions but any form of socialization is really simply an acquired taste that comes from repetition. I don't know if I'll ever fully become a flaming extrovert who wants to while away my day talking that's very unlikely.

Our thoughts are the major cause of most of the upset in our lives the fact that we are plugged into this matrix and fed this narrative by social media that the world is falling apart. There is plenty of happy and well adjusted people raising families out here in the upper Midwest in South dakota, wisconsin, and Minnesota, we just tend to see what we want to see and we have this bad tendency of spinning narratives in our heads about past and future circumstances when really the solution is to be in the present moment and to be that which you want to see in others. A lot of people don't focus on news or world events because they believe that garbage inputs equals garbage outputs. If you really look objectively this planet and our evolution as a species we've always been kind of a messed up species there's never really been a long stretch of thousands of years where there been some Paradise on this planet nature and evolution are all dog eat dog, natural selection, and survival of the fittest. If you take a look at a forest floor the trees are literally competing with each other for nutrients, like that song by the band Rush called the trees. The trick is keeping a positive mindset and choosing to react differently to situations rather than being angry, jealous, upset, guilty, etc. Also stop worrying about what everybody else is doing and focus on your own personal development. Too many people think that trying to change other people's behavior is going to make them happy and that's simply not going to work nor is it really feasible. The urge to procreate is the most basic urge in evolution that will likely be pervasive among every single life form in this universe ... There's no changing this urge and it's best not to worry about things you can't change and focus on what you can change.

I like Eastern Wisconsin where I grew up though I'm sure there's other areas that are just as beautiful. I like areas that are scenic, semi forested, with a moderate population density that is not too high but not too low, and I like low crime clean areas where people maintain their properties and are considerate towards one another meaning they don't leave their dogs out to bark all day or start their motorcycles at 2:00 a.m. I grew up in ozaukee county which is one of the more wealthy counties in the state and to me it's God's country. I like being right next to lake Michigan or some large body of water that you can't see across. I like how there's a big bluff along the Lakeshore in the area where I grew up so there is privacy as you walk the lakeshore. I love the parks and natural scenery of Eastern Wisconsin which includes all the way up to Green Bay Appleton Oshkosh Manitowoc and fond du lac. It's a hikers Paradise, a cross country skiers paradise, a road bikers paradise, and a motorcyclists Paradise because all the roads in the state are paved and there's so many parks and forests to go and do all these activities. There's also plenty of beauty to be found in the western part of the state including devil's lake State Park the driftless area up North it just has everything that appeals to me. There's lots of small glacial lakes hidden away in various areas where you can just take a kayak out and drift around and meditate. There's always things going on during the summer autumn such as local concerts, fairs, summerfest, and often lots of major rock concerts as well. For me it just has everything that I would want. I also like the political gridlock because I don't like either political party so not having neither of them is a large majority to me as a pro then you get the best aspects of both political parties.

If you really study evolution you see all behavior is driven by DNA. Our culture is pushed more to be stimulation seekers because it sells products, but you can condition animals in a similar manner. Fr example it's said laser pointers are bad for cats because it stimulates their hunting instinct but they can never actually catch their prey.... This can make them hyper anxious and neurotic stimulation seekers compared to housecats that are raised without excessive stimulation. Same with well meaning owners that leave screens of mice or other apps going. It's not really necessary. We have what leo calls hedonic adaptation in our culture....we have gotten used to the excessive stimulation that boredom is basically a dopamine deficit. We are all drug addicts. Boredom = drug withdrawal symptom. Self mastery is breaking free from being a slave to ones emotions and drives and being able to mindfully observe them instead....see Leo's video on addictions. I'm still an internet addict. I removed my HTPC so I can't spend evenings binge watching YouTube. The content available is nearly endless these days. I still can't keep myself from political forums entirely. Withdraw is a bitch.

Bread and circuses... People's limbic brains are attracted to fun, excitement, and novelty. A species that stagnates dies...it's wired into our DNA to want novelty because with novelty comes expansion...heck all animal species down to insects...look how fast killer bees expanded all over South America.... Entertainment tricks our brain into providing novelty. Video games trick our brain into thinking we are problem solving. Most dopamine is generated in anticipation of the reward, meaning people get journey pleasure as a result of evolution. It's simply chemicals in the brain and drive all human behavior. It's why RPG games and games with stats where you slowly grow such as Clash of Clans are so popular and addictive. I see this species as an impulsive drug addicted mess, addicted to hedonism and thrill seeking, at least in America. We chase tingles, emotional highs and lows, and sabotage our own long term happiness. However I don't believe in authoritarianism or strict control over our behavior either.... Nor do I believe in a massive support system that allows people to exist their whole lives without working. Better we let people learn by exploring their nature and assume the consequences of their bad choices. I've channeled this away from video games and into musical theory, piano, and guitar. I'm finally getting a consistent habit in place and it's building momentum.

