MrFunkEdude

Gee what a COINCIDENCE that they release this right after people dropped their subscriptions. That’s not manipulative at all! 🙄

For the last year and a half. I started with Transcendental meditation. Then Vipasana in January and right not I’m learning Zen from “The Way” meditation app by Zen master and poet Henry Shukman. It’s actually very good and instructional. He’s created a series of paths that teach you step by step not only how to meditate but also how to expand awareness.

The first 12 are free and then there’s a monthly subscription. If you don’t have the money you can tell them and they will offer a much lower yearly discount or give it to you for free.

I highly recommend it.

You can only do what you can when you can. When it’s time too vote, vote. When it’s time to help your community, help them. When it’s time to lend your voice to the cause, then do so.

But most importantly, stay safe. Protect your loved ones. Do what’s needed to keep them safe even if it means finding safety elsewhere. People have survived this kinds of political authoritarianism before. People have survived fascist regimes before. You can too.

Thanks for the reply.

“inherently probabilistic and can’t be determined” is just another way of saying “random” or “we don’t know yet”.

If reality was not deterministic, the reliability of models and predictions in physics would be upended.

In a deterministic reality, where all things are due and subject to causation, there can be no free will. If we did not live in a causal reality, we’d never be able to make accurate predictions or models.

“Randomness” is not free will either. If you’re not in complete control of your influences, then you can not be said to have free will. Randomness does nothing to help the argument for free will.

With that said. Regardless of the existence of free will, what does exists is your awareness of what it’s like to be you. To be in the circumstances that currently govern your life. And in that awareness exists the boundless capacity for compassion. Once you understand that no one is in control of their lives, that all things are causal, it allows you to be less judgmental.

"If a man is crossing a river and an empty boat collides with his own skiff, he will not become angry. He will simply guide his boat around it.

But if he sees a person in the boat, he will shout at the other to steer clear. If the shout is not heard, and the boats collide, he will curse the other person.

Yet, if the boat were empty, he would not be angry."

— Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi)

I wrote a simple explanation of determinism in a blog post earlier this year (there’s an audio version available as well.) https://mrfunkedude.wordpress.com/2024/12/03/following-the-strings/

The fact that people in this thread are bitching at each other and calling each other names over how they approach meditation is sad. Over the last year I have practiced Transcendental Meditation, Samitha, Vipassina, and I am now working on Zazen. I practice for two hours each day. Once in the morning and once in the late afternoon.

From all of them the one thing I have taken away is an increase in empathy and compassion. By calming the mind and noticing the impermanence of thought and coming to the realization that the majority of people suffer from their thoughts which they have little control over, I was able to extend compassion and widen my capacity for empathy. So I don’t understand the vitriol being tossed around by those professing to know what meditation “really is”.

If someone is saying that they meditate and it’s as good as drugs for them, then who am I to judge? If someone says that they meditate and it’s not as good as drugs, who am I to judge? If someone says that they meditate and that it doesn’t increase their capacity for empathy and compassion, again, who am I to judge?

There is a Zen saying… "Practice like a blind person in a dark room.” I encourage everyone to meditate on this informal Koan.

I don’t even care anymore.

I love GTAV and play Online almost everyday. But this bullshit about delays and more delays every year is just annoying as hell. How many years have they had to get this right?

I’m reminded of the quote “Don’t let perfect get in the way of good.” and I’m beginning to wonder if that’s what’s going on here? Are they delaying a good game because it’s not “perfect” or are they just so incompetent that they have to keep going back to “fix” things???

And watch, when it does come out it’ll be buggy as hell. Everyone will be asking “You’ve had all of this time. Why are there so many bugs?” and Rockstar will just shrug their shoulders all of the way to the bank.

I’ve been using Mint for a year now and I just got a second laptop and the first thing I did was Wipe Windows 11 off of it and install Mint.

It does everything I need it too.

People still use Email???

What him?

Again?

Was the $100 price ever confirmed? I thought it was just rumored?

I’m not trying to “Pooh pooh” anything, but I do wonder if the old way of doing things is really effective in today’s political arena?

Politicians these days only seem to care about re-election and since people now vote party over individual, I’m having a hard time seeing the effectiveness of such demonstrations. Other then letting like minded people know that other like minded people exist. Something that I think social media has been doing for a long time. But I don’t think politicians really fear this kind of thing anymore. I think they know that people are entrenched in their parties and once it comes down to filling out the ballot, they wont care who the person is as much as they do that they are voting for “their side”.

But maybe I’m wrong, which is why I’m participating today regardless of my ignorance.

And I’m not saying “don’t bother”. Try everything you can. I’m just saying that maybe it’s time we figure out new ways to do things?

Wait. YOU can’t ?

Thanks. Feel free to share them with your friends.

Here’s a playlist. There used to be more but when I moved instances I had to run them back for storage space. https://davbot.media/w/p/uyr57kXBK9WQBZYdoVYHJ4

I have hundreds of short form videos which are designed to uplift, encourage, and speak positively about mental health issues. I’ve had lots of people tell me that my videos in some small way encourage them to take the next step in their mental health.

In other words, it’s not the form of the video that matters, it’s the content.

As for the cost of the server, I think the videos will expire after a certain amount of time. Something like Snapchat.

The great thing about the Fediverse is that it offers options. Is this going to be exactly like TikTok? Of course not. Will it serve a purpose for some? Time will tell.

I don’t think it’s gonna be here in a week. They are still accepting people for the beta.

I’m kind of glad that it wasn’t a continuation. His story seemed just so complete to me. Anything else would’ve just kind of, diluted it.

The Fedi is what you make of it. Since there’s no algorithm telling you who to follow or pushing posts to your feed, it’s up to you to curate who you follow.

My feed is a mixture of shit posts, memes, cats and dogs, flowers, a little politics and a little tech. Chaos is why I’m here and who I follow reflects that. If your feed is full of info you don’t care about, then you’re following the wrong people.