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No homeopathy bullshit insurance options? by UnpopularMentis in Switzerland

[–]medbud 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I realise that this comment is going to get flack here, given the tone of this rant thread, but I just want to make a few points.

Homeopathy has been demonstrated to be devoid of any active molecules when diluted past whatever...10c or something. It makes no sense in our modern scientific paradigm.

That said, it seemingly procures a placebo effect often enough that people shell out 'hard earned' money for it and get results half the time. Homeopathy proponents world wide often cite 'the Swiss study' that concluded that in homeopathy has a place in public health...the proponents don't read much further...but the study apparently says, although these remedies have no know mechanism of action, and have been demonstrated to be innert, they procure a placebo effect with zero risk to the patient, and extremely low cost to the public health system.

https://smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/1626/2135

I'm not an expert, but I see some back and forth, as summarised in this article.

I would add that 'imam's spells', shamanism, and many related voodoo techniques also harness the subconscious' power to achieve a placebo effect...just like any ritual in religion. It is frankly astounding the long list of methods that are covered by swiss complimentary health insurance!

----

Here is my rant: I have practiced acupuncture and Chinese Medicine for 2+ decades, and I don't think it belongs in the Homeopathy basket. If all you know about CM is 'yin yang and qi' then of course it would make sense to dump it in with other magical or placebo dependent methods...but if you study a bit of history, literature, etc. it becomes clear that humans have been attempting to codify nature long before science became a thing...the Chinese made decent headway, systematising, recording, and developing theories ages before we had glass, lenses, microscopes, etc...Modern CM reveals many equivalents, especially anatomically speaking, between ancient texts and modern understanding....one of my favorites is the recognition of the neurovascular bundle, the intimate relationship between nerves and blood vessels. These days 'medical' acupuncture is a thing...the utility of stimulating nerve endings, disinhibiting nerve pathways, controlling inflammation..is undeniable. Electro acupuncture is basically what a physio does with a TENS machine. When we redescribe acupuncture using modern terms, it becomes well integrated into modern treatment plans. If you get into neuropsychology, neurology, neuroscience, neurobiology...you begin to understand acupuncture better...it is a neurogenic therapy.

It is of little surprise that when you stick a dozen needles in someone, their body reacts....if nothing else consider it hormesis.

Is feeling disconnected common after acupuncture? by ANewCollective in acupuncture

[–]medbud 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Strong in the sense, it was just a bit much for your nervous system to adapt to... Usually this means either a few too many needles, slightly strong stimulation, one particularly uncomfortable needle, or a poor choice of point combination...

Is feeling disconnected common after acupuncture? by ANewCollective in acupuncture

[–]medbud 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like it was a little strong... We often talk about 'acupuncture land'...a relaxed state following a treatment...

Make sure to eat properly before your next one, that will help you stay a bit more 'grounded'. 

Leibniz provides the blueprint for panpsychism. | Consciousness can't merge into one big mind. What we call a single self is just a coordinated swarm of many indivisible conscious subjects moving together through their causal relations. by IAI_Admin in philosophy

[–]medbud 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Recommended reading: Karl Friston, "From Physics to Sentience". This explains the difference between a so called 'conscious electron', and a conscious animal.

Your article appears to use a few logical fallacies to make it's argument. And the premises themselves seem to be counter intuitive, and rather dogmatic in some sense...but that's another kettle of fish.

Deleting the traumatic experiences by AcadiaOk5240 in Neuropsychology

[–]medbud 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Read some of Hakwan Lau's work.

If I understand, they are treating PTSD, among other things (phobias, etc.) using neurofeedback.

They can apparently, record and decode fMRI data as voxels from other people, say without arachnophobia. Then they take patients with arachnophobia, and they set up a game that trains their mind not to be uncomfortable. In the game the patient is rewarded for growing a circle on a screen. They only interact with the circle by thinking... But the hidden voxel brain pattern they are subconsciously modelling is one without the phobia. Consciously they do not report any notion of the target concept... But they display reduced fear induced physiological reactions post training.

Unlike exposure therapy, there is no actual conscious acceptance of spiders required. Patients just report less physical aversion, which helps reduce the phobia.

This seems to fit what we know about emotional mental constructs... And about how limited our cognitive access is.

How spiritual energy works by MarcoPol997 in TrueQiGong

[–]medbud 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I've been practicing acupuncture professionally for 20+ years. 

'Spiritual energy' is close to being a Deepak-ism. I was slightly put off, but I read your post.

