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I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

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Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#71

Post by p10_user »

anonzzzies wrote: post #34
hypeatei wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Life is inherently suffering and has no meaning. Being healthy brings many people joy and so does smoking cigarettes; either way we're here for a limited time surrounded by things that are trying to kill us so why not enjoy it? That's my take at least. During winter I'd probably have a more depressing perspective but the sun has been out lately.

Not sure if you meant to say that, but I do believe you should do what you like and can in this short period on earth. Whatever that is and if it doesn’t hurt others, do it please, it doesn’t matter anyway. However, almost all people I know that are over the top healthy (measuring everything, doing some sort of ‘du-jour’ diet (all meat, no meat, all protein, no protein, extreme fasting, no fasting; etc; ‘the best way…

there's a workaholic / achievement / perfectionist satisfaction aspect at play - hustle to make yourself into an idealized version of self. Since achieving this is difficult, gradual, and ultimately impossible, it becomes a perpetual distraction.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#72

Post by martinjacobd »

kayodelycaon wrote: post #12
sph wrote: post #4

What a well-written story. I don't have much to add, but I can say her humour or writing talent seems to be quite sharp for someone that feels she has not completely regained her mental faculties. Also the joke about opening a spa where she whacks stressed people with a bat so they find respite from our busy world: we already do that ourselves when we reach mental burnout. I did, and in some ways, I feel that years l…

> Perhaps burnout is as traumatic to the brain as a massive brain injury Wouldn’t surprise me. I had a massive psychotic break 5 years ago. I’m pretty sure it came with physical brain damage. My memory isn’t what it used to be. There are holes in it. Apparently some of it is so completely gone, I don’t know I’ve forgotten it. Usually I know if I forgot something because there is a dangling pointer to it. Brain damage…

I've often felt this way about depression, but it's hard to tease apart the long-term after-effects of a depressive episode, the probability that my current symptoms might just be the beginnings of an episode, and the long-term (after-)effects of the medication I took/take for it.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#73

Post by toss1 »

jongjong wrote: post #36
lijok wrote: post #16

Amazing recount. I was fortunate to learn in 2018, at a relatively young age, that my mental faculties are the most precious thing I have in life (after my wife ofcourse). It was a very simple accident; chasing a high I let my bike get too fast going downhill on a wet road, a car on the other side was oncoming, I break, the back wheel slips out from under me, I hit my head on the road (with a helmet on). A bruised kn…

I had a similar moment when I was 16 and had my first migraine aura... Really bad one. I was looking at a billboard and I realized that I couldn't read anymore. Then I looked at people and part of their faces were missing from my field of view even though I was looking straight at them. Then I started feeling tingling in my fingers. I thought it was a stroke. No, just a bad migraine aura. I've had one every 6 to 12 m…

>>a temporary dysfunction of the mind

Interesting

Seems the dysfunction could be either intrinsic, as in mis-processing data/information that is present, or extrinsic, as in not having or failing to obtain a suitable set of data/information on the topic.

Does this match your model?

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#74

Post by grecy »

alexpotato wrote: post #29

Many years ago I read an article (which I can't seem to find) that had the following key points: - Very smart guy - Had some kind of blood circulatory issue so reduced oxygen to the brain - BUT was a very active cyclist so has very good cardio - due to both of the above, he was getting enough O2 to be functional but effectively had a lower IQ - circulatory issue was eventually identified and then corrected His commen…

This resonates deeply with me on major hangover days... somehow life is just more basic and I find more enjoyment in nothing more than the basics.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#75

Post by newaccount74 »

nunez wrote: post #17

This sounds like an head-on collision that happened on a high speed rural two-lane road with an impatient driver thinking they could complete a tight pass in time. I absolutely hate these roads, for this reason.

It is possible that the idiot in the truck just didn't see the oncoming car.

It baffles me often how distracted drivers just pull out somewhere and hit a car that would be impossible to miss if the driver bothered to look at all.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#77

Post by wongarsu »

chankstein38 wrote: post #58
Solvency wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

my 3 chickens have deep and complex social dynamics all while being able to pinpoint grains of quinoa off the ground faster than a robot while being able to spot the faintest outline of the tiniest potential threatening hawk 2 miles away in the sky, fully discerned from various crows flying around that don't phase them at all. their little brains are processing far more than me.

I don't know how scientifically factual this is, it was presented as such but it's hard to believe it in a literal sense but there's a Benn Jordan video called "How The World SOUNDS To Animals" about how different animals perceive time differently. Like flies perceive life many times more slowly than we do which is, allegedly, why they seem to get away when we swat at them, no matter how quickly we move. If that's tr…

Humans have reaction times on the order of 100-200ms. But interestingly if you measure reaction by you moving your hands or torso about 10%-20% of that time is just the time it takes for the signal to travel from your brain to the right muscle. Nerves aren't all that fast. That's why many reflexes happen outside the brain, closer to the relevant body part.

With that in mind, it would make a lot of sense if time perception scaled with body size. If you are a big elephant signals need to travel very far, and your muscles have to overcome a lot of inertia. If you can't react quickly anyways you don't need to perceive time as quickly. A fly has little inertia, fast signal times because of the short distances, fast processing because there just are fewer neurons, so there is more advantage to perceiving time more quickly

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#78

Post by toss1 »

btbuildem wrote: post #41

Long time ago I had a concussion resulting from a skiing accident. It wasn't immediately apparent, but it was severe enough that I lost my job and spent ten months on unemployment. For the worst of it I was stupid, I couldn't be funny, and I was overall greatly diminished as a person. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as concussions can get, and it faded with time. This type of injury terrifies me though, and from what I rea…

IDK why you are getting downvoted. Evidently some Covid-deniers here? I hope you get better soon; no question losing your mind is terrifying. I'm watching it happen to my FIL, formerly a very sharp engineer and excellent writer, who can no longer even roll dice and move a gamepiece. Seems terrifying indeed.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#79

Post by keybored »

anonzzzies wrote: post #14
poszlem wrote: post #9

For some reason I found this line particularly funny and poignant: "But did you know that you can eat whole grains and still get hit by a truck?"

As I get older, more and more people around me get ill and die: many of them super healthy, not smoking or drinking, sporty all their lives, wealthy, health food nuts and no family histories get diagnosed with cancer and heart disease. In my group more healthy than unhealthy receive terrible outcomes at too young an age. It seems indeed it is not fair; do not believe or think it is, there is no reason to do so. Oh an…

People who think that living healthy cosmically entitles them to live to the age of 85 without any unfortunate events are (cosmically) entitled. A sort of “I deserve better” attitude towards unhealthy people who happened to be more lucky reveals a nasty moralistic attitude.

Living healthy is extrinsically rewarding in itself. You better your odds at least. Maintaining this latent chip on your shoulders towards the unhealthy is weird.

EDIT: I wonder if there is a (channeling Nixon) silent majority of health-“nuts” who just live healthy without advertising it (beyond their inherent health and vitality!). We naturally mostly notice those who make it part of their persona.

Re: I Know the secret to the quiet mind. I wish I'd never learned it (2021)

#80

Post by keybored »

anonzzzies wrote: post #61
silverquiet wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd think with a username like that you'd be in agreement. Certainly I've not found any other truth about life.

The suffering depends on how lucky you are though; if you are well off (inherited or self made) and/or born in the right country you have the dope to not have the suffering. Eventually the dope to end it, whenever that may be. Meaningless cannot be helped; the universe is dark and vast and nothing ‘cares’ on any larger scale than your immediate family/friends, and even they lose interest, if they really had any to be…

The Buddha was a prince.
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