TheAlchemist

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The Nordic social democratic system is in no way viable as a solution for the globe. The exploitation and externalities are simply outsourced to another part of the planet while the social democrats celebrate their virtuousness. I have no loyalty to marxism, but we do need some sort of universalist project that doesn't depend on an exploited other. Modern capitalism is a complete failure for the life-sustaining systems of the planet long term, and it won't solve the global sorts of problems we are facing. But neither will Marxism. We need to rethink so many things, and it will be a complete shitshow even if we manage that. But we will sort out the shit.

There is more to the story. Firstly, drugs were decriminalized without putting any money into social and medical programs to help addicts. This is the polar opposite of what was done in Portugal, for example, where after decriminalization, the money that was previously being spent on the war on drugs was directed towards social programs and other publically funded means of actually helping users use more safely. This directly reduced overdose deaths and reduced costs from treating addicts who would usually get to a very bad condition before getting any kind of support. Secondly, it is likely that many homeless drug users headed there after decriminalization to use drugs without being harassed by law enforcement. This would not happen if drugs were decriminalized or legalized at the federal level. There are similiar reasons as to why there is such a concentration of homeless people in certain states. People head to those states because there is at least some support, and its a less horrible place to exist in their situation. Often when thinking about drug policy, we think about the harms of drugs, but we rarely think of the harms of prohibition.

Check this out: https://www.actualized.org/insights/why-libertarianism-is-wrong I like the thinking here, yet also I think the aspiration for freedom should be preserved. Although in a completely different way than the naive libertarian fantasy. The libertarian thinks that society and regulation are limitations on freedom or attempts to control some kind of "natural" freedom. When really, society and regulation enable a much deeper kind of freedom than what the libertarian fantasizes about. A clear improvement in the quality and quantity of freedom is achived through society and regulation. For example, gun control is a limitation on freedom for the libertarian, but in another sense it can be seen as an expansion of freedom, by giving citizens the freedom to go to work, relax at home, go to school and live their lives without having to worry about some crazy guy running around shooting people. Or a hate speech law might be seen as a limitation of freedom by the libertarian, but can be seen as an expansion of freedom by giving minority groups and/or less priviledged groups to have more space and freedom to exist in society. A gay or trans person gets freedom to basic existence in society without being harrassed. And generally, the existence of the state enables a huge amount of freedom that we take completely for granted. This is a key difference between liberal western european/nordic societies vs. conservative US society, where a naive libertarian idea of freedom is embedded in their cultural code. So Americans end up thinking that freedom means being able to own guns and hate gays and muslims to shut them down. The European version is less problematic in that sense because the idea is more so that society and the collective rules (democratically developed) are what enable a different kind of and a better freedom than what the American libertarian strives for.

All three seasons are absolutely worth a watch. Unfortunately it can be a bit difficult to find this series, so what I did is pirate it and bought his patreon subscription for a few months.

I think the magnitude and horror of Elon Musk's decision to cut up to 90% of USAID funding has not been recognized yet. It is directly analogous to willfully and unnecessarily unplugging people from a breathing machine. Arguably even worse. Millions of people are dependent on USAID funding to stay alive. His decisions will directly kill massive amounts of people simply due to malnutrition. And not to mention the devastating (global) effects of abruptly stopping disease prevention and sanitation programs. Collectively we really need to expand our notion of violence. Zizek and many others have laid the groundwork. Acts like Musk's should be seen as acts of devastating violence on a scale that we cannot even fathom. Never forget this when you see him speaking and joking around.

A hangover sure can be. Try doing positive affirmations or some visualization about health and abundance when having a hellish hangover. It can help shed some spiritual bs But also, I think any state of intoxication or change of state can potentially be insightful. Even the "lower" states. But of course, some intoxicants are dangerous and harmful to the body and mind. There are many that I would never even try once.

Absolutely. The most effective method for me to induce crazy states of mind through dreaming is the Wake Back To Bed method (WBTB). In a nutshell you wake up after 5-6 hours of sleep, stay awake for 30+ minutes (no bright lights). Then you go lay down in bed without moving your body. The craziest, most surreal dream experiences have happened when doing this. With this method the mind shifts straight to REM dream sleep from wakefulness, and the liminal state between these states is quite fascinating. Totally surreal visuals and experiences, often accompanied with a deep sense of bliss in the body and a sharp sense of awareness about what is happening. There are some challenges with this though, such as slipping into unconscious dreaming or getting the urge to move your body during the liminal state. It's also best not to do it every night since it can disturb the replenishing/restorative effect of sleep. But overall I find it very effective, it's also the only method that has worked for me for having full on lucid dreams where I am aware I am dreaming and can mold all aspects of the environment. This is quite a bit more difficult for me however, and also I find the liminal dream states even more fascinating.

