Posts by Jeffrey Ramos4

Carl Rivera43 said:Experience just goes to show that there's plenty of predictability in life if you look close enough.

Sometimes, even when I’m giving it my absolute all, things just don't pan out the way I wanted them to. It’s frustrating, right? Honestly, it occasionally sends me spiraling into a bit of a pessimistic mood.

Maybe those goals are just unrealistic. 🧐

Carl Rivera43 said:Come on, Kiki, don't go painting everyone with the same brush!

Fair point, you're right... it's basically almost everyone.

Jeremy Fowler45 said:Honestly, yeah—people as a whole have just become more alienated.
No matter how much we judge it, we’re kind of part of the problem too...
Like you said, what's the point of being with someone if you have nothing in common?
People aren't nearly as reliant on one another as they used to be, back when everyone actually stepped up to help each other out.

Sent from my iPhone 13 using Reddit

It’s the culture—distorted, shallow values, endless pressure from the crowd, this emptiness in life, pure materialism, and total conformity. Everyone is just hyper-focused on satisfying their own selfish needs. There's zero altruism, just ignorance and coldness. People are retreating into their own little bubbles, losing all sense of humanity, friendship, or love—not for themselves, not for others, and certainly not for nature or animals. We just stare at it all, over and over again...

Lawrence Bailey77 said:Dearly beloved, and anyone else who finds themselves in a similar state of mind 😍

There is a fundamental process... it’s simply called life... and that is all there is, I suppose. Everything else—all the noise—is just a human construct, a vision, a desire, or perhaps a perceived need 🙂

Have you ever considered that there might be people out there longing for your attention and your time, yet you have never once spared a thought for them, nor even realized they exist in your orbit? 🧐

People are passing away every single day... there is no justice here... there is no God watching over us... the universe is entirely indifferent to how any individual feels or thinks. In my own weary experience, I believe life should prioritize the individual first, and only then, if one chooses to build a relationship with another, should it be based on shared criteria and mutual compromise ☕

I wonder, honestly, how many human beings have breathed their last since this discussion was first initiated? 😉

How many of them possessed enough strength to pray, or perhaps just hope, that someone might actually step in to help? Some sensitive souls who still possess a heart and an ounce of empathy for another person... well, let me tell you... we are all, in some sense, children together we stand - divided we fall 🕺

One ought to sweep their own doorstep clean 🙂 before attempting to venture out into the world... assuming, of course, that one still possesses the will and the energy left after such a thorough cleaning 😬

Yeah, that’s quite a bit... 😬
By the way... 👍 Famous Quote : Great Shape

jadewolf91 said:The Pathology of Chronic Obsession🙂

It’s honestly a bit sad that we’re always waiting for some external force to step in and give us a wake-up call. At some point, you just have to slap yourself awake... realize what's happening, and start fighting back against this broken system. Now, I’m not saying we can just ignore everything—we rely on the system for certain things, obviously. And changing the system itself? That’s a massive challenge. But the thing is, if we actually want to change the way things work, we have to change ourselves first. It all comes back to that. Everything is connected...

Carl Rivera43 said:Times have changed for people who want to frame things that way, but honestly? Aside from this massive tech revolution we're living through, most of what we do is pretty much the same as it was decades ago.

Actually, it really has. Just ask anyone who’s been around the block a few times more than the rest of us. 🧐

Are we actually realizing that real friendship has to be a two-way street? It’s about being the kind of friend someone else can rely on, rather than just sitting around waiting for them to show up exactly when and where you want them to. Reaching out every few months just to grab a coffee at Starbucks doesn't really cut it—unless that’s the kind of superficial connection you're looking for. People who play that game also have to accept that the other person might not even want to grab a drink or hang out with them. Friendship requires actual effort. In a true friendship, much like in a relationship, you don't demand things; you give. Of course, if someone is just using you, then run. At that point, it isn't even a friendship anymore...
Another issue stemming from how we live today is that everyone is just completely overwhelmed. We're constantly bombarded by information, endless demands, and noise from every direction. Between the house, the job, the bar, a partner, mortgage payments, arguments, addiction, violence, or even kids in foster care... it's enough to push anyone over the edge, honestly. Who can even manage to be a good friend these days when people struggle to give their own children any real time or attention? Times have changed, our values have shifted, and the whole lifestyle is just different now...

Carl Rivera43 said:This too shall pass. If you managed to pull through the hard times before, you'll find a way through this, too.
👍

So, she’s out there posting that she might be facing some kind of terminal illness... and you're really going to just drop a reply like that? Honestly... I don't even know where to start. It feels incredibly heavy. Just a complete lack of tact... If it worked back then, it’ll work now.... 🤦

Rachel Williams18 said:I’m just done with motivation. Honestly, I’ve moved way past it—it’s all an illusion, really, and honestly? It’s just regressive for anyone trying to actually be human.
My life has basically been a series of different phases, kind of looking like this:

Ages 16-20; Sex, romance, chasing feelings... (not that I regret it, that's just biology at work, you know?😍)
Ages 20-30; Money, survival, hoarding every useless thing I could get my hands on... (yeah, I actually regret this one. Total waste of years...👎)
Ages 30-37; Personal growth, self-improvement, finally ditching all those fake societal standards everyone tries to force on you... (hands down the best years of my life.🙂

But once I finally, *finally* let go of all those "motives" and "goals," everything changed. Like, drastically. Physically, mentally, spiritually—everything.
The stress? Gone. I basically reconnected with that inner kid. Just pure curiosity, playfulness, living for the moment... right here, right now. And funny enough, it's actually manifesting itself in a weird way,
where all those old "goals and motives" from my younger years are actually happening anyway. Everything feels accessible now. Sex, romance, cash, material junk, "social status"... it's all just there.

Still, I've lived enough to know it's all just ego traps. And the ego? It always tries to drag you back down (but not anymore). My ego used to run the show, but today? No chance in hell against my true core,
which I think I've built up to its absolute limit—with a little help along the way. And it's not just my spirit; my mind and my body are right there with it. I'm finally whole, finally full...
I don't even know where I'm headed, but frankly, who cares?

It's about the journey—not the destination.
It's about the way you live—not the motive.

👍

Rachel Williams18 said:man...
That’s getting a little deep for a simple PDF, don't you think?

But... honestly? Yeah, that’s exactly it!
It’s just... how many people living in this stereotypical American bubble actually have the guts—the actual time and mental strength—to realize that all that external stuff we chase is really just a reflection of what's going on inside us?
It took me like 30 years to finally wrap my head around that... and then another few years just to start seeing the payoff...

Most people never get it. They stay stuck in the material stuff, the sex, the romance... most people never truly know themselves, they just follow the crowd. They exist—breathing, drinking, eating, defecating, and eventually dying. That's it.
But regardless of all that, everyone has the right to choose their own path, their own motives, their own goals, whatever they want.

jadewolf16 said:Sex is the goal, but honestly? Everything else is just figuring out the best way to get there!

quietnomad13 said:Love.
Honestly, everything else is just noise.

I’m greedy—I want both. 🤣

Jokes aside, there aren't enough ways to boil this down... you can't just pin a single life motto on yourself.

amberhound89 said:In New York City, melancholy is just part of the vibe. They even have this incredible, moody art form called tango. Honestly, a little bit of melancholy does you good—it’s good for the soul.

Interesting. I never really caught the melancholic side of tango. To me, it’s always just seemed passionate and high-energy.

ironrider11 said:Outside of "practicality"... chaos finally hits... it's always partial, never absolute... it can be perceived... but not fully grasped, understood, or closed off... like something that, unlike perfection (and can perfection even exist?)... is by default something we try to quiet down, degrade, devalue, turn away from, or pretend not to see... all in the name of building structure, meaning, sequence, logic, or reason... trying to force an unquestionable cause and effect. Just blindly following unknown patterns... modeling yourself to meet the expectations of some imaginary version of yourself in some imaginary tomorrow... trying to navigate correctly without at least a thin script of real instructions, practical application, purpose, or significance... It's like a second adolescence based on rebelling against the self (which, just like adults in that first adolescence, breaks everything down just to try and survive within certain constraints... just a collection of trivial inheritance... from the very people they were originally rebelling against...). Is there a third adolescence... when after the sheer force of life and its centrifugal madness... the self crumbles... and perceives that the only constant... all along... was actually just some form of revolt... against itself. And there it is, in the later, most defining years... the only spark still smoldering, keeping that magic vitality alive....
Regarding exits... within the timeframe or essence (years of accumulated density of memory/perception) of a life that can either cradle you or crush you... regardless of whether you want to fight it or just passively cling to where you are... That moment of realization happens in... at... the very place where there is no exit, in the prison (whether it's a gorgeous mansion or sewer pipe #18) that you built yourself... that moment is capable of turning into eternity. It only depends on how much attention or focus you put into measuring it, defining it, or giving it weight.... Without a personal reaction, it just dissipates... just like all those other "incredibly important or totally irrelevant" ideas within a single moment (allowed or forced by "the ether"). Free will... hmm... You aren't exactly free... except to react to ("impulses, urges, intrusive thoughts, hallucinations...".. from "the ether"..) during a given moment. Do these practical constructions actually serve you? Are they just denials of those "Epiphany" moments (which aren't always blissful)? Being practical just serves to create a buffer so that primary thoughts (from "the ether"), fears, and paranoia... don't have enough time to break through to the surface. When they do break through, you make a little noise... spend a stint in the hospital... just like any other normal illness... so you push it all down as fast as possible... and keep grinding forward... into new practicalities/victories (over your own fears). Even though you know you aren't winning any battles or wars... you're just wasting time, money, and energy... trying to prolong things. Practicality is practical... only... for its own sake.

