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Understanding Everything

shimmeringvoid.substack.com

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Re: Understanding Everything

#21

Post by vonbaum »

falcor84 wrote: post #11
Scarblac wrote: post #6

> Well, one of the core measures of a well-designed game (for a given player) is the felt experience of immersion, or flow. Specifically, an immersive game should hold the player in the flow channel at all times. In life, that's not the case. We sometimes choose to do things that are frustrating or boring, because they must be done. Because they're worth doing. Not everything needs to be entertainment. > Instead, I w…

>exist (with no possible way to communicate between lives) ...what I do in this life may influence my next one. Could you please clarify what you mean by this? If there is no communication in either direction, in what way does one life affect the next?

Karma?

Re: Understanding Everything

#24

Post by gnz11 »

falcor84 wrote: post #11
Scarblac wrote: post #6

> Well, one of the core measures of a well-designed game (for a given player) is the felt experience of immersion, or flow. Specifically, an immersive game should hold the player in the flow channel at all times. In life, that's not the case. We sometimes choose to do things that are frustrating or boring, because they must be done. Because they're worth doing. Not everything needs to be entertainment. > Instead, I w…

>exist (with no possible way to communicate between lives) ...what I do in this life may influence my next one. Could you please clarify what you mean by this? If there is no communication in either direction, in what way does one life affect the next?

I suppose genes would fit the bill? Environment can affect gene expression so how we nurture our current environment could affect the genes of future generations. Might be a stretch, I’m not a geneticist or biologist.

Re: Understanding Everything

#25

Post by DontchaKnowit »

bjornsing wrote: post #9

> I want to understand everything (…and how it all fits together.) I have this personality trait too. I suspect it was very beneficial in evolutionary times, when it was possible to learn everything that was known and then start using that knowledge. But in the modern world it becomes a bit of a personality flaw: you just learn and learn and learn, and then you die. :)

And if you like learning, you die happy :)

Re: Understanding Everything

#26

Post by Kinrany »

a_c wrote: post #7

After being a father, now I see life as a recursion, a recursion to pass on life. On micro-scale, it means being good parents, to pass on accumulated wisdom, or the lack of, to children. Then scale the recursion to extended family, community and maybe whole humanity. I've internalised the feeling that things that help the recursion are things worth doing, and the smaller the scale, the stronger the feeling is.

Trying to do what evolution does but on purpose is like going downstairs to help gravity.

Re: Understanding Everything

#27

Post by LiveTheDream »

patcon wrote: post #13
a_c wrote: post #7

After being a father, now I see life as a recursion, a recursion to pass on life. On micro-scale, it means being good parents, to pass on accumulated wisdom, or the lack of, to children. Then scale the recursion to extended family, community and maybe whole humanity. I've internalised the feeling that things that help the recursion are things worth doing, and the smaller the scale, the stronger the feeling is.

I'm also a strong believer in recursion being a key feature of living processes and intelligence..! A book you might like: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691145471/th...

I subscribe to this theory as well. Another earlier book about the topic is I Am A Strangle Loop by Douglas Hofstadter[0]

[0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123471.I_Am_a_Strange_Lo...

Re: Understanding Everything

#28

Post by LiveTheDream »

falcor84 wrote: post #11
Scarblac wrote: post #6

> Well, one of the core measures of a well-designed game (for a given player) is the felt experience of immersion, or flow. Specifically, an immersive game should hold the player in the flow channel at all times. In life, that's not the case. We sometimes choose to do things that are frustrating or boring, because they must be done. Because they're worth doing. Not everything needs to be entertainment. > Instead, I w…

>exist (with no possible way to communicate between lives) ...what I do in this life may influence my next one. Could you please clarify what you mean by this? If there is no communication in either direction, in what way does one life affect the next?

A person today could build something to be used by a person tomorrow.

Re: Understanding Everything

#29

Post by bbor »

Scarblac wrote: post #6

> Well, one of the core measures of a well-designed game (for a given player) is the felt experience of immersion, or flow. Specifically, an immersive game should hold the player in the flow channel at all times. In life, that's not the case. We sometimes choose to do things that are frustrating or boring, because they must be done. Because they're worth doing. Not everything needs to be entertainment. > Instead, I w…

If you don’t have memories of your current life, can you meaningfully be said to be the same consciousness at all?

Also I’m really happy/jealous that you’ve found meaning, but I’d like to softly express some incredulity at picking a view of the universe based on what feels good or seems the most meaningful. Don’t you ever doubt it, because you’re not basing it on any evidence or reason?

Re: Understanding Everything

#30

Post by atuladhar »

LiveTheDream wrote: post #27
patcon wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also a strong believer in recursion being a key feature of living processes and intelligence..! A book you might like: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691145471/th...

I subscribe to this theory as well. Another earlier book about the topic is I Am A Strangle Loop by Douglas Hofstadter[0] [0] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123471.I_Am_a_Strange_Lo...

The typo (Strange -> Strangle) gives this comment a very surreal vibe.
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