Dancing with ghosts

[utopian]

 

I love Neil Tyson. His personality makes concepts of deeper thought easier to pay attention to. 

 

A TLDR for those of you that didnt watch the video, the concept of his speech is that the difference between human DNA and chimp DNA is about 2%. He is speaking to the phenomena that with just a 2% difference, we look at chimps with the indifference and patronization that we look at a 2 year old. He speaks to the idea that if there is indeed intelligent life out in the universe, which he is quite certain of, that if they were only 1% more intelligent than us, they would not even be interested in having a conversation with us; the same way we humans have no interest in attempting to have a conversation with a chimp, or a 2 year old.

 

 

 

But I want to go a step further into this concept, that Neil himself recognizes. The concept of the difference in intelligence from 1% to 1%. Neil notes that human intelligence exists in the 2% difference above chimps. So there is that bottom 1%... and the top 1%. The bottom 1% is obvious. They are the commoners... the people who do not understand that they are living in an "end user" world created for them by the top 1%. They are the ghosts. They don't care to know life should not be this hard or this way. They don't care to know they are slaves. They don't care about anything except playing video games, and smoking pot, and getting laid. They think, this is just the way life is supposed to be. It's the way things have always been. And the worst thing about it is, they rail against anyone who wants to tell them the truth... they shun and ignore anything that is even remotely real. They dare not entertain any rhetoric that might suggest reality. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BguQNYpdT6g

 

This was not the exact video, but it was the closest one I found to the one I really wanted. The one where Stefan talks about dancing with ghosts.

 

 

 

Because, that is what the bottom 1% of people are; they are simply ghosts. They don't even exist. They barely make a ripple on the surface of the water called life. God forbid, anyone show any of these people a modicum of truth. For someone to do such a thing means ostracization. They think they are important. They think they matter. They get angry when you don't treat them they way they expect you to, when they won't even realize the truth.

 

 

 

Personally, I see the top 1%, and what they do to the rest of us. I see the Federal Reserve, and the US military's agenda in the middle east, and the feminist/media agenda to make us all more subservient, and much more. With all my heart and soul I rage against it all, refusing to fade into obscurity as so many other ghosts have, but because of it, I find myself standing alone, without even a ghost to pretend to be friends with.  The ghosts don't even have the capacity to recognize their apparatus. They can't even comprehend what I am angry about. All they know is there is some guy over there ranting angrily, and listening to him hurts their head, so they would rather turn back into non existence and desensitize themselves pleasantly in technology, and chemicals, and political correctness.

 

 

 

Where are the people who want to exist? Who want to be real? Who want to face the truth with bravery, grasp hold of it with their bare hands and, though it may burn, shape it into something that does not have to be painful? Where are the people who want to one day look upon their works, and see proof of their existence that will stand the test of time? The people who want to make a difference in their lives, and the lives of others? I can't find them. Not one person. I look around me and see nothing but ghosts, and it seems, that is all they can even aspire to be. Not even in their wildest dreams, can they imagine being anything more.

 

 

 

 

So in order to mitigate the pain of standing alone, I forsake the truth and fraternize with ghosts. There is a ghost who takes a partial liking to me. She is easy to look at and easy to listen to. Part of me wants to be real with her, and hints at reality. She catches on easily, and says "forget all that. Come be a ghost with me." Though my mind rails against the idea, some deep and primal part of me yearns for exactly that; to be a ghost, dancing with ghosts, doing nothing but feeling good and pretending to exist. What am I supposed to do? I wish I could be real with people, but reality does nothing but scare everyone away. The best I can hope for is to continue dancing with ghosts and pretending I am alive. I do it, but I cannot help but only ever be filled with a sense of melancholy, knowing of reality, and willingly being fake. It is slightly less painful than always being real, and thus always alone. I wish I had a better answer.

[dsayers]

I don't mean to diminish your experience, but it sounds like somebody has distracted you.

