Psychic Hygiene - How the Content You Consume Changes You

[A Jay]

Psychic hygiene is a topic that the C's have mentioned on several occasions as being important. However, this recommendation to be careful of and vigilant about what we consume has taken on a new meaning for me after listening to this YouTuber break down all the ways in which fiction can lead to changes in opinion, beliefs, personality, cognitive abilities, and even our perception of reality.

A while ago the YouTube algorithm recommended the channel The Second Story to me, specifically this video on how using AI has a detrimental effect on our ability to think and be creative. I highly recommend it as she articulates all the ways in which handing over any thinking over to AI leads to a corresponding decrease in cognitive function.

She's certainly not the first person to point out the dangers of letting machines take over our lives. I recently read The Glass Cage and while the book is 12 years old and the focus was on automation more broadly, it nevertheless covered a lot of similar ground as The Second Story's video in that the more we let machines do things for us the less we're able to do for ourselves. Setting aside that she's not the first person to point out the dangers of AI, I found her perspective to be a fresh and thought provoking one.

Bringing it back to the point of this thread, she made another video recently that I thought was even more worth sharing because while we can all notice the way consistently using AI makes us more dependent on AI, it's not so obvious how the media (books, tv shows, movies, and even news) we consume can effect our opinions, beliefs, and so on.

It's probably the best primer/explanation for why psychic hygiene is important I've yet to come across and as I said at the beginning the term has taken on a broadened and deepened definition for me thanks to this video. Wanted to share it with others in case anyone else wanted a less esoteric and more practical understanding of what psychic hygiene actually is and why it's important.

The thumbnail for the video states, "You are what you read." It's worse than that and she goes into great detail how and why this is the case, but that's the essence of it.

Anyways, here it is:

 

[Alejo]

Bringing it back to the point of this thread, she made another video recently that I thought was even more worth sharing because while we can all notice the way consistently using AI makes us more dependent on AI, it's not so obvious how the media (books, tv shows, movies, and even news) we consume can effect our opinions, beliefs, and so on.

It's probably the best primer/explanation for why psychic hygiene is important I've yet to come across and as I said at the beginning the term has taken on a broadened and deepened definition for me thanks to this video. Wanted to share it with others in case anyone else wanted a less esoteric and more practical understanding of what psychic hygiene actually is and why it's important.

That's very interesting,

Thanks for sharing, I will give it a watch as it's a bit longer. But the first ten minutes were rather interesting, specially when she speaks about fiction in video games, and it's the fact of knowing you're experiencing fiction that makes it non detrimental in the same way believing a that what you're watching is real would.

I have come to think lately that given the amount of trash content being pushed out daily by AI, people will eventually loose a taste for it, and some of their creative capacity, and the void created by it will mean that we are going to have to write our own stories.

AI promises clean cut and perfect lighting, perfect pitch and dictation, properly structured sentences and paragraphs, but I think people will actually begin to prefer the imperfect because it will remind them of their own humanity.

 

[3DStudent]

That was interesting. I was thinking that I need some positive dissociation recently, maybe just a movie or short series. I was always visually sensitive as a kid and then was desensitized by games and movies. These days I still am and flinch when a character gets hit or shot. And it was really hard to view some recently posted body modifications.

She was basically promoting networking in recommending discussing fiction so that you know whether some behaviors are acceptable or not. So I guess book clubs and the like are a good thing for that.

I feel like I didn't remember new vocabulary words well in school or even now, as if I had hit a sort of limit. Or sometimes I find I was using a word wrong the whole time and had my own subjective meaning for it.

Maybe I'll check out the AI video, to see if I'm abusing it as of now (don't really think so). I noticed stress can really affect your cognitive abilities. And I noticed that Mind+ plasmalogens helps a lot in that regard, as I recently stopped taking it after some months and am significantly but not catastrophically forgetful.

 

[Ollie]

Psychic hygiene is a topic that the C's have mentioned on several occasions as being important. However, this recommendation to be careful of and vigilant about what we consume has taken on a new meaning for me after listening to this YouTuber break down all the ways in which fiction can lead to changes in opinion, beliefs, personality, cognitive abilities, and even our perception of reality.

A while ago the YouTube algorithm recommended the channel The Second Story to me, specifically this video on how using AI has a detrimental effect on our ability to think and be creative. I highly recommend it as she articulates all the ways in which handing over any thinking over to AI leads to a corresponding decrease in cognitive function.

She's certainly not the first person to point out the dangers of letting machines take over our lives. I recently read The Glass Cage and while the book is 12 years old and the focus was on automation more broadly, it nevertheless covered a lot of similar ground as The Second Story's video in that the more we let machines do things for us the less we're able to do for ourselves. Setting aside that she's not the first person to point out the dangers of AI, I found her perspective to be a fresh and thought provoking one.

