Free Thoughts: The nature of denial and its implications

So I go outside to have a smoke and enjoy the night sky as an escape from 'work'. Whilst smoking, I start bemoaning the fact that it is homecoming weekend at a nearby 'party' university and my working schedule for the weekend essentially implies that I will not partake in any of the hedonism that will ensue-- sucks. But then, I realize that this train of thought must serve a purpose outside simple 'bemoaning'; else why would I think it when I am smoking? The purpose immediately becomes realizable when I become conscious of the fact that I am smoking a cigarette when I am aware of all the indications (cancer, etc) that follows smoking. My brain, by ensuring that I don’t recognize consciously, the slow physical death I am causing myself, provides a defense in the form of a disassociation. I am thinking of everything and anything except the fact that I am smoking. Being addicted to smoking, my body needs the nicotine that the cigarette provides; my brain also understands that smoking will kill me. And although the brain is developed to ensure its survival, my need for nicotine is more immediate and thus it has to trick itself and secede to an immediate need and forgo the stark implications.

So why all this mess? Well, it occurred to me that denial is essentially all that there is. People claim that they have accepted that they will die and so do not think of it. This is a lie. Your brain has not consciously accepted its eventual death. Accepting this death will cause the brain to not function. The knowledge of a future death is merely relegated to a 'semi'-conscious realization and therefore does not interfere with the conscious undertakings of the brain. Expectations, hope, wishes, etc ...all these are abstractions of denial. In fact, the brain cannot function unless it is in denial. This implies many important things.

1. Consciousness ceases with death
If consciousness did not end with death, the brain would not need to deny the eventuality of death. Throughout life, the brain seeks to survive--this is the nature of man. If man's whole being is survivability, then how can man accept that his whole essence is pointless? The brain must understand therefore that 'death' is its death. --Bad form that I will note revise---.

2. The self is not the only consciousness
How do I reach this conclusion? I have no freaking idea. I will think of it later.

 

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dear lord!

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Well ofcourse. Knowing and expecting are two different things and if you have previous experience (in this case a near death experience) then you're ahead of the game.

 

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You seem to have developed some strange ideas about my brain.
Playing neurologist now Hed?
Dee Cee

 

Eerrmm, I thought there were enough philosophies and religions out there to either make you accept death happily, or else once you realise your going to die and accept it, your much more free than you used to be, in fact that is likely the aim of one or two more philosophies.

 

You're fliging through a vast swath of 'empty' space on an oblioid ball some 93 million miles from a chaotic absurdity of nuclear fusion knit up in a ball.

Its hot enough to fry an egg on your car roof and yet the only thing protecting you from its fry is a thin radiation belt of ionized gas..............

As you read this, your sitting on a thin layer of crust- the only thing keeping you from the thermodynamic caldrons of hell some few hundreds of meters under your feet.

And yet what inspired you to realize the tossed salad of "living in denial".............................................is a cigarette? Short of being an inanity, I am not above crediting you for making me chuckle.


Ha.

Classic.

 

Fat bitch:
As I sit on this on this chair with my 'gargoyle' talons, ears and teeth, I wonder if I should blow you a kiss for old time's sake or stick a foot up your ass. To even suggest that the tripe you spew about the 'gargoyle' is suggestive of the masses the hed ecounters is nonsense. 'Sevi'? Yes, a fucking cigarette. Still cannot sleep eh, porcelain bitch? Dreaming about the carribean dick tearing your insides apart, whilst knowing the carribean dick is only liable to fuck you if stoned and drunk?

Guess what I did today? I actually decided to hit the 'ghetto' and find me a bitch, just to see if your asessment is correct. I found me a piece of degenerative caucasian pussy. Touche.

 

fountainhed:
Now now, acting like a David Duke caricature only makes you look - well, it rather reveals your true character.
Carry on.

 

My favorite bitch Xev:
Now that's a silly compare. I'm merely seeping to levels she set in the Look thread: "I’m not denying that you have sex ::cringe:: but I picture you fucking a hoodrat with some modern homosexual love jam playing in the background. She knows shit about science or the conflicts of ‘first cause’ but godamn can she squeal when you’re drilling her insides."

 

(It's so funny to see the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man pretend that it has a penis)

 

A diversion from your first silly attempt. If I respond to this silliness from you, you will again simply divert. This is not fun for it is predictable and silly. I did a google search for this marshmallow character and I must say your imagination is seriously degenerating. A better comeback that is amusing and imaginative will do Xev. If you cannot offer such, stick to Cliff notes for now.

