Matt23

I find it so hard for my mind to comprehend this... visually. So when it says "I asked AI to make this"... what does that specifically mean? Like, does the person put in any computations or algorhythms or preferences etc.? Or does he just say "music + video + images" (or something of the like) and the AI basically, out of its own ingenuity, come up with this whole goddamn thing? If the latter is true.... holy shit.

I think "lost cause" is very context dependent. Like, if you are a regular person and end up dating a narcissist... and perhaps you feel connection and love with them... it might be wiser to exit that relationship. But, on the other hand, if you are a specialist who works specifically with narcissists, then obviously it's less of a lost cause and you'll probably end up helping them over the long haul. Some interesting ideas I've come across on narcissism: Everyone can be narcissistic, which differs from narcissistic personality disorder. Narcissistic characteristics (egotism, lashing out, manipulation, lack of empathy, etc.) can be seen as defense mechanisms for an extremely vulnerable, frightened, low self-esteemed, and insecure core self concept. I've heard there's strong correlations between having an anxious-avoidant attachment style (low self-worth and low trust in others). There are many types of narcissism, including grandiose to more vulnerable styles, as well as more introverted to more extroverted styles. With someone being more introverted and vulnerable exhibiting characteristics similar to the borderline personality disorder group and the more extroverted and grandiose styles being more akin to psychopathy. Another fascinating thing I discovered described how people with narcissism, or a particular type of narcissism, can and do feel great empathy for others and the world. But only at a distance (so, perhaps alone contemplating the suffering of the world, seeing a war break out on tv, or hearing of environmental destruction). Yet, when they interact with people around them, friends, family, neighbors, etc., that empathy goes out the window. So this can trip people up, even narcissists, since they seem to care greatly, but when faced with reality and others directly, all that care drops away and the frustrations, lack of concern for others, lack of patience, and egocentrism takes over.

Haha lolz. So fried eggs truly are your brain on drugs? Also, @axiom, ya, where did you find this info? sources?

Lol. Let her ping your pong. Bruh... It's all good. Just go over, do a little foreplay, DON'T OVERTHINK IT, and just have fun and experience stuff in life.

Perhaps in both sense of this phrase Reading each individual philosopher's work chronologically. Reading the various philosophers chronologically: scorates, plato, nietzche, locke, etc.. Since they probably build their lines or reasoning, or are at least influenced by (consciously or unconsciously), the ideas of previous philosophers. This could be interesting since it might allow you to see how thoughts evolve over time, and where one's thinking comes from and that the thoughts you thought were original and "yours" are actually quite common and derive from philosopher from eons ago. obvs takes more work though. Could be fascinating though.

Been there. I think "the"/a principle is = Enjoy it. If you find that you're not enjoying reading, adjust HOW you're reading. Perhaps from taking too many notes, or reading material you don't like, or other things. I used to have an underlying anxiety that if I didn't study and know the book cover to cover, then that's bad and I'm wasting my time and not fully integrating the lessons. This might be true for college or university reading, but it's just not that practical. Besides, even when I was taking lots of notes and really trying to study the material hardcore-style, a few years later, I can't really remember all that stuff anyways. == I think it's more about the simple principles you get in book that last rather than all the intricacies. Also... maybe there's an underlying belief that "These books hold the blueprints for life, and if I just memorize them all and use them, then I'll be set." I think this is false or not the best way to be living. Like isn't an algorithm. Sure, I'm not saying it's not helpful. Not at all. I'm saying that sometimes we can get overly attached to development, "getting it right", not fucking up, trying to improve, that it ends up backfiring (like in the case of taking 1-2 months to finish a book and write a ton of notes, only to forget more than 3/4 of it a few years later AND also missing all the time life experiences we could have had in the real world). Recommendation: ==== Prioritize DOING things in the real world rather than studying. I wish I did this a lot more when I was younger. I can't say all the hours I spent reading and studying alone really grew me a whole lot of made me more satisfied. It's like "ya, great, I've read some things." But I also missed out on a lot of life experiences, joys, interactions, sex, new events, etc.. The fun stuff, the juice of life. I still enjoy reading, but I take it a lot more lightly now. Just underlining, and contemplating things that interest me. Follow your curiosity without rigid rules of how you should study and read. == Organic > Mechanical. Enjoy reading something, and then just playing with the ideas in your mind; making connections to other ideas you've heard, things you observe, practicing what you read a bit, etc.. Also... Something I heard from the guys from Charisma on Command that they got from the guy who wrote the Slate-star codex psychiatrist dude (paraphrasing) People often cover up their ineptitudes with knowledge. So if someone sucks at dating, they'll spend all their time studying dating, allowing them to avoid actually getting out there and doing the thing they feel shitty at: dating.

