Post: #1

I recently attended a continuing education about Positive Thinking.

The speaker described that formulating a list of things you were thankful for was actually an experimentally validated treatment for depression.

It made me think, as I drove along a highway, I looked around at all the signs, the concrete, all the work people had done in planning building and keeping this amazing thing working, something that I took for granted.

Since Manosphere writing seems to have a lot of content about pointing out the negative such as what women, or poorly socialized immigrants, or liberals do, I thought it useful to bring up how positive thinking is important and may be left behind if one focuses too much on finding the "bad guys" and "putting things right".

Just this week I had a pretty bad sore throat and went to a clinic in the Philippines where I saw a female Filipina doctor in her 50s . She was quite thorough, reminded me my blood pressure was too high and prescribed two antibiotics.

I thought about the years of experience she had--probably seeing thousands of patients and gaining the experience needed to know which particular anti-biotic would help with my throat.

I researched the antibiotic and its mechanism of action and thought about the researchers who sat in labs and figured out the optimal formulation. Years of studying science and analyzing things.

Then I saw this article about a Chinese immigrant (presumably legal, he has citizenship now) who made a painting with all of the 343 NYFD guys/gals ( I dont' know if there were any women) who died in the Twin Towers attack.

These were guys who ran INTO a burning building trying to help people get out. If you're not thankful for THAT, I don't know what would make you appreciative.

The painter said he did the painting to show his appreciation to America and and stated he never wants to leave.

That all sort of brought it together and now I wrote this essay to pass it on.

Post: #2

Appreciation works but isn't my cup of tea. I work from the reverse direction. I take it from a moral perspective. How does my negativity affect others?

Post: #3

(09-14-2015 09:43 PM)PolymathGuru Wrote:  Appreciation works but isn't my cup of tea. I work from the reverse direction. I take it from a moral perspective. How does my negativity affect others?

This is interesting. It reminds me of the Christian saying "Remove the plank from your own eye before you worry about the splinter in mine."

I have been forced to examine my own negativity in the Philippines because I have lost several hot pieces due to my own overly demanding style. I was, relative to this cultures norms, overly demanding and rude.

Post: #4

(09-14-2015 09:51 PM)iknowexactly Wrote:  

(09-14-2015 09:43 PM)PolymathGuru Wrote:  Appreciation works but isn't my cup of tea. I work from the reverse direction. I take it from a moral perspective. How does my negativity affect others?

This is interesting. It reminds me of the Christian saying "Remove the plank from your own eye before you worry about the splinter in mine."

I have been forced to examine my own negativity in the Philippines because I have lost several hot pieces due to my own overly demanding style. I was, relative to this cultures norms, overly demanding and rude.

Don't feel about it. Having moments of kindness and assertiveness serve different purposes. Finding out how to have both is the best combination in the world. Kindness allows one to find peace within the world. Assertiveness allows for the defense against the evils in the world. From my own experience, it is certainly better to be assertive than to be kind. I live my own life to be to kind and lose far more from it. I have had more assertive stances in life and were far prouder of myself for acting on it. I also achieved more in life when I expressed a more assertive persona.

People may not always like you when you're assertive, but they will respect. The opposite is also true, People may like a kind person, but they don't actually respect them.

Post: #5

From a EP perspective being an asshole won't get you very far. This is why outside the Anglosphere being a confident nice guy is ideal game. No one likes a pushover ,but to demand respect you must show it.


Here's a good video on the matter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr6lsTgZKAQ

Post: #6

Get the Edge from Tony Robbins was integral in changing my life when I stumbled across it on Limewire all those years ago. Gratitude was one of the central themes. The human mind, body, and determination (spirit?), and the world they've created are pretty amazing when you stop and think about it. Creating time to do this every day cannot be oversold.

Post: #7

A good balance to strike is the 60/40 assertive/nice.

60% assertiveness means you'll be a dick and people will stand out of your way. The 40% hooks them long enough to think you soft underbelly that needs nurturing.

Basic game push pull. 100% assertiveness means you'll have people knocking the chip off your shoulder. 100% niceness means you're getting taken advantage of.

Post: #8

(09-15-2015 07:34 PM)Nowak Wrote:  From a EP perspective being an asshole won't get you very far. This is why outside the Anglosphere being a confident nice guy is ideal game. No one likes a pushover ,but to demand respect you must show it.

I know that Roosh has written that our foreign game should not be the "clown" type, but I don't think he fully explained why, only that foreign women want confident/nice guy (i.e. a normal mature man).

The difference between the two types of game seems extreme.

What exactly has made American chicks want jerk/clowns instead of confident/nice? Is jerk/clown what women want when there is no other restraints on their choice, or is it rather something artificial pushed by the media?

Post: #9

Ja. Most processes, and especially biological and psychological ones, are not linear. They are more or less cyclical. Or at least they have feedback loops. This is where a lot of people get it wrong. They think that since mood is largely determined by brain chemistry, that that chemistry is a persons emotional destiny. But that very brain chemistry is also in turn affected by emotions. So changing them to change the biochemistry is a valid technique. There is nothing "airy fairy" or mystical about it. It's just as logical to say "positive thinking" will improve your mood as it is to say prozac will.

I never really used to have this outlook, If anything I used to think most processes were almost entirely linear. But over the years ordinary experience and observation has got me to almost the opposite end. It's easy to see how other people determine their own emotional and physical lives every step of the way. How sometimes they are in a destructive spiral and sometimes in an uplifting one. And how this is in large part, hell, actually entirely due to their own actions and outlook. Seeing this in oneself is a different matter. Actually honestly assessing oneself and really fully taking responsibility for your emotions and circumstances is pretty much near the pinnacle of human development. You now, the bit about "know thyself". Reached so infrequently you may as well say it never is.

Anyway, coming back to the OP's point: We all stand on the shoulders of giants. There's actually a good TED talk (I think by Mat Ridley) about how no single person in the world actually knows how to make... pretty much anything at all. The example he used was a computer mouse. There's a whole host of knowledge required and legions of people needed to construct even the simplest modern object. So we can all be thankful to the creative and productive people and forces in the world who make modernity and this life of ours possible.

Post: #10

(09-16-2015 01:25 PM)Bad Hussar Wrote:  There's actually a good TED talk (I think by Mat Ridley) about how no single person in the world actually knows how to make... pretty much anything at all. The example he used was a computer mouse. There's a whole host of knowledge required and legions of people needed to construct even the simplest modern object.

The original essay, as far as I know, was about a pencil. The PC was but a glimmer in Steve Job's eye - http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/rdPncl1.html

Quote:And I can teach this lesson better than can an automobile or an airplane or a mechanical dishwasher because—well, because I am seemingly so simple.

Simple? Yet, not a single person on the face of this earth knows how to make me.

(09-16-2015 01:25 PM)Bad Hussar Wrote:  So we can all be thankful to the creative and productive people and forces in the world who make modernity and this life of ours possible.

Amen. We all wax nostalgic once in a while but forget that the reason modern life is the way it is, is because thousands of generations have sweated and bled to make maximize their descendant's gratification while minimizing the effort necessary to achieve it. All the more reason to reflect on our instant gratifications with gratitude once in a while.