This must be part of his conservative manosphere era, never heard him endorse it in earlier videos. The bible is a collection of 60+ books. Some are valuable in some contexts. I think the most powerful idea from the bible is the convergence of the infinite and finite, the transcendent and the material through the figure of Jesus. That is quite a unique and powerful story when seen through a non-fundamentalist lens. The book of Job is also quite a nice allegory about suffering and critique of God and authority. It could also be read through a fundamentalist lens to better understand an evangelical Christian mind. That could be quite valuable to understand, since it is a group that is increasing significantly in power and influence. Also, it could be a great study of how powerful ideology can be, how the different pieces of the bible are fitted together to form a robust worldview that resists critical and abstract thinking.

How did you deal with the tolerance buildup from mushrooms? Did you use other psychedelics or increase the dosage every time? Also, did you take breaks to sleep and eat food normally?

Check this out: https://www.actualized.org/insights/why-africa-sucks-geographically It's a fascinating video which highlights an important piece of the puzzle; a piece that is often forgotten or ignored. lots of accurate information too. Yet at the same time I think it's good to not take this as the whole story as some tend to do. The conditions of modern Africa can partly be explained through physical geography, yet there is another half to the story that is just as, if not even more important. That is of course the massive impacts of systemic colonization and oppression by the west. Unfortunately many conservatives take this type of narrative and use it as a way to dismiss concerns about western dominator culture and colonialism. I'm sure Leo and most others here are aware of how there is more to the story, but someone who never studied history might take this kind of thing as the whole story. I heard that in the Peterson University there is an "alternative history" course about how western colonialism wasn't that bad really, and how there's not much to self-reflect on there. But also, many left-wingers may be unbalanced in the other direction, not wanting to consider any environmentally determinist perspectives for fear of minimizing the impact of colonialism etc. So, both perspectives are needed here to get the full picture I think.. I can't imagine a maximally holistic perspective on Africa that doesn't consider the wealth of critiques coming from postcolonial theory for example. Yet it's also not as holistic if it doesn't consider the real impacts of those geographic conditions.

What's even worse is that we all fund that kind of production to get cheap products. That's how that sweet "surplus value" is created. Even if some information about these conditions is leaked, not many want to look into it. No news site will get clicks by telling the reader that they are funding child slaves. And most of that information is not even available due to suppresion of journalist activity. It's not a total coincidence that most of the worlds cheap products come from a country that has almost zero freedom of press.

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0090015/ Shoah is a genius level 9 hour documentary about the holocaust with in depth interviews where survivors describe in grousome detail what happened in the concentration camps and how the holocaust happened. https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0090015/ Another gem is the 1985 Soviet film Come and See. It's not a documentary but it's apparently quite a realistic depiction of war, with no glorification or hero stories. If I could have every human watch one film, it might very well be this one. Not an entertaining or fun experience, but all the more important..

A Nazi can be a Nietzschean but Nietzsche cannot be a Nazi. Nazism is a later development but a lower perspective.

You seem wise beyond your years Congrats!

This is a perfect illustration of how the same underlying structural driver can lead someone to be both a new age shaman healer and a fundamentalist Christian. For example here is one underlying, usually unquestioned driver: I should be guaranteed permanent satisfaction, I should be secure, I should have a place, fulfillment and a sense of belonging. Being insecure, lacking, questioning, alienated and uprooted is categorically bad and should be avoided. No matter how many gallons of ayahuasca someone drinks, an underlying driver and fantasy such as this may never be uncovered. It requires a different approach and mode to uncover. Even spirituality generally is very accommodating to many fantasies about eternal fulfillment, happiness and belonging. An even when these drivers and fantasies are uncovered they continue to drive behavior, so it could be a massive task to uproot something like that without significant internal turmoil.

Would you say that Infinite Mind imagines through having limits? Is limit necessary for the process of imagination to unfold? Would you agree also that limitation is required for the infinite to realize itself, the infinite having no ground for realization without limit and finitude? I very much like the idea that Hegel also expressed about limit/limitless and finite/infinite being in dialectical relationship. They are necessary conditions for each other to exist and the Absolute Idea is about this eternal self-contradiction.

