I don't know man, what do you think?

On February 20 2017 04:38 RiKD wrote: Oh. Something else. I had an experience today that I was sure I experienced in a dream. It was really trippy. Anyone else experiences this?

I am taking a Cognitive Science course in University right now and we were talking about this the other day. Your brain fills in a ton information from sensory data, for example, your eye is constantly making these movements called saccades, while the eye is moving the visual feed is shut off and then when it stops the movement it comes back on. You never notice this movement or the interruption and experience a constant visual field. There are a ton of other examples but the point is that our sensory information is just our brain's best guess about what is out there. Similarly, our brain also does this with memory, and decision-making process. We take an action and then the brain fills in a story about why we took an action. Some research suggests that the deja vu feeling is like a memory error checking process.

Living an "active" life is kind of vague, so I'm not sure which of the two options to choose.

Seems like this career thing is the elephant in the room for you. There's only one person that can figure it all out and that is yourself.

Those options in my opinion are too vague because you aren't necessarily implying non-happiness on the 88 year option. If you said hate your life for 88 years or love your life for 78 I would choose love for 78. As played, I would choose active/healthy for 88.

On February 20 2017 06:39 PuertoRican wrote: Living an "active" life is kind of vague, so I'm not sure which of the two options to choose.

Happiness is kind of vague too. What does that mean? I put that there because I was watching something on Denmark and that came up a number of times that Denmark is the happiest country on earth. 30 hour work weeks, free education, I am sure the list goes on. I am not a Denmark expert.

When I wrote active I was thinking about still being able to do most things and especially as it relates to day to day life. So, tumbling and big wave surfing are out but going for walks, gardening and doing most things with out impeding pain.

On February 21 2017 01:14 K40Cheddar wrote: Those options in my opinion are too vague because you aren't necessarily implying non-happiness on the 88 year option. If you said hate your life for 88 years or love your life for 78 I would choose love for 78. As played, I would choose active/healthy for 88.

I was thinking this 88 option person can still get around and do most things they have always done. That is some serious health span and I would think certainly some general happiness would result from that. Perhaps they are dealing with some loneliness or boredom or general existential angst but it is not because of health or possibilities.

I am starting to think one almost has to have some pretty consistent happiness and contentment to live into 90s and 100s.

On February 20 2017 09:07 hiems wrote: Seems like this career thing is the elephant in the room for you. There's only one person that can figure it all out and that is yourself.

Truth. I could use some help though. How am I going to spend all this money and time to get a therapy degree or nursing degree and I do not even know if I like the job?

Sometimes I fantasize about being a shepherd in a small Italian village. What if I hated it? What if I hated philosophy in academia, therapy, nursing, car salesman? Maybe I am not cut out for machine learning. Am I even interested in machine learning?

I am just thinking out loud. Writing out stuff helps my brain.

Dream big. POTUS man. POTUS.

It kinda funny how they always put "hours of work week" as first factor when measuring happiness levels, maybe thats the problem for people to begin with.

On February 21 2017 03:26 hiems wrote: Dream big. POTUS man. POTUS.

No way man. POTUS seems like a terrible job. Not for me. No thank you.

On February 21 2017 15:37 Spitfiree wrote: It kinda funny how they always put "hours of work week" as first factor when measuring happiness levels, maybe thats the problem for people to begin with.

Seems like a tangible marker of something. I would think it would be tough to be happy working 80 hours a week in an iphone sweatshop where they have to put up nets to keep people from jumping to their death. There have been times in my life where I was in bliss and 60+ hours a week was exactly where I wanted to be. There have been times where that was a terrible grind. On most days 30 hours a week at a livable wage sounds great. Especially if I had free healthcare, free education, and a great livable city like Copenhagen.

sometimes when i see things too clearly i realize everything i do is to run away from the Void. that includes the illusion of chasing happiness.

then i stop and look behind me and the void catches up. and then i find another meaningfully meaningless thing to do. currently that's data science and making a bunch of pretty graphs that impresses a bunch of males.

On February 21 2017 02:53 RiKD wrote: Show nested quote + On February 21 2017 01:14 K40Cheddar wrote: Those options in my opinion are too vague because you aren't necessarily implying non-happiness on the 88 year option. If you said hate your life for 88 years or love your life for 78 I would choose love for 78. As played, I would choose active/healthy for 88. I was thinking this 88 option person can still get around and do most things they have always done. That is some serious health span and I would think certainly some general happiness would result from that. Perhaps they are dealing with some loneliness or boredom or general existential angst but it is not because of health or possibilities. I am starting to think one almost has to have some pretty consistent happiness and contentment to live into 90s and 100s.

That's one of the key points Dan outlines in the Blue Zones work. They didn't will themselves into their 100s. Other than the obvious genetic factors, they had a certain environment that promoted healthy habits and healthy relationships which led to a fulfilling life. It has to all come together, and you can't expect to replicate that with willpower, and that's how we tend to think as individualists. It's a whole different starting hand when you live in a secular society driven by individualism and consumerism. I think a person born in this environment basically has demons to rid himself of, a lot of them, and they have to re-orient themselves and journey outside of their comfort zone if they truly want a healthy and fulfilling life. "To not journey is to decay" -- a catchy phrase with which I used to think about it.

Yeah, the centenarians from the Blue Zones likely do not feel all that bored or lonely or existential angst. I got the impression that it was almost like quality chores to prepare for meals followed by meals and people. All of them there did not seem to be a lack of socialization. I wonder how they calculate the happiness stuff because it seems to me the happiness stuff and longevity stuff goes hand and hand. Denmark may just eat kind of shit because that is what the environment and culture produced. Besides pockets like Loma Linda (Adventists) the United States is pretty fucked. Really, truly a fucked up culture. Trump as POTUS is just a great example. It is not necessarily easy but I can eat pretty much like any of the Blue Zones except Okinawa. The produce will not be as fresh and magical living in Pennsylvania but what is one to do. I can be social. I can do all those things they list except for join a church and have faith. Fuck that. I struggle with an ikigai (purpose) also. I would love to take a trip to Okinawa (journey) and have some conversations. I love that quote "To not journey is to decay." I have been tinkering with gallo pinto (Costa Rican rice and beans) and it reminds me of the trip I took there. I ate that dish for about every meal and did not think anything of it besides it was delicious. The people seemed more free and serene. Liberated from the void. Yeah, I must continue journeying in all aspects of life.

Not sure if relevant but here goes..

I just came back yesterday from a 12 day trip to California. I noticed i was more open to positive things around me because i was on vacation mode, not sure if its a thing but probably is. If you work hard then you enjoy these things more - not sure if i agree with myself here because some part of me is totally ok with being a beach bum on a skateboard and surfboard doing random things all day and enjoying life without worry for tomorrow. I listened to some Alan Watts Hinduism thing on the way back and the story about how Trimurti have no sense of time so they never get bored of the creation-preservation-destruction thing. Shiva does the dance where everything burns in an inferno and when she's done and is walking away you can see Brahmas face who is the creator. It was in chapter 9 or something if you wanna look it up. Seemed relevant to mention here. There was something about the continuum of time with cycles and continuity but it is too hard to paraphrase for my jetlagged brain.

If you are struggling with some spaghetti monsters then do the dance of inferno and start building.