Weakness is strength??

Mags … chances are … you will see people in a different light … you will see places in a different light … you will experience “experiences” in a different light. At least lots of empirical evidence support such an outcome for people who have shared a similar life threatening experience. Kriswest comes to mind.

Perhaps … just perhaps … you have joined the community who have the fortitude to forego their earthly bread … figuratively speaking. You have joined the community of the ‘weak’ who are at the same time very strong.

experience is our teacher … perhaps … just perhaps … your experience was necessary to point you in the right direction to fulfill your life’s purpose.

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science/biology is unable to answer many many questions about human life.

Right, so if I think that Whites are the best looking people and that Indians, Arabs and Jews are among the worst looking people then that’s simply my personal perspective conditioned by my in-group bias, which is to say, White-bias. I suppose then that Indians, due to their Indian-bias, think otherwise, and that is that Indians are the best looking people whereas Whites are not so good looking if not the worst looking people. Wouldn’t that be what modern people, such as Biguous, call relativism?

I think otherwise, honey. I think that beauty is a measurement against an ideal that is more or less shared by everyone.

Indians might not be attracted to Whites due to endogamy but they will admit, I am sure, that Whites look better than them.

Beauty and attraction are two different things.

MA wrote:

Freud wrote that humans found beauty in that which inspired sexual feelings.

Judgments of beauty are individual judgments that cannot be generalised.

Why is he not looking at the camera?

Either way your argument is basically “if people can have different views then it’s all subjective”. I guess then that whether God exists or not is subjective too.

So that which is considered beautiful by any person must inspire sexual feelings? … Really? Well, let’s detract the human element, and focus on other objects which are considered beautiful, say, for example, a view on a mountain top or certain animals. Does that claim still apply?

I think the choice of any of those would depend on what the circumstances/situations would call for.

Aside from that, the best bet is usually a harmonious, balanced one.

Average? How boring. Have you ever heard the saying: "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
― Norman Vincent Peale
:angelic-flying:

Is_Yde_opN"

It just always confounds me when a word is defined by using the exact word.

Have you caught up yet? A bit of shorthand would be good.
I wasn’t so much speaking about understanding what a person says although that can be extremely helpful. I was speaking more about digging down and trying to understand where that person is “coming from”
~~ in a way, understanding where that person “lives”, who he is at his core.

I agree with you but even more so as to the latter. But then again, maybe at times we are not even aware when we are trying to deceive others. Perhaps it becomes so engrained within us if we do it so often that it appears to be truth. It isn’t just about lying - we become the Lie.

We have to be aware that we have a dark side and be unafraid to peer into it.

Sigh…

Would you consider having sex with a person you perceived as undesirable?

From my own point of view, it would be pretty bloody awful.

Magnus Anderson

Because his hands are roaming around, silly. His eyes are intent on that.

Many perspectives are subjective because it is the particular mind regarding something. But many can also be more objective than others.

Yes, the concept of a god is subjective. No one has ever proved or disproved a god’s existence.

That’s not the point that was made. I wasn’t even talking about human sexual attraction. I was just responding to:

Sexual feelings are not a prerequisite to perceiving this or that as beautiful, and also, that which inspires sexual feelings does not need to be perceived as beautiful by the subject.

Do you only find a thing beautiful if it stimulates you in that way?

Why did you change my name?

Anyway, I think that there are many different ways we come to consider a thing or a person beautiful. Generally, and this is the type or experience of beauty most people allude to, its related to certain forms we are receptive/sensitive to - this type of beauty is a response to sensory stimuli. Other ways we come to experience beauty is due to our own personal experiences which lead us to respond to certain stimuli more strongly than we would have without those experiences - this type of beauty is a response to, or consequence of, historical awareness or past events (this is related to the first point, but within a tighter time frame). Beauty is an experience, what’s the point of limiting it to, or conflating it with, the perception of physical symmetry or otherwise? Many people can appreciate great physical symmetry, and nevertheless, have no experience of beauty. Happens all the time, constantly.

I will confer with Kris when she’s back… she’s not been on for a while.

I have found that I’m even more lassiez faire/care not than I used to be, but at the same time more sterner, but still resolving issues with others in a hypocratic way… like I’ve always done.

