Hi dude, nice to meet ya  :  )
All humans have 'issues'. Many don't know they have 'em. Those here tend to be more aware of problems, and we swap info on what seems to help for each of us and that's useful.

Our moods/emotions/neurotransmitters are meant to fluctuate a lot. We're a dynamic system maintaining equilibrium in a dynamic context; anything static isn't going to grow and develop or achieve homeostasis in a dynamic context. Stuff not subject to self organization or external moderation tend to go...well, towards entropy as you probably know  :  )

To respond appropriately we have to readjust masses of biochemistry all the time as situations change. Having a 'flat' mood all the time would be really boring too! So a changeable mood in itself can be a healthy responsive state and doesn't need 'fixing'.

Problems come with inappropriate mood changes (eg when we seem to feel miserable or hyper for no apparent reason). Of course there IS a reason, and it can be quite a journey to figure that out.
What we hope to do here is cut the time of that journey down by sharing research information, the tutorials are our main area for that and should be helpful with a lot of the issues you raise here. Specifically it may help to get to know more about anxiety control, emotional control, and the difference between emotion and sentiment.

Motivation problems happen when what we are doing doesn't make sense to unconscious or conscious awareness. Learning about reality is a great idea, and there is no reason why these studies should lower motivation. But motivation also drops if we forget to take care of the body/brain and provide what they need. Usually this is sleep, food, exercise, relaxation sort of stuff. Interrupted or unnatural sleep (for example using alarm clocks or sleeping tablets) for example is a classic cause of transmission/hormonal/mood problems and higher anxiety; so is a processed food diet.
There are way too many possibilities to list here however which is why we gotta get to 'know ourselves' and understand what's going on in our own minds. Hopefully this site can help us do that.
If you stick with NH, there will come a time when your moods will be directed by you, rather than by external events. That makes a lot of difference in life, so stick with it  :  )
Best,
AR

PS (re other site post):
For your doctor not to tell you what is wrong is illegal. Change your doctor.
It is possible these days to stay at home and learn everything we want to -via the internet. (I didn't understand this bit)?
MB personality 'types' (or any other theory of 'personality traits') don't work. People are not constantly one type and don't constantly display one 'trait'. We even know this from experience -we are all extroverted sometimes and introverted sometimes, we all go through 'wimpy' and domineering times, times of high or low confidence. We are a dynamic system, constantly changing (and if we're not, something is wrong). Excerpt from Tutorial 4:

“The notion of personality is another area where we have been forced to abandon old hypotheses for new. It used to be believed that personality was genetically determined and due to people having innate “traits”, such as honesty or dishonesty, extroversion or introversion, happiness or sadness. This gave credence to two contradictory ideas. One was the idea of 'deterministic blamelessness', where none of us is to blame for bad behavior, since it's “in our nature” to act out what our genes have determined we must be like (in other words there is no free will). Yet the other attributed blame for everything to individuals' “traits” rather than responses to different circumstances made from different experience (this is now called the 'fundamental attribution error'. Academics are in the habit of bestowing complex names on things; even upon their own mistakes).
The current model of personality is very different. Personality is now known to be dynamic, not fixed, Nurture and examples from others play a big part in its development, as can trauma, malnourishment or neglect. And because our response to input remains adaptive for our whole lives; it is never too late to change.”

Hi dude,
...I'm wondering where everyone else went, maybe the weather has them all out having a good time  :  )


cosmicpinkelephant Wrote:
I particularly like the ideas of David Deutsch

Deutsch is a great thinker; I'm halfway through 'The Beginning of Infinity', it's information density is high and the alternation of ideas rapid, but I love the 'all points covered' kinda route he takes through cognitive conceptualization. His mind moves like a bee visiting every flower in the garden  :  )


Re: The problem is that I've read a lot of different stuff from different places. Some say there is an objective reality and science brings us closer to understanding it, some say there is an objective reality but science is not the best way to get there and there are others who say there is no objective reality.

