Ninja_pig

No. The thought sickens me. I don't think I would get any satisfaction from hurting anyone. I don't really like seeing people get hurt in real life. Only when I'm online and separated from the violence. Also don't like it if it's livestreamed or something. That's too much for me. Only when it was previously recorded and already happened.

This is model is good, but it's oversimplified. The jobs of Dopamine and Serotonin are very complex and each one is very important for happiness.

I like to listen to or play music for entertainment. I think reading fiction shouldn't get in the way for you spiritually. It would only be a problem if you spent too much time with the books.

Why trust Leo then? Also, I think philosophy is an inherently solo pursuit. You can't ever fully trust any outside resource. Direct experience is the only thing that will always tell you the truth. The purpose of reading philosophy from others is to give your mind more to work with, not to adopt doctrine.

I would probably consider myself orange/green, so this stuff makes me feel like I'm growing

I think that red is the first stage that really allows society to happen. The dark ages and feudalism were basically stage red, especially among the nobility. Red is the first stage that really has concepts of specific rules for justice and allows itself to interact with strangers. This differs from purple whose whole justice system is basically just up to the judgement of the chief or leader of the tribe. Also, stage red is not necessarily more violent than stage purple. Yes, they may be more cruel to their own people, but they are a little more thoughtful with killing. Usually when a red kills, it's because they want to gain power or territory or they have pleasure in doing so. Purple will basically kill people because they are outside of their tribe. Think of apache Indians, some of the more violent native American tribes. Stage red is basically trying to be stage orange, but they kill too much and don't respect the concept of stability in society enough.

I've spent an average of 3 or 4 hours a day on YouTube for a long time. I just want my free time back to do what I actually want to do.

Idk why I would as it's incredible. But ,you know, just curious.

I've been doing this for a while. It takes away so much unnecessary suffering. Not judging yourself also helps you not judge other people, which makes your relationships better. This is really a pillar of spiritual growth.

I would say that materialistic success is actually positively correlated with consciousness level. Look at how the average spiral dynamics stage of a country correlates with the per - capita income of the country. More security, more education, higher quality of life, less time spent working, these things help you become more conscious and also come from wealth. As for people who have obscene amounts of wealth, say the top 0.5% of earners in the United States, wealth can only do so much. After a point wealth is just a number and it won't help you increase your consciousness.

@Leo Gura I guess I don't understand intelligence as you understand it.

In my opinion you really have to rely on people for most of the information in your life. All you can do is be aware that you are putting trust in others and take responsibility for your learning. Always take note of from where you get your information.

IQ is actually a pretty good measure of intelligence. IQ and EQ are different things though. EQ and consciousness are much more closely tied. You can't really learn to increase your IQ, but you can learn to increase your capacity for love. I would say that IQ has no correlation to lovingness and consciousness.

I totally agree with this. Music has helped me through some of the darkest times. It's like a drug that doesn't have any side effects, doesn't make you addicted, and you can enjoy without building up a tolerance. Like some psychedelics?

@Realms of Wonder Honestly your ability to overcome your addiction so far is very inspiring. I struggle with YouTube addiction myself, and I've tried to quit many times, but I always relapse. The longest I've gone is 2 weeks, and I have gone through everything you described. Your determination in the face of the agony of withdrawal makes me think that not all hope is lost. Keep strong, I hope that you are successful and your psyche returns to normal. You also have healthy habits like music, reading, and meditation that you practice fairly consistently. I just want to say that what you are doing is really quite impressive and the fact that it is hard is no surprise. I think that what you are experiencing is just withdrawal. It is telling you that you really are changing on a deep level. Keep it up! I believe!

It do be like that sometimes

I can see why a lot of people say they are addicted to this forum because it has a lot of like-minded people on it. When I'm on the forum, I specifically look for topics where I have an opinion or view that I want other people to know. I feel very satisfied when someone looks at something I said and approves of it or says it helps them, I'm slightly less satisfied when someone disagrees with what I say, and I feel disappointed when no one shows any sign or having read my post or no one offers an opinion. I think that I have learned a lot by using this forum, and engineering my posts in order to gain attention has forced me to write high quality posts that require a lot of contemplation. However, I am worried that browsing the forum will turn into an addiction, or that seeking to be helpful will sabotage my growth because I may be less willing to learn from others. I'm writing this post in order to bring this insight more to some other people who might be doing the same thing. I am also writing it because I want other people to respond with their experience on this forum and validate my own feelings. So please respond if you have any suggestions and if you think this is a problem. How can I be less reliant on what others think? Should I be less reliant on what others think? Have you dealt with this problem in the past?

I actually think coding can be fun once you get good. It allows me to easily get deeply into the flow.

I don't think you should be asking which language to learn, because once you learn one language, you can learn the others a lot faster. Instead, be asking what resources are best for learning. If you're just starting out, I recommend following a few project tutorials. They will let you see each concept in action as it is used. Also, the true skill in programming is not really remembering syntax, but being able to think through a problem, write pseudo code, google the correct things, and read error messages.

Right now I don't spend too much time on this forum, but I can see that I could, which is why I wrote this post. I also use that app, and I deleted all the social media off of my phone (moderating my usage time just didn't work). Also, I think there is a lot to "words on a screen". I spend a lot of time reading on my phone, or reading emails, or reading articles. I'm studying computers in college right now so words on a screen is a large portion of my life. I think it matters which words.

There is a book called My Big TOE by Thomas Campbell that provides a highly sophisticated answer to this question. It might be worth checking out. I have also been watching a lecture series recently that seeks to answer a related question. It's called Awakening From the Meaning Crisis. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLND1JCRq8Vuh3f0P5qjrSdb5eC1ZfZwWJ Leo also has a video on the topic:

It's so interesting how there are so many people who are experts on so many different topics in this forum. Anyway, for me, it was reading books, listening to seminars, and writing essays that helped me become a better writer. I think that Leo is a really good writer actually, so listening to his videos will make you a better writer. Maybe write a few research papers on various topics that interest you. Explain you ideas in an orderly, clear, and concise manner as if a very large number of people were going to read it. Also, listen to internet debates and engage in debates. Debaters are the most skilled writers in my opinion.

I respectfully disagree with this. Every morning we all make a very important decision, and that is whether or not to kill ourselves. If there really is no meaning, we should just kill ourselves. That is what I would do anyway. I'm not even saying this to be shocking or bleak, it's literally just the most logical option. Anyway, humanity is a beautiful thing, and having a reason to be here is one of the core aspects of becoming human. You can't just dismiss it or life is just grey.

Meaning is such a difficult thing to grasp for me. One thing I have found you can never go wrong with though is to help others. Service to the human race turns any wasted life into a meaningful one.

blunt but true. humility is the antidote to devilry and self deception. Be a seeker, not a preacher.