Hardwired ideas

It's usually pointless to discuss life with a jehovah's witness, or a mormon, or a salafist muslim. They already have it all figured out. They know it all. They are deaf to what you are saying. The same goes for Donald Trump supporters, neoliberals, hard line socialists, materialists, idealists, nihilists, go getters...

It's very difficult to change ideas, beliefs and opinions. We are very reluctant to change our ways. We get hardwired. We get stuck in ruts.

It's very difficult to change the mind - but it is possible. Sometimes religious people leave their religious cult and sometimes people even change their political views. Alcoholics can stop drinking and some careerists can suddenly leave the rat race. Strangely enough, after a big change, it seems just natural.

The process often begins with feelings of unease, doubt and questioning. Which implies that unease and doubt sometimes are useful and wholesome, and should not be treated as symptoms of something that is wrong and should be medicated. And a questioning mind can sometimes be very helpful.

The transcendental reality

Dogs can hear sounds we can't hear and perceive scents we can't perceive. Butterflies and bees can see colours we can't see.

Our eminent scientists have constructed powerful instruments that enhance our senses enormously. However, the main part of the reality is still unknown to us. We call that unknown part of the reality the transcendental reality.

The transcendental reality is of course a mystery to us, and because we do not know anything about it we have to resort to fantasies. We create amazing fantasies about multiple universes, vibrating strings, a reality with no colors, no sounds and no scents; or realms were gods, angels and spiritual beings reside.

Many people are deeply convinced that they know what is going on in the transcendental world. But there is no consensus. In fact, different groups are seriously at loggerheads with each other because of their different beliefs, and followers of different religions or different religious groups can even start killing each other in order to to prove their point. Sometimes, they declare war to fight lies and heresies.

What is a question and what is it made of?

What is the mind? What is it made of and where is it located?

You can't open up the skull of someone and find the mind in there somewhere.

Nor can you find the soul, the psyche, the ego or the true self.

The mind is not a thing. Water is not a thing either, but the mind is not like water. The mind is not like a river or a streem. Nor is the mind like air. Water and air consist of something.

The brain is not like a book, the mind is not like the text and the soul is not the gist of it. The mind is constantly changing. A book doesn't change from one day to the next.

The mind is not like a reflection in a pond. A reflection does not exist unless someone is there who notice it.

The mind is not like a magnetic field. A magnetic field can not influence it's own magnetic field. Maybe the mind is like a number of magnetic fields that are affecting each other. Who knows!

The truth is that no one knows what the mind is. There are many hypotheses and many suggestions on definitions, but there is no consensus. Maybe the mind consists of something but no one knows of what it consists of.

Why do you read this? What is reading this?

Why did it come here?

Agnosticism

27% of the material world is made up of dark matter. The existence of dark matter is widely accepted by most astronomers today, but they have no idea what this mysterious substance actually is. That's why they use the word dark. They could have said mysterious matter, weird matter, or unknown matter, but they prefer the word dark. They understand that it must exist, as evidenced by the observation of how galaxies revolve and the expansion of the universe, but they don't know what it is.

Ordinary matter and ordinary energy, the stuff that physicists can detect with their powerful high-tech instruments, constitute less than 5% of the universe.

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The being that you believe is you and your consciousness is only the tip of an iceberg. The central part of you is hidden. Freud called that part the unconscious.

You do not know who you are. You do not know what life is all about, really. The central part of you is a mystery. The world remains a mystery.

The world we live in, the world we can see and touch, hear and smell, is just a tiny fraction of it all.

When you think you understand what life is all about and believe you are realistic, then you are deluded.

https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-is-dark-energy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnosticism

Democracy?

In the latest US presidential election the americans could choose between a neoliberal candidate and a neofascist. 46% of the americans who were entitled to vote didn't bother about it.

Next year it's presidential election in France and the people of France will also get a chance to choose between neoliberalism and neofascism. It's no longer unlikely that Marine Le Pen will become France's next president.

Both social democratic and liberal parties here in Europe have a neoliberal political agenda and the neofascist parties are getting stronger and stronger. The left wing is very small and powerless.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism

Dark thoughts

The end days are imminent. We are now waiting for the closing scene of this long running, idiotic and gory splatter movie. There is no hope for humankind. All political ideologies and all religions have been disastrous.

Endless wars, exploitation of people and nature, greed, rapacity, bigotry, pollution, superstition - endless bullshit.

Do you still believe that we can change our ways? Do you still believe that we will somehow wake up from our trance states. I don't.

Humanity will die out just like millions and millions of other species in the evolution.

Nihilism

I have now come to the conclusion that life has no ultimate meaning, if you don't invent a meaning for yourself, or adopt someone else's meaning of life.

Life is purposeless. We will all die, sooner or later; we will not end up in heaven or hell and we will not reincarnate. There is no afterlife, I believe. This is it.

I don't mind if you believe that Jesus will save you, or Allah or Krishna, I don't mind if you believe in spirits or angels. I don't mind if you're into quantum physics or how to make more money. I don't care if you're interested in yoga, group sex or golf.

I don't mind if you try to distract yourself with alcohol and drugs, or spend as much time as you can by watching stupid stuff on TV or on the internet. This has also been my way of trying to cope.

I don't mind if you invent a meaning of life. I can understand your reasons for this. But to me has life no particular meaning or purpose.

I'm not depressed. On the contrary. I'm sometimes quite happy. But I just can't see any particular meaning behind the events.

Life here on this planet is filled to the brim with suffering, war, exploitation and idiocy. Nevertheless, sometimes many of us can have some fun.

Eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism