Graham Hancock Blog Post: Expand Your Horizon With Radical Open Mindedness

[Visionary]

One of Leo's last blog posts have been so incredibly "valuable" guys. This is an excellent post to try and cultivate some radical open mindedness. And that means: not replacing your old paradigm with a new one (As Leo has said in that post). Just try and look at those videos mentioned in the post, and see how your ego immediately wants to replace your old belief systems. But be detached from that please! And see how much more you can truly enjoy this inquiring between all the people in the vids.

What did it do for me?

- Firstly, it helped me with recognizing how narrow minded I still am. I took the entire human history for granted (subconsciously) and this actually shaped my self-identity. Of course i "knew" that facts were very dubious throughout history. But STILL!! You kind of start believing everything you've been taught. No matter how much you doubted these facts.

Our society's historical foundations structure our individual identities. Imagine what kind of MASSIVE impact it would make if it turns out that there truly was a highly sophisticated society (Atlantis?). Absolutely crazy.

- Secondly, the skeptic Michael Shermer exactly demonstrated what's wrong with this world. He was not there for some co-creation purposes. He was there for himself. Defending his own identity. His own life work. Just like any other "establishment" and their individuals in their field of science. He was very attached to his paradigm.

We subconsciously consider science (and in this case even history) as true measures for reality. Why do we neglect the individual interests that surround these practices?

Time does not exist. But your ego exists in time. Mainstream history develops enormous filters in your mind through which you judge and create your reality. Imagining the entire mainstream history as we know it to be false! It really makes me uncomfortable. The ego does not like it. But it's oh so fucking exciting as well


 

[Space]

@Visionary I've also been diving into those videos over the past few days. I haven't watched them all though. I thought the discussion with Michael Shermer was interesting, but of course neither him or Graham were even remotely willing to be open to the others ideas and comments. I thought the heated arguments were surprising seeing as, despite the evidence, Graham's ideas are all still quite speculative. I mean, who really knows what happened? Very interesting stuff though.

Did you hear that Graham had a massive stroke shortly after the JRE 961 with Michael Shermer? Apparently he had a barrage of hate in the comments section which he says had a big effect on him.

[Visionary]

22 minutes ago, Space said:

@Visionary I've also been diving into those videos over the past few days. I haven't watched them all though. I thought the discussion with Michael Shermer was interesting, but of course neither him or Graham were even remotely willing to be open to the others ideas and comments. I thought the heated arguments were surprising seeing as, despite the evidence, Graham's ideas are all still quite speculative. I mean, who really knows what happened? Very interesting stuff though.

Did you hear that Graham had a massive stroke shortly after the JRE 961 with Michael Shermer? Apparently he had a barrage of hate in the comments section which he says had a big effect on him.

Wow, did not know that! Poor guy.

I however don't completely agree with you on Graham and Randall. Especially since Shemers contra arguments were very weak to begin with. He has 0 interest in exploring and co creating. Defense mode 24/7. 

I tried to stay radically open minded throughout the whole video. But their intentions were quite clear in my opinion. 

[Leo Gura]

@Space Graham was also taking anti-migraine injections for months on end, which apparently caused the stroke. Ironic how many problems we have with prescription meds.

[Leo Gura]

3 hours ago, Visionary said:

Especially since Shemers contra arguments were very weak to begin with. He has 0 interest in exploring and co creating. Defense mode 24/7.

Shermer runs Skeptic Magazine. They push a pro-science agenda. That kind of skepticism was what I called "False Skepticism" in the True vs False Skepticism episode. An unfortunate trap that many modern skeptics fall into. They are skeptical about everything but their own skepticism. It fails to acknowledge the twisted complexities of science and gathering true knowledge.

Graham's theories may turn out to be wrong in the end, but Shermer's skepticism is still misguided in principle. That kind of epistemic attitude just doesn't cut it for serious truth-seeking. It's too self-biased and lacking in self-reflection.

But it is worthwhile to listen to folks like Shermer just to learn how tricky the mind is. In fact, I ended up ordering a few copies of Skeptic Magazine, just to research how they think. To outwit the Devil, you must study the Devil's work

[Scholar]

I think it's fascinating to see that Graham is falling into many ego traps himself, which really emphasizes for me how important the practical investigation of the own mind really is. He is researching ancient culture, he is completely convinced of them having had a deeper message that was essential for them, yet he does not actually value the message whatsoever, atleast that's what it seems like. He is not on a path of self-improvement, self-actualization, meditation or enlightenment, but his entire work is based upon the idea that these are basicly the most essential things to achieve for mankind. He seems just as dysfunctional as Micheal Shermer, just that he happens to have a view that requires greater open mindedness. He is only really open minded when it serves his own theory. 

