For me, it’s jingle all the way. It’s got everything. A drunk reindeer. A terrorist mailman. Arnold punching a deer. Arnold punching Sinbad. Arnold punching Santa. Arnold in general....
Home Alone 2 for me! There is something super cozy about the snowy New York City setting. Especially when I was younger I really appreciated those vibes.
This game rocks! The first game holds such a special place in my heart so understandably I was both excited and a little nervous to get my hands on the second. Thankfully we have a Portal 2 situation happening here. They took all of the best parts of the first game (mind-bending puzzles, thought provoking philosophical ideas, beautiful music) and expanded on it all without losing any of the core identity.
I rarely buy games upon release but gladly purchased this one to support these guys.
I think I’m the only person in the universe who is actually looking forward to the PlayStation Portal handheld being released in a couple of weeks. I loved the Backbone One but it was annoying having to take the case off every time I wanted to play on my phone. The PlayStation Portal will fit my use case very well.
When thinking about the most important moment(s) of your life, do you still feel the full range of emotion associated with that memory? What if you keep recalling the same memory many times, does the intensity of emotion fade?
Is it at all possible that instead of being pushed away, we are instead getting pulled toward something huuuuuge via gravity? As if we are falling into something way greater than ourselves? I thought this was a wild idea but after I Googled it I found out that there is such a thing as a “Great Attractor”. Something 150...
I’m going to sound like a total idiot but if our universe was at the center of a ginormous sphere could that give an illusion that every point in space was moving away from another when in fact we could all be falling (getting pulled by gravity) toward whatever edge of the sphere we are closest to?
I see the human organism as a layering of different levels of consciousness. Each layer supports mostly automated processes that sustain the layers beneath it....
There are anecdotal stories of people entering higher states of consciousness during near death experiences, extremely deep meditation, holotropic breathing exercises, etc.
Really creative people describe their most proud acts of creation as if the idea came from somewhere else. As if the concept arose independently and they tried their best to relay it into the real world.
As for the people on psychedelic drugs, they usually speak of the higher state of consciousness as being more real than the real world… which would make sense if our usual consciousness was a subset of something bigger.
I actually don’t believe that consciousness stops at cells or solar systems :). I am a panpsychist which holds the view that everything in our universe is made up of consciousness (just not the super intelligent type that we typically associate with the word).
People usually get hung up on the idea… “how can you consider this rock to be conscious”. Well within this rock there are protons, neutrons, electrons, atoms, molecules, etc, that all “know” how to do their thing to form a rock. If things weren’t conscious then nothing in our universe would have a shape. I believe that higher states of consciousness arise from simpler lower states.
Each system attempts to offload work to the lower systems to ensure its own health and survival. Similarly to humans using automation and technology to simplify and enhance their own lives. I don’t think its out of the realm of possibility that there exists a higher version of you that is essentially experiencing heaven for the duration of your entire life while you take care of the day-to day-survival duties.
Thanks! I guess my main point is that at every layer each conscious entity is not aware of the more complex conscious entity above it. If a heart knew that it works tirelessly to beat 2.5 billion times in an average lifetime only to support a (typically) ungrateful higher consciousness that gets to experience joy, happiness, flavor, touch, scent etc while the heart experiences none of it… it may consider stopping beating. It’s in the best interest of the higher consciousness to keep the lower consciousness beating along for as long as possible while being essentially in the dark.
I can completely relate! I sometimes enter states of depression or anxiety without seemingly any triggers. I could be having a great evening and then wake up the next morning feeling anxious or numb. It’s like my subconscious is bubbling stuff up to let me know that it’s not happy but my modern life has made me so disconnected from my own feelings that I don’t even understand what it wants.
I do not equate consciousness with “intelligence” or life for that matter. I think consciousness is a fundamental property of every little thing in our universe. I believe that higher levels of consciousness arise due to higher levels of systemic complexity.
This definition is more intuitive to me as compared to the modern definition where conscious life develops on earth from essentially nothing that is itself “alive”.
Please bear in mind that I was in a pretty negative headspace when I wrote this post yesterday! On most days, I’d wager that it is in the best interest of each higher entity to nurture and support the lower entities because they need each other to exist.
In other words I wouldn’t be able to enjoy life if my heart was in constant pain or simply gave out. Likewise, the heart would have more trouble doing its thing if I chose to never exercise, only eat fried foods, etc.
I’d like to think that each layer “desires” an equilibrium and harmony.
Thanks so much for sharing your LSD experience! That is wild. One thing that I struggle with internally is whether humanity is good or bad for the greater organism on this planet?
On the one hand, humans have the best chance of expanding all life from our planet to other planets and thus ensuring the survival of this organism should anything catastrophic happen to Earth. On the other hand we also have the best chance of destroying ourselves along with everything else here.
