Posts by Benjamin Taylor6

Michael Anderson2 said:If a person—that "Self" you’re talking about—actually wanted to weigh what’s better versus what’s worse, they’d first need to understand who they actually are and where they’re headed. Only then could they make an assessment.

Do you even know who you are, where you're going, or what constitutes "better" or "worse" in that context?

You can say whatever you want. You can rationalize it, fantasize, or live in denial, but reality is what it is. It cannot be anything else. You can't run from the truth; it’s a plain fact that most people simply fail to grasp.

Whatever exists, exists by necessity. It couldn't be any other way. There is no escaping it, regardless of what you do, what you decide, or where you go. What is, is necessary. Period.

Look, some things don't require a deep dive into philosophy. Everything eventually reaches its end—it's just how life works—and there isn't much we can do to nudge it along. Usually, when you're on that path, the "better" way becomes obvious pretty quickly. Plus, we pick up most of our lessons from the people right next to us.

As for who "I" am?? Well, that's a whole different rabbit hole entirely:

Quinn:

Whatever exists, it must exist; it cannot be any other way. There is no escaping it, regardless of what you do, what you decide, or where you wander. What is, is necessary, and that's that.

By that logic, it was "necessary" for Hitler to murder millions of people in concentration camps!

And it was equally "necessary" for others to step in and stop him.

rustymaker5 said:Heh, basically the exact opposite, huh? 😁 ...I suppose it comes down to experience—how we choose to process those experiences and how we carry them with us.

The reality is that we have to live life moving forward, while we can only ever analyze it looking backward, which makes it easy to spot all those cause-and-effect chains that led us to where we are right now... the real question is just how much of our own role in everything we've endured we are actually willing to admit...

It isn't about these mental religious projections, but rather just common sense where you reap what you sow in the sense that good is returned for good, evil for evil, and so on.

As for emotions, I have to wonder what kind of "real benefit" we're talking about and for whom, because it certainly can't be the same for everyone involved, and I don't see what basis anyone would have to claim rights that end up denying those same rights to others...🤷

Was this just a case of sudden, reckless karma hitting me:

Or was it just pure statistics? Though, if we're counting, it's 1 : 2000 in favor of karma. 😁

Not exactly a win. I took a few days of sick leave so I could get prepared and set sail when the weather was actually decent. I spent the day before testing the engine, planning to head out tomorrow. But the second I turned the key, everything went sideways: only one cylinder is firing. I tried every repair under the sun, but nothing works—it’s still running at half power. Naturally, I had to scrap the trip. All that prep work and taking the time off for nothing. It makes you wonder, though—how does a breakdown happen completely out of the blue when everything has been running perfectly for a year and a half? What are the mathematical odds of a failure happening on *that* specific day? Religious folks will say God is punishing me because I used sick leave for personal business. New Age types will tell me it's karmic retribution for the same reasons. And atheists? They'll tell me I'm overthinking it because crap happens every single day.

Michael Anderson2 said:Better? Why exactly is it better? For whom? For what purpose? And from whose perspective are we looking at this?

It is what it is—there’s really no way around it. You can't change the hand you're dealt, and there isn't much anyone can do to step in and fix things. At some point, you just have to accept it and move on. That's just how it goes.

Whatever happens, happens—it’s just the way things go. If you end up drowning in fish, then you've drowned in fish. That’s just reality.

Exactly. It’s just the way things are—and honestly, they have to be. If you decide to step up, then you’ve made your choice. If you don't, you haven't. It’s that simple. Everything unfolds exactly as it’s meant to, and there isn't any other way for it to go. It happens how it happens, and you can't change that reality.

From the perspective of the "I" that exists inside us.
Still, for our "I," it's certainly better to have some sexy girl manicuring her nails than to have someone from Al-Qaeda doing it with red-hot needles. 😲 😲 😁 😲 😲

Quinn:

It’s just how things go—it’s inevitable, really. You can't fight it, you can't influence it, there’s no point in trying to steer the ship once the storm hits. You just have to accept it and move on. Whatever happens, happens. If you end up drowning in the middle of the Atlantic, well, you're underwater—that's just the reality of the situation. It is what it is. Exactly. That’s the whole point. It’s just how it goes, and honestly, how it has to be. If you make a move, you made a move—period. If you sit on your hands, then you didn't act—simple as that. Everything unfolds exactly as it does, and everything is destined to happen exactly this way. There isn't some other path we could have taken; life follows its own course, and frankly, there's nothing you can do to change the fundamental nature of things.

Since none of us have a crystal ball to see what's coming next, our only real option is to take what we know and act in a way that serves our best interests and helps our community.
In the grand scheme of things, though, fate is pretty much set in stone regardless of whether we step up or stay out of the way. We meet our destiny whether we participate or not.

Michael Anderson2 said:Honestly, you can do whatever you want—it doesn't matter. You could be splitting firewood, piloting a space shuttle, winning an Olympic gold, or just sitting in front of the TV your whole life. You could be the Pope or a drifter; it’s all the same. You can be miserable, happy, or just plain crappy. You can be pure, you can enjoy yourself, or you can suffer. It doesn't change anything. Everything happens exactly as it has to—damn it—and there's absolutely nothing you can do to change that...

