incoming stream of consciousness beware of misunderstandings
People behave in such odd ways and I'm aware even I behave strangely according to everyone else, but it feels like at some point I experienced a sort revelation or maybe I always knew this and am only realizing it as I've gotten older. The world's broken and so many people hurt themselves and each other and part of me thinks if everyone could see this clarity maybe the world wouldn't be as bad as it is... or it might be worse. I don't know. I just have a hard time putting these thoughts into words.
I just know that I am a mind riding around in this apparent vessel I never asked for (an ideal vessel would be able to shift form freely to suit what is needed or wanted) and at times I worry that other people don't exist for simple reason that I can not verify anyone's consciousness but my own.
I admit I don't understand a lot of the things people construct themselves around or define themselves by. It just comes off as "Why do you people do these things if hurts you and others. Does any of this matter? Assuming anyone else exists, are we not all minds/souls and in our purest forms are we not far more than our bodies that drag us down? What's more real than consciousness? Should we not devote ourselves to some form of transcendence from from this or making peace with what we are, what we have, and what we've done and barring that why not simple hedonism? If actively inflicting pain is morally wrong then so must the active denial of pleasure be wrong as well."
I don't think I have the words to explain things in the best way of how I view the world, but this seems like something I needed to say for the moment.
I probably wouldn't posted anything in this thread today if I weren't off my medication. I apologize for this.
"People behave in such odd ways and I'm even aware I behave strangely according to everyone else"
"Why do you people do these things if it hurts you and others."
"Should we not devote ourselves to some form of transcendence from this [truth about the universe]?"
Some of these questions I feel like answer each other. We all agree that people are different, behave different, act differently etc. Evidence that people are different and have different priorities. That's why we can't agree on what's a transcendence truth to devote ourselves to. Our life-journeys have taken us to different worldviews and it's very, very hard to reconcile worldviews between each other. I don't have the full range of knowledge and experiences that you have that helped you get to where you are, just as you don't have the same knowledge and experiences that I have. If you know everything I know, and I knew everything you knew, who's mind would change the most?
But since we can never sample each other's consciousness & history like that, the only thing left is communication. If I don't communicate with you, any revelations and lessons I've learned in my life that I consider to be valuable may never reach you, and that's a tragedy. I wish I could share my insights with such accuracy that people instantly understood what I meant and what my intent is so I never have to wonder if I explained myself right.
That's why miscommunication is frustrating. If somebody misunderstands me, it could be for an infinite reasons and I'd hope we can try again until we get it right. This is why I believe in "Good Faith" and charity when debating. I want to give people all the attempts they need to translate their idea to me using the words they know. Bad faith discussions, on the other hand, are one of the most vile acts people can do towards each other. It's a charade of communication where you're trying to frustrate that person's attempt at getting their ideas across. That person isn't a font of insight, they're an obstacle that needs to be overcome. If that person has some truly valuable insight and can't convey it properly, everybody loses in the end.
OK, observations on worldview & communications out of the way, let's talk about pleasure & happiness.
I think a lot of people underestimate their biology. Happiness is not a permanent state of being. It's simply not. You just got a new promotion? Great, enjoy that high for a few days before you realize 'work is work' and mundanity has returned. You just completed a marathon- but your credit score is still shit. You've just bought a motorcycle during your mid-life crisis. Well, you're still old. I mean, if rich people & famous artist still kill themselves, then even success isn't the solution.
No matter the success, your brain will find a way to fuck up your day. It's actively looking for those things that will fuck up your day. This isn't a special condition, this is the human condition. We've all inhabitants of the evolutionary tree and have all sorts of modules & service packs that are running on instinct that's hundreds of millions of years old. No amount of achievement will change that. Happiness will never be permanent.
Remember how you said there's nothing more real than consciousness? I agree 100%. That's why suffering sucks and is bad, and happiness is awesome and is good. It's because those are states of beings that we're conscious of. BUT I don't think it follows that since actively inflicting pain = wrong then denial of pleasure = wrong. Pleasure can be very inconvenient sometimes and it's just pragmatic to not chase pleasure at every opportunity. For example, exercise isn't very pleasurable for most people and neither is eating healthy. But both of those things can result in a lot more long term well-being at the loss of some short-term happiness and pleasure. Suffering is a signal your brain is sending when it thinks you're in a bad spot or doing something stupid to hurt your survival. Happiness is the opposite, its your brain rewarding your behavior and wants you to continue doing what you're doing. But in both of these cases, you might
know better than the signal your brain is sending you. Your priorities and worldview will line up and say "even though I'm hurting myself, this is what I have to do. Fuck off instincts." When you see some people hurting themselves, there might be a good reason behind it. If there isn't... well that's just sad and unfortunate.
You might think of a sci-fi world where we can alter the biology of humans to always feel euphoric or something similar (I've heard arguments like this), but that's not the world we're in. We could perhaps do drugs all the time, but that's not sustainable. There ARE some people who think that euphoria is a symptom that belongs on a warning label of medication, but that's not me. Either way, we don't live in the ideal world and honestly, we should stop trying to build the ideal world, because many many people won't fit into it due to their worldviews.
Where does that leave us?
With the understanding that people are different, act different, believe different, then it's going to be hard us to create a "one size fits all" solution that works for everybody. It's utter hubris of me to think that my revelations would work on anybody else who hasn't had the same life ingredients that I've had. I can only hope that when people are hurting themselves and others, it's out of a misunderstanding. A misunderstanding of each other or of themselves. Or perhaps a misunderstanding of a philosophy, principles or way of life that was set up for them by somebody else, like a parent or <<THE SYSTEM>>
So I fully expect a variety of worldviews and transcendent goals. I even believe that people will have many personal worldview revolutions in their life as well. What we should avoid, at all cost, is the idea that we've found the "Last Truth" or "The End of History" because, frankly, we could all be wrong. And I'd hate for all the suffering that would be inflicted because we huff our own farts and think we know what's right for everybody else.
And with that I've hit my word quota for the day. Thanks V4Guss.