I actually wrote a note that touched on a similar idea as your disbelief-as-protection mechanism, but geared towards demons. Demons are essentially "other selves", and the defining factor of a self (at least in Buddhism) is that it has power or control of some sort. I think that self-view ultimately means the idea that the phenomenon of self-concept has some sort of power over you. So if we posit demons are other selves, then that means they may also have some type of power over us: we're basically extending self-view outwards. But by disbelieving in demons, we engage in a quasi-Buddhist not-self practice of seeing them as "just thoughts, just feelings, not me, not a demon either". It's not exactly not-self, but it gets pretty close to the modern approach to not-self in general (which I think is a modern misunderstanding of its original meaning, but that's another story). This is also one of the reasons I am often skeptical of Christianity and its approach to demons, because I see that it tends to make people pretty obsessed with demonics, witches, etc., thereby making them buy into them more, and potentially opening them up to attack if it turns out that demons are real. Like you, I think that Buddhism has the strongest anti-"demon" defense because it completely deflates them: whether they're actually demons or intrusive thoughts, they're ultimately the same thing, which is selfless phenomena that are at best superfluous.
In the theater community, there is a group exercise called "telepathy." The goal is to count from 1 to 30 without making a mistake. The challenge lies in the fact that only one person can say each number, and if two or more people say the same number, the count starts over. There is no way to agree on the order. If you try this in a group of up to 10 people who have just met or are hearing these rules for the first time, you will be amazed at how quickly the task is completed and how it can be further complicated. You can literally watch as people's brains align and predict each other's actions. I believe that telepathy exists, but it is not like a messaging app and requires a delicate alignment. This is particularly evident in large creative teams where body practices and mental discipline are employed.
weirdly, when I read your stuff, (and there are some other ppl who trigger this for me) it becomes evident to me that I have a lot of these powers latent. I don't feel very called to develop them, because they feel less important than other ones I'm missing (like being able to follow through on long term projects). and for ppl who know me this sounds strange bc I think most claims for this are BS. (I don't know why, but I am skeptical of of ppl who don't have rational capacities to do these things, but you seem to disagree. I actually don't think I have a very good radar for others on this)
a basic function is to just be present, and care, and honest. when you do that, plus minimal *magic* it seems to be pretty good.
but I guess the dark side is that with enough focus, you could probably also do it.
This is so well-put and exactly where I’ve landed, though more clearly worded than anything I could have put together. There are some humanities scholars who seem to be circling around this worldview pretty rigorously: Jeffrey Kripal (Professor of Religion at Rice, “How to Think Impossibly,” T.M Luhrmann (Professor of Anthropology at Stanford, “How God Becomes Real,”) and Carlos Eire, Professor of Religion at Yale, “They Flew! A History of The Impossible”).
But I actually experience that protective immunological response myself—it’s like I glimpse this paradigm and it blows my mind, but any time i try to think about it in depth—or God forbid, explain it to other people or apply it to my actual life—my brain gets mushy and tired and I feel a deep aversion to thinking about it for a .
I have the same weird internal experience that might be the acting of this immune system. If I commanded my mind "think sexist thoughts!" or something else forbidden, a similar thing happens
We are actually electric, electromagnetic, quantum energy...all the things. Western "civ" has done a painfully good job preventing us from experiencing that. I studied craniosacral therapy. When I practice, sometimes I guess I'm merely interfacing with a client's electromagnetic fields. Other times, I get huge downloads that point to something, well, huge.
Somehow this article reminds me of the book Post-Modern Magic by Patrick Dunn, who both had the skills for and warned against the uninitiated summoning troublesome entities.
I loved this, it is a new take for me. I had never considered that the normies might have something positive going on with their denial of anything strange.
Why don’t you end your paras with full stops? It is a bit discombobulating
Have you ever read the cia's review of the gateway tapes? The author is tasked with giving a rational explanation of how remote viewing is possible.
Humans can learn how to be insanely sensitive to energy. But at a certain point you run the risk of delusion if you're too attached to certain beliefs.
It must be an intentional decision to not put a period at the end of the last sentence in every paragraph. Right? I'm fascinated by this article but this consistent quirk in punctuation is infuriating. We're not on Twitter where periods make you look like a sociopath.
The tailbone still acts as an anchor for pelvic floor muscles and the appendix is a reservoir for beneficial gut bacteria. I wouldn't be so quick to lop it off.
