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I have been thinking about contradictory ideas and paradoxes. the idea that two opposing things can exist at the same time without the validity of either being negated. paradoxes are interesting because they challenge understanding and logic and push the limits of binary thinking. they can reveal profound hidden insights about existence, perception and knowledge.
1. The double-slit experiment
paradox: light and matter behave as both particles and waves. but when observe, they collapse into one definite stat, as if reality āchoosesā a form only when measured.
profound truth: observation influences reality. the nature of nature of matter itself seems to change depending on weather it is being watched, suggesting that consciousness and physical reality may be deeply intertwined.
2. The Color Perception Paradox
paradox: we assume everyone sees colors the same way, but we can never truly confirm that your āredā is my āred.ā the way colors appear could be entirely be entirely different individuals.
profound truth: our internal experience of reality are private and unverifiable. this suggests that consciousness itself is an isolated phenomenon, with no direct way to compare subjective experiences.
3. The liar paradox
paradox: āthis statement is false.ā
if the statement is true, then it must be false. But if itās false, then it must be true.
profound truth: truth is not always absolute or binary. it suggests that language and logic have limitation, and some truths might exist beyond rigid definitions.
Feb 19, 2025
Related Recs
šŖ
absurdism is the idea that life has no inherent meaning, and humans struggle because we keep searching for meaning in a meaningless universe.
Albert Camusā paradox called
āthe absurdā: we crave meaning but the universe gives us none. the desire for purpose and the silent indifferent world.
the illusion of control is about believing we have power over things we dont. its comforting to think our choices shape everything.
both ideas challenge the notion that we can impose order on life.
criticisms:
1. it contradicts itself
absurdism claims life has no inherent meaning, yet cramus argues we should embrace the absurd in order to live fully. But isnt choosing to embrace life a kind of meaning? if rejecting meaning is itself a meaningful choice doesn't that contradict the core idea?
2. it underestimates human nature
humans naturally seek meaning, pattern, and purpose. absurdism suggests that ignoring or resisting this drive isnt realistic. if meaning is something we need, can we truly live without it, or is absurdism just an intellectual stance that doesn't hold up in everyday life
questions i have:
1. is accepting the absurd truly freeing, or just another way of coping?
- Camus says we should embrace the absurd and live anyway, but is that just another āmeaningā we create to make existence tolerable?
2. If control is an illusion, how do we explain personal responsibility?
-if we dont really have control, dose that mean weāre not responsible for our actions? or is there still some level of agency within chaos?
3. whats the difference between embracing absurdism and nihilism?
-nihilism says ānothing mattersā while absurdism says ānothing mattersā¦ so live anyway.ā but is that really enough of a distinction? or is absurdism just a more optimistic version of nihilism?
4. dose meaning exist outside of human perception?
-if we, as humans, disappeared, would āmeaningā cease to exist? or is meaning something bigger than us, even if we canāt understand it?
Feb 20, 2025
š
i've been wrestling with this idea for a little while
let me know if you have any insight
i'm fascinated by the idea of true belief. i want it, i admire it, i respect it. i also think it is scary and it can cause so much damage.
lately i've been thinking how everything we see we process through our own perception, so all of reality is subjective. we can interact with nothing as it is, but only as we are. if you think about synchronicity too, all meaning projected onto the world becomes valid and true. everything exists only to confirm what you're experiencing. if you believe the phase of the moon being the same at two points in time holds meaning, it does because it's just another part of your mental map.
but when it comes to religion and politics it can be so destructive. i wasn't raised with religion but i have always felt myself drawn towards it. i am at the same time very critical of it, especially how the human aspect of organized religion tends to be used for control, but i truly admire true belief. but seeing the results of it, like the persecution of trans people in american politics, is scary and sends me back to the critical mindset. but there's still some appeal i can't shake.
what if there were a geocentrist today? someone who worked a normal job, went about an ordinary life, they just happened to believe the earth was at the center of the universe. that's kind of a beautiful thing. if you only draw conclusions from your own experience, of course the earth is at the center. everything seems to orbit around it. and there's still a purity in believing only in what you have found for yourself. the world would live only in their mind, and each world created by each person is all the more precious for being unique and reflective of its individual.
i'm just rambling at this point, but what do you guys think? true belief: yes or no?
Mar 12, 2025
Everything above 100% is true btw^
All things considered I think I have a pretty normal interior landscape. Songs get stuck in my head. I daydream & I fantasize & I ruminate & I contemplate. Sometimes my mind is busy, sometimes it is totally quiet. Memory is something that constantly fails me-- it's closer to propaganda than documentary to me. And the projectionist who plays the propaganda to me is this blind, deaf, volatile schizophrenic intent on making me, the rememberer, as deluded & ill informed as possible. Sometimes I'll have this strange feeling that I've received a memory from the future in a dream, even more rarely I'll get this sort of memory in the waking world. To understand what I'm talking about, click the link I've supplied.
But really, honestly, outside of that I like to daydream a lot. Today I was thinking about visiting Georgia & daydreaming about being a young Russian nobleman in the 19th century, the son of some diplomat or something, laid out in some Tblisi opium den. I'm faded as fuck & I'm staring at the rug and the ceiling & then rolling over facedown in the naked breasts of some Georgian woman. She is perfumed & her arms are fat & she pets my hair and coos-- this is incredibly disgusting to me of course.
Sometimes I think that Consciousness is a curse. Free will was given to us by God, but Knowledge of Good & Evil was something that we were tricked into taking up by the serpent (ouroboros). Not a coincidence that all great sages exhort those who seek wisdom to cease with their perception & their perception of perception & their perception of perception of perception. Meta-cognition is the flattened out ourobouros (serpent) that traps the thinker in Hell.
Feb 14, 2025
Top Recs from @blacksnowbunny
šŖ
absurdism is the idea that life has no inherent meaning, and humans struggle because we keep searching for meaning in a meaningless universe.
Albert Camusā paradox called
āthe absurdā: we crave meaning but the universe gives us none. the desire for purpose and the silent indifferent world.
the illusion of control is about believing we have power over things we dont. its comforting to think our choices shape everything.
both ideas challenge the notion that we can impose order on life.
criticisms:
1. it contradicts itself
absurdism claims life has no inherent meaning, yet cramus argues we should embrace the absurd in order to live fully. But isnt choosing to embrace life a kind of meaning? if rejecting meaning is itself a meaningful choice doesn't that contradict the core idea?
2. it underestimates human nature
humans naturally seek meaning, pattern, and purpose. absurdism suggests that ignoring or resisting this drive isnt realistic. if meaning is something we need, can we truly live without it, or is absurdism just an intellectual stance that doesn't hold up in everyday life
questions i have:
1. is accepting the absurd truly freeing, or just another way of coping?
- Camus says we should embrace the absurd and live anyway, but is that just another āmeaningā we create to make existence tolerable?
2. If control is an illusion, how do we explain personal responsibility?
-if we dont really have control, dose that mean weāre not responsible for our actions? or is there still some level of agency within chaos?
3. whats the difference between embracing absurdism and nihilism?
-nihilism says ānothing mattersā while absurdism says ānothing mattersā¦ so live anyway.ā but is that really enough of a distinction? or is absurdism just a more optimistic version of nihilism?
4. dose meaning exist outside of human perception?
-if we, as humans, disappeared, would āmeaningā cease to exist? or is meaning something bigger than us, even if we canāt understand it?
Feb 20, 2025