Ultimate Cheese

Apparently Turkey has some of the best hair implant places... if you decide to do so. Could do a vacay and hair implant sesh at the same time. But also....Firstly... Do you look good bald? If so, just go bald my man.

Perhaps part of the cause: One school of thought about emotions says that when you avoid, shut down, suppress, don't express, and deny emotions you dislike ("negative" emotions), you simultaneously shut down the better emotions. It's like, you may think you're making yourself feel better by shutting down the really negative emotions, but the "shutting down" works on both ends of the spectrum at the same time. Thus shutting down the really good emotions as well. Maybe try working on and feeling those emotions you dislike. I'd also recommend paying attention to areas in your life (particular emotions, thoughts, circumstances, and especially places in your body) where you find there's not much going on. Places that are numb, don't have feeling, etc.. Numbness and the absence of feelings can be a cover for really big feelings your denying. For example, if you notice you have lots of feelings in your belly area and pelvic area but don't seem to notice much in your throat and chest, try just putting your attention more on the throat and chest area and just search these areas with your awareness more and more and see if something happens. Maybe you notice a little tension somewhere, which upon further concentration on it, becomes something bigger and an emotional release happens or some sort of shift. Something like this happened to me. I've often tried to focus my awareness on my belly and chest. But then realized I've never really focused on my throat and just treated it like "Well... why would I focus on my throat. Emotions and nothing important happens there. It's just physical." -- But then I did and noticed it felt all "congested" emotionally, and then I noticed I was able to speak and express a lot better. Good luck chuck

Also... Ya... it seems like maybe doing some psychological and trauma based work could help with the underlying stuff. There's tons of techniques and therapies out there. Everything from psychotherapy to psychedelics to breathwork, etc.. I'll let you research that. But here's a strategy that might help: Do daily practices, a weekly practice (maybe a day of fasting, quiet, or nature or something, or even a light psychedelic), and then a monthly or bi-monthly practice (perhaps a couple day retreat, larger psychedelic, etc.) ---- I got this from Jamie Wheal. He calls it Hedonic calendaring. another strategy I picked up from Zak Stein (you can look him up on yt etc... he was a student of Ken Wilber's, does work with guys like Jordan Hall, Daniel Schmachtenberger, etc.) is a triad framework when working with the psyche. He basically says that whenever you're working with the psyche, you have to work in these 3 areas... Development: Things like strength training, bio-hacking, learning skills, diet, etc. This part is more about developing yourself as a human; skills, biologically, discipline, habits, etc.. imbalance: if you get too attached to this one at the cost of the others, life can become superficial and meaningless as well as damaging to relationships, the environment, any spiritual connectino, and even one's psychological and emotional health. Ensoulment: Working with emotions, interpersonal and relationship work, Jungian stuff, dreams, IFS therapy, etc.. This part is all about facing and feeling the pain of the world/yourself, rather than running from it. imbalance: If you get to attached to this at the cost of the other areas, it can end up being an endless cycle of emotional healing and work. Transcendent: Meditation, spiritual practices, 'waking up' stuff, witnessing beauty, (comes in handy especially if the pain of the world and 'ensoulment' becomes too much and you need to take a break almost, so that you don't get stuck in nihilism, pain, and despair). This part is more about transcending the pain of the world, helping to not get bogged down in it and to still see the beauty, joy, and love of life even amongst the pain. imbalance: if you become too attached to this one then it can lead to spiritual bypassing, "spiritual psychopathy", and just not giving a shit about the world and relationships and just blissing out alone and perhaps even treating others like shit and saying "it's all love" etc..

