Juns

why would he do that if it he knows people will easliy find out?

I'm really surprised that you didn't know that. I find the gaps of knowledge in people who are generally knowledgeable fascinating. An example off the top of my head was when I saw Destiny doing a geography quiz and was surprised at how bad he was.

In this video, @Leo Gura talks about the distinction between actuality and imagination/concepts and creates a distinction between your thoughts and concepts and the present conscious experience that you are having. He gave a few examples, such as science, reason, logic, and your life history. My question is: if your concepts and imagination are a part of your present conscious experience, then isn't that just as real as the hand in front of your face? I generally understand what he is talking about; however, I just wanted to some clarification on this point.

yeah, the taliban is making afghanistan become mroe stage blue. they were more red and purple before. however with stage blue you have to accept the ideaology which in this case is Islam fully. that's where my prevoius comments about Islam being harder to liberalise come in. Islam is much more through and comprehensive in terms of laws compared to other religions and so since there is so much evidence that supports certain contreversial things the taliban in this example have no choice but to follow it to mnaintain stage blue. the taliban is a huge group and for each fighting taliban there is a family and community that agrees with what the fighter is doing. a lot of peopl support them. could be wropng but i think christainity has more room for liberal interpretations. jewdaism could serve as a counter example though i guess. small secular movemetns dont mean much if you look at the majhortiy of what the people believed and the results speak for themselves. I don't think its impossible of course its just a little harder with islam. Lots of muslims that live in the west become stage blue after being confrunted with stage orange and green and then later on develop and move up like myself for example.

took a quick glance. isnt it about people reporting how much they are suffering and what they expect the future to be like in terms of suffering. they dont spcific that they think that the direct cause of the suffering is the taliban.

are you a Muslim or do you know a lot about Islam? I agree that there are interpretations where you could justify having girls go into "secular" education however I personally think that the more fundametalist and more in alignment with the actual teachings of Islam agree with women not going into educatino due to gender roles, fitnah, liberisatino through education, feminism, freedom from husband financially etc. as for the burqa then most fundamentists could easliy find strong justivdaitnos for enforcing burqas. could be mistaken but the afghan army was quite well armed and had been with the US for quite a while. by rejecting religion i meant admitting that what they are doing isnt in alignment with the religion but doing it anyway. I agree with your second statement and have mentioned above that Islam struggles to liberalise from within like other religions.

I’d say the Taliban is closer to the "true" interpretation of Islam. I make a distinction between Islam and Muslims. Muslims practice Islam in many ways—purple, red, blue, orange, and green. However, the actual fundamental texts, the quotes of the founder of the religion, and the understanding of the early Muslims and scholars, according to my knowledge, reflect the type of Islam practiced by fundamentalists, Wahhabis, the Taliban, etc. Regarding them not being popular among their own people, I would disagree. They are popular, or at least seen as doing the right thing, even if it conflicts with their short-term desires, by many Afghans, especially Pashtuns. Of course, there is a large portion of the population that disagrees with them, but they are in power for a reason. I agree that Islamic countries have reformed, but most of them have done so by rejecting religion, not by liberalizing it. I could be wrong here. The Balkan muslims, for example, are mainly secular and liberal due to communism and their own specific historical circumstances. However, if you were to ask people there if drinking alcohol and the other things they are doing are wrong according to religion, they would likely agree and say they aren't religious, or they just wouldn't know due to a lack of knowledge.

Yeah, it’s not something I necessarily believe, but it’s interesting to think about. Maybe I’m wrong, but I’ve heard Leo say things similar to what you’ve mentioned here. I mean, isn’t that the nature of non-duality in some sense? Everything being equal and the same, the dissolution of all categories and distinctions, etc. But, as I said, I could be wrong.

If you believe there is no self, then surely it is all just "stuff"—perceptions and qualia. Whether it comes from within or from out there shouldn't matter, right?

interesting.

thanks for your insights.

I'm still stuck in Plato's cave.

@Davino I just read through it. thanks

@_Archangel_ Interesting. I'll think about you wrote. Thanks.

@Leo Gura After all this thought, the pizza has gone cold, and all we are left with is the picture.

@Nilsi Wow, well said. I have personal experience with this from my time being religious and have seen it around me while growing up. What you said about repression is especially true. Look at the Taliban, for example. What they are doing with regard to women is, strangely, a very modern phenomenon in the bigger picture. They believe in the afterlife and their religion with such fervor that it makes sense, from their perspective, for them to do what they are doing. That’s the thing with Islam—it’s the perfect religion to bring someone to stage blue (in developmental terms), but it is harder to liberalize and make more orange or green compared to other religions. However, it did lead me to become more orange (in the sense of being more rational) as an individual, as it trained me to think in more abstract ways when I was a fundamentalist. But yeah, I think we have all seen what repression does to people. The harsh laws that segregate men and women, and the bans on all forms of sexual release, often lead to sexual perversion and other negative outcomes. I think a middle path works much better at stage blue, and other religions have managed this balance more effectively. These were just some random, incoherent thoughts I had.

could you clarify please?

@Leo Gura But your thoughts and concepts are made of the same "substance" as your hand, right? That substance being consciousness. So why do you feel as if the hand is more "actual" and real? I guess the response to that could be that the picture of the pizza is made of atoms and so is the pizza but they are not the same I guess.

@Onecirrus Sorry for the late reply; I didn't get any notifications. I was referring to what @Leo Gura said here and not what you said: I wish you the best in your journey towards self actualisation and becoming the best version of yourself

@Genius100x Sorry for the really late reply; I didn't get any notifications. Yeah, AI is amazing, and I believe it will lead to incredible progress in science and technology. However, questions like the meaning of life and the nature of consciousness, in my opinion, won't be resolutely answered by AI due to the problem of induction. As for AI becoming conscious, being spiritual, and having access to the nature of reality in that way—yeah, I think that's possible. However, its experience would, of course, be personal to it. I think we will reach AGI/ASI very soon, so I disagree with you there about AI taking that long to become conscious or spiritual. If it is a possibility, then it will happen once we reach AGI/ASI.

I have watched quite a lot of Demis Hassabis's interviews, videos, and content about him in general, and I think he's a great guy who is working on something amazing. However, I feel that his hope that AI can answer questions such as the meaning of life, consciousness, and why we are here may be unattainable due to the inherent nature of science and the empirical method. What are your thoughts on this? Btw, this is my first post

To play devil's advocate, could this just be a way of trying to make yourself feel special by ascribing vaguely defined, superior levels of development to yourself?