Negative Psychology Sat, 22 Aug 2026 20:28:13 -0400 https://www.buzzsprout.com/1743514 en-us © 2026 Negative Psychology yes f7f97aac-e4ff-5cd8-bb19-6c5f7ca4448d Nick episodic false Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) Nick Mechanical Therapy Mechanical Therapy Mechanical therapy isn't therapy, it's psychological abuse - anything involving control or forcing is abuse when it's human beings we're talking about - Mechanical therapy' - which is therapy done by rules, therapy according to some generic 'formula' - alienates us from who we are (or the way that we are) in favour of who (or how) we're supposed to be...

]]> Mechanical therapy isn't therapy, it's psychological abuse - anything involving control or forcing is abuse when it's human beings we're talking about - Mechanical therapy' - which is therapy done by rules, therapy according to some generic 'formula' - alienates us from who we are (or the way that we are) in favour of who (or how) we're supposed to be...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19646108 Fri, 21 Aug 2026 10:00:00 -0400 591 full false The Glorification Of Abuse (1) The Glorification Of Abuse (1) Our civilization - although we'd never admit - is based upon the glorification of abuse, the glorification of control. Actual freedom is like Kryptonite to us - it would ruin everything, it would ruin the power hierarchy that is society. Control is always abuse when it's people we're talking about and the classic justification (used from time immemorial) is that 'it's for their own good'. It's not really of course - control is always for the benefit of the controller. This is how games work - we don't win to benefit others, we win to benefit ourselves. We don't struggle to achieve an advantageous position in the social hierarchy for the sake of the 'greater good' - although this is what we're inclined to tell ourselves - we're competing for power and power can never be used to benefit others. Taking away freedom is always a malign act...

]]> Our civilization - although we'd never admit - is based upon the glorification of abuse, the glorification of control. Actual freedom is like Kryptonite to us - it would ruin everything, it would ruin the power hierarchy that is society. Control is always abuse when it's people we're talking about and the classic justification (used from time immemorial) is that 'it's for their own good'. It's not really of course - control is always for the benefit of the controller. This is how games work - we don't win to benefit others, we win to benefit ourselves. We don't struggle to achieve an advantageous position in the social hierarchy for the sake of the 'greater good' - although this is what we're inclined to tell ourselves - we're competing for power and power can never be used to benefit others. Taking away freedom is always a malign act...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19669905 Wed, 19 Aug 2026 08:00:00 -0400 689 full false Interested in the truth Interested in the truth The socially-adapted person has no 'interest in the truth' - if a socially-adapted person had an interest in the truth then they would no longer be 'socially-adapted'. They couldn't be - to function in society it is necessary that we have loyalty to the group (to the 'tribe') and so to question what we collectively understand to be true would be an act of betrayal. We see none of this, of course - we see none of this and - what's more to the point - we aren't INTERESTED in seeing it. We couldn't be less interested in seeing it...

]]> The socially-adapted person has no 'interest in the truth' - if a socially-adapted person had an interest in the truth then they would no longer be 'socially-adapted'. They couldn't be - to function in society it is necessary that we have loyalty to the group (to the 'tribe') and so to question what we collectively understand to be true would be an act of betrayal. We see none of this, of course - we see none of this and - what's more to the point - we aren't INTERESTED in seeing it. We couldn't be less interested in seeing it...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19365885 Sun, 16 Aug 2026 05:00:00 -0400 787 full false Power Hierarchies (1) Power Hierarchies (1) Everything that happens in society happens as a result of the exercise of power, and - psychologically speaking - anything that happens as a result of the exercise of power is entirely meaningless, entirely hollow. If I am compelled to say (or do something) then this is of course a caricature of freedom, a caricature of volition...

]]> Everything that happens in society happens as a result of the exercise of power, and - psychologically speaking - anything that happens as a result of the exercise of power is entirely meaningless, entirely hollow. If I am compelled to say (or do something) then this is of course a caricature of freedom, a caricature of volition...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19646116 Fri, 14 Aug 2026 06:00:00 -0400 475 full false Attention and freedom Attention and freedom Through paying attention comes freedom. Through NOT paying attention comes the opposite of freedom, through NOT paying attention comes slavery...

]]> Through paying attention comes freedom. Through NOT paying attention comes the opposite of freedom, through NOT paying attention comes slavery...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19365874 Wed, 12 Aug 2026 04:00:00 -0400 617 full false Anger Anger Anger isn't an emotion (as we might sometimes imagine) - it's more of an opposite to an emotion since the whole point of anger is to NOT feel the emotion (whatever that might be). Anger is when we don't take emotional pain on board but - on the contrary - try very vigorously to reassign it, to send it somewhere else...

]]> Anger isn't an emotion (as we might sometimes imagine) - it's more of an opposite to an emotion since the whole point of anger is to NOT feel the emotion (whatever that might be). Anger is when we don't take emotional pain on board but - on the contrary - try very vigorously to reassign it, to send it somewhere else...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19604137 Wed, 05 Aug 2026 12:00:00 -0400 604 full false Self-talk Self-talk We regard 'self-talk' as being potentially useful, as being a way by which we may bring about helpful change. It isn't though - the mind's chatter is always entirely inconsequential....

]]> We regard 'self-talk' as being potentially useful, as being a way by which we may bring about helpful change. It isn't though - the mind's chatter is always entirely inconsequential....

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19602300 Wed, 05 Aug 2026 03:00:00 -0400 579 full false Western Mindfulness [2] Western Mindfulness [2] 'Western mindfulness' is a project designed to optimise the performance and general reliability of  that particular highly-valued construct known as 'the identity'. This is 'our interpretation of the Eastern meditation traditions - we think it's all about 'self-improvement' (or 'making life easier for the everyday ego')...

]]> 'Western mindfulness' is a project designed to optimise the performance and general reliability of  that particular highly-valued construct known as 'the identity'. This is 'our interpretation of the Eastern meditation traditions - we think it's all about 'self-improvement' (or 'making life easier for the everyday ego')...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19583814 Sat, 01 Aug 2026 06:00:00 -0400 577 full false Bloodless literalism Bloodless literalism Living 'carelessly', without paying 'proper attention', without 'checking anything out ourselves', without 'asking any questions', inevitably results in us living in 'Literal Mode', which is where we run on extrinsic meaning, 'meaning that is provided for us from the outside'. Meaning that is provided from the outside (by some kind of external authority) isn't meaning at all however, it's just a set of instructions that we have to obey, instructions that keep us from focussing on anything else other than the question as to 'how to best obey the instructions'...

