Should all views be respected?

I recently attended a presentation, and without going into detail about it, the speaker claimed that "all views should be respected, and looked at with an open mind" (during her talk she also claimed that six-year-olds should be taught sex-ed). The first thought that came to my mind when she made the claim that all views should be respected was "wow, this person is a f#@king nut". Then I got to thinking about how this may very well be the sign of a mental disorder. There are people out there that have the disease essessive empathetical thinking. I know, this sounds crazy (no pun intended), but empathy is the put oneself in another's shoes. But with people like this, they engage in so much empathetical thinking, they lose their sense of self, and sense of morality. In her talk she made it seem as if morality was not an important thing at all, and those that had morally-charged opinions were automatically discounted (which struck me as odd).

Politically I consider myself to be a moderate (as sane individuals are). I see super conservatives as being too driven by fear and hatred, and liberals as being mentally ill (again, they have lost their sense of self by engaging in too much empathetical thinking, which has caused them to lose their sense of morality as well). In other words, people at the extreme ends of the political spectrum are f#@king crazy, and we need to stop having these whack-jobs forming the dialogue in political discusions.  

I better slow down and get back on topic, but ranting on here is fun :)

The idea that all ideas should be respected and absorbed with an open mind is like claiming that all foods should be respected and eaten (which is the american way I suppose). The moral of the story here is: if some dumbass aging hippie tells you some stupid ass ideas, you do not, and should not consider those ideas with an "open mind". 

Being close-minded is NOT a bad thing, if you are too open-minded your brain will turn into liquid shit causing you to lose your sense of self along with creating a chaotic worldview to boot.

Of course, we are close-minded to some ideas. For example, as atheists (assuming most of the readers of this are atheists), we are close-minded to religious ideas (for good reason). We are educated to be close-minded to ideas that "racist" (again, for good reason, but I don't see any liberal claiming to be open-minded when it comes to that subject). Often when someone tells you to be open-minded, they just want you to believe an idea they and  you know is stupid. 9 times out of 10 they are telling you to remove the filter and absorb shit information. 

perfectionism causes anxiety and self-esteem issues.

A belief that the self and/or the world needs to be perfect in order to succeed can lie at the core of emotional problems like anxiety, depression, and anger. When I was very young, I was short (still am), and this caused me to be bullied and viewed as an "outsider" (I was super short for my age). This self-perception (that I was "not normal") caused great distress within me, which lead to extreme anxiety and a deterioration of my self-esteem. In response, I started to believe that in order to get people to approve of me, I would need to "be perfect" (i.e. without fault). And with this mentality, I became my own bully, and the level of self-criticism rose to emotionally painful heights (not to mention that it further pushed down my self-esteem).

The moral of this story is that perfectionism, while it may seem like a good idea on its surface, can lead to an exasperation of an already painful situation. From my own experience, perfectionism gets in the way of fully realizing the potential within. Because at the end of the day, being overly self-critical creates a ton of stress and anxiety, and those things only erect barriers to potential. 

Be objective about anxiety

One of the most important things that I've learned about dealing with anxiety problems it to be objective. When we view anxiety in a non-objective way, the sting of it is much worse, and it just feeds into the anxiety (anxiety being caused by worrying thoughts). If we view anxiety as it is (i.e. the symptoms of the anxiety, which are the symptoms), it's not nearly as bad as it is often initially perceived. Being mindful of the actual sensations and thoughts which both perpetuate and/or cause anxiety is very helpful. What this also does is helps in the creation of an awareness that anxiety is not the problem, but is a symptom of another problem (thinking habits).

Mindfulness is general is just a good tool for life in general, I know I feel much more sane when I practice it. Mindfulness brings me (and all those that practice it) out of my autopilot and into reality. Anxiety is a delusional disorder caused by day-terrors. 

Is everyone crazy? (mental illness and lack of mindfulness)

I've been doing some studying on mental illness (have taken classes on it and am taking one now, plus I have looked up a lot of stuff using Google :P ). And it seems to me that a lot of mental illness is caused by thoughts. It appears that stress-inducing thoughts are bar far the biggest cause of mental illness (aside from being human). And what is the cause of stressful thinking? Lack of awareness (at least in my opinion). When I am aware of my thoughts, and more importantly, aware of the fact that my thoughts are thoughts, they don't cause me stress (like realizing a nightmare was just a dream).