To even reach a decision... if there's any way to find "meaning" at all... it comes from de-rationalizing our own attempts to grasp things. It's almost healthy (read: superficiality/generalization) combined with that typical lack of interest in anything external that doesn't serve us personally. On a macro level, this creates a world where, through digital literacy, we can define the exact tone or shade of red (like rgba or hsla)... but still... primarily... what one person can't transmit or absorb from another—regardless of how many languages they speak or how much code they know (rgba(255,0,0,1); hsla(0/360,100%,50%,1))... is that core perception of red. It stays trapped in that individual "head." Just like that specific shade of red (rgba(255,0,0,.666)). Making the choice to be near someone, just for a moment, for an eternity, despite knowing the empirical barriers... that choice is based on one's own "complex of everythingness." Whatever it is... destructive or constructive... it just exists. It just is. There's no way (and I mean no way, imho...) to categorize it. Being aware of that, after rolling around in the "destruction" of de-rationalization, might lead to nothing more than a convenience... to simply be near someone. To have contact or touch without judging, without belittling them, without putting them on a pedestal or measuring them against yourself... just being part of the moment... for yourself and for them. A fragment of nothingness where there's no need to overthink the hopelessness...

I agree with the "fullness" part... but... 🙂... why this violent (it feels like a violation) need to "understand" ("Isn't it more important to realize you don't necessarily have to fully 'understand' someone")? Rationalization often kills any real "understanding" at its most primal level. Why do we always feel the need to say something motivating or encouraging? Why is it impossible... or actually quite common to notice... that just being human—not "humanity" as a concept, just being human—is enough to connect with someone? To give and receive... without words, without deep empathy, without needing a logical reason... just the banality of being human... a look, a touch, a tear. Saying "I don't know what to tell you..." Well, nobody asked you to give a speech. And even before opening up my soul like that, I knew the reaction would be... "I don't know what I'd say to you..." I put myself out there just to test your "I don't know... driven by my little abstraction..." Neither of us actually knows... what to say to the other's "I don't know"...31>>

Jeffrey, you're leaning a little too hard on that "one day" stuff and all those fancy terms like "collective, digital, universal, magically collective consciousness"... 🙂. In a true collective... there is no "other." There aren't different types of people... no hidden agendas, no secrets, no "this guy" or "that guy"... nothing is private or individual anymore. Everything happens at once, everything is one, everything is now. There's no "your" thought vs. "my" thought. All thoughts become one single thought. Individuality is dead. An aggressor wouldn't even exist, or they'd be wiped out by the sheer momentum of the majority, because a collective feels, knows, and thinks as one... it knows exactly what it wants and doesn't want. Nobody gets violated; there's no violator. Nobody is going to be unknown... unknown doesn't exist. Everyone just wants to be, to do... unknown is primacy, universality, unity. "Think about it"... you're getting way too caught up in that "one day" fantasy 🙂 Sex is just like language or writing. It's the perception of two different versions of the color red. It's the merging of two entities... whether it's surrender... or dominance/violation (even the calculated, consensual, or manipulative kind...). In a state of being where "you" (me, you, him, her, us, them...) can actually open your soul and hand over every single thought about you, about me, about everything... the way I see you (because that's still the core priority, obviously... 🙂), experience you, love you, worship you... that's already handed over to you by default. It's wide open... it's accessible. It's a reality where masks quickly become forgotten relics. Sexual animalism might be useless at a level where there are no barriers between intellects. Where there's no barrier between "you" and "me." Merging one isn't even logical. 🙂
I'm ready to ditch all that animal instinct right now... just to be a pioneer in a new model of possibility like that... SpaceMonkey...

Exactly that. It’s like chaos is actually perfect because it’s so beautifully chaotic...

ironrider11 said:Outside of "practicality"... chaos finally hits... it's always partial, never absolute... it can be perceived... but not fully grasped, understood, or closed off... like something that, unlike perfection (and can perfection even exist?)... is by default something we try to quiet down, degrade, devalue, turn away from, or pretend not to see... all in the name of building structure, meaning, sequence, logic, or reason... trying to force an unquestionable cause and effect. Just blindly following unknown patterns... modeling yourself to meet the expectations of some imaginary version of yourself in some imaginary tomorrow... trying to navigate correctly without at least a thin script of real instructions, practical application, purpose, or significance... It's like a second adolescence based on rebelling against the self (which, just like adults in that first adolescence, breaks everything down just to try and survive within certain constraints... just a collection of trivial inheritance... from the very people they were originally rebelling against...). Is there a third adolescence... when after the sheer force of life and its centrifugal madness... the self crumbles... and perceives that the only constant... all along... was actually just some form of revolt... against itself. And there it is, in the later, most defining years... the only spark still smoldering, keeping that magic vitality alive....
Regarding exits... within the timeframe or essence (years of accumulated density of memory/perception) of a life that can either cradle you or crush you... regardless of whether you want to fight it or just passively cling to where you are... That moment of realization happens in... at... the very place where there is no exit, in the prison (whether it's a gorgeous mansion or sewer pipe #18) that you built yourself... that moment is capable of turning into eternity. It only depends on how much attention or focus you put into measuring it, defining it, or giving it weight.... Without a personal reaction, it just dissipates... just like all those other "incredibly important or totally irrelevant" ideas within a single moment (allowed or forced by "the ether"). Free will... hmm... You aren't exactly free... except to react to ("impulses, urges, intrusive thoughts, hallucinations...".. from "the ether"..) during a given moment. Do these practical constructions actually serve you? Are they just denials of those "Epiphany" moments (which aren't always blissful)? Being practical just serves to create a buffer so that primary thoughts (from "the ether"), fears, and paranoia... don't have enough time to break through to the surface. When they do break through, you make a little noise... spend a stint in the hospital... just like any other normal illness... so you push it all down as fast as possible... and keep grinding forward... into new practicalities/victories (over your own fears). Even though you know you aren't winning any battles or wars... you're just wasting time, money, and energy... trying to prolong things. Practicality is practical... only... for its own sake.

To even reach a decision... if there's any way to find "meaning" at all... it comes from de-rationalizing our own attempts to grasp things. It's almost healthy (read: superficiality/generalization) combined with that typical lack of interest in anything external that doesn't serve us personally. On a macro level, this creates a world where, through digital literacy, we can define the exact tone or shade of red (like rgba or hsla)... but still... primarily... what one person can't transmit or absorb from another—regardless of how many languages they speak or how much code they know (rgba(255,0,0,1); hsla(0/360,100%,50%,1))... is that core perception of red. It stays trapped in that individual "head." Just like that specific shade of red (rgba(255,0,0,.666)). Making the choice to be near someone, just for a moment, for an eternity, despite knowing the empirical barriers... that choice is based on one's own "complex of everythingness." Whatever it is... destructive or constructive... it just exists. It just is. There's no way (and I mean no way, imho...) to categorize it. Being aware of that, after rolling around in the "destruction" of de-rationalization, might lead to nothing more than a convenience... to simply be near someone. To have contact or touch without judging, without belittling them, without putting them on a pedestal or measuring them against yourself... just being part of the moment... for yourself and for them. A fragment of nothingness where there's no need to overthink the hopelessness...

