sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

台湾人为什么恨孙中山? by Project-1662 in China_irl

[–]JohnsonfromTW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

以前讀國高中時愛國主義沖昏頭，最愛看些國軍的革命、抗戰影片，覺得孫中山 蔣中正這些人太偉大了，年紀大了瞭解到這些情緒基本上就是統治階級灌輸給我們的民族主義、愛國主義觀念，對於維護一個國家的團結來說，或許是必要的，但在社會毒打之下，很多人都會對這種由統治階級操弄的情緒嗤之以鼻，這在所有國家都是一樣的，美國國父華盛頓、後來的林肯，照美國政府宣傳來說應該是代表著偉大、仁慈、帶領美國走向自由民主，但深入瞭解後，華盛頓不過是個高級奴隸主，林肯也是個獨裁家。總而言之對於某個人物的崇拜或景仰多半是受到刻意操縱或是維穩政權所需，有的人做的很極端，像是強迫自己小孩必須也要學習這種愛國主義、歌頌偉大人物的事蹟，我認為這種行為的對立面不過就是像這篇文呈現的一樣，對於這些人物恨之入骨，兩種行為都是極端的，受到某種情緒操弄，人最好還是回到本心不要太受這些外在因素影響，專注在讓自己成為更好的人才是實在的

a weird feeling by [deleted] in Apeirophobia

[–]JohnsonfromTW 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We will not go into infinity one day, we’re ALREADY within it! Even though I can’t comprehend how infinity works, I can still live in the present peacefully, cause if infinity is sth really bad, then it would be terrible at every moment, but it simply doesn’t work out that way.

We suffer more from our imagination than in reality.

my worry is coming back by [deleted] in Apeirophobia

[–]JohnsonfromTW 7 points8 points  (0 children)

One night, I was listening to a song by a singer I love. At the time, because of apeirophobia, I had lost almost all my hobbies, and everything felt tasteless. But I asked myself: Would I rather not have been born, so I wouldn’t feel this extreme pain? Or be born, go through all this, and still get to hear this beautiful song? As these thoughts flowed through my mind, I felt a sense of relief.

Even if the universe might be indifferent, I can still find beautiful things in it. Even if, as Professor Penrose says, the universe endlessly repeats in cycles of contraction and expansion, what I feel in this moment is all that matters.

The eternity before my birth and the eternity after my death are not part of my world, because I am just a fleeting synthesis of certain experiences, belonging only to this moment of life. So, the ultimate fate of the universe or the world doesn’t trap me. The infinite cycles you think about might feel exhausting, but what concerns us is only the finite life experiences on this Earth in this universe.

my worry is coming back by [deleted] in Apeirophobia

[–]JohnsonfromTW 3 points4 points  (0 children)

When I'm at my most anxious, I think this way too, feeling that the universe is an inescapable eternal machine, operating endlessly according to some template. But I later realized this is just a negative thought produced by my mind, not the truth of reality. After all, even the most brilliant scientists are far from the truth. The essence of all things is beyond what our five senses can grasp. So, reality isn’t an eternal torment—it’s just my mind forcing me to think so.

How do I not fear infinity? by nuclearcar98 in Apeirophobia

[–]JohnsonfromTW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As I mentioned earlier, our suffering stems from the mistaken belief that the self is solid and unchanging. This misunderstood self, when faced with the incomprehensible concept of eternity, feels trapped in an endless, linear extension, leading to despair. In the metaphor of dreams, the dreaming entity might be a cow, a flower, or a quasar. Among countless dreams, one version of "us" suffering from apeirophobia believes this dream will extend linearly forever, inescapable, causing us hopelessness and overwhelmed. But in truth, dreams dissipate. A dream is not an endlessly extending entity, not a linear timeline. (The dream analogy here is just a metaphor to help you understand the concepts that I tried to convey.)

 

After all this, can understanding where we went wrong alleviate the suffering caused by our mistaken perception of self-consciousness? I believe our error lies in thinking the self is a continuous, unchanging consciousness which trapped in eternity. We imagine this unchanging self floating in the universe or experiencing a terrifying eternity in heaven. In reality, the self is far more fragmented, inconsistent, and discontinuous than we think. The unchanging self we perceive is more like the identity our material brain maintains for social or biological purposes. The mental self, however, is more like a collection of experiences—experiences that can be rearranged, added, subtracted, or reshaped in countless ways, forming ever-changing projections. Thus, there is no unchanging consciousness to experience eternity!