]]> Living 'carelessly', without paying 'proper attention', without 'checking anything out ourselves', without 'asking any questions', inevitably results in us living in 'Literal Mode', which is where we run on extrinsic meaning, 'meaning that is provided for us from the outside'. Meaning that is provided from the outside (by some kind of external authority) isn't meaning at all however, it's just a set of instructions that we have to obey, instructions that keep us from focussing on anything else other than the question as to 'how to best obey the instructions'...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19562516 Tue, 28 Jul 2026 06:00:00 -0400 613 full false The lesson we never learn (1) The lesson we never learn (1) The identity has no intrinsic strength, no strength of its own. It has to rely on extrinsic strength therefore - extrinsic strength being 'the ability to control or manipulate so as to get the outcome we want'. Once we get into the game of relying on tricks and methods in order to feel OK we can never stop however because by relying on the ability to control or exert power we turn our backs on our true strength. 

]]> The identity has no intrinsic strength, no strength of its own. It has to rely on extrinsic strength therefore - extrinsic strength being 'the ability to control or manipulate so as to get the outcome we want'. Once we get into the game of relying on tricks and methods in order to feel OK we can never stop however because by relying on the ability to control or exert power we turn our backs on our true strength. 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19545894 Fri, 24 Jul 2026 17:00:00 -0400 405 full false The Rational Context [1] The Rational Context [1] Either we live our lives within a rational context, or a mythological one. When we are in 'Rational Mode' then the rational world is the only one that we ever perceive - anything out gets screened out before we even get to register it. We only ever see the world that makes sense' to us. The think about this though is that 'the world which makes sense to us' isn't actually the real world at all - its only our mode of interpretation reflected right back at us without any chance of anything else ever getting through. We're living in 'Safe Mode', we could say, and 'Safe Mode' is a living death...

]]> Either we live our lives within a rational context, or a mythological one. When we are in 'Rational Mode' then the rational world is the only one that we ever perceive - anything out gets screened out before we even get to register it. We only ever see the world that makes sense' to us. The think about this though is that 'the world which makes sense to us' isn't actually the real world at all - its only our mode of interpretation reflected right back at us without any chance of anything else ever getting through. We're living in 'Safe Mode', we could say, and 'Safe Mode' is a living death...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19540585 Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:00:00 -0400 597 full false We aren't the boss of our own thinking We aren't the boss of our own thinking Thinking runs us rather than vice versa. Adyashanti compares the state of being in which we are 'identified with our own thinking' with being in a make-believe car on a fairground ride - 

"This situation is like being on a fairground ride where we have a little make-believe car which comes equipped with a toy steering wheel to enable us to 'pretend' that we're steering the ride. Just as long as we steer the same way the ride wants us to go, we'll never know the difference!" 

]]> Thinking runs us rather than vice versa. Adyashanti compares the state of being in which we are 'identified with our own thinking' with being in a make-believe car on a fairground ride - 

"This situation is like being on a fairground ride where we have a little make-believe car which comes equipped with a toy steering wheel to enable us to 'pretend' that we're steering the ride. Just as long as we steer the same way the ride wants us to go, we'll never know the difference!" 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19527166 Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:00:00 -0400 591 full false Not stirring the pot [2] Not stirring the pot [2] Trying to 'fix our own thinking' is an infinite regress - there's no end to it and the spiral of control just keeps getting tighter and tighter...

]]> Trying to 'fix our own thinking' is an infinite regress - there's no end to it and the spiral of control just keeps getting tighter and tighter...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19518186 Mon, 20 Jul 2026 04:00:00 -0400 746 full false Not stirring the pot [1] Not stirring the pot [1] The 'cybernetic disaster' is where our coping strategy exacerbates the problem that we were trying to cope with, which necessitates doubling down on the strategy (because we can't see that what we're doing is making everything worse not better), which then exacerbates the problem even more. We then get locked into a self-destructive spiral and are doomed thereby to see the process through to its bitter end, whilst all the while fighting as hard as we can against it. To say this this process is 'not a pleasant one' is of course something of an understatement...

]]> The 'cybernetic disaster' is where our coping strategy exacerbates the problem that we were trying to cope with, which necessitates doubling down on the strategy (because we can't see that what we're doing is making everything worse not better), which then exacerbates the problem even more. We then get locked into a self-destructive spiral and are doomed thereby to see the process through to its bitter end, whilst all the while fighting as hard as we can against it. To say this this process is 'not a pleasant one' is of course something of an understatement...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19507332 Fri, 17 Jul 2026 04:00:00 -0400 455 full false Getting out of your own way Getting out of your own way The 'Negative Path' - simply put - comes down to 'the art of getting out of your own way'...

]]> The 'Negative Path' - simply put - comes down to 'the art of getting out of your own way'...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19471682 Thu, 09 Jul 2026 16:00:00 -0400 559 full false Thinking is Always Gray Thinking is Always Gray  In Goethe's Faust, Mephistopheles (aka 'the Devil') famously says - 

"All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green." 

]]>  In Goethe's Faust, Mephistopheles (aka 'the Devil') famously says - 

"All theory, dear friend, is gray, but the golden tree of life springs ever green." 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19463625 Wed, 08 Jul 2026 09:00:00 -0400 665 full false Being 'stuck'... Being 'stuck'... No strategy can ever help us become free from anxiety (or any other neurotic condition). We can't fight our way to freedom, we can never get so good at manipulation as to no longer NEED to manipulate (or control). The ego-concept is big on striving / controlling and what it is essentially trying to do here is to FREE itself from the need to keep on struggling and striving and scheming (because all of this is so terribly wearisome). What it doesn't (and CAN'T) understand is that it can't exist independently of its own striving (since struggling and scheming is how it creates itself, is how it gets to keep on 'existing').

]]> No strategy can ever help us become free from anxiety (or any other neurotic condition). We can't fight our way to freedom, we can never get so good at manipulation as to no longer NEED to manipulate (or control). The ego-concept is big on striving / controlling and what it is essentially trying to do here is to FREE itself from the need to keep on struggling and striving and scheming (because all of this is so terribly wearisome). What it doesn't (and CAN'T) understand is that it can't exist independently of its own striving (since struggling and scheming is how it creates itself, is how it gets to keep on 'existing').