I agree with the "fullness" part... but... 🙂... why this violent (it feels like a violation) need to "understand" ("Isn't it more important to realize you don't necessarily have to fully 'understand' someone")? Rationalization often kills any real "understanding" at its most primal level. Why do we always feel the need to say something motivating or encouraging? Why is it impossible... or actually quite common to notice... that just being human—not "humanity" as a concept, just being human—is enough to connect with someone? To give and receive... without words, without deep empathy, without needing a logical reason... just the banality of being human... a look, a touch, a tear. Saying "I don't know what to tell you..." Well, nobody asked you to give a speech. And even before opening up my soul like that, I knew the reaction would be... "I don't know what I'd say to you..." I put myself out there just to test your "I don't know... driven by my little abstraction..." Neither of us actually knows... what to say to the other's "I don't know"...31>>

Jeffrey, you're leaning a little too hard on that "one day" stuff and all those fancy terms like "collective, digital, universal, magically collective consciousness"... 🙂. In a true collective... there is no "other." There aren't different types of people... no hidden agendas, no secrets, no "this guy" or "that guy"... nothing is private or individual anymore. Everything happens at once, everything is one, everything is now. There's no "your" thought vs. "my" thought. All thoughts become one single thought. Individuality is dead. An aggressor wouldn't even exist, or they'd be wiped out by the sheer momentum of the majority, because a collective feels, knows, and thinks as one... it knows exactly what it wants and doesn't want. Nobody gets violated; there's no violator. Nobody is going to be unknown... unknown doesn't exist. Everyone just wants to be, to do... unknown is primacy, universality, unity. "Think about it"... you're getting way too caught up in that "one day" fantasy 🙂 Sex is just like language or writing. It's the perception of two different versions of the color red. It's the merging of two entities... whether it's surrender... or dominance/violation (even the calculated, consensual, or manipulative kind...). In a state of being where "you" (me, you, him, her, us, them...) can actually open your soul and hand over every single thought about you, about me, about everything... the way I see you (because that's still the core priority, obviously... 🙂), experience you, love you, worship you... that's already handed over to you by default. It's wide open... it's accessible. It's a reality where masks quickly become forgotten relics. Sexual animalism might be useless at a level where there are no barriers between intellects. Where there's no barrier between "you" and "me." Merging one isn't even logical. 🙂
I'm ready to ditch all that animal instinct right now... just to be a pioneer in a new model of possibility like that... SpaceMonkey...

Is it just pure revolt and nothing else? Doesn't that kind of mindset eventually spiral into extremes—depression, apathy, total confusion, or just straight-up pessimism? Why let things get so worn down? What’s actually stopping you from becoming something else... something better? I think I partially get what's holding you back, but still...

ironrider11 said:Outside of "practicality"... chaos finally hits... it's always partial, never absolute... it can be perceived... but not fully grasped, understood, or closed off... like something that, unlike perfection (and can perfection even exist?)... is by default something we try to quiet down, degrade, devalue, turn away from, or pretend not to see... all in the name of building structure, meaning, sequence, logic, or reason... trying to force an unquestionable cause and effect. Just blindly following unknown patterns... modeling yourself to meet the expectations of some imaginary version of yourself in some imaginary tomorrow... trying to navigate correctly without at least a thin script of real instructions, practical application, purpose, or significance... It's like a second adolescence based on rebelling against the self (which, just like adults in that first adolescence, breaks everything down just to try and survive within certain constraints... just a collection of trivial inheritance... from the very people they were originally rebelling against...). Is there a third adolescence... when after the sheer force of life and its centrifugal madness... the self crumbles... and perceives that the only constant... all along... was actually just some form of revolt... against itself. And there it is, in the later, most defining years... the only spark still smoldering, keeping that magic vitality alive....
Regarding exits... within the timeframe or essence (years of accumulated density of memory/perception) of a life that can either cradle you or crush you... regardless of whether you want to fight it or just passively cling to where you are... That moment of realization happens in... at... the very place where there is no exit, in the prison (whether it's a gorgeous mansion or sewer pipe #18) that you built yourself... that moment is capable of turning into eternity. It only depends on how much attention or focus you put into measuring it, defining it, or giving it weight.... Without a personal reaction, it just dissipates... just like all those other "incredibly important or totally irrelevant" ideas within a single moment (allowed or forced by "the ether"). Free will... hmm... You aren't exactly free... except to react to ("impulses, urges, intrusive thoughts, hallucinations...".. from "the ether"..) during a given moment. Do these practical constructions actually serve you? Are they just denials of those "Epiphany" moments (which aren't always blissful)? Being practical just serves to create a buffer so that primary thoughts (from "the ether"), fears, and paranoia... don't have enough time to break through to the surface. When they do break through, you make a little noise... spend a stint in the hospital... just like any other normal illness... so you push it all down as fast as possible... and keep grinding forward... into new practicalities/victories (over your own fears). Even though you know you aren't winning any battles or wars... you're just wasting time, money, and energy... trying to prolong things. Practicality is practical... only... for its own sake.

To even reach a decision... if there's any way to find "meaning" at all... it comes from de-rationalizing our own attempts to grasp things. It's almost healthy (read: superficiality/generalization) combined with that typical lack of interest in anything external that doesn't serve us personally. On a macro level, this creates a world where, through digital literacy, we can define the exact tone or shade of red (like rgba or hsla)... but still... primarily... what one person can't transmit or absorb from another—regardless of how many languages they speak or how much code they know (rgba(255,0,0,1); hsla(0/360,100%,50%,1))... is that core perception of red. It stays trapped in that individual "head." Just like that specific shade of red (rgba(255,0,0,.666)). Making the choice to be near someone, just for a moment, for an eternity, despite knowing the empirical barriers... that choice is based on one's own "complex of everythingness." Whatever it is... destructive or constructive... it just exists. It just is. There's no way (and I mean no way, imho...) to categorize it. Being aware of that, after rolling around in the "destruction" of de-rationalization, might lead to nothing more than a convenience... to simply be near someone. To have contact or touch without judging, without belittling them, without putting them on a pedestal or measuring them against yourself... just being part of the moment... for yourself and for them. A fragment of nothingness where there's no need to overthink the hopelessness...

I agree with the "fullness" part... but... 🙂... why this violent (it feels like a violation) need to "understand" ("Isn't it more important to realize you don't necessarily have to fully 'understand' someone")? Rationalization often kills any real "understanding" at its most primal level. Why do we always feel the need to say something motivating or encouraging? Why is it impossible... or actually quite common to notice... that just being human—not "humanity" as a concept, just being human—is enough to connect with someone? To give and receive... without words, without deep empathy, without needing a logical reason... just the banality of being human... a look, a touch, a tear. Saying "I don't know what to tell you..." Well, nobody asked you to give a speech. And even before opening up my soul like that, I knew the reaction would be... "I don't know what I'd say to you..." I put myself out there just to test your "I don't know... driven by my little abstraction..." Neither of us actually knows... what to say to the other's "I don't know"...31>>

Jeffrey, you're leaning a little too hard on that "one day" stuff and all those fancy terms like "collective, digital, universal, magically collective consciousness"... 🙂. In a true collective... there is no "other." There aren't different types of people... no hidden agendas, no secrets, no "this guy" or "that guy"... nothing is private or individual anymore. Everything happens at once, everything is one, everything is now. There's no "your" thought vs. "my" thought. All thoughts become one single thought. Individuality is dead. An aggressor wouldn't even exist, or they'd be wiped out by the sheer momentum of the majority, because a collective feels, knows, and thinks as one... it knows exactly what it wants and doesn't want. Nobody gets violated; there's no violator. Nobody is going to be unknown... unknown doesn't exist. Everyone just wants to be, to do... unknown is primacy, universality, unity. "Think about it"... you're getting way too caught up in that "one day" fantasy 🙂 Sex is just like language or writing. It's the perception of two different versions of the color red. It's the merging of two entities... whether it's surrender... or dominance/violation (even the calculated, consensual, or manipulative kind...). In a state of being where "you" (me, you, him, her, us, them...) can actually open your soul and hand over every single thought about you, about me, about everything... the way I see you (because that's still the core priority, obviously... 🙂), experience you, love you, worship you... that's already handed over to you by default. It's wide open... it's accessible. It's a reality where masks quickly become forgotten relics. Sexual animalism might be useless at a level where there are no barriers between intellects. Where there's no barrier between "you" and "me." Merging one isn't even logical. 🙂
I'm ready to ditch all that animal instinct right now... just to be a pioneer in a new model of possibility like that... SpaceMonkey...

