Oh, I see.
You’re looking for people who think exactly as you do.
In that case, avoiding discussion makes perfect sense. =D>
Agreed … what you want to see … that is. A very common human characteristic.
A good example of my above comment … not all people see the expression “like minded people” as " people who think exactly as you do"
… and just in case I didn’t get it in your first example you were kind enough to provide a second … thanks.
Not all people see discussion and argument as synonyms.
Many are still kinder to animals than they are to people… including friends and acquaintances of mine. Don’t hurt the poor animals they say, but then talk down to, argue with, and get rude to ‘people’.
I have to say… that that is exactly how I see things and would have responded, and yet we don’t always agree or come to the same conclusions 
Likeminded is being able enough to comprehend the other, which helps focus one’s thoughts in seeing things without any constructed mental barriers, so as to see and think with better clarity.
I think the opposite is actually true… similar ilks build each other up on a mental level, not drag each other down to the dulled physical realm of existence, where one feels one’s head will explode with the usual tripe and the endless ennui becomes mind-numbingly toxic… to the point of threatening one’s wellbeing and livelihood.
Some conversations are intuited, and are therefore not meant to be… the intuiter wanting the conversation to progress quicker than the one who cannot/does not intuit.
If I misunderstood you then I would ask for an explanation of what “like minded people” means.
But would you answer me? I think not. You are more likely to pull out your Confucius quote.
What does “like minded people” mean?
You don’t even answer questions or requests for more information. Those are integral parts of a discussion.
Therefore, I think ‘discussion’ was the appropriate word.
I have never done that but have thought of doing it.
Do you have any idea what message you might put in the bottle and send off?
I would be curious about that. I am curious about that. What would your first word be, do you think?
I think that as far as that went, the world would be your oyster.
Of course, it would stand to reason that you would have to give your name and address to receive a message back.
Can you imagine the arguments/discussions (philosophically speaking) which would ensue in ILP if you did not send your name and address to that person YET his/her message/response in his/her bottle comes back to YOU, only YOU? LOL
Fate, serendipity, synchronicity, the law of averages (I think), randomness, determinism, oceanography lol, physics…ad continuum.
I do not believe or intuit “real magic” but I might be a bit more skeptical or agnostic about it NOT existing in this Universe if that were to occur. lol
I mean the so-called “real” magic that people (like those who believe they are witches) believe that they are capable of conjuring up, bringing into existence by way of their own power and control.
Like-minded in what way?
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I like Mags definition … though I would use different words. Have you read it?
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Spoon feeding is for infants … adults learn to feed themselves.
I’ve shared lots and lots of personal stuff and on several occasions provided links to a large repository of personal experiences and thoughts. A few ILP members nibbled … none found the taste palatable. 
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Only one word … “Help!”
Providing name and address is banal … unimaginative. The universe knows me and how to contact me.
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Like minded as in genuine truth seekers who have reached a stage of maturity that approximates my own. I accept that all ILP members are truth seekers at various stages along a very very long road.
You mean this :
I can comprehend people who have views which are completely different from mine and who think in completely different ways. I don’t see that as an obstacle … in fact, it makes the discussion much more interesting. And it forces me to get off my comfy couch and to exercise my mind.
Let’s just put this down as “different strokes for different folks”.
I’m not interested in your “personal stuff” except as it relates general human experience which is applicable to more or less everyone.
I don’t consider this to be a forum for sharing personal stuff. That’s why I rarely and reluctantly post my personal experiences.
I’m really only interested in the philosophical reasoning in the posts.
pilgrim-seeker_tom
Are you being facetious here? Of all the words you could possibly say in sending your message in the bottle, the first one would be help!!!
I realize that it might take some reflection to consider what that first word might be and/or what your message would be, but would you honestly waste words by sending a plea for help?
Well, perhaps only if you were stranded at sea and could navigate by the stars to give your location.
You might have just said" "Arc, I will have to get back to you on that.
I thought that it was an interesting question ~~ I was being serious.
