2013 Psychology: How do we know if our self-image is real?

All judgment/interpretation/understanding with regards to 'reality' and 'who we are' in terms of 'good/bad', 'positive/negative', 'right/wrong', 'better/worse' or 'inferior/superior' is always subject to the 'eye of the beholder' as judgment is always personal opinion/experience based. Within this, the question of 'what is the 'truth'?' is invalid as long as the 'truth' is defined within judgments about reality that are made in the mind of the individual. A valid question would be 'what is Reality/Real?' - where we look at what it is that can actually be trusted by all, which is for instance the physical laws that bind us all here on earth --- and 'self-image' is not a part of the physical reality, as it only exist in the mind of the individual.

What is fascinating within this is how 'humanity' - in how we have built 'relationships' between each other based on judgment, and how we have come to collectively accept these judgments within and as the 'mind' to be 'real'/'truth' - has essentially been living a complete 'lie'/'illusion', losing all touch with what is in fact actually real as the pure, simple, physical laws/constructs --- and thus have placed itself in a constant uncertainty/doubt/search with regards to 'who we are' and 'what is real' as the 'judgments' that we've used to define reality and ourselves do not stand stable like the physical reality, as they constantly change dependent on the 'eye/mind of the beholder'.

Thus, the only way to know/see what is in fact 'real'/'truth' is to stop trusting the mind and to investigate what is physically here in and as this world.

http://www.desteni.org

2013 Social Psychology: Is it true that we all have the potential to kill?

A question i would ask myself here is - what makes a killer? In other words: To what extend does the environment shape, form, define and determine who a being is in word, thought and deed?


I think we can all agree that, whether mostly defined by 'nurture' (cultural/environmental programming of the mind) or 'nature' (genetics/reflexes/instincts) - the human being is a 'program'/'organic system' of which the entirety of the 'Who I am in this world' is a combination of predetermined/predesigned/preprogrammed factors (considering we leave out the belief in a 'Soul' - as such a thing cannot be scientifically underbuilt), which the scientific community would term 'nature' and 'nurture'. This essentially implies that none of what/who a being that is born in this world becomes, is or can be anything other than a result/consequence/product of the 'variables' that make up 'who' the being is (>as so determined by the predesigned/preprogrammed factors of 'nature'/'nurture').

Thus - yes, we all have the 'potential to kill' as we could have ourselves been born into a 'life path'/'constitution'/'environment' of which the 'variables' of the 'input' that make up the 'who' the being is in this world result in us killing another being, for whatever reason that may be. In this, there really exist no such thing as 'free choice', an excuse that many people use to make themselves believe that they are 'better than' the 'killers'/'criminals' in this world - as 'free choice' would imply that we ever had any say what so ever in the 'input'/'variables'/'factors' that constitute all of who we believe ourselves to be and how we experience ourselves. And considering that human beings do not in any way understand where exactly their mind/thoughts/feelings/motivations/reactions comes from or what the mind actually really is or how it was created and by whom - it would even be sheer arrogance to compare oneself to any other being in this world and state that we would not walk the same life and make the same decisions as them, without firstly investigating and understanding how the mind and the physical reality as that which constitutes all of who we are works exactly.

2013 What is freedom of speech and what are the limits of free speech?

Free speech and other concepts of 'freedom' as it currently exist is based on the neoliberalist Capitalistic view/ideology where basically you are respected in your 'freedom' to pursue your own interests - with a minimal of governmental or judiciary interference --- yet, within this, with the human being not living/existing based on principle, inner morality or integrity (as religion has also been separated from interfering in public institutions and education) and with a system that only feeds and supports the 'consumer/greed'- and 'survival of the fittest/competitive'-mentality in every way - there is much abuse going on within this allowed 'free speech' (just go through the comment threads below video's on Youtube and see for yourself).

So, what the human has learned in our system of protecting self interest above all - is that you do not have to take responsibility or accountability for your words and that you can pretty much get away with anything  that isn't downright violent. The problem with this is that we do not realize how the words we speak shape the world/reality we live in - and that, if we do not speak and express ourselves from a starting point of 'principle' (>considering another being as oneself) and integrity -- we are basically unconsciously shaping, creating and allowing a system/world of lies, deceit and abuse.

The solution here is not to go back to censorship and control - but to ensure that the human beings that we bring into this world, are educated properly to take responsibility for the consequences of their words and action and stand as inherently respectful beings --- only then does such a thing as 'freedom of speech' make sense. This thus means that we'd have to change our economic principles from the 'protection of self-interest' to 'the protection of all life equally' and create a system that is based on the principle of considering another as oneself.