Joshe

That’s the most common strategy early on - avoidance. I believe virtually all humans, at all times, are implementing strategies to keep the “worm at the core (great book)” at bay. If I were dying, I might say “Quick, let me get enlightened before I die”, which would be an attempt to give my life meaning. Someone else might fully embrace religion, and someone else might embrace unconscious hedonism, traveling, etc. @cetus 9 years ago, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer with brain metastasis. She had tumors in her lung and brain. The one in her brain was the size of a golf ball. Doctors surgically removed all tumors, did targeted radiation and chemo. When we first found out, I remember sitting in the ER and seeing the CT scans, the first thing I did was look up the survival rate for stage 4 lung w/ brain metastasis. The 5-year rate was 2.5%. I’m a realist, so I just broke into tears. I just knew it was over. Each time I would take her for her quarterly scans, I just knew the bad news was coming, but it never did. It’s now going on 10 years and no sign of cancer. I now take her for yearly scans. I think they’re getting much better at curing cancer relative to cure rates 15 years ago. Congrats on making it this far.

The split/separation will always exist in the background. When two people hold strong opposing views of reality, I don't think it can work. You can try not to talk about it, but it will come up. Also, the fact that she would wake up and one of the first things on her mind was "I wish my man was Christian", is unfortunately, IMO, all you need to know it's not going to work long-term. She's not going to be able to let that go. She's always going to have her ideal man in her head and since you aren't it, she will have to push down the feelings of wanting someone different. Those can only be pushed down for a while. As you've already seen - they started bubbling up on wake and manifested this breakup. After a breakup, it's so easy to get back together because you love each other and your system is missing the homeostasis you developed, but that will pass. Either route you take will be a good learning experience. I took my exes back multiple times. Each time I knew it was a mistake but did it anyway - from a position of foolishness made possible by weakness. One thing about breakups though, is that the girls don't actually come back loving you more. They might appear to at first, but after your first big fight, they go back to the psychological checkpoint they were at when you split last time, and they remind themselves "I knew I shouldn't have gotten back with him", and they dislike you even more. They'll always have a place in their heart for you, if you treated them well, but sooner or later, they'll have the strength and courage to move on. Also, in this phase of them knowing and accepting you aren't their ideal, they're often secretly making themselves available to other men, often unconsciously. Also, she's probably going to be scheming on how to turn you into a Christian. Waiting, hoping, that one of these Sunday's when you go to church with her, the good lord is going to touch you and you will see the light. She might use this hope to carry her along. So, don't cave bro! lol. This is actually a huge reason why people become Christian - to appease others in their lives who they seek to maintain harmony with. Just some things I've been through that might be worth considering.

My state (SC) runs a state lottery. Just saw a TV commercial the other day where a good ole boy walks into a mom and pop gas station and starts friendly banter with the clerk, where the customer and clerk are bantering over the state's prominent football team rival - clerk wearing a Clemson hat and customer wearing a Gamecocks hat. After the banter, the customer tells the clerk to give him a Clemson scratch-off ticket. lol It was designed to normalize a financially harmful behavior by wrapping it in community identity and working-class authenticity. Just a good ole friendly, hard-working, blue-collar South Carolinian on his way to work, stopping in for his morning coffee, doing what he does everyday - grabbing a scratch-off ticket. I see evolution at play. Those who continuously squander their survival resources (time, energy, money) are not fit for the current survival landscape. The more they chase dopamine, the more unfit they are for modern survival. It might take hundreds or even thousands of years before the collective gains enough consciousness to grow out of this. In the meantime, you'd have to rely on government to patch these exploits, because the individuals are largely not capable. When you're basically asleep - operating on robot-like autopilot - you can only hope that your environment doesn't cater to and nurture exploits, but that's not the world we live in, so most will be exploited. Without the independent ability (consciousness) to patch these exploits, their survival resources are unconsciously transferred to the exploiters, which daily increases the victim's karmic debt, as they are unconsciously complicit in the scheme. It seems the wolves are always one step ahead of the sheep. This is why life is serious. We need the sheep to not be sheep anymore. That's all I ever really wanted - for people to be liberated from exploitation, but awareness cannot be forced. This is our plight.

