The guidance of feeling

[Someone here]

 

When you have a choice between saving 3 people you know or 5 you don't, do you use your feelings for guidance?

When you have to choose a course to study at Uni, do you choose what you are best at, or what you like the most?

When choosing someone to be with for life, do you pick them for material values or for the feeling you get when they are with you?

I probably think that because feelings are very complex.. our fight or flight can be mistaken for feelings, but I call them false feelings. They are misguiding and lead us further down the rabbit hole. True, unbiased feelings can only be felt in a very calm and peaceful state of mind, that is when feelings become most helpful. Intuition is a feeling, and it is one that I trust the most, negative feelings are a fog that make it impossible to make a reasonable decision with good results. But your feelings and “false feelings” are the reason you are alive today, without them you would wonder into traffic without concern, or indulge in extremely reckless behavior. They guide you through life and there is nothing you can do to escape that. All you can do is be the master of how you feel, and have the willpower to understand those feelings, question them, and try to change them into something else. If you have a bad feeling about someone you meet do you really want to hang out with that person or try and be their friend? Not likely, but our feelings are here to help us, even though it seems the opposite. Control is something we must take, not give.

What would you be without feelings like fright, happiness, nostalgia, anger, love, hate,..? You’d be cold as hell. Some times you can hide, stop a feeling. At other times it is overwhelming, and you have to do something. 

@Phil is my understanding of this topic on the money ?

Edited July 17, 2022 by Someone here

[Phil]

@Someone here

No. Feeling is never false. 

 

What do you think I mean by the phrase ‘garbage in, garbage out’?

[Someone here]

8 minutes ago, Phil said:

@Someone here

No. Feeling is never false. 

 

What do you think I mean by the phrase ‘garbage in, garbage out’?

Probably about the quality of what we feed our minds of thoughts  ? Idk honestly. You need to explain it to me to not come off as offensive 😤. 

Whilst it is true that there can be some merit in listening to your gut feelings, doing something because it “feels good” is a very limited point of view.

When looking for advice, I am seeking a fresh perspective. I am hoping the person I am asking advice from can tell me something I haven’t noticed.

When I need advice, I need the big picture. “If it feels good, do it,” is a baseless statement that offers me nothing new.

It can also lead to some pretty disastrous consequences.

For example..shooting herion is the most amazing kick ass feeling in the world ..why not do it since it feels good ?

[Phil]

1 hour ago, Someone here said:

Probably about the quality of what we feed our minds of thoughts  ? Idk honestly. You need to explain it to me to not come off as offensive 😤. 

The phrase is meant to bring attention to the content, food & substances consumed & which attention is given to, in the intention of bringing about a recognition of the correlation with respect to your inquiries, the challenges you are facing & addressing, and therein with the changes you wish to make, the life you essentially desire to create, and much more so, with respect to clarity & how you long to feel. 

1 hour ago, Someone here said:

Whilst it is true that there can be some merit in listening to your gut feelings, doing something because it “feels good” is a very limited point of view.

When looking for advice, I am seeking a fresh perspective. I am hoping the person I am asking advice from can tell me something I haven’t noticed.

When I need advice, I need the big picture. “If it feels good, do it,” is a baseless statement that offers me nothing new.

It can also lead to some pretty disastrous consequences.

For example..shooting herion is the most amazing kick ass feeling in the world ..why not do it since it feels good ?

Please accept these words transparently & at face value - your participation here is most welcomed - this forum was created for you.

The ‘bigger picture’ - is the advice which is already being offered, which is not indicative of the things you mentioned (above). 

Please take a minute to ‘check in’ with the point of this forum and the suggested methods below, and please give some consideration to which of the suggested methods and tools you are employing, or, allowing into your life, your purview and your experience. 

 

[Someone here]

@Phil I will . Sorry if I come off as annoying or argumentative. 

[Phil]

@Someone here

Not at all my man. Nothing of the sort. I feel ya, I know how hard it can be. Same team here. I sincerely want the best for you. 