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19462734 Wed, 08 Jul 2026 04:00:00 -0400 734 full false Shaitan The Whisperer Shaitan The Whisperer The age-old 'war' between the Principle of Light and the Principle of Darkness (between Ahura Mazda on the one side and Ahriman on the other) may be seen as a metaphor for the war between consciousness and rational thought (which seeks to 'pull everything down to its level', so to speak). This way of understanding the essential dualistic myth is however not at all to our liking since we identify with thought, and not with consciousness. In our society we worship thought. and this - needless to say - doesn't do us any favours at all....

]]> The age-old 'war' between the Principle of Light and the Principle of Darkness (between Ahura Mazda on the one side and Ahriman on the other) may be seen as a metaphor for the war between consciousness and rational thought (which seeks to 'pull everything down to its level', so to speak). This way of understanding the essential dualistic myth is however not at all to our liking since we identify with thought, and not with consciousness. In our society we worship thought. and this - needless to say - doesn't do us any favours at all....

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19443948 Wed, 08 Jul 2026 04:00:00 -0400 351 full false Pretending Mode [2] Pretending Mode [2] Instead of talking about 'pretending' [see Pretending Mode 1] we could talk in terms of bluffing - we bluff our way through life and we do so without facing the fact that this is what we're doing. If we 'faced the fact' then that would be the end of our bluff right there, so obviously that's no good! What we call 'neurosis' is where this bluff starts to disintegrate on us, and we try to fix it by 'identifying more strongly with the sufferer' , as psychotherapist Greg Tucker says. The mental health services exist to help us in this strategy...

]]> Instead of talking about 'pretending' [see Pretending Mode 1] we could talk in terms of bluffing - we bluff our way through life and we do so without facing the fact that this is what we're doing. If we 'faced the fact' then that would be the end of our bluff right there, so obviously that's no good! What we call 'neurosis' is where this bluff starts to disintegrate on us, and we try to fix it by 'identifying more strongly with the sufferer' , as psychotherapist Greg Tucker says. The mental health services exist to help us in this strategy...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19450970 Mon, 06 Jul 2026 04:00:00 -0400 493 full false Paradoxicality in mental health (1) Paradoxicality in mental health (1) An example of paradoxicality in mental health is found in 2 Corinthians 12:10 - "...for when i am weak, then I am strong."

]]> An example of paradoxicality in mental health is found in 2 Corinthians 12:10 - "...for when i am weak, then I am strong."

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19443930 Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 -0400 480 full false Autonomy [1] Autonomy [1] If I can't drop my agenda then I am a slave to it - I have no autonomy in this situation at all. We see this backwards however - we see autonomy in terms of being able to push through our agendas, in terms of being able to attain all of the goals that we are being pressurized to attain. We don't actually know what the word 'autonomy' means, therefore. We're clueless.... 

]]> If I can't drop my agenda then I am a slave to it - I have no autonomy in this situation at all. We see this backwards however - we see autonomy in terms of being able to push through our agendas, in terms of being able to attain all of the goals that we are being pressurized to attain. We don't actually know what the word 'autonomy' means, therefore. We're clueless.... 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19365898 Thu, 18 Jun 2026 05:00:00 -0400 387 full false Fitting into society [1] Fitting into society [1] The basic 'ignominious thing' that happens to us as we adapt to society is that we take up the identities or roles that are provided for us and then - after this successful act of adaptation - we forget that this isn't who we really are....

]]> The basic 'ignominious thing' that happens to us as we adapt to society is that we take up the identities or roles that are provided for us and then - after this successful act of adaptation - we forget that this isn't who we really are....

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19365733 Thu, 18 Jun 2026 04:00:00 -0400 701 full false Control versus Connection Control versus Connection Where power prevails then there is no love, and vice versa, says Jung, and the same can of course be said for connection. It's the same thing. Our culture is all about control, all about the use of power, and what this means is that there's no room left for there to be actual connection between people. That's the type of world we have created for ourselves...

]]> Where power prevails then there is no love, and vice versa, says Jung, and the same can of course be said for connection. It's the same thing. Our culture is all about control, all about the use of power, and what this means is that there's no room left for there to be actual connection between people. That's the type of world we have created for ourselves...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19330404 Thu, 11 Jun 2026 07:00:00 -0400 663 full false Living above ourselves Living above ourselves We almost always 'live above ourselves', trying to anticipate what we can't anticipate, guessing what we can't guess, assuming what we can't assume. We exist in this thing called 'adult mode', in other words. The more we do this the more problems we make for ourselves however, since living above ourselves (and not be 'on the level' with ourselves) is the same thing as 'living  an unreal life'. 

]]> We almost always 'live above ourselves', trying to anticipate what we can't anticipate, guessing what we can't guess, assuming what we can't assume. We exist in this thing called 'adult mode', in other words. The more we do this the more problems we make for ourselves however, since living above ourselves (and not be 'on the level' with ourselves) is the same thing as 'living  an unreal life'. 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19299141 Fri, 05 Jun 2026 04:00:00 -0400 663 full false The Punishment Never Stops The Punishment Never Stops Once we move into alignment with the collective mind then all the jibes and digs cease and instead we get to feel that we belong, that we are accepted and approved of and all of that. If - for whatever reason - we aren't able to conform successfully (if we can't pull it off correctly) then the negative reinforcement (the 'punishment') will continue until we do. 

]]> Once we move into alignment with the collective mind then all the jibes and digs cease and instead we get to feel that we belong, that we are accepted and approved of and all of that. If - for whatever reason - we aren't able to conform successfully (if we can't pull it off correctly) then the negative reinforcement (the 'punishment') will continue until we do. 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19247096 Wed, 27 May 2026 03:00:00 -0400 787 full false Negative Capability Negative Capability Psychological work does not involve 'forcing ourselves to be a particular way'. That isn't psychological work - that's simply fear. Whenever we find that we are either trying to suppress or promote some particular state of mind then that's fear, then that's a 'mechanical reaction'. Psychological work is when we're actually interested in where we are, not when we're super-busy trying to get somewhere else...

]]> Psychological work does not involve 'forcing ourselves to be a particular way'. That isn't psychological work - that's simply fear. Whenever we find that we are either trying to suppress or promote some particular state of mind then that's fear, then that's a 'mechanical reaction'. Psychological work is when we're actually interested in where we are, not when we're super-busy trying to get somewhere else...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19187563 Sat, 16 May 2026 10:00:00 -0400 378 full false Soul Sickness Soul Sickness We know fair bit about physical sickness these days, but frighteningly little (if anything at all) about Jung refers to as 'sickness of the soul'. We don't acknowledge that there is such a thing. This doesn't mean that we won't 'learn about it in time', it just means that the 'learning' will occur against our will, via a shed-load of grueling mental suffering.... 