Honestly, if you ask me, there’s really no contest—it’s much better to be clean, happy, wealthy, attractive, and young. I mean, think about it. It beats being a complete fool, looking rough, living hand-to-mouth, feeling old, and dealing with constant health issues. Life is just... easier that way. Why would anyone choose the alternative? It’s common sense, really. 😲😁
There are certain things in this life where we can actually exert our own will—where we can grab the wheel and steer ourselves toward a specific outcome—and then there are other things that are just completely beyond our control, no matter how much we fight them. It’s one of those fundamental, frustrating realities of being alive. You can work your tail off, pour every ounce of energy into a goal, and still find yourself staring at a brick wall because some external force decided otherwise. It’s like trying to stop the tide with a plastic shovel. Some stuff is up to us, sure, but a lot of it? Not so much.

My late father used to have this one way of putting things—I can still hear him saying it—it was always something like, "We went out fishing all day and didn't catch a single thing." Just a simple, blunt truth, I suppose.
Look, let’s try to keep some perspective here—let's actually find something to be happy about. I mean, we could have been dealing with much worse. We could have caught a massive sea spider and let it sting us, just dancing around the boat in sheer agony. Or, better yet, the engine could have died on us entirely, leaving us to row for three hours straight. It reminds me of this one engineering student I knew back in the day—about twenty years ago, long before everyone had a smartphone glued to their hand. This poor kid ended up rowing for five hours because his diesel engine ran out of fuel and sucked in air. He actually had a spare gas can and a full set of wrenches with him, but the poor guy didn't realize he needed to loosen a specific part to prime the system manually. He knew *something* had to be done—he could feel it in his gut—but he had absolutely no clue about the actual sequence of events. Just total chaos.
And that right there—that pure, unadulterated ignorance—is exactly what cost him his physique. It’s frustrating, really. You see people walking into a gym like they own the place, thinking they can just wing it without understanding the basic mechanics of training, and then they wonder why they aren't seeing results after six months of grinding. I remember back when I first started hitting the weights in Chicago—I thought I knew everything too, just charging in blindly—and man, did my body pay the price for that ego. But this guy? He didn't even have the sense to check the fundamentals. It’s one thing to work hard, but if you're working hard in the wrong direction, you're basically just spinning your wheels. It's a waste of time, a waste of effort, and honestly, it's just painful to watch. 😁

steelmarlin77 said:Enlightenment is basically realizing there’s absolutely nothing to it, yet somehow, it’s everything. Once you wrap your head around that, we’re all enlightened, so why am I even still typing? Let's just lock this thread. Honestly, why do some people even feel the need for God? People are inherently unfair, aren't they? They spend their whole lives bickering over trivial nonsense—who’s got more, who’s got less, who’s winning at life. It feels like people cling to the idea of God because they want someone to step in and actually distribute things fairly, and apparently, that’s a job only God can handle. But what happens when two different versions of God clash? Which one is supposedly the "fair" one? It’s a total mess. If I’m out here doing something in the name of my God, and someone else jumps in with their own version of God to tell me I’m being unjust, isn't that really just both of us acting on our own whims? Who the hell knows what God is actually thinking, assuming there even is a God? Why bother making everything so damn complicated if the world is fundamentally broken? Maybe that’s just how it works—maybe the injustice itself is part of the design.

If you see an injustice, you have a responsibility to try and set things right. Honestly, God isn't going to step in and fix it for you—that’s just not how it works. The real question is whether you’re going to take a stand through a hunger strike, or if you'll opt for a different approach altogether. For instance, something like this:

Michael Anderson2 said:I can tell you just one thing, and maybe it'll offer some comfort: we're all in the exact same boat as you. Some people are just better at lying to themselves about it than others... 😉

There's nothing left to achieve, nowhere left to go. That's just how it is—everything is exactly as it must be.

So, just try to find joy in the tiny, insignificant things. You know, like "I'm chopping wood, I'm hauling water from the well—oh, how wonderful, oh, how marvelous." 😁

Just cling to that Zen proverb: "Live through this life without leaving a single trace."

Lawrence Torres56 said:Honestly, this just screams "son vs. wife vs. mother" to me.😁
The wife wants her husband, the mom wants her son, and the guy ends up stuck right in the middle, trying to please everyone and failing miserably.
Trying to "triage" your way out of that disaster is a complete joke; it’s just going to lead to the same old bullshit, just wrapped up in different shiny packaging.😁
It’d be a lot better if people just stopped whining and started actually living the lives they chose for themselves. Just be a husband, be a son—stop being such a coward and trying to sit on two chairs at once, if you catch my drift.

An artist of life—that’s someone who actually figures out how to claim his throne, where his mother and his wife are there to serve him. It sounds heavy-handed, I know, but there's a certain philosophy to it—a way of existing where you aren't just drifting through the chaos, but actually commanding your own space. It’s about that specific kind of domestic order—though, god, some might call that outdated—where the center of gravity is clearly defined. I was reading something similar once in an old biography about a classic American statesman, and it hit me—it isn't just about ego; it's about finding a position of stability in a world that's constantly trying to pull you off balance. Some people would argue that's a bit much, but if you don't establish your own sovereignty, who will? 😁