The book bigger leaner stronger by Michael Matthews has a lot of good advice about how to build muscle while avoiding injury. In particular a lot of people overdo the amount of isolation exercises and don't do enough big compound movements which compromises their overall progress and leads to overtraining and injury. With any skill you're only going to make so much progress at a time and you'll also have plateaus that you have to work through. The trick is gradual progress. You need to check your ego at the door which is hard for people to do. There's also a website aworkoutroutine.com which promotes the same ideas. Read through that website it's a gold mine of knowledge for free.

You need to put your intellect in charge of your emotions rather than having your emotions be in charge of your behavior. Basically what that means is eudimonic forms of happiness instead of hedonism. Being able to control your cravings compulsions and addictions. You need to start cultivating good habits and doing them everyday regardless of whether you feel like doing them or not it's your feelings that will sabotage your progress. You can also read the book The power of now and other texts because you need the yin and yang of being able to push yourself while being able to relax at the same time. And I consider being present moment mindful and watching The thinker and observing my emotions as a form of relaxation and release.... Like Leo's do nothing mediation on steroids. It's basically limbic retraining. Most people are a slave to their emotions impulses cravings and past habits. Self-mastery is about taking control and paradoxically surrendering at the same time. I also use affirmations and visualization to mentally rehearse the emotional state I want to be in a state of peaceful confident acceptance and playfulness. I have this saying where I put on my cap and cap is an acronym that stands for calm confidence acceptance and playfulness/peace. I can feel the cap when it's on my head and when I'm wearing it these three sayings resonate with my emotions because I repeat them in my head and visualize what they feel like. All habits skills and states of being are about repetition repetition repetition just keep doing it over and over again and it will become easier. I get the impression a lot of people on this forum are in the state of despair over what they see the state of the world or their lives as and that's not a productive way to live because any emotional state you are in you will strengthen and reinforce the more you are in it. You want the cultivate positive states of mind because those higher vibrations will infect others. That is the true selfless way to live not pine over the state of the world being angry, depressed, bitter.

It's hard for me to take people seriously who fall into the trap of bashing Trump supporters as some sort of extreme nationalists that want to take over the country. Frankly I see the left as trying to do the exact same thing they claim the right is trying to do. In my eyes they are the ones who are the authoritarians practicing cancel culture and censorship under the guise that the right is supposedly dangerous and thus needs censoring. That kind of thinking is dangerous you can't have one party rule in a nation you need checks and balances. All authoritarians need to be excised from power no matter what their political persuasion. I see the media promoting narratives in the public swallowing it up. I see the left as being just as dangerous as the right in the United states. It's shocking to me that these supposedly intellectually enlightened people can't see their own authoritarianism or rationalize it away like it somehow justified. Both the left and the right have become dangerous cults. I subscribed to neither of their philosophies. I'm more support people like Bill Maher the classical liberals who believe in freedom of speech and some old school values. There's a reason most people don't follow politics and consider themselves moderates. Our politicians are way too corrupt. Most people who obey laws and work for a living want politicians to leave them alone and want their lives to not be so micromanaged by either side. Throughout history the masses have been subject to the whims of the people in charge. The people in charge are mostly a bunch of idiots no matter what country they reside. They are only human. They are subject to human weakness and power and money corrupt.... But the solution is not Marxism because Marxism doesn't work. The solution is more checks and balances to keep any one person from having too much wealth, power, or say over the majority. Such a form of government does not really exist yet. Governments tend to benefit the status quo it's only human nature. If there's one thing I can say that I am it's anti-authoritarian.

There's a lot of plant based types brainwashed into thinking natural sugars are more healthy...like date syrup is good but refined beet sugar is bad...they are almost identical chemically...molecules of fructose and glucose. Same with honey and maple syrup... If it makes you feel better to eat a lot of honey thinking it's good for you, psychosomatic treatments are important. I'm not saying eating plant based is bad but there's lots of misinformation out there. If processed foods are so bad why are these plant based eaters eating all these highly processed fake meats, protein powders and supplements? Eat the items in their raw form and get back to me. I'm experimenting with a higher fat lower carb diet right now. I'm not saying I'll do it permanently but I tend to feel worse eating lots of carbs when I'm in plant based mode. I eat lower carb fruits and veggies...I love grapefruits. Berries are a good source of antioxidants. If anything I'd give up starches and stick to lower carb fruits. Flour turns right into glucose in the stomach, as do all low fiber starches.

