David Perrott

This will be the open internet’s final year. Cause of death: AI slop.

New Essay on Substack: Is it true? open.substack.com/pub/davidperro…

Ego is a verb appearing as a noun.

I have a new essay to share—largely inspired by the shifts in our view of the ‘world’, that tends to arise as our meditation deepens. davidperrott.substack.com/p/forget-the-w…

@nickcammarata There’s a vedic term - sahaja samadhi that maybe relevant to this piece.

so you get the best of both worlds by thinning things out, you’re not losing out on any sensations, your eyes are still open setting up a treadmill desk or whatever but things are so much more thinned out and high resolution

my blackest pill was all sensations are suffering, which I suspected was true for a while given how much it’s suppressed in some meditation circles But I now think it’s false, both their view might be mechanistically wrong, and how that line is interpreted isn’t how it works

@nickcammarata Haven’t heard this said before, but syncs with my intuition. At the very least the correlation appears stable. This whole thread is wonderful btw. Love the way you’re formulating your experience.

this gets you to keep the sensations, and actually they’re incredibly more beautiful now bc for some magical reason the sensory rendering energy that was previously spent on weight is put into resolution. So resolution skyrockets

@aniketvartak @naval How do you define physical reality in this context?

It is emergent yes and the connection is often missed by many, therefore right of you to point it out. As a general advice though I would go with: Study a field in which you can apply mathematics and have the conclusions validated or refuted by physical reality. And allow the reader to explore the ramifications.

@aniketvartak Markets themselves seek the truth of physical reality but they seem emergent enough to deserve their own category. Or do you have another connection in mind?

@nickcammarata Have you explored Dzogchen at all?

increasingly obsessed with christian mysticism. they’re pointing to the same thing as all the other groups, but i love the way they do it

@nickcammarata Lovely insight. Thanks for sharing this.

I suspect forgiveness meditation might be the hidden key to western dharma. We often start with breath (boring) or metta (often blocked for westerners), but forgiveness is both accessible (not an “altered state”) and clears out our deepest wounds. Should be less niche imo

@Plinz What evidence is there that consciousness is independent of its substrate? That’s quite the claim.

Consciousness is a bit like money. It is a causal force on, emergent over and independent of its substrate. Its nature and power is a source of endless confusion. Some people have little of it and consider it to be an illusion, or leave it to others and consider it irrelevant

@vividvoid What character traits are you the most confident are high signals of becoming a good parent in the future?

Whether or not they want to have kids, I only want to date people who would make good parents

@Plinz Yes!

My main issue with panpsychism is that it attempts to make a statement about the basis of reality (the noumenon), while actually referring to a phenomenon: the fact that our mind can experience all things as conscious. Phenomenology can teach us about psychology, not ontology.

Integration is largely about having the courage to reorganise one’s external environment to align with their freshly revealed internal beliefs and preferences.

Beyond the basics, money doesn’t make you happier because, beyond the basics, nothing makes you happier.

Every society is built upon competition and cooperation. A good society maximizes positive-sum competition and voluntary cooperation.

Most self-improvement is born out of well disguised self-hatred.

@naval Meditation?

Technology improves quality of life more than anything else, and it’s not even close.

not needing something allows you to enjoy it more fully. If you need something to be okay you’ll likely be contracted and in your head even as you get it, and hoping to keep it. If you’re totally okay without it you’ll be present as all its flavors arise and develop

@naval What is a first principle that isn't a proxy?

Reasoning from first principles vs. reasoning by proxy.

@elonmusk @elonmusk create a similar video which also includes the same tools being used on other vehicles - so that the viewer has an immediate reference point to contrast against.

Other trucks look badass, Cybertruck actually is