Norbert Somogyi

It can shine when it's calm, but it can also have bursts of anger in the form of solar flares. In a cyclic way spanning 11 years or so. Those have the potential to disturb the electric grid of the globe, collapsing civilization back to the early industrial era. Imagine the chaos that would ensue. We experienced one back in 1859 called the Carrington Event, turning on telegraph writers without a direct source of electricity (and igniting some stations on fire). The auroras must have been beautiful around the world. The luck was that our civilization was far from being electrified. The Sun has been monitored for centuries or milleniums by astronomers around the world, later by telescopes (thank you Galileo) and nowadays satellites like NASA's SOHO. It is thanks to that nowadays collaborative effort and the development of technology (which coincidentally is part of our potential demise) that we can start preparing for such an occasion (beyond just forecasting). So yes, it can do more than just shine.

Damn, and it's been only 3 weeks since I've been to Valencia. Glad to hear light is back for you guys! I guess this can serve as a potential wake-up call for the world about the over-dependence on technology (especially electric), a localized simulation of what would happen if the Sun decides to flare us the wrong way.

A substack topic of a recent breakthrough of China's first operationalization of such Thorium Molten Salt Reactor

You mean 6 months and 9 years? Happy birthday Leo!

You could say it is desperate, as long as the only reason you move is to expand your dating opportunities. When you start seeing the potential in it - new experiences, people, growth. it is unlikely to be a bad decision in the end. If you can do it, go for it!

Anthropic principle says that we observe the universe because it exists in a way we can observe it, it's kind of a truism. WAP (Weak Anthropic Principle) attributes nothing special to the fact we can observe the universe, it just is this way. SAP (Strong Anthropic Principle) however does, and have different interpretations - depending on what the reason of the universe being this way is attributed to. Teleological (purposeful design - GOD?) Participatory (Quantum Mechanics - observation is required for reality to collapse into it's present state) Cosmological Necessity The final one brings up a great thought-experiment. Can a universe exist with an observer observing it? Nothing denies the possibility, however once you observe it, then it no longer is a universe without an observer, a paradox. We can not know neither whether it has existed before we observed such a universe, or not. IF we could enter it then we could study the phenomena and discern its' physical laws, but that still would not be 100% proof (especially since we can't know if it doesn't have an observer already, the same way we are not sure if aliens exist or not yet in our galaxy) Furthermore when you think about it, the probability that the universe would be the way it is in the present moment - is statistically zero. Infinitely small, yet it still is here and we can observe it. Had one or two factors been different, we may not even be here at all. Science constantly studies how we came to be here, but I believe this quest has no conclusion. There will always be holes in the models it builds, perhaps because a model can only be so much. I wonder if this question suits this sub-forum or the intellectual one better.

It's not like psychedelics are far from sorcery. Dealing with compounds and energies not exactly natural to the human body.

That matters little in this context, you are missing the point. These LLMs provide quality answers, that's what makes them marketable. If they were to respond in a way like you do here, they wouldn't have gained any market share at all. However they are prone for error or wrong insights, which can be countered as long as people check the sources ChatGPT derives the answers from. Once the error checking stops, let me phrase it in a way you will understand

Just imagine historians and archeologists dedicating their entire lives to unravel hidden secrets of our history like the origin of Jesus, only for people like you to say - Haha, ChatGPT go brrr, see? ggez They would choke the hell out of you with their ancient scrolls.

Natural death doesn't have to include months or even years of suffering due to aging-related symptoms (most of them can be prevented and some even reversed). Japan (Okinawa especially) have a lot of centenarians and super-centenarians who are moving around and well. More and more people retain their health well into their 80s and 90s. The US is obviously not a good example, but its' global influence on lifestyle and spreading junkfood makes not just lifespans, but healthspans worse too. Elderly people have a lot of options, but it's best to start out young for prevention. Cutting out processed food (carnivore, keto, mediterranean, vegan - different diet works best for different folks), exercise, sleep, sunshine, supplements (Vitamin D and cofactors, B, Omega-3 etc.) community. I don't know what the landscape will look like in let's say 50 years for now, but if the aforementioned options will still be available then we are good. Dementia, weak bones, severe muscle atrophy, joint pain, loss of energy, hearing, teeth - all of these can be things of the past with proper care. EDIT: Spiritual faculties can work, too. Krishnamurti retained his sharp mind up to his last moments (Madras (Chennai) 1986 public talk - a month before his death).