...some say the moon is made of cheese...  This is a very common problem these days exacerbated by the growth of 'news' media: there are billions of 'facts' on the internet and most of them are simply not true. Some are not true and lead to harmless mistakes; some are not true and lead to dangerous errors. Some are blatantly rubbish  :  )

Of course we can wade through it all and be discriminating; apply the scientific method, look for proof, actual experiments, data, but often sources are not given or relate only to a book/course/DVD the author is trying to sell, or you get halfway through and then read 'God did it', and the whole thing reveals it is funded by the Church of the Fourth Dimension in Somewhere Obscure, etc, etc. But that takes a lot of time and effort, much of which is wasted reading nonsense.

One of the reasons for this site is to cut search time down by only including publications with evidence for facts or proof for stated concepts (eg, facts not opinions) and excluding anyone trying to sell anything/ being funded by anyone likely to be biased. There's more info about this in 'newbies'.

The objective/subjective argument is often made about the mind. However, in science we are fully allowed to say, 'We don't know everything about this yet', but still play with things and make progress in understanding them. We can (indeed we have to) get comfortable with not knowing things. Because the experiences that give our lives quality and meaning are interaction; fun and learning, it doesn't matter whether reality is viewed as 'objective' or as a subjective experience we are having; it's still interesting enough to want to learn about and play with, and the more we learn about it and play with it the more likely we are to come to correct conclusions as regards its nature. Regardless of what it is, we can observe processes going on within it in all sortsa different ways. We can observe properties and natural laws within the construct 'reality', and measure them. A good practical test for reality is: does it still exist if we stop believing in it? The experiential argument for gravity, for example, is pretty convincing  :  )


Re: school gets in the way of my learning because although the stuff I'm learning right now is kind of interesting, it's not what I'd give the highest priority to and having to juggle school and my own interests gets tiring and both get affected in a bad way.

College/University is not compulsory; it's a choice. If we find we learn better in a university context (and this can be the case in 'hands on' skills where we need access to laboratory equipment, materials, tech etc), then it's a good choice as long as the disadvantages don't outweigh the advantages. But learning some stuff at home can be just as or more effective, and prioritizing what we are most interested in is important. A lot of our choice of where to learn hangs on our reasons for wanting to learn. If we want to simply find out about things and find out how to do things, University courses on the internet are usually the least time and resource-consuming options. There are loads these days on almost every subject -also a lot of excellent video tutorials. The ideal context in which to learn is where we feel we respect and pay most attention to the source of information and feel comfortable playing with it.


Re: Also, I'm taking aripiprazole right now and was wondering if there are any side effects to taking them.

http://www.drugs.com/sfx/aripiprazole-side-effects.html
(scroll down past 'for the consumer', until you get to 'For Healthcare Professionals'.)
N-Acetyl Cysteine is a very good alternative drug with similar benefits and a lot fewer side effects (in fact its neuroprotective):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetylcysteine

Best,
AR

Hi dude,
Concern about the veracity of objective reality is not something I've experienced, but I do get obsessed with finding out the truth in particular subjects and issues. I always looked on it as inspiration to solve puzzles.

Re:I'm pretty convinced right now that all of our goals have something to do with self-preservation and that self-preservation is built into all living things.

...Research would seem to imply that our goals are about preservation of intelligence. Usually that's our own intelligence, however in some circumstances we value saving another intelligence with great potential instead of our own (for example sometimes we risk our lives to save a child or someone we value highly).

Re:Today I was looking into the theory of positive disintegration, the idea that anxiety and tension are necessary for growth. Is that...true?