Yes, and I’ve found them on a CF forum where we swap advice and give support to each other… which nobody else can truly understand or give, or the entailing dark humour that goes with it.

So I had to nearly die to see more clearly? I’m not sold on the idea, but I’m not sceptical of it…

They cannot currently undo the state of human hibernation that some of us have found ourselves in, but they think it a reaction to a toxic world to survive… says a lot about the current state of our planet, food, and environment, doesn’t it.

Without a lacking, a weakness, why would we grow to be more, better, than we were? What does perfection need to be or do?

That’s a positive sign Mags … at the end of this post I reprinted some babble I wrote about 15 years ago … at the time I was already 10 years past my ‘milestone’ experience and still wasn’t sure what was going on.

I have always found we get precisely the help we need … when we need it … even when we are not aware that we need it.

There may be a mathematical relationship between the severity of the ‘jolt’ and the difficulty of the task(s) that lie ahead. Such a serious ‘jolt’ suggests you will be facing some serious and difficult task(s).

Hibernation is a wonderful choice of words … it’s a survival instinct … sleep when nature doesn’t provide conditions or food conducive to survival. I went into “hibernation” mode several times during the past 25 years. Seems we are brought out of hibernation when the circumstances are appropriate to our journey.

I do not think I am yet in a position to self-analyse my situation, but I can see the manifestation of the effect from the cause(s) and the journey that got me there… my visualisation of the situation is of a train… as opposed to your egg, but a rusty rust-bucket of a train… a deserted one… not one all shiny and in service.

Not a good situation for those that aren’t great with responsibility to find themselves in :neutral_face:

Do you have any idea what triggered yours? Did the state diminish the quality of your life… relationship/career wise? and what brought you out of it/of the cycle?

“a rusty rust-bucket of a train” … very a propos analogy Mags … a caterpillar is not very attractive either … but who doesn’t love a butterfly. :slight_smile:

Mags … not sure if my memory serves me well … senility set in some time ago … seems I recall you taking some test post on ILP and the results clearly labelled you as a “leader” … you replied something to the effect … I prefer to sit in the middle of the bus and observe. The term “reluctant saint” comes to mind. :slight_smile:

I prefer to believe the “how it happened” is irrelevant … the result is always the same … it’s like being “thrown off the train” … “plucked out of the crowd” . In the very early stages of my milestone experience the local priest said to me … “If God is calling you … He will call you alone” I understood his comment to mean God will hearken no competition … no distractions. :slight_smile:

Mags I have published more than 700 pages of babble … some anecdotal (answers to your questions) … some thoughts … some opinions etc. When I read my earlier babble I clearly see how my thinking has changed … evolved … over the past 25 years.

pilgrimtom.weebly.com/

thoughtsofamisfit.weebly.com/

Mags … I learned the term “reluctant saint” recently … here … decentfilms.com/articles/reluctantsaint

Not so much a transformation as a re-introduction to self… I guess a jolt would facilitate the need for that in anyone?

…or simply just nosey? :smiley:

…it is indeed a lone predicament to be in… a retrospective journey for one, but yet they compete and distract. How did you cope?

Over 700 pages :astonished: I hope it’s chaptered and headed…

Apologies for the late reply… I’ve been taken up with gathering myself and my thoughts of late…

What were you doing there Tom? :smiley:

From that article, it seems that Saints are simply different/stand out, but that’s what I got out of it. What did you glean from the words?

A re-introduction to self has a familiar ring to it. In the early years … after my watershed moment … a look at my former self revealed that my former self was not my true self. The demands of society/culture pounded some of my true self into oblivion. Since that time my true self has percolated to the surface.

At times … too many to count … coping was a serious struggle. Eventually the following strategies took hold …

  1. Surrender

  2. Wu Wei

Does that suggest you haven’t read all my babble yet? :open_mouth:

Happy to learn you are making some progress.

Can’t remember the details but Youtube/Google algorithms triggered the visit … first to the movie and later the article.

Every once in a while Guiseppe …the reluctant saint … talks to me … or I talk to him. :slight_smile:

Happens when I’m reluctant to feed my wife’s geese, chickens and ducks … 21 in total. I’m usually totally spent at the time from helping with my wife’s farming project.

Guess that means Guiseppe encourages me to be more thoughtful towards animals … kindness to animals must surely lead to an uptick in kindness to people … no?