On Sun, 11 May 2008 12:58:31 -0700 (PDT)
"bukvich@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
" <bukvich@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> OK I realize I am repeating myself here for at least the twentieth
> time but apparently I am about the only person in the internet
> universe who is concerned with this question. This is not my opinion.
> I give you data!
For me this question looks a lot like the situation in the Matrix movie
where someone is asking to be put back into the matrix in exchange for
betraying his friends. What he bargains for is his future self forgets
his betrayal, he loses his knowledge about being inside a simulation
and he will have a good life. I'm afraid he's insufficiently paranoid
though, because if he agrees to having his memory wiped how would he
know the other party is honoring the agreement?
> So, to recapitulate, here is the evidence for all you empiricists. On
> the one side we have the Seligman et al experiments which show
> factually that it pays to be optimistic. On the other side is all the
> studies which show that people with low self-esteem and depression
> have a better grasp of reality. How to choose which way to go?
How do you know you did not already make that choice in the past and
are now inside some degraded form of reality for your pleasure? Or
someone else put you in there against your will.
Are quantum effects evidence that we are in a simulation? The computer
running the simulation is having problems with its processing capacity
and because of that it is cutting corners? And how about time
dilation? The slowing down of time itself for objects that move very
fast. Few people seem to appreciate this. Scientists treat relativity
as a dry scientific fact they want to describe instead of using it as
exhibit A in the case against reality.
I can even explain why we are not seeing technologically
advanced alien life forms in this universe. They all switched to
another routine in the same computer that gets more processing cycles
and this enables faster than light travel. Or maybe they gain extra
time because nature's algorithms are not too bright and they are using
better algoritms in order to arrive somewhere years before nature
reaches that point, maybe even forcing nature to take a certain path
because since they arrive somewhere first they can channel the energies
before things come into existence.
> Would you rather be happy and stupid or smart and miserable?
What about curiosity? The meaning of life? What is the purpose
if you throw it all away if it makes you unhappy? You'd have to start
all over again. Unless you don't like the process of retrieving your
lost knowledge. In that case maybe death would be the optimal outcome,
at least if one would die with a smile on ones face, without being
wiser.
> The other thing we talked about was hypnosis. I have been doing a
> bunch of breath following meditations, just like the zen dudes. The
> reason I have hit the wall on my skip ropes is I do not have enough
> diaphram control. I have the cardio and the legs to do 3000. I have
> actually done it a couple times and I was not staggering winded after.
> I just cannot maintain the breathing timing regular at the proper pace
> for the length of time it takes to get 3000 skips in. It might not
> matter to some people. It isn't like doing a crawl stroke and you have
> to have that inhalation perfectly timed because otherwise your mouth
> is underwater. But it really bothers me when I am tired from 2200
> skips and I have to think about how deep to inhale or how far to
> exhale and then before I know it I have lost track of exactly where
> the rope is on the arc and bam the sucker is tied up in my ankle. But
> I digress.
I believe your routines would make Yalom sad ...
I'm having trouble weening myself from oracle use. I know it's
just random input but at the same time I prefer it over the horror
vacui. But most of the time the procrastination results in avoiding
action. Is staring at a wall or exhausting oneself by physical exercise
any better?
> Anyway she says the problem with most trance activity is it's not only
> not higher consciousness but it's false consciousness. Which I think
> is her value system being a little corrupted by protestant work ethics
> (she is a _jungian_ after all, although jung didn't work for his
> fortune he married it) and the idea that if it doesn't pay it's a
> waste of time. Talk about your false consciousness. But she was really
> adamant about what I could be doing which would really be worth my
> while with all the time I am sitting in my recliner chair observing my
> breath going in and out, which she considers totally silly. I just let
> her beat me up about it though I was feeling so guilty about ambu****ng
> her on the protagoras.
Why don't you tell us what protagoras said?
> This morning I had a great dream. I dreamt I was a dog sleeping on the
> floor. It felt really good.
I can see how that would be almost optimal for you, since you seem to
be trying to escape the questions by giving the public impression of
studying them. Can I suggest an improvement on your dream by adding a
book to it that the dog was studying just before it fell asleep?
P.
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