“Dex turned the mug over and over in their hands. “It doesn’t bother you?” Dex said. “The thought that your life might mean nothing in the end?” “That’s true for all life I’ve observed. Why would it bother me?” Mosscap’s eyes glowed brightly. “Do you not find consciousness alone to be the most exhilarating thing? Here we are, in this incomprehensibly large universe, on this one tiny moon around this one incidental planet, and in all the time this entire scenario has existed, every component has been recycled over and over and over again into infinitely incredible configurations, and sometimes, those configurations are special enough to be able to see the world around them. You and I—we’re just atoms that arranged themselves the right way, and we can understand that about ourselves. Is that not amazing?”

Chambers, Becky. A Psalm for the Wild-Built: 1 (Monk & Robot) (p. 140). Tor Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Disclaimer, we are neoZizekians and desire to be corrected where we are mistaken.

We've been dipping back into #Zizek, which is a divergence at the moment, and critiquing his philosophical theories through the lens of #EvolutionaryPsychology. All our analysis is via EvoPsych and mindfulness.

The trigger question here is what drives us to desire a life of meaning? Or maybe why do we fear living a life that has no meaning? Let's see if I get there.

#TheAct – The pressure of profound personal dilemmas seem to be a catalyst for one to “act,” Zizekianly speaking. The act being an authentic and liberated achievement free of any unconscious, subconscious and conscious drives and limitations. It argues that to be able to “act” is desirable.

Now, ignoring the infinite existential loop/reflection for the moment, in Zizekian terms, it could be argued it isn't the desire to be able to act autonomously that we want, rather what truly drives us is the desire to desire (ala #Lacan). What isn't discussed thus far in what we've read is how we came to be beings who are driven to desire beyond having (“Having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting. It is not logical but often true.” – #Spock, Amok Time, #StarTrek the original series).

From an Evolutionary Psychology POV, desire is secondary to survival and reproducing. But somehow it has also become an end in itself. Somehow we evolved to desire incessantly.

I think it could be argued desire stems more from reproduction (desiring the healthiest and most fertile mates – one imagines at first mating with whatever, but mating with the healthiest and most fertile became naturally selected and with that the ability to discern and desire therein). But for survival, one also must learn to discern foods that enhance survival and flourishing, thus desiring those foods. Power, another secondary drive also uses desire, the desire for it (#Nietzsche), and the desire for the power payoffs that increases ones status which enhances #survival and mating. In fact we believe an argument could easily be made that desire is a secondary retroactive characteristic of almost any drive (will to desire?) But #sex and #love overwhelms us with a #desire that makes us forget everything else, love as an act of violence (Zizek, Badiou?, Spok), such that we become irrational with desire.

Have you ever experienced a desire that overwhelms every aspect of who you are (it doesn't even have to be sexual or because of love)? This is what the gods of #capitalism, and retroactively (Zizek, Lacan?) #evolution and #being have capitalized on. We'd even argue capitalism is, probably innocently, but maybe not, based on this fatal flaw of evolution. Capitalistic #consumerism feeds the desire to desire without any life giving purpose. We become like addicts, and our #addiction, consumerism, will kill us, and maybe the planet (my usual soapbox stuff).

Now what does all this have to do with the lengthy quote from #BeckyChambers's must read for those seeking plots based on #mindfulness and #reflection? As we've preached elsewhere, we can't master these evolutionary drives that have run amok from the top down. Most of us do not have the #willpower. Those that do have the willpower and are still slaves to the hierarchical drive for #power, are often our masters, even in this seemingly world of #democracy and #liberty. Us mortals, we do not have that kind of willpower. But we can master our drives from the bottom-up!

Mindfulness practice allows us to find that space between the drive to impulsively act, react, act out, and actually acting. Mindfulness allows us to truly “act” even without having to wait till life's pressures make it possible (One wonders if the “act” as a result of life pressures then is a true “act” compared to the mindful “act”). Mindfulness is the true power of the final revolution. Not only against those with superhuman will power, but against the gods of evolution as well. Mindfulness is the third pill (Zizek).

MossCap is a sentient robot. MossCap is a being free of everything that #psychology and modern and continental #philosophy strive to cure and resolve. He is not burdened with the evolutionary and social burdens we are. He is desireless and thus, we'd argue, he is a true rebel (Camus) and he is free to “act.” He is example par excellence standing right in front of Dex, the somewhat enlightened and evolved human. Yet Dex cannot stop desiring something. He has an idyllic life as a Tea monk, going from community to community bringing serenity and peace, with the perfect teacher/guru/friend. Yet they (Dex, identifies as nonbinary) are never satisfied. They've gone from one occupation to another, one place to another, always seeking to find what will satisfy their existential desire. Even when Mosscap spells it out (above quote), Dex, because of their human predicament cannot hear or see the answer in front of them.

Now this analysis is not a conclusive theory but it is clear where we must begin, becoming mindful of our evolutionary predicament. We are not to blame. We should not blame ourselves or others. Blaming is not helpful. We cannot just willfully change. It takes a cooperative, compassionate and patient practice. In the book quoted, “A Psalm for the Wild-Bilt,” by Becky Chambers, that is the role of MossCap, the cooperative, compassionate, patient, and sentient robot companion. But if we could just get to where we are not driven by all our human shortcomings and learn how to be happy, or at least OK, in this existential moment, ala MossCap, then we can truly “act” free of our evolutionary, psychological, and sociological chains. We can truly revolutionize what it means to be human (Nietzsche without the human martyrdom).

