Gesundheit

@Shiva99 I don't know your life situation, but since you said you tend to slack off without negative motivation, I have to assume that your basic needs are met, because if they weren't, you would have to be authentically motivated to fulfill them, because there's no stronger motivation than the fear of death. So, if you let go and nothing happens, doesn't that mean that you don't actually want anything to happen? Don't you think that it's a message from your authentic self that it doesn't really have desires? If you slack off and do nothing, what exactly will happen? How exactly your life will change? And most importantly, will you feel good or bad?

Confidence is the feeling that you have before you understand the situation lol. Jokes aside, the type of confidence you're talking about is derived from ego. If you identify as ego, it's very easy for you to lose confidence once the external circumstances change. However, if you identify as the Self, you will be confident as you are without the need for external acquirements.

@Shiva99 Don't feel bad for who you are or what you want or do. Everytime you feel bad, ask yourself: why am I feeling so? Notice that it's probably a judgement about yourself that is causing you to think negative thoughts and feel negative emotions. However, recognize that these feelings are the feul that is allowing you to make all this progress. Think of it as a pendulum, the worse you feel about yourself, the more progress you will be able to make. That's negative motivation, which is fear-based. However, there is another form of motivation, which is love-based. Read more here: www.lifehack.org/829873/positive-motivation In my opinion and experience, if you want to be completely authentic and at peace with life, you will have to drop both forms of motivation and learn how to be present in the moment, which requires high levels of awareness. So, if you really want to solve the problem once and for all, raise your level of consciousness. Meditate more, contemplate more, do whatever you feel is required for you and feels natural and most importantly right for you. Ask yourself: in this particular moment right now, what do I really want? Maybe it's a certain food or a drink or a talk with a friend or anything else. This will be your emotional compass that will help you understand your thoughts, feelings, and desires, and ultimately yourself, which will lead you to the ultimate peace of mind.

Are you saying the epistemic problems of science would not resurface in spirituality? Cuz I already see them and they're gross.

Ego survival.

Trying to go meta on existence by dissecting it into thought and perception, and whatever else it could be.

I agree. Although I would argue that you won't necessarily be cast out if you don't conform. Since you exist and have value and things to offer, people will have to conform to you. The more valuable you are, the more authentic you will be able to express, the more influential you will be. Your place within your social circle will change depending on the value you provide for others. However, value is relative and arbitrary. Some people will like you for your insecurities because of their sympathy, and others will run a miles away from you. Some people will like you for your passion, and others will despise you for it and be jealous. Some people will like you because of your conformity, and others will bully you for it. Etc... There's no science to social interactions. And probabilities don't apply here. You can have the best maps in the world, and still be unlucky and suck, and fall into the first pit on your way. All you're left with at the end of the day is yourself. After all, if you don't love and value yourself, what does it matter if everyone else does? And if you do love and value yourself, what does it matter if everyone else doesn't? Sounds about right. Maybe it's stages that everyone has to go through. Then again, "Alpha" people seem to have it naturally. For that reason, I think it's possible to copy their strategies without necessarily having to go through all the stages. Their strategies are simple (although unconscious): confidence and self-love.

Else.

I will, of course, that's my devotion. Nothing shall escape my microscope. So now we're talking facts? Okay, but how about you stick to your facts and I stick to mine? You don't see me so I don't exist. I don't see you but I believe you exist. To talk to someone you don't believe exists is asinine. No? Being true to your facts should make you almost paralyzed. Although, to me, it doesn't seem to be the case at all. Maybe it's not me who wants to believe in a second layer. Maybe it's you who's denying anything your current paradigm. You're undermining thought as if carries no truth whatsoever, and yet you're using thought to tell me what's true and what's not. You will say: but I'm pointing you to your direct experience. Discard the pointer and look at what it's pointing to. And my reply will be: yeah, but that would require a leap of faith on my part to trust your pointer and give it value. After all, what if you're deluded? What if you pointing me to my direct experience is nothing but a delusion? You see, I don't take these things for granted anymore. You're assuming that perception is the ground layer of reality, or raw reality. Is this assumption true or false? Yeah, poor me.

And what if after discovering that there is no me, years later I discovered that there is me? What if "me" is an idea only from a perception standpoint? Wouldn't that make it a relative fact to that particular standpoint? After all, I am here. I exist. How can I say that I don't? Just because I can't (currently) perceive something (myself) does not necessarily mean it doesn't exist. Maybe I will be able to perceive myself in the future. Maybe I'll discover some other tool than perception and thought. Right.

Insightful response, as always. I thought about it. There would be no difference to me. But that doesn't make my subjective perspective the absolute truth, only a tiny part of it.

