How can I reach certainty about some things and obtain peace of mind?

Can philosophers help resolve the real problems that people have in their lives?

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Nick_A
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Re: How can I reach certainty about some things and obtain peace of mind?

Post by Nick_A »

Dubious wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 9:33 pm Nothing is certain of anything which was ever written or thought. There's only a greater of lesser probability of it being so.

Why should this disturb my "peace of mind" and what piece of that would it be?
Suppose the problem isn't thought? A person must try a new approach. Sometimes a good piece of ass leads to peace of mind. It's worth a shot.
Dubious
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Re: How can I reach certainty about some things and obtain peace of mind?

Post by Dubious »

Nick_A wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 11:15 pm
Dubious wrote: Sat Jun 08, 2019 9:33 pm Nothing is certain of anything which was ever written or thought. There's only a greater of lesser probability of it being so.

Why should this disturb my "peace of mind" and what piece of that would it be?
Suppose the problem isn't thought? A person must try a new approach. Sometimes a good piece of ass leads to peace of mind. It's worth a shot.
That may suffice for some but I was looking for something more permanent! If a "piece of ass" were sufficient there would be a lot of peace in the world since there's plenty of them around! :lol:
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Dontaskme
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Re: How can I reach certainty about some things and obtain peace of mind?

Post by Dontaskme »

GhostThinker25 wrote: Tue May 28, 2019 4:59 am Well, I don't really know what to do to reach peace of mind. I feel stuck in this stressful state of disorientation. How can I escape this?
You can escape this disorientation very easily.

There is a place of perfect peace but no one lives there..do you want to live there?

If you do, you can enter that place anytime you like, but you have to leave the monkey mind outside.

You literally have to leave yourself, do you want to leave yourself, or do you like hearing the sound of your own echo over and over again until it stresses you out so much you feel like jumping off a building? are you ready to jump into the abyss? ..if you are then you must also let go of the air while falling...then when you decide you want to do all that is when you'll be finally free of your disorientation and at the same time be certain that the thing you wanted to escape from was possible and very certainly doable.

.
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Arising_uk
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Re: How can I reach certainty about some things and obtain peace of mind?

Post by Arising_uk »

What are some of the things you wish to reach certainty about?

What would obtaining peace of mind be like for you? What I mean is how would you know when you have obtained peace of mind?
Last edited by Arising_uk on Tue Aug 27, 2019 11:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Harbal
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Re: How can I reach certainty about some things and obtain peace of mind?

Post by Harbal »

Arising_uk wrote: Fri Jul 26, 2019 8:05 pm how would you know when you have obrained peace of mind?
He would probably no longer feel the need to ask silly questions.
Dubious
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Re: How can I reach certainty about some things and obtain peace of mind?

Post by Dubious »

Being certain about some things would probably cause the opposite to peace of mind. When they say that ignorance is bliss, while not being true is at least partly true.
Skepdick
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Re: How can I reach certainty about some things and obtain peace of mind?

Post by Skepdick »

Certainty about the external world is a physical impossibility.

If you are going to find peace of mind, first you need to understand and accept that uncertainty is not something to be overcome, but something to be accepted and managed.

Decision-making under uncertainty is the science of risk management. It's the science of making good choices despite having incomplete information.
As far as I can tell - that's the wisdom philosophers have always sought.

It's a vast body of knowledge, but if you are going to start somewhere, try here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/so ... ncertainty.

Or if you want something less technical and easier to read try this book.

If knowing that you have done the best that you can with the information that you have doesn't result in peace of mind, then there are medical alternatives for anxiety.
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Re: How can I reach certainty about some things and obtain peace of mind?

Post by Eodnhoj7 »

GhostThinker25 wrote: Tue May 28, 2019 4:59 am It's been a while since I started reflecting on certainty and got lost in a dark path of uncertainty. I believe language has great influence on my problems with certainty, since using it is the way we make sense of things. I went into a skeptical-like state (much like Descartes) and I just can't seem to return to my normal state. Ok, I'm certain of a few things, but I feel like I lost the control I had over my life because now I have doubts about several basic concepts all over my mind. Many times I feel like I can't make correct statements about the present because I don't know if the things I've observed have changed. For example, if the laws of physics have changed really subtly and I can't perceive the difference, if people who had a specific behavior still have it and many other situations similar to those. Another thing is, since I can't read minds, I'm not sure of how I can tell if someone is telling me the truth or not, excluding a few cases in which I can directly observe the situation. I just don't know if the people who seem to love really do. I'm not sure if they're being honest when they say they love me. Also, I'm not sure about many things of the past. How can I be certain History isn't wrong? How can Historians know if someone didn't lie or if a group of people didn't decide to lie? The last part, which is the unclearest to me, is the future. It's a mistery. How can I tell things aren't going to change? People say "I'm going to do this" or "I will do that", but how can they be sure they're right? I don't see a way to tell if I'll be alive in the next few minutes, so how can people believe they're right?
Well, I don't really know what to do to reach peace of mind. I feel stuck in this stressful state of disorientation. How can I escape this?

Be aware of how your thoughts transition from one thought to another thought and notice that not only is any one thought a thing in itself but also how in watching your thoughts you cannot see past the actual watching of your thoughts...

the continuum of thoughts as a succession is a constant progressive line the observation of this line cannot be observed without forming another line being observed. This emptiness that underlies the variation of the thoughts an gives birth to their form is formless.

When you notice the above makes no sense, truly no sense, then that should help.
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bahman
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Re: How can I reach certainty about some things and obtain peace of mind?

Post by bahman »

GhostThinker25 wrote: Tue May 28, 2019 4:59 am It's been a while since I started reflecting on certainty and got lost in a dark path of uncertainty. I believe language has great influence on my problems with certainty, since using it is the way we make sense of things. I went into a skeptical-like state (much like Descartes) and I just can't seem to return to my normal state. Ok, I'm certain of a few things, but I feel like I lost the control I had over my life because now I have doubts about several basic concepts all over my mind. Many times I feel like I can't make correct statements about the present because I don't know if the things I've observed have changed. For example, if the laws of physics have changed really subtly and I can't perceive the difference, if people who had a specific behavior still have it and many other situations similar to those. Another thing is, since I can't read minds, I'm not sure of how I can tell if someone is telling me the truth or not, excluding a few cases in which I can directly observe the situation. I just don't know if the people who seem to love really do. I'm not sure if they're being honest when they say they love me. Also, I'm not sure about many things of the past. How can I be certain History isn't wrong? How can Historians know if someone didn't lie or if a group of people didn't decide to lie? The last part, which is the unclearest to me, is the future. It's a mistery. How can I tell things aren't going to change? People say "I'm going to do this" or "I will do that", but how can they be sure they're right? I don't see a way to tell if I'll be alive in the next few minutes, so how can people believe they're right?
Well, I don't really know what to do to reach peace of mind. I feel stuck in this stressful state of disorientation. How can I escape this?
You will find peace when everything is indifferent to you.
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frosteagle
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Re: How can I reach certainty about some things and obtain peace of mind?

Post by frosteagle »

If you try something in a safe environment and it works over multiple samples as well as try its opposite and do nothing over multiple attempts, then you can be certain of "some things" You obviously do not have the resources required to do this with everything, so guess what is most important at the moment and focus on that thing. Returns will diminish, and that will tell you that you need to move on.
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