kylan11

Among others, a fundamental moral proposition of post-Enlightenment democracy is that we can negotiate conflict with words, dialogue, debate, human conversation. The celebration I see online, and even here of all places, convinced me this is no longer as widely shared as I thought. One side is literally out there celebrating a bullet to the neck to a guy who made mouth noises you didn't like in front of his wife and orphaned children who won't even remember his voice. The other side is, as expected, engaging in the same incendiary rhetoric that has led to this hellish environment, now with a thrist for revenge. What could possibly go wrong. If we don't agree that violence outside of self-defense is a red line, ask yourself what is stopping that guy that sits on the other side of the political spectrum from shooting you in the face. He loathes you as much as you loathe Charlie Kirk. The very scaffolding of civil society is being stress tested to a degree I haven't seen since Jan 6. The least you can say about Charlie is that he believed in and partook in this recursive peaceful process of democratic debate. We can argue whether he operated in bad faith sometimes, we all fucking do. We try and preserve our destructive biases. He may have lacked empathy. If that's your excuse to see this and feel nothing, your 'spirituality' is nothing but egotistical self-serving delusion.

Leo's recent blog post about America's decline into oligarchy & the critique of libertarianism (though it read more like a critique of Hoppe) has inspired this reflection. Years of research and inquiry into history, political science, and ethics have led me to this conclusion, which I'll be sharing in hopes of receiving meaningful pushback and maybe sparking some interesting discussion. There is simply no solution. Any utopian society your mind can imagine is fatally flawed, and there is no escaping this. If it touches reality, it will either detonate on impact or devour itself. We thought we had it with pluralistic, classical liberal post-enlightenment democracy. And, to be sure, it is the least shitty implementation so far, but I'm done pretending democracy is anything other than a temporary elaborate illusion that buys a few generations of comfort before collapsing back into oligarchy, tyranny, or chaos. Let's take liberty as our highest value. Surely that must be it, right? Except that when you're born with nothing and nobody is compelled to lend you a helping hand, your only actual freedom is to starve to death. What looks like freedom from the penthouse is just moral bankrupcy in the gutter. And NAP is not gravity. It is a suggestion (ironically enough I'm paraphrasing Elon Musk here) with no recourse. So... maybe equality? Sounds pretty reasonable. Everyone ought to have a fair shot. But equality is as far away from ground reality as it gets, meaning it requires careful engineering and enforcement. Which means massive coercion. Which means centralization. So congratz, we've built the world's biggest monopoly and gave it nukes. What could go wrong? So let's do decentralization then. Add attrition (this is democracy's shtick, in a nutshell)! Spread the power around! Cool, so we're back to gradual self-destruction by polarization, feudal warlording, and round we go. Power tends to concentrate. And the only leviathan is an even bigger power to break it up. And the latter can be corrupted, and is, just as easily. Not because it wants to do evil, it just wants to survive. Like us. Survival IS corruption. Self-preservation at all costs and to hell with everyone else if my life is on the line. This is the engine of history. Centralization -> stagnation -> collapse -> decentralization -> chaos -> re-centralization. We all ride this cycle, and no constitution or dynasty or empire or ideology has ever broken it. So if you think we're marching towards a stable equilibrium, we are: DEATH. Silence. Utopia requires permanence... in a world which runs on the illusion of duality, which runs on constant flux, definitionally, before devouring itself. It's a contradiction. That was my 2 cents. If you can go deeper, do it. I'd like to hear it.

Evolution selects for survivability. Thus perpetuating the root cause.

