Tag: abn

Origin of cultural learning: babies imitate because they are imitated

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For the study, the researchers looked at the interaction between mother and child over several months. The babies came into the lab for the first time at the age of 6 months, while their final visit was when they were 18 months old. As they engaged in various play situations, the interactions and imitations of mother and child were analyzed.

The longitudinal study shows that the more sensitive a mother was in her interactions with her six-month-old child and the more often she imitated the infant, the greater the child’s ability was at the age of 18 months to imitate others.

In the interaction between parents and child, mutual imitation is a sign of communication. Parents respond to the signals given by the child and reflect and amplify them. A mutual imitation of actions and gestures develops. “These experiences create connections between what the child feels and does on the one hand and what it sees on the other. Associations are formed. The child’s visual experience is connected to its own motor activity,” says Markus Paulus, explaining the neuro-cognitive process.

Children learn a variety of skills through imitation, such as how to use objects, cultural gestures like waving, and the acquisition of language. “Children are incredible imitators. Mimicry paves the way to their further development. Imitation is the start of the cultural process toward becoming human,” says Markus Paulus. In psychology, the theory that the ability to imitate is inborn held sway for a long time. The LMU study is further evidence that the ability is actually acquired.

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Mutual imitation and/or rapport are fundamental to interpersonal communication and a constant of it. FIML practice is a metacognitive method for making these processes ‘objective’ and thus mutually understandable, analyzable, and correctable or transformable as needed or desired. FIML works with objective material, which is defined as material both partners agree on. Real-world, real-time mutually agreed upon moments of micro communication discovered during FIML practice are some of the best objective psychological material you will ever acquire. Analyzing it with your partner is a total blast! There is no other way to do it except through FIML practice. ABN

UPDATE: This study reveals the profound importance of imitation for the infant brain. Imitation is one of the first things humans learn and it establishes a basis for social interactions from then on. Imitation is a major foundation of all cultures. People within any culture always imitate each other a lot. This includes adults who form new cultures or conform to deep transitions within their already accepted cultures. Often, cultural transitions are so large, the original culture is lost to time. This instinct to keep up with the group through imitation is a major factor in behavioral mind-control. This video provides an excellent example of how blunt, crude, nasty and deeply fear-based mind-controlled cultural transitions often are. Not only are viewers lured into being terrified of the invisible virus, they are also bullied into conforming to the one and only way to save themselves—taking a dangerous and untested vax. When children and then babies were also sucked into this whirlpool of anti-science, all morality was gone and all that was left was fear and insane conformity. If the mind-controllers learned anything from this, they will probably leave pregnant women and babies alone next time. More likely is they will cause even greater fear. ABN

Dark personality traits linked to ‘virtuous victim signaling’ and exploitation of accusations

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Researchers have replicated and expanded a prior study to investigate the role of dark tetrad traits in “virtuous victim signaling.” Across three studies,, the findings confirmed that narcissism and Machiavellianism are linked to this signaling strategy. They also revealed that sadism, while unrelated to signaling itself, plays a role in exploiting accusations against others for personal satisfaction. The results were published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

The dark tetrad refers to a group of personality traits that are socially aversive and often associated with manipulation, exploitation, and harm to others. These traits include narcissism (an inflated sense of self-importance and entitlement), Machiavellianism (a manipulative and cynical approach to relationships and social influence), psychopathy (a lack of empathy and impulsive antisocial behavior), and sadism (a tendency to derive pleasure from causing harm to others). Together, these traits can drive behaviors that exploit social and moral norms for personal gain, often at the expense of others.

Virtuous victim signaling combines the display of two types of signals—victimhood and virtue—to elicit sympathy, aid, or social advantages. A person engaging in this behavior publicly communicates their suffering, disadvantage, or oppression while also projecting an image of high moral character. This dual signaling has been shown to influence others, encouraging resource transfers or leniency while shielding the individual from moral scrutiny.