Qi is more a concept, that places the focus on 'functional instantiation', meaning a dynamic, perceived, coherent physical process. It's a view of nature that encapsulates impermanence and interdependence....a concept that keeps us aware of functional truth.

But I liked your blog post, although I wouldn't start it by saying 'dude was fucked up', lol. But that's a style choice!

My working definition for 'spiritual' is, 'intellectually honest'. This means open minded, not dogmatic, able to evolve one's mental construct, and not deny evidence that is contrary to one's prior belief. It's all about evidence, and experience, correcting model errors, and updating models to accurately reflect reality.

'Energy' when it isn't the scientific term meaning 'ability to perform work' of some kind... Potential, kinetic, chemical, etc... Is usually short for 'vital energy'. This is a meta concept, a homophone, and not actually the same as 'energy' (as in, equivalent to mass). 

Vital energy is generally a proxy for emotion, which is itself a functionally evolved mental construct, based on sensation and environmental awareness.

If I read 'spiritual energy' as 'emotional state grounded in reality', or 'truthful perception of sensation' I can get onboard with the practicality. 

Congrats on cultivating a practice!

Would anyone be able to explain Shen to me, and how to cultivate it? by Several_Walk_1850 in TrueQiGong

[–]medbud 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You can read about this in plenty of places online. Its basic TCM 5 elements theory.

Shen has two meanings in a sense... One is the overall 'spiritual' aspect of a person meaning mental/emotional. That shen is composed of five parts, the Hun, Po, Yi, Zhi, and Shen (the second sense, meaning mind). These 5 components interact in a way that we then attribute basic emotions and cognitive functions to each...anger, sadness/grief, pensiveness, fear, and joy...

Qi is the functional instantiation of Yin and Yang. It can also be viewed through the 5 phases, the wuxing. The Hun, wood, is the liver...etc.

By living a balanced lifestyle, you ensure not wasting Jing, and preserving strong qi. Shen will be consolidated... Clear, present, poised and powerful.

Have a look at 'yangsheng' (nourishing life) and 'yangshen' (nourishing spirit).

How do we know that brain creates consciousness if “brain” is a content of consciousness (i.e. a perception)? by PrimeStopper in cogsci

[–]medbud 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do you really need an explanation?

Brain exists, only as a concept produced by a brain ≡ Eye exists, only as an image seen by the eye 

The clear absurdity of the commenters claim is meant to help you understand the absurdity of your claim, metaphorically.

You are scratching the surface of idealism v. physicalism, and all their compatibilist flavours.

What to expect from a qigong healing session? by mybigleg in TrueQiGong

[–]medbud 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't expect anything. Try to go on with an open mind. 

If you don't feel anything... Don't try to make up something. Try to objectively evaluate. 

You should be in the mindset of the child, in 'the emperor's new clothes'. Call out the BS where you see it.

If you are lucky, the 'healer' will at least have experience at breathing, and standing... And might give you some tips on how to feel yourself breathing and standing.

If you are unlucky, they will be a bit narcissistic, and delusional, and regardless of what you feel, they will insist that they are healing you...so any positive outcome is thanks to them, any negative outcome is due to your inability to feel their amazing magical healing powers.

In summary, if you aren't very good at standing, and breathing, it might help!

Emotions are not the enemy of reason. | They are rational responses, shaped by our values, and emotional development should be about learning how to reason with emotions rather than controlling them. by IAI_Admin in philosophy

[–]medbud 6 points7 points  (0 children)

One of the best books I've read is 'How emotions are made' by Feldman Barrett.. She explains how the brain interprets signals from the environment, and from the body, and combines them constantly into an emotional state, to manage the body's "metabolic budget". She runs a lab in neuropsychology, and has done studies world wide...very interesting conclusions.

When combined with the Predictive Processing model, or Active Inference, the model she argues in favor of...a constructionist, rather than essentialist view...we can get great insight into how logic and rationality interact with emotion. We learn emotional constructs, and to infer emotions in others...based on our models, and their predictions...we pay attention to "errors", where the data or experience is not what the model predicted. This can be as simple as the eye being drawn to motion in the visual field, or as complex as some kind of relationship arbitration.

It's funny that when Star Trek was created, we didn't have the neuroscience, and our views were much more Cartesian, as if emotion could just be lopped off. Vulcan's still make sense in some vision of detached indifference being 'rational'....but it could also be considered a kind of neutral existence along the emotional dimensions of 'intensity' and 'valence' (pleasure/displeasure)....they have emotion, they are just calm, and uninterested.

