Joshe

No, I was once considering it though and did some research. I’ve talked to someone who has done it and there are many vloggers on YouTube showing the a day in the life or a month in the life of this lifestyle. I picked the idea up from an obscure podcast about a decade ago. They were talking about selling their car and using the money to support them in Southeast Asia while they went full-throttle on their business.

If you have a remote job or 10k, you could survive dirt cheap in Bali indonesia. You could get by on $600/mo if you had to. A 2k/mo budget would be luxurious. You can stay in Bali for 6 months before you have to leave but then you can just hop to another island for a month and go back again when your visa renews. If you were frugal, 10-15k could probably keep you up for 2 years in Bali. I think It's actually a good idea for anyone who wants to drop everything and just work on growing their business full-time for a couple of years. Probably not for everyone though. You'd be roughing it relative to U.S standards. --- I wouldn't leave the US just yet if all you're worried about is Trump. At least not at this point.

Not a leftist. You're the first person ever to think I have a weak mindset. You're the first person ever to think I'm a beta male. But you are not the first person to think super chaos agents in a democracy are a good thing. This whole "chaos agent" perspective is a backwards rationalization for Trump support that has morphed into delusional fantasies of reaching the golden city on the hill. The thing is bro, you have to operate within the boundaries of reality. Acknowledging those boundaries is not victimhood... it's wise.

This "chaos agent" logic is absurd. It entails a naive assumption that the wrecking ball won't lead to irreversible destruction. It's too great a risk. The ones with power would benefit the most from the chaos, not you. This ignorance could usher in a century-long long dictatorship but you're too excited about change to care about that. Your chaos could come with nuclear war, but you either don't mind the risk or naively assume it can't happen. You casually and gleefully embrace chaos assuming it will lead to your perfect vision for humanity, while ignoring potentially catastrophic real-world consequences and immeasurable human suffering and even total, irreversible destruction. It's just naive.

See, this is what I was hinting at. Trump's rhetoric about many things is getting massive backlash from those who are usually sympathetic to him. He keeps doing this, causing more and more of his sympathizers to be like "WTF?". Those sympathizers are starting to see how deceptive and vile he is. Well-respected and influential people who are friendly to the right are speaking out. Bill Burr went on a rant attacking Elon Musk and now Fox News is running attacks on him, and lots on the right don't like it. If this keeps up, the cumulative effect of all this can't be good for Trump and his influencers. I feel like he's going to start bleeding support. Trump is kind of forcing influencers into a corner that could potentially hurt them. For example, they now have to give their commentary on what Trump said about Zelensky being a dictator who started the war. Influencers like Rogan and Lex will either have to double down for MAGA or break with them. Sooner or later, if this keeps up, these influencers will lose respect on a large scale and I think they'll start shitting on Trump before they let that happen. Let's hope Trump keeps this up.

This is interesting. The MeidasTouch Network's podcast has surpassed Joe Rogan's.

As turbulent as things have been so far, I don’t see how he can keep his reign if he continues at this pace. I lack political knowledge but does this pace seem sustainable? If he pisses too many people off, breaks ties with all our allies, and weakens our position too much, wouldn’t he eventually lose support? What are some potential scenarios that could ruin him? I just don’t see how he keeps it up at this pace.

This is true, but we'll be called biased for arriving at this. 😂

You could say this about anyone. I've seen this very logic used by MAGA to defend Trump. "You can't read his mind. You don't know what he's thinking". How come some people can see Trump for what he is and others can't? It comes down to your ability to assess reality accurately and impartially. We actually can know things about Elon by analyzing his history, words, actions, and psychology. Some people can see Elon for what he is, some can't. The perspective "Elon is power-hungry, self-serving, and self-deceived, yet cares about serving humanity" is flawed and largely exist because of the propaganda Elon flooded the zone with. For anyone who believes Elon cares about humanity, ask yourself: Why do I believe this? What evidence do I have? Where did those notions come from? Did they arise organically from my own observation or did I pick them up from others? Did I blindly believe him when he said he cares about humanity? Did I conclude because he bought and grew Tesla that he cares about the earth and humanity? Is all this solid evidence? Could he have been bullshitting the entire time? Look at his actions! The richest man in the world trying to dominate the entire world in non-stop pursuit of ultimate power. I'm sure he does have a notion in his head, similar to Thanos, that the world would benefit by him getting his way, but that would just be a self-deception serving the purpose of justification for what REALLY matters to him... which is his little ego winning total control. That is the overpowering driver... he is not driven by serving humanity at all, and for anyone who thinks he is, I think is either foolish or biased or both.