Yeah, that's rough. Many people get into Christianity and are just Christian in name and don't take it very seriously, but sooner or later, there's the very real risk that they incorporate it fully into their identity and lean into it all the way. That's when it becomes dangerous and near impossible for a non-Christian to be close to them for a length of time. They just untether from reality and you have to watch them drift further and further into delusion. It's hard to deal with and sad, really.

@Inliytened1 Sorry to hear about your breakup. That was a pretty long ride, I'm guessing?

Lol. My family is so afraid that I'm going to burn in hell for all eternity. That's why they think it's their duty. If I believed it, I would also feel obligated to save my loved ones. And they aren't interested at all in spirituality. Once you get them to go metacognitive with Christianity and tell them to truly lean into the spirituality of if it and avoid all the talk and professing and actually make spiritual change, they get scared shitless and say "that's not for me. Actually becoming like Jesus is impossible because we are sinners and he wasn't. He was perfect and we'll never be able to live up to him." Thus giving them permission to avoid the spiritual work of Christianity. And anytime spirituality does start to open for them, they think they're under attack be demons and the devil.

Sorry to hear that. Did their conversion start in prison/jail? Jail is a perfect place for indoctrination - an offering of hope and redemption to blot out the shame of it all. Religion is often an antidote to the shame and despair of the downtrodden. Rather than look their shame in the face, they run. I think it really just comes down to low consciousness and fear. For whatever reason, a minority of the population are born with sufficient courage to look reality in the face and call it what it is, and the majority aren't.

100%. And yeah, I’m sure healthier versions exist, but my only experience with it is that which you describe, so I’m not concerned with those healthier versions, the same as I’m not concerned with Buddhism. Toxic Christianity has been in my life since day 1. People who weren’t born into or close to it simply don’t have the direct experience to understand it.

Exactly like this in my part of the Bible Belt as well. Also, they’re very afraid of other kids “tainting” their own. They’re quick to demonize and hate in general, but you really notice it where their kids are involved. They’re so afraid that if they allow their kids basic freedoms and autonomy, both Lisa and Timmy will wind up sucking dick for smack. Lol. Trust and open dialogue isn’t something they consider with their kids. For them, it’s about dominance and control. I just saw a 16 year old Christian girl punished for having a harmless conversation with another teen on discord. She had to sneak to even download the app. Christianity is such a goddamn plague on humanity.

Maybe eating nothing but meat for nearly a decade has taken its toll.

Of course, and this is where the devil smuggles in and lays his justifications for you. How convenient is it that a game of social manipulation be taboo? So, so convenient.

IMO, pickup will hurt you in the long run because the very act betrays your integrity and authenticity. Sooner or later you will have to pay for the whole lot of corruption and self-betrayal you’ve engaged in - a reckoning which can only be avoided by doubling down into delusion. Secondary point: It feels dirty because it is dirty. If your family and friends call you while you’re on the way to “How to Be A Man - Hot Seat 2025” and ask “ so, what are you up to?”, would you feel comfortable telling them, or would you keep it a secret? What happens to your secret when you meet a girl and after dating for a while, you really start to like each other? You gonna try your best to burry the secret and hope she never discovers it or would you share with her freely all the time, money, blood, sweat, and tears you’ve poured into this project? If you have to hide something, that’s often a sign you’re breaking with your integrity.

Diddy will get out early on good behavior - just in time to simp for Trump 2028.

He just posted this on Twitter: https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1973953812517040164

Trump let’s Maxwell out of prison. Lol.

