Wellsbaum.blog

A simulation of self

December 28th, 2021

The neural synchronization between individuals — we can talk to each other without saying a word. The brain emits answers, and humans reap the rewards of non-confrontation. Silence is a form of communication.

What we can’t signal is the reflection of our unexamined desires. Such remain hidden in the caverns of the dormant self, the unconscious. At the heart of it all sits a person and a self-portrait they are still working on. We are the audience.

So why is self-talk so broken? If we can simulate a conversation with a stranger, we can interpret the inner-narrative, allowing the purest expression of the human self. Perhaps we are suffering from too much closeupness.

There are white fountains at the end of the mind. But only if we cease the wrestling with identity. We usually think before deciding how to react and trip over ourselves. Life, like writing, is freest at the tip of observation and flow.

The geometry of thought says that when we put our minds in the world, the environment unshackles all the hesitation and self-doubt for us. Honesty is a perfect medicine, for it has no disabling convictions but real life. It saves us from drowning in the simulation of self.
The great gambling game

December 24th, 2021

The full functionality captivates its players, keeping them coming back with the intent of trying to conquer it.

The game of life poses the most rhetorical question. And it behooves us to answer its frustrating riddle rather than be tricked into combating it.

Whether we ruminate about the past or worry about the future, it’s all-important we remain flexible in the present. Living in the now is admirable, as Joan Didion reminds us, “because every day is all there is.”

The biggest gamble is not putting what we have into good use. How well something performs is less important than just getting some enjoyment out of it before it runs stale.

Quieting the negative thought loops is already a challenge in itself. We’re better off employing doubt as to silence any regret.
The social variant

December 21st, 2021

Nothing is understood in isolation – people make ideas boom or bust. Our orientation is social in nature.

Most people dismiss new forms of thinking. They don’t want to wreck the status quo, doing everything they can to buck the fear of being uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, we’re all too connected to prevent the spread. It’s all yet another reminder of what tiny place we occupy in this universe.

At least we lucked out and inherited minds. Before brains and bonest, humans were mere pond scum. The God(s) decided to release homo sapiens from the prison of biology. Now we are contrived animals floating on the petri dish called Earth.

No wonder there’s always a spike in humility when we try to control nature. The well-greased creative force is out of our hands, no matter what idea viruses spawn to try and prove otherwise.

Instead of fighting the disease and watching it from a distance, we learn to live with it. That’s only because any antidote to the indifference to learning and science gives us superpowers.
Above the rim

December 19th, 2021

The imitative instinct drives one into a field of copycats. It doesn’t take a miracle to mimic previous forms produced by someone else.

But it does take a lot of courage to be different. If one gets lucky, magic will cluster together with the advantage of creativity, discovery, and innovation.

One is at their best when they’re most uncomfortable yet float confidently in the trek. Because the fun begins just before the feet touch terra firma.

The security of insecurity, the absence of safety, and the peril of doubt are what provide the helping hand. That’s what rolling up the sleeves and facing the world with impressive persistence is all about.

Hanging in the air is where life is most exciting. Amid the uncertainty, the trick to feeling more alive is simply feeling unresolved. It’s the herd of the content who are touched down with storytelling. They are also liars.
The free-acting individual

December 16th, 2021

Anonymity is a blessing in disguise. There’s a lot of pretense in signaling past accolades.

Success in one role inhibits the other. People like to put gems in boxes to store them away for safekeeping down the road. But identities change, and plans evolve because people are elastic.

The great mismatch is how others perceive us versus who we know we are. The individual remains the most radical space of possibility. A single direction misleads and dilutes effort.

One wants diversification to be ONE of many to avoid being crushed inside by the perils of average. Certain states of soul are inimitable from robots.

Instead, what one wants is the combined relevance gained through exploration. No one ever regretted trying, as the effort typically leads to something else. From one interesting thing to the next, if only to prevent chasing sameness down the river for gold.
The probable oddity

December 13th, 2021

Her look went beyond centuries, but so did her footwork. She demanded to stand out in a sea of sameness, to dive in a forest of waves rather than swim in the treadmill of pools.

As society hallows each of us out, we must try harder to excavate a sense of special pride. Having first raged against the machine, the striving for excellence grows harder.