...This depends on what the author means by these words. A lot of people say 'stress' when they mean anxiety, and vice versa. It IS essential to have stress for growth & development, however there is now plenty of proof that anxiety always halts development and prevents growth (you can look into this in detail in tutorials). Again, 'tension' could mean 'stress', so it's difficult to know what the author means.
If you have read the first few tutorials you will know the difference between stress and anxiety is the same difference between stretching and straining a muscle. Stress (stretching) is essential, otherwise we atrophy. But strain always causes damage from which we then have to recover.
Best,
AR

Hi dude,
cosmicpinkelephant Wrote:
Just did my functional analysis yesterday and it seems that all my networks have worsened compared to the last time. Actually, not really because I wasn't being completely honest with myself last time and portrayed a me that I wanted to be rather than who I actually am.


...A lot of students do this!  It makes us more aware of how much we are concerned about 'what others will think', because even though we KNOW consciously that nobody else is going to see our results except ourselves, we find ourselves tempted to answer the questions in a way that 'gives a good impression'  :  )

This is all part of getting to 'know yourself'. When we get past the pretense and put in genuine data, we get lots more useful information about how to improve our progress. I think it takes a while to realize that the truth about our current state is such a valuable resource for us to engineering our future state.

Bear in mind we will, however, get different results for every Functional Analysis because all an FA  is doing is taking a 'snapshot' of our brains/minds at one given instant in time. Because we are dynamic, constantly-changing systems, FAs go out of date, plus one done in a great mood will differ from one done when feeling glum, one done under the influence of alcohol will differ from one done when sober. So I think we need a few FAs over time to get a clear idea of where our brain's 'usually at' plus the sort of variation we can expect to see. I do one every 6 months or so and save the results in a folder (so I can look back and see changes accumulating).

There is an intermediate level FA later in the Tutorials, that can fill in more details.
Best,
AR
PS love the nickname  :  )

Hi dude,

"Metaphors we live by" is by Lakoff AND Johnson, and Johnson appears to have a better grasp on the process than Lakoff -definitely recommend:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaMeGdrKnEE

Also most useful: from the Grandmaster of linguistics & cognition: Hofstadter:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8m7lFQ3njk
(gets going around 15:00)
Analogy as the core of cognition
And:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr3QDMkMGmQ
Hofstadter again; the nature of categories & concepts
Both of these are great for explaining the role of analogical thinking, the continuum of concepts and how context assists meaning.
Best,
AR

Hi dudes,

cosmicpinkelephant Wrote:
what creative options (in terms of work) are there for people who don't finish university.

Creativity isn't about 'work', it's about play, and creative options have nothing to do with university (unless you have a creative urge to design universities). So your question is really, 'what creative options are there for human beings?'

This depends on lots of things; among them how much we develop the networks and abilities which creativity needs in order to function, how much control we have over distraction, how well we know ourself and our interests, access to the technology or tools we choose as our creative media, how anxious we are, neurotransmitter levels, and many more.

If you require tech you can't get hold of in any other way, university can be a great option for accessing them. However, it's usually possible to get hold of most tools for creativity online unless your requirements are very unusual (for example, you want to make sculptures out of old skyscrapers).

Thanks to the internet, it's no longer necessary to go anywhere in order to learn, but practical experience is half of learning and sometimes this can only be acquired in context of (for example) a lab or an engineering workshop. This is a very good reason to attend university.

Here's a list of people who never went to Uni:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_autodidacts
You'll find Leonardo DaVinci, Michael Faraday, James Watt, the Wright brothers, Edison, Ben Franklin, Buckminster Fuller, van Leeuwenhoek, and Alfred Russell Wallace among them. No  problems with creative options there, obviously  :  )


Re: I'm in university right now but I feel like quitting.

It's a good idea to ask yourself why you went there in the first place. Was it a burning desire to learn, or were you doing it because somebody else told you it was a good idea or gave you the impression they would be displeased if you didn't go? Did you jump or were you pushed? -In other words was it free will or were you coerced?
Has University failed to live up to your expectations? Were the expectations naiive or mistaken? Is the place poor quality and could you maybe get better results in a different one?
If you left, what would you do instead? Are those activities more worthwhile in terms of your own development and quality of life?
Alternatively, have you just gotten to that 'practice' stage of learning when it's difficult to maintain 'staying power' after the first flush of interest in the 'new' subsides and we find ourselves with a pile of stuff we've agreed to do but don't feel like doing? Practice is an important part of learning, but not always a very exciting part. Employ techniques to increase tenacity and remember, this stage will pass. It can help to remind ourselves why we want to do what we want to do.