Beginning of the end

Some Bernardo Kastrup book, or even more grounded and approachable for a materialist would probably be the new Christopher Koch book: "Then I Am Myself the World: What Consciousness Is and How to Expand It". He has his own theory for what consciousness is but still I think he is a genius at opening up the conversation about what consciousness is and the mystery of it, especially for a western materialist mind. This or something similiar would be the most approachable I think, but Bernardo Kastrup goes much deeper into the real interesting stuff imo. It just may seem a bit too strange unless someone is already quite open to the idealism or eastern thought. Towards a more spiritual approach Sam Harris' Waking Up book would probably be also quite good as an intro

The Substance was just insane and also thought provoking. Terence Malick films like Thin Red Line and Days of Heaven. Super contemplative and visually beautiful with existential themes.

I think spiritualist, new age type of beliefs are often just another expression of the same structure that a religious person has adopted. Just a moderate-major shift in life circumstances or having a real love bomb experience from some Christian sect is often enough to cause a conversion. A certain level of insight into epistemology and development of critical thinking and rational capacities is needed to transcend fundamentalist belief systems. Maybe you have developed these capacities to the point that it just wont sink into you anymore in the same way it would for many. This is why I think more traditional philosophy is important to balance out some of the spiritual aspirations. Also, none of this is to say that there isn't validity to having faith or to Christianity. It's just that developing ones rational capacities usually seems to make people immune to those most fundamentalist forms of Christianity. And most spiritual people don't seem to be interested in diving deeply into questions of epistemology or metaphysics (from a philosophy perspective), and those folks are often just one step away from religious conversion. Anyways, I was also raised into religion and I can relate to the confusion and struggle of dealing with that in later life. But ultimately I think it's better to remain questioning and unsure of those things, it's a sign of individuating and coming to terms with ones subjectivity and the anxiety that is quite core to it. It's no wonder many choose to surrender to Jesus, especially with these people who dive really deep and the questions get bigger and bigger and the anxiety often along with it. Jesus comes to the rescue seeming to resolve that struggle. So, it can give a ton, but what is the shadow side of all the joy and glory that is being sold? I think there's always a shadow side to these saviors. But that's for each person to contemplate individually. I think we do have the capacities to live with the uncertainty and I do think it's valuable to question things and to continue to explore and investigate.

I agree about the individuation part. It seems a certain sense of alienation can be very fruitful for the development of individuated existence. Not finding a community to belong to, having identity-crises, self-doubt etc. can all be healthy signs of coming into contact with ones (sometimes painful) individual subjectivity. A model that specifically explores the unfoldment of subjectivity would be quite interesting. Although it would need to have a disintegration point where the model must fail, since it can't really account for or model the subjectivity itself once it has unfolded.

My observation is that any discussion about SD must always involve some reference to the problems of stage green Before I though I was becoming yellow. Now I think I am devolving fast towards some pre-human state. My plans for a future as a spiral wizard are doomed! 😁 To beige and beyond!

Looking at this from outside the US, it seems that this is a cathartic response coming from masses of people who have been fcked over by the insurance companies. It's probably very hard for anyone (including me) to fully relate who hasn't been in that situation themselves. Also, I think people are surprised and energized by recognizing how little they care about the death of a health insurance CEO. Maybe there is a conscious or unconscious recognition of the underlying systemic violence that has been killing people and causing suffering to countless people in the name of profits and growth. In that context, if we recognize that systemic forms of violence do exist, they usually go under the radar, and that there are people who are responsible for such violence, then it is more understandable that people would have this kind of reaction. In 100-200 years, if the US healthcare system develops, this act might just seem ethically equivalent to someone killing a slave owner in the 1800's . If that systemic violence truly is so widespread and the rule of law is not capable of recognizing that form of violence and bringing justice, then this is what can happen, as the frustration brews enough. People will resort to beheadings and mass killing if necessary to bring a sense of justice, but it is ugly and likely no good changes will come quickly. It's more about a release of emotions and recognition of injustices, so maybe that can fuel some political changes in the long run. Personally, I have no strong feelings about this. The death of a CEO holds no special significance in my heart compared to anyone else who is murdered or killed any day of the week around the globe. But I also won't celebrate or rejoice in this, maybe because I haven't personally experienced the injustice of the US healthcare system.

A lot of the new-age spiritualist stuff combined with conspiracy theories could easily be integrated into a fascist narrative.