From: ard (rbrown@smb.sams.ch)
Date: Fri Apr 04 1997 - 17:00:37 MST
> > Since most people think that ego is one of the main motivations that
> > drives rich people, maybe you could explain how it can do the reverse.
> > Do you think others might have similar problems involving ego?
>
> "Ego" in the colloquial sense doesn't usually drive people
> forward. Generally, I think it holds them back.
When you boil all the bullshit out of it, is not ego simply the notion of
being an individual?
Something made it possible for you to see your life differently.
> > Probably, you already saw your life differently from the way any of us
> > see our lives.
Is it possible for an individual to see their life the same way any other
individual sees their own life?
> On many occasions I've had a sudden internal "snap" as I've realized
> "you know, that viewpoint that I've held is not just incorrect but
> actively damaging to my self interest -- I had better revise my
> thinking".
Is this "snap" a euphemism for "insight"?
> > If I ever get a chance to reprogram myself, I would put emotions
> > under complete control, so that, when I want, I could turn off the bad
> > ones, and feel the selected good ones.
What prevents you from "reprograming" yourself now?
Would you consider having a self-activated joy-button connected to your
"feels good" section of the brain?
> If everything turns to shit, you're in jail or broke, or whatever, just
> amplify the good feelings and what's the difference?
Yes, what is the difference?
> >This is what I would call the "fluidity problem" - you could in
principle
> >become or feel anything, so how to avoid getting trapped in an
attracting
> >but useless motivational state (100% bliss or a fundamental belief that
> >you present state is the ideal state and should never be changed, no
> >matter what)?
Have you ever experienced 100% Bliss? Can people experience this state at
will? Can they go from Bliss to rationality at will?
In real life many aborigines
> have adapted well to Wester culture, I hear.
Did you hear that some doctors tell Aborigines to eat only that which they
can hunt and gather and within a few months they regain their health?
I don't like May's Milieu because it
> seems too pacifistic to survive against more "primitive" societies
> without locking them up.
Is it possible that one becomes violent when they have run out of ideas?
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