One has to lead a disciplined life of creativity to give birth to insightful stars. The secret of prolific output is daily practice while keeping an increased openness to new experiences.

The probability of emerging “different” is slim. Because the tranquility that comes from being rendered a stereotype is too joyful to pass up.
Stripping away the camouflage

December 9th, 2021

Some people are like the octopus: changing with haste to match their surroundings, only to hide and rage into their naked quirks when they return home.

One cannot define the individual, where the inner current of uniqueness strikes the soul with the utmost transparency, no camouflage.

Hiding from one’s self is for the fakers. The same cowards that use filler words “like” and nod their heads passively in agreement are the ones that distrust their own voices. After all, our first opinion is likely someone else’s.

Slowly but surely, the independent taper away from being a variety of something else. They practice being themselves to deliberately blend out. What instead emerges is a stable voice they can call their own.
Thinking with a helping hand

December 6th, 2021

The ideas get imposed and go unquestioned as people accept them with automatic comprehension.

But it’s those that can remain detached from the concept of sidedness that steer their own path.

We have to create our roadshow. One of the most powerful draws of individualism is high efficacy, the belief in constructing one’s thought and seeing out a subjective thesis.

Thinking different is not an ego-rush. It’s a helping hand, a tool for probing contradictions and questioning assumptions.

Bit by bit, we create small amounts of culture that drip into a bucket of water. The world becomes our oyster in time.
Putting a dent in persistent novelty

December 4th, 2021

Novelty is the sugar of our existence. It’s what keeps us coming back for more. And technology is at the center of its stickiness.

Information is a click away; Twitter and Instagram offer more curated entertainment than we could ever access. The internet never ends with each refresh, like pulling the lever at a casino searching for a variable reward.

Rolling the dice, we expect the unexpected, drawn like a magnet to parts unknown. Boredom is temporary; newness offers a permanent dose of dopamine. But the persistence is numbing. As Nassim Nicholas Taleb notes, “Abundance is harder for us to handle than scarcity.”

Everyone deserves a proper rest and reset. Abstaining from the things that make us feel good recalibrates the brain’s wiring in the short term for long-term good. But one can’t expect to withdraw from obsessions cold turkey.

We have to conjure hurdles by putting a cost on the glut of acquiring new things and information. Decreased consumption is the engine of self-growth, as we make meaning with what he have to play with rather than pulling from the firehose.

Gradually, and then suddenly, slowing down strengthens genuine novelty by reactivating the thinking muscles. Disconnecting —even temporarily— can be just enough to recharge one’s life.
Observing closely

December 2nd, 2021

Completely forgettable, conclusively forgotten. Things disappear with the disattention of time.

We bear witness to that which genuinely sticks, the imagination included.

Memory is plentiful when we pursue life with intent. Paying attention costs little. Staying excited is the hard part.

When we look at things with curiosity, the dynamics change. Perspective encourages a deeper experience.

The probability of good ideas emerge from unlimited sources; if only we observed closely in the first place.
Becoming pain tolerant

November 30th, 2021

Surrender to the pain and see the growth. Capitulation converts supposed weakness into emotional endurance over time, providing an antidote to the stress caused by the resistance.

Ruing the past, fighting the future — worrying is as aimless as punching the air.

The courage of moving on is a form of alchemy, a fancy way of saying one is ok rolling with the scars.

True peace requires one to confront the reality of limited control. It’s out of our hands, escaping the grief of time.

We tolerate the enigma of pain through acceptance and leaning into the unknown.
Self-optimization through art

November 28th, 2021

We are worth knowing, far more than what we give ourselves credit for.

Rational assessment may say otherwise. But to believe that our work matters less than what’s deemed socially valuable or popular is insanity.

We have to practice empathic firmness toward making our art. Only a few become naked and famous. After all, Van Gogh sold one painting during his lifetime —to his brother!

Inevitably, what seems interesting to us is what informs and propels the craft—being creative means finding comfort in our weird selves. Productivity offers a type of reflective and hypnotic self-talk.

It takes considerable effort and confidence to maintain mere autonomy. The restorative power of seeking significance through the canvass is a self-optimization strategy in its own right.