]]> We know fair bit about physical sickness these days, but frighteningly little (if anything at all) about Jung refers to as 'sickness of the soul'. We don't acknowledge that there is such a thing. This doesn't mean that we won't 'learn about it in time', it just means that the 'learning' will occur against our will, via a shed-load of grueling mental suffering.... 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19187510 Sat, 16 May 2026 10:00:00 -0400 596 full false Mental Health versus Control Mental Health versus Control We conflate 'mental health' and 'control' (or 'regulation') such that - as far as we're concerned - the more control we have the better off we will be, mental health-wise. This is clearly not the case - the more we try to control or regulate ourselves the more brittle, rigid and reactive we become. Control precludes spontaneity and without spontaneity life turns into a mere mechanical chore - it becomes a futile 'meaningless task' that we have to validate as best we can with our nonsensical ideologies and beliefs. 

]]> We conflate 'mental health' and 'control' (or 'regulation') such that - as far as we're concerned - the more control we have the better off we will be, mental health-wise. This is clearly not the case - the more we try to control or regulate ourselves the more brittle, rigid and reactive we become. Control precludes spontaneity and without spontaneity life turns into a mere mechanical chore - it becomes a futile 'meaningless task' that we have to validate as best we can with our nonsensical ideologies and beliefs. 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19181216 Fri, 15 May 2026 04:00:00 -0400 679 full false Wholeness Wholeness Society pretends to be one thing, but really it's quite another.

]]> Society pretends to be one thing, but really it's quite another.

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19175394 Thu, 14 May 2026 05:00:00 -0400 344 full false Western Mindfulness [1] Western Mindfulness [1] Western mindfulness is 'mindfulness with an agenda', the problem here being that when mindfulness has an agenda then it isn't mindfulness. It's not mindfulness but control.

]]> Western mindfulness is 'mindfulness with an agenda', the problem here being that when mindfulness has an agenda then it isn't mindfulness. It's not mindfulness but control.

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19175375 Thu, 14 May 2026 05:00:00 -0400 768 full false Advantage Seeking [1] Advantage Seeking [1] No one ever improved their mental health - as we like to say - by 'seeking the advantage'. when we seek the advantage then this isn't to our advantage. 'Nothing fails like success', says Alan Watts....

]]> No one ever improved their mental health - as we like to say - by 'seeking the advantage'. when we seek the advantage then this isn't to our advantage. 'Nothing fails like success', says Alan Watts....

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19175359 Thu, 14 May 2026 04:00:00 -0400 777 full false The State of Psychological Naivety [1] The State of Psychological Naivety [1] There is no shame in being 'psychologically naive' - what we're doing in our culture is enforcing this state by trying to say that our ridiculous naivety in psychological matters is actually 'knowledge'. It isn't knowledge, however - it's a cultural artifact that is supported by ream upon ream of vapid pseudoscience...

]]> There is no shame in being 'psychologically naive' - what we're doing in our culture is enforcing this state by trying to say that our ridiculous naivety in psychological matters is actually 'knowledge'. It isn't knowledge, however - it's a cultural artifact that is supported by ream upon ream of vapid pseudoscience...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19139495 Thu, 07 May 2026 04:00:00 -0400 933 full false Communication [1] Communication [1] Communication isn't what we think it is.

]]> Communication isn't what we think it is.

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-19095635 Wed, 29 Apr 2026 04:00:00 -0400 612 full false The Seeing Is The Doing The Seeing Is The Doing Nick Buzzsprout-18998328 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 11:00:00 -0400 504 full false Judging Judging Nick Buzzsprout-18998316 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 11:00:00 -0400 533 full false Social Interaction Social Interaction Any social interactions is usually an ambush - it's an ambush because what's generally going on is control not communication. We're being given someone else's mind, someone else's world-view, and this is control rather than communication. Conditioned human beings CAN'T communicate (because they aren't free to do so) - all we can do when we have been conditioned is transmit this conditioning, this programming, on to others (if we can get away with it)...

]]> Any social interactions is usually an ambush - it's an ambush because what's generally going on is control not communication. We're being given someone else's mind, someone else's world-view, and this is control rather than communication. Conditioned human beings CAN'T communicate (because they aren't free to do so) - all we can do when we have been conditioned is transmit this conditioning, this programming, on to others (if we can get away with it)...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18998301 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 11:00:00 -0400 455 full false The Predator Gives Us Its Mind The Predator Gives Us Its Mind Communication can only occur on a level playing field (which is to say, when no one voice is given greater weight of validity than any other), and this is precisely what NEVER happens in society! Society is all about conforming to the dominant narrative and the only way to be granted a voice is by proving our conformity, by earning the right to have a voice as result of 'successful social adaption'. There is no communication in the social sphere therefore - only the endless repetition of the 'approved formula' - and in this case we can echo Carlos Castaneda in saying that 'the Predator has given us its mind'...

]]> Communication can only occur on a level playing field (which is to say, when no one voice is given greater weight of validity than any other), and this is precisely what NEVER happens in society! Society is all about conforming to the dominant narrative and the only way to be granted a voice is by proving our conformity, by earning the right to have a voice as result of 'successful social adaption'. There is no communication in the social sphere therefore - only the endless repetition of the 'approved formula' - and in this case we can echo Carlos Castaneda in saying that 'the Predator has given us its mind'...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18998271 Sat, 11 Apr 2026 10:00:00 -0400 410 full false Self-blaming [2] Self-blaming [2] Self-blaming is a mechanical reflex that we are powerless to stop. It isn't really us blaming ourselves however, it's the thinking mind. The thinking mind is a mechanical reflex that controls us rather than vice versa.  

]]> Self-blaming is a mechanical reflex that we are powerless to stop. It isn't really us blaming ourselves however, it's the thinking mind. The thinking mind is a mechanical reflex that controls us rather than vice versa.  

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18911099 Thu, 26 Mar 2026 04:00:00 -0400 519 full false Self-blaming [1] Self-blaming [1] Self-blaming is a mechanical reflex that we are powerless to stop. It isn't really us blaming ourselves however, it's the thinking mind. The thinking mind is a mechanical reflex that controls us rather than vice versa. 