 

the concept of his speech is that the difference between human DNA and chimp DNA is about 2%. He is speaking to the phenomena that with just a 2% difference, we look at chimps with the indifference and patronization that we look at a 2 year old. He speaks to the idea that if there is indeed intelligent life out in the universe, which he is quite certain of, that if they were only 1% more intelligent than us, they would not even be interested in having a conversation with us; the same way we humans have no interest in attempting to have a conversation with a chimp, or a 2 year old.

A phillips head screwdriver is only ~2% different from a regular screwdriver, yet that's all the difference in the world. The difference between humans/chimps/young children is reasonability. All the difference in the world. The people you reference as being irrelevant, you attribute this to their lower IQ rather than what's actually responsible: coercion and aggression. Which leads to a suppression of rational thought. Another example of this is

 

Personally, I see the top 1%, and what they do to the rest of us. I see the Federal Reserve, and the US military's agenda in the middle east, and the feminist/media agenda to make us all more subservient, and much more.

Top 1% of what? You go on to list examples of coercion and aggression. A rapist's primary characteristic is their willingness to initiate the use of force. Where they can be found on any scale that might put them in the top or bottom 1% isn't relevant. This is important because you reference "what they do to us." You could say that Stef makes me look bad because what he's done for the good of humanity compared to what I've done. But all of our actions/interactions are voluntary, so it would be misleading to say he's doing that to me. Whereas the Fed, etc ARE doing things to people by initiating the use of force.

 

I understand that in a world that wants to believe we're not responsible, it's not easy accepting one's responsibility. Something to keep in mind is that part of the reason some people reject this responsibility is because of the momentum of the past. Right now, it's still fashionable to support institutionalized violence. If we just pretend to be like them for the sake of conformity, all we'd be doing is pushing back how soon it will be when it's no longer fashionable to do so.

 

Sorry if that doesn't seem empathetic. I rather enjoy the struggle. When people slap you with an appeal to insecurity, it tells you that you're doing something right. I think it's fun having the extra challenge of trying to survive in a world where people will shun you for being honest or courageous. I realize this runs contrary to our biological imperative to reproduce, but I guess that's an "upside" of being abused. Throughout history, the early adopters have stood up for some pretty basic truths that we take for granted today. Back then, the stakes were literally life and death. We have it easier than that, so I'd hate to see anybody who can see the truth deny it just for comfort's sake.

[labmath2]

When i read the one percent comment, I imagined what it must be like to have an IQ of 145 or higher and converse with someone with 99 or lower. Would it be easier to simply tell them what to do as opposed to showing them how to think.

 

Above all though, that comment made me think about how people treat children. They train them instead of reason with them. They treat them like they don't and couldn't understand peaceful negotiation so they turn to punishment and bribes.

[rosencrantz]

Did you ever consider that the ghosts only exist in your head?

[Ace]

I remember being very struck by that statement "dancing with ghosts" when I heard it first.  But I understood the distinction as being that of people with self-knowledge and a philosophical outlook and those without.  Politicians and the people who control the levers of power in society are ghosts just as much as the rest of them - they aren't aware of the truth of their position at all. 

 

Once you've gained even a degree of self-knowledge - you get a really stark feeling that you're walking around in a world full of ghosts.  It's really liberating in the sense that all the torture and anxiety that the desire to conform and be accepted by the people around you used to cause fades away into nothing.  In work and casual interactions you play the game to fit in but you're very aware of the shallowness.  But then of course, the downside is that it can make you feel very alone in the world.

 

Realistically - if you're a philosophical person with self-knowledge - you can try to give up and just blend in with the ghosts but it'll fail miserably and you won't be happy for more than a short while.  You can't go back.  But don't do the other thing which way too many philosophical/libertarian guys do! - which is to become terribly negative and walk around with this thinly concealed rage and disdain for the world which unconsciously poisons all your interactions with people.  Then everyone else being hopeless ghosts becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 

I make an effort everyday to be optimistic and positive in my interactions with others, sometimes it feels kind of phony but I just press on through.  I think the key is to look for little glimmers of life in people - and if you keep looking you do find those.  And when you see that just open yourself up and be honest and see how far that potential in someone else can go.

