the meaninglessness of interaction with people

originally posted by: corvuscorrax
That's why 90% of the time when I feel the urge to post on this forum. I sit back and think "will what I say even matter to the person/people I'm directing it at?

Usually the answer is no and I don't even hit the reply button.

Going into some of the more opposed dualistic opinions are in some way a waste of time except that you practice debating. .

a reply to: lonesomerimbaud

Yes we do communicate all the time but there is meaningful stimulating communication for the mind and then there are normal chit chat where you smile in the interaction but are not logically stimulated but might be a little stimulated on a feeling level.

We all have needs and if we cannot communicate on the level we need we get annoyed and feel disconnected/alone.

originally posted by: introspectionist

originally posted by: solemind4
In the era of social media and technology that we are in, it is inevitable. it is pretty depressing. I get that all the time, I feel like I am interacting with a robot not a human being.

That's a very interesting point you're bringing up there. I have been thinking about how all of this connects to evolution and spirituality. I think it is a spiritual phenomenon, and that technology is part of it. I talked about what I think is the purpose of Marxism, Zionism and feminism in this thread. I think technology is very much a part of the same development.

And as for something being depressing, I think depression is the growing pains of the soul, just like I wrote that oppression might be in a thread I posted recently.

Great I will take a look at that!

and to clarify when I say depressing, it's not a personal feeling. It's more of a depressing feeling for society. I wish people were more confident about themselves because that is what will lead them to inner peace.

Yeah, that's partly why small talk stinks... people ARE programmable robots... or about 99.9% of them is.

Once in a great while we produce something truly novel from the myriad programs ... but mostly it's transference and waiving at someone to feel less lonely.

Also a reason thinkers are usually depressed... at least a little.

I see conditioning in others, and in myself. I am faced with culture clashes that make it clear- much of our world view and values comes from our culture, instilled in us in sometimes very subtle and implicit ways.

But those ways are still part of who we are, and they formed a base upon which we built the rest of our individuality.
Like it or not, we are not islands, despite our values upon individuality, independance, and free thinking.

In general, I think that the ways we really are "different" from those around us in our environment, we tend to guard closely and be hesitant to reveal. This too, is conditioning- we learn that others do not accept those parts of us, and can be cruel, or rejecting, so we keep that to ourselves.

If you really want to see the most distinguishing individual qualities of someone, you have to prove you can be trusted with them first.

That means a period of time where they can witness that you are non-judgmental, open minded, compassionate, and understanding. That you can digest ideas that are completely contrary to your own without getting defensive or repulsed.
You have to show good will, and willingness to open your own individual self to the world as well- which is not so easy to do.... the more you expose and make yourself vulnerable, the more you will face that defensiveness and repulsion of others, and it is very hard to not let that condition you to clam up too!

Being vulnerable takes a lot of inner courage and strength. Be an example of that and show people that it is possible. Because a lot of people want to do that, but just can't figure out how they can without either being crushed emotionally, or becoming cruel themselves in their own defense. (fighting or fleeing).

If you consistently show how to stand strong, faced with hostility, without fighting nor fleeing, people in your entourage might feel inspired to do the same.
If you have shown yourself worthy of trust, they might take the risk.
But you don't earn that honor quickly or easily- relationships of trust and respect take time and energy to nurture and form.

originally posted by: introspectionist

originally posted by: nonspecific
The good thing about internet forums is that you can tell the truth and express your feelings without having to live with the fact that somebody may disagree with you and it has an impact on your day to day life.

Couple that with the fact that there a rules that don't apply in real life and it makes for a fun place to be.

a reply to: Shepard64

It seems like some of you might not be getting what I was intending to communicate in the OP. I talked in another thread about how our entire information landscape is controlled and thus our minds, and how we live in a bubble, unaware of the outside world, no less than the North Koreans do. This is what I'm talking about here in this thread. Imagine you were in North Korea and nobody had a clue about anything in the outside world other than what their state TV says, and nobody had been outside the country themself, then imagine you walk around and talk to these people trying to get an understanding of what the outside world is like. That's kind of how I feel a lot of times when I interact with people, and it doesn't matter if it's talking IRL or if it's writing on a forum.

