Notices by 🇳🇴 Thor — backup account (thorthenorseman@octodon.social), page 105

@visitorlizard I never said he did.

@visitorlizard Ouch, I can see why having such a rumor circling about our person isn't a good start for a relationship with Mastodon...

However, this doesn't excuse toxic behaviour. If Hitler's ghost joins Mastodon, being the bigger person is the best reaction. If Hitler gets toxic, throw him off his instance. If he's wrong, contradict him. Never get toxic, because then you are no better than Hitler.

@visitorlizard Okay, so far, so good... But can it be seen anywhere? After all, as far as I know, this is just a rumor.

Where's the thread that explains Mastodon's sudden beef with Wil Wheaton? What happened?

I don't feel that my memory is sufficiently anchored in time. I rarely remember when things happened or in which order they took place. I must often dig out old papers in order to remember what year a certain event took place in.

I wonder if there are effective tools for anchoring your memory in time...

A calendar with a date magnet that you move every morning? A clock on the wall? How do you develop a better memory for dates?

@mrjunge This only holds true if Freudian psychotherapy was never actively harmful, and it definitely was in some cases.

@mrjunge I think assigning value is what produces affect in the first place. Have you ever noticed how quickly anger can vaporise once you realise it was based on a misunderstanding? Interpretations of events are crucial to what you feel about them. Glyphs don't make you feel, yet reading a text can make you angry. It's all about interpretation. At some point during the process, an interpretation is mapped onto a natural desire or fear, and that prompts a feeling.

@mrjunge The author uses Freudian psychoanalysis as an example of the kind of thing that is more of a story than a deeper truth. He tries to dispel with what he perceives as the myth of the depths of the mind, both consciously and subconsciously.

Of course, the folly of Freudian psychotherapy is not surprising to anyone in 2018, but he uses Freud as an example of the sort of storytelling we often do in order to make sense of things.

@mrjunge Oh, I'm not saying that wants don't represent useful data. They are essentially heuristics. You have gathered enough data about your urges to describe a trend, and have conceived of a goal that much be reached in order to satisfy this trend.

Recurring urges do say something about you or the situation you are in, but they may not exist for a sensible reason, much like a distaste for celery doesn't have a sensible reason.

If you pay attention to what your mind is doing when you're asked to account for something, and you're honest with yourself, you'll discover that you're often just surmising things. "I must've done it because..." in your head is effortlessly translated into "I did it because..." coming out of your mouth. Introspection is just recollections about yourself paired with reasoning.

Now, isn't that a load off your shoulders?

And further, there is no deeper want. There is just a series of urges. Any attempt at figuring out "what I truly want" is just you making up a story about yourself based on past events and current feelings.

I feel this is most obvious when people point out the inconsistencies in your introspection. It's also obvious when you ask children why they do things, and they flatly tell you that they don't know. We only start telling stories once we begin to be held accountable for our actions.

This book (The Mind is Flat by Nick Chater) sheds light on a personal mystery: What is the difference between a want and an urge? In my mind, there is no clear distinction, so I've had to make one up: A want is a decision that you make in order to deal with a recurrent urge. You often feel the urge to move quickly and effortlessly, so you want to buy a car. You often feel the urge for intimacy, so you want to find a partner.

What The Mind is Flat by Nick Chater is right about is that, when we do have a physical reaction, we are prone to interpreting it in light of the situation. If you are in the dark and your adrenaline peaks, you're likely to interpret it as a fear of the dark, and if, like me, you're a diabetic and hypoglycaemia sneaks up on you and raises your adrenaline while you're thinking about serious matters, the adrenaline is likely to make you feel upset about what you're thinking about.

What The Mind is Flat by Nick Chater is right about is that, when we do have a physical reaction, we are prone to interpreting it in light of the situation. If you are in the dark and your adrenaline peaks, you're likely to interpret it as a fear of the dark, and if, like me, you're a diabetic and hypoglycaemia sneaks up on you and raises your adrenaline while you're thinking about serious matters, the adrenaline is likely to feel upset about what you're thinking about. (True story!)

I'm reading The Mind is Flat by Nick Chater. The premise of the book is that the subconscious doesn't exist; humans just like to invent stories about themselves. While I mostly agree with this, I'm not convinced by his claim that emotions are merely interpretations of physical sensations. If, as Chater claims, only level of arousal and like/dislike are real, seeing your partner flirt with someone else wouldn't make you upset in the first place. There is a jealousy program in there somewhere.

I'm reading The Mind is Flat by Nick Chater. The premise of the book is that the subconscious doesn't exist; humans just like to invent stories about themselves. While I mostly agree with this, I'm not convinced by his claim that emotions are merely interpretations of physical sensations. If, as Chater claims, only level of arousal and like/dislike is real, seeing your partner flirt with someone else wouldn't make you upset in the first place. There is a jealousy program in there somewhere.

lol...

lol...

Talking about your brain is a bit odd, because it's the brain talking about itself.

@Combaticus Somewhat in need of coffee, but not horrible. It's actually worse if it's slightly less or more than that. Intervals of roughly 4 hours seem to work for me, but I do need a 4-hour afternoon nap to top that up with.