3628: Proof by Steve Pavlina on Personal Growth and Intentional Living

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER_01] Kennt ihr auch diesen einen Freund, der morgens einfach so ruckzuck aus dem Bett und danach aus dem Grinsen gar nicht mehr rauskommt? Der sogar noch vor dem ersten Kaffee unverschämt gut gelaunt ist und mit der Morgensonne um die Wette strahlt? Furchtbar, ekelhaft, wie kann man nur so

[00:00:15] [SPEAKER_02] Ausgeruht sein? Ganz einfach, trainiere deinen Schlaf und werde auch du zum Morgenmenschen. Mit der Galaxy Watch 7 oder dem Galaxy Ring und der Samsung Health App.

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_03] Wenn jemand Charles und Melanie gesagt hätte, dass sie nach ihrem Tinder Match gemeinsam einen Channel mit crazy Aufgaben starten, also wirklich crazy, fünf Tage auf einer einsamen Insel verbringen, eine Zipline an einem Gurt runterrasen, eine Million Views knacken, eine Wand mit Saugnöpfen hochklettern und Fallschirm springen in Ägypten? Das hätten die beiden niemals geglaubt. Aber das ist das Ding mit Tinder. Es führt dich an Orte, die du nie erwartet hättest. Wohin es dich auch führt. It starts with a swipe. Tinder.

[00:00:55] [SPEAKER_00] This is Optimal Living Daily. Proof by Steve Pavlina of stevepavlina.com. And I'm your very own personal narrator Justin Malek reading to you from some amazing blogs and books to help you optimize your life. Today's author is Steve Pavlina, a self-experimenter. Come by his site to see a lot more. Now let's get right to it as we optimize your life. Proof by Steve Pavlina of stevepavlina.com.

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00] A forum member recently shared the Carl Sagan quote, Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, end quote. Sagan is credited with popularizing that slight rephrasing of an older quote by Marcello Truzzi, quote, Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, end quote. These quotes assume an objective universe, which is a rather biased way of looking at reality,

[00:01:50] [SPEAKER_00] and not particularly accurate. In my opinion, this viewpoint is misleading at best because it assumes that claims about reality are observed rather than created. What is proof anyway? Proof, or evidence, is an artifact of viewing reality through an objective lens. However, proof is not a facet of actual reality. Reality just is. It does not need to be proven.

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00] Reality is secure enough in its own existence that it doesn't care whether some being proves or disproves what it is, or provides evidence to support one theory or another. If you think reality cares about proof, you could also say it derives a sick satisfaction from all the false evidence that's been tendered in its name over the last few millennia. Instead of proof, what we really want is truth. And a good first truth to accept is that it's only the squishy, lens-peering beings that require proof,

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_00] which is actually a subjective experience. Experience versus proof. Since you cannot prove that objective reality actually exists, any proof you attempt to stack upon that assumption is merely a house of cards. You can get some mileage out of that approach, but the whole stack always remains in doubt. You can never feel 100% secure about statements that all trace back to a single, unprovable assumption.

[00:03:09] [SPEAKER_00] So in terms of discovering ultimate truth, this path is necessarily a dead end. It goes off track in the very first step. I'm not arguing that you can't get some useful results from pursuing the lens of objective reality. Certainly you can. However, whenever we discuss proofs, we must not forget that we're still dealing with a lens and not with reality itself. To mistake the lens for reality is to make ourselves partially blind. If not proof, then what?