 

I find that to be a hard question though - how much do you compromise.  Being an unyielding zealot for the truth in every situation and thereby ending up all by yourself I don't think is going to make you happy.  But neither is trying to just blend in.  It's easy to get discouraged as you meet new people and see how shallow and empty they are.

 

Fraternizing with ghosts is only a short-term solution - that's my experience.  That wonderful feeling of closeness with another human being that you so long for is fairly quickly replaced by an ever increasing sense of distance if you can't connect at a deeper level.  If the only alternative is being alone forever or having shallow relationships I'd pick the latter.  But I'm not prepared to throw in the towel on that one just yet.

 

Life can be a real grind once you take on this philosophy business, man I feel it sometimes.  But don't fool yourself for a second and think that the ghosts are all a happy bunch, not a chance.  And again, no matter how hard you try, you won't be able to blend in.  No human being can be alone for a long time and happy.  Meeting someone you can really connect with and with whom you can be totally open seems like such a wonderful prospect because then you really can just scare everyone away with honesty - and who cares.  So I genuinely believe at a certain level it's a numbers game and you just have to keep pushing until you can make that happen - and keep improving yourself and accomplishing great things as you work towards that.  But if you just give up and become cynical then you end up as the damn ghost.

[AccuTron]

To clarify...the DNA difference between us and chimps may only be 2%.  But in recent years it's been discovered that some kind of RNA can alter the heck out of how that DNA is expressed.  Like having a keyboard with shift/option keys.  So it's more than 2% difference overall.  But that doesn't change the discussions.

[regevdl]

When you described the lower 1%, I understood but then the top 1% seem to only include the ruling criminal class.  I guess if you count 'financial' acquisition they are the top 1% but I'm not sure they are incredibly intelligent.  Dumb people can be savvy.  They cheat...which actually proves their lack of intelligence.  

 

Actually the top 1% has only sociopathic intelligence.  Meaning, they prey upon the empathy of others.  The empathetic majority mistake themselves for the rulers..thinking their intentions and empathy will carry on in the people they vote for and rule over them.  The rulers only mimic the quality of empathy, etc in order to elicit and exploit the rest of us.  And that quality exists in a LOT of people...not only those who use it to extract all the money and power... so based on that observation, I personally don't see those qualities as the top1% because they are so common among people all over the world.  (again trying to imagine if I was an alien looking in)

 

So, why couldn't the top 1% be the actual virtuous and intelligent...not saying they have the most representation in our matrix but it just seemed like a sharp left turn of how you described the bottom 1% and their level of intelligence and view of the world or how they viewed their place in the world etc 

 

I see the top 1% as us....those seeking self knowledge and ethical philosophy.  We are a rare breed. So to go along with the thought you posted (which is very interesting!!) that even the top 1% of the most virtuous and knowledge seeking is still 1% behind a supposed life form we have not yet discovered and if that life form discovered us...would perceive us as we perceive chimps or.... 'intelligent' children.

 

So to go down the 'rabbit hole'... if I were an alien looking in on the earth as Jane Goodall looked in the forest at the chimps, would she  be mesmerized by the predictable large ape beating up the lesser apes and all of this or if slowly, over generations, some of the apes (or chimps..sorry forgot which ones) would branch off and resist 'peacefully' the big ape and those 1%...few chimps/apes followed a whole different 'philosophy' of ape-life... which would she indentify as the top 1%.  Even if there are fewer alpha apes, they are making the most noise and catching the most attention but not necessarily the most intelligent to speak to, so to speak.  lol  sorry..weird analogy, I know.  