This is meant to be a reflection about a recent experience I had on low-dose MDMA and its potential use for treatment of social anxiety, which is a problem I've personally struggled with since high school due to constant bullying. It's not supposed to be a linear trip report. See, I thought MDMA was gonna be a weird weed + alcohol-like feeling. When you drink, it's like a whole part of your brain shuts down and you become an extroverted, unencumbered version of yourself. And you know it. It feels free, fun, energizing. On MDMA? The usual thoughts are there. You retain a total lucidity that I did NOT expect, at all. Your brain keeps throwing you the usual ego-fueled, self-referential, miserable shit like "I'm being awkward", "These people think I'm weird", "What should I do now?" and a thousand catastrophic scenarios of how you're gonna ruin the whole social gathering and how everyone is looking at you etc. and how ugly and cringe you are. But here's the twist, all these usual thought patterns are entirely robbed of their emotional content. You are so hopelessly used to them immediately eliciting an emotional reaction that, when it doesn't come, you are immediately stunned. You are still at peace. That feels so distinct and baffling that it opens up the possibility of reflection: Holy shit, guess what? Whatever happens now, whatever the fuck I say or do in this social situation... the Earth will keep spinning, the Sun will rise in the morning, and nobody fucking cares. This is a thousand times more helpful than just shutting down your nervous system with alcohol. The latter will leave you with the feeling of "how nice it would be if I wasn't such an awkward piece of shit when sober". MDMA, on the other hand, teaches you that that black void of fear and anxiety can only grip you if you let yourself be captured by such useless mind-chatter, that will vaporize at first glance if you simply observe. I knew that already, conceptually, but experiencing it as a real possibility for YOU is something else. As I'm sure you know very well if you've dabbled in any kind of spiritual work. Mind you, this was a low dose experience. I don't know exactly how much I took. No boundless feeling of love or anything metaphysically significant. But it does have its place in snapping you out of things you thought were an indivisible part of you. Have you guys had any similar experience? Did the insight stick or fade away in time? I'd like to eventually try a bigger dose.

And who decides when a country has reached a certain level of consciousness? If all it takes is one psychopath for you to stumble into an Orwellian dystopia, perhaps you should think twice about the system you're trying to build.

Sure, the SEC should (again, SHOULD) investigate blatant insider trading and similar fraud... except that the whole system is rigged, there are no adults in the room. They've been kicked out one by one (you could argue there never were any, see the 2008 financial crisis or senators turbo selling stocks prior to COVID). So don't hold your breath.

Ben Shapiro (who's actually pretty pissed off about the tariffs) optimistically argues that Trump is responsive to bad press - and while that's true, he doesn't seem to realize (or refuses to say publicly) that his response has always been spinning, lying, distortion and scapegoating. Hardly helpful when you operate on the economy that tracks reality much more closely than theatrical politics. He may dig himself into a deeper hole by doubling down, or back off by getting some largely symbolic concessions in negotiations and spinning those into a huge win "for the american worker" (= best case scenario). It's a 50/50 the way I see it. EDIT: Actually, the absolute best case scenario would be an actual win: the EU getting their shit together and tearing down the innovation-crushing bureaucratic labyrinth that it is + Musk convincing Trump that an EU-US trade agreement is in the best interest of both. Now that would be one way to seriously fuck with China. Pure fantasy for sure, but you never know. Trump has been failing upwards his whole life after all.

The prophet had warned us.

100%

Hedge funds don't beat the market with an army of analysts, insider knowledge and so much computing power you could train GPT-6 on it. For all intents and purposes, everything is priced in. The thing about market doomers is that eventually they're right. Graham Stephen has made millions fearmongering for the imminent collapse, basically throwing shit on the wall until it sticks. Stocks... usually go up. Bad luck for you if you invest before a bubble explodes, but NOBODY can predict that with any accuracy in the long term, so in the meantime you're missing out on a sweet yearly return, potentially for years, losing out on significant compound interest. If you're really convinced that the crash is imminent, wait it out and buy the dip in one or two highly diversified ETFs tracking a decent index fund (arguably with some exposure to emerging markets), and monthly deposit whatever you can save consistently for 20 years. This is the only way to make money for the retail investor. In the off chance you were right, great! You managed to time the market. Never try that again unless you're so delusional you're convinced you're the next Warren Buffett.

So what you're saying is I should YOLO my life savings into 500 OTM SPY puts expiring tomorrow? Well then, that's my sign from God Wish me luck!