[Eothasian]

" For example..shooting herion is the most amazing kick ass feeling in the world ..why not do it since it feels good ?"

 

Do you feel like you need to shoot it?

[Someone here]

6 minutes ago, Phil said:

@Someone here

Not at all my man. Nothing of the sort. I feel ya, I know how hard it can be. Same team here. I sincerely want the best for you. 

Thanks 😊. 

Still though..I wanna dig deeper with you about this whole notion of "guidance of feeling " or following what feels good to us .I know it's a core pillar of your teachings but I have some sincere difficulties in digesting it .

You know..From an evolutionary perspective, it is exactly why humans ..and indeed any species  have survived.

The reward system is a critical piece of the evolutionary puzzle. It goes like this: if a specific behaviour is vital for survival and hence for genes to be passed on via reproduction, let’s say sex or eating, the animal/creature/human must have a motivation to pursue such behaviour, and that motivation is the reward system 

..otherwise known as pleasure.

So, yes there are some advantages in doing what feels good, or at least there have been up until modern times where we have been able to hijack the reward system. We can do this in various ways: excessive food, sex,porn .. and especially drugs, to name a few. In the animal world motivation via pleasure is required to survive. But now that we have got to a point in human history where we don’t struggle for food for the most part, and drugs are plentiful, I’d say “if it feels good, do it”, is advice that will lead you straight to addiction of any kind.

So in the end ..of course we should seek what feels good to us and avoid pain and suffering..this isn't rocket science ..it's pretty much common sense stuff . But it has some fine details and nuances. Not every activity that feels good should be our goal to chase after ..and the heroin thing is just one example. I know its gross but just to illustrate the point .

 

[Someone here]

@Eothasian

6 minutes ago, Eothasian said:

" For example..shooting herion is the most amazing kick ass feeling in the world ..why not do it since it feels good ?"

 

Do you feel like you need to shoot it?

I do actually.  I wanna taste how it feels like . I'm sick and tired and bored of life's mediocre pleasures .I wanna try something different 

[Eothasian]

And what has been keeping you?

[Someone here]

3 minutes ago, Eothasian said:

And what has been keeping you?

Lol. Its illegality obviously 🙄 

[Eothasian]

2 minutes ago, Someone here said:

Lol. Its illegality obviously 🙄 

That doesn't stop others, why you?

[Someone here]

Just now, Eothasian said:

That doesn't stop others, why you?

Because I don't have the balls to go searching for it in the dark web or finding dealers .

[Eothasian]

5 minutes ago, Someone here said:

Because I don't have the balls to go searching for it in the dark web or finding dealers .

What does it mean, Not having the Balls to do Something?

Edited July 17, 2022 by Eothasian

[Someone here]

@Eothasian it means I'm too much of a coward to do it .

[Eothasian]

4 minutes ago, Someone here said:

@Eothasian it means I'm too much of a coward to do it .

What internal mechanism makes someone cowardly?

[Someone here]

@Eothasian lack of decisiveness. Not high enough self-esteem .lack of confidence .lack of masculinity etc.

[Eothasian]

8 minutes ago, Someone here said:

@Eothasian lack of decisiveness. Not high enough self-esteem .lack of confidence .lack of masculinity etc.

Those things have the same internal mechanism as being cowardly does. 

Can you find it?

Edited July 17, 2022 by Eothasian

[Someone here]

5 minutes ago, Eothasian said:

Those things have the same internal mechanism as being a cowardly does. 

Can you find it?

No . You tell me 😁

[Eothasian]

17 minutes ago, Someone here said:

No . You tell me 😁

Fear. 

Which is what you feel, like phil said. 

So you never actually went against your feeling, you chose another one. 

 

Btw, since you want to be a philosopher, this is all a philosopher does: asking himself/herself questions. Nothing else. Not studying, Not talking or presenting or gaining reputation, money or making a living.

A philosopher is someone who continous to aks himself/herself questions.

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by Eothasian