]]> Self-blaming is a mechanical reflex that we are powerless to stop. It isn't really us blaming ourselves however, it's the thinking mind. The thinking mind is a mechanical reflex that controls us rather than vice versa. 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18911077 Thu, 26 Mar 2026 04:00:00 -0400 538 full false Approval and Disapproval [2] Approval and Disapproval [2] To belong to a group we must conform to its rules, but this means we are 'putting the rules above ourselves', and doing this leaves us 'wide open to being abused and exploited by the system'... 

]]> To belong to a group we must conform to its rules, but this means we are 'putting the rules above ourselves', and doing this leaves us 'wide open to being abused and exploited by the system'... 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18821732 Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0400 456 full false Inequality and Control Inequality and Control Mental health and 'autonomy' are one and the same thing. Power compromises autonomy - it eventually destroys it entirely - and because we live in a world that is BASED on control, that is ALL ABOUT control, we completely disregard the whole topic. We won't talk about it...

]]> Mental health and 'autonomy' are one and the same thing. Power compromises autonomy - it eventually destroys it entirely - and because we live in a world that is BASED on control, that is ALL ABOUT control, we completely disregard the whole topic. We won't talk about it...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18821707 Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:00:00 -0400 459 full false Controlling the controller (1) Controlling the controller (1) To paraphrase Alan watts: We try to instruct ourselves to change (so that we can be a way that is more to our liking) but the one who needs to be changed is the one doing the instructing.

]]> To paraphrase Alan watts: We try to instruct ourselves to change (so that we can be a way that is more to our liking) but the one who needs to be changed is the one doing the instructing.

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18798619 Thu, 05 Mar 2026 17:00:00 -0500 610 full false When we can't help interfering When we can't help interfering Mental health can't be brought about in any sort of 'procedural' way, no matter how sophisticated the procedures may be. Mental health is not a goal, but rather it is something that appears by itself when we stop compulsively interfering...

]]> Mental health can't be brought about in any sort of 'procedural' way, no matter how sophisticated the procedures may be. Mental health is not a goal, but rather it is something that appears by itself when we stop compulsively interfering...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18791389 Wed, 04 Mar 2026 16:00:00 -0500 556 full false Exposure to reality [1] Exposure to reality [1] When we disagree we agree without meaning to. 'Disagreeing' isn't empowering, therefore - it's a sucker move...

]]> When we disagree we agree without meaning to. 'Disagreeing' isn't empowering, therefore - it's a sucker move...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18790307 Wed, 04 Mar 2026 14:00:00 -0500 537 full false Paradoxical Change Paradoxical Change The measure of our lack of psychological insight as a culture is our deep conviction that it is possible for us to change ourselves, change our 'inner state', just because we want to! This is pure, dumb wish-fulfillment that is driven by our profound unwillingness to face reality...

]]> The measure of our lack of psychological insight as a culture is our deep conviction that it is possible for us to change ourselves, change our 'inner state', just because we want to! This is pure, dumb wish-fulfillment that is driven by our profound unwillingness to face reality...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18760248 Fri, 27 Feb 2026 05:00:00 -0500 562 full false Universal Exploitation Universal Exploitation Psychological insulation is psychic death, yet if we don't insulate we become subject to exploitation. The world we live in - we might say - is a predatory one that sells itself as being our friend... 

]]> Psychological insulation is psychic death, yet if we don't insulate we become subject to exploitation. The world we live in - we might say - is a predatory one that sells itself as being our friend... 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18745139 Wed, 25 Feb 2026 04:00:00 -0500 407 full false Not Accepting Isn't Disagreement Not Accepting Isn't Disagreement Just because we don't accept someone's reality doesn't mean that we disagree with them. If we disagree with someone that means we are essentially in agreement with them.

]]> Just because we don't accept someone's reality doesn't mean that we disagree with them. If we disagree with someone that means we are essentially in agreement with them.

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18745121 Wed, 25 Feb 2026 04:00:00 -0500 344 full false Psychological Defence Psychological Defence To safeguard ourselves psychologically in everyday life we have to be able to 'bite back' - if we aren't for whatever reason able to do this then we will be exploited to the hilt by practically everyone we meet...

]]> To safeguard ourselves psychologically in everyday life we have to be able to 'bite back' - if we aren't for whatever reason able to do this then we will be exploited to the hilt by practically everyone we meet...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18745098 Wed, 25 Feb 2026 03:00:00 -0500 516 full false Mental Wellness Mental Wellness If mental wellness is another way of talking about our autonomy then this means that society - without any question at all - is the enemy of our mental health.

]]> If mental wellness is another way of talking about our autonomy then this means that society - without any question at all - is the enemy of our mental health.

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18745077 Wed, 25 Feb 2026 03:00:00 -0500 489 full false The Default Response The Default Response Our default reaction to emotional pain is either to repress it or act it out. The possibility of doing neither never occurs to us. 

]]> Our default reaction to emotional pain is either to repress it or act it out. The possibility of doing neither never occurs to us. 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18745036 Wed, 25 Feb 2026 03:00:00 -0500 562 full false The War [2] The War [2]  Everyday life is a war zone. Thought is at war with our essential awareness, seeking to manage and regulate it down to the nth degree. We could also make the point that it looks very much as if thought (the tendency to systematize everything, to put everything in classes) has already won... 

]]>  Everyday life is a war zone. Thought is at war with our essential awareness, seeking to manage and regulate it down to the nth degree. We could also make the point that it looks very much as if thought (the tendency to systematize everything, to put everything in classes) has already won... 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18648428 Mon, 09 Feb 2026 08:00:00 -0500 572 full false The War [1] The War [1] Everyday life is a war zone. Thought is at war with our essential awareness, seeking to manage and regulate it down to the nth degree. We could also make the point that it looks very much as if thought (the tendency to systematize everything, to put everything in classes) has already won...

]]> Everyday life is a war zone. Thought is at war with our essential awareness, seeking to manage and regulate it down to the nth degree. We could also make the point that it looks very much as if thought (the tendency to systematize everything, to put everything in classes) has already won...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18648407 Mon, 09 Feb 2026 08:00:00 -0500 537 full false Self Abuse Self Abuse The more we try to 'fix' self-obsession the more obsessed we become and there is absolutely no way around this. If I try to be less self-obsessed I become more obsessed I become instead. This is why so much that passes for spirituality is merely an act. 

]]> The more we try to 'fix' self-obsession the more obsessed we become and there is absolutely no way around this. If I try to be less self-obsessed I become more obsessed I become instead. This is why so much that passes for spirituality is merely an act. 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18634481 Fri, 06 Feb 2026 04:00:00 -0500 754 full false Permission To Be Permission To Be When we come into this world we aren't given unconditional 'permission to be', we are given conditional permission, which means that we have to spend all our lives trying to meet these conditions...