On one hand I find it fascinating, given how it would mean an infinite creative potential. The ability to create a universe/multiverse with its' laws, matter, life and eventually humanity from which it can rediscover itself (one of seemingly infinite points of view). All in perpetual, dynamic motion of self-emergence. On the other hand it means perpetual loneliness. Which may be one of the reason why things are being this way, assuming separation and the ability to relate to one another - yourself. In case it entails Absolute Love, perhaps it can only be shared this way? What if there are an infinite alternate timelines or existences, which can mean infinite solipsistic selves (oh, the paradox). Would they be able to interact with one another? What if human genetics restricts the ability of one's consciousness to grow beyond a certain point, solipsism being the highest at this point in time? What if evolution applies to genes that govern individual sensitivity to spirituality and awakening, and as we go on this threshold grows? What about aliens, are they part of it despite us not being conscious of them? What if solipsism is but a stepping stone, and consciousness can realize higher truths? Like Infinity of Gods, but then realize it is all the same imagination, coming back to Solipsism but on a higher plane. This can result in an infinite cycle of individual and collective Solipsism so to speak, just like how the spiral evolves in a similar fashion. Swinging the pendulum between individualistic and collectivistic orientations, as the realizations become more and more God-like.

The 100 years can easily be just an exaggeration, but time-dilation seems to be rather heavy on those trips. They may last for hours, but the experience can seemingly feel like lasting for years. It's hard to pinpoint though, given how memories are not exactly coherent from the trip. Once you come back, the brain can interpret the trip in a myriad ways and some details will definitely get lost.

Neither do I, appreciate the honesty. Perhaps Solipsism is the way, perhaps not. It's fun to think about for a while, just don't get lost in it. Let's enjoy life, instead!

I mean, the latter could go either way. Not being able to see does not mean it's not there, but it doesn't mean it's necessarily there either. This is a trickier part of experience. Can you experience anything outside your experience? Does not experiencing something not mean it does not exist? Reality is way too overlapping to consider this, but is there a way to know besides believe?

I'd argue not just to feel alive, but to meet their own needs (especially in the modern world). In ancient times we had nothing but our instincts, but we no longer live in such a world.

Near-Death Experience, which can result in a number of different types of experiences. They can happen in seconds (before an accident), but during clinical death too (for five minutes or even longer, latter of which otherwise would suggest tissue death due to a lack of oxygen without a pumping heart). During these you don't always experience having a brain. In fact, do you ever experience having a brain or do you just experience the convincing thought of having it?

Tell me about it.. Happy Easter to you too!

Psychosis, Salvia and awakening would like a word. EDIT: All of the above (also NRE's) suggest that sense of self is not inherently tied to the brain, it is just most advantegous for the body to survive.

We have this body that interfaces consciousness pretty well (at least in comparison to animals, from our egotistic point of view that is). Adaptation is an innate part of our survival (be it behavior, culture, technology, coordination or even consciousness). Such adaptation allows consciousness to see and experience itself from an infinite points of finite viewpoints, exploring itself again and again. There may be realities where adaptation and change does not exist, but it's weird to even think about. I guess you can ask people who tripped balls on Salvia and experienced being a chair for a 100 years, for example. It's fascinating, really.

Yeah, it's a good point. What can be added here are buried memories of trauma or even personality disorders (cut-off memory in-between personalities). You don't know that you experienced them, but for some reason they have a (heavy) influence on your experience from below. Are they part of your experience? I mean, I guess. You can experience the weight of them subconsciously, without knowing. Acquiring the knowledge and memories of you experiecning them just changes to you experiencing the ability to recall the memory that was previously hidden to you (and obviously feeling lighter and better thanks to the processing and release of the corresponding pain that was hidden before). Without it, prenatal and childhood traumas wouldn't be such a heavy burden (at all).

Jeez guys, you even make this topic a flustercuck. Although the appearence of JD Vance a day before his death makes my tinfoil hat levitate closer and closer for some reason. I didn't see much of him or his accomplishments, but he seemed like a genuine dude. Rest in peace.

Near-Death Experiences and some people's ability to recall them suggest that measurable brain activity is not a requirement for experience. Especially when they recall their out-of-body experiences where they can move around the room and see things that would otherwise be beyond their bodily sensory capacity or field of view. Unless consciousness during NREs visits an alternate plane of existence which is just a tiny bit different than ours. Lacking the ability to recall memories from early ages is more like the lack of having a stable enough sense of self (separation and individuation phases by Mahler for example). However depending on how deeply the brain structure changes over time, there may be a chance to recall them through hypnosis or trance.

An 'act' of experiencing, huh. Can this even exist? I mean an act has a beginning and an end, and to me experience seems to be constantly emerging and dynamically changing. Having opinions and thinking about experience, is just experience self-reflecting upon itself. There may be a line, but I can no longer distinguish between them. Guess this is a great experience to reflect on the famous free-will vs determinism debate. You can categorize your experiences based on how you define each parameter and what you are trying to convey, but isn't that experience just reflecting on its' experiences? I guess maybe I'm not experiencing myself (at least self-reflectively) when I'm in acting mode (when shit needs to get done), but wouldn't that be experience experiencing itself in a raw manner (without self-reflection)? I can't think of a way to differentiate experiencing the act of thinking vs having the thought. I guess experience just wills thoughts into existence? It's a mindfuck.

I'd be like to know too, huh.

Off-topic, but immigrants in Thailand are apparently considered Aliens according to this official website - https://tdac.immigration.go.th/arrival-card/#/home