flyingguitarist

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About flyingguitarist

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  • Birthday December 6

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    Earth,Milky Way,Universe,Your Imagination.
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  1. Coding skills and job opportunities
    Coding skills and job opportunities
    Related recent post I made in a similar thread: https://www.actualized.org/forum/topic/85597-is-becoming-a-software-developer-worth-it/#comment-1206795

    I'm also completely self-taught. Went to like a single semester of computer science in college, decided it was way too slow and just went straight into the workforce. There's very little red tape in this industry and it's definitely possible to bootstrap yourself. Some resources off the top of my head:
    odin project is a great intro to web dev, completely free. From there you can check out challenge sites like https://www.codewars.com which can provide simple problems to start solving. The sooner you can handle actual projects like https://projectbook.code.brettchalupa.com and even better getting into things like https://screeps.com and you'll be well on your way. I haven't really gone through much youtube content but there's definitely some good stuff on there, I just don't learn by video usually, although I am currently going through this action rpg guide in order to learn godot and get into game development a bit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAbG8Oi-SvQ, it's pretty easy to follow along if you know some basics and might be fun if you're into the idea of gamedev

    As for jobs, depending on the exact type of work i'm looking for I'll use resources like:
    Monthly hacker news freelancer threads: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30515749 There are some good subreddits which I've found high quality work on: https://www.reddit.com/r/jobbit/comments/woft8a/for_hire_experienced_fullstack_software_engineer/ When looking for full-time salaried work I've had luck on platforms like hired, there are a bunch of them out there these days: https://hired.com/ If you're able to get into platforms like toptal you can find pretty high quality clients: https://toptal.com. I've also used the more basic platforms like https://www.upwork.com Random collection of job-related urls I've saved over the years: https://pinboard.in/u:saiko-chriskun/t:jobs

  2. Working Up to Cold Approach
    Working Up to Cold Approach
    "sexy" is a word too sexual for cold approach, especially daygame (it could work in a nightclub) There are ways to communicate that someone is sexy without being so blunt. 
    The most direct I've been in daygame is "Hi. I like how you look. I want to / would like to meet you"
    Keep in mind that you can set the intent and make the interaction man-to-woman wihout ever verbally expressing it. Now that's sexy.

  3. Finally had a date with a girl but she rejected me the next day
    Finally had a date with a girl but she rejected me the next day
    This is a scarcity problem.
    Women are too flaky to ever depend on them for sex. Hence you must go out and talk to many girls and collect many numbers for many dates, until one of them hooks hard.
    And don't invest too much into them until sex. They will waste your time without a second thought.

  4. Dealing with Hairloss - Accept or be proactive?
    Dealing with Hairloss - Accept or be proactive?

  5. What does the brain actually do?
    What does the brain actually do?
    It's more strange-loopy than that.
    The brain is not a reducing valve of consciousness, consciousness imagined a reducing valve and called it "a brain".
    The paradox is that the brain reduces consciousness not by some material mechanism, but simply you imagining you have one. When you buy the idea that "I have a brain and it produces my consciousness" -- that idea itself reduces your consciousness and THAT is true function of "the brain". The concept of "the brain" is there to ground you in finite consciousness, for without that concept everything would be seen to be as it truly is: infinite
    Imagine if you were locked in a prison with an open lock, and the only thing keeping you locked in there was your idea that the door was locked! For decades you planned how to break through the lock, and none of your methods worked, until one day you realized there was no lock, and suddenly the door opened.
    You ARE the lock and you ARE the key!
    Ta-da!
    - - - - -
    How else could it be,
    But that you are the key,
    That will set you free,
    To simply be,
    United with me.


  6. Psychedelic Books?
    Psychedelic Books?
    @gggkkk
    I can recommend you a few books. There are no practical books about psychedelics, as the most practical thing is just to take them, haha, but a few of them might catch your attention. Here are the books I have read, alphabetical order, favourites in bold:
    Aldous Huxley - Island (Literary classic, it's very interesting to read Brave New World first, written before Huxley discovered psychedelics, and then the Island, which is a reply to that story changing the vision of the future from dystopia to some kind of low-key, realistic utopia.)
    Ayelet Waldman - A Really Good Day (Book about microdosing, written by a normie who had nothing to do with psychedelics, interesting.)
    Brian C. Muraresku - The Immortality Key (Newest anthropology book about ancient drug use, also touches on subjects of pagan death cults and pagan-christianity continuity theory. Written by a researcher who has never done psychedelics, on purpose, so his work doesn't get demonized or labeled as ravings of a lunatic. Interesting as fuck.)
    Carl L. Hart - Drug Use for Grown-Ups (Responsible drug use, decriminalization advocacy, full of captivating personal stories. Dr Carl Hart is someone who wears his heart on his sleeve. Great guy.)
    Christopher M. Bache - LSD and the Mind of the Universe (Story of a hardcore philosopher who dosed extremely strong LSD doses twice a year for decades to do his research.)
    James Fadiman - Psychedelic Explorer's Guide (Oldie, not that goldie anymore, haha. The content of this book is normal knowledge on the internet nowadays.)
    Jim DeKorne - Psychedelic Shamanism (Dangers of choosing that path. Some interesting points made.)
    Mark Fisher - K-Punk Politics (Has a chapter at the end from his never finished book about "Acid Communism", because of the suicide he commited. )
    Martin Ball - Being Human (READ THIS SHIT, the finest biography of the finest 5-MeO-DMT researcher)
    Martin Ball - Being Infinite
    Martin Ball - Entheogenic Liberation
    Martin Ball - God's Handbook
    Michael Pollan - How to Change Your Mind (Various interviews, stories and a personal adventure of discovering something new. Typical Pollan's book, but about psychedelics. Great.)
    Rupert Sheldrake - Ways to Go Beyond and Why They Work (Has chapter on psychedelics if I remeber correctly, but overall it's a worthwhile book. Rupert is similar to Leo in my opinion.)
     