Good point. At this point, I think it's too charitable to even think "Doing good for the people" is even a faint idea in his head, yet everyone acts like it's one of his primary drivers because of the tens or hundreds of thousands of propaganda pieces like this:

It is fallacy to view "serving society" and "serving self" as true or false and then treating them as comparable forces. The intensity of the drivers is what's important. Claude helped me articulate this: "When one driver has the intensity of a thunderstorm and the other a whisper, weighing them equally is intellectually dishonest. The critical factor isn't their presence, but their power. The intensity of self-interest isn't just stronger – it's orders of magnitude more powerful in driving Elon" So, if this is true... and it is... then is recognizing Elon's so-called service to society really an act of balancing one's perspective or is it something else? Maybe a desire to be yellow or a fanboy bias or groupthink or...??? IDK! Could be! It's interesting why people feel compelled to "balance" their perspective by acknowledging negligible factors. From what I've gathered, it usually points to a bias. I just came here to vent that I can't even look for design inspiration on Dribbble without running into Elon's fanboys or propaganda. I'd wager money that this image exist because he paid for it to exist. Why in the fuck would this be on Dribbble? There is nothing special about this design...just words on a black background... so why does it have more likes and views than many awesome designs? Because some Chinese click farm was paid millions of dollars to flood this shit out. That's the person we're talking about here. Even intelligent people have ZERO idea of how they've been fooled. It's too conspiratorial and cynical for them to even entertain.

Until they evolve.

Maybe that's the answer. Collect the sperm and eggs of conscious humans and just grow them in a lab. Could work!

Of course there is waste and corruption, but if the devil wants to address those issues, it’s to serve himself, not others. When the most corrupt people tell you their goal is to fight corruption and eliminate waste, you’d be a fool to believe them, even if they do some good as part of their scheme to dupe the masses.

You're right that support for Trump is a solid indicator of low intelligence, and if you don't want a man of low intelligence, then you are being practical, not radical. I've parted ways with friends due to their idiocy and I felt all sorts of confusion and moral dilemmas about it, but life is too short and precious to settle for and accept that degree of foolishness in your life. I'd choose pure solitude over truth deniers, hateful, and harmful people. I guess it depends on how hard up you are for some company.

@Shodburrito we all fuck up. Only thing to do is not push it down and not make the same mistake twice. Guilt, shame, etc, is necessary to make us channel our energies into making sure we don’t fuck up twice. If I didn’t feel immense shame when I got drunk and wrecked my vehicle, I might still drink and drive. Those lower emotions serve a purpose.

Judgement: the ability to make considered decisions or come to sensible conclusions. To make a judgement, you have to activate your sense making apparatus. If you do that and conclude that Trump, Vivek, and the like are integrous and want good things for humanity instead of just trying to enrich themselves, your sense making has failed. You call this a difference of opinion but these are not matters of opinion. Everyone is fine with you saying the color purple and vanilla ice cream is the best, and they accept you for that, but when you say Trump and company excites you for the good things they will bring to humanity, it reveals deep ignorance. And when you elevated Vivek to a God, you magnified that ignorance to such cringe levels, someone wanted to not be aware of your existence. This is on you! Take some responsibility for your thinking.

The idea that Trump and crew aim to weed out corruption and excess spending deserves mocking, but I'm working on myself... so I can't do it. shit.. did I just do it. oh well... baby steps.

