Philosophy Corner

[100% not blacksheepboy]

Just been thinking, as a whole, we humans are still animals, though on a level much beyond that of the "animal kingdom." We have our own sort of set internal reactions to things.

I wrote a four page 1 1/2 spaced document detailing my experience and thoughts with philosophy.

I am still currently taking these bullshit psych drugs due to acting outrageous in jail, so I am a bit woo-woo, but I reread it and I think the document passes as something worthwhile.

[Slasher]

Uhw..

[100% not blacksheepboy]

What does anyone think of the afterlife?

[machina]

What does anyone think of the afterlife?

There's no such thing.

(didn't read your text)

[100% not blacksheepboy]

There's no such thing.

Completely valid opinion.

[L[0ne]R]

I don't see the point of thinking about afterlife or similar topics in the first place. Let's face it, there are things we just don't know, and won't know for a long time, if ever. As humanity, we're constantly taking little steps towards understanding the universe, and eventually we might find answers to these questions. However as individuals, the scale is just too huge for us to grasp and there's concepts we couldn't even begin to imagine.

A few hundred years ago people wouldn't even think we'd be using giant star-powered machines orbiting our planet just so we can use our pocket-sized devices with access to all the information in the world to fap to cartoon pony porn that's being hosted on the opposite side of the planet. Our brains are just too physically limited to think too far ahead. Or too far in any direction, for that matter.

Accept your limits and make the best out of what you already know and have, rather than trying to reach for the stars using a stepladder.

[Gym Police]

Isn't it interesting how the people that toss ideas about the afterlife seem to be people not grounded in actual reality? That's escapism in my books.

[100% not blacksheepboy]

Something I typed up. Basically an experience I had of my life up till now. I come from the opinion that it's universal. This is a better version of my piece of shit opening post. I've been in the mental system long enough to see, first hand, people following trends of functioning that compare with what is below.

---

We are all born into a state of being where we are willing prisoners of our sensations, delivered to us by external means, as well coming from our internal functions. This is a state of being where the person is a subject, and not essentially a free entity. They effectively have the ability to free themselves by one singular action of self-observance, and that would the beginning to a new state. Until then, they will go so far as to fight to keep themselves in the system, and to protect it—unconsciously.

The next stage is when the person achieves self-observance and find they have freewill to control the universe around them, for yay or nay. This is the stage Neo was in from the beginning of The Matrix: a splinter in his mind. There was something wrong with the world, yet he did not know what to point it to. In this very same way, the person, after gaining freewill, can sense that, no matter his disposition, there’s something not quite right about his place, and that he needs to do something, or that there is something more. Some people pine after their youth and naivety from before they gained this state of being, purposely ignorant to the fact that there is yet a third and final state after this—something they are avoiding, or are too tepid to examine and attempt to achieve.

Afterward, the third step is what psychologists might call, “self actualization.” Basically, it is what the blessed Mary (from the Bible—Jesus’ mother) said to the archangel Gabriel: “Be it done unto me according to thy will.” In order to escape stage number two and actualize that splinter in your mind, driving you mad, you need to “step through the door.” Basically, you need to tell God – the higher power – “Thy will be done,” because that’s what it takes, and what it is in essence. It is why the saints were so happy and content in this life, because they united their will perfectly to the divine will. St. Alphonsus de Ligouri states in his booklet, On Doing God’s Will, that one perfect action of uniting your will to God’s is sufficient to make you a saint. I suggest you consider that implication. It’s not a lifelong sacrifice; it is a one-time commitment (what many people do not want to recognize for some reason). But it will take all of you, though do not be discouraged, because if you do certain practices, it will happen. Just don’t stay lazy or tepid, or else you will not succeed—of course I don’t suggest staying lazy or tepid at all.

Some practices that help for the third stage are certain things that get you working toward that goal of doing God’s will perfectly. One is reframing: all it takes is changing your internal state and recognizing that what you are experiencing, no matter what it appears to be, is temporary, and just an emotion or part of some internal bodily chemical stew that has no significance, and that you should not get attached to any certain disposition – effectively that dispositions are fleeting; getting attached to one is irrelevant and you can easily change it with one act of the will; you can’t lose yourself doing this because how do you define yourself anyway. Another way you can face this challenge, or that you can combine with your efforts is praying without ceasing. People have wondered throughout the ages what this very thing is, and how to attain it – basically it’s continual internal meditation; bear in mind, it’s internal, not external. Remember, “The flesh avails nothing,” and so neither does the external alone. It must be accompanied with the internal for it to have any effect—but bear in mind, the internal does not carry the same rule; the internal can be used alone aside from the external with maximum effect.