Bringing it back to the point of this thread, she made another video recently that I thought was even more worth sharing because while we can all notice the way consistently using AI makes us more dependent on AI, it's not so obvious how the media (books, tv shows, movies, and even news) we consume can effect our opinions, beliefs, and so on.

It's probably the best primer/explanation for why psychic hygiene is important I've yet to come across and as I said at the beginning the term has taken on a broadened and deepened definition for me thanks to this video. Wanted to share it with others in case anyone else wanted a less esoteric and more practical understanding of what psychic hygiene actually is and why it's important.

The thumbnail for the video states, "You are what you read." It's worse than that and she goes into great detail how and why this is the case, but that's the essence of it.

Anyways, here it is:

In my opinion, it is not so much what you read, rather it is what, or how, you interpret what you read, and from that, how you make it your own understanding, and from there, putting it into your own words, rather than using the words that were first read. So, for me, 'you are your own understanding of what you read'. In that way you have made it your own.

That was interesting. I was thinking that I need some positive dissociation recently, maybe just a movie or short series. I was always visually sensitive as a kid and then was desensitized by games and movies. These days I still am and flinch when a character gets hit or shot. And it was really hard to view some recently posted body modifications.

She was basically promoting networking in recommending discussing fiction so that you know whether some behaviors are acceptable or not. So I guess book clubs and the like are a good thing for that.

I feel like I didn't remember new vocabulary words well in school or even now, as if I had hit a sort of limit. Or sometimes I find I was using a word wrong the whole time and had my own subjective meaning for it.

Maybe I'll check out the AI video, to see if I'm abusing it as of now (don't really think so). I noticed stress can really affect your cognitive abilities. And I noticed that Mind+ plasmalogens helps a lot in that regard, as I recently stopped taking it after some months and am significantly but not catastrophically forgetful.

As for knowing what behaviors are acceptable or not, remember to avoid your own cognative biases getting in the way.

Stress certainly does affect your cognative abilities. Personally, I have always had a bad memory. A rolfer that I used a few years back, suggested to a colleague that she thought that I may have experienced some trauma in my early life (of which I have a no conscious memory): the trauma is buried deep inside, and expresses itself in my body fascia, how I hold myself, and how I interact with others.

 

[Bluegazer]

After watching the entire video, I think I can say that I strongly agree with everything she’s said. However, I’d like to add something from a more ontological perspective. The point is: which IDEA do you align with? We already know that there are root ideas (archetypes/divine names) that are STO or STS. Or rather, the thought centers.

This makes me think that, depending on what you align yourself with most—and based on your own inner nature—you channel or manifest that idea. That’s why what you read is what you become. So it’s no longer just about what you consume, but what you CHOOSE. What you choose to let into your life—and what you don’t. And here we see that people in general, when passively consuming fiction, do not use their free will to choose because they have not developed it, or their discernment has been degraded.

What does this have to do with psychic hygiene? Depending on our inner nature and natural inclinations, if the ideas we consume are completely at odds with who we are, it is, on some level, a sin against our own soul. I would say that psychic hygiene is the maintenance and repair of the soul....​

 

[Wandering Star]

Bringing it back to the point of this thread, she made another video recently that I thought was even more worth sharing because while we can all notice the way consistently using AI makes us more dependent on AI, it's not so obvious how the media (books, tv shows, movies, and even news) we consume can effect our opinions, beliefs, and so on.

That is exactly its function.

Programming people in their ideas and beliefs which create reality.

Those of us who are of a certain age and have lived many years without mobile phones (even less so smart ones) have an advantage when it comes to using technology.

When I tell someone that I don't have my mobile phone data enabled, that I only use it to receive calls, they look at me like I'm a weirdo.

 

[A Jay]

Thanks for sharing, I will give it a watch as it's a bit longer. But the first ten minutes were rather interesting, specially when she speaks about fiction in video games, and it's the fact of knowing you're experiencing fiction that makes it non detrimental in the same way believing a that what you're watching is real would.

I think you meant to say it was interesting when she said that it was the knowing that the violence in video games was not real made the brain not respond as if it was real even though it may look real.

Other fictional things in video games can be detrimental, though. Precisely because it may not reach our conscious awareness that it is not real.

I have come to think lately that given the amount of trash content being pushed out daily by AI, people will eventually loose a taste for it, and some of their creative capacity, and the void created by it will mean that we are going to have to write our own stories.

AI promises clean cut and perfect lighting, perfect pitch and dictation, properly structured sentences and paragraphs, but I think people will actually begin to prefer the imperfect because it will remind them of their own humanity.

AI is too convenient in a lot of ways and convenience is how humans operate for the most part. I think non-AI things will always be around and may even gain back some lost popularity, but I also don't think AI isn't going anywhere. There's just too many lazy convenience seekers and too many demonic globalists for AI to be done away with completely.

