In a world of people who don't think, the one who thinks is the crazy one

a reply to: Shuye

I would put it differently. For those who prefer not to think, no choices are actually necessary. Just go with the flow and see what everyone else is doing and saying and follow along. Don't bother to self-actualize and make up your own mind if you actually want to do that or if it's just the easy thing to do to meet with approval from those around you (i.e. all of them like it, it must be good).

originally posted by: toysforadults
a reply to: Jubei42

I see the first few responses as confirmation of my analogy.

Even though it was more of a proverb than a literal statement.

I would say it depends on what you are after.

For many people, it is easier to simply do what they see others around them doing rather then think for themselves. It's important, especially when young, that we surround ourselves with a lot of different ideas, experiences, etc., so that we can finally figure out who and what we are in this world. Today, you see a lot of effort from the young to isolate themselves from points of view they don't want to deal with for one reason or other at a time when they should precisely be exposed to those ideas.

As you get older, you are supposed to have thought through a lot of your positions and beliefs. Any process of change is much slower because you are supposed to have formed a much deeper view of just precisely who you are and what you believe about things. Things can still make you think ... I still run into things that make me think, but at the same time, there are quite a few ideas and arguments that you have also seen time after time.

The idea that "no one but me thinks" is one of them.

After a while, you know what your response is. And I say that yes, quite a few people don't want to do any heavy intellectual lifting on thinking about why they "like" the things they like or "believe" what they believe. For many, I suspect, they are fed those opinions through popular culture, the press, academia and other appeals to authority and see it in their friends, and it's hard to go against what they perceive to be the crowd. A lot of people are herd followers and will adopt what they think is the popular position to avoid making waves and being disliked or shamed.

Whether at the end of the day, they've really examined what they say they believe and why? I would guess most haven't beyond everyone else does and similar reasons.

a reply to: chr0naut

I spilled my coffee!

You should try "I cant believe its not coffee" fantastic stuff and it has no caffeine ...

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
a reply to: chr0naut

I spilled my coffee!

You should try "I cant believe its not coffee" fantastic stuff and it has no caffeine ...

Meh, then it's really not coffee.

What do you think? That I drink it for the flavor?!

People are prone to take the path of least resistance by and large. And those morals we hold sacrosanct that were instilled by our parents may be regional, temporal and apply only to us. For instance Affluent homes, Broken homes, Christian homes, hedonistic homes, druggy homes, and by-racial homes. Those things we observe and learn from our parents or in a lot of instances caregivers, are of a singular worth and value to us alone. Though they might eclipse the populous mean, they may however diverge from the population at large. And to some extent seem foreign, to others.

originally posted by: Shuye


The OP put his sincere thoughts, only to get immediately bashed after six minutes, derailing the thread and showing the degraded levels ATS discussions had become.

I think the OP was motivated by the developing Question of the POTUS #45 DJT....


? is his brain scrambled, is his cognitive reasoning all there ? Is he a nincompoop or worse ->
UnFit to Serve as his rational mind is screwy....iow, is he a thinker or a stinker

a reply to: ketsuko

I guess what I'm saying is that while you exert effort and others luxuriate in their leisure, it will be you that is most likely to succeed.

originally posted by: toysforadults

originally posted by: Hecate666

originally posted by: toysforadults

originally posted by: Metallicus
a reply to: toysforadults

There is a lot of self-indulgent bullcrap hitting the boards tonight.

Says the person who doesn't think.

In the world of the blind the one eyed man is king.

I shouldn't answer for something directed at Metallicus but I find your comment childish, unprovable and completely offensive. I don't always agree with Metallicus but he is a good thinker. Who are you to put yourself on such a high horse?
Come down, now. You have no reason to be up there.

Wahhh, I am offended!

Join the military.

Child.

originally posted by: Metallicus
a reply to: toysforadults

There is a lot of self-indulgent bullcrap hitting the boards tonight.

God forbid someone else steals your thunder. You've made some incredible claims yourself, as have I.

This is not about us.

When I was a younger man, I felt about the same way as expressed in this OP.

Pretty certain I was a deep and insightful thinker. That everyone else considered me crazy because I was just seeing things in a way they couldn't. I, then, like some now, was the thinking one!

I got over it however,when I realized just about all of us feel the same exact way at times.

It isn't a matter of being 'awake', it's a matter of being mature.

a reply to: toysforadults

Self Projection?

ignorance is bliss, they say.

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
a reply to: chr0naut

I spilled my coffee!