Seeing the possibility that it might happen, you might have begun with the word “WOW”. “If someone has picked up my message, what a LARK that is” perhaps with a LOL.
Then you might go on to share a bit of your life. (Of course, you would have already set up a P.O. Box # just in case). lol
Can you even imagine it though? What a refreshing exhilarating breeze that could bring to your life.
Do you not think that we can use all of the amazing things which give us a raison d’etre - to spice up our lives.
That is not being hedonist but it can be quite stoic in nature.
Like-minded in what way?
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Can you give me an example of that?
Stage of maturity as in age or as in wisdom?
I may be wrong in my estimation of you and your stage of maturity but do genuine truth seekers who have reached that stage which you speak about utter words like you did to me?:
“Consciousness Seeker” implies you have asked yourself the question though I don’t see much evidence of any serious attempt to answer it in your posts … the posts I’ve read.
I will be honest with you. That dig did sting (a bit of ego, yes) and not because of you but despite you, it taught me something.
Again as I said, I may be wrong here, but do believe/intuit that your words actually qualify you as a genuine truth seeker and one who has reached a particular stage of maturity? I might question what stage that is.
Yes, you can say that.
Just a bit of advice which you needn’t take. If you are saying something to someone and you do not want them to take it personally (aside from what you said directly to me, meaning me) it could be a good idea to say that you are speaking universally, including all people, the we in other words.
This thread is called “Weakness is strength”. My emotions, to a degree, have shown me that weakness can indeed give rise to strength. Mind over matter does not always cut it; neither does suppressing or repressing. That within it (weakness) there is hidden strength if we just allow our emotions to flow, like waves, accepting them, not trying to fight them but allowing them to speak to us and to urge us on to some kind of positive action which we learn from.
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Arc … rage creates serious blind spots … read my post again … I didn’t say “help” would be the first word … I said “help” would be the ONLY word.
Since you don’t like Confucius let me try Einstein …
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I imagine … rightly or wrongly …
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the universe knows what kind of help I need better than I do … at every instance of my life.
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the universe has an excellent memory … no need to ask a second time. Petty and persistent requests must be an annoyance.
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the universe knows best how to get the help I need to me … always.
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my challenge is to accept all that the universe sends me … the good … the bad … and the ugly. Furthermore … understand all of it is intended to help me.
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Genuine truth seekers not only seek truth … they speak truth … as they see it from moment to moment.
Let me quote JSS
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Our e-exchanges are testimony to the validity of the OP title.
"pilgrim-seeker_tom
lol Are you telling me that you intuited rage in my statement? You may say no but then my next question would be: Why then would you insert the word rage into the post?
Am I capable of experiencing rage? Yes I am as I would suppose most are. Terrorism attacks enrage me, pedophiles enrage me when they have destroyed the psychic lives of children, rapists enrage me for the same reason, ad continuum. Does that mean that I would go out and murder in the name of justice? Probably not but who really knows what one is capable of under certain circumstances. But it is a good thing to try to be aware of what we are capable of…you know, that dark side. Close our eyes to it and we may be doomed.
I am not a buddhist.
Imagination is wonderful, awesome, but I am not quite sure that it is more important than knowledge but I may be wrong. I might like to think of them as running nose to nose. But then again, a lot of knowledge has come into existence through the use of one’s imagination, wondering and musing.
I have thought and felt the same thing at times. At the same time, I think that this way of thinking and human experience is at least in part due to the little universe which we each have within us, the unconscious, the subconscious, that other self somewhere within which knows how to trust and to be in harmony with the outer universe.
So, when the universe sends (as you implied) terrorists your way and your part of the world and different parts of the world are destroyed and devastated, human lives are crushed and blown up, please tell me in what way that is the universe intending to help you?
We do not always realize what it is that we are saying when we are saying it? So, how is that the universe helping us? I do not want rationalizations - I am looking for truth.
lol Do you mean to say in the same way that some posters in here speak their own truth? Would ranting and raving be a part of speaking truth? 