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Virtuous victim signaling also describes one of the most common techniques used by parasitic groups. My somewhat frequent use of the word parasite on this site denotes destructive extractors of resources, control, opportunity, often coupled with sadism. A true human parasite deliberately causes harm, is abusive, sadistic, cruel while also extorting advantages from their hosts, who are decidedly victims of the parasite. I am not talking about interdependence, normal or justified dependence, being lazy, low ambition, eccentric, and so on. A parasite, and much more a parasitic group, is very seriously harmful. We see them proliferating all across the West. In nature broadly, we don’t think of parasites as having a psychology. In humans, parasitic strategies do entail conscious human psychological and physical abuse. ABN

A Good Description of Right Samadhi, the Eighth Element of the Noble Eightfold Path

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Theise provides a good description of Right Samadhi at 6:02 min, prompted.

Buddhist philosophy and practice is founded on samadhi states, which might be described as the doors which open to the temple of Deepest Reality. Samadhi states are available to all people. They are the experiential part of Buddhism. They have to be experienced to make sense, and once experienced all of Buddhism will make sense.

Western civilization has almost no traditional awareness of samadhi. We have scores of philosophers and religious thinkers, but no samadhi. It is a glaring omission, one that has led us astray in many ways. Fortunately, today more people are beginning to see what samadhi states are, as Theise illustrates. Be sure to watch the whole clip as it will provide context to what he says about samadhi.

Buddhism is sort of implicitly ‘panpsychist’ or based on consciousness as a primary aspect of reality. Mind Only or Yogacara Buddhism makes this claim more explicitly. Samadhi is beautiful, joyful, wonderful. It will change you very deeply for the better or make you realize you don’t need to be changed at all. ABN

Kastrup responds to my criticisms of Analytic Idealism (part 1)

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UPDATE: This is a very good discussion which can be understood within a Buddhist ‘mind only’ framework (or not). I have posted it especially because it seems to conform very well with what the Buddha might have thought and/or how later Buddhists came to understand Buddhist enlightenment, the cessation of all suffering through fully understanding all of reality. This video is the first part of a planned two-part discussion. The second part has not yet been posted. The second part is going to start with the question why the universal mind itself does not experience metacognition. I have some idea how Kastrup will answer that question, but will wait for his take before commenting further. Kastrup’s work in general seems to me to be a good way to consider Buddhist practice and thought from a modern point of view, using vocabularies and concepts we are familiar with or which can be readily accessed. It is important to know that the captions for the above video rarely correctly render the term Markov Blanket. This is an important term for understanding Kastrup’s ideas. More information can be found here: Markov Blanket. ABN

UPDATE 2: Near the end of the discussion linked above, Kastrup says he is incapable of meditation. I hope he reads this because I want to point out to him and others that meditation, or samadhi in Buddhism, is the method for the ‘small self’, which resides inside its Markov Blanket, to commune with the One Mind (Kastrup’s term, which works well with Buddhist thought). Samadhi is a natural state. When you take your attention away from Kastrup’s ‘dashboard’ and open the windows (let’s ignore the wind in his metaphor), your ‘small self’ perceives and experiences One Mind. Like all experience, samadhi states become richer and richer the more we experience and appreciate them. I would like to also encourage Kastrup and others to read this description of the Five Skandhas. The ‘consciousness’ which arises out of the first four skandhas is the consciousness of the small self, the self ensconced in its Markov Blanket. Whether he knows it or not, Kastrup has done an excellent job of describing Buddhist thought and practice in modern terms. I particularly like his work because, as far as I know, he has never mentioned Buddhism. For this reason, he provides a very refreshing take on the Dharma very clearly explicated and coming from a different angle from all others. ABN

Samadhi

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Samādhi (Pali and Sanskrit: समाधि), in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools, is a state of meditative consciousness. In many Indian religious traditions, the cultivation of Samādhi through various meditation methods is essential for the attainment of spiritual liberation (known variously as nirvana, moksha).[1]

In Buddhism, it is the last of the eight elements of the Noble Eightfold Path.[web 1] In the Ashtanga Yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.[2][3] In Jain meditation, samadhi is considered one of the last stages of the practice just prior to liberation.[4]