     

  7. What is masculinity
    What is masculinity
    Masculinity is your ability to step into tension and be grounded in tension. Look at navy seals, firemen, police men, or men who are good with women. Look how grounded they are in their body. They are in control, completely vulnerable, yet containing and penetrating the world through their level of emotional embodiment. 
    Becoming masculine is all about developing your grounding ability in relationship to tension. Those examples above, if you visualize their energy for a bit, you can start to feel the contrast with your own internal energy and see the gap in masculine grounding ability. 
    Walk a bit through the city, and feel your level of contraction in relationship to the world around you. How penetrative are you with your energy? 
    How expansive are you? Is your self-expression limited? How reactive are you to your external environment and also to your internal one; the emotions and thoughts about yourself. Do you have a lot of fear, shame and apathy?
    Are you taking any responsibility? Are you making decisions? Are you procrastinating and lazy? What is your long term vision? Do you always want to be contained instead of being your own container? 
    Your masculine is only going to develop through challenge and serious embodiment work. It is uncomfortable for sure. Especially if you lack solid grounding. It takes time to build that. You will need to walk a path where you are being confronted with all the uncomfortable stuff that will build you over time. 
    Get out there, be challenged, seek challenge. Seek confrontation, spend time in nature, walk around the city without shirt and shoes,  become primal again. Do martial arts, build a masculine physique, stop masturbating and half-assing things. Go to men retreats such as awakened masculinity. Face your social fears, face social rejection, confront your emotions, start to build a conscious relationship with your body where you release tension systematically, start to model your reality energetically and then bring it down into the physical body, spend time with other men, get good at game and socialization. 
    Are you taking responsibility in fixing your diet, doing your routines, sticking with right habits, focussing on money stuff, doing daily chores? Are you sticking to a right sleeping schedule? Are you focussing on a deeper purpose in terms of career? 
    So much stuff you can do man, but the key is: Face tension, gain experience, get out there, stop jacking off, and commit fully.
    Embodiment is what you are after and it comes after a lot of experience in the physical world where you are confronting emotions, both internal from childhood such as fear and shame for example, but also emotions that external reality pushes onto you where you have to be able to contain them and ground them, such as being physically confronted by dominant aggressive males for example. 
    If you want a feminine women, you need to be able to contain her. Your energy needs to feel solid, where the flow of your consciousness is going down into the earth, because you feel stable and powerful, ready for anything. This is all the result of a lot of experience. A feminine woman has the deepest desire to be contained in a relationship, to feel safe to express her feminine energy. 
    Make it your life purpose to connect to this masculine energy, and once you do, you can drop this intention because you are embodied. This karma is then gone away from your identity and you make place for other purpose. 
    Some practices to start:
    Join a gym, build strength Eat healthy Do Martial arts, jiu jitsu, muay thai, mma, .... Wake up early, take a cold shower Walk in nature barefoot, expose your body to the world, leave t shirt home Social exposure: Become comfortable facing rejection. Face rejection and let go of attachment to validation. Letting go / releasing practices: Hypnosis, meditation, body awareness, sedona/lester levenson/ hawkins Approach women Do oshos dynamic meditation early in the morning in a public park.  Find a community of like minded men: The Fearless man on youtube for example. Go to workshops and retreats for men: Awakened masculinity, fearless man workshops, .... Psychedelics: Letting go of your self-identity Full body awareness when outdoors: relaxation and belly breathing Look people in the eyes when you walk down the street, feel the tension. Penetrate people with your energy. No half-assing  
    These things have the aim to release feelings that are currently blocking your natural flow of masculine energy. When done as daily routines, with full commitment, these things will adapt your nervous system over the months and years and there comes a point of permanent embodiment where these shifts in feeling that result from the practices, form a natural part of your identity. Things are effortless and expansive then. You have total freedom. You can then start to let go of some of the practices if you wish. You have a lot more dynamic range in the things you can do because you are not contracted by blockages any more. Your feminine and masculine become more synergistic and harmonize, and you can bounce between them whenever you wish to. 
     
    And the most important thing... Stop compulsive consumption of theory. And let go of needing to change over night. Change never happens as a result of one thing you do. It is compounded effect over time that is what changes you, just as building muscles will change the body. Tension and resistance will change your masculine embodiment level. And it is a proces that works over time. 1% each day. Take action and let go of needing to understand everything, needing to find the big answer, the next book that contains all the answers etc. Do the practices that are causing you to feel resistance, and do them rigorously with a david goggins mentality. 
     

  8. Spiral Dynamics Stage Green Examples Mega-Thread
    Spiral Dynamics Stage Green Examples Mega-Thread
    Blue/Orange is opposed to weed.
    Case in point: Jeff Sessions has a hard-on for criminalizing weed.
    Legalizing weed will open the gateway for psychedelic experiences, which spells doom for the Blue & Orange paradigms. Orange doesn't like weed because it: A) hurts profits, B) undermines Orange's mindless materialistic ambitions, C) undermines capitalism.
    Weed will help Green win the progressive culture war. Which Blue/Orange doesn't want. Weed helps open the mind and heart. So a closed-minded, closed-hearted ego will not allow it.
    It's no accident that weed is legalized in the most developed Green countries and states in the world first. Alabama is not about to legalize weed. Because they are too Blue.
    If California is the head of the snake, Alabama is the tail.

