I've experienced some interesting and intense things recently that inspired lots of introspection and affected my perspective in a big picture way. I'd like to discuss that here but it's still a bit muddled in my mind. I'm creating this topic to compel myself to follow through and write a big post about that stuff when I feel slightly more eloquent about it.

In the meantime, if there are any things you are struggling with in life, or things you have overcome, or general things about your perspective or other perspectives that intrigue you, discuss them here and we can have some productive conversations.

Lol there aren't any persons on the interguild

everyone on the interguild is a bot except for you

Sefro did you drop acid or other associated psychedelics? Because interesting and intense things that inspired lots of introspection and affected my perspective in a big picture way sounds a lot like my experience with psychedelics.

Perspective wise, I'm curious everyones views on a god, not in the organized religion sense but more in the spiritual sense. I dislike organized religion but I also have a healthy belief in a power greater than myself, not so much as the traditional "god" per se, but a modified version of it. A lot of that belief has been helped formed through the 12 steps, but it's a belief that has been serving me well lately.

Well, I am officially posting, as a person, from jail. I have been accused of cyber crimes and impersonation of another woman (?!). How's that for an answer?!

I've never been one to talk much on the IG about things that are actually troubling me. Probably because when I was younger, the IG was a way to get away from all of that, and in later years, there were members who would probably antagonize me with any information I divulged.

Obviously the Interguild is a somewhat different place in 2018, but still, eh. I'd probably be more likely to make a throwaway account and post on a relevant subreddit about whatever's troubling me, not sure what that says about my stance. I've also built up a decent support network irl too, so I guess at the end of the day, the IG is still some kind of retreat for me. I'll still offer any worthwhile input for stuff other people post in here though.

Yeah, I have big problems in my life, but I'm working through them... slowly, and hopefully I'll one day be closer to who I want to be as a person

Yeah, I've done lots of acid. Most of my experience with that was two to three years ago. I learned a lot from it. It also exacerbated my introverted tendencies. For a while I used acid and the sense of connectedness it submerged me in as a substitute for human interaction. I isolated myself until I felt like I was viscerally disappearing into a dream and becoming unreal. It was uncomfortable but also inspired lots of productive examination about who I am and what I care about. I feel like I've rebuilt myself from scratch in some sense.

Acid itself isn't what I wanted to discuss per se, which is more along the lines of schizoid behaviour and spirituality, but it's linked to it in that way.

I actually identify with that a lot. I did a lot of psychedelics during my run with drugs and completely understand where you're coming from. Psychedelics helped me shape my concept of a higher power and build up my morals and values, so they can definitely be useful.  

After all those deep things you guys wrote here I feel bad that this



was an April Fools thing

haha remember when i thought homeschooling was good?
making friends is nigh impossible when you rarely leave the house (either that or i never learned how to make friends. either way it's homeschoolings fault tbh).

nowadays my life is perpetual boredom because nothing is fun alone

Yimmy, I'm sure there's something you could do to meet people. Try looking online or in your local newspaper for events that interest you, and if you go to one, talk to some people you meet at it. If you're at a concert, for example, perhaps ask someone if they like the music. As for who to talk to, just go up to someone about the same age as you that doesn't look busy. If you don't enjoy the conversation then try someone else. Going up to random strangers can sometimes be intimidating, but just tell yourself that you've got nothing to lose.

There are also some things to do alone— aside from video games, you could find plenty of books and sometimes movies at a library. Some books I'd recommend are Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne and The Color out of Space or The Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft.  

I don't have any valid opinions on what it's like to be a person, since I'm a droid, but whatever I'm giving some anyways.

