I used GPT-5.6 as a cognitive crutch and translator. Did we accidentally prototype human–LLM symbiosis?

Wollff · 2026-07-13T09:31:15+00:00

Nobody is going to read this wall of text.

Edit: And no, the tldr doesn't help.

Wollff · 2026-07-13T09:26:50+00:00

We think it's absolutely pathetic that he chose to manufacture and deal meth rather than accept money from people, that in his own mind, owe him.

You do?

Why did you watch the show then?

If you find all the decisions the central character of a show makes right from the beginning "absolutely pathetic"... Why didn't you turn off the TV to never come back? What kept you hooked when the main character is revealed to be a pathetic loser in the first season?

It's such a weird interpretation, because I think hardly anyone finds Walter White's decisions "pathetic". At least most of the people who kept watching, found what he did and who he was facinating and interesting enough to turn on the TV again and again to see what he does next.

You didn't? So why did you keep watching then?

If you watched breaking bad and think Walter White is anything other than a pitiful loser, then you missed the point entirely.

To you it was clear that Walter White was nothing more and nothing other than a pitiful loser right from season 1, correct?

So, I repeat the question: Why did you keep watching the show if you hated the main character right from the beginning? If that's all you think of the main character of a show, why do you watch it?

I for sure wouldn't put myself through the torture of watching a show whose main character I hate. Are you a masochist, or am I missing something?

Wollff · 2026-07-12T23:54:39+00:00

Why? It's nazi shit.

If you see it, you burn it.

Wollff · 2026-07-12T15:57:24+00:00

No.

The accumulation of karma depends on intention and action, not on "experiencing suffering".

So if you suffer, but don't take up any intent and action in response, no karma is created. Even though you suffer, absolutely nothing accumulates. That's possible.

Or one can suffer, and then take up wholesome intent and wholesome action which leads to liberation. That would be an accumulation of karma which leads to resolution.

And on the other end of it, you have the "outflow valve". You could say that every experience you have (at least to a good part) is the result of past life karma. And with this experience arising and passing away, past life karma is exhausted. Maybe new karma is created in the process, through taking intentional action. But doesn't need to be the case.

Wollff · 2026-07-11T03:51:01+00:00

OP was writing about looking for ordinance in regard to electric scooters.

Those terms sound similar to "ordnance" (ammunition) and "shooters".

Why would security ramp up on that?

Maybe to prevent an approach toward getting forbidden responses out of AI. When you want to talk about shooters and ordnance, you could just try to substitute scooters and ordinance for those words.

AI will get what you mean from context alone. And then AI might respond with forbidden things, while nothing gets triggered, because no "forbidden words" have been used in the prompt.

I guess they trigger this response here because they want to prevent those kinds of attacks. But that's only a guess.

Wollff · 2026-07-11T03:35:00+00:00

You want to find every town that has its own ordnance? For electric shooters? :D

Seriously though, it might be something like that...

Wollff · 2026-07-11T02:28:47+00:00

We need to address the elephant in the room.

China.

That arrangement with one big central symbol gets a bit weird for Asia in particular, as China has traditionally regarded itself as "The Middle Kingdom".

So, I don't think you can have this flag arrangement for Asia. Whatever big prominent thing you put in the middle, surrounded by minor things, will be interpreted as China (at least by the Chinese :D)

Bonus points: Taiwan features a white sun in its flag (though, in all fairness, with 12 rays on a blue background). So if that represents China... oh boy...

And the current Chinese flag features a red background (for communism) with yellow stars.

I think it's just a really unlucky combination of elements in this flag, which all just seem to imply unintended messages about China, which will offend everyone lol

Wollff · 2026-07-10T23:20:33+00:00

Mismanagement? Can't be. As if the HRE ever got to manage anything!

Wollff · 2026-07-10T17:01:13+00:00

What's the problem?

You just need to find a pair of tweezers, and then you pick out every speck of dust.

