Lucid dreams

I've been very busy lately. I've been removing a lot of stuff from my mind that I no longer need. I know it doesn't sound incredible or interesting. But I think it's one of the most useful things you can do. I removed a lot of things that no longer served me and slowed down my growth. I won't go into boring details, because I want this blog to be concise.

While rearranging my mind after a session of cleaning I saw that the program in my mind that deals with optimization and developing skills won't have much to do, when I'm done with the cleaning. So I quickly reviewed lists of skills that I wanted to develop in the past, but nothing seemed to be interesting enough to invest time into it. I decided, that I don't need this program to be active all the time, even if there is no task for it. It just creates discomfort. I modified this program so it can be inactive when it doesn't have anything to do. It was a big relief and I feel like something clicked in my mind, like some new ways were unlocked.

The only skill that I decided to give another try to was lucid dreaming.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_dream

I used to have lucid dreams from time to time. There was a period when I tried to develop this skill and have lucid dreams more often, but with not much success.

It's been many months, maybe even a few years, since I've had a lucid dream. I honestly don't remember the last time I've had one. And even if I had one, I would wake up so easily, that I couldn't try anything interesting. All I could do is to observe, because the moment I tried something special, like altering the dream reality, I would immediately wake up. So it has been many years since I did something interesting in a lucid dream.

Yesterday I decided, that it would be a good experiment to see if I can use my mind programming abilities to induce a lucid dream and do something fun in it.

To be honest, I wasn't very optimistic about it. I almost never use my skill for fun, so I don't have experience in experiments like this. It's been so long since I've had a lucid dream and I wake up so easily. I didn't have high hopes about this.

But I did some reality checks during the day.

https://lucid.fandom.com/wiki/Reality_check

In bed, before sleep, I removed from my mind the belief that I'm too busy to invest time into lucid dreaming and any other beliefs, that might block me. I set an intention to have a lucid dream this night. I thought of using my favorite reality check: trying to breathe in through a closed nose. I also planned that if I have a lucid dream, I will try to meet some aliens.

I don't know how it is possible, but in a dream, I closed my nose with my hand and I tried to breathe in. Then I realized it's a dream and le voila! I was in a lucid dream. At first, I was just walking around my city. I was just observing as I used to because I didn't want to wake up. But I got bored after a while. It was a very long dream. Then I've remembered, that I wanted to meet some aliens, so  I stated that I want to meet some positive aliens. At first, nothing changed, but gradually some aliens started appearing in the city. I tried to approach someone, but no one seemed to be interested in a conversation. The whole scenery was gradually changing into a Star Wars-like theme, with levitating cars and levitating advertising robots. But it was also very cheesy-pastel-japan-robotic. So I don't think I actually encountered something outside my mind. Then the old-film-from-the-projector effect turned on. I saw everything like in a very old movie. I thought it was so cool. I was walking around amazed by all those different robots. I thought that it's such a waste to use this level of advanced technology for such a cheap commercial crap. But it was fun.

The idea was, that if I succeed in inducing a lucid dream this night, I will give it another try and I will try to develop this skill. I didn't think it could work, but it did, so I'll give it a go.

It can be an interesting field of research.

Other main programs of society

Putting on masks, creating an image, showing self only from the best side. There are very few truly authentic people. People put so much effort into creating and sustaining their image. They show themselves as someone who is happy, successful, or as someone who knows the answer to any question.

The need to belong. People want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, a community, movement, etc. It releases them from the responsibility to think for themselves. It gives them a sense of security and power.

Emotions. People are very emotional. They use words to express emotions. For most people, the emotional message is more important, than the information. People believe that emotions are what make them human.

Self-esteem. People generally have low self-esteem. They try to compensate for it in many ways. They try to give the impression, that they are happy, successful, etc. But very often, just one unfavorable opinion is enough to make someone feel bad about himself.

Consumerism. People treat others almost like products, as a means of gratification. People want their interactions to be easy and entertaining. They don't want a friendship that is like a mountain hike. They want hundreds of friendships that are like watching TV and drinking beer. If an interaction is a little bit more difficult and challenging – they don't bother.

Conformity. People need to play by the rules of society to survive and that's what they do. People say and do what is expected of them. They fear being rejected. People keep their heads down because they are afraid of others' reactions.

Impressing others. The funny thing is that the attitude: "Look at me, I'm so cool. You are nothing compared to me." is very not cool. Yet everybody seems to fall into it.
I don't mean only bragging on Facebook about some fancy vacations. I mean almost everybody in almost every interaction. There is a subtle, hidden intention to impress others.

