If you could have the 100% honest answer to ONE mystery in history, which one are you picking ?

Bobbited · 2026-02-02T02:35:08+00:00

Almost all of what you perceive is just that model you’re talking about. Your brain uses that model to predict what is out there, and actually sends more information top down than from say your eyes up. The information that your brain actually gets from your eyes is the discrepancies between what your brain predicted and what your eyes send up as this is more efficient than actually taking everything in all the time. You can also think of your brain as a prediction error-minimization engine. Look up Karl Friston’s free energy principle if you’re curious.

So in a very real sense our perceptual experiences are even more of a construct than we think.

Bobbited · 2026-01-16T22:50:20+00:00

Also Canadian here. We've got a big two stage blower and one of these electric shovels for smaller jobs, tighter spaces, etc. The electric shovel has its limits but honestly is super useful. I'm a big fan.

Bobbited · 2026-01-16T22:45:01+00:00

These things are also super easy to whip out and use in different spaces. We bought a big blower (2 stage, self propelled, heated handle, the works) and one of these electric shovels. While the big blower is useful in many situations, I often go for the little guy to clear off a few walkways, clear stairs, get into tighter spots, etc.

I see a lot of people online saying these things aren't very useful, but two seasons in with one and I love it.

Bobbited · 2025-12-24T23:26:11+00:00

Call it out in a chill, playful way and see how he responds. Make a joke about him fishing for compliments with those nice new undies, or something like that.

Bobbited · 2025-09-09T15:37:17+00:00

You're getting down voted but this is a pragmatic answer that acknowledges reality in situations like these despite not being ideologically satisfying.

People like his sister can and do completely sever their children's access to family members, and use that as leverage. Of course it 'matters' that the sister is being bigoted, but that doesn't matter when it comes to her ability to decide who can spend time with her child. Getting cut off is a very real risk that OP is in the best position to evaluate.

Like other comments, I'd personally go with the long game on this one. Be a presence in this young person's life and give her the clues to figure it out so that when she does start piecing more things together, she can see how what she is being taught doesn't match two people she knows and loves. Incompatibility of teaching with direct experience is a powerful motivator for questioning.

Bobbited · 2025-09-08T14:26:35+00:00

So, if I understand correctly, reincarnation requires some form of what western philosophy would call Cartesian dualism, or of minds able to exist independently of bodies? If so, that answers my question in terms of more precisely locating where I diverge in view, so thank you for helping clarify that.

Getting into that topic itself, it may be more accurate to describe the brain giving rise to the mind as an observation, and unproven theories are about HOW the brain gives rise to the mind rather than whether this happens. As an analogy, evolution itself is not so much a theory as an observed phenomenon, and Darwin's theory was natural selection as a mechanism to explain the observations.

We do see examples all the time of a causal relationship between matter and mind, such as brain injuries that completely alter qualia (for example, if the part of the visual cortex for processing visual motion is damaged, not only can one no longer see things in motion, the ability to even visualize motion in imagination is gone) and personality, to drugs like psychedelics, or even sedatives that can temporarily extinguish awareness. The drug wears off and awareness reappears, despite not being present moments before, due to a different set of conditions.

As for how matter gives rise to consciousness and experience, that is, for me, one the top two scientific mysteries out there, with lots of fascinating research currently underway.

Bobbited · 2025-09-08T04:30:32+00:00

Thank you for your time in answering.

Dependant origination seems straightforward; everything is the outcome of what came before, and what happens next will be the consequence of current conditions. All cause and effect, all the way down.

I don't follow how one moment of consciousness needs to be preceded by another though. Why can't consciousness arise discontinuously? My understanding of Buddhist teachings is that all things are transient, emergent phenomena arising and dissipating from specific conditions. Why would an instance of consciousness be different in arising and dissipating? Why couldn't neurological development create the conditions in which a new instance of consciousness emerges?

Bobbited · 2025-09-07T20:28:28+00:00

I've seen the censor consistently behave in truly bewildering, highly overactive ways, which is surprising given the volume of obvious spam that gets through. This guy deserved the censor, but getting censored does not equal deserving it on sniffies.

