Carl-Richard

You might also think that if you're less smart than most people, then you'll be constantly reminded about it when you're around most people. But on the other hand, the person who is smarter than most people might think "ugh, why am I here among all these stupid people? I'm wasting my time". So the mind can always find a way to criticize itself despite the circumstances. The mind can't help itself but want to expand, often in less fortunate ways. You can help that desire to expand through things like meditation. Then your mind will be so expanded that it can't help but to shut up. But of course, you shouldn't neglect the impulse to expand in the realm of wordly self esteem either. Do improve on yourself in ways you find conducive to building a healthy self in the world. It's not an either/or game.

I made a thought experiment in another thread that can give insight into this: There is also the phenomena of always comparing yourself to somebody who you perceive as being superior to yourself. Even Einstein could possibly have compared himself to some other great physicist which he admired and which he perceived as superior to himself. Even if Einstein is considered by most people as the "best" physicist, he might not perceive it that way (besides, most people are less intelligent than Einstein, so why should he care about their opinion? They're most likely wrong anyway). Likewise, even if you have a higher IQ than most people, and these people think you're a "smart person", you might aspire to be like somebody greater than yourself, and by comparison, you would not consider yourself a smart person. Then you might ask "but if you compare yourself to those who are less smart than you, then you're actually smart". Yes, but nobody does that. Nobody bases their self esteem on that (except people who get high on their own farts). You don't compare yourself to a 5th grader to make yourself feel better about your intelligence. Try it. So yeah, there are many ways to have low self esteem even if you're smarter than most people.

Having a high IQ doesn't necessarily stop you from having low self esteem, even specifically about your IQ.

*sips coke*

I think when I see a fat person, the only thing my mind reliably goes to is "this person probably doesn't eat too little food"

I should probably just take something for the placebo anyway. SSRIs are only 2% more effective than placebo pills.

But then, if the outside is truly a reflection of the inside, what does that look like on the outside? 🤔

You shouldn't be. You were inaccurate in your language, people responded, and then you clarified your statement. It's quite understandable.

What does that mean?

Or just say "it might mean" instead of "it means". There are many reasons for being fat. One possibility could be that they're just not concerned about health and have unhealthy habits. I'm someone who is concerned about health and have healthy habits, but I don't have to exert much self-control to maintain my habits. They're habits — they're generally the default response. Of course, a donut is at some level inherently tempting, and even I might sometimes feel an impulse to eat one if I see one, but people underestimate how much your impulses are dictated by habits. In the last few years, I haven't eaten anything sweet despite seeing it front of me so many times (except when I was essentially forced by my grandmother 😂), so I haven't reinforced that type of stimulus-response. For me, the stimulus-response of seeing something sweet and eating it is just not there to the same extent. On the other hand, what requires a lot of self-control is to break your habits and establish new ones, but once they're established, sticking to them becomes easy.

What if they're fat but also a straight A student?

😂

How long did you take them for?

There is a song called "Karma" by Swedish progressive Death Metal band "Opeth"

Solipsism can certainly have something to do with the egoic self. There are many different types of solipsism. You just have to clarify which type of solipsism you're talking about. The Absolute type of solipsism this forum is so obsessed about is actually an extremely uncommon type of solipsism in the larger culture, which is why people get so confused when the term is brought up.

😂

22% is not rare imo. My brother and my mom also gets it.

Man, how does the world not go to complete shit when so many people get Covid and so many people get brain fog for about a month?

Please clean up your grammar.

Different teachers teach using different methods (and teach different methods). Find some other teachers and see if they resonate more with you.

@UnbornTao So what I gather from this conversation (which we've had before and which I don't think will lead to an agreement) is: I think there are methods for reliably increasing the chances of enlightenment, just like all the religious traditions that span back 15000 years, just like all the New Age spiritual teachers who are not Neo-Advaitans (Sadhguru, Rupert Spira, etc.). You think there aren't. You point to the spontaneous and irreducible nature of the realization and argue against the utility of methods, because it's all inherently uncertain, thus we cannot rely on methods. I can understand the impulse of acknowledging the spontaneity or irreducible complexity associated with the realization, but uncertainty does not mean impossibility; it still allows for probability (and distinguishing between different probabilities). In other words, the uncertainty is not the whole story, and fixating on it is no good. Also, while the realization itself is "absolute", there is a relative side to it as well, and treating the realization as only absolute is therefore an unfortunate conflation. If enlightenment was purely absolute, nobody in their right mind would talk to humans in the relative realm trying to wake them up. "What do you mean enlightenment? If it's absolute, then surely I must already be enlightened, right? What must change for that to happen, and what is change but relativity?" As long as we are here as humans, we're using methods, and some are probably better than others.

Meditate at least 1 hour in each sitting, at least once every day.

Become a moderator.

I'm not having weed withdrawals 😂