 

So if the aliens dropped in and saw the ruling class...sure they shine and stand out the most and are a few compared to the populations they rule but I can assume the 1% higher intelligent being could see more than we could see if we peeked in.  They could instantly see the rulers, the followers and those branching off finding their own way...

 

 Fascinating.  

 

So after that long reply, you seem to be pulled in by someone into this ghostly state.  But you also seem like you are in a purgatory.  Not fully assimilated into ghost-life but not fully in an awakened life.  This is not sustainable. There are people that want to be real and already are real.  There are people who want to be real and are also afraid.  Sometimes we need to fake courage to make the first move and pull others in this ghostly purgatory  out of it.  Be real with yourself, be real with others around you so you can begin filtering out the ghosts and the real people will show up more clearly to you.  

 

You are already in pain and shedding ghosts might be painful but it's blue on black, pain on pain.  But after you shed the ghosts, the pain finally goes away rather than a dull pain for the rest of your existence.  

[bugzysegal]

I don't .....

All reasonable. 

Also, would anyone else be interested in having a natural language discussion with a chimp? I would and I think other people would to (scientists like Jane Goodall). 

[utopian]

 

The people you reference as being irrelevant, you attribute this to their lower IQ rather than what's actually responsible: coercion and aggression. Which leads to a suppression of rational thought. Another example of this is

 

Top 1% of what? You go on to list examples of coercion and aggression. A rapist's primary characteristic is their willingness to initiate the use of force. Where they can be found on any scale that might put them in the top or bottom 1% isn't relevant. This is important because you reference "what they do to us." You could say that Stef makes me look bad because what he's done for the good of humanity compared to what I've done. But all of our actions/interactions are voluntary, so it would be misleading to say he's doing that to me. Whereas the Fed, etc ARE doing things to people by initiating the use of force.

 

This is related to an argument I didnt exactly flesh out here, which is that I believe that only the intelligent are capable of the most horrendous of crimes. Any dumb thug can pick up a gun and kill some people. Only those in the higher tiers of intelligence are capable of creating and maintaining such things as the Federal Reserve, and feminist manipulations, and military industrial complexes etc. 

 

Now don't get me wrong, there are intelligent people who are more moral, like Stef, who is of course doing his best to bring philosophy and morality to the world. They are few and far between, however, certainly in comparison to the number of... evil? Intelligent people. The ghosts make no such attempts to do large scale good in the world. They don't have the capacity to. They say things like "I pay my taxes, so I have done my good deeds" never caring to know the horrors of what those tax dollars support. 

 

 

 

I understand that in a world that wants to believe we're not responsible, it's not easy accepting one's responsibility. Something to keep in mind is that part of the reason some people reject this responsibility is because of the momentum of the past. Right now, it's still fashionable to support institutionalized violence. If we just pretend to be like them for the sake of conformity, all we'd be doing is pushing back how soon it will be when it's no longer fashionable to do so.

 

Sorry if that doesn't seem empathetic. I rather enjoy the struggle. When people slap you with an appeal to insecurity, it tells you that you're doing something right. I think it's fun having the extra challenge of trying to survive in a world where people will shun you for being honest or courageous. I realize this runs contrary to our biological imperative to reproduce, but I guess that's an "upside" of being abused. Throughout history, the early adopters have stood up for some pretty basic truths that we take for granted today. Back then, the stakes were literally life and death. We have it easier than that, so I'd hate to see anybody who can see the truth deny it just for comfort's sake.

 

You see, I find that I cannot blame them. Though we may be philosophically enlightened, we are still human, with human fulfillment we wish to achieve. How can anyone say that, if we were to only ever live a life of just philosophical fulfillment, our lives were justified? That is only ever going to be an incomplete experience, unless of course you find your unicorn. I made most of my tens of thousands by NOT betting on the unicorn. It's never been justifiable in that realm, and it's hard to justify in the philosophical realm as well.