  9. Health &nutrition cookbook
    Looking for a good cookbook
    I'm looking for a beginner's cookbook that at best has dishes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.
    Of course, the dishes should be healthy and balanced so that everything is covered.
    I'm open to everything vegetarian, vegan, meat, whatever, the main thing is healthy and not too expensive to make. I mostly cook for myself and I don't mind eating the same thing for several days.
    You could also recommend one in German if possible but English is good too!

  10. Creative Ideas Mega-Thread
    Creative Ideas Mega-Thread
    My best ideas tend to be a synthesis of my core values, of what I consider maximally meaningful. My mind is less prone to sporadic brainstorming nowadays.
    (Systems thinking is of course not my idea, but the visualizations and neologisms came mostly from my own mind).

  11. What Music Leads you to feel Love?
    What Music Leads you to feel Love?
    Wow. Thank you for making the time to share these. EVEN MORE LISTENING! yay  

  12. How to message people to learn from them?
    How to message people to learn from them?
    Offer value first before trying to take. Lots of people try to get advice or help from successful people. The more successful you are, the more moochers will try and take from you. Really popular people are getting hundreds of requests a day. Set yourself apart from the unwashed masses by actually offering them something. Most people who reach out for mentors aren't serious, they're wasting their own time and the other person's.
    If they're local, offer to take them out for lunch and pay for it to pick their brains. Work for them for free if you have to.
    Successful people are busy, don't waste their time. 30 minutes every 6 months is all you need. If you set limits it'll be more successful then "can I email you whenever I have a question". Have a specific goal in mind going into the conversation, not just "tell me everything about X". Learn everything you can on your own before talking to them. You should only be asking them very nuanced questions that you couldnt find through researching on your own. Every time you meet with them, show them you've actually implemented their advice from the last time you spoke.
    If they have a website, that's the best way to contact them.
    Lots of world class people have already done dozens of interviews each in most areas of mastery that you can get on YouTube for free. Really question if you need to learn from someone 1 on 1 or if the information is already out there. 

  13. Creative Ideas Mega-Thread
    Creative Ideas Mega-Thread
    App to Train on High Quality Questions Extracted from Leos Videos
    Select High Quality questions set from a list of many bundles or based on each video Train using a flash card question and answers system in app Progress is tracked Retention of material is tracked (memory) When question is answered a list of all answers other people gave can be viewed and explored Get rewards for creative answer or interesting insights (incentive for pushing ones boundaries) Overview of cognitive digestion page View large tree of question categories and track you progress in that tree Community can create questions to train on Daily challenges and See friend progress Compete on Insight Train Various forms of thinking (holistic, integral, loving...)

  14. Urdhvareta or the Sublimation of Sexual Energy
    Urdhvareta or the Sublimation of Sexual Energy
    I wanted to write a bit on this rather esoteric concept. This is NFSW, so beware.
    I want to avoid some of the gross exaggerations and fantastic claims of the scriptures, as well as the various hang-ups and taboos that will generally stop people and religious orders in particular to explore this topic.
    Briefly, Urdhvareta is spiritual and physical process, by which sexual energies and in the case of men, semen is sublimated and made to flow upwards along the spine, so instead of its usual descent, it goes into ascent. For this to happen, Kundalini must pierce the various chakras and knots, until it pierces the Brahmarendra and reaches the crown.
    Through various techniques and exercises, the lower abdominal muscles are sufficiently strengthened, so that one can experience a full body orgasm without ejaculation. The process is slightly different for women, in that they have the advantage of having the ability to experience such orgasms anyway, whilst normally there is no release of bodily fluids, though of course some women are capable of the latter as well. I have yet to meet a woman that will talk about this without inhibition, but from what I can gather, women on the tantric path are encouraged to have frequent orgasms in order to aid the process of Urdhvareta.
    When Kundalini rises to the top and breaks through to the crown with sufficient force, the cosmic egg, or Hiranyagarbha is cracked and Soma or Amrita, a divine nectar is released and floods the brain and eventually the whole body. With Urdhvareta, the objective is to create a constant flow of semen / sexual energy from the lower abdominal area into the brain. This process of constant sublimation leads to the creation of the Divine Body or Sarupya Mukti. It is believed that a person with such a body becomes effectively immortal and will display the powers of a god. I would caution against taking such claims seriously, I believe much exaggeration and projection is involved. What seems to happen instead, is that a so-called light body is activated with the release of Amrita and that the process of Urdhvareta builds up this light body, slowly, over an entire lifetime. As the divine essence (ojas) is pumped up the spinal column and streams up mixed into the spinal fluid, it reaches the top of the head, where it will fall back as soma / amrita enabling the gradual building up of the light body or divine body. This will only fully activate and come into its own upon death. Tibetan Buddhism talks about a similar process in Dzogchen, where a rainbow body is built up through various practices and austerities.
    The Left-Hand Path (Vama Marya) believes in using sex as a tool to sublimate sexual energy and semen and turn it into amrita. The Right-Hand path, which is the only one really accepted by the mainstream today, believes in achieving the same effect through strict celibacy, both in body and mind. Even sexual thoughts are forbidden. I won’t take sides in this eternal debate, except to point out that the Left-Hand path has been heavily suppressed in the past few centuries and is now near extinct, so they’re hardly in a position to defend their own views and argue for them on an equal footing. The Right-Hand path on the other hand seems to hold rather bigoted and rigid views, especially on sexuality, the sex organs and the role of women. To me, it seems they are unbalanced to the point of misogyny and denying the importance of sexuality in spirituality.
    Not many know that up to the middle ages (in fact, in many ways, up to the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857), Indian views on the role of spirituality and sexuality where very different to today, but I guess the Victorians took care of that for generations to come. To give a few examples, Indian women in the South did not cover their torsoes before colonisation, which was also the case in Bali and Pacific Islands, like Tahiti. It was the Victorians that forced them to cover up. In North India, that happened earlier due to the influence of Islam. Another example would be the prevalence of Temple Prostitution and even tantric orgies. This, I believe now only happens in a handful of Indian temples today. Further examples are the existence of medieval sex manuals like the Ananga Ranga or Kama Sutra, which display a sophisticated understanding of sexual pleasure, still unmatched, but especially striking compared to the complete taboo status sex enjoyed in Victorian society and the ignorance with which such topics as the female orgasm were treated. In medieval and ancient India, it was common practice for couples to engage in tantric intercourse, which was very different from the kind of dynamic, hectic sex practiced today and was mostly about sinking into stillness and Samadhi in a meditative state. Very few people remember how to do this today, with perhaps Tibetan Buddhism being the last holdout of this ancient practice, but even there it is often hushed up and kept largely secret.
     