You should try "I cant believe its not coffee" fantastic stuff and it has no caffeine ...

No, I'm currently drinking I can't believe, I can't believe it's not coffee. It looks and tastes nothing like coffee.

... and it has the advantage of flammability!

I remember that it was said that the crazy person was the one that thought they were the only sane one. Therefore questioning your own sanity was a sign of mental health. Many people have a simple world view and accept the most commonly held beliefs without looking into the particulars. It's easier to accept that up is toward the sky and down is toward the ground, when I realize that there is only away from and toward a given reference point.

It complicates your life to reference things in reality in terms outside of the expected norm. Personally I have come to the conclusion that nothing we experience is actually the way things really are. Our experiences are merely metal constructs based on the stimulation of our nervous system, we can only have a subjective experience outside the the real reality. It is true, however, that our sense of reality is useful in surviving. Our senses are clues that an objective reality exists, but they lie to us in ways that help us to survive and reproduce.

Are we any closer to sanity while still being the prisoner of our own minds? No amount of intellect will free us from our subjective reality, we can never think our way out, it will only make us more insane to try as the real truth of reality will forever evade us.

a reply to: trollz

Trollz, I think you may be my doppelganger. In the military they tested me as having a 142 IQ. And, I think much the same way as you. The intellect, consciousness, knowing. Being open to truths other than your own

Certain things I suspected in my youth was that love is "the" most important thing in our lives. That, and truth. You just have to have faith and faith is not religion. Faith is written in the hearts of all men. You have to choose not to believe in love to have no faith.

In my personal pursuit of trying to understand humanity in general I have read the bible several times, The bhagavad gita (Gita), etc. I have literally read thousands of near death experiences (cough, hellish ones are under reported for obvious reasons, cough).

It's right there for any person to see. Be your brother's keeper. Love your fellow man more than yourself. Which is why I am so absolutely frustrated. There is no faith.... Whom has faith...

Concerning NDE. There are always certain themes. Time does not exist, it is an illusion. Everything is happening at once. The ability to give love is is our most important mission. What we do here be it bad or good is not frowned upon in what is termed heaven. It is merely experience. Hell, or hellish experience, is just a mirror of what we chose to become in this earthly existence (I read as lack of faith). We are all God, in the sense that the cells of your body are you.

So why all of the pain in life if it is all about love? I have a theory. Most people literally learn nothing without pain. Through pain we learn compassion and understanding. If seen in one lifetime it would seem meaningless. But seen in a billion lifetimes, two billion lifetimes, we would have been kings, beggars, hermits, beautiful women and harsh men. You spiritual consciousness would eventually become perfect. And in the end you can know, with perfection, that the only truth is love.

So why perfect understanding of love. When people die and go to God they see themselves as God does and are often ashamed of the life they lead. They realize how selfish they were. What amazes them is there is no judgment from God, only this incredible outpouring of love, support, and acceptance. So again why is it so important we suffer and why does God love us in spite of this and why do we keep repeating this physical existence over and over?

Well, in many near death experiences people beg not to go back. In one I read a person tried to make their case for not going back and God asked them if they made anybody feel as loved as he (God) did for that person.

My theory, if you will, is that "God" is creating and ever expanding, light if you will, of co-creation. He is making an infinite universe of Gods.

a reply to: trollz

In the more immediate scale of creation I see something coming. As we in our lives live in creative and destructive cycles so on a larger scale I see creative and destructive cycles. Ancient peoples writings on these cycles i suspect are the result of civilizations that grew and became wise and began to understand the universe. Then cataclysm came and humanity was reset, and has been reset over and over.

Think of it like folding steel in a hot forge to make the steel stronger. Humanity, and every other civilization throughout the world is rhythmically being brought forward towards their ultimate goal. Towards their ultimate consciousness. We are at the cusp of the phase of destruction. If you are a believer of prophecy and you have read them all how could you believe any different.

Which is why I mocked the people being cruel to this person who posted. Yes I understand the pseudo feelings of superiority in mocking the OP. It is the sense of self importance begging the chance to pass judgement. It is also the harbinger of ruin if you believe in prophecy and have read enough.

How close? I think very close. But admittedly I don't know when the hammer will fall.

a reply to: toysforadults

My pops had an old saying I think is still very relevant to today.....

"Everybody in this world is crazy as hell, except for me and you, and sometimes I'm not so sure about you."

Being told what to think is much than applying critical thinking skills to this screwed up world.