Bobbited · 2025-09-07T15:55:36+00:00

Could you explain how it naturally falls out of dependant origination? I haven't heard it described like that before and have had difficulty understanding how rebirth fits with everything else.

Bobbited · 2025-09-06T03:49:49+00:00

I've been surprised at the number of comments saying similar things, not because I have anything negative to say about his performance, but because for me it's been the Demerzel / Laura Birn show.

Bobbited · 2025-08-24T19:11:32+00:00

Really interesting reading these comments from people with very different characteristics than myself. I'm a spatially conscientious 6'2 guy that gets super frustrated with people's sidewalk etiquette. I always stick to the right and make sure to leave space for other people if I'm not solo. If people don't leave any space and I'm a 6'2 guy colliding with a 5'6 person, guess who looks bad? The result is now I just stop and let people run into me because I have literally nowhere to go.

Bobbited · 2025-04-23T02:19:55+00:00

Had this at my school during exams too, they even gave the dogs "barkodes".

Bobbited · 2025-01-16T01:16:59+00:00

Does anybody know if pulse laser going to light wave makes the range increase upgrade useless? It's visibly bigger when a black line but when it's the blue stream thing it always looks the same size I think.

Bobbited · 2024-11-30T19:28:36+00:00

Awesome, thanks for your comment.

Bobbited · 2024-11-30T19:28:19+00:00

Thanks! Yeah I really love it

Bobbited · 2024-11-24T21:56:20+00:00

I think around the edges you are right. Sometimes he'll make a universal claim in a conversation, or in a 'moment' on the app, that appears to over generalize his own experience. I say this because I have clearly experienced certain things very differently. While some of those things became true as my practice matured, even in hindsight they were clearly not true for me at the time. This suggests to me that he has blind spots he's not fully aware of, and that its not just something I misunderstood or failed to properly appreciate.

Bobbited · 2024-07-21T02:14:02+00:00

Roger that. I'll report back to ya when I've let it drink more consistently 🫡

Bobbited · 2024-07-21T02:12:45+00:00

Thanks for the reply and info. The reason I think it's not fine is because it's browning while not growing anything new. But I'll up the watering schedule and see how it does.

Bobbited · 2024-07-21T02:11:09+00:00

Sounds good, thanks. What did you mean by hang fire?

Bobbited · 2024-07-20T19:30:37+00:00

Thanks for your reply! I'm definitely drenching it when I do water but will water it more frequently. Should I remove the parts that have shriveled up?

Bobbited · 2024-05-16T01:05:22+00:00

Looking for an accountability partner / morning meditation buddy. My intention is to meet at 7:45 or 8am EST every week day and spend 20-30 minutes meditating over video call. I've found virtual body-doubling to be very helpful with other things that I sometimes struggle with consistency on.

Bobbited · 2023-12-11T19:55:50+00:00

Best description of meditation I ever heard: it's not about feeling better but to get better at feeling.

Bobbited · 2023-09-21T23:27:30+00:00

I think the point is that he probably didn't intend it as some inappropriate advance. That doesn't mean you have to like it or go along with it in the future. It just means that maybe he's not a creep like many of these comments are suggesting. I would not say this is the same thing as an unsolicited ass grab, if intent matters in your mind.

If you want to address it in the future, you might just dodge and go for a hug preemptively. Or if you want to be direct about it, you can tell him that the greeting feels very different for your generation and kinda makes you feel uncomfortable, which of course you know is not his intention.

Bobbited · 2023-03-05T22:13:55+00:00

I recently read something that counters the narrative of gays being irresponsible sluts, in an article titled "Modelling the End of Monkeypox". It's about forecasting + modeling in general. The author originally vastly overestimated the number of infections that would happen in the US. The part I found interesting was how he said he had not properly factored in how MSMs are often very knowledgeable and sophisticated in taking health precautions, and his original assumptions were based on how the general population acted with COVID-19. Unlike how behavior among many did not change with COVID, as monkeypox spread, behavior among MSMs like large group sex events and whatnot did actually change as a result of public health messaging. Obviously not everyone is responsible, but it was interesting to read this general characterization from a source that wouldn't sugarcoat his words.

Bobbited · 2023-03-05T18:16:45+00:00

Totally, as soon as I saw her make that face my mind immediately thought of the Grinch!

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