I believe a balance is necessary. For super quiet people they need more socialization and for hyper-extroverts they could stand to have less. Small talk is really an essential skill to have for a happy life let's be honest here. We can all pretend we're truly at peace in an introverted bubble but the vast majority of people are not ... takes a lot of work to get to a state where you can be completely happy independent of external circumstances. And we are social creatures our DNA as wired to want to interact and fit into the herd. If we don't feel like we're part of a herd our biology tends to feel depressed. Cultivating the sense of oneness is merely facilitating the release of oxytocin that comes along with pack oriented behavior and the feeling of fitting in which comes along with social connections. To me spiritual development is simply another way to facilitate the release of oxytocin in the brain. All activity in this physical matrix comes down to pleasure seeking and pain avoidance behaviors. Personal development hacks the limbic system to eliminate the sympathetic fear response and cultivate a profound sense of peace of mind in the process. Woujo have some good content about what drives men's behavior... https://www.woujo.com/blog/2019/12/5/the-purpose-series-part-1-of-3-purpose-anxiety-fear-the-unknown-and-the-purposeless-epidemic-in-modern-society In any case you can learn a lot from simply listening to the perspectives of other people. Becoming a good listener is the best way to facilitating personal growth in my opinion... And listening in a non-judgmental manner with no intention of trying to fix another person's problems. I see people who use personal development as a crutch to compensate for their lack of people skills, myself included.

My 65 year old father who still squats has the same advice after decades lifting with no injuries...perfect form with lighter weights and more reps. Also there's certain exercises that you simply should not do. Google them. Dips are one of them, they tend to hurt shoulders if not done with correct form. Deadlifts must be done properly to avoid blowing out lower back disks... Sciatica is very common in older people from improper lifting and posture. Be careful not to overtrain and burn yourself out also, and get enough sleep with a good sleep schedule. Insomnia is largely caused by excessive sympathetic activation...too much stress and stimulation, including screen time, stress, anxiety. Most personal development revolves around the ying and yang of pushing yourself while still accepting where you are in the journey...push too hard and burn out. https://www.holistichelp.net/blog/autonomic-nervous-system-dysfunction/

You have to balance the ying with the yang. Everything in moderation.

I'd like to see a Desantis/Noem ticket. Democrat policies are not working in America. The covid pandemic policies drove massive supply chain disruptions and inflation. Giving out free stuff to everyone simply doesn't work. Going soft on crime because of this perception that blacks are discriminated against by law enforcement simply doesn't work. Crime is exploding in major cities. It just seems like society these days rewards irresponsible behavior... bail out everyone for everything. We are animals that evolved over a couple of million years and still need carrot and stick sort of pavlonian conditioning to get us to thrive as a species. We need to teach people to fish, not give them fish. Democrats operate too much on what makes them feel good in the moment and don't think about how things actually work or what affect their policies will have in 10 years. I'm no huge fan of the republicans either. We really need third parties and governments not controlled by small groups of wealthy people. Power needs to be divided. Less "career politicians" who's primary goal is to raise money. Abolish quantitative easing and the government to be able to print unlimited money out of thin air. The more checks and balances the better. I'm very much anti-authoritarian, which means I oppose power and wealth getting too concentrated, whether the system of government is capitalist or communist doesn't matter, the problem is concentration of authority into small groups of people who want to impose their will on others, or masses of sheep that get assimilated into their cult political parties and insist on trying to force feed their dogma to everyone else. Some of us just want to live and let live, and be left alone. You do as you wish, I do as I wish. I look at human behavior and evolution and it's all so predictable it's quite amusing. Herd mentality at it's finest. There's a reason most people are turned off by politics.

I see compassion as only taking the species so far. You can't save everyone. If you tried, they'd breed like rabbits and you'd have a worse problem on your hands. I understand and respect the compassion of stage greens, but they lack an understanding of pavlonian conditioning it seems like to me. Teach people to fish, don't give them fish. How do we solve the hunger problem that doesn't involve simply handing out food to people and giving them free shelter, free this free that? Free everything is not sustainable. It creates shortages and drives up the cost for the people who work 60 hours a week to build the infrastructure everyone takes for granted. Forget about whether we force people to eat a vegan diet or not... how do we teach people to be self sufficient? Find that answer and you will do more to help a person than handing out free this, free that. We did not evolve to be able to live a full life not having to contribute to society, and only taking. This applies to everyone.

Everything in moderation. Everyone has different life goals. There's nothing wrong with a gaming marathon if you have achieved your goals. Life is really a mind-trick. Being happy is a matter of perception and mindset combined with what your genetics wants you to do because of evolutionary drives. Thoughts create reality... haven't you seen Joe Dispenza's TV series called Rewired? If you are happy with your life, doing what you do, letting other people tell you that what you are doing is "bad" or "wrong" us utterly pointless. Do what you love, do what makes you happy. Let God be the judge. "Judgment is mine, sayeth the lord." Only you know if you are truly happy, or if there is an emptiness inside from what you do. I plan to be first in line to get a Geforce 4080 and pop it until my Intel 12600K system.