steelmarlin77 said:I’d go a step further and say I’ve actually landed on the idea that anger isn't necessarily some kind of bad thing. Every religion out there tells you it is, though. In Christianity, they label "wrath" as a mortal sin, grouping it right up there with sloth, gluttony, and greed. In our society, we treat being angry like it's just as anti-social as being a parasite, being lazy, or being arrogant. But honestly, if you don't have a little rage in you, how are you supposed to change anything—not just to make things better, but to move forward at all? If you’re always perfectly fine with how things are, if you’re just perpetually indifferent, doesn't that sting in its own way? Isn't that also a kind of sin? You look at our icons, the ones people study in school, and they’re either writing sweet little poems like Dobriša Cesarić or they've turned into total fossils like Krleža, or they’re clinging to old-school traditional values like Mile budak. But you aren't going to find the ones who actually talk about fury or resistance. Instead, we get people focused on defeat and shame, like Kovačić with his "In the Registry." We’ve become a nation of spineless people—folks who have nothing but a spine meant for bending, lacking the actual brainpower to use that spine to steer ourselves toward something meaningful. I'm not preaching nihilism here, I'm just pointing out that sometimes you have to tear down what's rotten if you ever want to actually progress.

It starts with pure, unadulterated rage—just being absolutely livid at certain situations or specific people. You hit that wall where you realize there’s no way out, no escape route, and no way to actually change the damn thing... and that’s when the shift happens. You stop shouting. Instead, you settle into this sort of biting irony. Sometimes, if you're feeling particularly sharp, it turns into full-blown sarcasm. It’s almost a defense mechanism, really—a way to cope when you realize you're just stuck dealing with the chaos.

Sandra Morales said:👍
You analyzed that quite well again. 🙂 Are you a surgeon by any chance? 😁

I'm not. I have this job:
I was browsing through some industrial catalogs earlier—just one of those deep dives you fall into when you can't sleep—and I stumbled upon this specific listing for industrial equipment. It’s one of those things that looks incredibly straightforward on paper, yet if you actually try to implement it in a high-stakes environment, you realize how much nuance goes into the selection process. It reminds me of a situation back when I was working a contract over in Chicago—we thought we had the perfect logistical setup, only to realize the hardware wasn't rated for the actual load we were pulling. We spent three days troubleshooting what should have been a five-minute fix. Anyway, looking at this spec sheet, there's a lot of technical density here that people tend to gloss over. You can't just click "add to cart" and assume your workflow is sorted. There are variables in efficiency and durability that aren't immediately obvious unless you're really digging into the mechanics of it. It's easy to get caught up in the flashy marketing, but the real work happens in the fine print.

I have this knack—this almost compulsive habit, really—for spotting every single thing that veers off course from what’s expected or strictly follows the rules. It’s like my brain is wired to flag anything that deviates from the established norm. Honestly, it can be exhausting sometimes... I'll be sitting there, minding my own business, and suddenly I'm hyper-aware of every minor irregularity or outlier that breaks the pattern. It’s just how I am. 😁

steelmarlin77 said:That's all pretty abstract, though. But how do you handle a concrete mess? Like, say, you love two different people, but they absolutely loathe each other, and both of them are giving you an ultimatum: ditch the other one or lose me forever. I'm telling you, that's a real-world problem that can only be solved by triage. You have to pick who matters more and cut the other one loose, no matter how much it sucks. How would you handle that "shoulder to shoulder" thing with life in that scenario? You could also just do nothing, let them both dump you and tear each other apart, or just ditch both of them right now and go find a third option. It seems to me that for these kinds of inevitable, recurring headaches, you really need thick skin. And I see these thick-skinned types all over the place—people who delegate their problems, dodge their debts, act cold toward anyone in need, cause chaos, steal, climb the corporate ladder, and just thrive... Did life reward them with that thick skin because it just doesn't care about anyone else? In a specific case like that, do you think you should be a pacifist and let nature take its course, or should someone like that get a little "rubbed the wrong way" so their skin thins out and they actually start paying attention to others next time? I don't think it's always wrong to push back; if people acted with a bit more backbone, maybe we wouldn't run into these endless, unsolvable conflicts all the time. Because, truthfully, these impossible situations fuel the thick-skinned people, and those people, in turn, fuel the situations. It's a feedback loop.

So, it sounds like your biggest headache is basically your mother and your lovely wife.😁

bluemason3 said:First, you take some wheat and mix it with energized water and Himalayan yeast to bake a loaf of bread right under the sun. Once that bread is ready, you place it at the center of a Mother Earth labyrinth, specifically carved out on an energy ley line. Then, you bring over an animal that matches your inner totem to eat it. That’s how you clear any karmic baggage tied to whatever intention was set during ejaculation.

Now I just need a cat to help me avoid self-sabotaging my life. 🙂

It sounds like you're totally messing with my friend, that labyrinth walker guy. He lives on raw food and drinks nothing but energized water. But get this—he refuses to undergo prostate surgery because, according to the statistics he follows, half of the men who have the procedure lose their ability to ejaculate entirely.
He’d honestly rather die of cancer than lose his "pumping" capability. Mind you, the man is 58 years old...😁

Susan Price30 said:yes, why? 😁

* because for the (pagan) rich man in the parable, money clearly got in the way of much more important things?

* because for the (pagan) rich man in the parable, wealth is the center of his life, thereby occupying God's place.

* because (for the rich man in the parable) wealth creates a distorted relationship with material goods—things like recklessness, greed, self-reliance, and so on.

Generally speaking, it's because

* it isn't wise to prioritize financial success.

