I don't see a need for optimism or pessimism, as both seem to be rooted in ego and attachment. Neither lens changes reality. Replace those ideas with ...
What leads me to believe we exist in a simulated reality is the improbability that irreducible particles (quarks) behave in intelligent ways, with no ...
The Five Levels of Attachment deal with this nicely, I think, with respect to attachment to things, people, ideas, and even identity/ego. Zero attachm...
Tell that to the quarks that somehow keep my brain together! haha Seriously though, I think the desire to know, or at least form a belief, comes from ...
By 'seemingly intelligent', I mean organized behavior that results in the creation of a complex structure or entity. Particles sticking together or bo...
But what makes the quark join with other quarks and start doing seemingly intelligent things? (Sorry if I'm missing your point, but I'm really going t...
@"Relativist" From what I gather, your responses do nothing to explain the intelligent behavior taking place... Not that I expect someone to be able t...
But it's the degree of complexity being accomplished by these particles that astounds me. I could understand lesser phenomena, such as giving off ligh...
I can understand an irreducible particle having something like gravitational force, but not instructions... because being irreducible means that there...
Having characteristics is one thing... being able to organize and combine into atomic particles, which in turn somehow organize into increasingly comp...
It is fairly easy for me to accept particles organizing in some manner according to some internal/external force. For example, an internal attractive ...
Sort of... To me, a particle/object/structure/entity that exhibits organized/intelligent behavior either has to have internal components driving the a...
For example, a plant is composed of cells. It is the actions of the cells that determine how the plant will develop. If a particle is irreducible, it ...
It's not that the behaviour of compound bodies isn't amazing; it's just that it has to happen first at the level of the irreducible particles, which l...
Maybe the problem is that determinism and free will are not mutually exclusive... at least as they are seeming to be defined in this discussion... aut...
I agree. To the people who promote free will, I would keep asking 'Why?' like my determined 2-year-old does. I think they would quickly determine that...
Even with freedom to choose between alternative courses of action, you still had no control over the inputs that created you (that would be quite para...
Also, the road to recovery from depression is usually a very winding one, where it sometimes feels like you're right back where you started. Especiall...
That being said, CBT in isolation will not necessarily work for everyone (some forms of mental/emotional trauma may be too severe), and definitely not...
I think that's a little different than what Posty was saying... I can't just decide to believe in Jesus. I have to first be convinced of his existence...
As far as 'disidentification' goes, CBT and mindfulness practices played the biggest roles in that for me. Having been depressed for so long, the asso...
I've been pretty stable for about 4 years now, following decades of depression. Medication has played its part, and so has CBT and rTMS. Despite the m...
That's definitely part of the formula I live by now. Maintaining and cultivating relationships definitely contribute to big picture, along with sleep,...
@"Marcus de Brun" Thanks for your kind words. I don't mind sharing with the forum. There may be others who benefit from the discussion. I am indeed in...
Aren't quarks irreducible? From what I recall, when one attempts to subdivide a quark, the combined matter and energy result in the creation of two qu...
Two scenarios seem plausible to me. 1) Reality is created by consciousness, and will therefore always exist. The form is not likely to change. Either ...
Speaking of which, it is unimaginable to me how a computer functions, based only on electricity travelling through circuits, turning little switches o...
@"TimeLine" @"Agustino" Both approaches have yielded some benefit for me. The success of each likely depends on your personality type. Being a very lo...
@"Bitter Crank" In an earlier post, you were helpful in getting me past the existential angst I was having with regard to the lack of objective meanin...
Theoretically, if you kept this child alive via intravenous, consciousness would likely still arise, though it would remain completely empty. When awa...
@"charleton" Hmmm... You don't seem to have anything constructive to add to this thread at this point. Perhaps you would consider reading the two book...
The closest thing I have found is The Simplest Case Scenario proposed by Karl Coryat, which says "a system of observers connected in this way can be t...
Can you propose a scenario involving reality arising from consciousness that supports multiple sources of consciousness? I'm having difficulty coming ...
Just reread some parts of Robert Lanza's Biocentrism. Does our inability to assign self-aware consciousness to computers point to reality being create...
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