Look, you gotta tell her how you genuinely feel. Otherwise, you'll be creating more hurt though the resentment that will slip out over the years and you'll both be miserable. By just getting it over with, you're saving both of you a ton more hurt that, though it may seem isn't as much as telling her the truth now, is more hurt since it's spread over many months and years. Also, people can handle stuff and can actually appreciate truth. Give her the respect of telling her she can handle stuff buy telling the truth. Perhaps also look more into why you don't want to tell her and investigate it more thoroughly. Don't forget to be compassionate and loving towards yourself and your needs as well. If she won't have sex due to trauma, I'd almost say maybe it's better for her to wait on being in a relationship and work on that instead. And it sounds you could use a lot more sex Sounds like just starting to do shit, create goals and accomplish them, may be a best route. Even if you're unsure if the goal is in line with your authentic values. Just try shit. experiment. Get out there and tackle the world sort of. Make a name for yourself. Just doing shit will give you feedback about what you want and don't want. Then maybe try revisiting figuring out your values more in depth. I did the LP course as well a few years ago and felt similarly. But now I revisited the values section and was quite amazed at how much more clearly I felt my values to be (after changing things around). Maybe start with the social and financial. Maybe get a job that could help you socially; like working with people you want to be around and that affords you the opportunity to socialize and work on that. Serving perhaps? You just do it. There's no "how". Don't distract and/or deceive yourself with thinking "I gotta figure out how to do it before doing it. Or else how can I do it?!" You just do it. How do you breath? You just do it. How do you be more honest? How do you be more authentic? How do you tell the truth about what you're thinking, feeling, and noticing? I'll let you figure that out. Good luck. Also... don't get to lost or put too much importance on all of this either. Just chilling is good as well. Not taking things, yourself, life too seriously. It's all ok.

I get the pricing issue. But also... people gotta feed themselves, pay rent, and yes, pay to have an enjoyable and not depleting lifestyle. I wouldn't want to see a therapist who's barely scratching away a living such that they are depleted and miserable. I'd want someone who's able to be there emotionally, which to me requires they be monetarily sufficient to live a lifestyle that's sane, enjoyable, and healthy (which is costly). But ya... life and survival is transactional I suppose. I mean, I think it's better than not having any. I've thought a bit about this and ya, maybe more government funding is better. OR funding from other sources. I think the issue you point out is probably a microcosm of a much larger issue or characteristic of how culture works, survival works, and just life itself. Got example, on a cultural level, it'd be interesting to see how other cultures dealt with mental health issues, or even how much of it they had (if it was a small amount, maybe they didn't need to have mental health professionals since maybe they had pieces of cultural and social-psychological-spiritual technologies that combated the mental health issues forming in the first place; like rituals, times of spiritual congregation, 4 day work weeks... who knows). You could also look at today's economic system and see how it differes from other cultures, and how it shapes our behaviors within it. As a way to see how it could be influencing this issue. Like, for example, I think many cultures have as an integral part of their structure a class or sect of spiritual people who would be taken care of by the society but who would sort of denounce themselves from taking part in culture as lay people would. Shamans, priests, monks, etc.. Maybe cultures, ours included, need this sort of class of people to act as psychological and social "doctors", guides, etc. since they have the advantage of being "outside of culture and not beholden to it yet they can also interact and help it along". Feedback and responses and ideas.