I was watching Oppenheimer recently and I just couldn’t believe that the brightest minds of that generation banded together to create… a weapon. Instead of launching rockets to other planets we are launching rockets at ourselves. It’s pure idiocy. Then I thought about how things aren’t that much different today. The brightest engineering minds are working for large corporations that are also destroying our planet, our attention, our privacy, etc.
I’m really curious to hear where you stand on the matter!
I actually share your thoughts! I used our body as an example to illustrate my point but I believe that this concept expands beyond our bodies and into everything.
I want to add that there was a study in Princeton designed to prove the existence of a Global human consciousness. It ran for 15 years and proved the hypothesis with odds in favor of a trillion to one.
As to your thesis, there are not infinite levels of “life” below us, right? At some point, the mechanisms at play are purely chemical interactions.
I do not believe that are are infinite levels of “life” below us or above, but I do believe there are infinite levels of consciousness. But my definition of consciousness is not restricted to life. I do not equate consciousness with “intelligence” or life. I think consciousness is a fundamental property of every little thing in our universe. I believe that higher levels of consciousness arise due to higher levels of systemic complexity. This definition is more intuitive to me as compared to the modern definition where conscious life develops on earth from essentially nothing that is itself “alive”.
As an aside, I don’t know that I’d place the subconscious below consciousness in the foundational way you built. I have wondered whether what we’ve thought of as the subconcious is merely the manifestation of right hemisphere expressing itself
This is a fascinating idea! Thank you for sharing and I’ll be sure to read more about this.
An interesting point is that no level below consciousness does science. No organ (besides the brain), no cell, no DNA strand, ponders the the question you pose.
I would argue that all levels below us do science, at our meta level we simply have ability to observe and describe the science that they do. Sure our cells almost definitely do not have the capacity ponder the question that I raised. But how do you know they don’t have other ways to express their agency? A renown biologist Michael Levin took some basic skin cells from a frog embryo and separated them from the rest of the organism. Astonishingly these “skin” cells rebooted themselves and converted into a new type of organism that is able to solve simple mazes, and demonstrate individual and group behaviors. Source: youtu.be/p3lsYlod5OU?si=t2-mBbwNWTSX2Lp8&t=38…
I’m not sure why you’re getting downvoted. I think that the scientific method is invaluable. I also think that it will never be complete because it is mostly quantitative while consciousness is qualitative (qualia are defined as instances of subjective, conscious experience).
For as long as science keeps subjective experience out of the equation (which by definition it kinda has to) then I also don’t think there will ever be a theory of everything.
I think consciousness is all about experience. Neither the neuron, nor you, Ron (I assume your name is Ron for the pun), has the full context. However who has the more complete conscious experience? You are able to touch, smell, see, hear and taste. A neuron is not. Who is to say there aren’t other senses in the higher consciousness that are beyond your comprehension, Ron?
I commented this elsewhere but please take a look at a few minutes of this video. Just because we do not understand the mechanism does not mean that it doesn’t exist.
A renowned biologist Michael Levin took some basic skin cells from a frog embryo and separated them from the rest of the organism. Astonishingly these “skin” cells rebooted themselves and converted into a new type of organism that is able to solve simple mazes, and demonstrate individual and group behaviors.
I am purely panpsychist. My intuition says that literally everything in this universe has a bit of consciousness in it. An atom has a bit, a cell has a few bits, a human brain has trillions of bits.
As an analogy, in a vivid dream “you” may be holding an apple, but in the end both you and that apple are made of dream-stuff. I believe that is the case for reality as well.
A hair cell that has had no prior exposure to a brand new environment is able to sense the change and adapt itself. To me this is indicative of an elementary consciousness.
What was trying to say is that I believe that neutrons are experiencing being neutrons, protons are experiencing being protons, electrons are experiencing being electrons, etc. Meanwhile an atom that contains all of the above is a more complex system and thus has a higher level of consciousness. Again I don’t equate consciousness with intelligence but more of an elementary state of awareness that allows these entities to perform their function.
This is really hard for me to articulate because I’m coming at this from a philosophical point of view and not a scientific one!
About 3 years ago I dreamt that I was in a downtown Chicago office interviewing for a fancy new job. For whatever reason my mom came along for the interview and was patiently waiting for me in the office lobby. About half way through the interview it began to dawn on me that my mom passed away over a decade ago. This realization...
I’ve had the same thought before but then I don’t want to become one of those older out of touch people. I think each generation feels like the world was in better shape when they were younger. But the truth is that many of the young kids today will look back on 2023 with the same fondness and nostalgia as I do when I think about the 1990s. Back in the day older people would warn us that video games and television would rot our brains. Now we warn our kids that TikTok will do the same. Everything is always getting faster and faster but young people are adaptable and I think they’ll find their way.