 

 

 

Realistically - if you're a philosophical person with self-knowledge - you can try to give up and just blend in with the ghosts but it'll fail miserably and you won't be happy for more than a short while.  You can't go back.  But don't do the other thing which way too many philosophical/libertarian guys do! - which is to become terribly negative and walk around with this thinly concealed rage and disdain for the world which unconsciously poisons all your interactions with people.  Then everyone else being hopeless ghosts becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 

I make an effort everyday to be optimistic and positive in my interactions with others, sometimes it feels kind of phony but I just press on through.  I think the key is to look for little glimmers of life in people - and if you keep looking you do find those.  And when you see that just open yourself up and be honest and see how far that potential in someone else can go.

 

I find that to be a hard question though - how much do you compromise.  Being an unyielding zealot for the truth in every situation and thereby ending up all by yourself I don't think is going to make you happy.  But neither is trying to just blend in.  It's easy to get discouraged as you meet new people and see how shallow and empty they are.

 

Fraternizing with ghosts is only a short-term solution - that's my experience.  That wonderful feeling of closeness with another human being that you so long for is fairly quickly replaced by an ever increasing sense of distance if you can't connect at a deeper level.  If the only alternative is being alone forever or having shallow relationships I'd pick the latter.  But I'm not prepared to throw in the towel on that one just yet.

 

Life can be a real grind once you take on this philosophy business, man I feel it sometimes.  But don't fool yourself for a second and think that the ghosts are all a happy bunch, not a chance.  And again, no matter how hard you try, you won't be able to blend in.  No human being can be alone for a long time and happy.  Meeting someone you can really connect with and with whom you can be totally open seems like such a wonderful prospect because then you really can just scare everyone away with honesty - and who cares.  So I genuinely believe at a certain level it's a numbers game and you just have to keep pushing until you can make that happen - and keep improving yourself and accomplishing great things as you work towards that.  But if you just give up and become cynical then you end up as the damn ghost.

 

You seem to get my conundrum. I would stop being cynical if I could, but that's exactly my problem, I can't see not being this way. I do have a hard time blending in. It is easier for me, I think, because I was abused by my parents, and have never felt connected to any human being. Ever. Some part of me seems to recognize this internally and wish for it, go looking for it, only ever finding ghosts and wondering if it even truly exists at all. It is true, I myself am a ghost. This is what I am fighting against. I don't even know how to fight against it. The truth seems to make me just as much a ghost as pretending not to be one does. 

 

 

When you described the lower 1%, I understood but then the top 1% seem to only include the ruling criminal class...

I think I addressed much of your comment on this in my response to dsayers, if you would forgive me for not going through it again, I am short on time.

 

 

 

So if the aliens dropped in and saw the ruling class...sure they shine and stand out the most and are a few compared to the populations they rule but I can assume the 1% higher intelligent being could see more than we could see if we peeked in.  They could instantly see the rulers, the followers and those branching off finding their own way...

Remember also that, while those ruling class members might not be the most philosophically enlightened, they are also currently positioning themselves for events that could have catastrophic consequences for the entire planet :\

 

 

So after that long reply, you seem to be pulled in by someone into this ghostly state.  But you also seem like you are in a purgatory.  Not fully assimilated into ghost-life but not fully in an awakened life.  This is not sustainable. There are people that want to be real and already are real.  There are people who want to be real and are also afraid.  Sometimes we need to fake courage to make the first move and pull others in this ghostly purgatory  out of it.  Be real with yourself, be real with others around you so you can begin filtering out the ghosts and the real people will show up more clearly to you.  

 

You are already in pain and shedding ghosts might be painful but it's blue on black, pain on pain.  But after you shed the ghosts, the pain finally goes away rather than a dull pain for the rest of your existence.  

 

I would argue I have been in pain my whole life. Even my parents were ethereal, not real parents, even anti-parents. I never connected with them. They never taught me how to connect. I never connected with anyone, I realize these late years. That's the problem, is that I have never seemed to be able to find anyone that is not a ghost, or scared away from the truth. 