The best thing about a degree is that it at least gives you structure in your studies. A basic framework to explore the field, and as you progress you can deconstruct the framework also. You get exposed to the best thought humanity has to offer over thousands of years (although in a superficial way, it's up to the student to get to the substance) and then you use those tools in your personal philosophical inquiry. But so few people delve into that, it's a failure. Instead, learning online quickly gets you overwhelmed by the sheer size of the beast, leaving you a shaky knowledge base made up of little fragments gathered by insomniac 2 AM google searches.

Haha, but in my humanly egoic motivations I am not omniscient, so I don't take that privilege for myself

Resorting to intellectual sleight of hand and manipulation is and will always be inferior to actually learn how to communicate with others. People respond to genuine interest in them. They want to be heard. Only when you've given them full attention and genuine open-mindedness to consider things from their perspective will they be open to consider your concerns. Have you taken the time to do that? If not, are you instead convinced that you're correct "a priori"? Do you think you have insight on your own limits and cognitive biases? If you're unable to communicate honestly but instead implicitly try to affirm your own superiority, you are always doomed to fail. Good luck.

I've been there! Thoughts are NOT the enemy. Just another appearance in consciousness. They may feel like the enemy in the beginning (this phase can last for the longest time! don't feel hopeless, trust the process), but anytime you bring your attention back to the object of meditation you are actually improving your concentration. It's like any muscle that gets stronger over time when you exercise. This is the point, you are doing the equivalent of a push up for the mind everytime you bring it back to the present. One step at a time you are getting closer to breaking the spell. So don't get frustrated, be grateful.

Chill out... what this clown is trying to say is: just vote for me now, I'll fix everything so you won't ever need to think about politics again (and I won't be on the ticket so who gives a shit frankly). The guy is so clearly too stupid for 1. realizing how easily his words can be used to portray him as the dictator he would like to be but won't ever be able to be because 2. he's a wanna-be, unfocused, impulsive and nowhere near intelligent enough to actually pull off the complete destruction of american democracy. He's dangerous because he's batshit insane, incompetent, narcissistic and easy to manipulate, not because he's some american Putin with a master plan. Let me be clear, he would LOVE to be Putin, but sadly for him, he just doesn't have it. Sorry. He's little more than a puppet for far more dangerous actors to fatten their already morbidly obese purses and destroy the world in the process.

I'm highly skeptical that this will ever happen, but if it does, the second it drops I would stop literally ANYTHING to watch it asap. And honestly Leo, I'd be just as curious to see you interview Sam Harris, Alex O'Connor, various New Age figures and, fuck, even Richard Dawkins etc. I think one of the problems, for me, is that your work kind of just sits there in a vacuum. I believe you have more than reached the intellectual maturity to really put your work as a philosopher and mystic out there, in the public discourse, by discussing it with these well-known intellectuals. And I'm sure that, by having an actual world-class "But Leo..." at your disposal to challenge you, it would do nothing but mature your philosophy further. Despite these people not being nearly as "enlightened" as you, surely the top human beings of this time in terms of pure raw intelligence and culture will have something to offer you and us all.

We might actually have a fighting chance here! Between Biden doing the honorable thing and Trump being so inconceivably stupid as to revert to his old divisive, incendiary, name-calling, red stage self in the span of 15 minutes (when he could have so easily destroyed the entire leftist strategy by presenting himself as a "changed" man and a unifying figure), and 2024 being his last realistic shot at political relevancy... I am hopeful for a slow and gradual return to normalcy in the next few years.

Just wanted to share this as I thought it might be of interest as it was for me. Especially considering that Leo, like me and so many others, has taken a special interest in the phenomenon of Trumpism and the rise of right-wing populism around the civilized world. Opinion | On Anti-Trumpers and the Modern Meritocracy - The New York Times (nytimes.com) Maybe, just maybe, when we straw man the rise of trumpism as a fundamental issue between progress and bigotry (as the intellectual left does), we are completely overlooking the elitist society that we have, perhaps unconsciously, constructed. We might have brought this madness upon ourselves. It's especially ironic to me that I find myself in complete agreement, and yet due to survivalistic self-interest most of my mid-20s life efforts are basically a struggle to gain entry to that same professional elite. Perhaps I am there already, if "cultural capital" and higher education are the conditions. I'm not entirely convinced that there is a solution to this problem. If anything I suspect it might get worse now that white collar jobs are threatened by AI as well. I'd like to hear your opinion on this.