Sounds like you drank the kool aid. You believe that electric cars wouldn’t be on the map if it weren’t for Mr. Mega Genius and that Tesla is one of the nicest cars in existence? Hmm. I smell something. WHAT is that smell? Is it a suppressed Elon fan disguised as a consciousness worker? Jk, but for real. The first point is false, which you can verify yourself with AI and the second is an opinion, like this: Aesthetically, the Tesla is shit. Absolute shit. It’s curves are absurd and just look at its logo. It’s like one of the worst logos ever. When you look at that logo for 30 seconds, how does it make you feel? Lol. It’s fucking repulsive. One way to contribute to the greater good is by not supporting entities that are detrimental to it. So yeah, I think it’s a responsible thing to do.

Not sure if this concept has another name but it's profound. # Psychological Placeholders: The Mental Territories We Occupy to Avoid Empty Space A psychological placeholder is a mental or emotional pattern that occupies psychological space not necessarily because of its current utility, but because it has become a familiar cognitive activity. These patterns can persist long after their original purpose has been served, creating resistance to their own dissolution simply because they represent known territory for our thought energy and provide a sense of psychological continuity in the face of existential uncertainty. Like a well-worn path through unfamiliar terrain, these patterns offer a predictable route for our consciousness to travel, even when that route no longer leads where we truly want or need to go. ## Key Characteristics ### 1. Self-Perpetuating Nature - Creates its own inertia - Resists dissolution even when no longer serving original purpose - Becomes self-justifying over time - Creates familiar thought patterns that become comfortable despite being potentially uncomfortable ### 2. Unconscious Function - Often serves purposes unknown to the conscious mind - May protect from facing other, more threatening realities - Can provide structure to mental and emotional life - Might maintain a sense of identity or purpose ### 3. Energy Investment - Occupies significant mental and emotional energy - Creates resistance to change due to uncertainty about where that energy would go - May provide a sense of purpose or direction for thought patterns - Can become a primary focus of mental activity ## Common Forms ### Resentments - Persist beyond their useful life - Provide familiar territory for thought - Create a sense of righteous purpose - May protect from more vulnerable emotions ### Fixed Beliefs - Become load-bearing walls in psychological structure - Resist modification despite evidence - Provide stable framework for understanding world - Create sense of security through certainty ### Chronic Concerns - Occupy mental space with familiar worries - Create illusion of control through constant attention - Provide known territory for thought energy - May prevent facing deeper uncertainties ### Identity Attachments - Maintain familiar self-image - Resist evidence that might require identity revision - Provide stable sense of self - Create resistance to growth that threatens self-concept ## Psychological Functions ### 1. Stability Maintenance - Provides familiar territory for thought energy - Creates psychological stability through predictability - Maintains known patterns even if uncomfortable - Resists uncertainty of change ### 2. Identity Protection - Maintains consistent self-narrative - Provides familiar roles and patterns - Protects from identity uncertainty - Creates sense of continuity ### 3. Energy Direction - Channels psychological energy in familiar patterns - Provides known paths for thought and emotion - Creates structure for mental activity - May prevent confrontation with uncertainty ## Dissolution Process ### Recognition - Becoming aware of pattern as placeholder - Noticing resistance to change - Understanding unconscious functions - Seeing self-perpetuating nature ### Uncertainty Phase - Experiencing discomfort with unknown - Facing question of where energy will go - Dealing with identity implications - Managing anxiety about change ### Integration - Allowing natural dissolution - Experiencing new space - Finding new patterns - Integrating insights ## Clinical Implications ### Therapeutic Approach - Recognizing placeholders as serving function - Working with resistance compassionately - Understanding role in psychological structure - Supporting healthy dissolution process ### Treatment Considerations - Assessing readiness for change - Supporting development of new structures - Working with identity implications - Managing uncertainty anxiety ## Broader Applications ### Personal Development - Understanding own placeholder patterns - Working with resistance constructively - Developing comfort with uncertainty - Supporting healthy pattern dissolution ### Social Understanding - Recognizing collective placeholders - Understanding social resistance patterns - Working with group development - Supporting collective growth ## Conclusion Understanding psychological placeholders provides valuable insight into why certain patterns persist despite apparent disadvantages. This framework suggests that successful personal development might require not just insight into patterns, but also: - Understanding of placeholder functions - Comfort with uncertainty - Support for transition periods - Recognition of systemic implications The concept helps explain resistance to change not as simple obstinacy, but as a complex interplay between stability needs, identity maintenance, and energy management. This understanding can lead to more effective approaches to personal and collective development. It provides a non-pathological way to frame resistance to change—not as a flaw, but as a function of psychological stability-seeking.