I would avoid it. It encourages an "us vs them" mentality. Plus from an ego perspective I disagree with a lot of the progressive leaning posters here including Leo himself. For example, I don't see republicans like Desantis as this grand threat. I see the woke wing of the democrat party to be at least as equal of a threat, and generally tend to lean anti-authoritarian in general. I find the left can't often see their own authoritarianism, and both sides have their authoritarian tendencies. Basically at this point in my journey debating politics is pointless. You won't change people's minds and it just causes internal conflict and cultivates negative emotional states by both sides. I'd rather focus on what we all have in common versus what we don't have in common, and try to maintain a live and let live mentality and treat others like I'd like to be treated. I don't want to fall into this trap of hating republicans and seeing them as evil. On the same note, I don't want to fall into the trap of seeing the woke left as evil either. They are just people. They've both gone through their own hardships, been culturalized by their own dogma to believe what they do. I find politics is more like a horseshoe... the extreme left and right have more in common with each other than anyone in the middle, the so called "moderates" and "normal people." Unhappy people tend to gravitate towards more extreme political philosophies. Happy people just want to be left alone to live their lives. To the unhappy people this is unacceptable. We could debate the reason they are unhappy forever, and try to blame it on various things we think we can fix... fair enough. Checks and balances to keep power from concentrating are the best way to keep human nature in check. Doesn't matter of it's Putin, Xi, Soros, Desantis, Trump, Kim Jong-Un, Klaus Schwab, The World Bank, or whoever.. when power gets concentrated into the hands of the few, problems occur. It doesn't matter how enlightened you think your world view is, nobody should have unchecked authority to dictate to people, or to buy political influence. If the person you don't like wins the election, or the court makes a decision you do not like, tough shit. Deal with it. Learn to see from their perspective, try to see why they think the way they do, and try to extend an olive branch of understanding instead of ridiculing and trying to "cancel" them. One thing I love about the United States... state's rights. If you live in a state that doesn't share your worldview, move to a different one. What I disagree with is using the Federal government to try to force policy on states whether it happens to be about guns, drug use, abortion, or whatever the case may be. Maximum state's rights can allow us to all get along, instead of trying to force our worldview on each other in a one size fits all fashion, and both sides do it. Bottom line, you will NEVER please everyone. It's simply impossible to do so. You can achieve policy that produces the most happiness and prosperity for the majority.

I find obsessing over breathing patterns to be a trap. When one is sufficiently relaxed, in a state of open focus, present moment awareness, with more dominant alpha brainwave activity, breathing will naturally deepen on it's own. It's fine to use as a tool to focus, but don't obsess over it.

For me social media is a trap... it doesn't actually relax me, it keeps my nervous system overstimulated. Most articles you find on the topic talk about children, but it applies to adults also. https://www.newworldlibrary.com/ArticleDetails/tabid/230/ArticleID/339/Default.aspx I've banned myself from the city-data and godlikeproductions forums for now, trying to cut wasteful idle screen time. I'd say the healthiest thing would be to replace screen time with time that is spent being mindful, present moment focused, or in a state of what is called "open focus" ... this will relax the nervous system, decrease stress levels, eliminate cheap and easy sources of dopamine, and make it easier to start healthy habits. It will cultivate an alpha brainwave state which makes new learning and self improvement easier. As far as new habits go, what matters more than how much time you spend doing them is that you do them every day. They always say when learning piano or guitar you are better off spending 15-30 minutes every day practicing rather than 4 hours a day, twice a week. It has to do with how the brain adopts new behaviors. Start out with 5 minutes of your new habit every day, and increase until you are at the level you want. For a new behavior to become automatic, do it every day. There are exceptions to this rule, such as with weight lifting. For me the dopamine withdraw process was helpful to find new activities I enjoyed... when stuck on screens, fapping, video games, food, drugs, and other "easy" dopamine sources the body will be less driven to want to expand and grow, and will also tend to suffer from brain fog and zombie mode, feeling lazy and unmotivated. Not masturbating for me is key. Find more eudominic hobbies and less hedonic hobbies, like in Leo's happiness spectrum video.

Honesty you want to know what happens? I'll tell you. Chuckle. It's just the total truth. The forum gets totally taken over by anti-jew and incel posters... they sit around criticizing Israel and Women all day long. They strive to have some puritan utopia that only exists in their heads as they swallow their right wing conspiracy theories. I consider myself a political moderate though most here would consider me conservative, and I can see the right's paranoia just like I see the lefts (the woke) and this is unmoderated political forums after a while. These types of posters are one trick ponies and it's all they ever talk about. They enjoy their echo chambers where they sit all day long in a circle jerk reinforcing one another's viewpoints.