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RedEmmaSpeaks wrote

I know if I stop taking my pills, I get really scary, really fast. But as of late, I have wondered if the Brain Chemicals Theory governing this form of treatment, while there's some truth in it, if it isn't somewhat simplistic.

Ever have the moment where you know something is wrong, but you don't know how to voice it? When you do stumble onto someone who manages to voice it, it's like somebody has turned on a light in a dark room. You fight the urge to stand up and shout, "Yes! That's what it's like!"

That was kind of what I went through when Big Think had two short videos with Johann Hari. Hari doesn't dismiss the use of pills entirely, but again, feels the Brain Chemicals Theory is simplistic and doesn't completely address the problem. The guy's written a book, which I'll probably get when I can.

Anyway, here are the videos.

Video One: https://youtu.be/7ZbPECl16bc

Video Two: https://youtu.be/Hp-L844-5k8

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dele_ted wrote

Ever have the moment where you know something is wrong, but you don't know how to voice it?

Not directly related to this topic, but i really want to stress the importance of listening to this feeling (at least in my experience) instead of ignoring it simply because it's hard to get a grasp on. My feeling of something being a little off never fails.

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RedEmmaSpeaks wrote

Agreed. So much of the shit in my life, stems from me trying to shove this feeling down and ignore it, so I can get along with my day-to-day life. I'm not egotistic enough to proclaim that the whole world is suffering from this feeling, but I imagine that a vast majority of the population knows that something is fucked up, even if they aren't sure why or how to fix it.

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dele_ted wrote

There's a scene in The Matrix where this feeling is described perfectly:

Morpheus: I know exactly what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me.

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An_Old_Big_Tree wrote

One problem with gut feelings is that they also often hide prejudice.

It's no accident that people are more likely to get gut feelings that they're in danger when walking past someone in the street if that person is a black man in a hoodie.

So I think we need to be very careful of how we interpret our gut in light of how it is conditioned by society.

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dele_ted wrote

That's a good point. It's important to listen to this feeling, but it's also important to be critical towards it. I suppose it's one of those things you just have to learn with time, by experience.

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RedEmmaSpeaks wrote

That's true. You should never follow any one rule completely; there's a reason absolute morality almost invariably always falls apart. It's just a good chunk of the time, if something inside you is saying, "Wait, there's something wrong here," often there's a good reason. You should investigate this feeling, trying to figure out where it comes from, and why you're feeling it. Even if it turns out to be wrong like, say, born of prejudice like you suggested, there's a reason this feeling exists and that reason warrants being addressed in some fashion.

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