Not everything fits into a model or a mould. You can be a poor virgin and still care about what is true if your mind is geared that way. What makes a mind like that? Some minds just need truth. Why? Is it just naturally higher consciousness or is it unbearable suffering forces one to find higher meaning? Is it both? I think if a mind is like that, it will be like that even in poverty and without sex. Poverty and circumstance might be a detriment to the development of such a mind, but sooner or later, a mind that needs truth will prioritize it or perish. It's like a force or a need, similar to money and sex. The thing is though, after you discover so many insights and truths, truth-seeking and understanding even starts to lose appeal. It's like Alan Watts said. You start with wanting candy bars, then you grow up and want booze and then you say "no, that's not it either", and you move on to art and music until that's not it either. You just keep going up and up until after a while of noticing the games you've been playing with yourself, it does something to you. It's all seen to be futile, which makes you stop taking life so seriously. Life starts to seems more like an observation than a serious endeavor.

"Many people can grasp difficult concepts mentally while still unconsciously avoiding their emotional impact. True existential courage involves the ability to maintain presence with uncomfortable truths without activating psychological defense mechanisms. Yes, this distinction strikes at something profound. It's the difference between what we might call "map knowledge" versus actually walking the territory. Someone can intellectually understand concepts like impermanence, death, uncertainty, or their own psychological patterns, but still unconsciously flee from the lived experience of these truths. This reminds me of how some highly intellectual people can eloquently discuss psychological concepts or spiritual teachings while still being largely unconscious of their own defensive patterns in real time. They've developed sophisticated mental models but haven't developed the capacity to stay present with the raw reality these models describe. What makes this particularly challenging is that intellectual understanding can actually become a defense mechanism itself. The mind can create elegant philosophical frameworks that give the illusion of having faced these truths while actually serving as a buffer against really feeling them. It's like building a beautiful glass display case around something dangerous - you can see it clearly, but you're still protected from direct contact. The truly developed person, as you suggest, has bridged this gap. They can not only understand difficult truths intellectually but can remain present with the full emotional and existential weight of them without needing to dissociate, rationalize, or otherwise defend against the experience. This capacity seems to be what allows for genuine transformation rather than mere accumulation of knowledge."

I think the biggest thing holding humanity back from evolving right now is a lack of courage—specifically, the courage to face themselves and reality. Without that, consciousness can't expand. David Hawkins talks about this as well. If you lack courage, you'll run from reality, which is why people cling to religion and various other falsehoods. They're so afraid of the uncertainty of their existence and all the unknowns about reality, out of fear, they weave stories that distract and pacify them rather than remain open and inquire. "People often aren't aware they're running from their inner experience - they create elaborate justifications, distractions, and belief systems that serve as sophisticated avoidance mechanisms." This works well as a defense mechanism, but it also shuts them off from development. So... I see a lack of courage as possibly the largest deterrent to humanity's development. Integrity means aligning your thoughts, emotions, and actions with reality. It’s about being honest with yourself and others, not living in denial or deception. Someone with integrity is reliable, accountable, and self-respecting. They don’t sell out their values. And when people live with integrity, their consciousness expands even further, but a lack of courage prevents most from ever having a shot at becoming integrous. Lately, I’ve been thinking about how to make humanity healthier, and it seems like the first step is helping people develop courage. If they can face reality without fear, only then can integrity follow. If you think about it, can integrity even exist without courage? Without courage, people will always default to self-deception, avoidance, or rationalization to protect their egos. The idea is that courage is a prerequisite for integrity. Just throwing ideas out there. I'm sure this is true to some degree but not clear on the degree or the implications.