In the oldest Buddhist sutras, on which several contemporary western Theravada teachers rely, it refers to the development of an investigative and luminous mind which is equanimous and mindful. In the yogic traditions, and the Buddhist commentarial tradition on which the Burmese Vipassana movement and the Thai Forest tradition rely, it is interpreted as a meditative absorption or trance, attained by the practice of dhyāna.[5]

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With so much now depending on what Christians, Jews and Muslims think and do and how they interact so poorly with each other and any one else and how their beliefs are based on old stories and not much else, this may be a good time to remind or inform anyone who wants to listen that there are much older and deeper traditions of the mind including how individuals should conduct themselves morally, ethically, spiritually. Samadhi states are but one aspect of ancient traditions that vastly predate Judaism and Christianity and also provide much deeper insights into the workings of the human mind and how to deal with the ever-changing conditions of life. The way the Abrahamic religions are behaving today is an embarrassment to all of humanity. ABN

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Sexual jealousy is a major factor in all aspects of life. The jealous harass those whom they perceive as more attractive. Parasites revel in destruction of entire types, using their hatred to advance socially while simultaneously encouraging other parasitic groups to join their envy fray. This is a fundamental reason parasitic ideologies flourish and attract followers even as they clearly make little or no sense. Academia is an example of a large American subculture infested with parasites who enjoy ruining things. Pleasure in destruction is a parasitic trait, a cultural trait of parasitic groups. You can identify them by this trait alone. Since sexual jealousy is such a deep source of hatred, it fuels parasitic groups as much as does greed and lust for power. ABN

Bodhisattva in samadhi, Gandhara 2nd Century CE

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Bodhisattva seated in meditation. Afghanistan, 2nd century CE; attribution

UPDATE: The period this statue dates from and the area in which it was found was Gandhara, which was a major center of Buddhism. A great deal of Buddhism went to China from Gandhara. Chinese Buddhist nuns, to this day, take Sarvastivadan monastic vows which probably came from Gandhara. Buddhist statuary developed in this area under the strong influence of Greek statuary which became prevalent in that region due to the Greek presence brought by Alexander the Great. The earliest attested Buddhist teachings come to us from this area through Pyrrho, the Greek skeptic, who studied with Buddhist monks. Skepticism is clearly based on Buddhist core teachings. See Greek Buddha: Pyrrho’s Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia for more on this topic. I highly recommend that book. ABN

Christopher Wray announces he’s stepping down as FBI director

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FBI Director Christopher Wray announced Wednesday he was stepping down as head of the bureau, just days after Republicans expressed a loss of confidence in him.

Wray, 57, told FBI employees in an afternoon town hall that “after weeks of careful thought,” he had decided to resign in January at the end of the current administration, caving to pressure from GOP senators and President-elect Donald Trump.

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The ocean of dark money and power and secret groups that rule USA and the West have moved Wray out of the way. Trump had to have known, if he did not himself direct, that Wray would be pushed aside for Kash Patel or someone else. That same ocean of dark money and power moved some 7 million phantom votes into Biden’s column in 2020. Why exactly, no one knows. It does seem Trump represents a recognition within the dark money comitatus that we the plebs are seriously fed up while also that they the dark money have seriously fucked up. No worries. Change tack and sail on. Wray leaving is surely a good sign, indicating much needed reform will be coming. With the state police probably out of the hands of the Obama wing wingnuts, we probably will not see the sort of obstruction against Trump that we saw in 2017. A serious factor is the incoming public face of the dark money appears cooler, more hip and savvy, smarter, less full of BS, more on the side of we the plebs, better in tune with the reality of history, more grounded in the ocean of awareness that underlies everything and is infinitely greater than the dark ocean of money that merely rules USA in (covert) name only. ABN