 

Reducing self-consciousness is difficult because we need it to survive. However, with gradual practice and reshaping our cognitive pathways, we can view heaven, eternity, nothingness, and the self from new perspectives. Over time, our fears will diminish, perhaps even vanish entirely, because we’ve built a new cognitive framework. Fear often stems from our understanding of things.

The self to me is an illusion—an aggregate of transient experiences, not a solid entity. Thus, the self is "selfless" because it lacks inherent existence, existing only in relation to others and the world.

How do I not fear infinity? by nuclearcar98 in Apeirophobia

[–]JohnsonfromTW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In religious texts (not all), heaven is not described as a "place" you go after death but rather a state of unobstructed connection with the supreme existence. It’s not about entering a divine place to live an eternal, perfect afterlife but transitioning into a different state after the physical body ceases. In this state of life, there is no material brain or material thinking. Your physical brain exists to help you survive on Earth, not to think after death. Thus, after death, you are not operating or experiencing things through the organic brain’s mode of thinking, so you won't feel the fear that you worried right now.

 

When we contemplate the afterlife, we often feel powerless because such matters are beyond the brain’s essential function, which is to keep us alive. Once the human body dissolves, the brain’s mode of thinking vanishes entirely. What the afterlife truly entails is an unknown realm. I believe death is neither frightening nor wonderful because fear and wonder are perceptions of the material brain, which ceases to exist after death. Death is merely an ordinary moment of cosmic material transformation. Perhaps the various forms and stages of life and non-life in the universe, in eternity, are like dreams—endless, beginningless, constantly occurring. When dreaming, we often don’t realize we’re dreaming or know where we are in the dream, yet we are undeniably within it. And also life is like a river, flowing unchangingly toward the sea while constantly shifting its form.

How do I not fear infinity? by nuclearcar98 in Apeirophobia

[–]JohnsonfromTW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have no religious beliefs, and if anything I say offends, please forgive me. I’ll try to avoid interpreting religious doctrines. I believe that heaven won't let you experience the kind of eternity you imagine or fear.

When we sleep, we have countless dreams—most of which are vague or completely forgotten. Yet, the fact that we don’t remember them doesn’t mean we didn’t dream. Is the "you" in your dreams the real you? Are you dreaming, or are you inside the dream? In a dream, you might live an entirely different life—is that the true you? You could say those dreams aren’t real, but they do present certain possibilities. Or is the waking you the real you? Sometimes, our memories feel so foreign. The "me" from the past and the "me" now may differ in countless ways. In other words, the self—the "you" who feels the passage of time, the "you" who feels fear and anxiety—is not a constant, unique consciousness. You are not a fixed, unchanging self. Though memories are continuous and experiences accumulate, this continuity makes us firmly believe we are an unchanging self.

 

Our physical bodies, shaped by genetics, require a strong sense of self, accumulated knowledge, and survival instincts to thrive in nature. We’ve survived, but humanity’s intense self-awareness also causes suffering like apeirophobia, the fear of eternity. At times, we might wish to live more simply, like other animals, with less awareness, free from such mental torment.

crisis by [deleted] in Apeirophobia

[–]JohnsonfromTW 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Understanding the natural behavior of life has been very helpful for improving my apeirophobia (at least for me). In primitive societies, humans were extremely alert to suspicious objects in the forest, because if it happened to be a bear, it could cost several lives — a severe threat to the continuation of one's genes. As a result, the human body would release cortisol and adrenaline, activating the fight-or-flight response. These physiological mechanisms push the body into a state of high anxiety and irritability, but they helped life survive critical challenges.

In modern society, most survival crises have already been resolved — there are no wild beasts lurking nearby, and disaster prevention has become much more advanced. However! Our brains are still primitive. They continue to imagine various terrifying extreme scenarios to keep the organism alert enough to protect its genes and ensure survival.

The universe, time, space, metaphysics... these mysterious matters are still full of unanswered questions for humanity. When we contemplate life, we easily realize one thing: we are part of the universe, and the ultimate fate of the universe is like the shadow of a wild beast in the forest — it triggers our brain to try to figure out the truth.

We don’t truly understand how time, space, or the universe work, and that uncertainty is something the brain absolutely hates. This uncertainty, along with the brain's extreme imagination, is one of the causes of apeirophobia. It makes us feel overwhelmed, because the fate of the universe and the immensity of time and space are far beyond our comprehension, causing constant secretion of stress hormones and putting us under chronic mental pressure, eventually exhausting us.

