What Am I

I will admit, though, that it was shady of Andreessen to not name any names. If he was trying to expose something, keeping it so vague is not the way. As a conspiracy theorist myself, I can't deny the possibility that the Tech Bros prepped Andreessen, sent him on Rogan, and had him craft a narrative as a pretext to make it easier for Musk to wipe out the CFPB once he gets into power, with all of this being done as a power grab to create some kind of authoritarian future. It's the type of stuff that keeps Hardkill up at night, lol. But yeah, I concede, I won't keep trying to defend this one. I'm coming around to seeing the potential other side. A claim of that magnitude with no backup whatsoever isn't worth my time to defend. Side note, I still stand by my dislike of Kyle. It certainly wasn't his video that turned the tide in my mind. As I did more research on my own, the holes in Andreessen's claim, along with the glaring lack of evidence, became more apparent.

@Joshe I personally think Kyle is unbelievably overrated. He's just not a smart enough person to be a contender at this level. You guys in the forum give way more intelligent pushback. Obviously, Andreessen wasn't saying that anybody in the US who's of the wrong political persuasion is being targeted for debanking. That's a strawman bordering on the absurd. The targets he described were in the tech and financial sectors, and more specifically those working on crypto start-ups. Kyle's evidence for the benevolence of the CFPB was just a line in a tweet, a Google search, and one time when he lost his credit card and they provided assistance. Now, I'm not saying any of Andreessen's claims are actually true, because I simply have no idea. But if they are true, that'll be a matter of record and fact, and I would hope the new administration brings it to light. If it's false, there'll be no evidence, and nothing will happen. But good god, Joshe, use someone like Destiny for your influx of information. Kyle is such weak sauce, and I think you can (and have) done a better job than him at getting to the truth of any particular matter. I wouldn't be surprised if he watched this 2-minute clip of a 3-hour podcast and formed his opinion solely from that. And then he decided that if he gets animated enough and emotional enough, his paper-thin counterargument will be accepted by the dim masses. Sorry, lol, I just really dislike this level of discourse. You can definitely dunk on the notions presented in the Rogan episode, but this ain't it.

Good luck in your endeavors. I hope you exterminate all the cockroaches under your iron heel of justice.

Eric Weinstein goes into the implications of what he believes is an upcoming breakthrough in physics. For those who aren't aware, he's heavily into the UFO topic these days, with an extra special interest in what occurred back in the 1950's in the US, when anti-gravity physics research was all the rage before suddenly going silent and being replaced by the dead-end known as string theory.

I definitely may just be a low-life asshole, but I'm at least giving you tips in this thread on how to pick out other low-life assholes.

Yes, big time BS, for sure. Our first conversation months ago was about kundalini, and my somewhat extensive experience inducing it both with and without 5-MeO-DMT. While I'm more than just a believer in such things, I'm also not some weird crystal hippie chick who treats their beliefs as if they should be common knowledge. I'm in no position to expect anyone to agree with something like the literal existence of kundalini.

All good; the critique makes me take a closer look at myself. I mean, it's possible the theory applies. I'd be lying if I said otherwise. And if we were to apply that same theory to scores of Trump supporters, I imagine it would fit pretty well as to the cause of their realignment into the right. I do think though that there's a chance I'm a little different from your average Trump supporter, and probably just your average person on the street in general. It seems likely I'm using different weights and choosing my actions by different criteria. As much as I've already spilled about my atypical experiences and beliefs, there's a lot more to say that I'll purposefully hold back. I guess I'm pretty unusual, but I bet everyone has aspects of themselves they choose to keep close to the chest for fear of being misunderstood or whatever else. Mine just happen to guide my choices in life. But at the same time, I'm fallible like everyone else. I very well could be falling into the traps you're describing. And since they're usually unconscious by definition, I wouldn't even know it.

For sure. At least in my case, I made note of the evasiveness in that type of person because I identified those same actions in myself. Like in the late 2010's when I was in the office, and everyone would be saying how vile Trump is, etc. I never once hinted that I lean right, but if my co-workers were paying close attention, they'd notice that I never indicated I leaned left either. I just sort of nodded along and kept it ambiguous. I've since come to realize that practically everyone who follows this pattern, when it's all said and done, turns out to vote rightward. With some exceptions, I'm sure. And as you said as well, there's usually a certain masculinity mixed in with the prediliction. Taking Rogan for example, he lifts weights, hunts, smokes cigars, and just has a general way of being that can be none other than classically masculine behavior.

Man, do I ever appreciate the sympathetic opinion here. Thanks so much for that. It can feel lonely when you've stumbled onto something unspeakably incredible, but then it turns out to be essentially unknown by others. Yeah, no doubt it can be taken too far, and I bet you I've crossed the line more than once. It's too easy for anti-establishment thinking to become a knee-jerk impulse that occurs with no critical thinking behind it. There's some built-in landmines that have probably claimed more than a few who were otherwise sincere. Since I'm dabbling with it so much now, I can only hope I'm not way off of the correct path.

I guess this notion was what I was trying to get at. It does sound like you acknowledge that, despite something appearing unbelievably unlikely, it's still possible for it to be true. I can see how my question could perform exactly this function, lol. A kind of muddying of the waters to plant a seed of doubt, which may one day grow to ultimately shift your opinion. Who knows, our minds are mysterious. It's possible an unconscious part of myself was attempting an underhanded tactic, maybe even alongside a righteous part of myself that was just genuinely curious. Either way, your point stands that such things have been done in the past to detrimental effect, and it'd be wise to remain on the lookout. Thanks for the resources, I'll read more into post-truth relativism. It'd be beneficial to be able to dodge similar traps when they're laid out for me.

Without being able to directly know his and others' minds who are similar, it could be that they've experienced the "impossible" so many times that their faith in what we think we know (i.e., the establishment) has been shaken to its core. And perhaps they're more open than usual towards accepting very unconventional scenarios as actually having a chance of being true. I made this case about myself in a recent post. I could never make the claim that it's for sure the correct way to think about things, but I'm being honest when I say it is a significant driver of my worldview. It's possible that guys like Aubrey are similar, whether they're conscious of its influence or not.

Aubrey is an interesting case, in my opinion. He's had countless psychedelic experiences with the goal of self-betterment, and an absolute ton of 5-MeO-DMT breakthroughs in particular. He even became a facilitator for bufo as part of a tradition. So he's no stranger to profound states of consciousness bordering on literal temporary enlightenment. It'd be tough to say he wasn't a beholder of absolute truth, many times over. But I suppose, as Leo posted in a recent blog (and as I believe as well), intellectual development and awakened consciousness should not be considered a 1:1 in terms of their required parallel development.

You're a fella I respect in our conversations, so I hope this isn't taken the wrong way, but do you leave open even the possibility of your own incorrectness where this topic is concerned? I'm not meaning to say that you are wrong, but rather just asking if that's even on the table as something that can exist in this reality. To give my perspective from the other side, I most certainly am not sure Trump was the right choice. You'd have to be one of those mega-MAGAs to be that bought in, considering how easily things could go wrong in the coming years.

I think I mentioned this in another thread, but out of necessity, you guys might as well go full "purity testing" in your assessment of various figures' support. If they're not vocally and explicitly for the left, they're probably not really for the left. I could have told you Joe Rogan, Aubrey Marcus, etc. were leaning in the right's direction long ago; probably even before Covid. And I wouldn't be surprised if they voted for Trump in 2020, and maybe 2016. It's just that it was subtle, and they were likely terrified of the severe backlash from admitting it. It's easy to forget, but things were different back then in terms of the public perception around who was clearly considered the bad guys.