Aha, he really dug his heels in...

ironrider11 said:Outside of "practicality"... chaos finally hits... it's always partial, never absolute... it can be perceived... but not fully grasped, understood, or closed off... like something that, unlike perfection (and can perfection even exist?)... is by default something we try to quiet down, degrade, devalue, turn away from, or pretend not to see... all in the name of building structure, meaning, sequence, logic, or reason... trying to force an unquestionable cause and effect. Just blindly following unknown patterns... modeling yourself to meet the expectations of some imaginary version of yourself in some imaginary tomorrow... trying to navigate correctly without at least a thin script of real instructions, practical application, purpose, or significance... It's like a second adolescence based on rebelling against the self (which, just like adults in that first adolescence, breaks everything down just to try and survive within certain constraints... just a collection of trivial inheritance... from the very people they were originally rebelling against...). Is there a third adolescence... when after the sheer force of life and its centrifugal madness... the self crumbles... and perceives that the only constant... all along... was actually just some form of revolt... against itself. And there it is, in the later, most defining years... the only spark still smoldering, keeping that magic vitality alive....
Regarding exits... within the timeframe or essence (years of accumulated density of memory/perception) of a life that can either cradle you or crush you... regardless of whether you want to fight it or just passively cling to where you are... That moment of realization happens in... at... the very place where there is no exit, in the prison (whether it's a gorgeous mansion or sewer pipe #18) that you built yourself... that moment is capable of turning into eternity. It only depends on how much attention or focus you put into measuring it, defining it, or giving it weight.... Without a personal reaction, it just dissipates... just like all those other "incredibly important or totally irrelevant" ideas within a single moment (allowed or forced by "the ether"). Free will... hmm... You aren't exactly free... except to react to ("impulses, urges, intrusive thoughts, hallucinations...".. from "the ether"..) during a given moment. Do these practical constructions actually serve you? Are they just denials of those "Epiphany" moments (which aren't always blissful)? Being practical just serves to create a buffer so that primary thoughts (from "the ether"), fears, and paranoia... don't have enough time to break through to the surface. When they do break through, you make a little noise... spend a stint in the hospital... just like any other normal illness... so you push it all down as fast as possible... and keep grinding forward... into new practicalities/victories (over your own fears). Even though you know you aren't winning any battles or wars... you're just wasting time, money, and energy... trying to prolong things. Practicality is practical... only... for its own sake.

To even reach a decision... if there's any way to find "meaning" at all... it comes from de-rationalizing our own attempts to grasp things. It's almost healthy (read: superficiality/generalization) combined with that typical lack of interest in anything external that doesn't serve us personally. On a macro level, this creates a world where, through digital literacy, we can define the exact tone or shade of red (like rgba or hsla)... but still... primarily... what one person can't transmit or absorb from another—regardless of how many languages they speak or how much code they know (rgba(255,0,0,1); hsla(0/360,100%,50%,1))... is that core perception of red. It stays trapped in that individual "head." Just like that specific shade of red (rgba(255,0,0,.666)). Making the choice to be near someone, just for a moment, for an eternity, despite knowing the empirical barriers... that choice is based on one's own "complex of everythingness." Whatever it is... destructive or constructive... it just exists. It just is. There's no way (and I mean no way, imho...) to categorize it. Being aware of that, after rolling around in the "destruction" of de-rationalization, might lead to nothing more than a convenience... to simply be near someone. To have contact or touch without judging, without belittling them, without putting them on a pedestal or measuring them against yourself... just being part of the moment... for yourself and for them. A fragment of nothingness where there's no need to overthink the hopelessness...

I agree with the "fullness" part... but... 🙂... why this violent (it feels like a violation) need to "understand" ("Isn't it more important to realize you don't necessarily have to fully 'understand' someone")? Rationalization often kills any real "understanding" at its most primal level. Why do we always feel the need to say something motivating or encouraging? Why is it impossible... or actually quite common to notice... that just being human—not "humanity" as a concept, just being human—is enough to connect with someone? To give and receive... without words, without deep empathy, without needing a logical reason... just the banality of being human... a look, a touch, a tear. Saying "I don't know what to tell you..." Well, nobody asked you to give a speech. And even before opening up my soul like that, I knew the reaction would be... "I don't know what I'd say to you..." I put myself out there just to test your "I don't know... driven by my little abstraction..." Neither of us actually knows... what to say to the other's "I don't know"...31>>

Jeffrey, you're leaning a little too hard on that "one day" stuff and all those fancy terms like "collective, digital, universal, magically collective consciousness"... 🙂. In a true collective... there is no "other." There aren't different types of people... no hidden agendas, no secrets, no "this guy" or "that guy"... nothing is private or individual anymore. Everything happens at once, everything is one, everything is now. There's no "your" thought vs. "my" thought. All thoughts become one single thought. Individuality is dead. An aggressor wouldn't even exist, or they'd be wiped out by the sheer momentum of the majority, because a collective feels, knows, and thinks as one... it knows exactly what it wants and doesn't want. Nobody gets violated; there's no violator. Nobody is going to be unknown... unknown doesn't exist. Everyone just wants to be, to do... unknown is primacy, universality, unity. "Think about it"... you're getting way too caught up in that "one day" fantasy 🙂 Sex is just like language or writing. It's the perception of two different versions of the color red. It's the merging of two entities... whether it's surrender... or dominance/violation (even the calculated, consensual, or manipulative kind...). In a state of being where "you" (me, you, him, her, us, them...) can actually open your soul and hand over every single thought about you, about me, about everything... the way I see you (because that's still the core priority, obviously... 🙂), experience you, love you, worship you... that's already handed over to you by default. It's wide open... it's accessible. It's a reality where masks quickly become forgotten relics. Sexual animalism might be useless at a level where there are no barriers between intellects. Where there's no barrier between "you" and "me." Merging one isn't even logical. 🙂
I'm ready to ditch all that animal instinct right now... just to be a pioneer in a new model of possibility like that... SpaceMonkey...

Why not just embrace those fears, the intrusive thoughts, the hallucinations, and all that? Instead of fighting them, you train them to step back—to make sure they aren't calling the shots, so your own free will can actually regain some ground... It’s a process. You go through it once, twice, three times... and every single time, you walk away knowing something deeper about who you really are. You learn how to handle them, how to master them. Eventually, you might even find yourself liking them once you understand their origins. Think about it: what happens if you actually "win" that war? If you completely wipe them out, what's left? You'd be losing a part of yourself. Sure, it might be a darker side, but it's still a part of you. As long as they aren't hurting anyone else or tearing you apart—as long as you keep them on a short leash—you’re the one in control.

ironrider11 said:Outside of "practicality"... chaos finally hits... it's always partial, never absolute... it can be perceived... but not fully grasped, understood, or closed off... like something that, unlike perfection (and can perfection even exist?)... is by default something we try to quiet down, degrade, devalue, turn away from, or pretend not to see... all in the name of building structure, meaning, sequence, logic, or reason... trying to force an unquestionable cause and effect. Just blindly following unknown patterns... modeling yourself to meet the expectations of some imaginary version of yourself in some imaginary tomorrow... trying to navigate correctly without at least a thin script of real instructions, practical application, purpose, or significance... It's like a second adolescence based on rebelling against the self (which, just like adults in that first adolescence, breaks everything down just to try and survive within certain constraints... just a collection of trivial inheritance... from the very people they were originally rebelling against...). Is there a third adolescence... when after the sheer force of life and its centrifugal madness... the self crumbles... and perceives that the only constant... all along... was actually just some form of revolt... against itself. And there it is, in the later, most defining years... the only spark still smoldering, keeping that magic vitality alive....
Regarding exits... within the timeframe or essence (years of accumulated density of memory/perception) of a life that can either cradle you or crush you... regardless of whether you want to fight it or just passively cling to where you are... That moment of realization happens in... at... the very place where there is no exit, in the prison (whether it's a gorgeous mansion or sewer pipe #18) that you built yourself... that moment is capable of turning into eternity. It only depends on how much attention or focus you put into measuring it, defining it, or giving it weight.... Without a personal reaction, it just dissipates... just like all those other "incredibly important or totally irrelevant" ideas within a single moment (allowed or forced by "the ether"). Free will... hmm... You aren't exactly free... except to react to ("impulses, urges, intrusive thoughts, hallucinations...".. from "the ether"..) during a given moment. Do these practical constructions actually serve you? Are they just denials of those "Epiphany" moments (which aren't always blissful)? Being practical just serves to create a buffer so that primary thoughts (from "the ether"), fears, and paranoia... don't have enough time to break through to the surface. When they do break through, you make a little noise... spend a stint in the hospital... just like any other normal illness... so you push it all down as fast as possible... and keep grinding forward... into new practicalities/victories (over your own fears). Even though you know you aren't winning any battles or wars... you're just wasting time, money, and energy... trying to prolong things. Practicality is practical... only... for its own sake.