"We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like."
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3v55fs


This post concludes this list of main programs. Maybe I will add something to this list if something comes to my mind. But I think that this list:
https://grzegorzszlakowski.blogspot.com/search/label/list%20of%20programs
is already enough to understand and predict many human behaviors, and if I were to reprogram the society, I'd start there.


I guess, from now on I will write less often. I sill have some ideas that I want to write about, but I've already shared most of what I wanted to share.
Reprogramming one's mind is a very practical subject. It can be learned, but I'm not sure if it can be taught. I think there's not much that can be said theoretically about mind programs. It's best to talk about specific programs in real-life situations. But that requires two-sided communication.
I will write when I feel inspired.

Mind loops

Working with mind programs you can sometimes enter into a loop. It is good to know about this mechanism. A loop happens when a program tries to do something with itself. Probably the most popular example of this mechanism is when you try to relax.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH66zI3312E

The function of trying to relax tries to relax itself. The more you try to relax, the less relaxed you are.

This mechanism usually has weird and unpleasant effects. Especially when you don't know, that your mind is in such a loop.

For example, I had a difficult period many years ago, long before I learned to work with mind programs. For 2 weeks I've been trying to find what's wrong with me because I felt really bad. I felt very tense but I didn't know why, so I tried to find the reason why. I tried and I tried, but I finally gave up. Then suddenly I felt OK.

It is interesting how the mind behaves according to the algorithmic laws. Once it enters a loop, nothing seems to help. No other tools seem to relieve the discomfort. The only solution is to exit this loop.
I mean, it is obvious that you cannot simply format C.
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-format-c-drive-2626123
But the computer is just a machine. The fact that my mind is subject to the same laws and it is painfully impossible for me to prove otherwise, confirms my belief, that my mind is basically made of programs.

I still enter into some loops from time to time. That's why when I feel that something is wrong, but I don't know what, the first thing I do is ask myself if I'm not in some kind of a loop.

Where do mind programs come from?

Where do mind programs come from?
Why people behave the way they do?

I once saw a documentary film in which two sides argued about whether human behavior comes from genes or is shaped by the environment. I was very surprised by it. How can someone believe that human behavior is determined by just one factor? How can someone discard all other factors?
Fortunately, many people accept the idea, that both genes and environment influence human behavior.

The way I see it, there are many factors that influence how we behave. Probably much more than just those two.
From an algorithmic perspective, mind programs don't come out of nowhere. Of course, some simple behaviors, some simple patterns can be a result of a random factor like a genetic mutation or some trauma. But some people show very complex and sophisticated behavior, which is very different from their parents' behavior and very different from anything in this culture, so they didn't learn this behavior from movies, etc. Science ignores it as statistically insignificant. But it's very naive to believe for example, that a person with a very specific and very developed strategy for cooperation is just a random phenomenon. I mean, it is normal that your computer can get a little buggy and it starts to report some errors, but you don't expect it to spontaneously develop a new advanced application. This strategy must have evolved in some environment, probably many individuals have been developing it for a very long time. Because there's not much cooperation here on Earth, it might suggest, that this individual learned this way of cooperation somewhere else. It leads to the conclusion, that besides genes and environment there is something like a soul, that has some experiences prior to this life and it influences this person's behavior.
But there can be many more factors, which influence people's behavior.

Law of attraction

Although I think of myself as a very spiritual person, I try to stay as far as I can from any woo-woo.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/woo-woo
I believe that spirituality doesn't have to be woo-woo. It doesn't have to be unclear and confusing. You don't have to give up common sense to be a spiritual person. I try to avoid using concepts that don't have a clear definition. I try to precisely describe every mechanism so that there's no confusion about how the concepts I introduce work. I try not to speak in a woo-woo way. I think it's important.
I think that most people who speak in a woo-woo way, who can't clearly explain what they mean, are either confused themselves and they don't know what they are talking about, or they are trying to manipulate others.


What is the main idea behind the law of attraction?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_attraction_(New_Thought)
The way I see it, the law of attraction is a very unclear and messy concept, but the general idea is that "like attracts like" and you attract into your life situations that match your state of mind, your thoughts, emotions, what you focus on.
It is a good case study for mind program analysis because it is very popular and very ambiguous. There are many people who are confused about this idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6xCjY39_t0

Does the law of attraction work?

