UnbornTao

What are the differences between being smart, being clever, and being intelligent?

I think most people are attracted to fantasies rather than to simple honesty. What they want to hear is their inclinations and preferences being validated, not truthful communication. I assume this is one of the reasons why teachers become massively popular. Nice marketing, though.

Yeah, well, it's pretty fun to learn, too. If what you value are privacy, security and customization, Linux may be ideal for you. It could also be considered a hobby by users who aren't tech-savvy. It's presumably a decent and more expensive improvement. Now with a notch! I've been tempted to buy $500 PC laptops several times. It's best to see a purchase like this as a long-term investment, though. Cheap PCs won't hold up very well after two or three years of intensive daily use.

I always remain suspicious of dirt cheap tech products precisely because of these practices.

Tabs plus other cool features will arrive in the fall of 2022. Explorer and task manager already support dark mode in insider builds. I get what you mean though. Yeah. Basic at best. Microsoft rebuilt the taskbar and start menu from scratch. That's why they lack basic functionality from previous editions. Sounds nihilistic to me. What's wrong with macOS? Depends on your needs. Freed from bias, advantages to any OS can probably be found. You're being unfair. Apple tax? A Dell XPS costs the same while the Air offers better performance and battery life, while remaining cold and silent. All without ads, telemetry nor bloatware. Apple is ludicrously expensive and Intel MacBooks were bad and overpriced. The way I see it, depending on your needs, M1 is one of the best investments you can make. With an unparalleled resell value, durability and years-long reliability. It's also getting new AI and machine learning functionality. Compared to a similarly-priced PC laptop, which one would hold up best after four years? Pirating in what sense? You're right. Mac and serious gaming aren't compatible as of now. Zorin looks pretty good for beginners. I've used Elementary OS for about six months and liked it a lot. What about manufacturers? With Windows and Mac no decision needs to be made except between those two. In Linux there are tons of distros to choose from. That's already too much responsibility for the average user. There's no standard Linux distro that is mainstream and that gets installed by default in new PCs except Ubuntu, maybe?

Perception is indirect by nature; it is about something, not that thing itself. Whatever the thing is for itself is unknown. Perceiving is a process mediated by the senses, which are biological inventions.

Can you find mind in your experience?

What comes to mind when you reflect on yourself? What prevents you from behaving differently? Has some aspect of your self-makeup changed over the years? Your persona isn’t etched in stone. Transforming as a person--even though it involves a kind of death--doesn’t mean you cease to exist. We tend to find the work of transformation threatening because we really think that way.

Boredom could be seen as arrogance - thinking that the way you think existence is is the same as existence.

As humans, we live within conceptually-invented worlds yet generally fail to notice that they are fabricated; we take them to be objective and real. We don’t recognize them as such, just as a fish doesn’t realize it has always been swimming in water. For example, we live as though our particular culture were "true" - that our shared assumptions, values, customs, and worldview are the "correct" ones. Additionally, on a personal level, you may implicitly believe that your experience and worldview are true - perhaps even universally shared. They are yours, and that seems to be your main concern, not whether they’re accurate. You're not even conscious of why they are that way - you just take them for granted. For example, do you currently assume that (live as) the way you experience "reality" is the same way for others?

What is desire? Can you detect a background sense of pain accompanying this feeling-activity? Desire implies a separation between you and the object of your desire. This separation - and the comparison between your current experience and the imagined, more enticing one - generates suffering. Moreover, once the object of desire is attained, the search for the next one soon begins. The content of desire may change, but the activity seems to be continual.

Succinct summary lol Windows 7 was considered the best by many. Consistent, simple, efficient. It just worked.™ 8 was a mess. Poor taste and execution, imo. 10 was "free". At that point, they introduced Windows-as-a-service, pushing continuous and often disastrous updates. It included telemetry and bloatware baked-in. Now, your data is what subsidizes Windows. 11 is basically 10 with a fresh coat of paint. To be fair, this statement is likely oversimplified as I'm as clueless as any average PC user. Your complaints have already been partially fixed in the latest Insider dev builds. Thankfully, the UI is slowly getting refreshed. Give Microsoft a decade or two. Gaming ≠ Mac. Paying upfront for an adfree, consistent, seamless, and private experience, great hardware included? To people like me whose priorities are light tasks, it is worth it. Have you checked out Apple Silicon? It's blowing the competition out of the water in terms of performance/efficiency. Not very suitable for the average person, though. Average users want a plug-and-play experience. With Linux, even choosing a distro is paralyzing, and that's just the first decision to make. Then you have to choose desktop environments, display and window managers, etc. Customizable Linux laptops might be the future, surely they have potential. If not... time to switch to FreeBSD.