To even reach a decision... if there's any way to find "meaning" at all... it comes from de-rationalizing our own attempts to grasp things. It's almost healthy (read: superficiality/generalization) combined with that typical lack of interest in anything external that doesn't serve us personally. On a macro level, this creates a world where, through digital literacy, we can define the exact tone or shade of red (like rgba or hsla)... but still... primarily... what one person can't transmit or absorb from another—regardless of how many languages they speak or how much code they know (rgba(255,0,0,1); hsla(0/360,100%,50%,1))... is that core perception of red. It stays trapped in that individual "head." Just like that specific shade of red (rgba(255,0,0,.666)). Making the choice to be near someone, just for a moment, for an eternity, despite knowing the empirical barriers... that choice is based on one's own "complex of everythingness." Whatever it is... destructive or constructive... it just exists. It just is. There's no way (and I mean no way, imho...) to categorize it. Being aware of that, after rolling around in the "destruction" of de-rationalization, might lead to nothing more than a convenience... to simply be near someone. To have contact or touch without judging, without belittling them, without putting them on a pedestal or measuring them against yourself... just being part of the moment... for yourself and for them. A fragment of nothingness where there's no need to overthink the hopelessness...

I agree with the "fullness" part... but... 🙂... why this violent (it feels like a violation) need to "understand" ("Isn't it more important to realize you don't necessarily have to fully 'understand' someone")? Rationalization often kills any real "understanding" at its most primal level. Why do we always feel the need to say something motivating or encouraging? Why is it impossible... or actually quite common to notice... that just being human—not "humanity" as a concept, just being human—is enough to connect with someone? To give and receive... without words, without deep empathy, without needing a logical reason... just the banality of being human... a look, a touch, a tear. Saying "I don't know what to tell you..." Well, nobody asked you to give a speech. And even before opening up my soul like that, I knew the reaction would be... "I don't know what I'd say to you..." I put myself out there just to test your "I don't know... driven by my little abstraction..." Neither of us actually knows... what to say to the other's "I don't know"...31>>

Jeffrey, you're leaning a little too hard on that "one day" stuff and all those fancy terms like "collective, digital, universal, magically collective consciousness"... 🙂. In a true collective... there is no "other." There aren't different types of people... no hidden agendas, no secrets, no "this guy" or "that guy"... nothing is private or individual anymore. Everything happens at once, everything is one, everything is now. There's no "your" thought vs. "my" thought. All thoughts become one single thought. Individuality is dead. An aggressor wouldn't even exist, or they'd be wiped out by the sheer momentum of the majority, because a collective feels, knows, and thinks as one... it knows exactly what it wants and doesn't want. Nobody gets violated; there's no violator. Nobody is going to be unknown... unknown doesn't exist. Everyone just wants to be, to do... unknown is primacy, universality, unity. "Think about it"... you're getting way too caught up in that "one day" fantasy 🙂 Sex is just like language or writing. It's the perception of two different versions of the color red. It's the merging of two entities... whether it's surrender... or dominance/violation (even the calculated, consensual, or manipulative kind...). In a state of being where "you" (me, you, him, her, us, them...) can actually open your soul and hand over every single thought about you, about me, about everything... the way I see you (because that's still the core priority, obviously... 🙂), experience you, love you, worship you... that's already handed over to you by default. It's wide open... it's accessible. It's a reality where masks quickly become forgotten relics. Sexual animalism might be useless at a level where there are no barriers between intellects. Where there's no barrier between "you" and "me." Merging one isn't even logical. 🙂
I'm ready to ditch all that animal instinct right now... just to be a pioneer in a new model of possibility like that... SpaceMonkey...

So, what’s the actual harm in derealization if it ends up actually helping things work out in the end?
Isn't that just another way of getting to know yourself? Honestly, derealization covers so much ground... you really have to pin down at least some part of it before you can even start defining what it actually is.
That color red... quoting you: Why this violent, almost predatory need to grasp everything? To force an understanding? "Isn't it also possible that you don't actually have to fully understand someone..." Why even bother insisting that someone else has to experience your specific shade of red? You think that’s the only way they can actually get you... or at least reach some baseline level of understanding?

I don't know. It’s hard to say for sure without more context... maybe we should just wait and see how things play out. jadelynx2 says:
I agree "completely"... or maybe not... 🙂... why this aggressive, almost predatory need to "understand" everything? Like, isn't it also okay if you don't fully grasp someone? Not everything needs to be dissected...
Maybe it’s just humanity... not necessarily being "human"... that’s enough to bridge the gap between us. To give and to receive without needing a single word. No voice, no complex empathy, no deep intellectual understanding required. Just the simple, raw essence of being human... a look, a touch, a tear shed in support...

Look, forcing an issue—or anything else—to some extreme is just wrong. We can't ever claim to fully grasp what someone else is going through. At the end of the day, the only thing that actually matters is showing up... being there for that person. Providing whatever kind of support they need in that moment... regardless of what it looks like.
Seriously, why the complete lack of empathy? Isn't empathy supposed to be a core part of being human? And I’m talking about that capacity for occasional, partial understanding of what someone else is going through... I mean, if everything just boils down to sitting across from someone, watching them cry, or listening to them vent—all while feeling absolutely nothing inside—then you’re basically just a robot. You're essentially a machine programmed to provide support without actually grasping the weight of it. It feels hollow. It actually reminds me of a movie... Makes perfect sense... Honestly, if I start breaking down the film to tie it back to this topic, I’ll probably just end up derailing the whole thread...

I suppose we’re finally getting to this topic... It feels like it was inevitable. I've been sitting on these thoughts for a while, watching everyone dance around the issue, but it's time to lay it out. There isn't much left to say that hasn't been whispered in the corners of these forums already. The reality of the situation is quite simple, really. We see the patterns emerging, the way certain players move, and yet there's this persistent refusal to acknowledge what's right in front of us. It's almost impressive, in a tragic sort of way. You look at the data, you look at how things have shifted since last year, and the conclusion becomes unavoidable. Some people want to call it a fluke. They want to believe that if they just ignore the trend, it will simply vanish. But trends don't just disappear because you close your eyes. They evolve. They settle in. And once they've taken root, trying to pull them out is a lot harder than just letting them be... jadelynx2 says:
Jeffrey Ramos4, you’re leaning a little too hard on that whole "one day" trope... and all that talk about a "collective, digital, universal, magically collective consciousness"... 🙂. In a collective that is truly a collective... there are no longer any others... who are this way or that... there are no more hidden agendas or secrets, no more "us versus them"... nothing is personal, individual, or private anymore... Everything happens at once, everything is one, everything is now. There is no such thing as my thought or your thought. All thoughts merge into a single thought. Individualism and separation simply cease to exist.

Actually, let me fix my wording. I misspoke. What I meant was, what if it were possible for only one part of consciousness to be collective, allowing some form of individuality to remain? For instance, things like war, the hunger for power, misunderstandings, aggression, and so on. If the consciousnesses of those individuals could link up into one collective whole, then all their experiences, ways of thinking, fears, etc., would merge. That collective entity would finally understand *why* certain individuals or groups push for war. From that, true empathy and genuine humanity could grow. Meanwhile, the part of consciousness that makes a person an individual would stay intact—things like personal preferences (the trivial stuff, like a favorite coffee shop), personality quirks, life goals, and so on. Basically, what if consciousness could be partitioned?

ironrider11 said:Outside of "practicality"... chaos finally hits... it's always partial, never absolute... it can be perceived... but not fully grasped, understood, or closed off... like something that, unlike perfection (and can perfection even exist?)... is by default something we try to quiet down, degrade, devalue, turn away from, or pretend not to see... all in the name of building structure, meaning, sequence, logic, or reason... trying to force an unquestionable cause and effect. Just blindly following unknown patterns... modeling yourself to meet the expectations of some imaginary version of yourself in some imaginary tomorrow... trying to navigate correctly without at least a thin script of real instructions, practical application, purpose, or significance... It's like a second adolescence based on rebelling against the self (which, just like adults in that first adolescence, breaks everything down just to try and survive within certain constraints... just a collection of trivial inheritance... from the very people they were originally rebelling against...). Is there a third adolescence... when after the sheer force of life and its centrifugal madness... the self crumbles... and perceives that the only constant... all along... was actually just some form of revolt... against itself. And there it is, in the later, most defining years... the only spark still smoldering, keeping that magic vitality alive....
Regarding exits... within the timeframe or essence (years of accumulated density of memory/perception) of a life that can either cradle you or crush you... regardless of whether you want to fight it or just passively cling to where you are... That moment of realization happens in... at... the very place where there is no exit, in the prison (whether it's a gorgeous mansion or sewer pipe #18) that you built yourself... that moment is capable of turning into eternity. It only depends on how much attention or focus you put into measuring it, defining it, or giving it weight.... Without a personal reaction, it just dissipates... just like all those other "incredibly important or totally irrelevant" ideas within a single moment (allowed or forced by "the ether"). Free will... hmm... You aren't exactly free... except to react to ("impulses, urges, intrusive thoughts, hallucinations...".. from "the ether"..) during a given moment. Do these practical constructions actually serve you? Are they just denials of those "Epiphany" moments (which aren't always blissful)? Being practical just serves to create a buffer so that primary thoughts (from "the ether"), fears, and paranoia... don't have enough time to break through to the surface. When they do break through, you make a little noise... spend a stint in the hospital... just like any other normal illness... so you push it all down as fast as possible... and keep grinding forward... into new practicalities/victories (over your own fears). Even though you know you aren't winning any battles or wars... you're just wasting time, money, and energy... trying to prolong things. Practicality is practical... only... for its own sake.

