No Self

Vsauce is a wonderful contributor on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/user/Vsauce The school system generally turns learning into a dreaded chore (perhaps by design? to make us better drones?), so those of us who still like to learn later in life are rare, as are these great teachers.

Reminds me of a famous quote by Sigmund Freud: "Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from its readiness to fit in with our instinctual wishful impulses." We humans like a bit of 'us versus them' and we wish that spirituality could be just like our competitive sports, politics and economic systems. All these systems attempt to be civilised versions of tribal battles. But of course, we deny our primitiveness! Christianity covers a spectrum ranging from the most mild-mannered congregations to the spectacles of the Westboro Baptist Church. The gentle ones rarely talk about hell, though it's usually still there in their belief systems. The one I knew as a child was definitely on the mild side, and it took many years for me to view it critically. I still envy the level of social support that members get just because they are able to integrate with the church beliefs. But alas, real truth has to be universal and about oneness, with no priest as a middleman. What a bummer.

Even then, we are only allowed to hear a romanticised perspective. Sometimes parents regret having children, but are censored and tabooed by society from sharing their story, lest they be accused of not loving their children. This leads more people to go into it with naively optimistic expectations. It's a vicious circle and unfortunately it's hard to talk about it at all without sounding 'dark'. No doubt child-raising in a healthy community with high-consciousness individuals, ecological sensitivity and financial security is a wonderful thing for all concerned, but still quite rare.

I'd just like to add, there are great things happening in the field of clean transportation. Already, EVs and solar power is viable for many people. Further innovations are still happening, like this partly solar-powered Dutch car that is supposed to enter production next year. And yes, there are dark forces conspiring against clean energy (the right-wing media and fossil fuel lobbyists in politics). The Trump administration reduced EV subsidies, discredited wind power, added taxation to most solar panels, put a guy in charge of the EPA who is a known EPA opponent, pulled out of the Paris Accord, reduced environmental regulations, promoted a wild conspiracy theory about climate change, etc. Australia is taxing EVs and car dealers are known to refuse to sell them, presumably because they require little maintenance. This is a war being fought in our time so be sure to pick a side.

I'd say so, unfortunately. A good summary here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Meyer's_water_fuel_cell

Yes it is, but more importantly, so is the one who is speaking.

Improvement of the situation is possible to some degree. Some teachings say that the personal sense of self - including story of the 'me' who is troubled by thoughts - is itself a thought. Can this be investigated?

I see what you are asking. One area that I have researched extensively is near-death experiences. People not only continue to live without the body, but often report 360-degree vision, psychic communication without vocalisations, seeing a much larger colour spectrum than we know on Earth, feeling no discomfort standing in front of a light much brighter than the sun, rapidly processing vast quantities of information and so forth. The implication is that our sense organs and the brain are actually an enormous suppression and limitation compared to the soul's natural state, by design, whilst still enabling a range of experiences. The ambition of living the most Godlike life, like Jesus and other masters, is surely the highest purpose. But focusing directly on the brain could be very limiting, as it is just another body part by comparison. Integrating spiritual insights into your practical life will naturally result in a more peaceful, inspired and profound mental state, but this is merely a byproduct of knowing and being your true Self. Rupert Spira says that if spirituality were a 12-chapter book, awakening would happen at the end of chapter 1 and the remaining 11 chapters would be all about aligning our lives with what has been discovered.

There's two ways of going with this, and I don't think either is universally right or wrong. A 'spiritual bypass' can be an attempt at an individual evading social/career/etc. issues and will often fail. OR, worrying about worldly success can be a complete waste of time since it will never bring the lasting fulfilment of realising the Self. Spiritual teachers usually emphasise realisation of the Self above all else. For example, Eckhart Tolle has said that 'the world cannot give you anything of lasting value', while Ramana Maharshi said, 'what is not permanent is not worth striving for'. Keep in mind that enlightenment is not just the cherry on top of all your career and relationship conquests. It's not just another trophy to boast about. Thinking otherwise is an enlightenment trap in itself.

He by himself would have been unlikely to cause much trouble. Ditto for Hitler and others. Humanity wants to blame everything but itself, which unfortunately ensures progress will be minimal. I believe there are mechanisms in the bigger picture to balance the extremes of unfairness and injustice that we appear to witness here. But if there is only one of us, it becomes harder to judge anything as good or bad.

Hydrogen cars are out there, and can derive their fuel from water (but usually it's a fossil fuel byproduct). They may not catch on as they still require electricity, and it's more efficient for a vehicle to be a full EV without the middleman. Claims of perpetual motion machines, etc., are considered pseudoscience. If I can call my solar panels 'free energy', they are pretty awesome, though.

People forming into tribes is a tendency going back millions of years. The intellectual excuse-making to relieve cognitive dissonance might be a bit more recent, though. No doubt there is some value in each of the religions' teachings, too, but community is the real name of the game.

Definitely relatable. I think I try - where possible - and offer a counterpoint/contrarian perspective in every possible situation to encourage people to expand out of their closed-minded bubbles. My subconscious intention is probably creating a more enlightened world so I would feel more accepted and less of a misfit. I don't know how effective this is - probably creates the opposite of what my mind intends.

I still remember the crude example he used to illustrate the point, too! But the mind must be even more than that since it remains to some degree even after the death of the body. Using art as an example, the brain must be capable of connecting with infinity, but by definition it is itself finite, having a limited number of neurons.

Of course. But so is everything else in my mind.

Xenu ...was, according to Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, the dictator of the "Galactic Confederacy" who brought billions[4][5] of his people to Earth (then known as "Teegeeack") in DC-8-like spacecraft 75 million years ago, stacked them around volcanoes, and killed them with hydrogen bombs. Official Scientology scriptures hold that the thetans (immortal spirits) of these aliens adhere to humans, causing spiritual harm. Yes, indeed. Has there ever been a more incendiary word in all of history? Surely, truth is truth regardless of what words we use.

Truth be told, I had never paid attention to the term anti-natalist until someone brought it up here the other day. I find it interesting, but environmentalism rather than 'life is bad' would be my reason for thinking similarly. As for experiences, my grandmother spent the last few years of her life in an aged care facility, unable to recognise her own family, unsure of where she was and almost in a vegetative state. I had an uncle hang himself after turning 70. It was pretty barbaric. Then consider the huge financial cost of keeping people alive for those last few years... Meanwhile, there are kids on the streets. Pure insanity.

Yes, it's a difficult one. The pep talk and can-do attitude of motivational speakers is indeed the optimal approach for constructive self-improvement, yet this does not mean that anyone can do anything in practice. This sets up certain people to fail, then fall through the cracks due to age, physical/mental disability or whatever, only to be further put down by society since we only like to hear success stories. Having a bias towards stories of overcoming hardships and heroic survival is a mindset with an evolutionary/survivalist significance, but is not the same thing as unbiased truth. Offering people humane end-of-life choices is something that I feel we should support, even if we do not understand what might lead people to need such a thing, and regardless of whether it is in our own evolutionary self-interest to turn a blind eye to the darkest aspects of life.

Sadly, due to Dunning-Kruger, the end result is that the most incompetent and narcissistic people will gleefully pump out new life, while the more thoughtful will abstain. It takes intelligence to recognise a lack of intelligence.

A master would say something like, "Find out Who You Are, then do whatever you please."

It's well and good to have a wish-list, but who is going to implement it? The billionaire class own the entire media (CNN, Fox, Facebook...) and set the tone for political discourse which in turn gives us governments and law. Even when the population is angry, their frustration can easily be manipulated to result in further tax cuts for the rich, or to encourage poor people to cannibalise each other, both of which were themes during the Trump era. It becomes a runaway effect in which having too much power results in amassing even more power at an ever-faster rate. And something has to give. I do not know what the result will be.

This is a very natural response for most people. The huge flaw is that we taboo into oblivion the voices of people who are actually living through some sort of nightmare scenario. We dismiss them as 'negative' or 'sick' and instead bombard society with imagery of people who are young or beautiful or wealthy for 'inspiration'. Through this grossly distorted lens, we then conclude that life is peachy and nobody should have a right to leave.

Wait, you're using commonsense? Get outta here! A question of this magnitude deserves a deep exploration. The amount of suffering visited upon a being with shithouse parents is absolutely unimaginable; the 'gift' that keeps on giving. And yet, the most thoughtless people will have the most children - cult leaders, religious extremists, drug addicts, etc. being extreme examples. Added to this, our economic reality is gravitating towards a scenario where the majority of people are serfs who have little or no hope of ever achieving freedom or financial independence. And did I mention the dwindling state of the environment? Or the toxic political climate at just about every level? What does make sense, at least in theory, is trying to help children who are already here.