kylan11

The best thing about a degree is that it at least gives you structure in your studies. A basic framework to explore the field, and as you progress you can deconstruct the framework also. You get exposed to the best thought humanity has to offer over thousands of years (although in a superficial way, it's up to the student to get to the substance) and then you use those tools in your personal philosophical inquiry. But so few people delve into that, it's a failure. Instead, learning online quickly gets you overwhelmed by the sheer size of the beast, leaving you a shaky knowledge base made up of little fragments gathered by insomniac 2 AM google searches.

Haha, but in my humanly egoic motivations I am not omniscient, so I don't take that privilege for myself

Resorting to intellectual sleight of hand and manipulation is and will always be inferior to actually learn how to communicate with others. People respond to genuine interest in them. They want to be heard. Only when you've given them full attention and genuine open-mindedness to consider things from their perspective will they be open to consider your concerns. Have you taken the time to do that? If not, are you instead convinced that you're correct "a priori"? Do you think you have insight on your own limits and cognitive biases? If you're unable to communicate honestly but instead implicitly try to affirm your own superiority, you are always doomed to fail. Good luck.

I've been there! Thoughts are NOT the enemy. Just another appearance in consciousness. They may feel like the enemy in the beginning (this phase can last for the longest time! don't feel hopeless, trust the process), but anytime you bring your attention back to the object of meditation you are actually improving your concentration. It's like any muscle that gets stronger over time when you exercise. This is the point, you are doing the equivalent of a push up for the mind everytime you bring it back to the present. One step at a time you are getting closer to breaking the spell. So don't get frustrated, be grateful.

Chill out... what this clown is trying to say is: just vote for me now, I'll fix everything so you won't ever need to think about politics again (and I won't be on the ticket so who gives a shit frankly). The guy is so clearly too stupid for 1. realizing how easily his words can be used to portray him as the dictator he would like to be but won't ever be able to be because 2. he's a wanna-be, unfocused, impulsive and nowhere near intelligent enough to actually pull off the complete destruction of american democracy. He's dangerous because he's batshit insane, incompetent, narcissistic and easy to manipulate, not because he's some american Putin with a master plan. Let me be clear, he would LOVE to be Putin, but sadly for him, he just doesn't have it. Sorry. He's little more than a puppet for far more dangerous actors to fatten their already morbidly obese purses and destroy the world in the process.

I'm highly skeptical that this will ever happen, but if it does, the second it drops I would stop literally ANYTHING to watch it asap. And honestly Leo, I'd be just as curious to see you interview Sam Harris, Alex O'Connor, various New Age figures and, fuck, even Richard Dawkins etc. I think one of the problems, for me, is that your work kind of just sits there in a vacuum. I believe you have more than reached the intellectual maturity to really put your work as a philosopher and mystic out there, in the public discourse, by discussing it with these well-known intellectuals. And I'm sure that, by having an actual world-class "But Leo..." at your disposal to challenge you, it would do nothing but mature your philosophy further. Despite these people not being nearly as "enlightened" as you, surely the top human beings of this time in terms of pure raw intelligence and culture will have something to offer you and us all.

We might actually have a fighting chance here! Between Biden doing the honorable thing and Trump being so inconceivably stupid as to revert to his old divisive, incendiary, name-calling, red stage self in the span of 15 minutes (when he could have so easily destroyed the entire leftist strategy by presenting himself as a "changed" man and a unifying figure), and 2024 being his last realistic shot at political relevancy... I am hopeful for a slow and gradual return to normalcy in the next few years.

Just wanted to share this as I thought it might be of interest as it was for me. Especially considering that Leo, like me and so many others, has taken a special interest in the phenomenon of Trumpism and the rise of right-wing populism around the civilized world. Opinion | On Anti-Trumpers and the Modern Meritocracy - The New York Times (nytimes.com) Maybe, just maybe, when we straw man the rise of trumpism as a fundamental issue between progress and bigotry (as the intellectual left does), we are completely overlooking the elitist society that we have, perhaps unconsciously, constructed. We might have brought this madness upon ourselves. It's especially ironic to me that I find myself in complete agreement, and yet due to survivalistic self-interest most of my mid-20s life efforts are basically a struggle to gain entry to that same professional elite. Perhaps I am there already, if "cultural capital" and higher education are the conditions. I'm not entirely convinced that there is a solution to this problem. If anything I suspect it might get worse now that white collar jobs are threatened by AI as well. I'd like to hear your opinion on this.