The Psychological Architecture of Post-Truth Propagation: A Concentric Model Overview This model maps the psychological architecture underlying post-truth political movements, revealing how they function as collective psychological defense systems rather than ideological persuasion campaigns. By focusing exclusively on psychological mechanisms, the model explains why post-truth beliefs prove so resistant to factual correction and rational argument. The concentric structure illustrates how unresolved psychological pain at the core radiates outward through unconscious mechanisms, creating a self-reinforcing system that recruits and maintains believers through emotional contagion rather than logical conviction. The Three Layers Core Pillars: The Psychological Engine At the model's center lie the fundamental psychological drivers that power post-truth movements. These aren't political beliefs but rather deep psychological needs and defensive strategies: Authoritarian Psychology represents more than a preference for strong leadership—it reflects a psychological orientation toward external authority as a means of managing internal chaos and uncertainty. This psychological structure seeks to outsource the burden of ambiguity and moral complexity to a powerful figure who provides certainty. Identity Merging describes the dangerous fusion of personal and political identity. When political beliefs become psychologically indistinguishable from the self, any challenge to those beliefs triggers survival-level psychological defenses. This isn't mere loyalty; it's a complete enmeshment where the political becomes personal at the deepest level. Shame Avoidance identifies the core emotional driver. Shame—unlike guilt—attacks the entire self, making it psychologically unbearable. Post-truth beliefs offer protection from shame by creating alternative narratives where the self remains virtuous and powerful rather than diminished or wrong. Coping Mechanism (Pain) reveals the ultimate function: these beliefs serve as psychological painkillers. They manage deep emotional pain and trauma by transforming it into righteous anger and externalized blame. The post-truth framework becomes a psychological medication that must be continuously administered. Propagation Mechanisms: The Unconscious Transmission System The middle ring contains the psychological processes through which post-truth beliefs spread. Critically, all operate below conscious awareness, bypassing rational evaluation: Emotional Osmosis describes how feelings transfer between individuals without conscious processing. Like cellular osmosis, emotions flow from areas of high concentration to low concentration, spreading anxiety, anger, and certainty through groups via mirror neurons and emotional contagion. People "catch" feelings before thoughts. Mimetic Desire (from René Girard's theory) explains how humans unconsciously copy the desires and beliefs of others, especially during uncertainty. We don't want things directly; we want what others want. In post-truth contexts, people adopt beliefs not through evaluation but through unconscious imitation of valued group members. Symbolic Dominance Transfer captures how displays of strength and certainty trigger ancient dominance-submission psychological patterns. When leaders project absolute confidence, followers experience psychological relief by submitting to that certainty, transferring their anxiety upward in the hierarchy. Projection and Blame-Shifting serve dual psychological functions: protecting the ego from uncomfortable self-knowledge while providing targets for displaced emotional pain. These mechanisms operate automatically, creating external enemies that explain internal distress. Passive Enabling describes how the discomfort of confrontation leads to psychological accommodation. Rather than challenge post-truth beliefs—risking conflict and social rupture—people unconsciously adjust their own reality to maintain social harmony. Peripheral Supporters: The Psychological Vulnerabilities The outer ring identifies not demographic groups but psychological orientations that make individuals susceptible to post-truth contagion: Family Absorbers prioritize belonging needs over truth-seeking. The psychological need for family cohesion overrides critical thinking, as the threat of family rejection activates primal abandonment fears that overwhelm rational processing. Low-Info Voters aren't necessarily unintelligent but rather operate with limited cognitive bandwidth for political processing. Overwhelmed by complexity, they rely on cognitive shortcuts and emotional heuristics that post-truth narratives exploit. Cultural Conformists derive psychological safety from group alignment. Their self-esteem depends on social position, making them exquisitely sensitive to group beliefs and unable to risk the psychological threat of nonconformity. Conflict-Avoidant Moderates experience such psychological distress from confrontation that they'll unconsciously distort reality to maintain peace. Their "both sides" frameworks aren't intellectual positions but psychological defenses against the anxiety of taking stands. The System Dynamics The model's power lies in revealing post-truth politics as a psychological contagion system rather than an information problem. The core's unresolved psychological pain doesn't stay contained—it radiates outward through these unconscious mechanisms, recruiting others with similar psychological vulnerabilities. This explains why fact-checking fails: you cannot fact-check a psychological defense mechanism. The concentric structure shows how each layer reinforces the others. The peripheral supporters, through their enabling and conformity, validate the core's defenses. The propagation mechanisms ensure continuous psychological reinforcement. The core, feeling validated, intensifies its psychological investment. It's a self-reinforcing psychological system. Why This Matters: The Gift of Clarity This model matters because it brings clarity to those standing in bewilderment, watching reality itself seem to fracture around them. For those who've felt gaslit by the failure of facts to matter, who've watched loved ones disappear into alternate realities, who've questioned their own sanity as truth became negotiable—this model offers the profound relief of comprehension. The bewilderment is real and legitimate. It's the vertigo of watching half the population reject observable reality. It's the cognitive dissonance of seeing intelligent people embrace obvious falsehoods. It's the exhaustion of engaging in good-faith arguments that go nowhere. It's the heartbreak of losing family members not to death but to an impenetrable psychological fortress. This model explains why you're not crazy. The phenomena you're witnessing follows psychological laws as predictable as gravity. When you understand that you're watching psychological defense mechanisms, not intellectual positions, the bewildering becomes comprehensible. The person rejecting climate science isn't evaluating data—they're managing psychological pain. The relative embracing conspiracy theories isn't thinking poorly—they're medicating shame. Understanding this doesn't make the phenomenon less tragic, but it makes it less maddening. It's the difference between watching a loved one's mysterious illness and understanding their diagnosis. The illness remains, but the bewilderment lifts. You stop taking it personally. You stop exhausting yourself with futile interventions. You stop questioning reality itself. This clarity also explains your own psychological experience. The anxiety you feel watching post-truth spread isn't irrational—you're correctly perceiving a psychological contagion. The exhaustion from fact-checking isn't weakness—you're using the wrong tool for the job. The grief over lost relationships isn't overdramatic—you've lost someone to a psychological defense system that won't allow them to return. Conclusion The Psychological Architecture of Post-Truth Propagation model offers a framework for understanding one of the most pressing challenges of our time. By mapping the psychological mechanisms rather than the political content, it reveals post-truth movements as collective psychological defense systems that spread through emotional contagion rather than rational persuasion. This psychological lens explains both the intensity of post-truth beliefs and their immunity to factual correction. When we understand that we're dealing with psychological pain management rather than information deficits, we can begin developing interventions that address the actual problem rather than its surface manifestations. The model ultimately suggests that the post-truth crisis is, at its core, a mental health crisis playing out in the political arena—a collective psychological symptom of societies struggling to process rapid change, social fragmentation, and accumulated trauma. Until we address these underlying psychological realities, fact-checking will remain as ineffective as using logic to treat a broken heart.