    There are many beliefs around the topic of Urdhvareta, which are difficult or next to impossible to verify. Swami Muktananda believed that his ability to give Shaktipat was contingent upon his Urdhvareta status. Other Swamis believe that Urdhvareta is necessary to gain Brahmavidya or knowledge of the Supreme Truth and experience Nirvikalpa Samadhi, which is a topic I wrote about in a previous post. Yet more others believe, that Urdhvareta is a necessary component not only of building a Divne Body (Sarupya Mukti), but also to gain divine power (Sarstya Mukti).
     
    I cannot say how much of this is actually true, but perhaps some of it is rooted in reality. I often get the feeling that when Yogis experience something fantastical in a Samadhi state, they tend to describe it as if the event took place in physical reality, when most likely it was an astral experience, that they experienced in their astral body, perhaps even unaware of the distinction in an exalted state. I have some experience with this, ranging from astral projection, lucid dreaming, OBEs, NDEs and various Samadhi and non-dual states, so I can understand why it must sometime be difficult to distinguish between events that took place in an astral state (such as levitation or flying) from what actually took place in physical reality.
     
    Instead, I will now concentrate on the process of Urdhvareta and describe it as best I can, as it takes place within my own body. I find that such first-person descriptions are the most useful.
     
    Whilst Urdhvareta is a subtle, background process, focussing awareness on it can strengthen the flow and in meditation it becomes an integral part of the Kundalini Mechanism.
     
    The starting point for the energy is always in the testicles, with the equivalent for women being the ovaries. When becoming conscious of it, the bottom of the testicles start to tingle. This is accompanied by a pumping motion, which is indistinguishable from that experienced during an ejaculatory orgasm. Heat, or what feels like a hot liquid substance is pumped through the base of the penis, with the energy coming from both sides, left and right and meeting there. This activity is independent of Kundalini. Whether there is sexual arousal, is dependent upon the position of the head of the Kundalini serpent. If it’s lodged in the first or second chakras, sexual arousal will be experienced. Once Kundalini moves past those lower centres, arousal dissipates and disappears completely at the higher centres. In an ideal case, the head of the serpent is lodged in the crown. Then, the starting point of the energy is in the testicles end the endpoint is at the Brahmarendra Bindu, at the top back part of the head. Ojas ascends along the spine into this Bindu, there it will turn around and fall back as Amrita or Soma (Nectar or Ambrosia to the Greeks). This is a hot, liquid substance made of light. Science now recognises this as the fifth state of matter, though it is not normally detectable to ordinary senses or even scientific instruments.
     
    As Ojas is pumped up the spine, the strongest sensations arise at the bottom of the testicles, where the main energy flow enters the body, the toes, where supplementary energy is sucked up from the ground, through the earth element and the back of the head, where Ojas is turned into Ojas Shakti in the brain, which then exits the head at the bindu of brahmarendra, there it is turned into Amrita in the space above the head and it falls back as a Nectar of Divine Grace, in a motion resembling a fountain or a waterfall. During this process, the feelings experienced all over the body are exquisitely pleasant, comparable to sexual pleasure, but of a much higher order. The sensation at the top of the head is the most pleasant, almost indescribably sweet, though as Amrita spreads all over the body this ecstatic Joy and Bliss is experienced everywhere. With Amrita, divine Wisdom also enters the body and once receives downloads of information, flashes of realisation about the true nature of things and one’s own individual life situation. In this state, one is already in a lesser Samadhi state, though still inside the body, just opened up towards heavenly realms through the mouth of heaven atop the Brahmarendra. One might receive visions and communications from higher beings, such as Devas, guides, gurus or one’s own higher Self. With the mouth of heaven open and amrita flooding the body, one becomes naturally attractive to higher beings, who may wish to impart wisdom, blessings or just interact in some way. In such a state one may feel the touch of a Deva (god) which is exquisitely sweet. Blessings or boons can also be passed on, though these have to be offered by the Deva in question. At this level, no words or language exist, even thoughts cease in the ordinary sense, since one is no longer of mind. Communication is by direct knowing, touch and the transfer of energy, which can transmit great pockets of information, concepts, visions, images, ideas, without the use of language.
     