 

Fuck you! ( From reading a few threads I assume this is the official sciforums greeting phrase. )

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Denial is indeed a survival mechanism of the brain, it causes us to take risks and be courageous and therefore assuring the survival of the species, to put it shortly.
The ego will die, that is what the brain is sensing and the ego is fearing.
The ego is not the only consciousness, there is a multitude of consciousnesses to tap into once released from the ego.

 

That's pretty good Yes, oh btw, welcome on board you stupid c**t

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Thank you Tablariddim, you bitch!

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Actually Hed, this is pretty sharp thread.

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People spend most of their waking hours denying everything and it builds up in increasing frustration. The most basic denial in biological, such as denying death momentarily, etc. Then there is a denial that comes from having to co-operate in a community. This is simple survival level sacrifice and comes with the positive benefits of being in a society/tribal unit. Then there is the moral denial (advanced by religion, over-socialization, philosophy, etc) which is the most restraining. While community denial I think functions to rise above animal thought and support a superior human idealism, I think moral idealism creates a modern schizophrenia, where your reality is different from your imagination and people have a sort of alter ego that they are afraid to act on. People deny themselves animalistic instincts to screw, kill, and run around in circles like dogs. I want to bang my neighbor and blow her family's brains out, but I can't since I will face the law (the law is controlled by denial addicts). Yet these instincts, if unleashed, would mean the ultimate degeneration of a civilization. It's tricky.

 

Yes, you fucking piece of dung eating caricature of brainless, legless, spineless twat

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:

Can you please expand on your assertion of multiple consciounessness?

and2000x:

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Your claims as to the creators of this is however debatable...Either way, a good viewpoint that I will give the time it warrants at a latter date. See, I am not such a bad guy..

 

Fountainhead:

Pause. Frowing. Confusion.

I wonder what any of our personal scuffles have to do with my simple observations of you wasting the metaphysical on a cigarette of all things. The likeliest place to ponder the human plight, the absurd, the Nausea would be up on a mountaintop or down in the depths of an ocean in a submersible absorbing the savage, contradictory beauty of living.


Learn where to place your vendettas. And learn when to drop them as well.

 

Let's just say when for two damn weeks one person sticks to the same nonsense, the other tends to expect the same from them. I assumed you were questioning the source of my "inspiration"...

No not really. I can state with great confidence that most "pondering" of the human plight has been done in the most mundane places....

Truly you cannot possibly think I hold a vandetta against you...that would be nonsensical. If you attempt to "flame" the hed and I am in the mood, I will respond. It doesn't go beyond that, nor do I hold any personal bla bla bla bla. I still don't like your unworthy egotism and think you need to read more and be less assertive, but hey, what the hell...

 

I agree , denial is equally persent to acknowledgement , each phenomena gains existance (is being acknowledged) through denial of the opposite .

Denial , in the same way as acknowledgement , has as function survival , clearly acknowledgement of that what ought to be denied causes damage which is the reason it is being denied in the first place . This goes for issues on all sorths of levels and spheres and sections . This goes as you said for everything .

This only implies that consciousness as exists through your living brain ceazes to exist , it does not exclude other forms (or higher levels) of consciousness outside of the living brain .

He cannot . However neother can he deny the lack of knowledge regarding everything that will accur after his death . To assume survival as ultimate destiny is to deny the lack of knowledge regarding this destiny when survival as a living creature has failed.

As far as man can know , death is the denial of life . There is no acknowledging defintion of death , obviously .

 

HED and Gendy

LOL. You and the HED are straight BLEEK yo.

Denial is a psychological term which I believe you're stretching past its useful boundaries.

If I'm an asshole to my kid and tell myself everyday "it's because it's good for them" when in fact it's because I have deep seated emotional problems, that is a decent usage of the word.

When it comes to smoking, or riding on the planet flying through space, that is NOT denial. It's simple irrelevance. You aren't going to die NOW so what does it matter? You brain doesn't neet to bog itself down with shit that is inconsequential for immediate survival. You still KNOW it's horrible for you, but you choose to think you'll be lucky and escape the odds. I don't think that the term "denial" is really applicable in this case AT ALL.

Sure if you're smart you can plan for long term survivability, but that's really pretty far outside of "denial". It's freakin CONTEXT that you're talking about. The long term implications of your actions don't make sense in terms of your immediate context, so it just doesn't come up until you start thinking in a different context. At that point you acknowleged the long term detractors, assessed that you will change your habits before it effects you or that you'll be one of the lucky few, though you know you might be wrong, and you move on back to your short term context or a long term context that doesn't really have much to do with your smoking.

I mean afterall, in terms of your short-term context how do you know you'll even exist tomorrow let alone smoke?