It obviously works in a non-woo-woo way. For example, let's say I go to a party in a T-shirt with the name of my favorite band. Then someone approaches me, he also likes this band and we talk about music. There's nothing surprising or mysterious about it.

There's also nothing mysterious about the fact that when you change your thoughts and emotions towards a certain situation, you also change your behavior and your new behavior has an impact on the situation.

But does it work in a more "magical" way? Is it possible to manifest something directly using just your focus?
I don't know.
It's such a broad topic. This question can be interpreted in so many ways.
If I think about a person and that person calls me, is that law of attraction or "just telepathy"?

When I want to achieve something, my approach is to do what I can and if I can't achieve it – I accept that and I move on.

But let's say the law of attraction works. Let's say that there is a mechanism that I don't fully understand. Is it possible, that everything in our lives happens according to the law of attraction?

When I throw a ball, what determines its trajectory? I'd say initial velocity vector, the force of gravity, air resistance, maybe wind. Claiming that only one factor determines the trajectory of the ball would be unreasonable.
Life is more complex than throwing a ball. Claiming that only the law of attraction determines what happens in somebody's life is unreasonable. There are many mechanisms in this world and the final result is more like a resultant force. For example, when someone loses his job, it could be because of a recession and it can have very little to do with his attitude.

When I put a magnet in the haystack, will the magnet attract the needle? I'd say that depends. Is there a needle in this haystack?
In order to attract something, it has to be there. You won't attract something that doesn't exist or is unobtainable. For example, if someone tries to attract a perfect partner, but there is no right person on this planet, then what does he expect? He won't manifest a perfect partner out of thin air. If the right person wasn't already born, then there's not much he can do about it.

Even if there is such a thing, the law of attraction definitely doesn't seem to be above all other laws of this Universe.
This reality also doesn't seem to be ruled by some woo-woo. It seems to be ruled by very specific mechanisms, like in those two examples. It's good to understand such mechanisms and to be careful with any type of woo-woo.
I'm not saying that our state of being doesn't attract anything into our lives. I'm just saying it's a bad idea to trust some woo-woo over logic and common sense.


It is interesting how people attach a boolean variable to a concept like the law of attraction.
https://grzegorzszlakowski.blogspot.com/2020/04/boolean-data-type.html
They assign value "true" to it because of the authority program.
https://grzegorzszlakowski.blogspot.com/2020/04/authority-program.html
They don't want any kind of proof.
https://grzegorzszlakowski.blogspot.com/2020/04/two-sides-of-same-coin.html
They put it in their Truth Box, believing "The Law of Attraction is the most powerful law in the universe.".
They build their entire model of reality around it, attaching beliefs that support it and discarding everything that doesn't support it.
They spread this idea by teaching it to others.
https://grzegorzszlakowski.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-truth-box.html
They think about it externally.
They don't question it. When they "attract" something negative into their lives, instead of questioning this way of thinking, they believe there must be something wrong with them.
https://grzegorzszlakowski.blogspot.com/2020/04/four-types-of-thinking.html
They are lost in the world of words and concepts.
https://grzegorzszlakowski.blogspot.com/2020/04/good-vs-freedom.html
And they are upset when they can't attract what they want.
https://grzegorzszlakowski.blogspot.com/2020/05/assigning-values.html
This is how I decode people's behavior.
https://grzegorzszlakowski.blogspot.com/2020/03/westworld.html

Marcus Aurelius

I really like this quote:

"God give me patience, to reconcile with what I am not able to change
Give me strength to change what I can
And give me wisdom to distinguish one from another."

- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations


I think it's a good strategy. It's an algorithm that is worth having.

It is so simple:
Do what you can.
Accept what you can't change.
Learn to distinguish one from another.

Many algorithms, that are worth having are simple.

It sounds too trivial to pay close attention to it, doesn't it?
That's why people tend to remember wise words as cool quotes and they go on living their lives according to their programs.

If only they put it into practice…

There are so many teachings and philosophies that seem to not understand this quote.

For example, there's a very popular belief promoted in many spiritual teachings that "Everything is perfect as it is. You don't have to do anything.".
But what if you saw a child on the tracks and an oncoming train? Would you say "Everything is perfect as it is" and do nothing?
I know it's an extreme example, but it actually works like that. Because of this belief, people are passive in situations that require taking action.

