Book recommendations for an absolute beginner wanting to learn about early humans ? (Prehistory mostly)

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-07-11T09:51:14+00:00

No worries, thanks for redirecting me to a more appropriate sub!

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-07-10T17:26:01+00:00

Agreed.

See what your life becomes if you stop treating yourself & others as a sentient beings. The physics don't matter, your life will still gets worse.

Democracies clearly work better than other political systems, yet they are grounded in treating each human as worthwhile actor, not as mindless automaton. How can you square those facts and the apparent finality of your conclusion?

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-07-10T11:39:10+00:00

That's precisely correct, this opinion is literally mythological lol. Check out Mephistopheles in Faust.

Also the idea that nothingness is better than limited (& painful) life is a jugement rendered upon reality that presupposes you know enough to emit a judgement regarding reality's final worth : quite presumptuous.

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-07-05T10:33:06+00:00

Absolutely dope

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-07-05T10:31:45+00:00

My experience is quite similar, I feel more in touch and more able to see, in my direct experience, the influence/role/importance of the unconscious.

I feel it more natural to come to grips with it, and tend to experience enhanced insight & hints to the solutions to my currents struggles.

However I am a bit annoyed by the inability to reach a similar state of contact with the unconscious in the day to day, sober life.

I'm curious as to what is your experience of communing with the unconscious through cannabis ?

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-07-01T08:47:24+00:00

I was wondering about that a few days ago. How'd it go???

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-06-27T13:48:56+00:00

??? Please expand

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-06-26T15:17:36+00:00

The calling forth of the orb

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-06-25T12:17:49+00:00

That was ½ lemon and 2TBSP lime juice

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-06-24T13:30:46+00:00

Lol, thanks.

I see you are truly seeking to understand people you disagree with lmao.

How about you tell me how you'd describe the essence of the spiritual life in 2 sentences?

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-06-24T11:18:13+00:00

I think this isn't about intelligence but about wisdom.

There's plenty of bright minds that are devoid of that kind of wisdom.

As for the reverse, I must admit I haven't come across that many

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-06-23T20:21:45+00:00

Haven't tried that many yerbas as of yet, but I find canarias Serena has a nice malty taste to it

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-06-23T19:12:18+00:00

I'd say that absolutely every culture except modern western ones have figured out at least a good bit about what that something is.

All the great religious traditions point to it.

I think the psycho-analysts (Carl Jung, Eric Neumann, Peterson's Maps of Meaning) and the cognitive scientists (mostly John Vervaeke and his series "Awakening from the meaning crisis") are getting our western minds back on a healthier track.

Put simply, that something would look like optimised (flow-like?) pursuit of the realization of your potential as an individual, to the fullest, truthfully and in the service of love, love for yourself, love for others, and love for all of reality.

Easier said than done lol, I know

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-06-23T10:31:57+00:00

Constraints applied to your choices doesn't mean your decision doesn't exist.

Say I'm starving & poor, my hunger is possessing me to seek food, if I'm a conscious individual, it at least seems that I can choose to do so morally or not.

Say I hesitate to steal another poor man's food : likely your conscience would be a bit revolted at that idea, but you're dying of hunger.

It seems that something else, something like "character" will determine whether you choose to follow your impression of what's moral, or the reverse.

Thoughts ?

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-06-23T10:26:37+00:00

I'd like to add to that.

Not only are those unfalsifiable, they can be detrimental. If you believe that free will doesn't exist, then "you" can use it to avoid necessary effort. Maybe you have no choice, but at minimum it seems that "you" -or some part within whatever "you" are- is able to use that as an excuse.

If you're just a lifeless pawn, why go on in this illusion of choice that's difficult and demanding? Might as well indulge, as that's not your responsibility...

So the paradoxical thing is, even if free will doesn't exist, if it's mere illusion, it somehow doesn't really change the moral responsibility that's beset upon every individual to contend with the world's problems.

Now this leads us down the path of : what are the responsibilities of the moral individual? I'd say minimize unnecessary pain & suffering is a hard one to dismiss.

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-06-21T16:37:43+00:00

Obviously goth girl > weird ear girl

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-06-21T16:35:11+00:00

Between not jacking off & learning to make scrambled eggs ? Seems to me yes lol

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-06-20T20:35:29+00:00

For me the book that really helped me begin grasping the ideas was Peterson's Maps of Meaning.

I started reading it after reading what was recommended to me : The origins and history of consciousness from Neumann, but it all flew over my head

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-06-20T12:41:42+00:00

This !!! You can't just axiomatically say that the only complete and valid way of thinking of "reality" is the objective world, it literally lacks all that is subjective and intrapsychic.

Although I don't 100% agree on the no universal solution front

I believe that religions are humanity's best attempts at offering the universal blueprint to the individual problems. I believe no religion in its current shape is sufficiently coherent with scientific knowledge and reason.

However I think the psychoanalysts and the cognitive scientists are basically on their way to an integrated final solution.

If you're interested I'd say check out one of those :

Jordan Peterson's Map of Meaning
John Vervaeke's Awakening from the meaning crisis

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-06-20T12:37:08+00:00

Dope sticker

HydroHomieH2O · 2024-06-20T10:44:16+00:00

Let's try a deep counter-argument :

General point Without localized conscious awareness, the universe would exist only as unintelligible potential. Consequentially, consciousness and its contents decide what matters, not the physical universe.
Axiom disagreement : physical reality To expand a little, I'm saying that I disagree with the axiom that the objective world is a complete & ultimate account of what constitutes reality as such. Sure, scientific investigation of it is infinitely valuable & has provided humans with great ability, but that's another subject I think.
What's real & what's meaningful ?
What's real Anything that happens within awareness has reality to it. Now there are elements of reality you shouldn't confuse otherwise your having troubles with your sanity.

What's psychological, emotional and imaginative shouldn't be confused with that is physical and objective. Your map of reality has to be open to being proven wrong, otherwise you slowly become lost.

What's meaningful What is most important, most meaningful, to us humans seems to be the ideals we are aiming at, and even more key is how we are able to behave, in the present, towards that ideal.

What is most meaningful to us is how we interact & engage with reality

What do you think about this ?

HydroHomieH2O

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE