w4read

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Posts posted by w4read

  1. Posted

    @Noahsteelers34 That's awesome man. I wish I were in your shoes!

    You bring up an excellent point, independent and creative projects is the key, no matter what it entails specifically. 

    I would also like to add that if you are not sure what kind of engineering you find most interesting or what your life purpose is, you should take some time to explore the different fields before commiting. I think a lot of engineering studies also allows you to change after a year if you find out that something else is more interesting, at least that's the case where I come from. 

    So yeah, give yourself time to explore your life purpose if you haven't already and then commit 100% to some kind of project during the time of study. That would be my final advice.

  3. Posted

    Greetings guys

    I'm finishing university this year and I've been thinking a lot about what I would have done differently if I could go back in time and do it all over. I've noticed that there are a lot of youngsters here at this forum who's probably going through the early stage of university/college or are planning to go there soon or in the future, so I thought I might share one important thing that came to mind this other day. 

    So what I would've done is make an online course of all the subjects I had. That's it. Learn the lessons, prepare to make a video, make it, and share it if you feel for it. Why should you do it?

    1. You learn your subjects better! Making videos forces you to be able to explain the concepts you are learning. Can't explain it? Well, then you haven't learned it. I don't know how many times I've been reading stuff and felt like "wow, I'm really understanding it now!" for then to just show up on a test and not be able to solve the questions. That's the illusion of learning and it created so much suffering for me before I learned the lesson. The lesson actually didn't land for real before I took a course on Coursera called "learning how to learn", which is a course I highly recommend.

    2. You learn communication skills! Speaking in front of a camera requires communication skills, at least if you want to make good videos. You are forcing yourself to explain the content in a good and understandable way and engage the audience.

    3. You learn video editing! (which can be cool). 

    4. It is something tangible! If you end up searching for jobs at some corporations you will probably compete with people who have nothing but maybe some good grades and a side job at best. You, on the other hand, have good grades AND one or more online courses that you have created from just learning what you were supposed to learn anyway. But this is something tangible. And if the videos are well made they clearly shows your skills and knowledge, not just within the subjects, but in ways of communication and explanation which is extremely important skills in the workforce. 

    5. You can help others learn! If you are on this forum you probably have some sort of interest in creation and the sharing of knowledge so this would probably be a good motivation as well. If you don't like the idea of standing in front of a camera and exposing yourself that way there are lots of ways to make videos that don't require you to show your face. Khan Academy uses a great teqnique with few associated costs related to equipment and softwares. Just do a quick google search and you'll find it.

    And lastly, if you prefer writing more than speaking to a camera you can do the same thing just making a website and release articles. Or, you can get LinkedIn premium and share it in the different groups there so that other professionals can read them. And out of that you may get in contact with someone who likes your content which can open the door for potential job opportunities.

    Well, this is my 5 cents. Hope it inspires some of you! If you don't do this make sure that you do something or engage in an activity outside of school. Personally I joined a music festival and worked there as a volunteer. This gave me working experience and access to a social circle I wouldn't have otherwise. But if I was going to choose again, I would rather have made an online course or something tangible where I was forced to improve and show my skills in the area of study.

  4. Posted

    2 hours ago, Forestluv said:

    Be mindful of subconsciously accepting underlying assumptions. This limits the mind from broader perspectives and more holistic awareness and understanding.

    From one perspective, this is tourist porn. A wealthy tourist voyeurs people suffering in poverty and feels victimized when they approach him for money. He then films them for a mini documentary on his tourism YT channel without their consent, plays victim, gets millions of views and profits off them - and keeps all the profits. That is a form of exploitation.

    By assuming the author’s framing that he is a victim of racism, it cuts off seeing and understanding other perspectives.

    @Forestluv Thanks for the feedback. I wasn't paying enough attention to the particular circumstances here. In a sense this seems ridiculous and it makes even more sense that @Preety_India reacted the way she did. My approach here was to try to make no assumption at all and just entertain ideas. I've had the feeling for a long time now that this is a subject where there is not really room to discuss opposite views because they often get interpreted as dismissing the real racism. Maybe the concept of reverse racism is ridiculous and doesn't even exist. What do you think? Is it just a myth? 

  5. Posted · Edited by w4read

    1 hour ago, Preety_India said:

    The problem is that most people who upload such videos or state such issues actually do it with the intention to undermine actual issues. Very rarely is it with the genuine intent to focus on the problem they describe. 

    For example, it would have looked more genuine if the person at the beginning of such presentation said something like "hey I understand real racism is very bad and much worse and I'm not trying to undermine that, I just wanted to bring focus to a minor issue, but this in no way should be interpreted as a downplaying of regular real racism", now if that person had said something like that, then it can be appreciate, but the way such things are presented it almost appears like a parody or trolling or mockery of bigger issues.

    I understand the reaction. And to some extent it feels a bit off for me too. He acknowledge in the video that Africa is an amazing continent and that racism happens on other continents as well, but the way he says it makes them look more equal then they actually are, and that's misleading I think. 