    Ordinary thoughts cease in this state, instead of a stream of consciousness or linear thinking, knowing occurs in flashes of realisation. Ideas burst into one’s consciousness in an orgy of light and each download of information is accompanied by a highly orgasmic, joyful and blissful flash. Although one’s ego (ahamkara) is still present it is no longer the doer or the thinker, the reigns are handed over to the higher Self (Atman), as it were. The ego flails around helplessly, not really understanding what is happening to it and is swept away by the intensity of the experience and wave upon wave of orgasmic light energy. Similarly to an experience of Nirvikalpa Samadhi, which usually only occurs once in a lifetime, the human mind is not capable of processing and returning with all the information that it realises in this lower Samadhi State. Some of it will be brought back, but it will always be an incomplete or lesser part of the whole picture. Therefore when in this Samadhi state, bringing back ideas is like fishing in an ocean of light, one can only bring back a few of the endless multitude of ideas and concepts available to the Self in an unending sea of consciousness.
     
    A person is usually called an Urdhvareta, if they manage to internalise this process and create a permanent flow, accompanied by an unceasing Samadhi, though for any ordinary person with a job, family, etc… this would be highly impractical, so usually only great sages and gurus choose to dwell in it.
    Nevertheless, once Urdhvareta has been established, a lesser flow, which works gently in the background can usually be maintained and this will build up a light body or divine body, slowly, over a lifetime.

  15. Philosophy of Science (books and videos)
    Philosophy of Science (books and videos)
    Books continuation
    51. Road since structure - thomas kuhn
    52. Methodology of scientific research programme - Imre lakatos
    53. Proofs and refutations - imre lakatos
    54. Mathematics, science, epistemology- imre lakatos
    55. Against method - paul feyerabend
    56. Problems of empiricism- paul feyerabend
    57. Knowledge,science and relativism- paul feyerabend.
    58. Conjectures and refutations - karl popper
    59. Realism and aim of science - karl popper
    60. Science, faith and society - Michael polanyi
    61. Philosophy of natural science- carl hempel
    62. Many faces of realism - hilary putnam
    63. Mind, language and reality - hilary putnam
    64. Representation and reality - hilary putnam 
    65. Models and analogies in science- Mary hesse
    66. Structure of scientific inference- Mary hesse
    67. Models and metaphors - Max black
    68. Concepts and role of models in mathematics, natural and social sciences - Hans freudenthal
    69. Studies in methodology and foundation of science - patrick suppes
    70. Representation and invariance of scientific structures- patrick suppes
    71. Models and methods in philosophy of science - patrick suppes
    72. Structure of science - Ernest nagel
    73. Introduction to logic and scientific method - Ernest nagel
    74. Observation and theory in science - Ernest nagel
    75. Inquiry as inquiry: logic of scientific discovery - Jaakko hintikka
    76. Logic of epistemology and epistemology of logic - Jaakko hintikka
    77. Science and partial truth - Newton da costa
    78. Semantic conception of theories and scientific realism - Frederick suppe
    79. Structure of scientific theories - frederick suppe
    80. How laws of physics lie - nancy cartright
    81. The Dappled world - nancy cartright 
    82. Models as mediators - Mary s morgan, Margaret morrison
    83. Models and theories - Roman frigg
    84. Fictions in science: philosophical essay on modelling and idealization - Mauricio suarez 
    85. Aspects of scientific explanation- carl hempel 
    86. Scientific explanation- Richard braithwate
    87. Nature of explanation - peter achinstein 
    88. Four decades of scientific explanation - wesley salmon 
    89. Statistical explanation and statistical relevance - wesley salmon 
    90. Logic of statistical inference - ian hacking 
    91. Logical foundations of scientific inference - Henry kyburg 
    92. Theory and evidence - clark glymour 
    93. Foundations of measurement-  suppes, tversky, krantz, luce
    94. Extending ourselves - paul humphreys
    95. The world observed, the world conceived - hans radder 
    96. Material realization of science- hans radder 
    97. Philosophy of scientific experimentation - hans radder
    98. Thing knowledge, philosophy of scientific instrumentation - Davis baird 
    99. Objectivity - lorraine daston and peter galison
    100. Image and logic - peter galison
     

  16. Philosophy of Science (books and videos)
    Philosophy of Science (books and videos)
    Books continuation
    101.  How experiments end -  peter galison
    102. The neglect of experiment -  Allan franklin
    103.  Selectivity and discord- Allan franklin
    104. Experiment, right or wrong - Allan franklin
    105. Observability and observation in physical science - peter kosso
    106. Construction of quarks - andrew pickering
    106. The mangle of practice - andrew pickering
    107. Progress and its problems - larry laudan
    108. Science and values -  larry laudan
    109. Science and relativism - larry laudan
    110. Science and hypothesis - larry laudan
    111.  The advancement of science - philip kitcher
    112. Science,truth and democracy - philip kitcher
    113. Science in a democratic society- philip kitcher
    114. Scientific knowledge, a sociological analysis - S. Barry barnes
    115. Understanding agency - S. Barry barnes
    116. Interests and growth of knowledge - S. Barry barnes
    117. Sociology of scientific knowledge- David bloor
    118. Knowledge and social imagery - David bloor 
    119. Changing order: replication and induction in scientific practice - Harry collins
    120. Re-thinking expertise  -  Harry collins 
    121.  Tacit and explicit knowledge  - Harry collins
    122.  Artificial experts - Harry collins
    123. Sociology of science -  robert merton
    124. Genesis and development of scientific fact - ludwig fleck
    125. Laboratory life: construction of scientific fact -  Bruno latour
    126. Science in action -  Bruno latour
    127. Science, the very idea  -  steve woolgar
    128. Knowledge and reflexivity - steve woolgar
    129. Leviathan and air pump - steve shapin
    130. The scientific life - steve shapin
    131. The scientific revolution - steve shapin
    132. Knowledge by agreement - Martin kusch
    133. Thinking about technology, foundations of philosophy of technology -  Joseph.c. pitt
    134. Doing philosophy of technology  -  Joseph.c. pitt
     
