How are more people not freaked out by the fact everything is made of atoms?
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Just because who things are fundamentally similar doesn't mean they're identical in form, function, and composition. A forrest, tree, and person are obviously different. The idea that everything is the same because it's atoms is nonsense though I agree that loss of magical feeling can be pretty sad. There have been many moments in my life where I learn or realize something that I didn't want to, like that Santa Claus is a trick played by parents. When it comes to love and things like that, the fact that it's governed by chemicals instead of magic doesn't change the reality much. The universe is still full of mysteries, rather it takes more intelligence and curiosity to find them. If things being atoms is really affecting your emotional life it's hard to characterize this as anything other than a malfunctioning philosophical rumination, and the depersonalization community is chock full of them. Many depersonalization sufferers say this is the worst part, especially when it becomes obsessional. Try to break out of it.
I like that question. Actually in my job I have always worked with materials and things at the atomic scale. This thing isn't bothering me much, but I have been thinking about it too. I don't have answers but I have questions one can ask themselves: is the meaning of something related to what it is made of? Is there anything something could be made of that would make it have more meaning? If a car and a person where made of different subatomic particles, would it make a difference in how we relate to them?
Perhaps this belongs to the philosophical approach of reductionism. I find it interesting because it mimics what I have done with my mind at times because of DPDR. Everything feels shaky and unstable and perhaps I really want to find some reference point, where I can say "ok, now I know the answer, now things can be stable again". And looking at the details of our minds in order to figure our mind out is something really many people with DPDR do apparently. But I don't think there is any end to that, it's only a nightmarish mental trap. We are attracted to these questions like butterflies are attracted to a candle at night. I don't know, perhaps they think that if it is all dark and there is some light somewhere it means they are trapped in a cave and this is the exit. But it's not an exit, its something that hurts you and leads nowhere.
Fundamentally I don't think there is anything wrong with our minds or the material world, but in DPDR it's perhaps like we become wrong about the (ontological?) nature of both, and we feel they are similar and we should be able to merge them in some kind of unifying theory, and we see it is impossible and we freak out about the world not making any sense. I certainly did do that. But I think the world is really fine as it is and so is our mind and they both make sense each on their own even if we don't see it. The discomfort that we feel is real though, but I don't think it comes from the nature of existence, it comes from our DPDR, which is a mostly temporary disorder/condition/thing, and most of the time caused by stress or trauma. And when it is solved suddenly people stop having problems with existential questions.
But anyway, for some people, knowing that light is just photons can ruin the experience of a sunset. But for me it's just because they find photons boring and if they think about photons while watching a sunset they will be bored. So it is pretty normal. For some other people photons are awesome things and they won't have the same feeling. So it's just a matter of taste. But an obsessionally reductionist approach could make us think that in order to be in accordance with the world we should always have in mind the "true" nature of what we see, because we want to see reality as it is. But we are not gods and we are not made to hold every information about the universe all at once in our minds at all times. We just are mindful of different stuff, sequencially, at different scales depending on the circumstances. In the middle ages, people didn't know what matter was made of and they could still appreciate the world for what it was and without having DPDR. And painters appreciate their own painting all the same even if they know the painting is made of pigments they have mixed together themselves. It wouldn't make any sense to go to a museum, look at a painting of a landscape and try to erase the landscape information from our minds so as to not be victim of that illusion and try to see only pigments mixed together. We would be right about the nature of the painting if we did, but why should we do that? We could think about the atoms of the paint too. Or about the quarks making the atoms. But technically that might lead us nowhere except simply being lost in our thoughts, thinking about things we find boring, while being in a museum in front of a painting.
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Thats a great answer, thanks! What I find fascinating that DPDR makes these things so terrifying and like there is no escape. How powerful this mechanism can be of obsessive thinking wow.
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"Do we share 75% of our DNA with bananas?"
"We do in fact share about 50% of our genes with plants - including bananas.”
“Bananas have 44.1% of genetic makeup in common with humans.”
"We do in fact share about 50% of our genes with plants - including bananas.”
“Bananas have 44.1% of genetic makeup in common with humans.”
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I believe god is behind it all, a concious creator designed This extremely well tuned universe i mean its just too amazing to be some random bs. There has to be some reason behind our lives and behind our conciousness that is just too amazingly made. Thats one thing i have learned from dpdr. To see it from other perspectives. All religions or spiritual ppl might say it like me or us but They dont experience the overwhelming realization/sensation of being conciouss that me or maybe some of us with dpdr do. Thats something i am very thankfull dpdr gave me.
If God designed Alzheimers he is a piece of shit.
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Why Alzheimers exactly? And it would make less sense if everything was perfect anyway the yun and yang balance is perfect in itself some bad some good is needed to make it perfect and suitable. Suffering is needed. And there should also je a reason behind Alzheimers . When it exists but go ahead and be ignorant if you want to. Not my problem
I should have considered anything that contradicts what you believe is ignorant. "Not my problem" is pretty much a summation of today's conservative beliefs. Everything you've put forth about spirituality is pure speculation and recognizing this is the opposite of ignorance. Even when you talked about your own experience, which you're of course well within your right to do, you speculated that other people aren't on the same level of consciousness as you.
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I guess it is🤦♂️🤷🏻♂️
I edited that comment out because it was so stupid but I'm glad you agree. My new comment is above.
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Yep not my problem. And ofc its speculation towards What seems likely. No all ppl Are on diffrent levels of conciousness. Start thinking positivt my guy
Your medieval truisms aren't positive.
You said, "Why Alzheimers exactly?" Go learn about Alzheimers, how many people it affects, how horrific its progression is, and how senseless a punishment it would be had God created it. If it were intelligently designed by a human we would call it the work of a terrorist or an abuser. My idea of God is much more positive than yours because I don't think reality squares with the fables you believe in, which opens up a universe of infinite possibilities including the baseless idea that God is torturing us to teach us a lesson. It's possible God exists and is doing that, yes. It's also possible that there's multiple Gods and one that has eight arms. Almost any bullshit we imagine about the universe is technically possible, even in the total absence of evidence, because we could be a brain in a jar.
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Y'all Are Bananas
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Thats your perception. 🤷🏻♂️ but it sucks
The conversation is over your head, even if I am being weird. I'm just going to conclude it here. Not everyone is willing or experienced to think about concepts critically. You can keep using belief as a tool to make you feel good without logical justification.
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You must be new here.
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Yes, it helps to just be with the thoughts without running away from that, i noticed. But sometimes I still get hit hard. Same with other existential questions like free will, simulation, mortality, immortality, etc. I have many days without DP but high anxiety triggers it sometimes. What about you? Are you doing well?
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