I believe that being in a state of awareness of the present moment (of our senses more specifically) is the intended default mode; but we have been bombarded with nonsense from TV and the internet, plus have been taught to see the world through the imagination in school (they teach you to see history through such a lens, for example). Most people today see the world through their imagination, they are constantly thinking about things that have happened or "will happen" (most people can't predict the future that accurately). I'm not much better (it's hard to stay in a state of mindfulness for an entire day), but I realize that mindfulness causes a shift away from being consumed with the imagination to a more accurate one (the imagination can distort our perception of reality).

I believe people that have thoughts constantly streaming through their heads, not being focused on the present moment, have a form of mental illness that is more common than not in today's world (given how hectic it is, people have adopted this sort of thinking, I believe, as a coping strategy). I'm obviously included in this bunch, but I'm also trying to shift myself out of it. I'm hoping that in time I can make mindfulness the default mode, instead of worrying (I notice that when I'm doing nothing my mind automatically starts worrying).

On a heavy end of the spectrum of this are anxiety disorders and depression (caused by a high volume of stress-inducing thoughts). I hope in time, people wake up from the daymares (like daydreaming) caused our imagination by realizing that it's not real (our brains are not really time machines going into the past or crystal balls looking into the future).

I still struggle with the process of trying to wake up, but I'm getting better in time.

Introverts are more honest than extroverts?

In one of the newer TED talks (click for video), a speaker named Pamela Meyer made an interesting claim that extroverts are more likely to lie than introverts. The problem with her lecture was that she provided no explanation for why. I agree with her, and I believe the reason extroverts are more likely to lie is because they exchange information for the sake of pleasure (they communicate in a way that maximizes pleasure). On the other hand, an introvert tend to exchange information for the sake of its accuracy and usefulness (which is why introverts are more honest, they value the information, not the feelings associated with communication). Introverts tend to dislike small-talk, which consumes the vast majority of extroverts communication. Extroverts could mindlessly babble on about anything all day long (nothing wrong with that, I suppose). And being that the primary objective of an extrovert in communication is to "feel good" they will bend the truth to accommodate this goal.

In short, it tends to be that introverts value accuracy of information, extroverts value the way information makes them feel. Obviously there is a spectrum here, most people find themselves somewhere around the middle. I find myself leaning towards the introvert side more than most people, but I do engage in some small-talk once in a while (albeit often awkwardly).

Mindfulness and lucid dreaming

One thing I notice quite often after practicing mindfulness over a long period of time (like when I go into the woods for the better part of a day) is the frequency of lucid dreaming increases astronomically. Such as last night, I was dreaming that I was standing in a street in a cartoonish-like city, and I instantly knew it was a dream. In fact, I remember having an awareness that it was a dream before the scene was created. One trouble I'm having with lucid dreaming however is that I struggle to control the content. I wonder if other people that practice mindfulness experience a similar thing, I also wonder if this is a good or bad thing. Another strange thing about this dream (and others) is that I still have my sense of self (I understand the dream is a process in my head, and I can create an awareness of my actual body) and memories of reality.

Falling asleep at the wheel (the habit of mindlessness)

When we fall asleep at the wheel of a car, typically the result isn't very good (unless the car isn't moving). I believe the same is true for life in general. We are asleep (unconscious) when we aren't aware of the present moment. And when this happens, our brain relies more and more on autopilot, and is forced to phase out its reliance on us (the soul). Most people live in that semi-conscious state where they mindlessly (or more specifically, soullessly) live their lives. Mindfulness is the awake state of being; but when not being mindful of the present moment, our brains get into a foggy, autopilot mode often accompanied with daydreams (some based on the past, future, worries, etc).

At least this is what I notice from my own experience. It's as if the soul doesn't like to deal with experience that it doesn't want to deal with, so it retreats into its shell of unconsciousness as a defense mechanism. The point here is to carry mindfulness wherever you go, don't let your brain adapt to unconsciousness. In other words, don't let mindlessness become a habit. This has happened with me, but in time I notice (with great effort) myself awakening. I've been practicing mindfulness (and meditation when I can) for a few years now, and I still feel as if I'm never fully awake (but I do notice improvement).