Re: I suffer from something called ambivalence which is basically that I cannot make up my mind about stuff.

Problems making decisions can arise due to all sorts of things; among them anxiety, distraction, confusion, insufficient data, poor network density, burnout, poor food or sleep, illness or fatigue (and there are many more). To get to the bottom of the problem it can be useful to take a step back and look at the facts objectively (for example, try an interactional analysis with 'Alice & Bob'). You can get at the facts this way -what, for example, are the pros and cons of going to/not going to university? -and then take into deliberate consideration your emotions about each possibility. It's then possible to make a sensible decision based on facts, including the fact that we will feel crap if we do X or good if we do Y.

For example, this morning 'Alice' has received a royalty check. If she puts it into the bank today it will clear in time for Solstice, but the bank is several miles away, there is no transport and the weather is shite. Alice works through the pros & cons of going/not going and reaches the conclusion that putting up with the shitty weather is worth the extra Solstice funds, plus the walk provides healthy exercise and low stressors, plus she can get some beer on the way home  :  )


Re: right now, there's nothing I want to do.

There are lots of reasons we might feel this way for a short time, and it only becomes a problem if we get stuck in that space. The best defense for short-term lack of motivation is to eat and sleep well and do the things that have to be done regardless of other decisions (such as cleaning up, answering mails and having relaxing hot baths).
Variety can be an issue; if we're doing the same old things all the time, it's time to introduce something new.

If the problem persists, the neurotransmitter dopamine is possibly low, so you could look into why that may have happened and try to improve motivation with inspiring input.


Re: What hacks and exercises can I start with immediately to stop this nonsense?

Think about what you really love doing. Do some of it. Something as simple as a good meal, a quick wank, or an inspiring movie can increase dopamine levels right away.

Check out tutorials and 'drugs & chemicals intro part 1' in the NHA library here:
http://neurohackers.com/index.php/en/me … -chemicals
for ways to increase dopamine.

Also, employ some techniques for anxiety reduction in order to think more clearly about what you really want to do and why. That's an important bit of data to remind ourselves with if tenacity wavers.
Hope some of this helps!
Best,
AR

Hi dude,
Doing things in order to pacify others' anxieties is never the best reason, but usually there are multiple reasons for most things. Obviously you weren't strongly opposed to university either, so the real 'reason' you are there is not just that one reason. You've noticed one benefit (and it's a good one), there are almost certainly others (for example, what would you be doing instead if you had chosen not to go? How many of those options would be more crappy than what you're doing now? Would any of those options be better?)

There are also many practical benefits to university you may not have thought of due to taking them for granted (for example, it's warm and dry and has toilets, there's a chance of meeting other allies, and almost certainly free access to computers & the net, not to mention free paper, pens, and the possibility of a bar.)

You have time now to sit back and get a broader perspective and consider your strategy for the next bit. If you decide to stick with it, take steps to improve your resilience to stressors so that you don't get into the same poorly-motivated space again.

Different belief systems and opinions arise from different systems in different contexts, so while you can categorize the systems (eg anatomical, physiological, biochemical, psychological etc) every one of them will be different in every person. When each system can develop in multiple ways depending on contextual data, plus go wrong in multiple ways, that's a fierce amount of dynamic variables; way more complex than the three-body problem.

We can 'modify our perception of the world consciously' by drinking beer * :  )  so I'm guessing you mean in more specific ways. I think you will enjoy T12 and playing with 'framing' contexts.

I also think you'll enjoy this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-Gk_Ddhr0M

it's one of the most beautiful things I've seen. This dude has chosen a rather interesting way to live (see end of video).
Best,
AR

*and again the next morning by taking painkillers