[regevdl]

 

 

 

This is related to an argument I didnt exactly flesh out here, which is that I believe that only the intelligent are capable of the most horrendous of crimes. Any dumb thug can pick up a gun and kill some people. Only those in the higher tiers of intelligence are capable of creating and maintaining such things as the Federal Reserve, and feminist manipulations, and military industrial complexes etc. 

 

Now don't get me wrong, there are intelligent people who are more moral, like Stef, who is of course doing his best to bring philosophy and morality to the world. They are few and far between, however, certainly in comparison to the number of... evil? Intelligent people. The ghosts make no such attempts to do large scale good in the world. They don't have the capacity to. They say things like "I pay my taxes, so I have done my good deeds" never caring to know the horrors of what those tax dollars support. 

 

 

 

You see, I find that I cannot blame them. Though we may be philosophically enlightened, we are still human, with human fulfillment we wish to achieve. How can anyone say that, if we were to only ever live a life of just philosophical fulfillment, our lives were justified? That is only ever going to be an incomplete experience, unless of course you find your unicorn. I made most of my tens of thousands by NOT betting on the unicorn. It's never been justifiable in that realm, and it's hard to justify in the philosophical realm as well.

 

 

 

 

You seem to get my conundrum. I would stop being cynical if I could, but that's exactly my problem, I can't see not being this way. I do have a hard time blending in. It is easier for me, I think, because I was abused by my parents, and have never felt connected to any human being. Ever. Some part of me seems to recognize this internally and wish for it, go looking for it, only ever finding ghosts and wondering if it even truly exists at all. It is true, I myself am a ghost. This is what I am fighting against. I don't even know how to fight against it. The truth seems to make me just as much a ghost as pretending not to be one does. 

 

 

I think I addressed much of your comment on this in my response to dsayers, if you would forgive me for not going through it again, I am short on time.

 

 

Remember also that, while those ruling class members might not be the most philosophically enlightened, they are also currently positioning themselves for events that could have catastrophic consequences for the entire planet :\

 

 

I would argue I have been in pain my whole life. Even my parents were ethereal, not real parents, even anti-parents. I never connected with them. They never taught me how to connect. I never connected with anyone, I realize these late years. That's the problem, is that I have never seemed to be able to find anyone that is not a ghost, or scared away from the truth. 

 

Certainly...I appreciate your responses.  

"That is only ever going to be an incomplete experience, unless of course you find your unicorn. "

 

A ghostly experience will also be incomplete...but I guess we have to first establish what constitutes a 'fulfilled' life,  if it's achieving philosophical enlightenment even if you don't see the global and immediate results of that..the individual accomplishment of that can take a lifetime and is very fulfilling. It's the journey...not the destination.  I haven't stopped the federal reserve but I have gotten a lot of people to stop and take a look at their lives.  the most we can ask or expect of ourselves is: always work towards personal growth and....do something to try to influence others or another.  that doesn't mean expect that person to change and validate you...that rarely happens.  ut means be someone's ah-ha moment.  YOu may not even know you are someone;s ah-ha moment but trust that you can be if you stick with enlightenment. 

 

I didn't know a small, unconscious thing I did every morning (literally saying hello to my neighbor every mornung even when he never replied) would have 4 years later come to validate how it changed him.  4 YEARS.  He was in an ugly feud with my falther and mother in law.  more than 10 years the two wouldn ot speak and would try to sabotage each other's businesses.  ugly stuff.  I happen to move in next to the so-called 'enemy'.  He never harmed me so I give everyone a chance.  I treated him as best I could as I do with everyone.  I said hello to him every morning.  He rarely looked at me and he never replied.  After 2 years he would at least look at me and occassionaly grumble something.  Finally.... he called up my FIL and ended the 'feud' with a friendly chat and beer that lasted for hours.  They reconciled.  ONE of the main reasons he explained why he felt he should end the feud  is that he saw what a nice family (his son) he raised and a nice wife( me) the son chose and how we raise our kids and are so friendly that he couldn't carry the anger anymore.  Do I give a shit about the federal reserve when we can change one person at a time around us? 