The third step is much like checkmating yourself, because oftentimes, we don’t want to give up our wills for the sake of following the divine will. There’s resistance, and we often rebel, even in small ways.

[L[0ne]R]

You mention God, self-observance, controlling the universe around you, sensing things that aren't right. To me it looks like a bunch of vague ideas like any other - "There's these things that are there, you just gotta believe they're there, because they are. And if you don't believe in them - you're an ignorant lazy prisoner of your own body."

With all due respect, your post is no different than any other unconvincing one-sided religious talk - there's millions of other beliefs and ideas out there, and yours doesn't strike as anything special. You're not going to convince anyone by just talking about what your beliefs are (we're all just ignorant sheeple after all), but tell us what makes them more true and unique than everything else and there's a chance it'll get interesting.

Towards the end of your post you start making some sense - many things that happen in our mind is just a chemical response to outside stimuli, and as such it can be conciously manipulated to some extent (though it's not as easy as you claim). This is where religious practice can be a form of mental excercise / meditation, which can help you fight your mind's weaknesses and take advantage of its strengths, make your mind healthier. (Ironically, one's definition of strengths and weaknesses depends on mental health...). Still, you're walking a thin line between blindly following the rules (including harmful ones), and making exceptions for the sake of common good (at which point you're not a true follower). It may be more practical to follow a religion-free meditation course based on psychological knowledge, unless you absolutely need something that's not grounded in reality as a coping mechanism.

EDIT: To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I even fully understand what you're trying to say. Maybe it's just me, but you use too many vague and unclear terms, methaphors and analogies that the whole thing makes little sense.

Either way though, religions are BS.

[daaw]

All cats are mammals.
I'm a mammal.
Therefore i'm cat.

[homerofgods]

Blacksheepboy there is no god, religion is bullshit. If you are happy believing in divinity then sure, why not. But if you don't wish to be delutional, if you want to see the world as it is and not something that is made up, then you can trust me completely. There is no god or ghosts or spirits or angels or any of such kind. I might have problems explaining to you in a way you can understand that there is no god but I can see it clearly enough. The best way I have to explain it is that if you look at humanity and the world and the universe we live in as a whole, there are things we have proven with science, things that have been thoroughly tested and thought about for a long time. Religion goes against all that is tested and all that we know is true. And yes there is a tiny tiny chance that everything we know is not true and there actually exist a god, but until this day there has never ever been a situation where basic science has not been proven true, and what then is the chances of the opposite? I'd say the chances are below 0,0000000000000000000000000000000000000000001%. Do you really  want to spend your life betting on that small chance?

[100% not blacksheepboy]

I'm working on a concept that dismisses the idea of God, or if it includes God, he is effectively an "absentee landlord," and requires us to do our own thinking and acting for ourselves--effectively the same as if he didn't exist.

Basically, it's zen. When I mentioned reframing, we humans can effectively, internally, reframe our own experience of the world around us, easily, on a whim, because, with careful observation, you will realize that reality -- to us on the inside (where we make decisions and function from, like an internal locus of control) -- is entirely subjective. Sure if someone gets hurt, it is an injury no matter where anyone is at, so that part of reality is objective. This does not discount though the different impacts it has on observers, or the person itself. The example works best with courage, being cool, opinions that press upon you from the environment, and whatever; basically, you can take any of the above and do whatever with it on the inside.

My example of zen is the Twitch streamer, Kripparrian. He's consistently uploaded for over two years, at least one video, on YouTube a day, and has streamed nightly over that time span as well. He's effectively unaffected, meaning that people that reach his inner state can do the same thing on other levels. It seems that he is completely untouched emotionally by anything on the real side of things. There doesn't seem to be any real self-defeating tendencies he has. I have other examples too, but I've done less science behind their lives than Kripp.

-- random thought.. --

Another thing I've noticed is that there is an "on" or "off" function in myself, and subsequently, in others as well. The "off" is me acting automatically to whatever stimulus surrounding me or inside me, and the "on" is taking action.