Posts by Nicholas Grant20

Nancy Martin36 said:Nancy Martin36, it’s quite obvious

I'm still not buying it. ☕

Nancy Martin36 said:Why did it traumatize you? What kind of trauma are we actually talking about?
Pornography can certainly be used as a tool for building something.

I don't know, I guess... for some reason, the sheer complexity of certain fantasies just threw me off. It all seemed pretty bizarre to me. But then again, I’m just a simple guy, maybe my brain isn't wired for all that overcomplicated stuff.
Constructive for what? 😁

Nancy Martin36 said:She took the raw fantasies of both men and women and distilled them into books. It was the kind of stuff you could never say out loud in polite company back then. At the time, it felt like a genuine sexual revolution. I can still vividly remember that sense of sheer, unbridled tension in the air.

I guess looking back, it seems pretty tame by today's standards. I remember reading that one famous book—the one focused on women's desires. It actually traumatized me at the time.
And this whole topic is just... confusing. What does "the philosophy of pornography" even mean? Pornography isn't exactly designed to build up your soul. 🙄

Ethan Hill said:Sometimes I catch myself being way too critical, even when I mean well, and I know that just ends up making me a target for certain groups. But honestly? I don't really care. I’m going to keep talking about protecting our environment as long as there's breath in my lungs. It’s pretty simple: humanity only makes it if we save nature. Instead, it feels like we're sprinting toward self-destruction. All this massive industry, mindless consumerism, tech obsession, and paving over every inch of green space—we're basically destroying the very things we need to actually survive.
And what can you even say to that? Calling this "wisdom and intelligence" is a joke.

At the end of the day, I just need some food and clothes. What I really need is clean air, but it feels like that's becoming a luxury.
In my ideal world, money wouldn't even exist, let alone cars...
https://i.postimg.cc/qvt2LdnG/Screen...418-110525.jpg

This feels like a pretty one-sided way to look at human progress. Everything is a trade-off—we gain something, but we lose something else too. I actually think technology could be a tool for protecting the environment. I wouldn't just throw away everything we've built through modernization and tech advances. Plus, if we consider ourselves part of nature, then our tools and technology are just an extension of us. So, maybe they're part of nature too.

briskbadger90 said:Dark perspective: The lonely latica has turned into some sort of breeding ground for misanthropic ideas and pure hate. The ads feel pathetic and soul-less, and the chat is practically a ghost town. It feels like someone is always arguing, though I can't even keep track of who's fighting with whom anymore. 🤣

Bright perspective: At least that thread about voices was fun, even if it’s slowed down a bit. Seeing those real life moments through photos can be quite engaging. I still keep an eye on the US jukebox and the creative corner. As for everything else, it's just exhausting, so I've stopped checking it. ☕

Perhaps it would be best to point certain members toward a psychologist, but if you filter them out, who is actually left? The US feels somewhat empty to me lately, though perhaps that's just my own perception. Do you think there would be more people on the forum if the atmosphere were different? 🍿

I guess I think we'd see more constructive posters. If you actually build an environment where healthy, normal communication is even possible, then maybe you'll attract more normal people. To get there, you'd probably have to sanction the ones pushing those ideas I mentioned in my first post here... because honestly, those kinds of ideas just go against everything this subforum is supposed to be about.

The whole sub has just become a breeding ground for all this redpill and blackpill nonsense. It feels like these ideologies thrive specifically because they feed on people's insecurities and fears, which seems pretty counterproductive to me. I don't really see the point in tolerating that kind of rhetoric in a space that's supposed to help lonely people actually connect, hang out, and maybe find some kind of meaningful relationship with another human being. Instead, you've got people scrolling through posts about how their jawline shape is destiny, or how superficial and manipulative women are, and stuff like that. I guess... wouldn't it make more sense to encourage ideas that actually lower the paranoia and anxiety surrounding dating, rather than making it worse?

I try my best to be friendly toward people—that’s basically the core of my spiritual practice. Unfortunately, I fail at it more often than not (I guess I'm just a bit of a grouch; if you asked any of those "spiritual gurus" out there, they'd probably accuse me of sending out bad vibes just based on my facial expression). To be honest, I don't really get what spirituality even is. A lot of what you guys have written here feels a bit too airy-fairy and vague for me...

Ethan Hill said:I guess I could also point to a huge number of religious folks who are pretty sinful and don't actually live out their "faith" through any formal church structure.
Man, humans basically invented religions to serve their own interests. True faith is something much bigger—it’s spiritual, all-encompassing, and sits way above any specific religion.

Do you think you know it, or do you actually *feel* in your gut that those beliefs are true? And if you really feel them, why not just write down your truth? Or is it just hard to put those feelings into words?

.. How much that helps with pain reduction—who knows, but I think it just makes you a more authentic person.
I don't really buy into that whole spiritual cliché of the perfectly calm, balanced human being who stays totally unbothered in some enlightened state. I think we're always in flux, constantly changing, and pain is always going to be there. We just get to decide what we turn that pain into, and through that, life can actually feel a lot more intense.

