Carl-Richard

I would expect a long list if it what you're saying is truly the case.

That's it? Two people?

What are your examples of great and serious intellectuals, psychologists, philosophers?

I went for an evening walk some days ago and felt like truly laying down my defenses and experience my authentic self at that moment. What I felt as my heart opened up was a flood of memories and moods from a very specific time of my life, before I was a teenager, and along with it a feeling of emotional vulnerability and the need for intimacy. Then last night, I watched this video of Ken Wilber talking about shadows and explaining them through an evolutionary lens that I've previously not seen the full implications of: He talked about how all evolution follows the motions of "transcend and include", and that either one of those can get out of order (you can either transcend too much and forget to include, or vice versa). If you transcend too fast without properly including earlier aspects of yourself, you'll split off that part of yourself as an unconscious sub-personality, which will actually have that age of when it split off. So then it clicked, that what I experienced that evening as I peeled back my defenses, was that former piece of myself that I had split off: the emotionally vulnerable part of myself that desired personal connection and intimacy. It was visceral, as I literally felt like I wanted to hug and hold someone, and again, as a rather young version of myself, around the time I actually had girlfriends. Then I started thinking about why I split it off. Then I started thinking about how I've been trying to integrate what I call "Red Andrew Tate energy", which I also know I've been repressing, but not in the same way (it goes much deeper). Was maybe my path to asserting my need for vulnerability through exactly that — assertiveness? How counterintuitive is that? Maybe I was always too vulnerable and too lacking in assertiveness, and the defense mechanism was to close it off and hide it away, rather than letting it flow outwards ("internalizing" instead of "externalizing"; a classic pattern for me). So then, my path of integrating the shadow (my understanding of it and how it has been shaping my life), has become even more clear: I have to develop my assertiveness in order to regain my vulnerability. It's almost paradoxical, but it makes the most sense that way.

The Infinite Gods video seemed completely redundant to me, so I guess yes?

He is not on the street begging for cash is what I meant.

Do you think he is talking to you — a 4-digit poster on his forum — or a stray YouTube surfer who just finished five bong rips?

@RMQualtrough That is probably a jab at me Well, if you view my my latest post in context with earlier discussions on the same topics, you can view it as a tacit critique of him being maybe too individualistic with how he uses language. Maybe it's not such a good thing to use words like "awakening", "intelligence", "love" or "solipsism" to convey the type of insights he is talking about.

You just have to unpack what those things mean. Being a self-actualized entrepreneur who has transcended survival needs, who is interested in existence, who is not particularly invested in any social games, AND has taken hundreds of trips of the strongest class of psychedelics known to man? That is probably very unique, and all of those things feed directly into what he means by awakening, likewise with intelligence. It sounds arrogant on the surface if you project your own definitions of those words, but it's actually too humble imo.

I think he said he doesn't care about the distinction, exactly because his idea of intelligence is so different from how people usually define it.

Your concept of intelligence is quite idiosyncratic though, so that might actually be a conservative estimate ;D

Justin Bieber - Baby

This is called spiritual bypassing and is very dangerous if you do it the other way around ("these people don't exist, therefore I can do x to them"). Using spiritual beliefs as an emotional safety net should be avoided. Just do spiritual practices, contemplate why your mind reacts the way it does, and feel your emotions. If you feel embarrassed, then that is what you feel. Learn to expect feeling embarrassed and be ok with feeling that emotion.

??

Genetic freak = a lot of spiritual practice in past lives. Nothing strange about it

Oh hello there ? Hmmm... maybe. I found this thing which is very interesting (and using it makes me feel like an ethnonationalist for some reason lol) http://humanphenotypes.net/map/map.html If you look at Strandid vs. Hallstatt, it looks like my theory holds up (Norwegians are generally darker on the West coast). http://humanphenotypes.net/Strandid.html http://humanphenotypes.net/Hallstatt.html

? Well, it's compensation for my receding hairline

I actually have blue eyes. Fuck it, I'll just post a picture. I cba posing for pictures so I'll post one of my gym thoughts ? This was just before summer at my most whitest

Vai Freaking Out in a Zappa kind of way

Ah, so the trap is thinking getting derailed by survival pressures, emotions, desires, egoic drives and the like? Yes, you can probably solve a great deal of that, but some of it you just have to live with if you want to exist as a human.

Pan fried chicken breast (shredded or tenderized) with salt, pepper, whatever oil you like and pickled jalapeños (and a splash of vinegar from the jar). Boiled small potatoes. After they're cooked, remove the water and slice each potato in half, add olive oil, paprika powder, garlic powder, oregano and salt. Mix it together by shaking the pot. Or just have rice instead. Pan fried frozen vegetables (like broccoli, carrot and cauliflower, with salt and olive oil; or just green beans), or an easy salad (use any type of leafy greens, add tomatoes, salt and pepper, olive oil, balsamico vinegar and pine nuts). Optional: some sauce or dip (but I don't know anything that fits your list).

How does one avoid falling in the conceptual trap?

This is the same as saying "if you don't become addicted, you don't become addicted". The problem is that most people underestimate how unhealthy they are (especially what hidden trauma and neuroses they have), and even if everything looks great for a while, all it takes is one stressing life event (breakup, death of a family member, losing your job, etc.) and your first escape will be into the drug habit, and then the downward spiral begins. It's a downward spiral because drugs (the hedonic ones at least) have an inherent fragility-inducing effect on your system, and when that becomes your main coping mechanism (or your only coping mechanism), it only goes one way; down. Then the only thing that can save you is reaching a threshold of suffering that makes you drop the drug habit and return to more vital coping strategies, and for some addictions, this often implies losing almost everything you have, including your life ("rock-bottom theory"). Steve-O is an example of this. You see, what you call a healthy lifestyle is just the amount of vital coping strategies you have (friends, family, daily habits, hobbies, life purpose, diet, healthcare system, etc.). If all you care about is keeping your head above water, you can probably afford something like a drug habit, but again, only for a while, because if you lose enough of your other strategies, you're risking everything you've got. I just heard from my friend that our roommate from last year have taken up heroin after his girlfriend broke up with him. Only one year ago, he was working a job, smoking weed, did a few trips, listened to Sadhguru. He took a break off work due to anxiety issues, and that is when the downhill spiral started. He probably had some actual trauma and personality issues as well (he struck me as ADHD, disorganized, neurotic, a bit emotionally needy). Similarly, when my friend and his girlfriend broke up (and his home country of Ukraine was invaded), he massively increased his weed intake and almost jeopardized his degree. I don't need to tell you my story.

I mean what is your idea of non-stupidity?

What is not stupid then?