Perhaps... but Johnny V. and some of the people he talks with are some of the best you're going to get. An issue in determining "who's better" and not is probably that it's relative and we have no absolute reference point. So then it comes down mostly to unconscious and conscious biases and preferences which could co-opt our ability to be accurate judges of people. Though, I do also think that we have the ability to discern whether others are coming from a "higher" place, a more accurate, and sophisticated, and good faith position than others. Like, it's obvious to me, and I think many, that John Vervaeke is a more good faith and intelligent actor than say someone like Trump, even Ben Shapiro (perhaps not as obvious to some about Ben though). This is where I think the "it's all relative" statement can become foolish; when it no longer makes judgement calls, discerns between higher-lower, better-worse, etc..

Hard to pick one favorite. piano mixed with an orchestra.... still piano though.

I dunno... Couldn't hurt if you can afford it. Michael569 on the forum here works in the nutrition and physical health field and can offer consultations. I worked with him and he seems like he knows his stuff. You could also go to a naturopath. They sometimes offer chelation and seem to know more about it. On the other hand, I read some of those papers that Leo put on his chelation video and they were literally giving 30mg doses over long time periods to infants and really young children, which makes me think it's not as harmful as I thought before. Though, I'm no doctor, nor have I researched this stuff barely at all.. so even my ability to discern what studies say could be significantly impaired. Look up some stuff on forums and see what others' experiences are. Chat to doctors and naturopaths. --- I literally walked into a pharmacy and just asked the pharmacist what she thought about chelation. She thought it was pretty safe and no need to be overly concerned doing it yourself.

Sorry. Rule 42A says "People on the self-actualization and/or spiritual paths must abstain from any fiction books. Failure to do so will result in eternal damnation and hellfire."

Ya, probably mostly to just get you away from them and them feeling like not comfortable saying no and not wanting the hassle, etc.. Happened to me a couple weekends ago. Nothing personal. I get it. Some people just aren't comfortable saying "no" to someone's face... I can imagine many people aren't actually.

Cheers

Well, it's also not giving the freedom to choose who you desire to come. Sometimes that's a good and necessary and healthy thing as well. Obviously anything can be abused... But I think having that choice is better than not. Not everyone likes everyone else, and being forced to invite others you dislike, especially for legit reasons, is kinda... I dunno... bogus or something. Like, ya... I think a big misinterpretation of this philosophy of "everyone love everyone" and "everyone is connected and accepted" is that it means you can't say "no" to certain people (and this is especially true with those who've done not great things, or have difficult personality styles, and even just people you dislike; I don't think people should be forced to invite others they dislike). Anyhoo... blabbidy bla bla.

Maslow's hierarchy = I think a wise way to move about it. Get your physiological needs met: which implies some sort of income (whether governmental assistance or getting a job). Then social needs: social safety, belonging (which may take more psychological and interpersonal work/development/healing) Once established and have gained some sort of stability physically, emotionally, relationally, and have stayed there a while to be masterful at it and things aren't blowing up every several months, then developing the self-esteem needs, purpose, spiritual stuff, passion, and all of that type of stuff. Obviously not a strict hierarchy as life is chaotic and things can be done, and depending on the circumstances, should be done as needed: like even though you may not have your physiological needs met yet, say you're living on the street, you could probably benefit a lot from being able to work on self-esteem. This self-esteem work could even help you get a job and relationships which, according to Maslow's model, are lower on the hierarchy than self-esteem needs. Yet, even so, it could still help. Leads me to want to say that all things are highly contextual and moment-to-moment, though on the other hand, sometimes using larger heuristics can be wise and work well too (like Maslow's model).

Don't say gay bill... ? Kinda fucked up. Really? I'm sure there's many cultures who have multiple sexual orientations: native americans had something like that called "double-spirited", I know it's pretty accepted in Thailand and even some (at least one) pacific Island culture... I don't see how introducing different sexual orientations is bad... like... not saying it needs to be explained like you would to an adult. But you can just be like "Well... Jimmy likes other boys just like Mommy likes Daddy" or something... IF that issue came up. though, ideally I think that's a parental conversation rather than a teacher one... But still, if it came up and needed to be dealt with in a way that was showing kids it's ok to be and feel as they do and not make some feel wrong.