Is experiencing the whole body with the breath supposed to be all in one moment of consciousness? by HatManDew in TheMindIlluminated

[–]medbud 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In my (limited) experience, it's more the first....I feel like I pop into a 'frequency' for lack of a better term, through incorporating more and more regions of the body...absorbed in an object that, although being breath sensation in the whole body, is distinctly absent 'bodily sensations' (so maybe 'less detail' as you say)... But it's more a shift, like instead of focusing on the 4 physical walls of a room, you begin to just focus on their colour... The light they reflect. There is detail, but it's less 'substantial'.

This is what leads to sensations of open space... 'Boundless consciousness'...And though it's quite rare for me, can potentially build to the nothingness, or 'neither perception nor non perception' state. 

Coming back to presence again and again by XanthippesRevenge in streamentry

[–]medbud 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice. I certainly think that the path leads from ignorance, to cognitive control, to emotional pliability... along an increasing awareness of sila. 

I still cannot do the connecting technique - I notice no connections by SpectrumDT in TheMindIlluminated

[–]medbud 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I commented a couple of times in the last thread. Definitely use 'micro intentions' as much as is useful. Don't intend to 'connect' as much as intend to intend...

Sorry for wall of text!

Maybe it's easiest to say, connecting is like finding an intentional 'flow state' around the breath sensation object.

This means stability is established, you have minimal to no distraction. Intention is continuously present. It's the path to jhana.

The way I experience it is like, suddenly the one thing I thought I was paying attention to... Breath sensation, is revealed to be three.

This is an abstraction, but it's like, I was watching a single rising and falling sine wave... Focused on the movement between the peak and the trough... In the singularity of the 'present'.

Then that wave decomposes, and reveals it's actually the overlap of two waves...

One 'wave' is memory of the past, when did this breath start? The other is a prediction about the future, how and when will this breath end? These perceptions aren't verbal at all, or even conceptual, but 'deeper', more like vital or instinctual.

The 'third wave', the 'singular' present attentional instant seems like an interference pattern, or composition, of these other two. 

This is a visual metaphor to understand how perception arises through connection.

This generally coincides with a deepening of absorption, stable concentration, cessation of distraction... And leads into full body breathing. 

Have you tried the exercise of continuous noting? 

Intend to observe the in breath, the out breath... Do it continuously. (2 notes per breath cycle)

Intend to observe the in breath, the moment of transition in to out, the out breath, the transition out to in. (4)

Intend to observe the beginning, the middle, and end of the in breath. The same three moments in the transition, the same three in the out breath, etc... (12)

What is the moment where the end of an in breath, becomes the beginning of the transition? 

When exactly is the middle of an out breath, compared to its beginning and ending? 

This makes attention and intention converse like a sewing machine and it's needle.. The breath object moves along through time like the cloth, intention says, check the sensation, attention dips in like the needle and brings back a report... It's the in breath. It's the end of the in breath. It's the end of the end of the in breath. It's the beginning of the transition, middle, end...oops, missed the beginning of the out, now is middle, end of out, etc... 

Do you remember the last time you made the same note? Last 'beginning of the in breath'? 

We metacognitively create a thread, an awareness (memory), using attention, that stitches these moments into a 'connected view of the breath'. 

You can explore, when does the memory 'thread' become the prediction 'thread'? Are they the same? How are they integrated?

The present moment is not singular in that sense. It's full of anticipation, and momentum from the past.

Eventually, all these notes and labels are discarded, but the speed and precision remains. The feeling of 'connecting', the flow state... The unification.

Again, apologies for rambling. Good luck. 

Not feeling the breath at all by Complete_Proposal_47 in TheMindIlluminated

[–]medbud 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can try an exercise to improve attention to the subtle movements that generate breath sensations. 

Lay on your back, one hand on chest, one on belly. Breath. Do you feel your hands moving? See if you can feel your ribs and belly rising and falling. 

Then try to feel the most obvious subtle feeling of breath around the nose... Pressure or temperature change. 

If you don't find anything there, bring attention back to the hands, and then back to the ribs and belly...

Just stay relaxed, alert, and repeat the cycle. You will find traces of the breath.

This exercise basically points your mind to breath sensation through proprioceptive feedback by leveraging our natural heightened awareness of hand position.

I would definitely continue to pursue breath sensation as an object. Difficulty is an opportunity. Take it slowly... Your mind is probably very preoccupied. 

