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I don't know if there is an absolute right or absolute wrong, an absolute better or an absolute worse for the effects and side effects of a substance or techniq

I don't know if there is an absolute right or absolute wrong, an absolute better or an absolute worse for the effects and side effects of a substance or technique on the mind. Caffeine and alcohol have horrible side effects on my mind, and my body. I didn't realize for years, about the caffeine. I don't know about this kind of electrical stimulation. The fear that I wouldn't have the predictable kind of control over the growth and direction of my neural connections doesn't sound like something I want. I tend to think of these things in terms of trade-offs though. I personally do not think it is very intelligent to place control over a highly sophisticated organ in the hands (or brain) of another being, unless I am certain to trust that being in that they know what they are doing. Very generally, it just seems like allowing someone else to manipulate, shape, and mold my mind, without me having a choice over it. I don't know if that is paranoia, or a kind of 'survival of the mentally fittest'. I know that when I feel like it is highly probable that I have been duped into thinking a certain way because someone else thinks it better for me, and I find out that they intended to do this, there is a certain kind of rage that manifests in me, that is unlike any other. It begins with the assumption that they thought they were more intelligent than me. I've thankfully never been proven correct on this, but I tend to disconnect from people that don't have the ability to maintain a constant of mental equality throughout interaction. This is fairly tangential to the topic, but I think it's somewhat relevant in a broader context of the potential consequences of science poking at the brain, without understanding how the brain might fight back.

johanzebin 12y ago
That expressed my own attitude very well, thanks!
Matumio 12y ago
allowing someone else to manipulate, shape, and mold my mind, without me having a choice over it [...] duped into thinking a certain way because someone else thinks it better for me I remember a time when there was always somebody telling me what was good for me, making me write essays about things that didn't seem relevant, etc.; It lasted for years, and yes, it has shaped my mind.
- drcomputer 12y ago
  I always just want to be aware enough that I have a choice. I want to be able to separate discretely what I've learned from the state or condition my mind was in before I learned it, and I want to be able to determine whether I am better or worse for it. I practice what I call 'conceptual destruction', where I identify the foundational elements of a thought process, and I practice thinking without being able to use them. It can sometimes be difficult, but my ultimate goal is to have a sharp, stable, quick, flexible, cautious, careful, discerning, and so on, mind, that I created myself. I don't know if I am fooling myself half the time with things my mind does anyway without my explicit direction, but I like having a vast, partially independently established, pedantically defined and carefully organized system for 'ways of thinking'. It's the only thing I really truly care about maintaining myself: having the capacity to condition myself, and having the intuition to be able to detect and identify when someone is trying to do it for me, or something is doing it for me by chance. I don't like having to depend on culture for how to think, I want to be able to know how to think on my own. It just makes the world less scary for me; it's an ability to rely on myself.

johanzebin 12y ago

That expressed my own attitude very well, thanks!

Matumio 12y ago

allowing someone else to manipulate, shape, and mold my mind, without me having a choice over it [...] duped into thinking a certain way because someone else thinks it better for me I remember a time when there was always somebody telling me what was good for me, making me write essays about things that didn't seem relevant, etc.; It lasted for years, and yes, it has shaped my mind.

drcomputer 12y ago
I always just want to be aware enough that I have a choice. I want to be able to separate discretely what I've learned from the state or condition my mind was in before I learned it, and I want to be able to determine whether I am better or worse for it. I practice what I call 'conceptual destruction', where I identify the foundational elements of a thought process, and I practice thinking without being able to use them. It can sometimes be difficult, but my ultimate goal is to have a sharp, stable, quick, flexible, cautious, careful, discerning, and so on, mind, that I created myself. I don't know if I am fooling myself half the time with things my mind does anyway without my explicit direction, but I like having a vast, partially independently established, pedantically defined and carefully organized system for 'ways of thinking'. It's the only thing I really truly care about maintaining myself: having the capacity to condition myself, and having the intuition to be able to detect and identify when someone is trying to do it for me, or something is doing it for me by chance. I don't like having to depend on culture for how to think, I want to be able to know how to think on my own. It just makes the world less scary for me; it's an ability to rely on myself.