Ah, fascinating point, that's true. Man, you struck again in terms of presenting new concepts that opened different avenues in my mind, lol. That ability of yours to both create a lengthy stream of consciousness while also keeping it pertinent and insightful is pretty awesome indeed. Once again, you've lived up to your name.

@Scholar very insightful, thanks. I agree with you regarding the inconsistencies and unfortunate bias demonstrated by so many. Do you have any thoughts on the relatively recent change in porn offerings? Specifically, the massive increase in popularity of incest porn? I'm guessing there's some interesting psychological dynamics at play, considering it's still taboo on the surface, but it's highly prized in terms of individuals' hidden desires.

I see what you're saying, and I wouldn't disagree about Tech Bros' potential for depravity. But what Andreessen is claiming sounds like far more than your average instances of regulation. They're very serious acts of elitist corruption in and of themselves by the government and private banks in conjunction with one another, perhaps worse than what the Tech Bros would ever enact. But if it's true, I think it'll likely come out and be exposed in this upcoming administration. The actions that were taken would be a matter of fact, and it should be possible to show receipts once power has shifted. If the current government engaged in this type of corruption, it should be called out, even if the new government is corrupt themselves.

lol agreed, same here. When I've seen conversations between adherents on Youtube, it always seems so tense and tortured. Like you have to walk on eggshells to communicate, never being sure which verbal slip-up might get you exorcised from the group. But I certainly don't get out much either, and definitely not into those spaces. Hopefully more people chime in with their experience.

Jeez, I assumed they were at least numerous in your type of environment. If they're rare at a progressive university, we may all be under some kind of illusion as to their overall numbers. Especially considering that many believe excessive wokeness was a determinative factor in the last election. Corporate America and a relatively small number of super-vocal social media sectors may have played themselves. With right-wing amplification playing its part as well, of course. Pretty classic.

I don't have much to add, except to say I think I agree with your impression of the average woke adherent. I'm sure some are more sophisticated, but at that point, it may be appropriate to say that they've graduated from the "woke" label. It is strange, because despite the concept of wokeness being so prominent, it's not as if everyone you see in public has blue hair and a Che Guevara t-shirt. In fact, as you said, it seems like quite a rare occurrence to actually run into anyone who's outwardly of the ideology. Though it could just be a matter of where you spend your time. You and I are older fellas, and the woke population may drop off significantly at age 35+. It's also possible that we're dealing with a top-down pushing of ideology. Maybe it was never really popular with the people to begin with. And if entertainment and corporations stop pushing it, perhaps it'll fade away altogether. I noticed Walmart is backing down from DEI, which seems pretty relevant. https://apnews.com/article/walmart-dei-inclusion-diversity-34b06922e60e5116fe198696201ce4d9

Definitely a reasonable move to trust your gut, especially if it's an informed decision.

@Joshe Alright, alright. I'll have to concede a little. Your argument about how the truth of the matter is opaque to the casual observer is pretty accurate. There could be angles of the choice to which we're just not aware. And I haven't heard about Trump voicing any anger towards it, so perhaps he was approving and maybe even involved.

You would need the Tor browser to view the .onion site. Check it out if you're not already aware of it. I just did a few searches for known authors of books about spirituality, and I got quite a few hits. Seems very promising. Nice! Thanks for sharing. Looks like this is another great source.

Well, I think the idea of meditation may be inspiring images of Buddhist monks hiding away for years in a cave. It really doesn't have to be that way, lol. But I can respect your caution in not wanting to potentially rock the boat. Another benefit that comes to mind is one that's often mentioned by Ken Wilber. If I remember correctly, it was observed that a successful meditation practice is the only known thing that's capable of advancing the practitioner an average of two levels in Spiral Dynamics when they're already advanced in age. Apparently, most people become cemented at their current level by young adulthood, but meditation has the power to break one free from those shackles. That's not surprising, since it involves a dissolving of the source of conditioning itself.

Holy shit, man. The site itself is wildly valuable. I didn't realize there an an onion site that contained a massive library of free e-books. Thanks much.