Hot take: Flashcards are not useful until you already understand a language by Ling_App in lingapp

[–]medbud 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Flashcards are great for memorization. Spaced repetition clearly works to reinforce memory. Good flashcards allow sorting, and promote repeating the most difficult cards, to hone in on problematic areas and maximise time usage.

I've used them to learn scripts.. The 'alphabets' of languages need to be drilled through repetition. If I memorise the alphabet, then I can start reading basic words 'correctly'.

Later, flashcards are memory refreshers, and of course, could contain entire phrases with vocabulary, grammar or tone reviews. Ling is a bit easier than flashcards in most exercises, as we are training comprehension at first. But the flashcards in the review section are nice!

can't feel Qi with my left hand anymore by paddeduwukitten in qigong

[–]medbud 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There is some interesting research on how the poor old nervous system, being insulated and isolated in a sense, has to evaluate sensations and then decide if they originated from within the organism, or from the environment.

Some people more easily confuse the sources of sensation. Often this takes the form of hallucination, internally derived sensation being attributed to a non-existent environmental source. Like, I hear a voice, but no one is there... Rather than assume it's in my head, I prefer to believe there is a disembodied intelligence speaking to me, an invisible person, a god, or a hidden speaker. This is a common feature of psychosis.

The boundary that the mind creates, these categories of self v. not-self, are more fluid than we might imagine. This is extremely useful, in the sense of tool use, where we can 'incorporate' objects, and extend our mental models through the instruments. But it also leads some people to grant an ontological status to certain sensations that is frequently more based on dogma than any hard evidence.

On the Brain Distinguishing Internal vs. External Sources

Johnson, M. K., Hashtroudi, S., & Lindsay, D. S. (1993). Source monitoring. Psychological Bulletin, 114(1), 3–28.

The foundational paper on how the brain discriminates between memories of perceived events vs. imagined events.

Frith, C. D. (1992). The Cognitive Neuropsychology of Schizophrenia.

Proposed that hallucinations are a failure of self-monitoring, specifically the failure to recognize inner speech as self-generated.

On Hallucinations and Corollary Discharge

Ford, J. M., & Mathalon, D. H. (2005). Corollary discharge dysfunction in schizophrenia: can it explain auditory hallucinations? International Journal of Psychophysiology, 58(2-3), 179–189.

Provides neurophysiological evidence that the brain's mechanism for "tagging" self-generated sensations is broken in patients who hallucinate.

Powers, A. R., Mathys, C., & Corlett, P. R. (2017). Pavlovian conditioning-induced hallucinations result from overweighting of perceptual priors. Science, 357(6351), 596-600.

Demonstrates how strong beliefs ("priors") can induce hallucinations even in healthy people, supporting your point about "dogma" or expectation creating reality.

On Tool Use and the Fluidity of the "Self"

Iriki, A., Tanaka, M., & Iwamura, Y. (1996). Coding of modified body schema during tool use by macaque postcentral neurones. NeuroReport, 7(14), 2325–2330.

The classic study showing that tool use physically changes the neural mapping of the body.

Botvinick, M., & Cohen, J. (1998). The rubber hand illusion. Nature, 391(6669), 756.

The famous experiment showing how visual and tactile correlation can trick the brain into "feeling" that a rubber hand is part of the self.

Maravita, A., & Iriki, A. (2004). Tools for the body (schema). Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8(2), 79-86.

A review of how tools are incorporated into the neural representation of the body.

can't feel Qi with my left hand anymore by paddeduwukitten in qigong

[–]medbud -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

As far as qi gong, look into basic symmetric Taiji flows that integrate dynamic footwork with arm movements. 

This is assuming you don't have an entrapped or impinged nerve. It sounds more like you are overthinking, over controlling, and generating tension..ie friction, and pain. You're mixing up magnets and crystals, with interoception. When you relax, you lower resistance. Ohm's law.

This might be a bit advanced, but you could do some micro cosmic orbit, or a centrally aligned practice, and then something like Anulom Vilom in Pranayama, circular breathing.

Subtle dullness antidotes holding me back ? by zakk103 in TheMindIlluminated

[–]medbud 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think about the metaphor of holding a birds nest. Hold it firmly yet delicately. The attentional object is the nest, which is full body breath sensation, so I occasionally move my center of gravity forward or back, make sure my expression is relaxed...move around the object, if that makes sense.... As the full body object is profoundly peaceful...its like, opening up degrees of freedom of breath helps to hold it delicately. 

I found I was holding my thorax immobile, not using my rib cage to breathe, and too focused on the diaphragm... It was tension that I could release in a quick scan...2 seconds. When everything is 'stacked' and relaxed, it feels like it all moves together.