    So I have no problem understanding why it can get interpreted the way it does. The question is "does it have to?"

    If we look at it from a broader perspective it may be that there are lessons to be learn from all forms of racism. Maybe it is the case that racism both ways fuel eachother and make different races even more devided than they had to be? 

    I'm not saying that this is the case, but if we couldn't entertain ideas like this without interpreting it as putting one against the other, then we would never be able to explore such things.

    So I'm basically just questioning if this is something that holds us away from truth in that it hinder us in exploring certain aspects of racism that could be a part of a solution. 

  6. Posted

    7 hours ago, Preety_India said:

     it should be discussed only when it becomes relevant enough to be discussed.

    But is relevance what it is about though? I get the feeling that it's not about that but rather how speaking about the subject gets interpreted. As you said yourself, you got angry because it undermined the real racism. But does it have to be this way? Does it need to be interpreted that way?

    I mean, I can talk about certain male issues that I face without that being looked upon as not recognizing womens issues. Even though their issues probably exceeds mine. It doesn't need to be compared to anything. Just being explored by it's own.

  8. Posted

    On 19.1.2021 at 11:32 PM, Preety_India said:

    Oh boy. 

    No comparison to how racism actually feels. 

    The whole concept of reverse racism either undermines real racism or just ridicules it. 

    Is this comparison supposed to make racists feel better about racism or is it supposed to make victims of racism feel less validated? 

    It reminds me of the situation where men talk about male rape and use that as a comparison to rape of women. 

    Such videos and whatever they imply are the biggest examples of false equivalency. 

    A white dude is not going to feel inferior in an African tribe. End of the story. Because guess what, universal culture has already assumed that he is superior and he is well aware of it. 

    An African can feel inferior among a bunch of Trumpists. 

    You're comparing apples with oranges here.

    This one is kinda tricky I think.. I mean, in a sense you are right. So called reverse racism will never be at the same level of the real racism faced by black people in places like the US and Europe. But does this mean that one can never bring up the subject of "reverse racism"? Will it always be seen as this joke that is trying to neglect the real racism out there? Or could it just be considered as what it is, not nescessarily being compared to anything? 

  9. Posted

    1 hour ago, Thetruthseeker said:

    I do often wonder what @Leo Gura marketing plan for actualized was 

    I heard him say he put lots of time, money and effort into the marketing... but I wonder what it was sometimes 

    there’s no Facebook, Instagram, no ads, no e mail list with updates, no funnels, no book, 1 online course. No webinars, no Facebook groups, no partnering up,  I’m willing to bet no seo, google adwords etc 


    no doubt Leo is a marketing psychology master and a purple cow with amazing content and consistency of showing up every week. And maybe that’s it. But I personally can’t see where the marketing budget is going... The marketing budget from all I can see is just equipment (camera, mic) learning courses and books . 

    maybe he is doing a lot of this stuff behind the scenes... but I haven’t seen any ‘marketing’ in a direct sense apart from just showing up amazingly every week and delivering massive value - so maybe that’s just the key 

    When I first found the Actualized channel it felt so raw and real. No fancy shit. Just a good intro that said "this is profound" and a bald guy who presented things in a way that made me feel like this was something unique. Also the length of the videos stood out to me and the content felt sort of exclusive ( which apparently it is). I think extensive marketing would ruin the magic and make it feel not so real. That's at least my take on it.

  10. Posted

    6 minutes ago, Blackhawk said:

    Questioning too much is being paranoid

    Why? I thought the whole point was to question everything until every assumption you ever made was debunked?

    Isn't the problem with conspiracy theorist that they don't question there questioning, and because of ego and fear they lach on to a convenient explanation that serves their survival?

  11. Posted

    Hard to say what should be weighted more; The flexibility of each country to decide how many immigrants they want to take in or the power of commitment from all the countries together. Chances are that some countries wont be able to handle the increased inflow of people, which could in turn and over time create a situation like we have seen in Sweden. At the same time, chances also are that countries which by now is not doing anywhere near what they could do, will be obligated to take care of way more immigrants and also be able to integrate them. 

  12. Posted

    Will this work though? Or will he just create another plattform where the already most crazy and deluted people will be the first to find out about it?

    Is this supposed to be a statement from Twitter? And if so, how is Twitter going to explain the fact that they have chosen to ban Trump, but let people like the iranian president call for jihad and violence, not even removing the tweets?

    I see potential for backlash and problems here..

  13. Posted

    On 12.12.2020 at 1:17 PM, LastThursday said:

    It's all about risk. Is the risk of catching Covid - and being permanently injured or death - higher than the risk of taking a vaccine which is NOT the virus?

    I mean, thats the ting. This virus has a pretty long and intense history by now. We have almost a year of the most comprehensive stats ever measured for a disease in the history of mankind telling us that if you're in your late teens or early twenties there's virtually NO risk of getting seriously ill or even less dying from the virus. If you are twenty years old, healthy and don't have any underlying diseases, the likelihood of dying is basically like winning the lottery. So, how should I compare that risk vs the risk of a vaccine with little history and no stats? At least I have a solid concept of the first one, and know that its extemely low. So based on this premise, I would actually choose not to take the vaccine.