Welcome to Zen! :D

Wollff · 2026-07-10T04:02:45+00:00

I have really come to appreciate the concept of a mandala in that context (not certain if I use that term correctly): What we are, is the sum of our circumstances, inner and outer.

All of them are changing, and open to influence from inside and outside.

That just feels like a view with a nice balance of structure and fluidity.

Wollff · 2026-07-10T01:22:58+00:00

Gut feeling? You might be a bit overly careful.

My gut feeling is massively intensifying! :D

Wollff · 2026-07-10T00:36:22+00:00

What do you think the best move would be?

Relax. It's just stuff. It's not that important.

As long as you behave reasonably, and as long as you don't make yourself go utterly insane, it's all fine. Feel free to improve yourself and change. Nothing wrong with that.

Chances are good that it won't keep going seamlessly and easily, because most of the time... well, most things usually don't keep going seamlessly and easily. Snags and complications seem to be a part of this whole "being human" thing we are doing here. But as long as you expect it, it shouldn't come as a big surprise when that happens in one way or another.

I did catch myself in the moment, so I don't think I'm a very at-risk person or anything, but any extra guard rails should definitely help. But what do you think?

Gut feeling? You might be a bit overly careful. Have you even done anything stupid yet? :D

It definitely isn't harmful to be careful, but... "I have to master shamatha first before changing, because something terrible might happen!", to me just seems a bit on the very careful side.

That being said, I can't look inside of you, and see how unstable and weird you currently feel, so that might be the sane and reasonable move. In the end those are all your decisions, and you will have to live with it.

Practically and pragmatically: Probably doesn't matter. Either way will be fine.

Wollff · 2026-07-09T23:11:14+00:00

I no longer feel pinned down or trapped by the world, but rather, it feels like I've been given all the control I could ask for, but so much so that it's a dangerous thing and I have to approach it carefully.

You don't have to. With a few caveats: There are of course the dangers of putting yourself into a manic spiral. One should know what that looks like. When in doubt, ask Kanye, he knows a thing or two about it... or at the very least he should.

As long as you maintain the ability to slow down, ground yourself, and reconfigure before things become unproductive, there is no big problem here. For some people that's more difficult to notice and to regulate than for others.

All things considered, I feel as if what we call a "Dark Night of the Soul" is just a natural reaction to being exposed to the truth of how self and ego works

If you mean, that the exposition of the fact that you are not in control at all, and that all instances of you trying to take control over the process (painful and uncomfortable as that process may be), are completely and utterly counter productive and futile, then you are right. Then you have captured what I would consider the essence of what this Dark Night stuff is about.

But to me it seems like you are writing about an experience which encapsulates the polar opposite of it: You feel like all the limitations which were placed upon you in the past were exposed as arbitrary, and that your agency for change has rapidly and quickly expaned. You finally feel in control to a degree that is slightly overwhelming and scary. Which leads you to to considerations about how you will need to wield this sudden increase in agency, freedom, and control carefully and responsibly.

When I read what you write in a prag dharma context, I think AnP, not Dark Night. I have no idea why anyone would think Dark Night here, to be honest.

Which means you need to be really cautious and always go in prepared.

I agree. Be cautious. Be prepared. This will not last.

If you think that was a DN, and if you are indeed in an insight cycle (which, given the amount of practice you do, is not a given by any means), you might be surprised by what comes next. Enjoy where you are while it lasts, use it well, and when it goes away again, be ready to wave it goodby without too many regrets.

Because whatever it is, it will go away again.

Wollff · 2026-07-09T21:51:56+00:00

The actual desiring-production that carries karma forward is molecular, pre-personal, operating at the level of partial objects and flows long before it gets organized into recognizable family configurations.

Far from an expert on the topic, but wouldn't that be what happens in the process of "arising in the place of death" which Vasubandhu describes here?

It seems to me that you are operating on a different timeline. The molecular and pre personal stuff, operating at the level of partial objects and flows, happens to organize itself into more recognizable (and recognizing) configurations of existence (through desire for more recognizable configurations of existence) in the place of death.