 

Our power is in helping each other.  that will eventually break down the evil people....you cannot go after them directly that is chasing the unicorn. 

 

If you go through all of this personal enlightenment expecting immediate change from everyone and everything around you, then yes...that would be a self-sabotaging unicorn hunt and very unfulfilling and incomplete.  

 

if you are only looking to work and play thinking there is a unicorn....which there isnt'.  then that too is incomplete..  but to suggest the philosophical life won't bring immediate change so 'so what's the point'.... neither will a ghostly life.  There seems to be a double standard there.

 

You say that you cannot not be cynical and I get that but you hint around that a ghostly life will some how save you pain and annoyance of the evils in the world.  But you are already aware of them and the ghosts you want to be around are not.  You cannot UNknow what you know.  you cannot forget evil when you have seen it and recognize it all around you.  So this is your unicorn hunt.  seeking immunity among ghosts from what you already know

 which will leave you an unfulfilled andincomplete life.

 

you have already made steps towards enlightenment and you want to turn away because it's grim and ugly and frightening.  I completely relate. It takes practice on how to cope.  I went through stages of anger and realized that's not working.  stages of cynicism and found the right amount that works, etc.  It's a process, that's the whole point.  ghosts have no process and you have no place among ghosts becuse you are already more aware than they are and they won't understand you and you will feel more isolated and carry on this self fullilling prophecy that you cannot connect with people.  

 

We;ve all had shitty parents in one shape or form and severity... find help...call into the show, seek a therapist.  I mean isn't it more logical to think that people who have takent he path of philosophy would be more compassionate and empathetic and helpful to your symptoms than ghosts who can't even see beyond the tip of their noses?  You are already aware of your symptoms of a bad childhood.  ghosts are not.  They will minimize your complaints...even if you dare to share any with them.  It'

[utopian]

Do I give a shit about the federal reserve when we can change one person at a time around us? 

 

It just might be that my upbringing may have something to do with my beliefs, but I have never seen any one person as worth the time of my real investment. The more I invest in myself, the further ahead in my life I can get. The more I invest in others, the more of a chance it was all a waste if they leave or backstab me. It's happened to me enough that I have learned not to invest in people. To let people initiate and show me who they are. They rarely do, unless when it's trying to get me to buy something, or get one over on me. Not one person has ever come up to me trying to get to know me. Not one. Sometimes some guys will come looking for entertainment, sometimes mutually. Sometimes women come looking for entertainment as well. But this is the ghostly problem I am talking about. I have never found power in helping others, only lost equity. That equity has always been better spent helping myself to learn to do everything, and I can be independent now because of it.

 

 

If you go through all of this personal enlightenment expecting immediate change from everyone and everything around you, then yes...that would be a self-sabotaging unicorn hunt and very unfulfilling and incomplete.  

Ya know, the more I read your posts, the more it seems our paths of philosophy have differed quite a bit. My path showed me people generally are not worth my time. I don't see where you found that they were.

 

 

 

We;ve all had shitty parents in one shape or form and severity... find help...call into the show, seek a therapist.  I mean isn't it more logical to think that people who have takent he path of philosophy would be more compassionate and empathetic and helpful to your symptoms than ghosts who can't even see beyond the tip of their noses?  You are already aware of your symptoms of a bad childhood.  ghosts are not.  They will minimize your complaints...even if you dare to share any with them. 

It is indeed more logical. This forum is a breath of fresh air in a bog rank with ghosts. But only a breath. There are very few women here, much less prospective partners. And though some interesting subjects are discussed, it is still only the internet, and not real life. Though there seems to be much more enlightenment to be had around here, I don't think it has the potential that real life could.