I am a bit surprised this post got the least amount of stars of all posts I wrote, i.e. zero. Personally it was the one I valued the most.

originally posted by: introspectionist

originally posted by: introspectionist

originally posted by: nonspecific
The good thing about internet forums is that you can tell the truth and express your feelings without having to live with the fact that somebody may disagree with you and it has an impact on your day to day life.

Couple that with the fact that there a rules that don't apply in real life and it makes for a fun place to be.

a reply to: Shepard64

It seems like some of you might not be getting what I was intending to communicate in the OP. I talked in another thread about how our entire information landscape is controlled and thus our minds, and how we live in a bubble, unaware of the outside world, no less than the North Koreans do. This is what I'm talking about here in this thread. Imagine you were in North Korea and nobody had a clue about anything in the outside world other than what their state TV says, and nobody had been outside the country themself, then imagine you walk around and talk to these people trying to get an understanding of what the outside world is like. That's kind of how I feel a lot of times when I interact with people, and it doesn't matter if it's talking IRL or if it's writing on a forum.

I am a bit surprised this post got the least amount of stars of all posts I wrote, i.e. zero. Personally it was the one I valued the most.

I gave you a star, why do you think you need them to be happy? I am not taking the whatever here but you seemed disapointed that your opinion did not create stars? Did you question your opinion? did it fail in other circles?

What others think has nothing to do with the validity of of your statements.

originally posted by: nonspecific

originally posted by: introspectionist

originally posted by: introspectionist

originally posted by: nonspecific
The good thing about internet forums is that you can tell the truth and express your feelings without having to live with the fact that somebody may disagree with you and it has an impact on your day to day life.

Couple that with the fact that there a rules that don't apply in real life and it makes for a fun place to be.

a reply to: Shepard64

It seems like some of you might not be getting what I was intending to communicate in the OP. I talked in another thread about how our entire information landscape is controlled and thus our minds, and how we live in a bubble, unaware of the outside world, no less than the North Koreans do. This is what I'm talking about here in this thread. Imagine you were in North Korea and nobody had a clue about anything in the outside world other than what their state TV says, and nobody had been outside the country themself, then imagine you walk around and talk to these people trying to get an understanding of what the outside world is like. That's kind of how I feel a lot of times when I interact with people, and it doesn't matter if it's talking IRL or if it's writing on a forum.

I am a bit surprised this post got the least amount of stars of all posts I wrote, i.e. zero. Personally it was the one I valued the most.

I gave you a star, why do you think you need them to be happy? I am not taking the whatever here but you seemed disapointed that your opinion did not create stars? Did you question your opinion? did it fail in other circles?

What others think has nothing to do with the validity of of your statements.

I wasn't unhappy because it didn't get any stars, I just thought it was strange that all the other posts got stars, yet that post was in my view better than the other posts.

What others think has nothing to do with the validity of of your statements

True. And that is actually very relevant to the subject of this thread. When people are nothing but a bunch of scripts, programs, which they more or less are in my view, judging yourself and your ideas on how they interact with other people is to be bound by groupthink. Which is why I am inclined to believe that Hitler was right when he said that Jews are culture destroyers, and that that is a good thing.

www.shalomlife.com...

Could you explain why you thought it was better? I gave you another star btw.

As in what made you feel that what you said had more validity?

a reply to: introspectionist

a reply to: olaru12

I always am true to myself, my interactions with others in real life and on the interwebz. A happy asshole. Being "That Guy" so to speak. I enjoy it. Trying to be something I'm not just makes no sense to me.

originally posted by: nonspecific
Could you explain why you thought it was better? I gave you another star btw.

As in what made you feel that what you said had more validity?

a reply to: introspectionist

I don't know, I just liked the metaphor. I wish I had written that in the OP. I might use it in another thread. In any case I'll probably keep the metaphor and develop it further.

There is always time for a new thread?