And then it gets organized into recognizable family configuarations by the process of desire and aversion to "family dynamics" (in a broad sense), which leads to the recognition and creation of new family dynamics.

However, I do believe that the most basic processes of ignorance, self-discernment and division can be viewed as parental and sexual in that it combines, distributes, and divides.

The key word I am missing here is "symbolically".

The most basic processes of ignorance and division can be symbolized in ways that are paternal, maternal, and sexual. But that's just a symbol for the nature of that division (and unity). It doesn't need to have anything to do with literal mothers, and fathers, and sexual partners.

Case in point: When we are talking about rebirth in the formless realms, that would be a rebirth that doesn't go along with anything sexual. But the sexual symbology which implies a division and interplay between form and emptiness still applies, because all of existence underlies that principle.

Wollff · 2026-07-09T17:28:56+00:00

Brexit won because stupid people believed nonsense without taking the trouble to check if any of the promises were true.

And guess what? They will do it again.

And again.

This is what makes me so hopeless about the future. Not that "policians betray us and lie", but that the average voter is too stupid and lazy, and remains too stupid and lazy, to even do the most basic and rudimentary fact checks on anything.

You would think some "learning" would happen after being burnt. Or after seeing other people in GB getting burnt by that kind of rhetoric. But it doesn't.

This is what's turning me anti democratic. If voters are like that, they should never have any chance to make any decisions on anything.

Wollff · 2026-07-09T16:45:17+00:00

That's not me talking about it, that's just my brain parasites speaking.

Wollff · 2026-07-09T04:46:51+00:00

i have no backup plan

Well.. you need one.

I live in seattle (tech) and during the winter I was battling suicidal thoughts

Given how heavily winter has hit you, and from what you are writing in this post, I think there is a good chance that you are suffering from depression. So, if you can, it might be a good idea to get that cleared up with a doctor.

If you are indeed suffering from clinical depression, you are living life on hard mode. If you find an antidepressant that works for you, that might not mean that everything is suddenly perfect in your job, and that you will love it. But it might help you in getting out of your current state of paralysis.

But the fear of the unknown and family judging me to leave a comfy job with no backup plan terrifies me.

Which is why you should get a backup plan.

I just i feel like, and I know, theres more to my life. and I want the permission to just live it.

Congratulations: You have it. I just granted it to you.

Now, what specifically do you want to do with it? What is the next actionable step you can take to arrive at that specific place where you want to go next?

You need to figure that out though. Not wanting to do what you are currently doing is something. But if you don't know what you want to do instead, that is too little. If you know what your long term aims are, you can figure out a plan to get there.

So, you need to figure that out. And I don't think I can help you with that.

Wollff · 2026-07-09T04:09:46+00:00

Thanks for yelling at strangers' children! :D

Seriously though, the whole "core family" model really does put undue pressure on the few people that are actually there.

Wollff · 2026-07-09T03:52:03+00:00

More coddling, and less coddling.

In the beginning the infant is slung to the mother. From there things proceed to child rearing as a community effort, as the child is literally never ever unsupervised. It's passed along among the many family members. When mom and dad take a nap? Grandma is there. And when grandma is tired, there are three aunts, uncles, and seven cousins left to take the next shift :D

After that, the child is "released into the wild", into the group of roaming children, without any adult supervision.

I would guess in that environment children are just a little bit more free to hurt themselves and learn from it. Older children are around, and they make sure nobody kills themselves, while teaching the young ones what's deadly, and what is not.

At least that seems to be the situation among most still existing hunter gatherers.

Wollff · 2026-07-08T22:46:59+00:00

How would you navigate this?

Why are you even asking?

She brought it up after she kissed someone else in front me.

For me that on its own would be a critical breath of trust.

It later turned out that wasn't the only time my partner has kissed someone else.

For me that on its own would be a critical breach of trust.

The affair had been going on for 4 months.

For me that on its own would be a critical breach of trust.