If I am not mistaken, before there was the #Civilization franchise, there was “Empire”. It was a fun game. There is #EmpireDeluxe available on #Steam, but I miss the DOS version that I played a lot.
Modern games today are usually limited to certain themes. If it's flight, it's flight. If it's tank, it's tank. If it's strategy, that's it. Carrier Command have it all.
I know, we can still play this today, however, what I miss with this game is the 2 player mode.
You just play with your friend and blast each other to friendly matches and laughter.
Being able to play 2P mode, face-to-face, is something that we have taken for granted, and now we're all just virtual avatars in online games (even online multiplayer games).
So, how about you?
Q: What are the five (5) video games from the 20th Century that you want to be able to play again today? And why?
Did you mean Time Commando by any chance? That was one of my favorites back in the day. Controls probably wouldn’t hold up these days but the time traveling aspect was super fun!
On the last day of my college internship a senior VP at my little company invited me into his office presumably to get to know me prior to extending a full-time offer. To break the ice he asked me what my favorite Star Wars movie was. I smiled and replied that I could never get through any of them.
As I was uttering these words I began to notice the giant Star Wars poster directly behind the gentleman. It then dawned on me that his office was chalk full of Star Wars memorabilia.
The man did not ask me any further questions. He shook my hand, thanked me for my great work, and I never stepped foot into those offices ever again.
All of life involves doing things to pass the time. What makes video games (and all hobbies) different is that you do it voluntarily because you enjoy it.
I too have a job that I like very much (love is a strong word for a place of employment because if I didn’t have bills I wouldn’t be working let’s be real). I also have a home that I am happy in, a loving partner and a young son.
I achieved most of these things thanks to video games. They got me interested in computers which led to a lucrative career in technology. They helped me unwind after countless long days of work which kept me from losing my mind. They led to life long friendships due to the shared common interest. I was able to pick up my wife thanks to what I learned from Leisure Suit Larry, etc.
I guess what I’m saying is a healthy relationship with any hobby can be good, or bad when taken to an extreme.
Michael Whelan, "Lore of the Witch World". (lemmy.world)
Gabe Newell ordered to make in-person deposition for Valve v. Wolfire Games lawsuit (www.gamesindustry.biz)
What's your favorite Christmas movie, and why?
For me, it’s jingle all the way. It’s got everything. A drunk reindeer. A terrorist mailman. Arnold punching a deer. Arnold punching Sinbad. Arnold punching Santa. Arnold in general....
The Talos Principle 2 Review Thread
Game Information...
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What are you most looking forward to?
Is it possible to exhaust a core memory to the point that it is no longer as meaningful to you?
When thinking about the most important moment(s) of your life, do you still feel the full range of emotion associated with that memory? What if you keep recalling the same memory many times, does the intensity of emotion fade?
Have any of you been able to reconnect with your inner child?
On the journey to becoming a productive member of society I had to compartmentalize my inner child....
You just slept in til 3pm. tomorrow, you have to wake at 7am. what do you do?
Do cosmologists know for sure that the Big Bang is propelling all matter away?
Is it at all possible that instead of being pushed away, we are instead getting pulled toward something huuuuuge via gravity? As if we are falling into something way greater than ourselves? I thought this was a wild idea but after I Googled it I found out that there is such a thing as a “Great Attractor”. Something 150...
What if you are not the “highest” level of consciousness in your own body?
I see the human organism as a layering of different levels of consciousness. Each layer supports mostly automated processes that sustain the layers beneath it....
why isn't the use of the bidet more widespread?
Parents used to warn their kids that literature would rot their brains. Then it was the radio, TV, and video games. Now it's TikTok.
Socrates bemoaned those young’ns who had the audacity to read their Homer, instead of memorizing it....
When was the last time a dream made you feel genuinely happy, and what was it about?
About 3 years ago I dreamt that I was in a downtown Chicago office interviewing for a fancy new job. For whatever reason my mom came along for the interview and was patiently waiting for me in the office lobby. About half way through the interview it began to dawn on me that my mom passed away over a decade ago. This realization...
Coming to you soon... (lemmy.world)
The Xbox 360 Store Will Close July 2024, But You Can Keep Playing Your Favorite Games (news.xbox.com)
What's some really unpopular opinion you have?
Most of the time when people say they have an unpopular opinion, it turns out it’s actually pretty popular....
When someone says "games", what's the first thing that comes to mind?
For me it’s PC games, for my gf it’s tabletop games, so I was interested, what do you folks imagine as the first thing when someone says “games”?
It’s time to change how we cover Elon Musk (www.theverge.com)
"Tren" Sends Media Molecule's Dreams Out in Style (www.pushsquare.com)
cross-posted from: lemm.ee/post/3486735...
Video games are one of the few places where failure motivates us to get back up. It's a temporary setback that allows you to keep going, teaching us resilience and the power of a second chance.
i swer i’m not high…