>Syd to Vineeto: I can’t moralistically force my way into being less ‘self’-centric, can I? I will nevertheless keep this in mind as I go about everyday interactions. Getting outside of my ‘personal emotional interest’ is … well … umm … kinda scary-seeming at first. But … I can dimly see a great sense of freedom too. I will play with it! (29Jan2026)
>Syd to Andrew: If we don’t care naturally, isn’t ‘choosing’ to care just another moralistic strategy to avoid the raw fact of my self-centeredness? I’m not interested in moralistic forcing. I’d rather be sincere about who I actually am than force a version of caring that serves as a spanner in the works. (9Feb2026)
Hi Syd,
This red herring you have been presenting for a nearly two weeks now is nothing but a furphy, nobody every suggested a “moralistic strategy” except yourself. I explained to you how it works in detail in my post from January 5 this year –
>>Vineeto: The way “naiveté come[s] into picture” is that with sincerity and naiveté you apply no moral or ethical or ‘actualistic’ judgements as to what feeling is occurring and therefore can apply unrestricted attentiveness (…) [Emphasis added]. (Actualvineeto to Syd, 5 Jan 2026).
With further detailed explanations on January 22 –
>>Vineeto: (snip Richard’s quote from List D, Syd2, 26 May 2009) In order to “go past the rather superficial emotions/ feelings … into the deeper, more profound passions/ feelings” you first need to stop ignoring, objecting to, pushing away, or ‘setting aside’ or by-pass any ‘inappropriate’ of those superficial and profound passions until you can recognize and fully acknowledge them as ‘you’. Only then will you be able to discover there is something further, “where you intuitively feel you elementarily have existence as a feeling being (as in ‘me’ at the core of ‘my’ being … which is ‘being’ itself”.
If that discovery is genuine (and not a superficial change of wording, which neither changes your underlying feeling nor the vibes you automatically emanate) then you will experience a change in the way you feel, in your attitude and general outlook, where, for instance, women are no longer prey or objects of sexual desire but likeable fellow human beings to enjoy their company whatever form that may take. (Actualvineeto to Syd, 22 Jan 2026).
You decided to forgo this “scary-seeming” exploration (link) and chose to instead to have a combative tit-for-tat, I-am-bigger-than-you intermezzo with Andrew.
Syd to Andrew: What I’m interested in here is sincere and clear communication, not “more chats” or to “talk more”. (…)
My standards for engaging someone here is very simple: they need to, at minimum, care enough to respond directly to what I actually write or say. (link)
You are probably not familiar with the flavour of the word “chat” when used in Australia –
>>Richard: And speaking of youthful dreams it is appropriate to mention how, around the time of puberty onwards, adolescents become increasingly serious and childhood fun gives way to societally-inculcated obligations and responsibility. As these are embedded into an instinctually affective programme (I have seen many a frisky lamb turn into a sedate sheep, and frolicsome calves into sombre cattle, as maturity takes its toll) they turn into having the appearance of being innate … when they are not.
Life here in this actual world – the world of sensuous delight – is akin to being a child again but with the undeniable advantage of adult sensibilities; when the occasion calls for it I can adopt a suitably solemn expression, nod sagely as appropriate, and get away with being just a big kid having a ball in the otherwise grim and glum land of the grown-ups; indeed, I can even tell them how much fun I am having – that I am just a big kid – and yet they are so serious they assume me to be making some kind of obscure or idiosyncratic joke.
Anyway, what I am finally succeeding in doing is seducing some of my fellow humans – those who have not lost the plot totally – to come out and play, now, as we are all but a missed heartbeat or two away from physical death each day again. Being retired, with more than sufficient means for the rest of my life, is nowadays to my advantage, of course, yet there is simply no reason at all why gainful employment need be anything other than fun.
For instance, all my best work (back when supporting both a wife and a family) always happened when I was having the most fun; in fact I have some very blurry black and white ‘home movie’ type footage of myself, circa March 1981, which ends with ‘me’ saying: ‘Do your own thing … but have fun; if you’re not having fun then, hell, stop doing it, something is wrong; if you’re not having fun, if you have to force yourself to go to work, if you’re unhappy, something is wrong’. Within weeks ‘he’ was carted off to a hospital emergency care unit in a catatonic state and … and here we are today having this illuminating chat about our fancy dreams.
Who else can be enticed to come out and play – to join me here in this actual world – and live life where all is fun yet where everything which needs to be done does get done (albeit playfully) because of those oh-so-vital adult sensibilities? ‘Tis yours for the asking, so to speak, as no one is stopping you but yourself; no time is the right time to make it all happen as the right time only comes about when you have it happen; it is not a case of being ready for it as being ready only occurs when you have it occur; all you get by waiting is more waiting as now is the moment where it all happens; everything which happens only ever happens now. Actuality is where more than your fancy dreams can come true – much, much more – as life itself, here, is beyond even any of your most absolutely wild fantasies.
This is what is actually better than best. [Emphasis added]. (Richard, List D, No. 4, 14 Dec 2009)
You see, a chat can be a bit different to your idea of communication –
>Syd: My standards for engaging someone here is very simple: they need to, at minimum, care enough to respond directly to what I actually write or say. (link)
Your standards, and the way they are presented, remind me of a previous conversation Richard had with you about your Gitter-chat –
>>Richard: It appears that it has not occurred to you how this aggressive attitude/ approach of yours – your tit-for-tat modus vivendi – is in lieu of dissolving those childhood hurts you stubbornly nurse in your adult bosom.
(…)
In other words, with the dissolution of those childhood hurts the (deeply felt) need for your aggressive tit-for-tat modus vivendi will also vanish … leaving you free to treat …um… the ‘other’ as a fellow human being (rather than as an adversary to gain dominion over).
(…)
It is no wonder you (hedonically) feel pleasant – as per your footnoted ‘in order to consistently feel pleasant’ words as quoted further above – upon channelling that police-force calibre ‘power’ (so as to obtain dominion over those ‘run-of-the-mill’ citizens, colleagues, and etcetera), eh? (Richard, List D, Syd2, 14 Jan 2016)
Isn’t it time to put “those childhood hurts” and the resulting “police-force calibre ‘power’” and “aggressive attitude/ approach of yours” behind you and start naïvely playing rather than endeavouring to impose your serious/ sophisticate standards on others?
You could instead re-awaken your dormant naiveté (being like a child but with adult sensibilities) and keep ‘thinning’ your identity to the point that it becomes more and more insubstantial. When you start naïvely liking yourself, then liking your fellow human beings will happen of its own accord.
Richard: And the key to unlocking naiveté is sincerity, pure and simple.
Respondent: Can one ‘try’ to be more sincere? Curious.
Richard: Sincerity, or any expansion thereof, is not a matter of trying: anybody can be sincere (about anything) – all it takes is seeing the fact (of anything) – and in this instance the perspicuous awareness of blind nature’s legacy being the arch-crippler of intelligence ensures one stays true to/ correctly aligned with that (that very factuality/ facticity seen).
And which (being aligned with factuality/ staying true to facticity) is what being sincere is … being authentic/ guileless, genuine/ artless, straightforward/ ingenuous. (Richard, AF List, No. 68d, 18 Oct 2005)
Cheers Vineeto