Quincy:

No one can serve two masters. Either they will hate one and love the other, or they will hold to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Mammon. (Matthew 6:24)

(what does the English word Mammon actually mean? well... Christian theologians claim Jesus is actually naming a demon in cases where such people are truly being controlled. does the word money derive from it? possibly).

In general, while it isn't impossible, it is difficult for the wealthy to enter God's kingdom.

(again, the point is about trust—about priorities. plus motivation—why do they want money and for whom or what.

* and because the love of money leads to Evil.

* and because human satisfaction is not tied to the amount of money or the size of the fortune one possesses (but rather to their spiritual state and relationship with God).

* because a person's interests lie wherever they invest their money. (if their priority is earthly, that is what they attach themselves to)

Quincy:

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)

etc etc

Oh yeah, they actually ran some statistics on this in the United Kingdom and it was published in all the newspapers just a few months ago. The study looked at which faiths were most prominent in high-level positions within banking and finance.

According to the research, 8 out of 10 were Jewish, followed by Hindus in second place. Christians were the least represented. Catholics weren't even close, lol. Good news, I guess 😁 and it's somewhat expected that it might turn out that way. It seems Christians don't 'worship' Mammon, even in the UK, 2000 years after that true story in the Bible about the rich man whose only treasure was material and transient rather than spiritual.

.

Theoretically, you’ve got a point there. But then again, you have to consider the psychology of the complete opposite extreme—the idea that people might just decide to walk away from material progress altogether and start Living like the Amish!
Or maybe like humble friars—honestly, if everyone had actually stuck to the literal teachings of Jesus, we’d still be out here driving horse-drawn carriages instead of high-tech EVs.

So, some group of so-called "expert" theologians got together—you know how it goes, they sit around in their ivory towers—and decided to cook up an entirely different set of rules for the game. Apparently, they think they’ve found a way to tie everything directly to the evolution of modern capitalism. It's all very interconnected, if you ask me...
The Protestant work ethic—it’s one of those concepts people love to toss around in academic circles, but if you actually sit down and look at the gears turning underneath, it gets a bit complicated. It isn't just about being a "good worker" or showing up to the office in Chicago at 8:00 AM sharp; it’s a deep-seated psychological framework that shaped how much of our modern world was built. Back in the day, particularly within certain branches of American Protestantism, there was this intense idea that success wasn't just about luck or divine favor—though people certainly prayed for it—but rather a sign of one's standing with God. If you were industrious, disciplined, and avoided the "sinful" temptations of leisure or excess, your prosperity was seen as a sort of outward evidence of your inner grace. It turned the act of working itself into a spiritual discipline. You weren't just grinding away to pay the rent; you were fulfilling a calling. Now, I know what some might say—and I’ve heard folks like Benjamin Taylor6 argue similar points in different contexts—that this mindset is what fueled the massive industrial expansion we saw in the US during the 19th century. And they aren't wrong. That relentless drive to optimize, to save, and to reinvest instead of spending on frivolous luxuries... well, that's the engine that powered the American Dream. It created a culture of extreme productivity, but let’s be honest—it also laid the groundwork for the burnout culture we’re all drowning in today. I remember my grandfather used to talk about his time working in the steel mills back in Pennsylvania. He didn't see it as a "career path" in the modern, sanitized sense; he saw it as a duty. To him, wasting time was practically a moral failing. There was no "quiet quitting" back then—not because the bosses were nicer (they certainly weren't), but because the internal compass pointing toward hard work was so heavily calibrated. But here’s where it gets messy. When you take a spiritual motivator and turn it into a purely economic one, things start to warp. We moved from a belief in "calling" to a blind worship of Mammon. We traded the pursuit of meaningful labor for the sheer accumulation of capital. It’s a slippery slope, really—one where the dignity of the individual often gets lost in the pursuit of the bottom line. We kept the "work" part of the equation, but we slowly stripped away the "spiritual" foundation that was supposed to keep it grounded. It’s why so many people feel like they’re running on a treadmill that never stops, even though the religious fervor that started the race has long since faded into the background.

The whole idea behind the Protestant work ethic really boils down to this sense of sincere, straightforward devotion—you know, that deep-seated focus on honoring the Holy Trinity. It’s all rooted in that classic Christian heritage where you live out your faith through personal prayer and studying the Bible, while also being an active part of the community within the Church. There’s this one core theological principle that drives the whole thing—and it’s simple, though I think people overlook how vital it actually is: any job, no matter what it is, can be done for the glory of God if you approach it with honesty, dedication, and sheer persistence. It’s about putting your heart into the grind. To put it plainly—and I mean this in the most essential way—this kind of piety naturally encourages thriftiness. When you combine hard work with being smart about your money, you start creating the exact social conditions needed for capital to accumulate. Once you have that capital, and you use it rationally instead of just blowing it, you reinvest it to generate profit. Eventually, that leads to material prosperity for both the individual and society at large. It’s a cycle, really—work, save, invest, prosper. Simple as that.

See, the modern Christian capitalist doesn't actually get a kick out of just hoarding piles of cash to spend on himself—that’s not the point at all. No, his real goal is to scale up, to build more factories and provide enough jobs so that his workers can actually enjoy a decent standard of living.
The owner takes a tiny slice of the profit for his own personal luxuries, while the lion's share goes right back into the business—you know, upgrading technology and improving the actual foundation of the work. Take the owner of a massive retail chain like Walmart, for instance; he’s the textbook definition of this kind of capitalist.