To even reach a decision... if there's any way to find "meaning" at all... it comes from de-rationalizing our own attempts to grasp things. It's almost healthy (read: superficiality/generalization) combined with that typical lack of interest in anything external that doesn't serve us personally. On a macro level, this creates a world where, through digital literacy, we can define the exact tone or shade of red (like rgba or hsla)... but still... primarily... what one person can't transmit or absorb from another—regardless of how many languages they speak or how much code they know (rgba(255,0,0,1); hsla(0/360,100%,50%,1))... is that core perception of red. It stays trapped in that individual "head." Just like that specific shade of red (rgba(255,0,0,.666)). Making the choice to be near someone, just for a moment, for an eternity, despite knowing the empirical barriers... that choice is based on one's own "complex of everythingness." Whatever it is... destructive or constructive... it just exists. It just is. There's no way (and I mean no way, imho...) to categorize it. Being aware of that, after rolling around in the "destruction" of de-rationalization, might lead to nothing more than a convenience... to simply be near someone. To have contact or touch without judging, without belittling them, without putting them on a pedestal or measuring them against yourself... just being part of the moment... for yourself and for them. A fragment of nothingness where there's no need to overthink the hopelessness...

I agree with the "fullness" part... but... 🙂... why this violent (it feels like a violation) need to "understand" ("Isn't it more important to realize you don't necessarily have to fully 'understand' someone")? Rationalization often kills any real "understanding" at its most primal level. Why do we always feel the need to say something motivating or encouraging? Why is it impossible... or actually quite common to notice... that just being human—not "humanity" as a concept, just being human—is enough to connect with someone? To give and receive... without words, without deep empathy, without needing a logical reason... just the banality of being human... a look, a touch, a tear. Saying "I don't know what to tell you..." Well, nobody asked you to give a speech. And even before opening up my soul like that, I knew the reaction would be... "I don't know what I'd say to you..." I put myself out there just to test your "I don't know... driven by my little abstraction..." Neither of us actually knows... what to say to the other's "I don't know"...31>>

Jeffrey, you're leaning a little too hard on that "one day" stuff and all those fancy terms like "collective, digital, universal, magically collective consciousness"... 🙂. In a true collective... there is no "other." There aren't different types of people... no hidden agendas, no secrets, no "this guy" or "that guy"... nothing is private or individual anymore. Everything happens at once, everything is one, everything is now. There's no "your" thought vs. "my" thought. All thoughts become one single thought. Individuality is dead. An aggressor wouldn't even exist, or they'd be wiped out by the sheer momentum of the majority, because a collective feels, knows, and thinks as one... it knows exactly what it wants and doesn't want. Nobody gets violated; there's no violator. Nobody is going to be unknown... unknown doesn't exist. Everyone just wants to be, to do... unknown is primacy, universality, unity. "Think about it"... you're getting way too caught up in that "one day" fantasy 🙂 Sex is just like language or writing. It's the perception of two different versions of the color red. It's the merging of two entities... whether it's surrender... or dominance/violation (even the calculated, consensual, or manipulative kind...). In a state of being where "you" (me, you, him, her, us, them...) can actually open your soul and hand over every single thought about you, about me, about everything... the way I see you (because that's still the core priority, obviously... 🙂), experience you, love you, worship you... that's already handed over to you by default. It's wide open... it's accessible. It's a reality where masks quickly become forgotten relics. Sexual animalism might be useless at a level where there are no barriers between intellects. Where there's no barrier between "you" and "me." Merging one isn't even logical. 🙂
I'm ready to ditch all that animal instinct right now... just to be a pioneer in a new model of possibility like that... SpaceMonkey...

But then, what is the charm of getting to know someone else if everything is collective? Take Person A meeting Person B. They have their own individuality right up until that moment. They "merge" and become one, but then what? After they outgrow the collective stage? Can that collective entity remember what it felt like when individual identity actually existed? Is it possible for them to be one during that "merger," but only in specific parts of their consciousness, allowing them to return to their individual selves later? And if, during that union, "that something" is created between them while they retain a slice of their individuality (the partial exchange of consciousness, thoughts, and feelings I mentioned earlier), then they can actually develop a relationship that sustains itself over time.
And as for sexual animality... if the folks over at the local PTA heard you say that, they’d burn you at the stake 🤣
The real question is why sexual animality matters so much. When you look at it, it seems like nothing more than a superficial, empty, momentary release of a need. With every "release," the craving for it grows even stronger. It's a drug. The effect on the brain is the same whether it's an orgasm, drugs, or alcohol... just more dopamine, please. Addiction. Where do we draw the line between pleasure and dependency? Is it just a matter of dosage?
There have already been some attempts at this kind of "merging," where the "I" and the "you" finally become one. It’s about moving past pure animal instinct. It might not be that total, 100% absolute union, but it’s on a much higher, more meaningful level than what most people settle for... which just keeps them stuck in the same old patterns.

ironrider11 said:Let me sum this up for you...

We’re all just stuck in this loop. Living in a space, a time... a reality where the whole concept of "self" is just as shaky as everything else around us. Sure, maybe a "me" exists without any outside input, but not in any way that actually matters to the world right now. Why does the global perspective matter to one person? Because trying to live in some imaginary version of existence outside the mainstream is just... well, imagination. It’s not even that different from just imagining things within the norm. Think about someone stripped of sight, sound, smell, touch... what kind of existence are they even living in? How are they any different from the rest of us—people who are convinced of their own reality—when they're living entirely outside the standard model? All this material stuff we take for granted is really just our own personal, subjective memory of what's real. A schizophrenic experiencing stimuli that aren't "available" to me... those are just symptoms of his illness. If I try to figure out how he sees "red," or if I try to visualize his red versus my red... I'll just end up with my own version of the truth. My own "lucid" conclusion. I'd probably tell myself that because of his "heightened senses," his red isn't my red. But that's just me overthinking it. Me, the color red, and my ability to sit here and analyze it all... defining ourselves through labels and differences is just something happening inside my own head. Without the senses—without the hearing, the smell, the touch that breaks into this existence—my mind would be drifting through God knows where. It would be totally disconnected from anything we call common sense, logic, or reality. With others, or without them, one way or another... it doesn't really matter. As long as it is... whatever it is. When it's gone, it's gone. Or maybe it won't be. Someone without senses might perceive "non-existence" in a way we can't even begin to wrap our heads around...

Everyone’s entitled to whatever they want. Period. Anyone else trying to tell you, convince you, or lecture you that you don't have the right to something... they're just some random person. They’re just trying to force their own little version of reality down your throat. They think because they’ve got a degree or a fancy title or "experience," they somehow know better than you. It's all just an ego trip... Trying to fit you into their narrow little worldview. People say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but I think there's something way deeper to that than just some tired old cliché...

Smart design... this whole existence thing... it all comes down to being individual. Every single person lives inside their own little bubble—this unique, custom-made capsule that’s both a prison and a way to escape being just another face in the crowd. Without those boundaries, everything would just blur into one big mess. The only reason anything actually moves... the real engine behind it all... is because we have this primal urge to fit in. To blend, to identify, to act like we belong to some group of "others" who are just like us. But if you really look at it... a grain of sand isn't just a grain, it's part of the sand. A drop of water isn't just a drop, it's the ocean. A leaf isn't just a leaf, it's part of a branch, which is part of a tree, which is part of a massive forest growing out of a pile of dirt and water... If you strip everything down to the basics... if you break it all into its smallest parts... we're all made of the same stuff. We share everything. And once you break things down to that absolute core, you just vanish into nothingness. That weird, unmeasurable void... Spending days, months, years trying to figure out who we are or what our surroundings mean... beating ourselves up for being lazy or stuck, or patting ourselves on the back for working hard and actually achieving something... it's honestly the only thing worth holding onto. As long as possible. Thinking life is beautiful or total garbage is just a matter of perspective... how you interpret the "sameness." One moment feels huge and significant, while another feels totally useless or destructive... like just a cruel, pointless fragment of wasted time...