]]> When we come into this world we aren't given unconditional 'permission to be', we are given conditional permission, which means that we have to spend all our lives trying to meet these conditions...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18595050 Fri, 30 Jan 2026 04:00:00 -0500 534 full false The Power Structure (1) The Power Structure (1) We live in a world where everything is about power (i.e. the ability to move other people without being vulnerable to being moved oneself) and this power - for the most part - works invisibly.

]]> We live in a world where everything is about power (i.e. the ability to move other people without being vulnerable to being moved oneself) and this power - for the most part - works invisibly.

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18562623 Sat, 24 Jan 2026 10:00:00 -0500 677 full false Rules Are A Substitute For Consciousness Rules Are A Substitute For Consciousness "We have to try to cure our faults by attention and not by will." - Simone Weil

]]> "We have to try to cure our faults by attention and not by will." - Simone Weil

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18311645 Sun, 07 Dec 2025 06:00:00 -0500 388 full false Imposing fake realities Imposing fake realities Societal power is the key when it comes to imposing our (fake) reality on others...

]]> Societal power is the key when it comes to imposing our (fake) reality on others...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18113026 Fri, 31 Oct 2025 15:00:00 -0400 485 full false Thinking creates a virtual reality Thinking creates a virtual reality Every time we think we create a virtual reality, and we don't know how to stop thinking...

]]> Every time we think we create a virtual reality, and we don't know how to stop thinking...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18109912 Fri, 31 Oct 2025 05:00:00 -0400 475 full false Mental health can't be attained by following procedures Mental health can't be attained by following procedures Mental health is not a procedural type of thing, and yet procedures are all we know!

]]> Mental health is not a procedural type of thing, and yet procedures are all we know!

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18109886 Fri, 31 Oct 2025 04:00:00 -0400 556 full false The Big Impossibility [1] The Big Impossibility [1] The one thing we can never ever do is change ourselves on purpose...

]]> The one thing we can never ever do is change ourselves on purpose...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-18103836 Thu, 30 Oct 2025 05:00:00 -0400 444 full false Addiction [2] Addiction [2] The addiction we never see as such is the addiction to our super-narrow system of thinking. We're addicted to this thinking because it provides us with our idea of who we are, which we are frightened to let go of. 

]]> The addiction we never see as such is the addiction to our super-narrow system of thinking. We're addicted to this thinking because it provides us with our idea of who we are, which we are frightened to let go of. 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-17720031 Sat, 23 Aug 2025 04:00:00 -0400 503 full false Addiction [1] Addiction [1] Our approach to addiction is strictly mechanical in nature (which is to say, it's all about obeying some sort of 'external authority') but the thing about this is that it necessarily involved being addicted to being told what to do by that external authority...

]]> Our approach to addiction is strictly mechanical in nature (which is to say, it's all about obeying some sort of 'external authority') but the thing about this is that it necessarily involved being addicted to being told what to do by that external authority...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-17715227 Fri, 22 Aug 2025 03:00:00 -0400 503 full false Pretending Mode [1] Pretending Mode [1] Everything about us is a bluff - it's a bluff that is automatically validated by the social system that we are embedded in, but it's a bluff all the same. It is - moreover - a bluff that is very hard for us to see... 

]]> Everything about us is a bluff - it's a bluff that is automatically validated by the social system that we are embedded in, but it's a bluff all the same. It is - moreover - a bluff that is very hard for us to see... 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-17683710 Sun, 17 Aug 2025 13:00:00 -0400 452 full false The Tokenistic Universe [3] The Tokenistic Universe [3] The way everyday 'normal' life works is that we are sublimely unaware that we are imposing a logical framework on the world and then only taking notice of stuff that agrees with this FW - if we were to start being aware of this covert action (which the mind is constantly carrying out) then our 'normal, everyday life' would quickly become impossible for us. Things would have to change. This however is precisely what we DON'T want to happen...

]]> The way everyday 'normal' life works is that we are sublimely unaware that we are imposing a logical framework on the world and then only taking notice of stuff that agrees with this FW - if we were to start being aware of this covert action (which the mind is constantly carrying out) then our 'normal, everyday life' would quickly become impossible for us. Things would have to change. This however is precisely what we DON'T want to happen...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-17680493 Sat, 16 Aug 2025 15:00:00 -0400 596 full false The Tokenistic Universe [2] The Tokenistic Universe [2] Every time we think (which is the overt action) we also perform another action, a covert one, which is to assume a context within which that thought, that 'statement of fact', actually makes sense...

]]> Every time we think (which is the overt action) we also perform another action, a covert one, which is to assume a context within which that thought, that 'statement of fact', actually makes sense...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-17661388 Tue, 12 Aug 2025 16:00:00 -0400 482 full false The Tokenistic Universe [1] The Tokenistic Universe [1] When we think we create a virtual reality construct which we proceed to inhabit as if it weren't a virtual reality construct...

]]> When we think we create a virtual reality construct which we proceed to inhabit as if it weren't a virtual reality construct...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-17647505 Sun, 10 Aug 2025 12:00:00 -0400 475 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [21] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [21] Nick Buzzsprout-13678032 Thu, 28 Sep 2023 05:00:00 -0400 736 full false The Circle of Controlling The Circle of Controlling Nick Buzzsprout-13641435 Fri, 22 Sep 2023 14:00:00 -0400 634 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [20] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [20] 'The loss of the child' - Part 2

]]> 'The loss of the child' - Part 2

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-13471833 Fri, 25 Aug 2023 16:00:00 -0400 832 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [19] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [19] 'Inner child' corresponds to 'Spontaneous Mode' 

]]> 'Inner child' corresponds to 'Spontaneous Mode' 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-13466387 Thu, 24 Aug 2023 17:00:00 -0400 800 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [18] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [18] Nick Buzzsprout-13371768 Tue, 08 Aug 2023 14:00:00 -0400 657 full false Unreal Striving Unreal Striving Audio version of article

]]> Audio version of article

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-13325315 Mon, 31 Jul 2023 17:00:00 -0400 246 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [16] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [16] Nick Buzzsprout-13288602 Tue, 25 Jul 2023 16:00:00 -0400 657 full false Taking Away Our Own Freedom Taking Away Our Own Freedom Our strategy in life is to compel ourselves to change by FORCING - which is to say, by 'taking away our own freedom to do  otherwise'.

