twin psychics

[findingblanks]

Hi Paradox.

I struggle with the team metaphor but I think I grasp elements of it and I certainly know that my own phenomenal experience and what I see around me suggests that is a core experience to quickly and powerfully form in-group and out-group and once you put somebody in any kind of out-group it is very very very difficult to see our blind-spots that caused the suddenness in the first place.

I'd really like to hear your personal experience of falling asleep. Thanks for your responses.

[ParadoxZone]

Hi FB,

Ah, OK, with the sports metaphor I was trying to convey where I'm at, realising that there was stuff I was leaving out that was also vital. (eg this isn't the last game but is important in determining the nature of future games) . I think this ties in with a response you of yours in another thread, so I'll leave it at that unless you think there's anything to be usefully explored.

The sleep experiences were about waking and falling asleep again after sufficiently restful sleep. At weekends, in my early to mid twenties, I had a lot of difficulty getting up in the mornings. So much so that I told myself that I wasn't enjoying my Saturday lie-in enough. So I then wanted to experience some of the enjoyment of waking up, believing I needed to get up and then realising that I didn't have to. Falling asleep again in those circumstances did feel blissful for a period.

I'm hesitant about describing it because I wasn't thinking at all during the "blissful" stages. Other than impression of nothing to do, nothing going on, no pictures (there was a uniform colour at times I think). Hence why I related it, somewhat, to nothingness.

I used to go to the trouble of hiding the alarm clock in new places each time to increase the duration of the pain, relief and blissful pattern.

I have played around with the above as (my own) reckonings of bliss, pain + suffering, relief. (Still do.) I may have told one or two people about this, way back. Then minimising other people's pain was of concern to me, together with my own reactions to that. I don't know which of those came first.

It seems to me to be related to what experienced meditators describe as well. But that's enough.

Thanks.

[findingblanks]

Thank you, Paradox. That is interesting and helps me better understand where you are coming from.

Yeah, I see the value in the teams metaphor. When it comes to many people, I guess in the spirit of that metaphor I would say that I feel like I am playing many different sports with them and in some sports we are teammates, in some we are opponents and in some we are both watching and commenting.

For instance, there are some sports (potential disaster of AI, better conversations about identity politics, aspects of the hard problem) where I am playing on Sam's team. Then there are other sports (His reduction of religion to evo-bio, his over simplifying of the role religion plays in terrorism, his blind-spots regarding platforming the wrong people) where I am on the opposite team as Sam Harris. Same with Bernardo, of course.

What I like about Sam Harris is that he does engage fairly openly with my disagreements. As long as I don't reduce him to being just a horrible person making the world a worse place. And he has been willing to make concessions and change his mind, as I have had to do on some of the subjects we discuss.

[ParadoxZone]

Hi again FB,

Was off doing something else and this came to me again. It popped into my head the other night, on the street after a long absence.

Given Adele (love her!) has been so helpful on another thread maybe Merideth could speak for me too?

(I have an issue with "you wouldn't want it any other way".



Also love this, the song, the sentiments.



Thanks, I don't wish to intrude too much on your time, over-share links or beat the sports metaphor to death.