Yeah, I used to fool myself into thinking I could handle everything entirely on my own, too. 🙂

I get what you're saying, I really do, but I just don't want to lay it all out here. 😁 It’s mostly just stuff that matters to me, anyway.

Ethan Hill said:Why call it confusion? You either believe or you don't believe all those testimonies throughout history. It seems pretty silly to think massive crowds of people have been lying for two thousand years. Those testimonies speak their own truth.
I've listened to other people's stories. I listened when I was at my absolute lowest. At the end of the day, it's about that prayer to God you craft in your own mind and heart. You pray when things are hitting the fan and nobody else can help you. You pray for health, for the survival of your body, mind, and soul—you aren't praying for a new Ford F-150. Pain is what births the need for faith; pain creates faith, and faith leads to testimony and personal experience.
It might actually be harder if you just inherited a religion and a system rather than receiving a living testimony of the elixir of life. It's impossible to fully know yourself. And even when you reach your own truth through that radical self-examination, who are you then? Once you aren't being driven by someone else's stories, upbringing, or worldview... are you happy? Personally, I'm happy with who I am. I'm at peace. No pain.
How do you help yourself when you're hurting, if it isn't through something like Normabel? 😬

Other people's stories about God healing and easing pain aren't there to confuse you, and they aren't contradictory. They exist as a historical witness. Stories vary because people vary, but the core essence is always the same. These stories carry the remedy; they are a living God.

Just imagine if your psyche decides to heal you. 🙂

That's a heavy one. I guess what stays with you are those few convictions that feel true deep down in your bones, because everything that feels fake or doesn't fit who you really are gets filtered out during that whole process. As for whether it actually cuts down the pain... I don't know. Maybe. But I think it just makes you a more authentic person, I suppose.

I don't really buy into that whole spiritual ideal of the perfectly zen, balanced human being who's totally unbothered by anything in their "sublime state." I think we're always just in some state of flux, constantly changing, and pain is always going to be there. It’s always present. Maybe we just get to decide what we turn that pain into, and maybe through that, life actually feels a bit more real.

Ethan Hill said:If we’re still acting primitive, violent, and basically animalistic in the 21st century, you can only imagine what we were like at the very beginning of human history. There had to be some higher power reaching through us, using words to pull us away from that animal nature. There's a reason people read testimonies and sacred texts. If we didn't feel pain, we wouldn't have any reason or need to seek out God. Without pain, maybe we would have stayed purely spiritual beings. But we feel pain for a reason. And we aren't perfect spiritual beings. Our minds are strong up to a certain point, but then they become incredibly fragile. When someone hits that wall of total helplessness and overwhelming agony, if they don't cry out for help, they just end up spiraling deeper into that suffering. Real faith comes from those moments of wonder—when someone calls out to God with their entire being, they truly understand what a miracle is. That's where faith actually begins.
If you haven't called upon the name of God, you haven't really met Him, or understood faith, miracles, or how to find relief from the pain.

Religion and ideology aren't the same thing as faith.
Throughout history, people have killed and caused violence not in the name of God, but in the name of religions and ideologies that had nothing to do with Him. They were tied to our baser instincts—our more animalistic, material, and flawed side.

We all go through transformations in life, but it’s such a relief to learn how to tell the difference between what matters and what doesn't. It's about evolving into something more natural, becoming more human and less animal. Faith in God is like a sanctuary for a tired mind, a remedy for a lost soul, and a source of eternal peace.

When I wrote that our psyche is strong, I meant it in the sense that it can deceive us quite effectively. It can trick you into thinking something spiritual is happening when it's really just psychological stuff going on. As for the rest—pain is obviously unavoidable; it's just part of reality. What its purpose is, or if it even has one... those are just questions that never get answered. Yeah, we read religious texts for a reason; I'm not disputing that, but it doesn't mean they'll automatically change anything in us. Honestly, they often just cause confusion. That's why I said just reading isn't enough. You need experience, but you also need a healthy dose of skepticism and staying grounded.

frozengull2 said:Shout it from the rooftops, man—just SHOUT IT!!!
Praying for that real-deal experience, you know? That inner awakening stuff.

There's really nothing else to do!

We don't have much control over any of this anyway.

Yeah. 🙂 For me, it’s more of a process. 😉>

frozengull2 said:What a load of nonsense... seriously.
The world is just one big, terrifying mess.
It’s a razor-thin line we're walking... because the stakes are eternal life!
Sometimes things sound smooth and easy, almost too good to be true—which usually means they're just setting us up for a fall—but then there's stuff that sounds totally boring or trivial, when really, it's the most important thing ever.
Which way do you even go? What do you let in, what do you surrender to... and what do you need to kick to the curb!!?

It's on every single one of us to figure this out (and do it before it's too late)...

Time flies!

Kyrie Eleison!