Another popular belief: "World is just a reflection of yourself.".
Oh, really? So I can completely change the entire Universe by changing myself?
I'm not saying that the external world doesn't reflect our internal worlds in some aspects. I'm not saying that it's not a useful tool for some people to think like that.
But you won't eliminate world problems just by changing yourself internally.
Many people think that there is something seriously wrong with them because the world and their life conditions reflect it to them.

This is the problem with what I call "talking to the belief system".
The belief from the first example was probably intended to deal with a panic state that there's something wrong and with some desperate pointless attempts to fix it. But it is not very useful as a standalone algorithm.
The belief from the second example was probably intended to help people with a victim mentality take more responsibility for their lives. But it creates a lot of confusion.

The quote from Marcus Aurelius covers all that, but unlike these beliefs, it is very practical.

It doesn't neglect your responsibility.
But it admits, that there are things, that you cannot change.
And it tells you to be smart about it.

Assigning values

What I'm going to describe is a very simple mechanism, but it is responsible for a lot of mental discomfort in this world.

Many people want to have a well-paid job, their own house, they want to get married and have kids, etc. They set a goal. They try to get a good job or to find a life partner. They believe that when they finally reach that goal, they will be satisfied and happy.
But what they are actually doing is they are assigning values. When they set a goal to have money, family, and all of that, they assign a neutral value to it. Mentally they define it as zero. Not good, not bad, just how it's supposed to be. Because the state after reaching the goal is defined as zero, it is only logical that the state before reaching that goal must have a negative value assigned to it.
And that's what people do. They define the present moment, the present situation as negative. They assign a value below zero to how things are.
Because they define what's now as negative, it creates a lot of tension, a lot of resistance, desperation, other negative emotions, and all other dramas.
Not to mention that when they finally reach their goals, they can't enjoy it because they defined it as zero.
It doesn't work like that only for big life goals. It works also for most of the small everyday goals.

For example, let's take a person, who would like to lose some weight. He sets a goal for himself to eat healthily, exercise, and to lose 5 kg. In his mind, he assigns a value 0 to the state where he has lost 5 kg. Because of that, he assigns a value -5 to the present state. Then he tries to maintain his diet and he signs up for the gym. But he's a bit lazy and he likes to eat, so half a year has passed and he has lost only 2 kg. He still needs to lose 3 kg to reach his goal. Now he assigns a value -3 to the present situation. He is unhappy about himself. He thinks he is useless and weak.

What he could have done is he could have assigned a value 0 to his weight at that time. He could have accepted his body as it is. Then after losing 2 kg, he would have been at +2 value. He would have been happy about making a positive change in his life.

What value you assign has no direct effect on reality. But it has a huge impact on how you feel and how you see things. If you're not in some kind of immediate danger, then why would you define the present moment as negative? Why assign a negative value to it?
Because I can see the code in my mind, I find myself doing it all the time.
Why not define the present moment as zero or even positive? Why not be happy with what you have and celebrate every improvement?
Things are what they are, but it is you who assign values to them. Why make yourself suffer by assigning negative values to what simply is?

Hidden meanings

A popular example from internet memes:
Not sure if girl wants to cuddle when she says: It's cold... Or just stating the obvious.
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/358gfd

A girl wants a guy to hug her. But there is a rule in our society that men should take the initiative in man-woman things. So she can't hug him first. Also, she can't say directly "hug me" because she would look desperate or needy. That's why she gives him a message with a hidden meaning, hoping that he would guess her intention.
There are a lot more subtle details to this, but that's the main mechanism. Everything is played by the rules of society, but it leads to confusion.

Several years ago I witnessed a group discussion on selfless help. One person stated that people should help each other selflessly. Another person said that people should be careful because some selfish individuals could use that.
Someone must have incorrectly guessed the intention of the second person. He must have thought, that the second person is generally against selfless help. But he didn't ask about that. Instead, he started to advocate for selfless help. Someone must have seen it as insisting on blindly helping everyone and being taken advantage of.
This thing quickly escalated to a very chaotic discussion. I believe, that every person participating in this discussion was more or less on the same page. They all believed it is good to help others, but it's also good to be careful.
It could have been avoided if just one person stated "I'm not against selfless help. I'm just saying you need to be careful.". Then if another person replied "Oh, OK. I'm not saying you don't need to be careful.", it would be over.
But they assumed the communication is working. They just thought that others were wrong.