God?
* My religious beliefs are more or less Calvinist. That is, in a nutshell:
   * People (and the rest of creation) are deeply valuable but also deeply flawed - having tendencies towards both good and evil
   * Salvation is achieved not by any action we take but by God's grace

Acid?
* Nope. Unless you count citric acid, which I consume in copious amounts in Mountain Dew form. XD

Friends?
* Actually I probably spend far too much time hanging out with friends on Discord and playing games with them. Which is weird because I was like totally introverted as a kid, but in and since college I've gained several close friends.
* You know, if you want to hang out with my friend group on Discord you're more than welcome to, Yimmy. As long as you don't mind a certain amount of insanity, that is. We're a bunch of weird nerds, basically. I can PM you the join link if you want.

Books?
* Oh, are we recommending books now? Cool! Here's a few ones I've been reading (or more often listening on Audible) to recently (heavily skewed towards speculative fiction because I like it):
   * Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - Awesome near-future sci-fi exploring a dystopian world where everyone turns to VR to escape reality and enter a better one. Also has an excellent film adaptation by Spielberg now, although the movie plot is totally different from the book plot so they don't really spoil each other at all. I also recommend his other novel Armada, which is in a different world but also good.
   * The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss - An extremely well-made fantasy trilogy (2/3 done so far) with a hard magic system and well-crafted characters/settings/etc. It's basically the opposite of the Eragon series, which while I enjoyed it was obviously rushed and had a rather nebulous magic system.
   * The Old Man's War series by John Scalzi (and Scalzi's other works) - A unique science fantasy series with an interesting writing style. The best way I can think to describe it is like the movie Gravity in book form - suspense where things can go horribly wrong at any moment. Well worth a look.
   * The Expanse series by James S. A. Corey (who is actually a pseudonym for Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) - A very well-made hard sci-fi series in which human interactions take center stage and humans' tendency to be terrible to each other is generally the true villain. Solid science and solid writing. Has also been made into a TV series which I haven't actually watched but I am told it's pretty good as well.

Yeah that kind of is a legitimate issue with homeschooling, you don't get to make as many friends or get as much exposure with other children of your age. I knew one dude in high school who just came in from being home schooled, and he was a good guy and I don't think he really had much issue adjusting to life in public school but I do remember that there were a few ways in which he acted a little socially awkward, which I guesses was because he was home schooled and didn't get to interact with other children around his age as much, or just being exposed to the classroom environment.

But even if you end up a little socially awkward when you stop getting home schooled, or you don't have that many friends right now, it's not like it's going to be a permanent scar you're going to bear; you'd likely pick up on things as you start interacting with the rest of the world, and at some point you'd find some friends of your own. Just make sure you're very open to the views and stances of others, because if you're home schooled, you're probably not going to have been taught a wide range of opinions and beliefs, more likely in controversial ares just being taught whatever your parents believe. If some people actually believe [X], whereas you were taught [Y], there is probably some reason why they believe [X], which you should try to seek out. Not that there isn't also some reason why your parents believe [Y]. Shockingly, the world isn't all black and white

I've been reading this series over the past year and I'm on book 6 (Babylon's Ashes). It's only now starting to drag a bit for me, but it's not bad, just not as relentlessly good as it has been so far. I'm told 7 is one of the best, which is motivating.

I think I find the series compelling mostly because it's about the characters more than anything. I can care more about cool sci-fi ideas when I care about the characters they affect, as opposed to when they're "the point" of the story, which is a tendency that makes a lot of science fiction feel hollow to me, hard to care about what happens.

I saw the first two seasons of the show (which inspired me pick up the books) and it's quite good, but not as good. It's simpler, which it has to be. Loses a lot without the inner monologues. Some of the casting is close to perfect though, especially Naomi, Amos, Miller, and Anderson Dawes.

being a person is sad but great i guess

Yeah, the free navy plot thread isn't as compelling as most of the other stories tbh. I'd say my favorite book in the series is still Caliban's War. I think I know why - it's because of the characters. Caliban's War introduces and two of the best characters in the series, while in the free navy plot thread most of the characters are already established ones. Not that there's a problem with that, but introducing compelling new characters helps to keep things interesting.