Based on 3rd hand accounts, he’s been steadily losing weight for years and while it was hard to find recent photos at a cursory glance, there are a few where he is noticably skinnier (also the article does mention he looks fitter in a conference call)

deleted by creator

They can go to the cops. I get this may not seem ideal to them if they are in fact doing something illegal. And again: giving money to beggars encourages begging -> more human trafficking. It’s a very, very direct causation. I rather not get into that.

Vehemently against it. Far too easy to abuse - there’s been criminal gangs that force people to beg. I’ve even heard of criminal gangs crippling people they traffic to give them visible disabilities to make the begging more effective. Giving money to beggars - even if they’re not being trafficked - still makes begging worthwhile and increases the likelihood it will be made into a gang activity. We need government programs that handle it, or give your money to a charity instead, which makes sure the money goes to effective programs that help people in real need.

(Not who you were responding to but…)

EVERYONE else’s idea of what your life should be is the standard, and if you deviate more than the standard deviation you will suffer the consequence of eeking out existence with very few choices.

While this is true, it’s not an argument against doing exactly what you want provided that people understand that everyone else has the exact same liberty. We collectively tend towards certain values and people who deviate from those values too much eventually get sorted out one way or another. As one value most people tend towards heavily is safety, it’s in everyone’s best interest to find common ground with others for everyone to have safety. But it is necessarily a process with errors and learning - on everyone’s side; which begets more errors and learning. Thus we will never have a perfect solution. Of course, you “conforming” to majority is also you doing exactly what you want, ultimately. Because you value your safety.

Question the presupposed truth behind every statement.

Pretty much, unironically. Meaning is also a false hope you put into the future. But you’re better off paying attention to what’s happening now, within your sense-field. Is there something in there that you genuinely want to take care of there? There’s all the “meaning” people need. But the why-motor is really, really good at convincing you to chase after exponentially increasing complexity. And most people need to do it until they die, some need to despair at it so they get disillusioned with the mind (and the lucky ones find sensible wisdom traditions to get them to navigate that space without causing harm, like Zen Buddhism).

Sidebar: And as most people have their why-motor running until the end, we of course live in cultures that are built around catching the tail of stillness, giving you so many different avenues to explore. You can have fun while doing it but you’ll stop one way or another eventually.

I really recommend you check out Waking Up App . Ignore Harris if needed, it has tons of other respectable teachers of meditation and philosophy with interesting conversations.

Edit: Reading the thread I feel like many people here are at the “despair” but fall to nihilism. Which seems to be the natural result of intelligence meeting lack of wisdom. Abrahamic religions really dropped the ball on that one.

It doesn’t have a meaning. “Meaning” is just a concept we made up to forever have something to chase after. You can endlessly ask “why” so it’s like chasing one’s own tail. It’s the motor of the mind, fueled by the desire to finally be still.

It’s both. And I say this as a consumer of easy entertainment (within limits, because I know the effects). We really struggle with tolerating boredom these days and that’s not good for the brain. We’re extremely overstimulated and exhausted but we crave constant stimulation anyway to ward off the “down” moments, the boring moments.

I don’t generally like it but this one was kinda good. Good flipped logic.

The only hell you might get from pirating and other “easy sources of excess pleasure” is the hedonic treadmill. I’d say Steam sales are more likely to cause this at this point but we’re definitely seeing the effects of easy entertainment on the general population. Brainrot and all that. It’s not fire and brimstone but the world ain’t looking great. But personally I’d take notes from Buddhism rather than Christianity as the latter is way more preoccupied with what happens after this life (the religion of kicking the can down the road).