Leo Gura

The biggest spiritual trap of all: Buddhism

@Ramanujan Focus on your strengths, let go of the shoulds. I'm not good at math or programming. Hasn't diminished my life one bit.

Imagine Mitch McConnell living till 200. Imagine Trump living till 200. Imagine Netanyahu living till 200. That is Hell.

Pursue understanding of God and your intelligence will truly rise. Not some gimmick.

Sure, it is easier to lose IQ points than to gain them.

It's science as a culture, as conformity, as group-think. These rational people do not understand that their worldview is just group-think, not a serious inquiry into Reality. That's why I called it "the myth of science". Science has turned itself into a myth. The myth of this ultimate mode of knowledge. But that notion is itself not scientific. Science is just much more limited than even scientists know. Scientists would be fine if they were more humble. But they turn into arrogant jackasses like Neil DeGrasse Tyson or Prof Dave. They have turned science into a totalitatrian worldview, which is antithetical to real science. Real science should be very open because it does not know so much.

I feel like there is a more subtle form of psychological suffering that Ralston glosses over. The worst suffering is not even necessarily physical. For a parent, the loss of a child is very serious suffering that they can't just ignore or dismiss at will. Is the loss of a child unnecessary suffering that you can just shut off? I think not. I once asked Shinzen Young how he would react if he lost his child. He said, "I would weep." That was a good answer.

But that's a silly standard. Try passing the SAT when you are drunk or haven't slept in 2 days. Obviously passing any exam assumes a certain baseline of health, sobriety, and restedness.

But some smartass always brings up the case of the Buddhist monk who lit himself on fire with gasoline and didn't flinch.

Saddam Hussein would torture his political rivals by placing their children in a room with a glass wall, throwing a bunch of bees into the room, and forcing their parents to watch the bees sting their children to death as the kids ran around the room screaming. Try transcending that.

@Natasha Tori Maru For you, imagine being eaten alive by a pack of ravenous kangaroos

That's probably because of the adrenaline from being in a life-threatening situation. If you don't like the stabbing example, imagine a bear attacking you.

The best way to increase IQ is to take a bunch of IQ tests and learn how they work.

Conservatives usually demonize transhumanism. They see it as an evil globalist post-modernist Satanic plot. But of course they are hypocrites.

One of my last hopes is living long enough to see all these billionaire oligarchs die off. If billionaire oligarchs can live for 200 years, we are so screwed.