The desire to desire may never be eradicated, but we believe it can be mastered and redirected towards desiring that which benefits all. In theory.

Ephemeral Gnoselph Prat Discuss...

• #Joy #effortlessness #ValentinTomberg #esotericism #suicide #PTSD #anxiety #depression #DissociativeDisorder #feelings #emotions #InsideOut #Aristotle #moralantirealism #evolution #nonjudgmentalism #sex #ecstasy #genes #EverybodysFree #Rozalla #DavidAnthony
• We finished the last meditation of the first two lines from Tomberg’s “first and fundamental principle of esotericism”:

Learn at first concentration without effort; transform work into play; …– Anonymous (Valentin Tomberg) Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Christian Hermeticism

• talking about that the goal of the experience is to experience “the joy that can arise in the moment that makes all things become effortless.”
• Here we will need to speak a little more about ourselves, set a new signal to identify ourselves, and speak some about feelings and emotions.
• March 17 is a peculiar anniversary for us. It is the first time we have had a suicide attempt and according to those who resuscitated us, we weren’t breathing and had no pulse. We were in our late 20’s then (the late 80’s) and haven’t had such urges for several decades. Our journey from that point was a series of institutions where we believe we eventually received our most accurate diagnosis of complex (childhood) post-traumatic stress disorder, dissociative disorder, and anxiety driven depressive disorder.
• For a long time, we struggled with our identity until we accepted that we were multiple identities and finally found some sort of federacy (although in the beginning it was a fragile confederacy) to become a functioning human being.
• Thus, we usually refer to us as, tahdah!, we. From here on out though, to identify when we are speaking of the personal, we, we will be capitalized, We. When we refer to the common, we, (which we are sensitive to limit so as not to should on the collective we), it will be as usual, we.
• Apologetically, when it is more accurate, We may even use I. The I is reserved for past selves before we became federated. This is times when various egos predominated and even fully dominated our other selves.
• Okay, what We have perceived and learned through our decades of struggles is that most of what others perceive in Us (We) as disorders, is often nothing more than exaggerated distinctions that we all really share.
• A wonderful example of what I am trying to say is the Pixar movie Inside Out. Hardly a usual movie We would watch (or recommend), but We had a therapist who insisted, and while, critically, it has its failures, therapeutically, it is spot on, remembering only that there is a spectrum and we all fall somewhere differently, no matter how close and majority some points may be.
• So, let’s talk about emotions and feelings.
• There is a biased saying about women that is wrong on many levels but that can be more appropriately applied our feelings and emotions, “You can’t live with them, and you can’t live without them.”
• Like all things, the opinions will range from left to right. How a person chooses to engage with their feelings is their own business. We only hope to help others understand in a way that can help them choose wisely.
• For example,
• Most would agree that liberty and equality are admiral goals for society. But when it comes to our offspring, we really want more of what’s best for our offspring even if at the expense of others. Throw life and death into the mix, and all ideals of liberty for all quickly goes out the window.
• As moral antirealists, We don’t judge such truths. Both perspectives are valid depending on context, perspectives, feelings, and projected justification.
• The reason we can say We don’t moralize either way is because as much as we as a society may agree on acceptable behaviors, what drives us as a society and individually are the evolutionary drives that allowed us to ascend the evolutionary pyramid. We didn’t ascend evolution harmoniously and now, even amongst our peers, our beliefs and feelings can be divergent.
• What this means is that an emotion or feeling of joy came into existence for a reason, and most often, it arises for purely natural reasons regarding survival and reproduction, not rational or logical reasons.
• Let’s talk about extreme joy, or ecstasy. This is most known as an accompaniment to sex. Would we choose to get all sweaty and mix bodily fluids if there was no ecstasy? We don’t think so. From an objective perspective, sex could even be said to be disgusting (hello Puritans). But as our genes demand to be reproduced, our genes needed something to make us do the dirty.
• The point is, nonjudgmentally, our emotions are functions, they have a purpose designed by evolution and nature. Remember, evolution and nature are irrational and illogical. Thus, our emotion’s purpose is not always (some would say never, even when beneficial) rational or logical. And in fact, extreme emotions can rob us of our rational capabilities.
• Feels are volatile and dangerous. But also, would life be worth living without them? They can be said to be a catch 22. Can’t live with them and can’t live without them.
• Clearly an ideal would be an Aristotelian means. As anarchists though, no means should be right or wrong and certainly not made into laws. We are all free to determine our own means, even unto disaster. The only thing We want to do, as already said, is help in educating others so they can discover the means that is most useful for every individual’s personal thriving.
• Our emotions and feelings are less ours than they are our programmers, our genes. But as sapient beings, we can affect our emotions and feelings, where other organisms cannot. We are aware of our evolution, and that knowledge gives us “some” power over who we are and want to be. All things natural are not good and some unnatural things can be better than what is natural.
• We seek a world where everyone is free to be, feel, and do, whatever brings them joy (without desiring to harm or exploit). But we don’t seem able to allow others to be, feel, and do, whatever they want because we are threatened by those who are different. This isn’t rational, but, the scary thing is, it is natural.
• Everybody’s Free by Rozalla feat. David Anthony on piano

Ephemeral Gnoselph Prat Discuss...