It is the polar opposite of those nouveau riche American capitalists you see popping up everywhere lately—the ones whose only real ambition is to grab as much cash as possible and build gaudy mansions. They’ll even drive their own companies straight into the ground just to do it. Then again, most of them probably snatched up their businesses for pennies during some shady privatization deal anyway.
Take someone like a local tycoon looking to make a quick buck; they represent that classic, shallow American capitalist mindset. And apparently, once an American capitalist hits fifty with a fat bank account, the rule is that he absolutely has to marry a much younger woman.😁

I mean, let's be honest, that counts as accumulating material goods too:

Brandon Foster7 said:We can actually curb our own biases just by calling them out when they happen.
There's a huge difference between past experience, raw prejudice, and an actual new situation.
Sure, experience helps, and we’ll probably be right most of the time if we use it to judge a new scenario. But sometimes we screw up big time because instead of seeing things for what they really are, we just force everything into old, dusty boxes.
It takes a lot of headspace and staying chill to make sure our biases don't ruin our lives, but rather actually make them better.

The sages always say we shouldn't be like some unfaithful guy who doubts everything. Because, look, for someone who truly believes in themselves and in God, anything is possible.
Take this specific instance, for example: http://www.cnn.com/faith/miracle-story-child-healing.html
He gently corrected the young woman, asking, "Why are you shouting so loudly? Can't you see your son is sleeping?" Then, following the earnest prayers of a humble monk, the child was brought back from the brink of death and healed from a severe illness.

On the flip side, we have the absolute worst-case scenarios:
http://miracles-and-tragedies.com/prayer-gone-wrong
Terrible things happen in this world. Instead of seeking emergency medical aid, negligent parents attempted to heal their child through prayer alone.

Back in 2009, a court in Wisconsin found them guilty because they essentially killed their child by choosing prayer over calling 911.

Their daughter passed away on the floor after falling into a diabetic coma, and rather than reaching for a phone to call for help, the parents gathered around her to pray. She stopped breathing, and by then, it was simply too late.

So, how are we supposed to navigate the 7th Commandment of Satanism? It's a wild thought:
7. Acknowledge the power of magic if you have successfully used it to manifest your desires. If you deny the power of magic after successfully invoking it, you will lose everything you gained through it.

Michelle Williams17 said:Greetings! 😁
To those who believe change is impossible—those who insist that being prejudiced against the unknown is simply part of human nature—I kindly ask that you refrain from commenting below. Thank you. 🙂
Now, for those who believe we must liberate ourselves from all preconceptions, recognizing that biases provide nothing but a distorted and fundamentally incorrect view of reality until true understanding is reached, please read on. 😁

Since we live in this technological age where everyone possesses smartphones and computers (at least enough to access 😁), I suggest you record a few principles on your devices and read them daily until they are deeply ingrained:
1. I will refuse to harbor any prejudices, for such biases only serve to make a person shallow and narrow-minded; the absolute truth is only revealed once everything is thoroughly understood.
2. If I lack knowledge regarding a subject, I will not allow anyone else's opinion to shape my own, lest I fall victim to mere prejudice once again.
3. Nothing in life is ever purely black or white. Behind every single circumstance lies a vast multitude of complex causes and reasons. We must always strive to find the most rational and humane explanation for every situation, whether it affects us or others, for that is where the true cause resides.

I hope these reflections prove useful to someone. 🙂

Prejudice is really just a snap judgment—a conclusion you jump to before you’ve actually done the legwork. It’s that tendency to form an opinion on something without truly knowing the facts or, more importantly, without putting in the actual effort to study it critically. It's lazy thinking, honestly. I've seen it happen so often in everyday life—people deciding they hate a certain brand or a specific way of doing things before they even understand the "why" behind it. It’s all about skipping the research phase and jumping straight to the verdict.It’s essentially what you see before any actual experience comes into play—that preconceived, rigid, and frankly exhausting set of stereotypes people cling to. It’s built entirely on nothing but baseless claims and fake authorities when they start talking about people from different religions, ethnicities, or nations. Honestly, it’s just pure provocation—people picking fights simply because someone else has different customs or habits... whether it’s the way they cook or even just their basic dietary choices. It’s irrational, really.

Prejudice—it’s one of those terms we throw around constantly, but if you actually sit down and dissect it, it’s essentially just a collection of mostly negative attitudes toward specific groups or individuals. It’s that tendency to make these sweeping, totally unjustified generalizations about people before you even have a shred of actual information to back up your stance. You're basically deciding who someone is before they've even opened their mouth. And here is the kicker—these biases aren't some innate, biological glitch; they are learned. We pick them up exactly the same way we learn how to tie our shoes or ride a bike, through repetitive exposure and social conditioning. Most of this stuff starts in childhood—you soak it up from your parents, your teachers, your guardians, or just the general social circles you find yourself in while growing up. The reason prejudice is so incredibly stubborn—and this is what really gets under my skin—is because it’s modeled after authority figures. When the people you're taught to trust and respect hold certain views, you internalize them as absolute truth. It becomes part of your worldview without you even realizing it. And unfortunately, once those biases take root, they become the foundation for all sorts of unfair, discriminatory behavior in the real world. It’s a cycle that’s hard to break, especially when it's baked into the very fabric of how we were raised.