]]> Our strategy in life is to compel ourselves to change by FORCING - which is to say, by 'taking away our own freedom to do  otherwise'.

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-13262072 Fri, 21 Jul 2023 04:00:00 -0400 856 full false Working With Emotional Pain [1] Working With Emotional Pain [1] Nick Buzzsprout-13135758 Thu, 29 Jun 2023 19:00:00 -0400 602 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [15] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [15] There can be no such thing as 'concrete goals' in mental health because we don't know what mental health is!

]]> There can be no such thing as 'concrete goals' in mental health because we don't know what mental health is!

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-13119875 Tue, 27 Jun 2023 17:00:00 -0400 697 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [14] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [14] By trying to take control we become stuck.

]]> By trying to take control we become stuck.

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-13080564 Wed, 21 Jun 2023 05:00:00 -0400 745 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [13] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [13] Social anxiety is where we can't fit into the matrix like everyone else can...

]]> Social anxiety is where we can't fit into the matrix like everyone else can...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-13007574 Fri, 09 Jun 2023 06:00:00 -0400 734 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [12] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [12] Nick Buzzsprout-12967267 Fri, 02 Jun 2023 11:00:00 -0400 692 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [11] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [11] Nick Buzzsprout-12785987 Thu, 04 May 2023 16:00:00 -0400 612 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [10] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [10] Nick Buzzsprout-12440163 Tue, 14 Mar 2023 14:00:00 -0400 932 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [9] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [9] Nick Buzzsprout-12407685 Thu, 09 Mar 2023 10:00:00 -0500 776 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [8] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [8] Nick Buzzsprout-12386312 Mon, 06 Mar 2023 14:00:00 -0500 858 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [7] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [7] Nick Buzzsprout-12369763 Fri, 03 Mar 2023 15:00:00 -0500 876 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [6] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [6] Nick Buzzsprout-12338922 Mon, 27 Feb 2023 14:00:00 -0500 733 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [5] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [5] Nick Buzzsprout-12326389 Sat, 25 Feb 2023 13:00:00 -0500 700 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [4] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [4] Nick Buzzsprout-12323116 Fri, 24 Feb 2023 16:00:00 -0500 759 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [3] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [3] To be continuously striving for the advantage, and never being put off by any set-backs, is held up as the ideal way to be in our culture. We are exhorted to 'try, try and try again'. This message is essentially one of denial however! If we were truly 'intelligent' we would examine what we're trying to do (in a reflective rather than a logical / analytic way) and see if this changes our outlook. We're not machines, after all - unlike machines, we can be reflective about our situation, and this 'non-machine quality' is what can help us, not the obstinate perseverance  with our agendas and goals, no matter how badly that might be going for us...

]]> To be continuously striving for the advantage, and never being put off by any set-backs, is held up as the ideal way to be in our culture. We are exhorted to 'try, try and try again'. This message is essentially one of denial however! If we were truly 'intelligent' we would examine what we're trying to do (in a reflective rather than a logical / analytic way) and see if this changes our outlook. We're not machines, after all - unlike machines, we can be reflective about our situation, and this 'non-machine quality' is what can help us, not the obstinate perseverance  with our agendas and goals, no matter how badly that might be going for us...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-12312873 Thu, 23 Feb 2023 10:00:00 -0500 698 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [2] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [2] Nick Buzzsprout-12307249 Wed, 22 Feb 2023 14:00:00 -0500 634 full false The Negative Approach To Anxiety [1] The Negative Approach To Anxiety [1] Most therapeutic approaches to anxiety are 'positive' in the sense that they offer methods that are said to provide a helpful way of working with the condition.  There is however no 'method' that can help with anxiety - we live in a culture that is based on the principle of controlling and rationalizing everything and so the idea that there can be such a thing as a 'method' to help us stop worrying or a 'strategy to deal with anxiety sounds eminently reasonable to us.  This is merely our cultural bias though - any reflection the matter will show that the idea of being able to control anxiety when it is our over-emphasis on controlling (which is to say, our neuroticism) that breeds the anxiety in the first place to be necessarily self-contradictory. 

]]> Most therapeutic approaches to anxiety are 'positive' in the sense that they offer methods that are said to provide a helpful way of working with the condition.  There is however no 'method' that can help with anxiety - we live in a culture that is based on the principle of controlling and rationalizing everything and so the idea that there can be such a thing as a 'method' to help us stop worrying or a 'strategy to deal with anxiety sounds eminently reasonable to us.  This is merely our cultural bias though - any reflection the matter will show that the idea of being able to control anxiety when it is our over-emphasis on controlling (which is to say, our neuroticism) that breeds the anxiety in the first place to be necessarily self-contradictory. 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-12300250 Tue, 21 Feb 2023 16:00:00 -0500 595 full false Projecting Positive Space Projecting Positive Space Everywhere we go we project a bubble of positive (or 'defined') ahead of us, so to speak, such that we can't actually leave this thought bubble, What's more, we're not able to know that we are 'living in a thought bubble'; we're not able to know that because we don't know anything else, we never come across anything else and so we think that this is all there is. Needless to say, this has psychological implications the nature of which we are quite unaware. We're unaware of what's going on here, but that doesn't mean that we don't suffer from them, because we most certainly do...

]]> Everywhere we go we project a bubble of positive (or 'defined') ahead of us, so to speak, such that we can't actually leave this thought bubble, What's more, we're not able to know that we are 'living in a thought bubble'; we're not able to know that because we don't know anything else, we never come across anything else and so we think that this is all there is. Needless to say, this has psychological implications the nature of which we are quite unaware. We're unaware of what's going on here, but that doesn't mean that we don't suffer from them, because we most certainly do...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-10832168 Tue, 21 Jun 2022 16:00:00 -0400 1418 full false There is no method to stop worrying There is no method to stop worrying What ‘mental health’ consists of is a complete mystery. It doesn’t sound right to say this of course because we always think of mental health as being something that exists between specified parameters, as being some kind of defined set of normative values. Nothing could be further from the truth however – mental health is a disequilibrium state, not an equilibrium one. It’s not part of the ‘Realm of the Known’ at all – it’s ‘off the chart’! It's not on any of our maps...