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_00] Let me suggest a replacement for the quote Carl Sagan popularized. Extraordinary experiences require extraordinary creativity. Proving reality is nonsense. Reality is not something you need to prove. It will go right on existing with or without your permission. Reality will only make your feeble attempts at proof look silly in the long run. Instead of trying to prove reality, see it as something you experience, something you help create.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_00] Your involvement is to participate in the experience by expressing yourself creatively, not merely to passively observe. You don't need gravity to be proven to you. Just experience it. Create with it. If you feel compelled to measure gravity, then measure with the intention of expanding your creative capacity. Proving subjective experience. All experience is subjective, and subjective experience requires no proof. If I say to you,

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_00] I had a very interesting psychic experience the other day, and you say, I don't believe in that stuff, prove it, then I'll politely excuse myself to locate a more interesting conversation partner. In my view, you've made a perfectly acceptable choice regarding the type of experience you wish to have in this reality, so who am I to run afoul of your creativity by trying to prove that what you've created is wrong? Your decision is perfectly valid. At the same time,

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_00] I've chosen to welcome certain types of experiences that may not be compatible with your choices, so there isn't much potential for an interesting conversation to develop around this topic, at least not one I'd care to pursue. On the other hand, suppose that after hearing that statement from me, you reply, Wonderful! Tell me about it. Perhaps we'll find that your creative energies and mine are in sync, and we can share a lot of cool ideas that will help both of us grow and expand. This is exactly what happened when Aaron and I first met.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_00] Our first in-person conversation was about lucid dreaming, mostly with me asking her questions for two hours. I never had a lucid dream before meeting her, and I didn't even know it was possible for me, but through our conversation, Aaron showed me how to create that experience. It wasn't long before I had my first lucid dream, which lasted maybe five seconds, then I gradually improved from there. Imagine missing out on all those incredible dream experiences because our conversation never made it past prove it.

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_00] Aaron probably would have written me off as a hopeless nutnik and ran the other way. At its core, proof-seeking is rooted in fear, self-doubt, and low self-esteem. What if I believe something that turns out to be false? What if I make a mistake? What if I stray too far from the herd? You don't need social permission to pursue what genuinely interests you, no matter how out there it may seem. Just enjoy the experience. Proof-seeking is a phony pursuit anyway. Even in the face of overwhelming evidence,

[00:06:27] [SPEAKER_00] people will cling to their pre-existing beliefs for emotional reasons. Have you ever met a truly logical person who lives based on proof? Of course not. But you'll meet plenty of people who pretend to live this way. A deeper glance at their lives will show that it's far from a kingdom of reason. I'm sorry to disappoint those who ask me to prove the existence of lucid dreaming or astral projection or even how much income I earn. Those people will be waiting a very long time because I don't care to prove anything.

[00:06:54] [SPEAKER_00] That would actually do people a disservice by feeding their fears instead of helping them move through their fears. Experience and create reality. Experience your life. Create your life. But don't waste your time and energy seeking proof. If something interests you, then pursue it for the subjective growth experience. Pursue, attract, and create the experiences you want to have. Once you get into the habit of doing that,

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_00] you'll notice how much time and energy the proof seekers expend chasing their own tails and how fear-based that entire pursuit really is. You just listened to the post titled Proof by Steve Pavlina of stevepavlina.com and I'll be right back with my commentary. If you've shopped online, chances are you've bought from a business powered by Shopify. You know that purple shop pay button you see at checkout? The one that makes buying so incredibly easy?

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[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_00] Go to liquidiv.com and get 20% off your first order with code OLD at checkout. That's 20% off your first order with code OLD at liquidiv.com. Thanks to Steve for letting me share his work. A lot of his posts are pretty old, like 15 years old, back before fake news and stuff like that wasn't known as a huge problem. I wonder if he'd revise the article in any way based on changes in the world.

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_00] But regardless, when you're doing something that doesn't impact other people or hurt them, like talking about anything from his examples, like psychic abilities or lucid dreaming, which by the way I love, then proof doesn't matter like he's saying. And to comment on lucid dreaming, yes, it is real and it's as awesome as he's implying. I have a rare episode of this show that I wrote myself. I narrate my own work in it. That happens to be about lucid dreaming. That's episode 50 if you want to check that out.

[00:10:34] [SPEAKER_00] But that'll do it for today. Have a great rest of your day and I'll see you tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.