Everything becomes a mess when we stay stuck in these concepts we either cling to or reject just because they seem convincing enough—or worse, because we just inherited them from someone else. If we’re just following stories told by others, we end up lost in the noise, since those stories are all over the place and contradict each other. Most people don't even know themselves, and God knows how much neurosis hides behind a religious mask. So, what's left? Just our own human experience. We could try being radically honest with ourselves; that means tearing down everything we think we believe and starting over. That goes for everyone—believers, atheists, agnostics, whatever. Whatever stays standing after you strip everything away... that's your truth. That’s the only thing we can actually control. Everything else is out of our hands.

As far as I'm concerned, I can't just step into someone else's mold without feeling like I'm playing a part. I need my own experience.

Words don't really mean much if you haven't actually felt that faith deep down inside. You could spend your whole life buried in religious texts, but without that personal experience, it all just feels... empty, I guess. People have sacrificed everything for their beliefs—whatever those might be—and plenty more have died for political causes too. For some, Christianity completely reshaped who they were, while for others, it was some other religion or even just a strict ideology that changed their lives. Whether that’s just the power of the human psyche at work, which can be pretty intense, or something higher at play? I don't know. Maybe.

steelridge58 said:I really don't. If that were actually how I felt, I’d end up believing that I have absolutely nothing left to learn or exchange with people who aren't interested in philosophy—or worse, those who actively dislike it—and I'd essentially be shutting myself off from all the insights coming from those directions that could feed into my own reflections on the world, our purpose, and our place in it. I’d be robbing myself of that very "extra dimension, depth, and quality of spirit" I’m trying to cultivate, because true growth happens internally rather than by measuring myself against others as somehow superior. For me, even a quick chat with an auntie at a local farmers market or a conversation with someone working hard with dirt under their fingernails can provide so much spiritual nourishment; honestly, everywhere we go and everyone we interact with offers lessons, so if I started viewing myself as "better," it would be like wearing this weirdly selective suit of armor that only lets certain things in, or wearing earplugs that only filter for philosophical discourse, or putting on these specialized intellectual glasses designed specifically for philosophers who look down on everyone else while simultaneously shielding themselves from anyone hostile to the craft. Plus, if I did fall into that trap of thinking I was "better"—which includes the idea of possessing "truth"—it could paradoxically manifest as a hostility toward philosophy itself and the people who care about it, since I'd be looking down on them; I've actually seen this happen on forums like this before, where someone participates in a discussion by belittling almost everyone else or elevating themselves in a way that inherently puts others down.

On the flip side, we can never truly know what other people are thinking in their own private moments or how much (or how little) they philosophize when they're alone; all we ever see is what they choose to present to us, though we might be able to sense more if we're keen readers of the human psyche or if we possess those psychological intuition skills that Friedrich Nietzsche talked about, describing how he could physiologically sense the very core or "gut" of a soul... and if we used that just to feel "better" than others. Your question actually brings to mind Ujević's poem Brotherhood of faces in the universe.

Don't get cocky!

Your thoughts aren't just yours alone

... etc. 🙂

Good point. Maybe the bigger danger is actually practicing philosophy itself; the risk of getting lost in someone else's logic or swallowing their philosophy as dogma—so that the very thing meant to serve the freedom of the spirit ends up becoming just another trap for it.

Do you actually think you're "better"—not in some arrogant way, but maybe just possessing an extra layer of depth or a different kind of mental dimension—than people who couldn't care less about philosophy, or even worse, people who actively hate it? I’m talking about philosophy in the broadest sense... that general inclination to actually sit and think about the world, why we're even here, what our purpose is, the search for truth, and all those other things that fall under that umbrella.

ruggedraven36 said:Honestly, I’ve never wasted a second wondering if I fit the mold of a "typical man" or not. That’s a question for women anyway.

Yeah, pretty much. That kind of self-reflection is usually reserved for women, I suppose. 😁

I guess it’s probably smarter to just focus on actual, tangible life stuff—you know, family, your job, relationships, friends, all that. If you feel like everything else is just some temporary distraction or a way to self-soothe, then maybe focusing on the basics makes more sense. In that light, leaning too hard into spirituality or religion might just be a way to run away from your own problems, and honestly, it could end up making things even worse.

Carl Rivera43 said:Is it just me, or is life getting a little too heavy on the quick fixes?

Why does it feel like the good stuff is so rare, {while the half-measures or the real heartbreaks seem to stick around forever}?

I don’t know, I kind of get the feeling that by chasing all these tiny, temporary distractions, we end up hitting what people call—life saturation. Basically, we're just burnt out on this way of living.

It really hurts, honestly. That sense of emptiness in my love life... I'm not trying to be bitter, but sometimes it's hard not to feel a bit envious.

How do you actually go about finding lasting goals {instead of just settling for temporary comforts}?

What exactly counts as a "temporary comfort" to you? To me, it sounds more like those distractions people use to kill time when they haven't really set any concrete life goals or milestones. Is it unusual to have too many of them? I mean, I don't know how unusual it is, but I think it’s pretty standard to get lost in distractions when you're feeling lost yourself. All you can really do is try to define what your main objectives are and then attempt to actually work toward them.

Is human progress actually a straight line moving upward, or are we just stuck in some kind of endless loop?

Just taking a leap into the dark and accepting whatever happens next.