]]> What ‘mental health’ consists of is a complete mystery. It doesn’t sound right to say this of course because we always think of mental health as being something that exists between specified parameters, as being some kind of defined set of normative values. Nothing could be further from the truth however – mental health is a disequilibrium state, not an equilibrium one. It’s not part of the ‘Realm of the Known’ at all – it’s ‘off the chart’! It's not on any of our maps...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-9817890 Sun, 02 Jan 2022 09:00:00 -0500 1322 full false The Direction Of Increasing Newness The Direction Of Increasing Newness What happens when we are ‘afraid of newness’? What are the dynamics of this particular sort of situation? What consequences can we expect from it? What sort of process will ensue as a result of the situation where we are afraid of newness, afraid of change? The answer to these questions ought to be very well known to us given that this is the situation of just about every human being you are ever going to meet! We’re all afraid of newness. We’re all neophobic – inasmuch as we are identified with a mind-created notion of who or what we are, we cannot help being afraid of anything that is genuinely new. ‘Being afraid of newness’ is the key attitude that creates the self – neophobia is what makes the self be the self. There’s no such thing as a ‘non-neophobic self’, in other words!

]]> What happens when we are ‘afraid of newness’? What are the dynamics of this particular sort of situation? What consequences can we expect from it? What sort of process will ensue as a result of the situation where we are afraid of newness, afraid of change? The answer to these questions ought to be very well known to us given that this is the situation of just about every human being you are ever going to meet! We’re all afraid of newness. We’re all neophobic – inasmuch as we are identified with a mind-created notion of who or what we are, we cannot help being afraid of anything that is genuinely new. ‘Being afraid of newness’ is the key attitude that creates the self – neophobia is what makes the self be the self. There’s no such thing as a ‘non-neophobic self’, in other words!

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-8712271 Wed, 16 Jun 2021 07:00:00 -0400 1343 full false The Cosmic Struggle The Cosmic Struggle One of the oldest, most fundamental myths is that of the conflict between the two opposing forces of Light and Darkness – the Eternal War. Every culture has its own version of this story – this is such a commonly encountered theme that we have grown blind to its psychological significance. It has become a cliché, a stereotype. We ‘tune out’ when we hear it. We think we know what it means. We have become blasé about it and so the myth has quite lost its power. 

]]> One of the oldest, most fundamental myths is that of the conflict between the two opposing forces of Light and Darkness – the Eternal War. Every culture has its own version of this story – this is such a commonly encountered theme that we have grown blind to its psychological significance. It has become a cliché, a stereotype. We ‘tune out’ when we hear it. We think we know what it means. We have become blasé about it and so the myth has quite lost its power. 

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-8705506 Tue, 15 Jun 2021 05:00:00 -0400 1298 full false The Great Amoeba The Great Amoeba The old amoeba has been around for a good while and it is wise in its tactics. Instead of fighting to eradicate its competitors (and anything that is not it automatically constitutes a competitor to the rudimentary viral logic of the giant metaphysical amoeba) the thing that we are talking about learns all about its enemies, woos them, absorbs them into its self, and then manufactures a copy that – superficially-speaking at least – exactly resembles the original article. Then – and only then – does it dispose of its competitor.

]]> The old amoeba has been around for a good while and it is wise in its tactics. Instead of fighting to eradicate its competitors (and anything that is not it automatically constitutes a competitor to the rudimentary viral logic of the giant metaphysical amoeba) the thing that we are talking about learns all about its enemies, woos them, absorbs them into its self, and then manufactures a copy that – superficially-speaking at least – exactly resembles the original article. Then – and only then – does it dispose of its competitor.

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-8686171 Fri, 11 Jun 2021 13:00:00 -0400 1345 full false Going Astray Going Astray Nick Buzzsprout-8307936 Sat, 10 Apr 2021 09:00:00 -0400 1378 full false Mother Hulda Mother Hulda The thinking mind can do nothing but copy - in everything it does, it copies (or repeats) its core assumptions, over and over again. More than this, when thought encounters something in the world around it, it copies it, it renders it in its own terms. When thought encounters reality it copies it, and produces its own inferior duplicate, and this is Baudrillard's hyperreality. Copies always invert the value of what is being copied however, and what we hope to gain turns to dust in our grasp, as the traditional fairy tale of Mother Hulda shows.

]]> The thinking mind can do nothing but copy - in everything it does, it copies (or repeats) its core assumptions, over and over again. More than this, when thought encounters something in the world around it, it copies it, it renders it in its own terms. When thought encounters reality it copies it, and produces its own inferior duplicate, and this is Baudrillard's hyperreality. Copies always invert the value of what is being copied however, and what we hope to gain turns to dust in our grasp, as the traditional fairy tale of Mother Hulda shows.

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-8233982 Mon, 29 Mar 2021 14:00:00 -0400 1470 full false Crazy Train [II] Crazy Train [II] Just as long as we remain identified with the purposeful self in its headlong question to reach its goals we can't see any problem with our situation. Bring a bit of awareness into the situation and what we see then is a whole different story however! This actually isn't a story that we want to see, and that's putting it mildly....

]]> Just as long as we remain identified with the purposeful self in its headlong question to reach its goals we can't see any problem with our situation. Bring a bit of awareness into the situation and what we see then is a whole different story however! This actually isn't a story that we want to see, and that's putting it mildly....

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-8233672 Mon, 29 Mar 2021 14:00:00 -0400 1364 full false Crazy Train Crazy Train Our fortunes are hitched to a mental construct that we can't see to be a construct, and this construct is our idea of who who we are, our concept of who we are. Everything we do is on this basis and we are not free ever to question our basis, or look at it in any realistic way...

]]> Our fortunes are hitched to a mental construct that we can't see to be a construct, and this construct is our idea of who who we are, our concept of who we are. Everything we do is on this basis and we are not free ever to question our basis, or look at it in any realistic way...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-8220567 Sat, 27 Mar 2021 06:00:00 -0400 1403 full false Doom-Seeking Behaviour Doom-Seeking Behaviour When we seek equilibrium we are seeking the absence of change or 'newness' and yet - in our normal modality of being - this is all we can do. This is - however - not at all healthy! Neophobia as a way of life isn't 'healthy - it brings great suffering, great alienation. When we seek equilibrium (or 'the never-ending re-affirmation of the known') we are actually running away from the challenge of life itself...

]]> When we seek equilibrium we are seeking the absence of change or 'newness' and yet - in our normal modality of being - this is all we can do. This is - however - not at all healthy! Neophobia as a way of life isn't 'healthy - it brings great suffering, great alienation. When we seek equilibrium (or 'the never-ending re-affirmation of the known') we are actually running away from the challenge of life itself...

]]> Nick Buzzsprout-8220554 Sat, 27 Mar 2021 06:00:00 -0400 1349 full false