     

  17. Non-Duality in Cognitive Science (enaction)
    Non-Duality in Cognitive Science (enaction)
    Hey Leo,
    It would be great to have your take on the subject of non-duality in current cognitive science.
    The most representative position of that being "enactivism".
    If you don't know what it is, you can read this short paper :
    http://www.biolinguagem.com/ling_cog_cult/varela_1997_whence_perceptual_meaning.pdf
    It's written by Francisco Varela (that guy had great insights, if your are not familiar with his work, I'm sure you'll appreciate it a lot).
    You can also read the book "The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience" to learn more about his stance.
    I myself am a young cognitive scientist living in France (still a thesis student though)
    and from what I got from you, here's another reading that might prove to be a compelling read for you :
    http://daimao.info/worldminds-existential-perception
     
    It's actually a personal text from mine. It's not really enaction, but it has basically the same non-duality vibe. What is interesting about this is that I "derived" this non-duality view on my "own" (~ from the influences and inquiries I had). So it's articulated a bit differently than the "standard" non-duality ideas cause I was not directly exposed to them at that point. And when I eventually got exposed to them, it was somewhat "natural" to make sense of them (even though the nuances are not really the same).
    Cheers

  18. Communism and Curiosity, History and Humility
    Communism and Curiosity, History and Humility
    You make some great and nuanced points. I appreciate the serious effort.
    However, from everything I understand, true communism and socialism will never work in our lifetimes because people are far too selfish and grossly underdeveloped.
    But I think it could work 100+ years from now, especially if we start to modify our genetics and brains.
    The problem is that no amount of reading Marx or whomever will address this root issue. My fundamental issue with Marxism is that it gets human psychology and spiritual development wrong, and therefore it becomes unviable in the real world.
    If you have some points to rebutt my core issue, feel free to share them here. I am totally open to being proven wrong on this. Unfortunately I can't see a way you will wiggle you way out of the selfishness problem.
    The benefit that capitalism has, despite all its flaws, is that it works. The same cannot be said for Marxism. There has never been a viable real-world, mass scale implementation of it. This should tell you something.
    It is because of this that I advocate for social democracy. We know it works. It's hard to go wrong with it. And it is the next natural evolutionary step.
    The bruden of proof is on the Marxist to show that Marxism can be viable in the real world. Show us that it works at the level of psychology and ego development. Explain why all the tried implementations failed.
    The problem with reading old texts is that they do not factor in or explain all the failed implementations of Marxism. This is why reading Marx will not help. If Marx saw how Marxism was implemented over the last century he might reject Marxism himself.
    The best moderm Marxist I know is Richard Wolff, and unfortunately I cam see flaws even in his rather modest ideas of democracy at the workplace and profit as exploitation. Although I generally support democracy at the workplace. But it is not clear how much democracy the current workplace can handle before it breaks down.

  19. Spiral Dynamics Stage Yellow Examples Mega-Thread
    Spiral Dynamics Stage Yellow Examples Mega-Thread
    Yes tier 2 does accept the other stages. But as a value judgment. That does not mean it has to be ok with everything green does. Tier 1 memes want to force themselves on everyone. Voluntarism is the negation of force. It the sense that it wants to abolish force, it is not compatible with green. Example: green wants high taxes. Thats force. You are not allowed to opt out. Voluntarism is agains that, so it does not agree with green. It wants to get rid of forced taxes. If you want to, you can form a green high tax commune in a yellow society. But you cant force it on everyone. Green is exclusive and wants to force itself on everyone in the sense that youre not allowed to be yellow in a green world.
    Voluntarism seems self-centered from a green perspective, because green does not appreciate the systemic effects that yellow relies on. Green does not understand them, so it disregards them. Green only sees the non-nystemic part of yellows argument. Which look very orange.
    One reason why yellow is a new tier, and why its so hard for greens to move up, is because they have to give up on all that fluffy self-congratulation and become seemingly selfish to get there.
    Remember that the stages oscillate. Its a fourth and back between individualism and "caring about society". Green was collectivist, so yellow goes back to individualism again. Yellow is self-centered in the sense that it is a return to individualism, but without stepping on anyone else (as orange is willing to do). Yellow appreciates systemic win-win situations, which appear win-lose to (non-systemic) green. Therefore green says: " oh, you want someone to lose, youre just like orange". But what yellow is really saying is that there is a systemic effect that nobody has to lose.
    Helping people is not the same as social engineering. Beck is engaged in direct private charitable engagement, not social engineering. The difference is that one gets his hands dirty and the other deals i  abstractions.
    Systemic thinking is precisely the antithesis to social engineering. Social engineering relies on direct (non-systemic) effects. Systemic thinking sees the bigger effects that whtever you do, you are likely to mess up more things then you are helping. This is hard to explain, because as I mentioned, if you dont get it then you dont get that you dont get it. Non-systemic thinking: We move a brick there, now theres one more brick there. We use one less plastic bag a hundred times, now a hundret less plastic bags are used. Nothing happens between the sum of parts and the whole. Systemic thinking is different. You force people to use fewer resources, you made them poorer and actually caused more use of resoures overall. Environmentalism has largely been counter-productive, because it relies on non-systemic thinking. Resource finiteness  and sustainability are prime examples of non-systemic theories. Tier 1 people never understand these kind systemic effects. They think if they move bricks for long enough, eventually all the bricks will have been moved. In reality theyre creating more bricks on the first pile than they are moving. Another way to say "systemic" is that one has realized that social engineering doesnt work. Systemic thinking and social engineering are mutually exclusive. Pre-systemic (social enineering) thinking says that things only change in the direction that we make them change. Systemic thinking means you appreciate that you cant engineer the system, you have to wait for it to rectify iself. It happens by itsef, and the best thing you can do is not wreck things, thereby delaying progress. Thats stage yellow thinking. Matt Ridleys latest book is a great example of this line of thought.
    Yellow wants society to fits its values, but it does not want to social engineer it. Most greens are entirely misunderstanding what stage yellow is. You think its a more sophisticated version of green, which adds spirituality and has a finger in a systems theory textboox. But reading books is not the same as understanding it structurally. As I said above, the stages oscillate and yellow goes towards individualism again. (A good indicator that voluntarism is yellow is that green hates yellow, and you hate voluntarism.) Green already contains those aspects. Why do you think its a new tier thats so hard to get to? Because greens are unwilling to give up their belief structures. (And because systemic thinking is very hard, its not emotional like stage green thinking.) They want to move up but take the green beliefs with them. Sorry, not possible. (Metaphorically you could say that yellow is lighter than orange and green because it needs to lose a bunch of darkness.) Its more of a letting go process than a sucess you achieve if you try hard enough.
    Its also typical of green spirituality to see it as a thing to achieve, some state to get to. They think its like the orange chase for excellence: be good in school, be the best, then God will love you/you get rich. They just replace earning Gods love or getting rich with "achieving enlightenment".
    It is typical for tier 1's to confuse their beliefs for reality. Green is especially bad at this. They assume that every stage must believe in these narrow green beliefs such as social engineering and environmentalism because they are reality. But yellow largely gives up green beliefs such as social engineerd environmentalism. It relies on market forces to do the job. Social engineering is a tier 1 thought structure. I think many people really want tier 2 to be versions of green in order to not have to leave the comfort of green. (The entire culture is green, its very rewarding.) Ironically, the more they try to progress upwards, the deeper they dig themselves into stage green. To become yellow, you ancually kind of have to be willing to be a bit more orange for a while.
    Your work is impressive, but it is stage green.