You really have to be able to look yourself in the mirror and admit when you actually hold a specific opinion about someone—or something, for that matter. It’s easy enough to take a side, but the real test—the part where most people stumble—is being genuinely prepared to pivot. You have to be ready to scrap your own views and correct course the second you run into hard facts that prove you wrong. If you aren't willing to adjust based on the evidence you gather, then you aren't actually thinking; you're just clinging to an ego.

Look, if you actually want to shake off those deep-seated prejudices of yours—and I mean really get rid of them—it isn't some quick fix or a lightbulb moment. It’s grueling work. You have to go out there and hunt down information, painstakingly vet it, sift through the noise, and then somehow distill all that data into actual wisdom by learning from the people who walked this path before you. It’s a slow, exhausting process of refinement—much like trying to clean up a messy garage over a weekend, only instead of old tools, you're dealing with the clutter in your own mind. It takes discipline.

But it’s right there in black and white:

16 So I said to myself, "Look, I’ve actually managed to gather more wisdom than anyone who came before me in Jerusalem. My soul has amassed a massive amount of insight and understanding." 17 I dedicated myself to studying wisdom—and, frankly, I studied stupidity and madness just as closely, only to realize the whole thing was nothing but empty noise.
😲😁😲

How on earth do you shake off these stubborn, ingrained prejudices!!

steelmarlin19 said:Do you really think someone could reach the massive heights Tesla reached—way ahead of his era—just by sheer luck?

Even if we call it "luck"—meaning it happened by accident—the real question is HOW chance itself DECIDES which person gets certain talents while others don't.

It’s pretty obvious that this "chance" is actually MAKING decisions about who receives what. And that's exactly what intelligence does! So, we definitely shouldn't try to phase out intelligence—in fact, we need MORE power from those who were gifted far more than the average person.🍿

It appears this intelligence possesses a rather wicked sense of humor and irony: for those it grants wisdom, it also hands out a healthy dose of madness:
😲😁😲
http://www.nytimes.com/science/tech/eccentric-genius
Tesla: scientist – genius – eccentric – oddball

hollowpuma762 said:Chance is nothing more than a little fantasy we cook up in our own heads.
A system built on pure fantasy is just more fantasy.

Law = A structured system of cause and effect, clear and defined.
"Chance" = Just a label we slap onto things when we’re too incapable of perceiving or rationalizing the actual cause and effect at play.

The "law of chance" is a total oxymoron.

"Random selection" is a complete logical, physical, biological, and philosophical joke.

Once people stop slapping these convenient labels on inexplicable events and quit trying to nihilistically dismiss everything outside the immediate scope of their own consciousness, maybe—just maybe—the human mind can actually move forward.

The big thinkers say otherwise: http://www.washingtonpost.com/science/physics-randomness

God plays dice, my dear Einstein!
“In other words, the fact that God plays dice means that the most fundamental events in the universe happen completely by chance, without any prior cause,” explains Professor Vlatko Vedral, one of the world's leading physicists in quantum information, during an interview with the Washington Post. How does this fit with our own Ivo Andrić?

hollowpuma762 said:"It doesn't exist because I can't see it" — Rhetoric #1.

So, we're comparing humans to animals now? Fine.

"It doesn't exist because I can't see it" — Rhetoric #2.

Chance is just a human invention—a convenient placeholder for "my brain cannot compute this."

"It doesn't exist because I can't see it" — Rhetoric #3.

Consciousness = Cause
Choice = Effect

The natural principle of causality remains intact.

"Blind chance" + "chain of cause and effect" = a total contradiction.

Look, conditions are one thing, consequences are another, and then there’s the choice—which influences those consequences—making it a third thing entirely.

The question itself doesn't really hold water because it implies acting in defiance of the laws of physics, whereas the whole process of thought > choice > action is perfectly in line with them.

Not necessarily.

The power of conscious choice is just part of being part of nature, once a living form reaches a certain level of consciousness.

"Meaning" is a pretty subjective concept, if you ask me.

Every single event has both a cause and a purpose.

If a person fails to recognize the actual cause and purpose, they’ll just make one up on the spot—and then convince themselves it’s the truth, which is quite a way to soothe the ego, isn't it?
😲😁

David Gray9 said:He was chosen solely by the sheer force of his own intellect
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknap...snt-the-devil/
And no, it isn't just that Tesla is underrated...

Where did such an intellect come from for Tesla? Was it from God? Or was it simply a matter of being born that way by pure chance?

steelmarlin19 said:Look, you're entitled to your opinion, and that's totally fine.

But it's my right to think that you AREN'T right. Simple as that!

And you aren't right because NOT everyone can be a Mozart, or a Buddha, or a Nikola Tesla, or an Einstein—and certainly not a Jesus Christ.

To be one of those, you need "knowledge" that is far "older" and "more advanced" than us humans—believe it or not. Even Nikola Tesla admitted that none of his inventions were truly his own; he claimed he received everything from the "core of all knowledge" that exists in the universe (and even beyond it—if you ask me!).

