When you boil all the bullshit out of it, is not ego simply the notion of
being an individual?
Something made it possible for you to see your life differently.
> > Probably, you already saw your life differently from the way any of us
> > see our lives.
Is it possible for an individual to see their life the same way any other
individual sees their own life?
> On many occasions I've had a sudden internal "snap" as I've realized
> "you know, that viewpoint that I've held is not just incorrect but
> actively damaging to my self interest -- I had better revise my
> thinking".
Is this "snap" a euphemism for "insight"?
> > If I ever get a chance to reprogram myself, I would put emotions
> > under complete control, so that, when I want, I could turn off the bad
> > ones, and feel the selected good ones.
What prevents you from "reprograming" yourself now?
Would you consider having a self-activated joy-button connected to your
"feels good" section of the brain?
> If everything turns to shit, you're in jail or broke, or whatever, just
> amplify the good feelings and what's the difference?
Yes, what is the difference?
> >This is what I would call the "fluidity problem" - you could in
principle
> >become or feel anything, so how to avoid getting trapped in an
attracting
> >but useless motivational state (100% bliss or a fundamental belief that
> >you present state is the ideal state and should never be changed, no
> >matter what)?
Have you ever experienced 100% Bliss? Can people experience this state at
will? Can they go from Bliss to rationality at will?
In real life many aborigines
> have adapted well to Wester culture, I hear.
Did you hear that some doctors tell Aborigines to eat only that which they
can hunt and gather and within a few months they regain their health?
I don't like May's Milieu because it
> seems too pacifistic to survive against more "primitive" societies
> without locking them up.
Is it possible that one becomes violent when they have run out of ideas?