Ali, Twister of Brains

I recently had a fun text exchange with my friend, Ali. She has a sharp mind, a quick wit, and a wonderful outlook on life. She's good peeps. And she has a great blog too. You should check it out! http://alirothlizzi.blogspot.com/?m=1

She occasionally helps me twist my brain up, then helps me untwist it back again. Though it is often no longer the same shape it was originally in, I appreciate her because my brain needs reshaping every once in a while. I think everyone's brains can benefit from the occasional twistarooni.

Here is an excerpt from one of the aforementioned twistings of my brain. Enjoy!

...Of course, if technology increases almost exponentially, and if Hawking was right and we could (or did) open a black hole with our Hadron Collider and Mandela Effects are indeed residue from our jumping through spacetime, and all things are possible, then I choose to believe it’s me at the end. It’s very solipsistic but, I guess I have trust issues.

Hold on, I gotta look up a couple words...

So, to explain, while I enjoy dipping my toes into a warm pool of philosophical ideas, I'm not exactly trained. I've read a couple of books, and had many long conversations under the stars (and under the influence). But I've never taken a class on the subject. My mind expansion has always been... less formal. Ali, on the other hand, is a teacher. So I imagine her credentials to be quite vast. In other words, she knows what the hell she's talking about. I, on the other hand, am sitting in the shallow end of this philosophical pool wearing an inflatable duckie inner tube around my waist with floaties on my arms, and I still pinch my nose when I dare to duck beneath the surface. So keep this in mind when you inevitably discover how simple my end of the conversation is compared to Ali's.

You know, as a kid, I used to fantasize that everyone around me were mindless robots that were merely actors on a stage centered around me. Their purpose was to perpetuate my perception that everything was normal and this is life. "Move along now, nothing to see here. Don't question your reality. These aren't the droids you're looking for." So, I suppose that also falls into a solipsistic (I had to Google this) view on things as well. Honestly, this one still pops up occasionally in my mind.

Yeah. I mean psychologically it’s problematic. But, I kind of believe it to a certain point. There must be others out there, or aspects I clearly don’t understand, but as a model this solves the wave/particle duality that I just couldn't handle any other way.

At this point, it took me a while to respond.

Sorry, it's so hard to talk philosophy when I've got children coming up to me to complain about their sibling, my work calling in response to COVID questions, my uncle calling for help with something, and 5" of freshly fallen snow begging to be snowblowed by my new toy that needs to be tested out for the first time. Everything calling out to me at the same time (doesn't life know my ADHD can't process all this?) and everything needs my attention to "fix it". If I didn't know better, I'd wonder if the simulation creator was trying to distract me from thinking about the simulation.

LOL. Love it. I have thoughts like that all the time.

Kindred spirits, dude.

Def

But that’s a great point I’m also obsessed with. Just for shits and giggles, I almost always ascribe meaning to every event. That is what makes me feel like I’m conversing with the universe. I write about this a lot in my blog, but it gets very complex very fast. I find living this way is exciting.

But, now the question begs... What is your purpose in my simulation? Particularly if you are enticing me with questioning the universe and prying my lax brain from the clutches of the simulation's overbearing motherly embrace? Does the simulation want me to question its existence or not?!

Curious, ever read Celestine Prophesy?

We are all each other’s angels and demons, my friend. http://alirothlizzi.blogspot.com/2018/06/be-god.html?m=1

You know what’s amazing though? When you imagine people as literal angels and demons giving you really important messages from... something wonderful, you pay attention. You pay attention in a way that forces you to be very present. And this in turn heightens your actual experience.

How's this for synchronicity? I just reread that blog post a couple of nights ago and commented! I'm telling ya... you, my friend, delightfully give me the willies!

Ditto Sir!

So, of course, I've now added The Celestine Prophesy to my audiobook roster to listen to while I'm grinding away on a machine at work. It'll jump in line after the next Brandon Sanderson book (the Mistborn series is a most excellent fantasy world that was suggested to me over the summer and I have subsequently fallen in love with), the next book in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series that I'm about halfway through (for my 3rd pass through this incredible 14 book saga), and the 3rd book in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Addams is an inspiration to me, and I find that my thoughts displayed in "Whatever This Is" are often heavily influenced by his style).

Since I'm having so much fun writing this blog that no one reads, perhaps one day I'll write a book that no one will ever read. Then I could go on a book tour that no one will show up to, sign copies that no one will ask for, and give inspiration to empty audiences with my tale of a humble start as an ignored blogger rising to imagined fame as the author of a non selling book that no one has even ever heard of. I'll call it a conceptual art piece, and long after I'm dead people will look back and say "Never heard of him".

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