  20. How to not come off as desperate with girls ?
    How to not come off as desperate with girls ?
    (After direct opener and some "regular talk")
    - I'm intrigued...
    - you seem.... interesting... somehow
    - you amuse me
    - you seem cute
    - haha that look you make is kinda adorable
    - it's funny cause for a moment you look sweet and innocent but then you make this devious look and I'm thinking "run away from her!!!"
    - I'm tempted to have a crush on you, but you seem like too much trouble...(why?)
    - You might be the kind of girl my mom warned me of (what exactly?)
    - ohh, ok...if that's the case I might have to ask my mom if I can even hang out with a girl like you
    - you seem like fun, but let's take it slowly ok? Like maybe only holding hands for the first 7 dates
    - (she: "how many girls have you approached like this?) => Look in these Bambi eyes of mine... isn't it obvious I'm just a cute innocent boy?
    - I don't know if this can work out with us...wait, which side of the bed do you sleep on?
    - are you left or right handed?
    - yeah, you seem cool...I could see myself having breakfast with you
    - But hey, you promise me you're not just gonna use me for sex ok? I don't just wanna be seen as an sex object all the time
    - Sorry, I was too busy staring at your lips (or too busy objectifying you in my mind), what did you say? (Look at her lips quickly again)
    - You must stop being so cute
    - You're actually not allowed to have such a sexy neck...
    - I'm trying really hard to not think about doing certain things with you right now
    - Yeah, I'm enjoying talking to you...and if we keep having this amazing energy like now, I'm sure I'd also enjoy engaging in other, more physical activities with you
    - I appreciate that you're curious about my personality, like we take it slowly and get to know each other...but there can be other times when, for like 30 minutes or so I can also enjoy being objectified a little bit by a girl, if you know what I mean
     
    So this was basically a progression of flirtatious/sexual things. It starts innocent and ends very sexual.
    A similar kind of progression also exists for physical touch. Ideally you master both (verbals and physicality).
    Also be prepared to get challenged for your flirtation attempts (and other things), aka receiving shit tests. "Aha, and do you say that to all the girls" etc.
    And at some point you slow down the talking and see if you can kiss her. Maybe you can also take her home (topic for another thread).

  21. Sleep Yoga: Conscious During Sleep (Guide)
    Sleep Yoga: Conscious During Sleep (Guide)
    Research 
    The most important part of sleep yoga, WILD and astral projection is to achieve body asleep + mind awake. If that is achieved, all else is relatively easy.
    Unfortunately, hardly any resources go into any depth on that issue. 
    Some time ago I went through around 30 OBE books. Pretty much all were quite low quality (regarding that issue), these were the best:
    Travel far by Darryl E. Berry Jr. Astral Dynamics by Robert Bruce  Hacking the Out of Body experience by Robert Peterson and for DEILDs of course: The Phase by Michael Raduga the Way of the Projectionist by John Kreiter also brings an interesting perspective. (And in "the Way of the Death Defier" he also writes a bit about sleep yoga)  
    The best resources actually seem to be WILD and astral projection tutorials on dreamviews and reddit and other forums.
    The quality of those seems to be better than other internet resources or youtube videos, even better than most (or all) OBE and sleep yoga books.
    So if anyone wants to do some further research, I can recommend dreamviews, reddit and these books.