Related, from Claude: # Existential Courage: The Capacity to Face Reality ## Core Concepts The capacity to face existential realities isn't primarily about intellectual understanding, but about the ability to remain emotionally present with difficult truths without resorting to psychological defenses. This involves several key ideas: ### Negative Capability Coined by poet John Keats in 1817, this describes the capacity to remain in uncertainty and doubt without anxiously grasping for immediate answers or resolution. It's the ability to sit with mystery and ambiguity rather than forcing premature conclusions. This quality is particularly relevant to existential courage, as it describes the exact capacity needed to face life's fundamental uncertainties without retreating into false certainties or comforting illusions. ### Being With A term that emerged from contemplative traditions, particularly Buddhism and later adopted in Western psychology, referring to the capacity to experience reality directly without immediately trying to change, fix, or escape from it. This differs from intellectual understanding in that it's about direct experiential contact rather than conceptual knowledge. The practice of "being with" requires a fundamental courage to face whatever arises in consciousness without immediately activating defense mechanisms. ### The Gap Between Understanding and Experience The distinction between these capacities and mere intellectual understanding is crucial. Many people can grasp difficult concepts mentally while still unconsciously avoiding their emotional impact. True existential courage involves the ability to maintain presence with uncomfortable truths without activating psychological defense mechanisms. This suggests that the development of consciousness isn't primarily about acquiring new knowledge, but about developing the capacity to remain present with what we already know at a deeper level. ## Reading List ### On Negative Capability - **"The Letters of John Keats"** - Particularly his December 1817 letter to his brothers where he first introduces the concept - Provides the original context and thinking behind this influential idea - **"Negative Capability: The Intuitive Approach in Keats" by Walter Jackson Bate** - Comprehensive exploration of the concept and its implications - Examines how this capacity relates to broader human development - **"The Wisdom of Insecurity" by Alan Watts** - While not explicitly about negative capability, it explores similar themes - Examines the relationship between uncertainty and psychological freedom ### On Being With - **"Start Where You Are" by Pema Chödrön** - Excellent exploration of staying present with difficulty - Practical guidance for developing this capacity - **"Radical Acceptance" by Tara Brach** - Deep dive into the practice of being with experience - Explores the relationship between acceptance and transformation - **"The Courage to Be" by Paul Tillich** - Philosophical exploration of existential courage - Examines the relationship between anxiety and authentic existence ### On Existential Psychology - **"The Denial of Death" by Ernest Becker** - Examines how humans psychologically defend against existential awareness - Explores the roots of human avoidance behaviors - **"Existential Psychotherapy" by Irvin Yalom** - Comprehensive look at how humans face (or avoid) existential realities - Practical applications of existential understanding in psychological work - **"Faith, Hope and Carnage" by Nick Cave and Seán O'Hagan** - Recent work exploring these themes through personal experience - Contemporary perspective on facing existential realities ### On Defense Mechanisms - **"The Mechanism of Defence" by Anna Freud** - Foundational work on psychological defenses - Essential understanding of how we avoid difficult truths - **"Neurosis and Human Growth" by Karen Horney** - Explores how people develop elaborate systems to avoid facing reality - Examines the relationship between authenticity and psychological development ## Key Insights The core insight running through all these works is that genuine psychological and spiritual development requires developing the capacity to remain present with uncertainty and difficulty rather than seeking premature resolution or escape. This isn't about achieving any particular state or gaining new knowledge, but rather about removing the barriers that prevent us from facing reality as it is. This suggests that the development of existential courage might be more about unlearning our habitual avoidance patterns than about acquiring new capabilities. The capacity to face reality might be innate, but becomes covered over by psychological defenses developed in response to existential anxiety. The relationship between courage and integrity appears to be fundamental: without the courage to face our inner experience directly, we cannot develop genuine integrity, as we'll always be prone to various forms of self-deception and avoidance. This suggests that the development of existential courage might be a prerequisite for genuine psychological and spiritual development. Note: Citations should be verified as this list was compiled without access to a current database.