It's an insightful reading. The biggest lesson I took from it is the fact that being harmless does not equal being good - an important point too often forgotten today in a victim-complex ridden culture. "Those who have swords and know how to use them yet keep them sheathed shall inherit the earth".

It can in people that are genetically predisposed to it. But unless you have a parent or a sibling that is psychotic I wouldn't worry about it. For instance I have a schizophrenic uncle and my chances of being diagnosed at some point in life is about 2%. Less actually, since I'm already 25. For comparison, it's 1% for the general population. From what you're describing it simply just sounds like effective deep meditation. That's amazing. You are witnessing a shift in a higher state of consciousness. There's nothing to be concerned about.

Ciao Asia, fa sempre un sacco piacere trovare altri italiani in posti così di nicchia. I'll switch to english now so that other people may find my comment helpful. Generally, around the world and especially in our beloved country, psychedelics are very hard to find. They are wildly unpopular as street drugs, so unless you happen to attend many rave parties - the chances of you randomly stumbling across a plug to get you mushrooms/LSD are extremely low. I would not take it as a sign from the universe that you are not ready. You know best when you feel ready. And I would definitely encourage you to try at least once in order to experience what consciousness is capable of. It will give you direction, purpose in pursuing further spiritual practice, and will definitely widen your perspective in life in unexpected, amazing ways. This makes sticking to meditation everyday way easier, in my experience. Now, for the practical aspects of how to get your hands on them, sourcing is forbidden by the forum's rules, but DM me if you're interested. This is the first time I've opened this forum in a month. I rarely read random posts here, yet I stumbled across your post and I just so happen to be italian as well. This may even be the sign you were looking for, haha. Buona fortuna per tutto!!

Let me give my 2 cents although I'm not Leo. Maybe he can add on or correct my perspective when he gets the chance to read this thread. What you are seeing is a reasonably realized individual who also happens to possess above average intelligence (I'm specifically referring to the conventional logical intelligence that IQ measures). So we have two factors at play: Intelligence itself is mostly due to genetic inheritance. Intelligence gives you above average intuition and brain processing power. Life shapes an intelligent individual in a way that can go sideways very easily, but if you're lucky, you will always be a child at heart, in the sense of being naturally curious and prone to question fundamental assumptions that most other people will just dogmatically accept. By applying this kind of curiosity and intuition to the highest pursuit of philosophy, instead of just focusing on what he'd call "minutiae" (which is in no way a derogatory term, otherwise Steve Jobs was a loser), when you happen to stumble into an experience of profound depth, you will be able to grasp even a glimpse of its significance instead of responding with fear and rejection, then formalize it into a higher framework, which, through the process of deduction... ...will allow you to become a realized individual and act in accordance to your principles. Not being constantly at war with yourself due to cognitive dissonances and always being on the lookout for their emergence. In other words, someone who has reached a "meta" level of understanding. Possessing such a higher, trans-rational framework makes worldly things seem childish and yet strangely coherent. While there's always more to discover and understand, engaging in discussions about topics like politics will seem akin to mediating a dispute between two children fighting over a toy. Lastly, becoming more cultured will help you expand and refine this framework even more.

So what exactly is stopping you from learning a skill like, say, UI/UX design, getting a good job and stop feeling sorry for yourself?

I spent an unholy amount of hours studying the man. He has absolutely zero moral principles. He just adopts what it's in his interests in that particular circumstance. Even that might not be entirely accurate since he's not strategic and is incapable of long term thinking. He simply acts on his narcissistic impulses and emotional urges. Regardless of how he may have adapted his "views" to better his chances of winning the presidency back in 2015, his spiral stage has been the same from when he was 3 years old. I recommend Mary Trump's book if you're interested on diving deep on his psychology and the root causes of his personality. Fascinating read.