    However, if it turns out I can potentially save other lives by taking it I will do that. I'm not sure how that works if everyone who are in the danger zone will have taken the vaccine before me anyway, but if I can contribute by taking it, I'll do it.

  16. Posted

    On 31.10.2020 at 6:40 PM, Carl-Richard said:

    I believe activism that willfully provokes violence is completely ineffective and inappropriate from a pragmatic standpoint and it should only be deployed if there is no other alternative. You can be an advocate for free speech without being a troll, and you're never going to change the fundamentals of Islam with some cartoons. What are we really achieving?

    The cartoonists know perfectly well the consequences of their actions. The hypocritical attitude of "oh look how they're killing people for some ink on paper - we don't support that!" while at the same time gleefully causing more of that to happen only comes from a childish lack of perspective. You're not exercising free speech: you're exercising stupidity. It's like saying you're exercising your freedom of movement by walking off a cliff.

    It's kinda like a catch 22. Because on one hand you don't want people to spread hate and propaganda and start unnecessary conflict. But on the other hand, it is exactly these things that start the debate and puts light on an issue so that people even become aware of it in the first place. Personally I'm in favor of everything that makes people think. And in terms of the freedom of speech debate I think people have become more aware and more knowledgeable as a result of it being such a hot topic for a long time. So therefore, what seemed like som totally useless and unnecessary provocation could turn out to be really important in order to put light on the issue. 

  17. Posted

    Personally, I kinda look at this situation as a blessing in a sense, because I'm finishing my studies next year and now I can focus solely on that. So then I don't have to feel the fomo because of not joining the parties that usually are arranged two/three times a week. 

    When that's said, this could also be a good opportunity to get in touch with people you haven't spoke with in some time and reconnect with these people. Ask them how their doing and tell them that you enjoyed the last time you were together and that you would gladly meetup again and hear about how things are going. I did this with two former student buddies who I hadn't talked to for 9 and 6 months. One of them I had a really good talk and decided that we should stay in touch and meet up more. I feel like people are in a sense more receptive to others reaching out nowadays, so that should be viewed as an opportunity rather than a limitation. 

    Also as the @Thestarguitarist14 and @everythingisnothing mentioned, joining a group or some activity, either a skype group, meetup group, or a sport can be really beneficial. When you're in an acticvity group you often meet like minded people with shared interests. So that's a good bet I would say.

    Personally, I'm playing tennis and golf once a week and that's pretty much all my social life these days except an occasional meetup with some of my friends. 

  18. Posted

    On 9.10.2020 at 5:26 PM, Preety_India said:

    Also want people to elaborate how being needy is different from actually having basic needs. 

    When I think of being needy I usually think of it in terms of relationships, in other words that you're being needy towards someone. Basic needs I feel like has more to do with basic needs for physical survival but also maybe some aspects of relationsships are relevant here. I guess you become needy if what you perceive as your basic needs aren't fullfilled. And with the key word perceive. Some people think they only need shelter, food, and one or two people in their lives to be happy. But others would need huge amount of money, large social circles, status and so on to feel secure. So I guess you could argue that both of these people become needy if they don't get their needs met, but that the last one is suffering more from neediness since he/she has gone further down the rabbit hole so to speak. 

  21. Posted

    What are your thoughts about "the value of life"? 

    You think that putting a price tag on a year of expected life time and then multiplying that by the number of years we expect to save, and then put that cost up against all the different costs of all the measures that we take in order to control the disease, is a good comparison? 

  22. Posted · Edited by w4read

    @BjarkeT Taking responsibility is generally a good thing, but I think it needs to be combined with some sort of acceptance of the reality and the situation that exists in the moment. This is probably one of the hardest and most counterintuitive things in personal development and I've been struggling with it for years now. I find that when you are able to combine those two more, you will still take action, but it will come more from a peace of mind and a sort of positive motivation ( inspiration if you will). Notice how you feel when situations come up. Are you getting tensed up and stressed? Or are you gettting genuinely curious and want to find out more? That is a sign of weather you are accepting the situation or not. If you have no need to change the situation, why would you get stressed? At the same time, why would you not take action and see where it goes? After all life is an exiting process ;) 

  23. Posted

    @Bjarke This idea of taking responsibility, does it only come from watching Leo's videos or is it a principle you have lived with for a longer time? I think the key is to find out why you hold on to it in the way you do. Maybe the problem isn't nescessarily that you take too much responsibility but that you lack the implication of other principals such as finding a balance with it and also allowing for things not to be perfect all the time? Or yeah, maybe it even isn't a problem. Do you feel it has caused problems in your life?

  25. Posted

    15 minutes ago, Jennjenn said:

    Is not the physical strength, is the history of using it to hurt and abuse others that causes that dynamic.

    I agree. But then it does still play a role in some kind of indirect sense, because the dynamic probably couldn't exist if there wasn't for some sort of power imbalance, which I'm just guessing come from the fact that men in most situations would be physically stronger.