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The other, is to feel *very* sure about something and realize that you were wrong. E.g. a near death experience, of death of a loved one can "shatter" you fully. Psychedelics achieve similar effects as long as one avoids the Jungian "beware of enearned wisdom" trap.

They do so by amplifying signal within the mind and builds incredibly high resolutions models of situations that turn out to be completely WRONG. It can trigger an understanding of "infinite humility" by exposing the raw signal/noise dynamic.https://twitter.com/a_yawning_cat/status/1302153496498548736 …

The trap though is that because you can come out "whole" the other side it can lead you to think "Whew that was close, but b/c of that experience I realize I am an invincible GOD. I now know the One True Truth." (VS the real experience where you remain shattered)

That is, rather than reveal infinite humility through self as story, it creates invisible arrogance that masquerades as humility. By creating a model by which to navigate infinity, it compresses it into the finite world you feel you can "understand."

E.g. it's like a child counting 1, 2, 3, 4, ... and realizing the concept of infinity and then extrapolating this to understanding all numbers/math, thus ignoring irrational, imaginary, etc.. numbers. It's an infantile understanding of infinity.

This is the most pernicious kind of arrogance because it masquerades as humility. It is rivaled only by Self itself in its ability to hide in plain sight.

An example is a group of minorities complaining to white men about diversity. The men can *only* think "Ah, another problem for ME to solve." thus maintaining the status quo. Whether or not they are qualified or not is *not* the actual problem. (often they are tbh)

This comes across as arrogance even though from a rational and logical perspective THEIR action DOES generate the most benefit. This is both from being in a position of power and often ignored cultural dynamics. https://twitter.com/a_yawning_cat/status/1341514796106014720 …https://twitter.com/a_yawning_cat/status/1341269415984156672 …

The self-as-story feeling however is difficult to actually generate consistently just like entering a flow state at will. (Most at-will flow state entrance requires heavy control over the environment. E.g. a sports match or a morning reading ritual)

The most traditional way to seek this feeling is through long meditations. Another common "modern" method is through accumulation of knowledge in the hopes of triggering a it some sort of super "insight" orgasm.https://twitter.com/a_yawning_cat/status/1333339180601020416 …

The core weakness of any prescribed methodology is that a prescription requires a prescriber. A prescriber is a solidification of an identity which then acts or communicates a prescription. E.g. a koan, bible, yoga poses, trinkets, etc..

What this means is that someone else's Understanding of Everything will NEVER fully resonate with your own even if they're NOT faking/mimicing AND you get 100% conveyance with no misunderstanding.

This is the problem with toxic positivity. It creates cults because all these incompatible models tied together with the masking tape of fake friendship and fake love Do. Not. Work. They are logically incoherent. You can't build a skyscraper if you can't agree on what "1" is.

What a kool-aid suicide ritual is equivalent to is a skyscraper falling down. There was a psychic attempt to build a tower of babel and it collapsed, killing many. Without the humility to actually set a target height, the tower is built until it falls.

Because what kind of tower is an infinite tower? One with NO architectural diagram because it had no concrete goal and no plan! No wonder. They were just winging it by the seat of their pants.

What is the psychic equivalent of the Burj Khalifa? (To clarify, height here is a heuristic for "complexity of engineering", replace w/ ur favorite engineering thing) What are the most complex examples of organized human psychic energy?

Computer companies come to mind. The amount of magic across so many disciplines, each requiring years to master, is staggering. And to get them to work together to the point where the customer is NOT forgotten? Staggering.https://twitter.com/a_yawning_cat/status/1334319835740655616 …

A country doesn't really count because they aren't organized, they have competing goals. They're schizophrenic. Is it one building or two? Is it one person or two? Is it one group or two?

E.g. the united states is composed of 50 sovereign states, each with conflicting interests. China is composed of multiple provinces. As command flows away from central, the concept of single "identity" starts to fade.

In order for a country to maintain a single identity, it has to perform acts AS a single identity. A country cannot buy a watermelon. A country starts or ends wards, exports or imports products, engages in humanitarian activities, etc...

Thus a country that is doing things(e.g. war) together merely for the sake of forcing themselves to work together is in terrible pain. It's like a marriage that isn't working. It's the drug dealer who doesn't want to shoot but has to be loyal to the gang.