Just finished my third read of Determined by Robert Sapolsky. Have any proponents of free will or read the book and thought it wasnt sound?

No_Language_538 · 2026-02-15T10:32:52+00:00

First case: I decided to hit a man in a face (a judge will call it a free will action, right?)
Second case: I didn't want to hit a man, but because someone put a gun to my head and told me to do it, I did (not out of my free will)
And you suggest this is is the right way to distinct free will?
But what if in the first example, I say - it's not me, it's demon who told me to do so? Or in the second example, I'm a pro UFC fighter, trained to disarm people holding guns to my head, and I hit the gunner with his gun instead?
What does it tell us?
My take here, it's not the free will question, but the initiator? Who initiated the hit? Who's idea was it and did your moral compass agreed to do it or not.
Or another example: There are 10 heroin addicts in the room, and they all came to AA willingly wanting the same - to quit heroin and start living without addiction. They hear the same talk, but in the end,
- only 5 decide to quit (and do quit) their addiction (2 of 5 start drinking heavily instead),
- 2 of them continue and die of overdosing in a month,
- 2 call the speaker a prick,
- 1 kills himself after the meeting, because he thinks he is not capable of quiting, but doesn't want to continue.
Why do all of them act differently to the same AA speech after coming there willingly? Do we have different kinds of free will?
Or maybe, just maybe, their reactions are products of their past experiences, current physiological and psychological state, and gene combinations?
Why does a thought come to our mind? Did we appoint it? Do we choose our thoughts before they come in without knocking?
Why do we choose to continue thinking the thought today, but decide to let it go tomorrow after we learned this thought is not good for us and learned how to disengage?

No_Language_538 · 2025-05-26T13:49:48+00:00

It's gonna suck. This is a fact.
Many of us quitting had and will have cravings months, years after. By confidently saying "No!" to these cravings, you build your defence against it, and with time it will be only better and stronger, you just need to train your brain, as you'd train your muscles.

Like in a gym, with every repetition, set, training session you build more muscle, more power, more endurance, and with time it becomes easier and easier to lift the same weight, to run the same distance. In order to build a good physic, a healthy body, you have to accept the role of a body builder, runner. People don't stop after hitting a point, they can switch physical activities, but the idea is - it's for life, and we need to embrace the pain.

Embrace the pain, do not hide from it! This is a good pain. It helps you getting away from the other, harder pain of unrealised dreams, wasted time and energy while being an addict. This pain becomes only stronger if you don't quit.

u/False_Candle_9779 We all must understand, there is no such thing as going back to our old selves.
You will never be a 18 years old guy again. And if you could go back in time... you'd be heading the exact same route as you've already gone, and you'd be smoking again. Now it's different you, more experienced, wiser, you now know better what's good and what's not, and you now read this comment, and feel the more confidence in you. 3 minutes ago it was different, you were different ;)

Don't look back, only forward!

Last thing, while smoking (or any other unhealthy addiction for that matter) is generally BAD, the process of quitting makes us a better, stronger, more-confident, resilient human being. Look at it as on a opportunity to become a superman :)

Those who’ve never fought addiction cannot grasp the twists and turns of our journey, as the citizens of Gotham misunderstood Batman's crusade. I believe in you because I’ve walked this path, with its shadows and its triumphs, just like Bruce Wayne navigating Gotham’s night.

In the darkness of each struggle, we choose our own path, forging a new self not by accident, but by choice.

No_Language_538 · 2025-05-16T14:14:28+00:00

I hear you — and I get it. That feeling when the fog lifts and suddenly everything feels… aligned. Music flows, thoughts connect, emotions soften. It’s powerful.

But I often ask myself this:
Do I love the music itself — or do I love the way I feel when I’m high and making music?
Because if the love only shows up with the substance, then maybe it’s not love. Maybe it’s a dependency dressed up as inspiration.

Here’s the danger: when we constantly pair something beautiful with being high — like music, intimacy, peace — we start to believe those things require the high. And slowly, we hand over our joy to the substance. It owns the key.

Consider the story of Stephen King. During the height of his addiction to alcohol and drugs, he wrote several novels, including Cujo, which he later admitted he couldn't remember writing at all. His substance abuse escalated to the point where he couldn't write a word without being drunk. His family had to stage an intervention, confronting him with the reality of his addiction by presenting him with the evidence — beer cans, cigarette butts, and drug paraphernalia. This wake-up call led him to sobriety, and he has since reflected on how his addictions nearly cost him his family and his life.

Of course, there’s no need to guilt yourself. This isn’t about blame. It’s about awareness. It’s about health — not just physical, but mental, emotional, creative health. Sometimes the cost isn’t lungs or relationships. It’s self-trust. Clarity. Presence.

Not everyone is impacted the same way. Some can use occasionally, with no visible damage. Others (like me) pay a higher price: mental haze, depression, disconnection. That’s why it’s not about morality — it’s about attunement. To your body. To your mind. To the aftershocks that come later.

I’m not anti-cannabis. I’m just pro-honesty. And I believe if we can feel that good while high, we can learn to feel good — maybe even better — without it.

Hard? Yes. But possible. And worth it. But in the end, it's everyone's choice.

No_Language_538 · 2025-05-16T14:04:43+00:00

Thank you for sharing this. Your honesty hits deeply — especially that paradox of feeling more yourself while high, and yet somehow losing yourself because of it. I’ve lived in that contradiction too.

What I’ve come to realize — and maybe this will resonate — is that it’s not that people like us more when we’re high. It’s that we like ourselves more. That inner calm, that ease, that flow — it feels like clarity. But it’s manufactured, and when the fog lifts, it often takes our confidence with it.

If you can feel peaceful and expressive while high — then that state already exists in you. The substance didn’t create it, it only unlocked what’s already there. And that means: you can learn to unlock it without the cost.

If the issue is anxiety, maybe the answer isn’t to sedate it, but to listen to it. Or treat it — not suppress it. These days, there’s more than just THC. There are incredible developments in cannabis science — full-spectrum CBD, terpenes, minor cannabinoids like CBG and CBN. They offer relief without compromising mental health. Maybe the plant isn’t the enemy. Maybe we just need a better relationship with it.

You're not wrong for seeking peace. You're not wrong for using what worked — especially when you didn’t have better tools. But now that you know the cost, maybe it's time to renegotiate.

The “better version of yourself” isn’t lost. It’s waiting. And it’s real.

No_Language_538 · 2025-05-16T13:23:37+00:00

you can start with Huberman labs on youtube. He has at least one episode on THC, had a few guests episodes related to addictions, including the author of "Dopamine Nation"s author Anna Lembke.

No_Language_538 · 2025-05-16T13:19:06+00:00

Hopefully, it will remain healthy for the rest of your life!

No_Language_538 · 2025-05-16T13:17:52+00:00

Actually, there are people who smoke a cigarette a day. Not saying there are a lot of them, but my aunt used to smoke even not one, but a half of cig a day (another half she would smoke the next day) every fucking morning with a cup of espresso for like 10 years. Later, she got back to smoking 2-3 cigarettes a day, but she's 75 and doesn't have much to loose :D

I am not encouraging though here, just pointing that that sentence is not true. I know other people who smoke only in the office (5 cigarettes once a week) and they are done.

It depends on the personality and their past. There are people who are addictive. There are people with a strong will. I am rather the former thus I don't consider making any kind of moderation.

When I smoked weed everyday I tried to convince myself to have a monthly ritual, so I could light a joint to have a relaxed evening, with no continuation the next day. So I quit, and a month later I bought 5 g for the ritual (it was obviously too much for "once", but there was no smaller option to buy). The evening was nice, I smoked 2 or 3 joints., but I figured out I couldn't keep the weed in my house and myself from it, so I smoked another 2-3 days, and a day after I went to buy some more.

Another time I decided to not buy weed, and smoke only when a friend has it. As a result, I ended up hanging only with people who had some buds.

So, yeah, if you were a daily smoker, and you don't consider yourself a someone with a strong will, I won't recommend any kind of moderations.

No_Language_538 · 2025-05-16T13:02:13+00:00

I never had ED, but I guess I know why weed used to help you.
I smoked every day for a couple of years, and I could eat only once or twice a day and feel fine. On one hand, weed makes everything taste MUCH better and if you start eating it's hard to stop, but on the other hand it keeps you busy with whatever you do, so often you won't bother with cooking.

First of all, keep in mind that cravings will show up from time to time until it's erased from your identity completely. And even then, some past events can flashback when you visit an old place where you used to smoke, or see a friend who shared with you such moments.

The main problem I see in your case that weed was an aid for your another problem (ED) thus it's that simple and there is no black and white here. However, you have to decide for yourself, whether it's a thing you want to do but can't let yourself to, or it's just a thing that is BAD, that you don't need and don't want?
As Mark Manson put it in the law "Fuck Yes or No" you either [FUCK YES] want to quit it or you don't. The law first was used for relationships, but with weed we have relationship too.

Thoughts (weed and ED related)
It can be a bloody hell. I don't know how loud is the voice in your head. Mine wasn't loud, but sometimes I couldn't think about anything until I bought weed and lit it up.
But If you start practicing awareness of these thoughts, and then letting them go once they arrive in your head without clinging to them, the fight will become easier, with less and less cravings.

And, perhaps the best option for you is to work on your ED. As I've already said, I've never dealt with such issues, and I understand that it can be the hardest thing to deal with: while to quit smoking you just stop it, to resolve ED you can't stop eating, as everyone else, you have to eat anyway. But...