I assume Tesla knew best how he arrived at his inventions—unless you think you know better than he did, right? Tesla is one of the "chosen," that's a guarantee. I am one hundred percent sure of that! But hey, I'm not forcing you to believe it. Not at all! ☕

It doesn't actually matter if someone is right or not. What interests me more is where the truth lies. And from where I'm sitting, truth isn't something you just see; there are just endless different commentaries on what people observe. Humans crave order and meaning, so they cook up all these various theories just to feel satisfied with themselves.
The facts are that people are born in all walks of life. Some are brilliant, some are geniuses, and some are... well, less gifted.
Ultimately, it's just whoever happened to be smarter in that specific moment who survives.

So, where does this "knowledge"—this inspiration—actually come from?
Some say it comes from the Akashic field, while others argue it’s nothing more than a lucky combination of genes and neurons:

frozengull2 said:man;

...God doesn't exist... There’s no choice, there’s no universal objective meaning.

Everything in nature—how things behave and grow—is just driven by these insanely complex math algorithms.

Honestly, anything people claim about nature that isn't backed up by actual, hard observation is just guesswork at best, or just humans being full of themselves and projecting our own traits onto the world at worst.

But look, isn't the mere fact that matter in the universe "just organized itself" (like, randomly fell into place... despite the law of entropy!?) to the point where it eventually formed humans—who then spend their entire lives obsessively questioning why they even exist and treating that question like the most important thing ever—kind of a sign that existence might actually have a purpose?
Just a tiny bit?
Where does that drive in us even come from?
We call ourselves "randomly high-organized matter" (aka humans) , yet when faced with this desperate need to find meaning, we’re capable of totally ignoring our basic biological needs just to stay true to that search; we starve, we suffer, we sacrifice our own lives, basically going against every single instinctual process dictated by our chemistry, hormones, and everything else inside us.

If nothing else, just because of that one fact alone, you shouldn't just toss the idea of purpose out the window.

Anyway; what even made the universe (space-time and all that baggage) in the first place, and how can you say you know?
Can anyone actually explain or wrap their head around what space-time is truly contained within... where it actually comes from?
Oh, so quantum physicists explained that, you say!?
And what exactly is their "knowledge" based on? How do they prove it?
Theories and hypotheses?
And why are those hypotheses somehow better than saying the source of creation is intelligent or meaningful?
Just because Hawking or Dawkins are the ones backing them up?
Give me a break.

When we hit that wall (the moment before space-time even existed), we all just go silent... we're all purely, strictly hypothetical.
Whether you're looking for meaning or arguing there is none.

Only someone incredibly stubborn would try to deny that reality.

So, I’m just gonna stick with my gut feeling.
I'm betting on meaning.
Even if it's just a hunch, I feel just as qualified to hypothesize about this as any big-shot quantum physicist.
Doesn't matter what their credentials are.

Facing something that exists outside the boundaries of our own existence, we’re all equally speechless.

The only difference between us is how arrogant or cocky we act while defending our own mental constructs (which, let's face it, can't be proven using space-time or material methods anyway).

Given everything I just said; meaning has an equal shot.

50:50

That's enough for me.

We really ought to pin down a precise definition of God. But regardless of what God actually is, the facts suggest we're dealing with an entity that has a massive obsession with large numbers. The more our understanding of the universe expands, the more these astronomical numbers come into play in how God operates.
And huge numbers have a way of making the "impossible" happen: if you have an infinite number of monkeys typing for an infinite amount of time, they’ll eventually type out a masterpiece like *War and Peace*. I actually touched on this once here:
If God were the Great Architect described by traditional Christianity, we'd probably have just one Earth and one single Sun. Instead, we see billions of galaxies and billions of stars with potential planets scattered everywhere. From what we can observe, it seems God prefers working with massive numbers. It looks like creation happens through sheer scale rather than through some grand, singular love.

Which is exactly why so many people are terrified: http://www.amazon.com/Whos-Afraid-Mu.../dp/1886653461

wearyowl29 said:Well, since our discussion on teaching went south, let’s pivot to something else: money and its relationship with everything else.

Cash is a necessity for everyone—whether you're a deep thinker, a jokester, a religious zealot, a devout believer, an atheist, or even a hardcore Marxist. Everybody needs it.

Let's be real: trying to survive in modern America without money is basically impossible.
While some folks are scraping by on pocket change, others can blow through thousands of dollars in a heartbeat, but money remains
absolutely essential for both the pauper and the tycoon alike.

Take a look at the major world religions. One that's everywhere here in the States is the Catholic Church. It's widely considered one of the wealthiest institutions out there (Jesop:In the name of God). Of course, their coffers have taken some hits lately due to the greed of certain servants and the massive settlements they've had to pay out regarding various scandals involving misconduct.

So, let's examine the wealth—or lack thereof—within organized religion.
The Church doesn't shy away from the donations of the faithful; in fact, the collection plate moves from person to person, and every little bit helps.
Money isn't something they turn their noses up at.

However, it seems much less welcome when someone tries to pursue spirituality on their own, outside the structure of an organized religion.

There's this common assumption that you just can't mix spirituality with finances. People act like true spiritual seekers should always have empty wallets. It's as if needing God doesn't also mean having earthly needs to take care of! I mean, come on—hermits are becoming a rare breed, and most of us can't exactly move to a cave, and let's face it, yogis thrive in much different climates than we do here.

It creates this weird impression that poverty itself attracts spirituality, and that being spiritual means you can't enjoy material comfort.
But those who dedicate their entire lives to spiritual growth or helping others still need a way to pay the bills.

