Understanding Survival - Part 1 - The Metaphysics Of Being Human

[possibilities]

Understanding Survival - Part 1 - The Metaphysics Of Being Human

Just listened to it.

I thought Leo did a good job. 

Thus self actualisation is merely a euphemism for optimising ones survival.

Pretty tired at the moment, listened to it while dozing off but I I understand it of course, every action, choice and preference within ourselves can be traced back to the desire of some aspect of ourselves wishing to survive, even if its to the destruction of our physical body based on sacrificing our life for somebody else. In that moment, we wanted to keep the idea alive that, for example, we should sacrifice ourselves for the highest good.

Anyone else have any thoughts on it?

Just starting to wake up my mind now.

[Rilles]

The survival of the mental and identity is such a rabbit hole, way deeper than the physical. Gonna be interesting to see that in myself deeper in the future. 

[Anderz]

Interesting take on survival in Leo's presentation. I hope part 2 will be about how to transcend the survival drive entirely. What in my life is not about survival? The only thing I can come up with at the moment is: my consciousness! When consciousness means the state of being aware, not the content.

Edited May 26, 2019 by Anderz

[Epiphany_Inspired]

@possibilities @Leo GuraSurvival Questions:

#1. When taking important risks to excel personal evolution, this often increases survival drive, how does one keep this in check?

I recently took some big risks to transform my life... This involved major housing/ stability/ etc... Like Leo said, I prefer the results, to the process... I don't want the stagnancy of a risk-less life, but the "survival overdrive" which often occurs seem like a regression... ideas?

#2. Finances and their role: Does being at the "upper survival level" help facilitate one's development potential? Does financial security (for the most part) create more stagnancy, or does it help to eliminate some of the time consuming challenges associated with more basic survival? Or, are finances either irrelevant, or helpful/ hindering depending on one's awareness level?

#3. The basic drudgery of survival: How do you figure out what to eliminate?

Breathing/ drinking water are necessary. Of all of the other things that we do daily, can we sift through them, (like weeding out negative habits)? 

#4. "Healthy Survival": Does this exist? Is it a spectrum?

For example: The chop wood carry water paradigm can be helpful to personal development, right? ....

#5. Facing your own death... What are the top 3 ways to do this *daily*?

[Anderz]

Haha! Now I came to realize an incredible fact. How can we survive in the future? The answer is: we can't! Why? Because we will never live in the future. This requires a direct look at what the future actually is.

[TheAvatarState]

We are all mechanical chimps, and no one is getting out alive. The egoic "we" that is. It turns out that our true nature is something else entirely. I believe we are meant to transcend survival needs. Survival dictates everything we think we are, while it has no bearing on who we actually are. It's a temporary illusion, a facade. 

Did you know that worrying about survival actually makes us dumber and less rational? Someone worried about their next rent bill is scientifically proven to lower their IQ by 13 points, or 1 standard deviation. Just some food for thought. 

[Anderz]

I forgot to explain what the future actually is. The future is information in the now. We survive in the now, not in the future, not even a second from now. It's a real mind twister.

[possibilities]

It's very easy from a mechanical sense to get past various drives.

It's virtually impossible if you don't understand the ways in which the strings are being pulled.

So just seek to diagram, relate between things and understand yourself while improving your capacity to concentrate and organise the elements within and outside of ones mind and you'll gradually get better and better at defining and following the context of your survival.

You can't escape parts of yourself wanting to survive, from a very abstract sense, without this necessity zero % of you would exist. Thus existence is predicated on the desire to survive (again from a very abstract sense), consciously used intelligence is the means by which we can facilitate the reorganisation of those pieces of existence (and therefore ourselves) to higher ends.

Peace out

Edited May 27, 2019 by possibilities

[Emiliano]

What in my life is not about survival? Maybe nothing. But I can guess of what it is. It's basically giving without expecting anything in return (Money, sex, recognition,fame,etc). It's an act of pure love.

 

[possibilities]

I hope the following helps others, please feel free to discuss as reflectively as you can. All the best:

In the context of at least some aspects of us possessing the desire (see previous comments) to survive, we’re all victims, however in the context of our survivability victimhood is optional relative to our awareness of circumstances that contradict our capacity to survive.

In so saying as much we’re a victim in as much as we’re unaware of what’s happening in any moment, aspect, interaction or experience. Thus victimhood here literally just means lack of awareness. Awareness begets knowledge, knowledge begets reformation, reformation begets the means of discovering purposeful action. The origin of purposeful action is awareness, in particular, informational awareness. This term is used to replace the idea of self awareness in an effort to remove this false single object and tend to the multiple competing objects that contribute to this sense of sentience. Informational awareness is strongly positively correlated with the layers of instructed meaning placed on individual action, and in doing so, it’s re-configurement to more defined and competitive (with respect to competing influences) ends. Thus self aware definitions (self pertains to the abstractions not self aware consciousness, the latter connotation I’ve as noted excluded from observation here) are proportional to the amount of purposeful action and in doing so, strategic action. In this light, strategic action is evidence of and proportional to informational awareness. 

The balance between predefinition and foresight is therefore the name of the game here. 

You’ve read the manual to life and now you’re with pin point precision (or just to your limits) manoeuvring yourself between those limits that you’ve so carefully defined. 

This is the only position by which freedom exists, the exacting definition and operation within the limits of the rules of reality. Rules beget strategy to operate best within, hence why the lack of recognising limits is proportional to either poor strategy or no strategy at all, and the incapacity to formulate strategies that mitigate harm are proportional to the level of trauma that someone will experience and in doing so, the likelihood they will become a victim to the forces of life. Physically and syntactically it’s inevitable, psychologically however it depends on someone’s unconscious strategies (i.e. various kinds of brainwashing they may have) in terms of how they respond to loss, harm and or suffering.

What are some of our limits? The following is a brief attempt at describing such and as a result, something that can instruct freedom within those limits. 

Otherwise Leo made mention how there is no such thing as freedom but I disagree, in the literal sense absolutely, however with respect to the consequences of understanding and strategy therein our freedom is proportional. Thus freedom is proportional to informational awareness because based on the above it’s proportional to freedom of action, the origins of which, as noted, are based on the ability to accurately determine constraints and the means of maximising operation within them.

Here is that brief list:

1. We need to learn about cognitive biases 

2. We need to seek an understanding of our past and build a narrative of the future for ourselves otherwise it’s direction will be impure

3. We need to ask ourselves who we are, define our values and desires that are truly our own and not someone else’s

4. We need to seek to investigate and understand our environment from both a past and future context

5. We need to define our social environment and move closer to those that better relate to our values otherwise others we’ll be unintentionally misdirected by others

6. Etc

7. Etc

Feel free to add to this list at your discretion.

Edited May 27, 2019 by possibilities

[Epiphany_Inspired]

@possibilities Your guide is wonderful. I will shine my greater awareness on the survival mechanisms... and I love the step by step guide, It's actually just what I needed to see. I am copying it now to send to myself for regular review. Sending genuine gratitude