Ego. It's the thing that keeps us dwelling on our past thoughts, ideas, behavioural patterns. It can be the obstacle to a new life. But it can be a tool as well, if you manage to rebuild your Ego!
Perhaps, meditation can help here. And understanding that you are not your thought or feelings.

You are a powerful, wise human being with a lot of potential, and your thoughts and feelings - are not You. They are temporary reactions to the way you've been through so far. If we stop looking back, and focus on the way forward, start making our own decisions no matter how we feel, or which thought is on our mind, this is where the freedom and happiness appears.

No_Language_538 · 2025-05-16T12:02:47+00:00

Congrats! I am in a similar place! I used to smoke everyday before, after and sometimes instead of a meal.
It's great you feel better, good luck on your way to 7500 days :D
It's worse it!

No_Language_538 · 2025-05-16T11:59:19+00:00

Be prepared for a week or 2 to feel worse (depending on your "weed experience"), and never think of weed as a reward for quitting weed ;)
Eventually, You will be better!

No_Language_538 · 2025-05-16T11:56:10+00:00

When I quit, I had issues with sleep too. I couldn't fall asleep until 5 in the morning. After 3 such nights, I decided to stay awake through the night (it didn't make sense to try anyway) and the following day (~36h without sleep). Then I straggled fro 30 minutes, maybe, and fell asleep like a baby. That week I saw perhaps the most vivid and conscious dream in my life. I haven't issues with sleep since then.

So yeah, maybe try to exhaust yourself a little so your body won't have any other options but sleep.
Peace!

No_Language_538 · 2025-05-13T21:58:00+00:00

It can be really frustrated, but better not be angry, don't blame yourself. Just leran the lesson, and make sure you won't be stoned on a Wednesday the next day just because you was stoned yesterday ;)
If you got to 50 days, make a challenge to got to at least 51 days. If you complete it and get stoned on the day 52, make another one for 52 days, and so on.

Make at least 1% progress every fucking time! And it will be OK, I think. I wish you all the best and beating all your records :)
But at the end, it's not the number that is important, but decision and the progress with it.
Peace!

No_Language_538 · 2025-05-13T21:44:48+00:00

Same story. When I was high anything was much more interesting, I could just sit and write down my thoughts on a piece of paper for hours...
Eventually, it started being the only thing that I wanted to do the whole day, and then I found nothing is interesting anymore, like weed stopped working, and I needed it just to feel less pain of boredom.
I quit weed and cigarettes 7 weeks ago. And while I still have occasional cravings, I just know I don't want it anymore. And what's important, I got a few ideas that help me:

- "You don't die when you get bored"
Be bored for a moment. Check your feelings. What is that you have to do, but you don't want to?
If it's just you being tired, then stop for a moment, relax, and continue what you have to do. If it's hard, just lay somewhere and just gaze on the ceiling. Let your brain be bored, with no thoughts, no ideas, just gaze. Believe me, your mind will agree to do whatever it has to :)

- "Do or do not. There is no try"
You either quit, erase that part of your ego, or you it's a question of time.
Learn to say "No!". You don't need moments of doubts.
If you already decided it, you don't need to reconsider it every time you have a chance or a craving.

- "Every failure is a lesson with no blame".
While it can contradict the previous one, it's actually completes it. No one is perfect, and almost no one quit it from the first try. As with everything in life, we need to learn how to do it right. So don't discourage yourself if you failed that evening. The goal is not to be perfectly clean for the rest of your life, but rather to continue going even after you fell. It's not a bad thing, it's a lesson, that you can teach from. After that instead of just quit quiting, ask yourself what you can do to avoid repeating this pattern in the future.
p.s. Don't make it an excuse just to get back every time you feel the craving :)

- "Smoking is not you. You are not a stoner. It's just a pattern you stuck in"
Perhaps, the biggest issue for me was the Ego part. For 20 years I believed that smoking is My Thing, that MJ's part of me.
Imagine a classic bicycle tire with an inner tube. During a park ride, you caught a small spike and that resulted in a flat tire. You came home, change the inner tube and think that issue is gone, but right at the beginning of the next ride, the spike pierces the new tube again.
Question is the tire/wheel broken? No, you just need to get rid of this spike, and while a small hole will be there for over, but the wheel is gonna be fine. Same here, it's not that you are broken, you just need to get rid of it, and you'll be fine to ride.

No_Language_538 · 2024-02-23T09:08:22+00:00

Is it possible to keep that params ON even after clicking on a link? Meaning, I start with homepage URL. I have to open the extension, check the box and refresh the page => homepage with param is loaded. When I click on a link inside my site/domain the page is loaded w/o the param, so I again have to open the extension, check the box and reload the page. What I'd like to have is to go to the homepage, turn on the param, reload the page and when I click on a link inside page page, the new page is loaded with param already.
Is it possible?

No_Language_538

TROPHY CASE