Food for thought

[adrianh]

It is more important to change how we experience reality than to change the actual content of reality.

[Mike C]

Nice subject AdrianH - but first we need to define what we mean by reality. Otherwise we will be discussing issues like - can the content of reality be really changed? Is reality something that is measurable (or standard) or just our various experiences and interpretations of it.

The old story of three blind men who were asked to describe an elephant comes to mind. The one who held his tail said that an elephant is like a rope. The one who held his leg said that the elephant was like a tree trunk. The one who felt his side said that an elephant was like a wall. All were describing their version of reality. All were right in their limited experience, but all were equally wrong when the whole of the elephant was observed with the seeing eye. Even then, I suppose you could argue that the elephant is not just what one sees from the outside ... etc

[Citizen X]

The concept of reality is actually a well rooted philosphical topic, the Greek philosophers simply asked this question : "Is reality really real?" The emphasis is on perception, i.e. you have thousands of cheese mites on your hands, you cannot see them, but to conclude that merely becuase you cannot see them they don't exist is to draw the incorrect inference!
From this point of view the value of philosophy lies mainly in its uncertainty. If a man is born in a Mahomedan country he thinks it is right to have several wives; if in England, only one. If he is born in 400B.C, he thinks the sun goes around the earth and if in AD 1900 he takes the contrary view etc...

[tec0]

There is no reality only biological virtual reality. Basically the brain uses our senses to experience the world but none of the experiences are real thus the brain in a constant virtual world. The second problem is that regardless of the fact the our brains are very fast we live in a constant “past” never present thus our experiences are after the fact.

High speed photography opened our eyes and showed us how important a millisecond can be and how our world behaves within that second. This Hyper state of existence slowed down showed us that our world is constantly in motion. An example of this is your wall in your office or your computer or you for that matter. Nothing is solid but because the atoms are constantly moving it gives the illusion of solidity thus it appears sold feels sold and so on.

The conclusion is that our experience is based on a program “you hurt yourself you feel pain, the list goes on” Now can we change the general programming? Some people can adjust their programming to enjoy pain. A modern example is gambling, the addict is not addicted to winning but to losing. That is because losing gives of many chemicals that charge the brain up and it goes into a heightened awareness. Thus in effect losing itself becomes a drug and it changed the experience of the person in question.

More interestingly is advertisement. It is proven that colours sounds and light frequency can have an effect on the human brain. So basically advertisement exploits our awareness to the point that we are being programmed and not informed. This is also seen in nature so it is not new but they are getting very good at selling us stuff the we don’t need? Example is how much crap did you buy this year that will end up in storage?

Thus the truth is the brain is tricked everyday of its existence by advertisement, fear factories, propaganda, music and chemical supplements.

To change our experience and reality we must block all incoming information. A dark soundproof room with good quality air will help with this process. Second step is simple meditation clearing the mind of all the pollution and then you can prioritise the important information by slowly introducing it trough unpolluted thought. You can then take the time to figure out “do I really enjoy X, Y and Z.

Is A, B and C really that bad.

The visualisation process is very powerful and well documented that people with really bad situations was able to keep their train of thought and got through it. So it works

[adrianh]

I think the statement is about how we experience our circumstance. Our experience is not rooted in reality itself but in our percption thereof. Our perception is rooted in our memory and experiences. The problem is that the look at reality through a series of perceptual filters and those filters tend to distort what we see. Think about it, somebody cuts you off in the traffic and you react aggressively, why did you react that way? The statement says that you should concentrate on changing the manner in which you react rather than trying to ban al drivers that cut people off. My daughter was complaining this morning about a girl that annoys her and how she wishes the girl would just shut up. I told her that there will always be people that gets on her nerves but the thing is that they are her nerves and that she needs to learn the mental control to be able to turn off the feeling of annoyance. Many people look for control or happiness outside of themselves instead of inside of themselves.

[Blurock]

Many people look for control or happiness outside of themselves instead of inside of themselves.

True. The trinkets, status, power or riches that we chase does not bring happiness. Find the inner sanctum and you will find peace

[tec0]

The mind never changes it only allows toleration. Fundamentally hard core drugs such as cocaine will force the brain to consider only its survival and activate this drive to prevail. Without the use hard core drugs this drive remains active but more passive.

It will share and tolerate “within reason” its failsafe “anger” safeguards agents abuse and or exploitation. That is why “love” needs to be a very powerful chemical. Fact it is so powerful that it takes up to two years and longer to dissipate.

So in order to surrender and to be content one needs balance. Part of that balance is security the other part health and lastly stability. Change any of these three mechanisms and the mind breaks down into mistrust, confusion and meekness. It is also why cults are so successful in “conditioning/brainwashing” thus breaking the human “Will”

This can also be self-inflicted by a poor self-image.

True serenity however means one must defy all logic programming/conditioning all the time and yet remain strong and rational. If you research and study the subject you will find that in extreme cases of example “torture” an individual can become free. This freedom is unprecedented because the mind can no longer be broken and yet it functions in a state of permanent heightened perception.

Thus true serenity comes at a high price. Now how many of us are willing to pay the price?

[Dave A]

The first thing that came to my mind reading the OP was even when we can't control our circumstances, we can choose how we respond to those circumstances - and I was thinking mainly attitude in that.

But it's more complicated than just having a positive attitude, I guess. Be too accepting and you run the risk of being complacent about a situation you should be changing.

Comes down to the serenity prayer, perhaps?

[Blurock]

The first thing that came to my mind reading the OP was even when we can't control our circumstances, we can choose how we respond to those circumstances - and I was thinking mainly attitude in that.

But it's more complicated than just having a positive attitude, I guess. Be too accepting and you run the risk of being complacent about a situation you should be changing. Comes down to the serenity prayer, perhaps?

So true, Dave.

This is how a shirty day starts; (from an article I read the other day)

Suppose you are having breakfast. Your 9 year old spills coffee on your new shirt. You scold her and tell her how clumsy and useless she is. Your wife chips in and you have a huge argument. The child starts crying and runs to her room. You go and change your shirt but now the little one does not want to school. You eventually leave home late. You start cursing all the slow drivers who get in your way. You get a speeding fine and now you are really late! You drop the child off and rush to the office. You are in such a mood that your colleagues decide that you are not good company and avoid you for the rest of the day. Your wife and child avoid you for the rest of the week.

You do know that you could have avoided all of this, do you? Your day would have started much better only if you did not over-react the way that you did. That has changed your mood from positive to negative. I believe that positive thoughts create positive energy, while negative thoughts create negative energy. We can decide which person we want to be.

[tec0]

I think our conditioning “school, home and if applicable religion” has some influence on what we value. What is acceptable? The simple answer is if you can tolerate it, it becomes acceptable.