Also several years ago I was writing via Skype with a guy. I don't remember the topic of our conversation. I remember, that none of what he wrote made any sense to me. I could see no content in his statements, just babble. I was obviously confused. I tried to precisely present my position. I tried to suggest him to do the same. But he didn't.  After reading everything he wrote 3 or 4 times I finally understood what he was doing. I asked him: "Are you trying to assure me, that I don't need to defend myself, because you thought that I was defending myself, because I felt attacked by you?". He answered: "OMG, yes.". I explained to him, that I wasn't defending myself, I didn't feel attacked and that I just wanted to be specific and precise.
This way I avoided a potential conflict. I somehow managed to correctly guess the hidden meaning behind his words. Then I expressed my intentions directly, without any hidden meaning.


People have this amazing tendency to over-simplify things that are actually more complex, but they are true masters in complicating things that are actually quite simple.

Predefined set of intentions

Most people have a predefined set of intentions that a person can have towards another person. When people talk to each other, they don't reflect on what are the real intentions of the other person. They don't think: "Oh, this seems rude, but maybe he didn't mean that? Maybe he is actually trying to be friendly?". Have you ever been asked whether your intentions were correctly received? People usually don't do that.
People have a list of predefined intentions like attack, defense, criticism, flatter, show off, etc.
Other people's behavior automatically falls into one of those categories. It is done without thinking. When people feel hurt, they assume that it was the intention of this person to hurt their feelings. Then they feel morally justified to launch their own attack.

A lot of social behaviors had to arise to deal with this mechanism. People try to read other's intentions from their body language, voice tone, emotional load of words, etc.
But I'm not sure it is effective enough. People still very often can't guess other's intentions correctly.

Interestingly, the attitude that is set as default is a hostile attitude. People need to actively try to convince others of their friendly intentions. Otherwise, they are seen as hostile and unfriendly.

There is no predefined intention for cooperation in our society. An honest intention of cooperation can be interpreted as an attack.
Maybe because people feel threatened by everything they don't understand. And they can't understand an intention that is outside their predefined set.

Here I would like to wish good luck to aliens with fitting into this system and not being seen as offensive.

I developed a strategy to speak my intentions directly. But I'm not sure if it helps. People interpret my behavior according to this program anyway. The behavior of most people can be modeled using this list of programs. Sometimes I try to find my way around it, but in the end, it only confirms my models and predictions of the outcome.

When I talk to someone, I never use a predefined set of intentions. I've never had such a mental structure. I always put a lot of effort to guess someone's intentions.
Sometimes I see two possible explanations for someone's behavior. One which would require more thinking from this person and the second one, which would require less thinking. I don't remember any case when the first guess turned out to be correct. Usually either the second guess was correct, or the person was much more stupid than I thought it was possible and there was another explanation which I haven't even considered.

Proof of the soul?

But let's play philosopher for a moment.

Let's say I start simulation on my computer. A virtual environment with artificial lifeforms. Like this one:
http://www.swimbots.com/
But then I go to another room. I have no idea what is going on in this simulation. I don't know if something is still alive there, or if everything just died. Maybe my computer crashed and this simulation is no longer running. Nobody knows what's going on there.

Now let's say there is no soul. We are our bodies. Our thoughts are just chemical reactions in our brains and there's nothing after death.
Wouldn't such a universe be like this simulation?
Wouldn't it run by itself without anybody knowing what's going on in there? How am I different from a swimbot in this model? Does the fact that I can observe what's going on imply that there is something more, some external observer that we could call a soul?

I can see through the eyes of this body. I can hear through those ears. If those were just biological processes and nothing more, nobody would observe that, would they? If I was just a swimbot and there was no God, nobody would even know, that this universe exists, would they?

The universe would be like a simulation run in another room.

Is it enough to be proof that there is something like a soul?

Of course, me being able to observe this universe can work as proof only for me. For you, I am just some letters on the screen. It can't prove anything, because as far as you know, I could be a completely unaware, unconscious thing with a script to tell others that it can see through its own eyes.
You need to be able to observe for yourself in order to consider it proof that there must be something more. Your experience can be proof that you have a soul.

What if a zombie read this text? Or a bot?
Would they analyze this text thinking they can understand it when in reality there is no one there to actually experience anything?


PS
Are swimbots self-aware? Do they know they exist?
Why do I see through "my" eyes and not through anybody else's?
Is everything self-aware?
What if humans are the only things in the universe that believe that there is no such thing as a soul?

PPS
I would like to apologize for writing this post to anyone who has read it. I'm sorry, it won't happen again.