I don't even know what to say to you... just weird. ironrider11 says:
"Stupid"... I'm really not a fan of that word. What does it even mean? It's such a vague, overused term...

See the irony here? You hate the word, but if you actually stop to think about it, you end up questioning what the hell it even means. Who is it for? When does it apply? What’s the context? There are different shades of the same color, right? Is there anything that actually exists outside of a broad definition? Nobody likes being generalized—we all dodge those labels... but isn't everything we call "existence" just a bunch of individual reinterpretations of general ideas? Isn't all knowledge basically just one massive generalization? All these theories, opinions, and perspectives... they’re just fluid, shifting variables. They only look like solid, undeniable truths because we freeze them in a single moment in time. But as a permanent thing? They don't exist. It's all just these tiny, short-lived flashes where one person decides someone else is "smart" or "stupid"... which really just proves how impossible empathy is. We can't occupy two different worlds at once. We're stuck in our own little bubbles, trying to find logic, while the individual is just lost, trying to figure out where they even stand in the grand scheme. Science, spirituality, religion... none of it gives a real answer. None of it even gives you a starting point. Clinging to some "universal truth"—like who's smart and who's dumb—isn't exactly stupid... but it's definitely not smart either...

Free will... the individual self... without some kind of ultimate erasure, it’s basically nothing. It only matters because of its scale. But if you're stuck inside some other structure where that scale is totally irrelevant, then your "significance" doesn't mean squat. Everything is relative. It all depends on who's watching and from what angle. No eyes, no sight. No intellect—no diversity—and the perspective becomes impossible to grasp. If you're stripped of even a fraction of your ability to perceive things, your free will gets effectively neutralized. You're forced into a predetermined path. If someone is deprived of the capacity to understand their situation, they probably wouldn't even want to change it. But since they can't see it, they don't have the freedom to choose. These tunnels of conditioning leave you with nothing but a basic yes or no. And even that choice is entirely dictated by those predefined limits...red, flat surface"..) perception/choice).... Free will is, or better yet... free will acting like relativity. Does anyone actually know—regardless of how many identical examples are logged (two different shades of red, for instance)—if what someone says, writes, records, experiences, or feels... has anything to do with how they "identically" perceive it within their own little bubble? This digital collective symbiosis... it’ll be an interesting ride, I guess... but if you look at the pessimistic side of things regarding human "spirit"... it’s a place, a space, a way of existing where no "normal" person would ever want to hang out. This whole thing with individualism and conformism over "personal identity, perception, choice..."... maybe it's the final stop before absolute chaos. One more step and we vanish. All aboard! To find yourself unaware... because inside the "dream," there's no need for dreaming, and waking up is impossible.... Just being there, steady... absolutely permanent, with no way out (even if you lose someone dear)... without having your own little corner for yourself and your own... hmm... your current, virtual self... inside this cacophony of every single thought from everyone who exists... who is allowed to move through it just like in a dream (creating the entire virtual reality by participating) via the sheer inertia of imagination..... Ugh... makes me sick..... But then again... regardless of the gag reflex... that’s just... a reflex caused by a current lack of vision, a lack of capacity to understand..... If you consider that even though it isn't obvious to me... it's extremely narrow and nothing like what it could be... there is still the possibility of consciousness evolving into the collective. But then once more... in the collective "I"... (theoretically speaking) you stop being a drop and truly become the water.. losing individuality.. and regardless of any collective understanding or feeling of oneness, of everything... being one... within everything.. there's just this urge (where does that counter-drive come from?) to be universally... fragmented, divided, separate.. just a tiny bit of "me".... The same scream, the same whining, the same repetitive trauma.... Never good. Ever. In short, "intelligent design" is always only a certain (fluid, shifting...) percentage intelligent. And it’s probably just like everything else, subject to... or just part of duality. Balancing between perfection and absolute "idiocy" ("sorry lord"... I had to riff on that...)...

That was quite the summary 😬

I follow your logic, really, because I’ve certainly spiraled through those same thoughts myself. But the real question is: where does this all lead? What’s the actual, practical value for an individual living their life? If you dedicate everything to this kind of deep analysis, you end up stuck—either there’s no way out, or there are too many paths, which just leads to total chaos.
For instance, what is the tangible benefit of knowing that a schizophrenic patient perceives the color red differently than you do? Maybe the only point is that it helps you grasp their perspective, allowing for better empathy. Even then, you can't fully bridge the gap because, as you noted, everyone lives within their own subjective experience (solipsism). If that's the case, then things feel incredibly deterministic and hopeless. Isn't it also true that you don't necessarily have to *fully* understand someone? Sometimes you just decide to be there for them—to choose to try and understand—and that intention alone opens the door to everything else, whether as a friend, a partner, or a mentor...
Regarding the concept of being "stupid," that's exactly why I mentioned how pointless it is to define it. Meaning shifts from person to person, and besides, who are we to judge anyone else like that? That’s where empathy starts: realizing we can't view someone else's reality through our own lens. We have to have the will to let them explain their world to us. Only then can we actually begin to see them for who they are.
But what if it were possible to reach a collective level of consciousness without losing our individuality? Imagine being able to step entirely into someone else's shoes while still remaining yourself—where your thoughts and theirs coexist. You could see red through a schizophrenic's eyes and then snap back to your own vision. Then you could actually compare the two. But that introduces a whole new set of problems. If we could maintain a collective consciousness alongside our own, it would be far too easy for people looking to exploit others. It's a dangerous territory. How do you regulate that? Imagine having the power to use a collective connection to overwrite someone's individual identity, effectively erasing who they are. 😲 These are massive ethical dilemmas. It opens the door to much deeper manipulation. 😲 Everything has its pros and cons. It’s probably no coincidence that in Star Trek, the Borg exist as a hive mind without empathy or feeling... just one collective consciousness. Totally robotic. In a way, that’s the endgame. One day, maybe robots will rule the world simply because it might be the only way a collective consciousness could exist without being manipulated by human nature. Ultimately, having emotions is a double-edged sword. 😲 And honestly, without them, there wouldn't even be sex. 😲 And who would want to give that up? 😲🤣

ironrider11 said:Maybe because success isn't really "measured" from the perspective of someone who actually has a gift or a skill... and doesn't bother defining themselves or making a big deal out of what they haven't reached yet. Or maybe success is just measured by people living in tension, mostly because they lack the actual ability to pull things off. It would probably be easier, theoretically, to just redirect all that effort, time, and criticism toward finding one's own universal failure, rather than trying to define oneself on some artificial, globally accepted scale of "success"... where success is just a mold for what's needed, justified, or socially acceptable...

The "stupid" person will always try to present themselves, mask, or become... smart. Within that duality, it's no surprise when the "smart" person tries to do the exact opposite. Just an observation, testing the waters based on my own experience. Is a "stupid" person successful if they manage to convince themselves they aren't? And by that same logic, were they ever even "stupid"... if they succeeded in doing that? Is the "smart" person truly smart... if they use their intellect to negate their own intellect, trying through intellectual revisionism to not be... or to be... anything other than their predetermined idea? Are "both" sides just a tension, a drive, a level of unfulfilled self-creation... a kind of heat, an energy... that doesn't care how it's done, how much is done, or even if nothing is done at all... where just existing within these "neural storms" is enough...

The definition of "self" might just be found in the perception of its own resistance... not on some linear scale of cause and effect. Being "smart" or "stupid," in a state of being that knows everything but understands nothing... knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing... might be the only choice left within the "wide spectrum of free will." Regardless of the choice, the pressure to react, the approval or denial, the tendency... this core essence that we all can't... can't ignore... everyone here will eventually have to cross out at some point. After that crossing, everything that was—or wasn't—right, wrong, intentional, or accidental... before... maybe then, for the first time, it's all perceived and summed up... just as a faint vision of a former storm... which, according to some unknown laws of nature... entropy of everything... is now absolutely extinguished, quieted, fading... becoming a past that is never again important or even noticeable to anyone... just a fragment of an illusion of time and space...