@Inliytened1 Yes, we're all susceptible to a degree, but the point is that these psychological mechanisms are being deliberately exploited by influential, powerful, and bad actors. Folks like Tucker Carlson and Steve Banon understand these mechanisms and they're intentionally exploiting them. It's the difference between "everyone gets angry sometimes" and "someone is pumping contagious, rage-inducing pathogens into specific neighborhoods 24/7." A good complimentary model or map might be "The Post-Truth Industrial Complex". Psychological vulnerability + exploitation infrastructure = post-truth crisis.

That seems wise regarding how we physically or verbally express ourselves to the wicked one, but being indifferent to wickedness in mind sets up a trap of rejecting reality and shirking responsibility. If we judge someone as "wicked", should we feel nothing? I believe it should be acknowledged and the emotions that stir from that acknowledgment be allowed. Maybe it's best to view it from two perspectives: inner cultivation and external responsibility. From the perspective of spiritual development, we should avoid the trap of ruminating too much on wickedness and letting it consume us, but from the perspective of worldly responsibility, rampant wickedness needs resistance. So, balance and restraint. Just my current opinion. I'm sure Pantanjali was much wiser than me.

That’s just one of the reasons. Symbolic Dominance Transfer, for lack of a better term.

I say allow your emotions but modulate their expressions in public. You can be happy that Kirk died and that’s fine if that’s what you feel, but if we put out a gleeful expression, we look like fools with no civility. It’s mostly about optics.

Damn bruh

Haha, apt analogy. Just curious, what made it click for you? Surely it was a multitude of coalescing factors but do you recall any specific thing that carried the most weight?

Nice vid. Lots of overlap with the core of the model.