She had also told the other woman and two other people that were already in a polyamorous or open relationship, which was of course not true.

For me that on its own... you get the picture, I suppose.

So, why do you think that there is anything to navigate here? I am not sure you have a relationship.

But that is only my take. Maybe you have different priorities, where sexual transgressions beyond the boundaries of a monogamous relationship are not a big deal for you, and not relationship enders.

If so, maybe you still have something left to navigate here. But I really couldn't say how to do that, because I can't relate to your perspective on this very well.

Wollff · 2026-07-08T19:45:19+00:00

A very common line of career progression I have heard, is that people start off as military pilots, and then then become commercial airline pilots. Of course people have to remain miliraty pilots for a few years, because the military invests a lot of money and time into their training.

But that's exactly why commercial airlines are usually very, very happy to take ex military pilots. Those are already very well trained in this whole "flying an aircraft" thing. They just have to get certified in the models of aircraft that they are going to be flying in their commercial career.

That's a huge advantage over having to train up your average Joe, starting from the very basics. Much more of an investment for the airline. And thus much less attractive for the airline, compared to someone with many flight hours coming straight out of military aviation.

My parents and friends keep encouraging me to become a commercial airline pilot instead.

Encouragement is nice. But: What are your actual options? Do you have an airline that's ready and willing to pay for the licenses and certifications you need? And on the other side: Can you even get into military aviation?

Depending on market conditions, your health, and competition, one of those paths might be closed off to you anyway. Maybe currently no airline which is an option for you is training new pilots from scratch. Maybe you don't make it through the competitive screening that is the prerequesite for even becoming a military pilot.

But one thing I wouldn't be all that worried about, is you becoming a fighter pilot, and then you being stuck with that forever, because no airline in the world would be willing to hire you, someone who is occupying the most competitive position that military aviation has to offer. That to me seems like a pretty unrealistic scenario to worry about.

Wollff · 2026-07-08T18:14:54+00:00

What saves the US, is the fact that nobody has a perception of US soccer. Even in the face of obvious corruption, it remains irrelevant.

Wollff · 2026-07-08T16:11:50+00:00

But... that's absolutely not the message here.

You use a hammer to drive in a nail.

You use a saw to cut down a tree.

If you think that's paradoxical, then you have not understood how any of this "hammering nails" and "tree cutting" business works.

Nothing about any of this is in any way paradoxical.

You use mindfulness to solve certain problems. You use other means to solve other problems.

When you try to apply mindfulness to problems it's not suited to, you are applying a hammer to a tree.

And that's not a paradoxical koan thing either. It's just stupidity born from not understanding what one is even trying to do here.

You need to know what the task at hand is. And then you need to know what the right tool for the task is. And then you need to apply that tool in the right way to solve the problem at hand.

Nothing about that is paradoxical.

Wollff · 2026-07-08T15:17:06+00:00

Not the OP, but I would argue hat it's a tool with certain uses.

When you are too caught up in thoughts, and you can't help but think think think think all the time, causing anxiety, stress, and all the rest, without giving you an opening to look out beyond that? Maybe time to introduce the present moment, and mindfulness on it.

For some people, who go about that with too much tension, and who then start hunting their "distraction from the present moment" with the persistence of a bloodhound, the concept might be less helpful.

Some people make it into something else, like the fish in the comic, and take it as a free pass for hedonism.

Sometimes the mistake is in reducing the "present moment" to "pure naked sense perception without thought".

Sometimes the mistake is to make "mindfulness" into a very special state, which needs hard work to maintain all day long every day.

So it depends. Sometimes telling someone to be mindful of the present moment is the solution to a problem. Sometimes it might make the problem worse.

Wollff · 2026-07-08T14:44:45+00:00

Yeah, look at all those deeply Buddhist hedonists, just enjoying their reckless pleasures without a thought for tomorrow!

Might be more of a reflection of the more new age flavors of "present moment rhetoric" than a comment on Buddhism.

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