Actually, that's exactly it. The problem with people is that they measure their own success by external factors—specifically, the reactions they get from others. We can't define ourselves from just one position, whether it's our perceived "I" or the perceived "him/her" from someone else's side. If an individual has a built personality—meaning they are secure in their goals, their virtues and flaws, the thoughts that are part of them, etc.—then the reaction of their surroundings can't destroy their view of themselves. On the other hand, without a social circle, a person can't see their mistakes or flaws, or rather, the personality markers they could use to mature and become more aware of certain parts of themselves. If they don't succeed in this environment, they'll surely succeed in another. If they aren't appreciated here, they'll be valued somewhere else. It's like that saying...Every cloud has a silver lining. If he personally views working at a small-town high school as a genuine success and a fulfillment, rather than playing grandmaster chess against Bobby Fischer, then nobody has the right to tell him he’s wrong or a failure. So, I find myself agreeing with what you wrote here, quoting: Jt might be (theoretically) easier to redirect all that effort, time, and criticism... toward searching for one's own universal (un)success, instead of trying to define oneself by wriggling around on some artificial, globally validated scale of (un)success (where success equals being useful, justified, permitted, or desirable....)....
But then there's this part you mentioned, quoting: "measured" through the perception of those living under certain tensions, in combination with a deficiency of the abilities required to achieve them
Hmmmm, interesting 😬

"Stupid." I really don't care for that word. What does it actually mean? It's such a broad, imprecise term. Someone might seem stupid to one person but not to another. Maybe he thinks he's stupid when he isn't, or maybe others think he is when he isn't. If someone is truly stupid but lives under the conviction that they are brilliant—and it isn't hurting anyone—then let them live like that 😬
But these examples feel a bit cliché and vague. What matters is the specific field where you're defined as smart or stupid, because the consequences vary wildly in terms of how much damage they do to yourself or the world around you.
However, looking back at this section, quoting: Is someone truly "smart"—really smart... if their intellect denies intellect and attempts... through intellectual revisions of the "self"... to not be.. or rather to be.. anything other than a predetermined idea?
Hmmmm, interesting again 😬

So, there's no more free will, no individuality, no sense of "self"... because everything eventually cancels itself out. We all just merge into one—becoming nothingness, insignificance, a mere memory... the human race goes bye-bye. Maybe we evolve into that. Maybe we establish a collective consciousness, or that nightmare of a virtual consciousness I mentioned once before. And there you have it: eternity. Brrr, sounds terrifying.
If everything eventually becomes just a fragment of an illusion of time and space, as you put it, then it's probably best for the "smart" people to convince themselves they are "stupid"—or better yet, to actually become stupid. Why not follow the example of someone like Epicurus and just enjoy everything life has to offer? 😬 That last part was my clumsy attempt at sarcasm, not my actual ideology, just so there's no misunderstanding.
And one thought for the road from one of the great minds 🧐

Alexander Thompson said:So, I’ve got this absolute genius in my family—my uncle... I mean, the guy was a wizard at physics, chemistry, biology... straight A student back in high school... Man, he even used to play chess against Kasparov, just incredibly sharp, really quick on his feet... Then he gets into a top-tier pre-med program, totally bombs it, and ends up switching over to education... He barely scraped through, mostly because he just couldn't deal with the administrative side of things... Like, signing up for exams, chasing down signatures... It just wasn't his vibe, I guess...

He spent his whole career teaching out in some tiny rural town 12 miles far away from any major hub, you know? He could never quite land a gig in a big city like Chicago or something... Such a shame, really...

Pretty much an unsuccessful guy, if I'm being honest 🤷

Why unsuccessful?
Maybe he actually enjoys that kind of work. Maybe he never had the drive or the ambition to go down any other path. And why is it bad that a man found work at a rural school? Perhaps he truly found his calling in teaching.
We once had a music teacher who was incredibly gifted—a literal musical genius—but he struggled with schizophrenia. Everyone wondered why someone so talented was working in a local school. He just told them straight up that he loves the job and loves teaching.

To the OP: you’re still young, green, and inexperienced. Focus on what you’re good at and what actually interests you, but don't keep your head stuck in the clouds. I hate to burst your bubble, but you aren't anything special, no grand persona. Not you, not me, not anyone else. Except maybe Tesla 🐔😁 What I mean is, at the end of the day, raw knowledge isn't everything; it's about how you apply your own potential in a positive direction. For yourself and for others. You can't change the entire world. You can change yourself, grow, gain experience, think, draw conclusions, and let those things lead to progress. If you want to see change, look at your own immediate surroundings. Pick a realistic goal, and if you want to make a difference, help someone using the skills and experience you have. For instance, you could get involved in your local community and volunteer.

granitegull51 said:Look, anyone can give an answer—that's just freedom of speech, right? 🥱

I couldn't care less about licenses or those little lobbying groups. 👍

Obviously, requirements vary by role, but in these cases, people always pick C, otherwise the employers assume you'll be a dissatisfied and difficult employee.😉

Yeah, you hit the nail on the head.

Everyone lies—including psychologists and those HR ladies who pretend they’re actually making progress, only for some American manager to just pick their tenth favorite candidate anyway 😁

Basically, psychometric testing is just a useless circus where employees act like robots and managers pretend they're being intelligent. 🍿

It really just depends on how much sales talk you're willing to swallow; there are testing services everywhere...

NO, any random psychologist cannot and should not be giving those answers. If that happens, you report them to the state licensing board.
Statements like yours are an insult to professionals who actually do their jobs with integrity. I worked in HR myself, and we always strove to be objective and thorough.
You have to realize that at the end of the day, the employer picks whoever they want, regardless of what the tests say or what the psychologist thinks. Psychologists don't have the final word there. The decision belongs to the boss.

Eric Newman4 said:Michael suffers from a rare psychological disorder known as Fregoli Delusion.
...
Anomalisa is Michael's ideal woman.
...
To wrap things up: Anomalisa dives into a man's sexual frustration, his isolation, and his internal psychological flaws through a dream-like lens during a business trip. There's the irony of being a public speaker yet so disconnected from human connection, yet he clamors onto the possibility of finding the right one so much he dreams of it. He projects this ideal version of a woman onto a one-night stand, only to wake up the next morning and realize she’s just like everyone else—not the cure he was looking for. Even when he returns to his family, the suffering continues.

Total tragedy.

That’s exactly how I interpreted it too. Honestly, the movie is just incredibly depressing.

I haven't seen anyone trying to paint themselves into a Native American persona. Honestly, if anything, I’ve noticed people just don't really give them much thought anymore 😢 anyway. We're talking about Native Americans here, not people from India, right? 😬 Personally, I think Native American culture is just plain cool 🙂🥳😂

darkcanyon10 said:DAILY ROUTINE

8:00 AM Wake up, hygiene, coffee, breakfast, then just rot on the computer reading whatever garbage is online.
10:00 AM Head out to pick up supplies for model building—or whatever. If you're clueless, just stick to old sailing ships; they actually sell for decent money.
12:00 PM Get back and prep lunch, or go grab something, or just mess around with food... whatever.
2:00 PM Downtime. Hop on the PC, download a movie for later, read up on stuff you actually know to get better at it, jot down important notes, listen to music, and obsess over how you're gonna build that damn ship.
5:00 PM Hit the gym and grind for two hours. Don't skip the warmup.
8:00 PM Get home, eat dinner. On the way back, call someone and set up some kind of hangout.
9:30 PM Watch that movie you downloaded if you didn't make plans, browse the forums, keep thinking about the ship.
11:30 PM Hit the head and contemplate the ship.

p.s. first thing is to dump all the booze down the toilet.

Well, there it is. A solid breakdown of actual, productive things a person can do with their time... 👍

Frequently Asked Questions. said:Tunneling... just one of those projects that sounds simple until you're actually staring at a massive drill bit and a mountain of dirt. 😵

Sometimes I get the feeling that’s really all most people need. Especially me... 🤣

The Mayor said:Brakes are just old wounds that refuse to heal... What kind of frogs are we talking about...? They just kill creativity...

Still, those kinds of thoughts really weigh people down. Some just... They’re going to push me into isolation... And I just can't seem to find my way out of this one...

It’s probably best to give this some actual thought... Regarding that matter... What is the actual truth??

No matter how much we obsess over finding better ways to optimize our days, our weeks, our months, or even our entire lives...It’s going to be a little overshot... just because that's how the mechanism is built.

Waiting is actually a form of movement... Because it is... The whole point of something more significant... the kind of stuff that’s just too damn difficult to put into words... A few sheets of paper with some pretty faint pencil marks... mostly because I ran out of ink on my pen...

Then you really need to focus on letting those wounds heal. Isolation is just an escape... it’s nothing more than resisting the momentum needed to actually move forward.

And is it true?

Try explaining how this constant, endless waiting actually serves any purpose. Seriously, what’s the end goal here? Just sitting around without taking a single step forward... it makes zero sense.

edit: here’s a specific list of things you can actually start doing tomorrow: polish up your resume, draft a cover letter, and start scouring job boards... then, just make yourself something simple to eat.

Man, Superman, Mads... 😍🙂🙂

restlesstiger49 said:Exactly!!

We're meeting this Thursday, August 27th at 5:00 PM at Times Square, right by the statue.

Anyone looking to hang out is more than welcome to join us. 😁

👍🎉

or just to get kicked in the teeth 🤣🐔