from monism to suffering

[Paul Werbos]

On Wed, May 9, 2018 at 2:07 PM, rmclugstonjr <rmclug...@gmail.com> wrote:

Don't know how you mostly guys keep doing all this, yet is very interesting. So for me the central question is why there is so much suffering in all this evolution and unfolding wherever your particular attachments are. And then in particular what are you doing with all this physics Vedic stuff to change policies and practices.

Also it would be good to know if you have landed anywhere useful in all these theoretical and personal debates.

================================= 

Thank you for your effort to bring this discussion back to some degree of reality here. But each of your last three sentences ask about something big and complex, so I can't pretend to offer a complete answer this morning.

At the end of the day, many of us are more interested in REDUCING suffering in a positive, natural way; understanding where it comes from is useful just as a way to help reduce it. But in our efforts to reduce it, we need to be realistic about what is possible, and many of us believe that reducing suffering itself is just a subordinate goal itself. 

Some identify suffering with pain. Some try to stop pain by using drugs or electrical stimulation to just short circuit the brain's natural circuits. That is a major part of why we have an opiates crisis in the US. Some of the most idealistic words expressed on this list also remind me of opiates, intended to generate an empty smile of content-free bliss. It is more natural NOT to short-circuit the primary reinforcement centers of the mind, but to try to reduce actual suffering underlying it. 

In my view, all finite levels of consciousness (from worms to noospheres) are continuously striving, continuously driven by their utility functions or "telos" to try to make things better yet. In that sense, they are always suffering, always hoping for something better. From an abstract viewpoint, that may make the striving seem futile, as it can never end in a cessation of striving (short of death, which we do not naturally seek). However, as we ourselves are finite minds, it is only natural that we keep striving as best we can to make things better. 

So what do WE do with policies and practices?

Concretely, it is clear that various levels of sheer insanity are a major threat to the continued existence of the human species, and it is also clear that sane humans would want to prevent the termination of the human species. 

This is a big topic, so maybe it is time for me to move on and just refer to two sites which go further into those kinds of details:

www.werbos.com/NATO_terrorism.pdf

www.werbos.com

All for now.

Best of luck,

   Paul 

[rmclugstonjr]

Thank you, Paul. Your reflections on all this stuff is actually helpful, yet how do you keep it up? And the question of suffering and what we would find out about it through all our reflections is important. Maybe more a heart thing. Advocating effectively for the right policies and practices is the healing edge that us intellectuals must way in on. Best, Rick 

Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device

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