  22. The need for a guru / initiation
    The need for a guru / initiation
    I wouldn't say there are any right or wrong answers, and I'd say that looking for a guru thinking you need one is not the thing to do. I'd also say that disregarding one when they appear to you is not the thing to do either.
    Here's what Nisargadatta Maharaj said about this I found it incredibly interesting. 
    "What you take to be the ‘I’ in the ‘I am’ is not you.To know that you are is natural, to know what you are is the result of much investigation. You will have to explore the entire field of consciousness and go beyond it. For this you must find the right teacher and create the conditions needed for discovery. Generally speaking, there are two ways: external and internal. Either you live with somebody who knows the Truth and submit yourself entirely to his guiding and moulding influence, or you seek the inner guide and follow the inner light wherever it takes you. In both cases your personal desires and fears must be disregarded. You learn either by proximity or by investigation, the passive or the active way. You either let yourself be carried by the river of life and love represented by your Guru, or you make your own efforts, guided by your inner star. In both cases you must move on, you must be earnest. Rare are the people who are lucky to find somebody worthy of trust and love. Most of them must take the hard way, the way of intelligence and understanding, of discrimination and detachment (viveka-vairagya). This is the way open to all." 
     
     

  23. Vipassana vs Kriya Yoga
    Vipassana vs Kriya Yoga
    Beginner
    Pick a meditation object such as the breath and prepare yourself with the intention to notice that the sensations of the meditation object are not you (anattā/no self/non substantiality of a self residing in the sensations witnessed), they cause dissatisfaction/suffering (dukkha), and they constantly are in flux/changing (anicca/impermanence). Reminding yourself with linguistic thoughts such as “these sensations of the breath are not me”, “these sensations of the breath are dissatisfactory”, and “these sensations of the breath are impermanent” is fine, but try to do this sparingly if possible. Using a linguistic reminder to stay with the intention of the practice is better than losing the intention of the practice and having no linguistic thoughts. 
     
    Intermediate
    Take the skills gained from the beginner level practice to now start noticing the three characteristics in the entire sensate field of experience (anattā, dukkha, and annica). Feel free to add linguistic self inquiry to this during the first few minutes of meditation before stopping the linguistic form of inquiry to view sensations alone. Self inquiry is an optional part of this. It is not necessary for vipassana practice, but it may improve results for some. Keep in mind that thoughts and anything else created by the mind are also sensations. We are investigating all of experience on an equal footing. There is no need to stop thinking if you are able to simultaneously investigate the sensations of thought. When first doing the intermediate level practice, it may help to still the thinking mind in order to be able to give proper attention to the sensations coming through the other five senses. 
     
    Expert
    Move from looking at vipassana through the linguistic lens of the three characteristics by dropping notions of anattā, dukkha, and annica and instead hold the intention before meditation to penetrate and see clearly into the nature of all sensations which arise. This step should only be done once intermediate practice has allowed one to clearly feel anattā, dukkha, and annica with ease in essentially any circumstance, including outside of formal meditation sitting practice. 
     
    You should be feeling the nature of sensations at this point at an incredibly intimate degree. There should be no gap or separation felt between the practitioner and the sensations present. There should be little to no need for any linguistic reminders such as “this sensation is not me”, “these sensations are dissatisfactory”, and “these sensations are impermanent”. All of this should be running on auto pilot so to speak although those thoughts might not be happening. There should be no need for these linguistic thoughts to be in between the meditator and the sensations present. Similarly to the intermediate level, thoughts can be witnessed as sensations, but if one is truly practicing at this level, thoughts should be no hindrance to intimately feeling the nature (which includes the three characteristics) of all sensations present. 
     
    You can also begin focusing attention toward subtle aspect of the sensory field such as space, consciousness/pervading I-am-ness within the entire field of sensory experience, non-linguistic forms of thought, gravity, etc. The purpose of focusing on more subtle aspects of the sensory field of experience is to feel the three characteristics at work within these patterns of sensations. Doing this practice can dissolve the solid-feeling nature of such subtle sensations in order to transcend them. 

  24. Please help, my progress is painfully slow
    Please help, my progress is painfully slow
    You might also want to take a stab at self-inquiry. It has a very different feel than meditation. Meditation without serious self-inquiry tends to not produce enlightenment. It is important that you start to deconstruct the self and reality. The upside of this is that it has positive effects long before enlightenment happens. You can get a lot of value from just deconstructing everything you know. Pick a thing and deconstruct it. Deconstruction dovetails very nicely with psychedelics too.
    If you are really serious about spiritual growth, you can get a ton of it very quickly by combining contemplation, deconstruction, and a psychedelic trip once very two weeks for 1 year. With this formula you will grow more in 1 year than you have in the last 10 years combined.
    My deepest and fastest growth has come from this approach. In fact, it's too effective. I've had to back off on it because the mind can only integrate so much so fast.

  25. Resource Based Economy Mega-Thread
    Resource Based Economy Mega-Thread
    I appreciate your openness and curiosity.
    Yes I think about this all the time. It's challenging to do because I feel we are so enmeshed in modern society that we don't have any real examples or models. We are going to have to create it together one step at a time.
    However, I have found SOME examples that I feel strongly represent the new world. These places to me are like previews of what is to come, shining the light for the rest of us.
     
    The first is the intentional community Tamera out in Portugal:
    https://www.tamera.org/
     
    Next is a community in Italy named Damanhur:
    http://www.damanhur.org/
     
    I would do your research on either https://ecovillage.org/
    or https://www.ic.org/
     
    What a lot of these places have in common is a reestablishment of community and gift economy. Many of them are also spiritually grounded, like Tamera.
     
    Bio-mimicry technology and Over-Unity devices come to mind. Check out the work of Viktor Schauberger.