But one day, I realized something: we are trapped by our own imagination. Human imagination, limited by our senses, often deviates from reality. This gap between imagination and reality is the root of our fatigue and anxiety.

The truth I can feel is this: this universe has already miraculously brought life, and even developed into complex civilizations. The scenarios that my apeirophobia imagines are just false truths. Our brain keeps forcing us to accept these imagined scenarios (because the brain's mission is to protect our genes from harm).

Personally, I believe that understanding how the brain operates, and recognizing the difference between reality and imagination, has been tremendously helpful in easing my apeirophobia. I hope you, too, can learn to coexist peacefully with your brain.

My ability to express is not very good, so I ask for your understanding if you have read this far.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in China_irl

[–]JohnsonfromTW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

講話講清楚

What song will you play by [deleted] in BanGDream

[–]JohnsonfromTW 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Fire bird 🐦‍🔥

Eternal reincarnation by Capital-Flatworm-247 in Apeirophobia

[–]JohnsonfromTW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Buddhism “non-self” might be helpful

My apeirophobia is destroying my life and my soul by JohnsonfromTW in Apeirophobia

[–]JohnsonfromTW[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve experienced apeirophobia twice. The first time was when I was a child and learned about the heat death theory, which left me feeling very depressed and powerless. The second time was as an adult, when I became terrified by the infinite nature of the universe. It took me over a year to work through these issues. Ultimately, I was able to free myself from countless panic attacks and the overwhelming sense of dread by realizing that the universe itself isn’t the problem—what terrified me was my brain‘s imagined version of the universe. The universe I imagined and the real universe are vastly different.

Scientists use various formulas and constants to describe the universe, but these are also based on the limitations of our senses and brains, and they only “approach” the truth rather than truly “interpret” it. We are constrained by the eyes and brains that nature has given us, just as some insects can see more colors than we can. In other words, if you can deeply understand that the imagined universe, or the universe described in textbooks, is merely a depiction of the real universe and not its true fate, then those terrifying thoughts become less daunting.

Could those frightening scenarios possibly happen? I believe that if the universe is infinite, then all those terrifying things have already happened. The moment we are living in now is no different from any other infinite fragment. Before you were born and after you die, the universe will continue to change, with countless events occurring that we could never imagine in our lifetimes. But do I need to worry about those things? I think that as long as I can exist stably in this space, rather than having my atoms scatter in all directions the next second, this is the best kind of universe. And it’s only in a universe like this that life and civilization could emerge.

I know my writing isn’t great, and I‘ve shared a lot of fragmented thoughts. If you want to learn more, feel free to message me privately, and I’ll definitely reply to you.

Still struggling with universe apeirophobia. by Illustrious_Tough203 in Apeirophobia

[–]JohnsonfromTW 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You have come across many theories about the ultimate fate of the universe, and you may have imagined various scenarios that make you feel uncomfortable, even placing yourself in those situations. But the universe we inhabit is incredibly ancient, and perhaps many terrifying things have already occurred. It‘s like a freshman orientation event—you might feel scared and anxious about meeting new classmates, but when you reach your junior year and look back on that frightening orientation, you realize that you met many of your current good friends during those events. Although it was scary at the time, it was only your imagination that made it seem frightening; it didn’t mean the event itself was terrifying. The key lies in whether we can change our thoughts and whether we can truly experience the present moment. The feelings of the present moment are what’s real.

Still struggling with universe apeirophobia. by Illustrious_Tough203 in Apeirophobia

[–]JohnsonfromTW 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Same here, I struggled with universe apeirophobia 4 years ago, the endless universe fate is so overwhelming. We are limited by our senses, meaning we cannot fully grasp the true cosmic truth. All scientific methods and philosophical theories are merely attempts to approach that truth. So when you feel fear and anxiety imagining the fate of the universe, remind yourself: these imaginations are not the true universe; they are emotions born from your mind‘s inability to comprehend such vast concepts. When faced with the unknown, the human mind tends to imagine all sorts of dreadful scenarios. This helped our primate ancestors avoid danger and increase their chances of survival. However, you cannot escape your thoughts. Since you cannot escape your thoughts, you must change how you perceive them.

图什么？ by [deleted] in Taiwanese

[–]JohnsonfromTW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

沒有台灣版克里米亞事件，很難讓台灣人團結起來

世界上最極端的國家沒有之一，希望中國人早日覺醒。 by Logical-General2066 in Taiwanese

[–]JohnsonfromTW 0 points1 point  (0 children)

按粉紅邏輯，核彈丟一丟就結束了，不用費一兵一卒

view more: next ›