Jirh

Psychology slop.

I've been hearing about these same predictions for the last 15 years, I think. World war 3. Petrodollar system crash. World economy collapse. The end of times. It's always nearing. Always in the next few months. Alongside the Chinese taking over everything. It's often a mix of conspiracy theories, religious beliefs (typically Christian), and a strange compassion for the underdog.

My heart goes out to you. You're not alone in this. I know others who experience the same thing, and they are winning the battle everyday just like you are. Keep going! Do you get imagery with the feeling of wanting to disappear? Or is it voices? Or both? It seems like you've tried quitting before. What was the reason then? Is it the side effects? Do you experience emotional flatness with the meds? What role(s) do meds play in regulating your emotions and thoughts? Do you wish to provide the life you couldn't have to your children? Or is it more like a need for belonging? .. I'm sorry if I'm asking too many questions. You can skip all of them if you don't feel comfortable answering.

@Someone here Sorry to hear that, my friend. It makes sense. These physical withdrawal symptoms are common when dependence has occurred. Your body's chemistry had likely changed/adapted after years of nicotine consumption. But I know people who smoked for 20+ years and quit. It usually doesn't happen suddenly, even though sometimes it does. Most people just keep lowering the nicotine dose gradually until it's negligible, and it works. Never give up on yourself. Can you at least separate the nicotine intake from the rituals surrounding smoking? That could be a great start, because smoking for most people is almost like a ritual. It involves certain settings and movements. You could start by bringing awareness onto these patterns.

@Someone here 5 days off is good progress. Keep going! 👏🏻 What does it feel like before you smoke the cigarette? And during? And after? Addiction often feels as emptiness before and regret after. And a fleeting feeling of wholeness during. To break the pattern, you probably need to reverse the sequence. You can try sitting with the urge to smoke for a while, and reliving the guilt before you smoke. Then after smoking, you can focus on the emptiness from a place of non-neediness. Over time, this should detach you from the automatic action. And eventually it becomes a matter of decision and a little bit of willpower. Right now, you're struggling because you're enmeshed in an unconscious pattern. Bring consciousness into it, and over time it should dissolve. And btw, keep them journals coming. I enjoy reading your thoughts from time to time.

Good on you. Sorry to hear that. I know it can be tough. It takes strength to go through it everyday and still stand. Do you think you'll always need meds? Or do you see yourself fully healed and free eventually? And what do you wish and long for the most in your life? Like what would make you feel the safest and happiest?

My proudest moments were those when I held my ex through psychosis and helped her pass her final exams. I still feel my own love and warmth reflected back at me in multitudes. It's as if God was there. Me and her. Both sacred and divine. Nothing compares.

There are two parts to the inquiry. The first part is about the old unexamined identity: "Who do I think I am?". The answer is often concrete, like "I think I am this body, etc...". The goal is to examine old assumptions. The second part is more open-ended. It's about trying to get in touch with the present moment instead of re-engaging with the thinking mind. It's about getting a sense of life, really, regardless of answer. Like, am I truly living or just being a robot?

@Zeroguy Thank you for sharing your experience, and sorry to hear that. I deeply sympathize with what you've gone through. It's heartbreaking to see how harmful early environments and a lack of mental health education can shape a person's life, which is why I'm becoming a psychiatry professor. The conditions you've described, especially the trauma you endured, are textbook risk factors that can contribute to developing mental disorders like the ones you're facing. How are you managing right now? How is life treating you?

How was your environment in childhood? Any memorable moments of abuse? How is your relationship currently with your parents and siblings if any?

Nice! 👍🏻

Israel still isn't able to defeat Hamas, even with the help of the greatest military and all the AI weapons in its hands. I would say that's way too pessimistic. But yeah, it's not far from human devilry.

Machine learning alone won't produce enough intelligence. There are other layers, like language models which can be placed to control the machine.

They are currently solving humanly impossible physics and maths problems. And this is only the beginning.

It's pretty easy to program AI to never harm anyone.

Sadly true.

LLMs are becoming like a calculator that can reason instead of just doing basic arithmetic. This is both amazing and terrifying at the same time. Machines will be able to produce better solutions than the human mind. It's not just intelligence at this point, it's hyper-intelligence. In time, it will probably feel like infinite intelligence. Not in theory anymore. Actually, in practice.

@Hasson_Miah There's literally a quote with the same message: — C.S. Lewis

That's a nice one. Hope you find the answer.

The problem is not that maps exist. The problem is that maps are often misinterpreted as reality. The solution is not to look for a new map to swap with, but to take a meta view above all maps.

@Someone here Direct experience is limited, because it implies that everything is just flat appearances, nothing more. Even to come up with the concept of "direct experience" is wrong and contradictory to direct experience because you don't actually directly experience a direct experience. It's just a concept or a flat meaningless appearance among other flat meaningless appearances.

What do you mean by consciousness?

I did not claim anything. I asked a question: How do you explain the loss of vision on brain damage? You're saying the brain does not produce vision. Okay, then what produces vision?

If the brain is a receiver, then where is the transmitter?