I do agree with the above though with one qualification. Genuine truth seekers speak their truth with a sense of responsibility and care - or do they not?
Yes, it may be. It may also be instructive and constructive - and a real eye opener if we can be objective and not white wash what IS.
It is ALSO akin to power. It just depends within whose hands, heart and mind it is being held.
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Will you please clarify what YOU mean by the above. I mean really respond to it.
I think both must be true in different ways. How 'bout this: Phyllo is right in that we all must be challenged in order to grow (no pain, no gain), but you’re right Mags in that we all must have a support system in order to grow. Going out and meeting the challenges of un-like minded people is the gathering of material for growth. Returning to your peers and support group is how to best utilize that material for growth. Without material, there isn’t much to grow on, even if you have the best support group in the world. But without a support group, it’s difficult to know how to utilize the material for your own growth, even if you have an iron resolve to do so. The support group provides guidance, a different (perhaps objective) perspective, and also rejuvinates your confidence in case the challenges take too much of a toll on you.
Are you sure of that, Pilgrim? I’ll often nibble from people’s philosophies, but if I don’t return for more, it’s only because I’m at a huge buffet and all I can do to fill my plate is nibble on a bit of this and a bit of that.
And if you were to split that up into, let’s say, 10 words (or more)… what would it be?
I think it’s pretty rare that personal stuff doesn’t impinge on human experience in general. What experience does a person go through that another can’t relate to to some degree?
I suppose certain groups of people can boast that they’ve had experiences in life which I will never have: what it’s like to be a blind man, what it’s like to be a woman giving birth… but even then, the sharing of these experiences are common at least within that group.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about philosophy, the main subject of this forum, it’s that any topic can be made into philosophy, especially personal experiences.
I think the way Einstein meant that phrase wasn’t in the mutually exclusive sense–either knowledge or imagination–but in the sense of what is needed for what. Imagination is needed for knowledge, it’s needed for understanding. It’s like I was explaining to Magnus Anderson the other day: just in order to understand the word “apple”, one must bring to their imagination the idea of an apple–otherwise there’s no comprehension at all–and just the same, I think in order to understand the knowledge we possess, we must conceptualize that knowledge in our imagination. So imagination is more important than knowledge in the sense that it is needed for knowledge, and if we’re lucky, can bring us beyond knowledge.
On truth seekers: I think I would have called myself a truth seeker in my youth, but one of the most profound truths I ever stumbled across is that half the time, you’ve gotta invent your own truth. In science, in engineering, in justice and law, it’s best to be a truth seeker–let your beliefs be guided by evidence–but there are so many areas of life in which being a truth inventor is best–and in many of them, the only thing to be. I’m thinking of areas in life in which nothing is really a fact of the matter. Take mental health for example. Are you a glass is half full person or a glass is half empty person? Is there a fact of the matter? The whole crux of this expression is that there isn’t, and that what that leaves us with is a choice, a couple of perspective to select. Now, the choice is not based on facts or evidence. We suddenly realize in this moment that the truth depends on what we want it to be, yet we can still be guided by a principle: mental health. What would be more healthy? To see the glass as half empty or half full? Or take as another example: criticism. Someone may harshly criticize you and make you feel small. But what we often do, and this is normal and healthy, is try at once to accept the criticism (if you see little kernels of truth in it) and to re-think it in a more positive way, a way that doesn’t make you feel small or belittled. Judging a person or yourself on their/your character flaws is far removed from the realm of facts and evidence, and very much in the realm of inventing truth–the skill here being to simply recognize what truth counts as healthy.
Will you please clarify what YOU mean by the above. I mean really respond to it.
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What word(s) is the source of your confusion? or … do you simply want more words before you deploy your battering ram. 
He will imagine it completely from his own limited perspective.
He can’t get out of the sack that confines his imagination unless someone shows him some other ways of imagining.
But it’s an unimaginably complex paradox, relieve it’s limit causes the imago loose the power of it’s focus.
How?
The inverse proportionality in play .