Why not start a new one and we will see where it goes?.


a reply to: introspectionist

a reply to: nonspecific

maybe later

get a hobby and then you will be able to communicate with people with common interest.

a reply to: introspectionist

Something that clashes in me about your description of interacting with others:

It sounds as if you are only refering to the spoken word? Or written word?

Because in person, there is a whole sub-text going on, which is comprised of body language, tone of voice, movement, in which I find myself discovering the individuality of the person, and their internal states, which is quite interesting and makes each person very different for me.

They may be saying the same words, but their body will reveal different emotional associations and past experiences, connected which "colors" those words in a very individual way......

...Have you, perhaps, been spending too much time in conversations through a computer, which deprives us of that part of the interaction...???

a reply to: Bluesma

I mean both online and IRL.

I probably have schizotypal autism or something like that, which might be part of why I perceive this North Korea bubble/Truman show syndrome/everybody is a puppet on a string/a script/a program. It is weird, sometimes people feel totally hollow to me, as if they weren't even there, like a hologram running a script. I don't think it's only bad, in fact I think there's a lot of good with it, mostly good actually. I wouldn't want to swap places with someone with high emotional intelligence.

I hesitate to ask people about issues or write about issues online, or ask for advice, simply because it feels like asking a robot. The response I get out of people has limitations in it's value to me to put it mildly. I think this is a good sign.

I more or less constantly have the feeling that a vast majority of people are total regurgitators, they believe almost everything they hear, they don't have this feeling that I have that so much in our information landscape, including what circulates by word of mouth or within the confines of people's skulls, is false. This feeling results in both a very speculative, illusive, symbolic interpretation of everything, to the point that people would call it schizotypal or schizophrenic, and this sense of being surrounded by robots or holograms running scripts.



I seriously wonder if this psychiatrist believes what he says. And I wonder the same about all psychiatrists.

ETA: I love how psychiatrists such as him seem to believe they are totally sane and know for certain what is objectively true and real and what isn't.

Rumi has nothing but pity and disdain for those who look at the world around and within themselves and do not understand that what they are seeing is a veil over reality. The world is a dream, a prison, a trap, foam thrown up from the ocean, dust kicked up by a passing horse. But it is not what it appears to be. If everything that appears to us were just as it appears, the Prophet, who was endowed with such penetrating vision, both illuminated and illuminating, would never have cried out, "Oh Lord, show us things as they are!" Rumi draws a fundamental distinction between "form" (surat) and "meaning" (ma`na). Form is a thing's outward appearance, meaning its inward and unseen reality.

source: The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi, William C. Chittick

a reply to: introspectionist

It might be termed dysfunctional or it might be an enhanced viewpoint.

But of course people mostly only output what their environments input... it's the little bit of output that comes from mixed inputs and achieves a certain amount of novelty that makes people people and some ideas interesting.

And I threw some stars out, too... why not... clicks are cheap... but egos are not.

originally posted by: introspectionist
a reply to: Bluesma

I mean both online and IRL.

I probably have schizotypal autism or something like that, which might be part of why I perceive this North Korea bubble/Truman show syndrome/everybody is a puppet on a string/a script/a program. It is weird, sometimes people feel totally hollow to me, as if they weren't even there, like a hologram running a script. I don't think it's only bad, in fact I think there's a lot of good with it, mostly good actually. I wouldn't want to swap places with someone with high emotional intelligence.

Oh yeah... i think we talked about this on another thread, and you described that! I forgot. I tend to have a good memory of the discussions I get into, but never really remember who exactly they were with. Sorry about that.

I remember that you feel this is a good thing, this sort of disconnect with the emotional parts of others. That is not rare.
But at the same time, it seems like you have a certain amount of frustration or boredom with it. Like you don't want to connect that way, as it gets messy and complicated, but some little part of you kinda wants to?

As long as you are recognizing and acknowledging all these parts, you're doing okay. I suspect we all have great ambiguities within ourself, and they only really become a problem if we try to deny the existence of the "path not chosen".


To me, who feels differently and has made vastly different choices, your description of the world and others seems very bleak and sad. But I am guessing you'd find my experience of others as messy, troubling, and unecessary hassel!

That's not false, I guess. personal preferences vary.