It's an insightful reading. The biggest lesson I took from it is the fact that being harmless does not equal being good - an important point too often forgotten today in a victim-complex ridden culture. "Those who have swords and know how to use them yet keep them sheathed shall inherit the earth".

It can in people that are genetically predisposed to it. But unless you have a parent or a sibling that is psychotic I wouldn't worry about it. For instance I have a schizophrenic uncle and my chances of being diagnosed at some point in life is about 2%. Less actually, since I'm already 25. For comparison, it's 1% for the general population. From what you're describing it simply just sounds like effective deep meditation. That's amazing. You are witnessing a shift in a higher state of consciousness. There's nothing to be concerned about.

Ciao Asia, fa sempre un sacco piacere trovare altri italiani in posti così di nicchia. I'll switch to english now so that other people may find my comment helpful. Generally, around the world and especially in our beloved country, psychedelics are very hard to find. They are wildly unpopular as street drugs, so unless you happen to attend many rave parties - the chances of you randomly stumbling across a plug to get you mushrooms/LSD are extremely low. I would not take it as a sign from the universe that you are not ready. You know best when you feel ready. And I would definitely encourage you to try at least once in order to experience what consciousness is capable of. It will give you direction, purpose in pursuing further spiritual practice, and will definitely widen your perspective in life in unexpected, amazing ways. This makes sticking to meditation everyday way easier, in my experience. Now, for the practical aspects of how to get your hands on them, sourcing is forbidden by the forum's rules, but DM me if you're interested. This is the first time I've opened this forum in a month. I rarely read random posts here, yet I stumbled across your post and I just so happen to be italian as well. This may even be the sign you were looking for, haha. Buona fortuna per tutto!!

Let me give my 2 cents although I'm not Leo. Maybe he can add on or correct my perspective when he gets the chance to read this thread. What you are seeing is a reasonably realized individual who also happens to possess above average intelligence (I'm specifically referring to the conventional logical intelligence that IQ measures). So we have two factors at play: Intelligence itself is mostly due to genetic inheritance. Intelligence gives you above average intuition and brain processing power. Life shapes an intelligent individual in a way that can go sideways very easily, but if you're lucky, you will always be a child at heart, in the sense of being naturally curious and prone to question fundamental assumptions that most other people will just dogmatically accept. By applying this kind of curiosity and intuition to the highest pursuit of philosophy, instead of just focusing on what he'd call "minutiae" (which is in no way a derogatory term, otherwise Steve Jobs was a loser), when you happen to stumble into an experience of profound depth, you will be able to grasp even a glimpse of its significance instead of responding with fear and rejection, then formalize it into a higher framework, which, through the process of deduction... ...will allow you to become a realized individual and act in accordance to your principles. Not being constantly at war with yourself due to cognitive dissonances and always being on the lookout for their emergence. In other words, someone who has reached a "meta" level of understanding. Possessing such a higher, trans-rational framework makes worldly things seem childish and yet strangely coherent. While there's always more to discover and understand, engaging in discussions about topics like politics will seem akin to mediating a dispute between two children fighting over a toy. Lastly, becoming more cultured will help you expand and refine this framework even more.

So what exactly is stopping you from learning a skill like, say, UI/UX design, getting a good job and stop feeling sorry for yourself?

I spent an unholy amount of hours studying the man. He has absolutely zero moral principles. He just adopts what it's in his interests in that particular circumstance. Even that might not be entirely accurate since he's not strategic and is incapable of long term thinking. He simply acts on his narcissistic impulses and emotional urges. Regardless of how he may have adapted his "views" to better his chances of winning the presidency back in 2015, his spiral stage has been the same from when he was 3 years old. I recommend Mary Trump's book if you're interested on diving deep on his psychology and the root causes of his personality. Fascinating read.

Hey congratz man, totally normal being nervous the first few times or after a long "hiatus". Who wasn't? It's one of those things that takes getting used to. And honestly nervousness can either make you cum way too soon or prevent you from doing so. The latter is way better from a female standpoint as you know, so you're lucky in that regard.