Randall to me is a much more fascinating character, and also much more open minded as it seems. He seems to have preserved more of his true curiosity, which really is about discovery more than agenda. It's interesting though that it's very natural for the human mind to fill in gaps with fantasy, and more importantly to recognize how much joy one can recieve from that. If we crack our old beliefs, there are so many possible different beliefs we can replace it with. And we can pick them, we can make them up, we can let our fantasy go freely. In a world prior to science this very ability must have been used all the time, and it probably was amazing. It gave the world a sense of mystery, and more importantly it gave the child the chance to discover and dive into that mystery. Today science seems to have blocked this "play", because there isn't much to discover anymore. It seems like everything significant has been discovered. So we as humans seem to really be depraved of that. Whereas in our natural habitat we evolved to use our fantasy to make connections and sense out of the word, today there is no balance between that process and the simple cold facts of the world.

In a sense there is a lack of wonder, curiosity was smothered. It's fascinating to observe this feeling coming back though, and how much the mind is craving it. Imagining that we do not know what was before the cataclysm that might have taken place, and then being able to wonder what exactly it was that was going on. It's curiosity, it drives fantasy, and it is the foundation of the human scientific journey. From that invention and exploration emerged.

A problem occurs when the mind gets attached to what it has constructed, when the magical world becomes a new set belief that needs to be procted. This is when curiosity dies, when exploration and invention disappear. We have to be careful about not supressing our imagination, to let it roam freely, but to not get attached to what we imagine. I think it will be a great source of inspiration and motivation.

Yes, reality usually is not as grand and fantastical as we make it up in our mind, but the grand and fantastical fantasy is what is going to motviate us to discover what reality really is.

Edited October 2, 2017 by Scholar

[Visionary]

11 hours ago, Scholar said:

I think it's fascinating to see that Graham is falling into many ego traps himself, which really emphasizes for me how important the practical investigation of the own mind really is. He is researching ancient culture, he is completely convinced of them having had a deeper message that was essential for them, yet he does not actually value the message whatsoever, atleast that's what it seems like. He is not on a path of self-improvement, self-actualization, meditation or enlightenment, but his entire work is based upon the idea that these are basicly the most essential things to achieve for mankind. He seems just as dysfunctional as Micheal Shermer, just that he happens to have a view that requires greater open mindedness. He is only really open minded when it serves his own theory. 

Randall to me is a much more fascinating character, and also much more open minded as it seems. He seems to have preserved more of his true curiosity, which really is about discovery more than agenda. It's interesting though that it's very natural for the human mind to fill in gaps with fantasy, and more importantly to recognize how much joy one can recieve from that. If we crack our old beliefs, there are so many possible different beliefs we can replace it with. And we can pick them, we can make them up, we can let our fantasy go freely. In a world prior to science this very ability must have been used all the time, and it probably was amazing. It gave the world a sense of mystery, and more importantly it gave the child the chance to discover and dive into that mystery. Today science seems to have blocked this "play", because there isn't much to discover anymore. It seems like everything significant has been discovered. So we as humans seem to really be depraved of that. Whereas in our natural habitat we evolved to use our fantasy to make connections and sense out of the word, today there is no balance between that process and the simple cold facts of the world.

In a sense there is a lack of wonder, curiosity was smothered. It's fascinating to observe this feeling coming back though, and how much the mind is craving it. Imagining that we do not know what was before the cataclysm that might have taken place, and then being able to wonder what exactly it was that was going on. It's curiosity, it drives fantasy, and it is the foundation of the human scientific journey. From that invention and exploration emerged.

A problem occurs when the mind gets attached to what it has constructed, when the magical world becomes a new set belief that needs to be procted. This is when curiosity dies, when exploration and invention disappear. We have to be careful about not supressing our imagination, to let it roam freely, but to not get attached to what we imagine. I think it will be a great source of inspiration and motivation.

Yes, reality usually is not as grand and fantastical as we make it up in our mind, but the grand and fantastical fantasy is what is going to motviate us to discover what reality really is.

Beautifully said. However, maybe we need some people to be perfectly attached to their work. I think that's the only way to become COMPLETELY obsessed with your work. And many times that have led to great discoveries throughout our histories. As a collective, it's obviously not beneficial.

Graham is very very attached to his work. But has changed his opinions and views many times. This shows his learning attitude.