Is experiencing personal hardship really the only way to develop one's soul or figure out how to live life?

Why do we insist that anyone seeking a higher path has to be broke?

At the end of the day, it's much worse to be spiritually bankrupt than it is to be comfortably well-off.
👍

It’s because people spend so much time pouring over the Bible and various Eastern texts. They all lean into that idea—you know the one—that it's easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a wealthy person to enter heaven. So why does that narrative stick?
Because, let's be real, money buys comfort. And when you have plenty of material wealth, it's easy to get lost in indulging the physical self. Some people hit their limit quickly, others take longer... and then you have those who find a way to balance pleasure with purpose—meditating in a Rolls-Royce, for instance. 😁

Sophia Moore52 said:Well, SAS handled Šale, Aras, and the rest of that old political elite... it was just a mess of amateurism and theft, with hardly any actual expertise or true patriotism to speak of...

The whole SAS operation was hijacked by the mob!

Strojogradnja:

SAS-vektor:

Marina California:

But the tanker folks? They didn't roll over. In fact, the employees are now the majority owners. And honestly, it’s not just them—it feels like the whole country stepped up:

THE AMERICAN ONASSISES
tankerski Next Generation: Folks, you actually bought two tankers!

The initial public offering (IPO) for the shipping firm tankerski Next Generation has officially wrapped up. As the first IPO in the US since the economic meltdown seven years ago, they managed to pull in $208 million. A total of 3.2 million shares were snapped up, hitting a price point of $22 per share.

That capital is being funneled straight into fleet expansion—specifically two state-of-the-art product tankers. This will bump the TNG fleet up to five vessels, with a total capacity of 250,000 DWT. Following this public offering, TNG will remain under the majority control of its founder, the Houston-based tankerski plovidba, which will retain a 55.6 percent stake.

Sophia Moore52 said:All I can say is "thank you" for letting me stack up a massive pile of shares at $100 and offload them at $2000 👏

A lot of us here in Los Angeles have really struck it rich thanks to them...

It was all thanks to those complicated brothers—not the hospitality types, mind you, but these sailors who refused to be played.
Instead, he’s the one who got fleeced. He did, his former massive corporation, and his old little private firm too. He really screwed himself over:

And don't forget the rest of us getting dragged down with him:

Along with these poor souls:

wearyowl29 said:But what about dealing with PMS on top of all that?😉
We're all a little wild regardless of the lunar cycle! Honestly, I think it's better this way—we can just channel all that extra energy into something more productive, like physical intimacy, instead of just being constantly on edge.

The point is, women don't actually need to go through any extreme rituals to reach enlightenment:

😲😲😁😲😲

There was this Buddhist monk in Thailand who ended up slicing his own genitals off with a machete—all because he hit an unwanted erection while trying to meditate.

Sophia Moore52 said:social

The apartment buybacks were handled the best way possible, considering how much chaos the socialist system caused...

There wasn't any chaos at all...

Why on earth would anyone sell something for just one dollar?

Just ask Kutle and Škegro...

I could always just check in with Prosinečki:

But let's not bring a soccer player into this!

The guy lost everything when those employee stock options went south!!!! 👏😁😲

crimsonwolf20 said:Exactly! This isn't even real capitalism—it's more like this weird, unnatural mashup of an interventionist government and their little buddies running the market. Everywhere you look, it's just cronyism born from having way too much power concentrated in the hands of the state.

So, yeah, it's strictly the government and its bloated, overreaching authority that's to blame for this mess. If we want things to actually change, we've gotta rein in that power wherever we possibly can.

Our little island tried to fight back against the cronies by forming our own cooperative and taking control of the Marina. And when the city of San Diego tried to force docking fees on us at the small marinas, we went ahead and founded our own sports and fishing club!

But, as per usual, things didn't exactly go smoothly:

In short, we managed to screw over the small-time capitalist. The poor guy ended up shutting down his business:


Though he can still enjoy the scenery around here:

nimbleseal74 said:That’s a rather pointed example you’ve provided regarding the Electrode plant.

Those minority shareholders—the employees, in this case—really don't have any real voting power to influence anything there.

And, if one were to be pedantic, it should probably be noted that the Electrode facility first "acquired" its land and buildings from assets that had been seized from a private owner during nationalization.

The same thing happened to the local Falkersteiner in San Diego:

We aren't aware of any other place in California, or even further afield, where so much land was seized from one location like it was in Puntamica. Over 500,000 square meters were snatched away by the old authorities over several years and turned into state property.

With the formation of the modern state, we "former owners" rightfully expected some justice through the return of the actual land wherever possible—according to the residents—and for everything else, we were willing to negotiate with a reasonable understanding of the country's situation.

Instead, all we got from the government was bureaucratic stalling, and from "Borik," nothing but constant denials of their obligations and illegal conduct.

Casey Ramos31 said:What assets are you even talking about? 🙄

just like the housing buyouts.

The whole housing buyout thing happened the only way it could because the socialist system left everything in absolute shambles.

Too bad those fat cats had an even sweeter "everything for a buck" deal.

Why on earth would anyone sell something for a single dollar?

It’s because management intentionally drove the company into the ground just so they could swoop in and buy it up for pennies on the dollar!

That’s exactly how they privatized GE div> !!!