Carl-Richard

We're not talking about absolutes, are we?

What does that mean?

And you probably have an issue with drywall you're not ready to face We can all pull the "psychoanalytic fallacy" ;D Porn, concrete and drywall probably all play their part in making our lives a little bit more miserable, maybe porn a little bit more for some people.

Mmm, look at this beautiful "homosexual" bursting through his old plateaus (I'm making a joke, but his burning passion and emotional reaction is truly inspiring).

Definitely.

@integral Firstly, every example you mentioned deals with things that are not necessarily true. They're empirical hypotheses. So they're not "obviously true"; they might as well be completely false. The hypotheses might make sense theoretically and they might even be probably true empirically, but still, that does not make them "obviously true". But let's assume they are true. Still, for all of your examples except the thyroid one, it doesn't seem like it's important or relevant (to them). It seems like it's only you who care about the air quality at your father's house, or your mother's mood when she is drinking coffee. It's a bit like the guy who mails the city council a 80-page manifesto about the street lights being too bright. Even if everything he is saying is 100% true, nobody really cares. And that's mostly on him to deal with. But I know your frustration. For example, people tend to ask me why I drink zero alcohol. I tend to answer "I don't like the hangovers; the short-term pleasure to longer-term pain is not worth it imo". What I really want to answer is "I value flow and functionality which gives me an incredible sense of meaning and well-being, and I try to avoid things that interfere with that", but if I say that, I come off like a better-knowing prick lecturing them about life and making them feel self-conscious. And more importantly, again, they don't really care. Being social is about relevance, not truth. In other words, what do people care about? If you always say what is most relevant, and not just in social situations but in any part of life, people will like you and you will be a happy person. But of course, you don't want to do that just for social validation. You want to do it because it comes from your internal values (which for me is flow and functionality). And to me, dumping all of your internal thoughts and interests onto other people any chance you get is dysfunctional. But again, I understand the frustration.

Philosophy and science tries to do that. You a fan of Bernardo Kastrup by any chance? 9:46

People from criminal environments tend to have had a traumatic upbringing, mental illness and personality disorders, lack of goals, planning, meaning, purpose, introspection, empathy, etc. And these environments are enforced by violence, intimidation, abuse. If you become a regular in such an environment, you will in the best case be reduced to their level, in the worst case be taken advantage of or hurt. If you want a personal anecdote: I know a guy who has gotten robbed at knifepoint (which is basically unheard of where I come from) and who has himself knocked out and looted a guy who tried to scam him. I'm pretty sure I only know this guy because my friends bought drugs from him. I've hung out with him many times, and it's possible to get along with him, but clearly, you don't want to hang out with him at the wrong place and the wrong time. It's basically the same with prostitutes.

Do you have a concrete example of the situation you're talking about? (or two or three or five).

Are you talking about spiritual awakening, or waking up in your bed, or both at the same time?

When people get famous, they understand the blessing of anonymity, of being able to walk in public without being constantly looked at. We all want to be famous, but we don't often realize the downsides. I think there is a similar thing with aliens. Once we make contact, we will no longer be anonymous in the universe, and that might be a surprisingly terrifying realization.

@Keryo Koffa Don't post while high. Please read the guidelines.

In other words, you're projecting?

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-cholesterol/expert-answers/cholesterol-level/faq-20057952 I don't know anything about this by the way

You alright?

I guess the US is just fucked if you can't go on a mountain trail without fearing for your life.

I know.

You gotta chill the fuck out 😂 All I've been giving you is advice.

I said up and down a mountain, in nature, not in a concrete jungle.

Do this: Rent a cabin in the woods, not necessarily with no internet, just out in nature and preferably close to traversable mountains. Stay there for a week, go for one long hike every day for 3-5 hours, preferably up and down a mountain. Do active mindfulness practice while making food and just in general when picking up objects (cups, glass of water, remote controller). Don't use any non-essential substances (coffee, tea, tobacco, melatonin supplements, weed), especially "psychoactive substances", for the entire week. This method is especially effective if you're a habitual weed smoker, speaking from personal experience (again, you quit cold turkey for that entire week). At the end of the week and the first morning at home, either before or slightly after breakfast, do seated meditation. Try to go 1.5 hours in one sitting. When your legs start to hurt, that means you're passing the 1-hour mark and you get a free object of meditation (slight leg pain). This is also where you will make the most progress, unless you already had an awakening after 5 minutes. The logic behind the method is a sustained and subtle form of "disruptive processing" where you expose yourself to new impressions which pushes your brain into a new state and makes it more vulnerable to sudden deep transformations like spiritual awakening experiences. You mentioned "smooth" and little "repurcussions", so the cabin trip sounded fitting (I've tried it myself, although with my family's cabin lol). If you want more extreme versions, try things like water fasting (within reason), sleep deprivation (within reason), sensory deprivation (e.g. dark room retreats).

Hehe. Trying your best to answer that question honestly is a good exercise in epistemic humility and actually an accurate test of whether you're coming at the "direct experience" doctrine from a place of authentic experience or ironically from a place of intellectualized dogma. I remember Rupert Spira saying something like this once when starting a presentation of his worldview: "you firstly have to concede that you only care about what is known". That is a honest statement of the limits of his position and a sign that he knows what he is talking about

Consciousness is that which is known. But how can you know that which is unknown?

I swear everybody has a different definition of the cognitive functions 🙈

I've wrestled with this question: how to deal with the unknown (that which is beyond that which can be known, the known being e.g. consciousness)? The answer is: you take it as it is and leave it as it is; potentially true, but unknown. You don't make any more fuzz about it (and if you do, you'll be in a constant state of existential anxiety, which is not really worth it). And it's one thing to say that, but it's another thing to base your metaphysics on it (on an unknown, which is what materialists like to do, anyway). Just because something is unknown and potentially the case, that alone shouldn't hold much weight for your approach to reality. So while I can't know if the entirety of my idea of reality (including emptiness itself) actually rests inside the butthole of a pink elephant, that doesn't necessarily mean I should entertain that thought very much.

RIP