I look forward to prehensile tails and the consequent Silicon Valley disruption of furniture but in the meantime pelvic floor muscles are kind of essential for two of my favorite activities
Generally I like this stylistic quirk of yours but I did notice it wasn’t clear when a paragraph was followed by an image whether the sentence was over or not
I actually wrote a note that touched on a similar idea as your disbelief-as-protection mechanism, but geared towards demons. Demons are essentially "other selves", and the defining factor of a self (at least in Buddhism) is that it has power or control of some sort. I think that self-view ultimately means the idea that the phenomenon of self-concept has some sort of power over you. So if we posit demons are other selves, then that means they may also have some type of power over us: we're basically extending self-view outwards. But by disbelieving in demons, we engage in a quasi-Buddhist not-self practice of seeing them as "just thoughts, just feelings, not me, not a demon either". It's not exactly not-self, but it gets pretty close to the modern approach to not-self in general (which I think is a modern misunderstanding of its original meaning, but that's another story). This is also one of the reasons I am often skeptical of Christianity and its approach to demons, because I see that it tends to make people pretty obsessed with demonics, witches, etc., thereby making them buy into them more, and potentially opening them up to attack if it turns out that demons are real. Like you, I think that Buddhism has the strongest anti-"demon" defense because it completely deflates them: whether they're actually demons or intrusive thoughts, they're ultimately the same thing, which is selfless phenomena that are at best superfluous.
Yes!!!
In the theater community, there is a group exercise called "telepathy." The goal is to count from 1 to 30 without making a mistake. The challenge lies in the fact that only one person can say each number, and if two or more people say the same number, the count starts over. There is no way to agree on the order. If you try this in a group of up to 10 people who have just met or are hearing these rules for the first time, you will be amazed at how quickly the task is completed and how it can be further complicated. You can literally watch as people's brains align and predict each other's actions. I believe that telepathy exists, but it is not like a messaging app and requires a delicate alignment. This is particularly evident in large creative teams where body practices and mental discipline are employed.
weirdly, when I read your stuff, (and there are some other ppl who trigger this for me) it becomes evident to me that I have a lot of these powers latent. I don't feel very called to develop them, because they feel less important than other ones I'm missing (like being able to follow through on long term projects). and for ppl who know me this sounds strange bc I think most claims for this are BS. (I don't know why, but I am skeptical of of ppl who don't have rational capacities to do these things, but you seem to disagree. I actually don't think I have a very good radar for others on this)
a basic function is to just be present, and care, and honest. when you do that, plus minimal *magic* it seems to be pretty good.
but I guess the dark side is that with enough focus, you could probably also do it.
This is so well-put and exactly where I’ve landed, though more clearly worded than anything I could have put together. There are some humanities scholars who seem to be circling around this worldview pretty rigorously: Jeffrey Kripal (Professor of Religion at Rice, “How to Think Impossibly,” T.M Luhrmann (Professor of Anthropology at Stanford, “How God Becomes Real,”) and Carlos Eire, Professor of Religion at Yale, “They Flew! A History of The Impossible”).
But I actually experience that protective immunological response myself—it’s like I glimpse this paradigm and it blows my mind, but any time i try to think about it in depth—or God forbid, explain it to other people or apply it to my actual life—my brain gets mushy and tired and I feel a deep aversion to thinking about it for a .
see, the fairies that protect the secrets of the borderlands cut me off before I could finish my sentence. I hit “post” to soon…or did I?
I have the same weird internal experience that might be the acting of this immune system. If I commanded my mind "think sexist thoughts!" or something else forbidden, a similar thing happens
love the idea of disbelief as a protection mechanism
It only goes so far, as your cosmology of power post alluded
We are actually electric, electromagnetic, quantum energy...all the things. Western "civ" has done a painfully good job preventing us from experiencing that. I studied craniosacral therapy. When I practice, sometimes I guess I'm merely interfacing with a client's electromagnetic fields. Other times, I get huge downloads that point to something, well, huge.
Somehow this article reminds me of the book Post-Modern Magic by Patrick Dunn, who both had the skills for and warned against the uninitiated summoning troublesome entities.
this is so cool but why no periods as punctuation?
bc I'm twitterbrained. I'm going to fix the article soon
I loved this, it is a new take for me. I had never considered that the normies might have something positive going on with their denial of anything strange.
Why don’t you end your paras with full stops? It is a bit discombobulating
Have you ever read the cia's review of the gateway tapes? The author is tasked with giving a rational explanation of how remote viewing is possible.
Humans can learn how to be insanely sensitive to energy. But at a certain point you run the risk of delusion if you're too attached to certain beliefs.
I think you will enjoy my older posts.
It must be an intentional decision to not put a period at the end of the last sentence in every paragraph. Right? I'm fascinated by this article but this consistent quirk in punctuation is infuriating. We're not on Twitter where periods make you look like a sociopath.
periods at the end of paragraphs are vestigial
The tailbone still acts as an anchor for pelvic floor muscles and the appendix is a reservoir for beneficial gut bacteria. I wouldn't be so quick to lop it off.
I’m only saving my tailbone for when the transhumanists give us our tails back
I look forward to prehensile tails and the consequent Silicon Valley disruption of furniture but in the meantime pelvic floor muscles are kind of essential for two of my favorite activities
Generally I like this stylistic quirk of yours but I did notice it wasn’t clear when a paragraph was followed by an image whether the sentence was over or not
I think this stylistic quirk must come to an end. Adding periods now.
can you write your manifesto and publish it here? reading on X sucks
Yeah I plan to