Totes... Daniel Ingram, the dude who wrote "Mastering the core teachings of the Buddha", is like, seems like anyways, a pretty advanced teacher, practitioner, and claims enlightenment, and has taught and done many retreats etc.. He says that he has friends with severe mental health issues, lives a mess, and have yet advanced significantly in waking up. likewise, he says he has a friend who is a legit psychopath with is quiet enlightened as well... So... seems like awakening is defs like a separate function of the body-mind etc., perception, than how that body-mind operates. It's like... awareness = indiscriminate: thus, w/e is in the awareness (including the opereations of the bodymind, biology, morality, etc., can be w/e and indiscriminate as well.

Spiral Dynamics: Probably it's simplicity. Meaning that, though it may track something in reality (i.e. values), I don't think and doubt that it tracks and is able to capture a lot of what's happening in culture and within individuals. Like I just think there's a lot more going on. For example, what about...; sub-personality models of the psyche, waking up, psychodynamics, transpersonal psychology, personality theories (MBTI, Enneagram, Objective Personality), jungian archetypal psychology and shadow, dreams, cognitive psychology, many social theories, and I'm sure many other ways (John Verveake and Gregg Henriques' work on the psyche is quite complex and interesting). Obviously methods: I've heard it's been tested elsewhere and cross-culturally (I remembering hearing Leo mention this). I haven't seen those studies, but the original studies were done to a cohort of Clare Graves' psychology students... so you get the issue of sampling biases and errors. Seeing other models: Seeing other models of psychology helped me see how it's not that simple and more is happening, leading me to believe and see SD as being a bit too partial to be used only by itself without using many other models n stuff to capture the reality of a group or person. I think Bonnitta Roy's model of the self (she discusses it on the stoa-- ) is a good example of how much more could be happening, as well as not just the testing n stuff, but the very philosophical ways of thinking which these theories were brought up in could cause biases n stuff. Starting from the previous point I made, the idea that much, or all, of developmental psychology came from a European perspective. I'm not saying development doesn't occur, or they aren't tracking stuff in reality rather than seeing their philosophies projected outwardly, but that it's worth considering when evaluating the truthfulness of a model since it lends one to be open and consider the possibilities for biases, blind spots, assumptions, etc.. Ego Development: Much of the same to be honest: The Euro-centric critique (again, not saying it's a model-destroyer, just that "hey, look, it's a thing and worth being cognizant of cuz maybe some shit gets sorted out we aren't aware of). Methods: they used sentence completion tests to do their data collection (as far as I know), and I dunno how accurate you can get with those and not to mention how much interpretation is done which obviously can be messy... but ya. just that it's probably not fool-proof. So keep that in mind I suppose. At the end of it and currently, I mostly see SD, and perhaps even Susan-Cook's model (though this one seems a bit more nuanced and complex) as almost more like I used to see the original MBTI or horoscopes in a way... quaint little heauristic models that may be too simple to be that accurate... I mean, they are fun n stuff... But I duno if they do reality justice. Maybe they still useful... sure, ya, but like just talking with people it seems people are more complex.

After studying these few theories a bit over the years, I eventually got to the point where I became more interested to see how they were constructed and developed and looked into the methods in which the theories were created in order to get a better understanding and idea about how these theories work and make sense. Therefore I could see what assumptions and possible areas for misconceptions, inaccuracies, and falsities could lie. I definitely didn't do a huge amount of research, not nearly enough probably to get a great hold of it. But just enough to be like "Well... maybe it's useful for certain things... but like it's not the whole story". I think this gave me a more realistic and grounded frame in which to view these theories, and now I think I hold them with a lot more skepticism and lightness. Almost more like seeing through them as just another "fake" model etc.. Also seeing criticisms of the models helps too. At the very least it allows you to hold them less tightly, thus enabling you to use other lenses.