And who said if something exists as a concept it doesn't actually exist in reality? Why impose limitations of the human perception on existence?

No. You're assuming that consciousness is the fundamental building block for the layers, but maybe it's not. Maybe it's something outside of your consciousness to comprehend. Have you considered that possibility? Maybe consciousness is not so efficient after all. I disagree with the myth that being or God or reality is consciousness. To me, consciousness is a human projection onto reality, not reality itself. I don't make the mistake and confuse my projections for reality. I recognize my projections as projections. And I don't feel bad for not-knowing.

In other words, you can only be conscious of things you're already conscious of. Wow! Thanks for that dude. Isn't infinity infinitely infinite, which means it's outside of itself? Paradoxical, but would you consider that proof of materialism?

Cannot absolute truth be a concept? Why impose that limitation?

You don't know your destiny, but it's inevitable. So live in the moment and don't try to control life.

@Carl-Richard Generally what you're saying is that I should learn to conform to my society, at least to a certain degree? Am I getting this part right? If that's the case, I fundamentally disagree. Because it doesn't matter the culture/content I have, since I influence the people around me too. It's a two-way highway. Society can influence me, and I can influence it too. And as a matter of fact, the most confident and self-loving people are generally the ones who set the trends, regardless of the actual content of the trends. Notice how radically culture has changed over time and in different places. It does not make sense to say that culture is changing by itself or by conformists, or by fake people. The people who set the trends are not the socially awkward ones, obviously. They're the most authentic to themselves. But maybe it's kind of paradoxical because being authentic implies a certain level of conformity, although it would be authentic unlike just being a conformist for the sake of being a conformist, or simply out of fear. It could be. But it's one thing to learn and practise spirituality by yourself (more authenticity), and it's another thing to cram knowledge from others (more inauthanticity). That's why the inwards path would work while forcing it through reading books and watching videos wouldn't. Most people don't go into caves. Most people are naturally socially gifted. It's the minority that find their way to self-help. Most people never think about anything consciously, and yet generally, things work decently for them. Ramana wouldn't need moves in order to get laid, he had enough status to speak for him

In my experience, confidence alone is more than enough (assuming you have enough levels self-love/self-esteem). If you don't have those things, you're not likely gonna be happy with yourself in the first place and therefore you will likely project that unhappiness outwards onto your personality (or society if you're a victim). That will make you want to change. The change you're seeking is not actually in the content of your personality. It is more in its structure. Confidence and self-esteem are of personality structure, not content. Once the changes are made, your vibe will change, and you will start attracting people to you effortlessly. The alternative scenario I see is to spend like 5 years doing personal development and eventually succeed at creating a fake identity, or personality, which seems solid on the outside, but is fragile on the inside. To put yourself out there and socialize is good because it fixes the problem automatically. Your subconscious will connect the dots from the data you'll collect, and you'll know how to interact properly. It's as good as going inwards. But imo, self-help alone will never be helpful. Will self-help turn a horse into a human? This does not really matter. Since it's relative, your value is not set in stones. Maybe your mismatch will cause your peers to be more attracted to you instead of being turned off. There are no specific rules for attraction. You just gotta be authentic (love yourself and be confident), the rest is not up to you. I'm severely underestimating the belief that you need to become something else other than your own self. Otherwise, I acknowledge the fact that some people have it easier than others. In which case, improvements may be required in order to climb up the social ladder. However, I would still say that confidence and self-esteem are the biggest factors, your levels of development in all other areas come next.

Without enough awareness, anything can become a distraction that has a big potential for abuse. If one is aware enough, they will know what they want and need.

@Carl-Richard You're assuming a certain standard for you to be accepted within society. That's the general trend for the people in self-help because they lack confidence and therefore resort to self-help as a way to improve. I have been there myself. But the reality is that you don't need anything to blend in except the confidence and faith that you belong. Everything else will automatically fall into place if you just be. Your true self will shine through and place you exactly where you should be. You will fit like a piece of a puzzle effortlessly. Also, it could simply be an ego-complex issue where you don't accept being anything less than the leader. In which case, it's on you to dissolve your ego or keep improving it until you become a good leader.

You seem precise about everything except enlightenment itself. Define enlightenment. Try to put that goal in words. Maybe that'll help you navigate towards it.

Since everything is limited, perhaps you should try talking about the cons of being hyper-rational and over-scientific instead of pointing out the limitations of science. Imo, that would make much more sense to people. Because yeah, you're telling us that science is limited, and a lot of your viewers will resonate and agree, but then what's the alternative? And what are the limitations of the alternatives? Because any alternative would have certain limitations too.

Not really sure about that.