Stoicism is ideal for this purpose. A Guide To The Good Life by William Irvine.

User @Ulax shared this reading list which I found interesting. 52+ Books on What School Should Have Taught Us About the Art and Science of Success, Fulfillment, and Achievement.

"Today we're announcing EdgeOS, a groundbreaking OS powered by ads and the web."

It likely is a myth that masturbation causes acne. Acne is a recent disease in human history. Otherwise individuals throughout history would have had acne too, but they didn't. Also, what about sex? Why would masturbation cause acne but sex would not? It likely is a combination of factors: diet, stress levels, sleep quality, supplementation, etc. Try removing gluten, sugar, dairy, flour, and ultra-processed foods (also hydrogenated oils!).

Great, thanks.

Was it Arch-based? Debian is very reliable and stable while offering old packages whereas Arch provides the cutting-edge packages at the cost of everyday stability. Fedora may be the one that strikes the best balance -- more stable than Arch and up-to-date packages as opposed to Debian. Stability: Debian > Fedora > Arch. New Packages: Arch > Fedora > Debian. I don't quite get why some people dislike it so much. Customization on macOS isn't as granular as Windows, let alone Linux. There are macOS power users, whatever that means. So I guess that macOS isn't as dumbed down as some people think. It's restricting and limiting in some ways, I get that. But limitations allow for some of its benefits. Windows's telemetry, decades-old design inconsistencies, etc. are significant disadvantages for the average user. It feels like using five OSes in one.

OK. The Montessori method seems to be a good option for that.

@Razard86 What does that video imply? Not offering formal education? Imagine that stance being adopted on a massive scale. A few individuals are intelligent and curious enough to teach themselves. But collectively speaking, mankind probably is much less mature than we imagine. The whole world would likely get much dumber without any form of "compulsory" educational system as the one that's in place in the western world. I prefer to modify the following phrase: "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others" Into this one: "The current educational system is the worst form of massive education there is, except for all the others." Or perhaps I misinterpreted you? What do you disagree with? Could you elaborate?

"How can I become more confident and relaxed?" That's a positive framing. It focuses your mind on what you want. Pursuing what you want instead of avoiding what you don't is more effective. Off the top of my head, here is a useful reading list related to your concern: Six Pillars of Self-esteem No More Mr. Nice Guy Be Here Now Thick Face, Black Heart Also, pay attention to lifestyle: Research meditation, specifically mindfulness Exercise daily, eat whole foods, sleep well Look up supplements like Magnesium, Zinc, L-Theanine, CBD oil Check your sugar and caffeine consumption Etc. Fundamentally, being unable to stay fully present is what makes you fearful and anxious.

Nice!

I think that you're right, overall. Windows became "free" years ago. Now the way you pay is with your data. Also, humanity will reach Mars before Windows gets a system-wide consistent UI. To be fair, part of W11's UI has been modernized and made more consistent, which are welcomed changes. New features are implemented extremely slowly, though. Control panel is still there, 8 years later, along with the newer Settings app that was supposed to replace it. I just hope that they keep focusing on it as it seems that Microsoft's interest for the OS got revitalized since it launched. Haha. Only on Windows.™

At that point the distinctions aren't clear then. Awareness is a function of mind, mind is a form of consciousness. My point is that, since none of us is a flower or a donkey, we can't really be sure of what their experiences are like. Your statement is an educated speculation or protection. Enlightenment and development are two different things. Enlightenment recontextualizes your life but doesn't really change it. Fair though. It can be useful in many ways. Love Hawkins. By awakening and enlightenment it is meant direct consciousness into the nature of the absolute nature of some aspect of existence, usually you. Sounds to me like you're using those terms more broadly.