Assisted dying and covid mistakes with Clare Craig

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UPDATE: This is a worthy discussion, highly recommended. Doctor assisted dying, which is really doctors killing, is examined from many angles with the clear verdict that doctors killing is useful only in very rare circumstances. In all other cases, it’s a bad idea and once made into law presents a terrible slippery slope, as we have seen in Canada. A doctor’s office or medical facility is in itself a trance-inducing location, replete with numerous disturbing messages. To be offered an ‘easy’ death by a doctor is a hypnotic suggestion. Many who are not even psychologically vulnerable and with plenty of life left in them will agree to die under these conditions. Please share this video so more of us can appreciate the dangers of these new laws. ABN

Palantir CEO Alex Karp outlines future of AI race

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Palantir CEO Alex Karp appeared at the Reagan National Defense forum, and does a great job advocating for the U.S. to win the artificial intelligence race. Karp believes it is possible to insert “values” into the software at strategic places of connection, and thereby control the outputs. The question within the AI race then becomes, whose values? Ours or our enemies?

In a series of video segments placed onto a Twitter Thread, you get a good sense for what Palantir, Karp, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and newly appointed White House Czar of AI, David Sacks, are trying to do inside this global race toward artificial intelligence as applied to government systems.

link to video segments and more

The video segments at the above link provide a decent sense of what Karp thinks and where USA may be headed. Very much worth listening to what he has to say. It’s true we all fear the ominous possibilities AI tech and Palantir may hold for the world. But it is also true, those technologies may produce wonderful outcomes. Karp is very optimistic about the tech (which is his job) and also about USA. I tend to be optimistic in both of those areas myself (not my job) and also believe we would all do well to look favorably on our future and those most in charge of it today — Thiel, Karp, Musk, Trump, RFK, et al. ABN

One mediocrity to follow another

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Interesting meme. Doubly interesting when we understand this is what has destroyed virtually all American and Western institutions. The process of one mediocrity choosing a worse one to follow them has destroyed academia, medical science, politics, news media and more. This decline has been aided by a clandestine army which has infiltrated those same institutions and which attacks talented young people to prevent them from reversing the trend. The results you see all around you are the proof. No policy is designed to strengthen USA, only to harm it more. ABN

Peter Thiel in his own words

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I have not yet watched this but plan to do so. ABN

UPDATE: Due to what I have read and heard, I had expected to dislike this interview and to dislike Thiel himself. My biases were wrong. This interview is framed in Christian terms, primarily referencing Armageddon and the Antichrist. Thiel expressed an abundance of fear of the Antichrist, which he uses as a metaphor for One World Government, a totalitarian dead end. He also fears globalism because it likely will lead to One World Government. He criticizes the ‘cult of liberal academia’. He supports nation states. It was good to hear Thiel—whom many have cast as the Antichrist bringer of a Palantir panopticon—speak seriously about how much he fears precisely that. I do not think he is acting. It is hard to fake the religious and moral sensibilities he expressed. I hope he comes in contact with someone who can guide him into Buddhism so he can expand his horizons. I highly recommend this interview. Thiel is a major figure in our governing elite. I like what he said and am inclined trust him much more than I did before. ABN

A Christmas message from Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir

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Needless to say, misuse of this technology is terrifying and will strike fear into the hearts of clear-thinking moral people everywhere. But this technology exists and is here to stay and will only become more powerful. You cannot ban it or make it go away, so we have to deal with it somehow. Much has been made of the fact that Karp is Jewish. In the hands of a Jewish supremist, this tech would destroy our world overnight. Western civilization would disappear from the face of the earth overnight and all other civilizations would follow soon after. So far, Karp has not destroyed our world and has not shown signs of being a Jewish supremist, so for now, maybe we do not need to fear his control over this tech, for now. Those are the cards and that is the game. What if Obama or Harris controlled this technology? Or Fauci or Daniel Penny’s prosecutor? Who controls Karp? I always hope for an enlightened elite and waste little time expecting there to be no elite. At the same time, I am well-aware elites are always out of touch with the primary essential fundamentals of life. They always make terrible mistakes and so far have never succeeded in self-correcting. So, should we all be afraid starting yesterday? Does Palantir confirm in modern guise the First Noble Truth of earthly delusion and suffering? Right now it looks that way to me. ABN