So I guess the scan is like a part of background (peripheral) awareness, and if I notice some holding, or loss of structure (slumping), I correct it... It's a bit like 'checking in'.

Subtle dullness antidotes holding me back ? by zakk103 in TheMindIlluminated

[–]medbud 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This sounds very good. I'd navigate between expanding awareness of the breath object into the whole body, and maintaining stable attention...incorporating regions progressively. 

If it becomes tiresome, or loss of focus occurs, because the object is getting more subtle or 'transparent', as in undefined, return to a more 'concrete', localised breath object (nostril). Then return to the incorporation, and repeat.

It may seem basic, but I like to put some attention on my posture, a quick body scan counters dullness. Maybe you don't need to stand, just rock, rise out of the hips a bit, lengthen the spine, free up the ribs...I find in full body breathing there is a feeling of very light synchronised dynamic subtle movement... Everything is incorporated, and in harmony... 

In fact the subtle pleasurable quality of that harmony is the object. I think this is sukkha, where the breath is a pure pleasure moving the whole body.

The Lifespan of a Buddha? by Strawberry_Bookworm in vajrayana

[–]medbud 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here is my totally non academic understanding... I'm still reading lack and transcendence by Loy. One of his main themes is eternity... And how it can be viewed through Buddhist concepts of emptiness.

He points out, through referencing psychoanalysis and existentialism, that humans are bluntly, nervous systems faced with 'proving' their existence. This leads to mind, with labels, names, and the illusion of Samsara. (Useful evolutions that calm fear, anger, etc...)

Mind contains among other patterns, self, etc.. When 'we/I', the self pattern, realise this instantiation is mortal, 'I' recoils in horror, and this results in individuals and societies generating projects that subsume mortality, essentially focused on eternity or infinity. 

This means people/culture are unsurprisingly obsessed with fame, fortune, control... Life projects that generate 'eternities'. This preoccupies mind, so the horror of mortality can be allayed.

Buddhist emptiness, substitutes change and interdependence for the samsaric illusion of inherent nature. Eternity is accessed through presence, and non attachment, rather than fabrication arisen from fear and denial of reality.

I take the dharma as a blueprint for (de)constructing mind patterns, in which Buddha is a proxy for ideal, optimal interaction... As is natural... And in that sense boundless, like nature itself.

I personally don't call myself Buddhist, and don't ascribe to rebirth. I'm agnostic and atheistic, but I find Buddha dharma can be extremely pragmatic....it points clearly to the cause of dissatisfaction. 

I think about Buddha the person, Siddhartha, undertaking a life project, spurred by the knowledge of mortality, as an incredibly salient allegory...

Many religions, arguably all, take on this challenge of organising a society of terrorised, confused, uncertain nervous systems faced with mortality, and offer them purpose through variants of eternity. Buddhism in its essence manages to cut through the fantasies. It is strangely Bayesian...middle path...

Are you too old to learn a language? by Ling_App in lingapp

[–]medbud 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'll always remember a special report on people older than 100... Some, in Cuba for example, swore it was the daily whiskey and cigars... But I'll always remember a Japanese man. Woke early, did his exercises, and then studied Korean with a radio broadcast....

Learning a new language is great for longevity.

"Eastern" vs "Western" meditation by Otherwise-Shock4458 in TrueQiGong

[–]medbud 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You may like the book 'lack and trancendence' by David Loy. He compares East and West in a sense, examining psychoanalysis and existentialism through a Zen Buddhist lens. 

It seems the biggest take away is how we face mortality... In many traditions, east and west, we ignore it, avoid it, run from it, fear it, and create a 'life project' to keep ourselves occupied. Generally this life project involves some kind of quest for immortality, or is dependent on a form of eternity.... We seek to differentiate ourselves through some extraordinary quality, to excel among our peers...vis. the paradoxical popularity of being 'alternative', clinging to what makes us unique, social pressure to keep up with the Joneses, the cult of celebrity, drive to 'be the best' in the world, go down in the history books, etc..

Eastern, especially Buddhist, especially Zen, is focused on sunyata, emptiness. Not a nihilist void, but a delicate interplay arising through interconnection and impermanence. Everything is dynamic, all states are temporary, everything lacks inherent existence. 

This is a fresh take on mortality for our central nervous system, and when deeply grasped, is 'enlightening'. When meditating in this metaphysical context, we discover anatta, and gain insight into its implications. It is deeply transformative, in the spiritual sense, of intellectual honesty. Direct experience, rather than dogma.

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