[Semi-related tangent: Don't read The AI Mirror. It's a terrible book that I can sum up in two words: Do better. The author went to great lengths to try and flesh out and dress up this sentiment, but really that's what it came down to and kept coming back to. It was just such a waste of words. End rant.]

That was interesting. I was thinking that I need some positive dissociation recently, maybe just a movie or short series. I was always visually sensitive as a kid and then was desensitized by games and movies. These days I still am and flinch when a character gets hit or shot. And it was really hard to view some recently posted body modifications.

She was basically promoting networking in recommending discussing fiction so that you know whether some behaviors are acceptable or not. So I guess book clubs and the like are a good thing for that.

I feel like I didn't remember new vocabulary words well in school or even now, as if I had hit a sort of limit. Or sometimes I find I was using a word wrong the whole time and had my own subjective meaning for it.

Maybe I'll check out the AI video, to see if I'm abusing it as of now (don't really think so). I noticed stress can really affect your cognitive abilities. And I noticed that Mind+ plasmalogens helps a lot in that regard, as I recently stopped taking it after some months and am significantly but not catastrophically forgetful.

Yes, networking can be quite helpful for a myriad of reasons and I would definitely recommend her AI video.

In my opinion, it is not so much what you read, rather it is what, or how, you interpret what you read, and from that, how you make it your own understanding, and from there, putting it into your own words, rather than using the words that were first read. So, for me, 'you are your own understanding of what you read'. In that way you have made it your own.

That's a good approach but it assumes a working knowledge of the factors at play and some of what needs to be considered is by no means obvious.

That is why I wanted to share this video, so that others might learn about all the ways in which we can be manipulated (intentionally and unintentionally) via fiction (and non-fiction) and might therefore gain some measure of protection against it.

After watching the entire video, I think I can say that I strongly agree with everything she’s said. However, I’d like to add something from a more ontological perspective. The point is: which IDEA do you align with? We already know that there are root ideas (archetypes/divine names) that are STO or STS. Or rather, the thought centers.

This makes me think that, depending on what you align yourself with most—and based on your own inner nature—you channel or manifest that idea. That’s why what you read is what you become. So it’s no longer just about what you consume, but what you CHOOSE. What you choose to let into your life—and what you don’t. And here we see that people in general, when passively consuming fiction, do not use their free will to choose because they have not developed it, or their discernment has been degraded.

What does this have to do with psychic hygiene? Depending on our inner nature and natural inclinations, if the ideas we consume are completely at odds with who we are, it is, on some level, a sin against our own soul. I would say that psychic hygiene is the maintenance and repair of the soul....​

I suppose you could also say that psychic hygiene is developing one's ability to choose. If we take the development of choice potential as the goal, then the way to do that is to become as aware as possible of all the ways our choices and the information that informs those choices can be manipulated, intentionally and unintentionally.

That is exactly its function.

Programming people in their ideas and beliefs which create reality.

Which is why I wanted to start this thread and shared the video that I did.

There's many obvious issues when dealing with fiction of all media types but there's also many non-obvious ones that come from the way in which we process fiction.

As an example, those of us who aren't doctors might assume something can be learned about doctors from books, tv shows, and movies that have doctors in them. In some ways this is obvious but in others it isn't.

Without knowing all the ways that fiction can effect and influence us, we risk having our minds shaped in ways that aren't based in reality. Sometimes this is intentional. Other times it's unintentional.

Those of us who are of a certain age and have lived many years without mobile phones (even less so smart ones) have an advantage when it comes to using technology.

When I tell someone that I don't have my mobile phone data enabled, that I only use it to receive calls, they look at me like I'm a weirdo.

Well, to be fair, to be on this forum you pretty much have to be a weirdo. So you're in good company.

 

[Yas]

Thanks for sharing the video and her channel. It's very interesting and go es food for thought.

I remember when I was in highschool we had a weird subject that no other school had that was university level communication science. For this subject we learnt all about communication theory and how to analyze different mediums of communication, including TV and movies. I remembered this because after learning that, it became pretty clear that movies are used for propaganda and always sought for that purpose actually. This has always been true, since the beginning of cinema, but today it's pretty obvious with all the push for adding LGBT stuff to every single show.

So, in this video she gives a few reason for why that could be. One that stood out is that people are generally less guarded when consuming fiction, and there's all the emotional investment in the characters who we come to like and empathize with. So I think it's easier to kind of influence a perspective of reality with movies and fiction. I think that we are kind of wired for it actually, as this is part of how we evolved when there wasn't writing, by telling and listening to stories that perhaps were partly fictional but told the tale of something that had happened.

The way she explains how our brains extract a lot of information from these fiction works really does help understand how it all can shape our views of the world. And I guess hygiene doesn't mean necessarily that we mustn't watch bad stuff at all, but that we should be aware of how what we're watching is impacting our perspective and make it a more active process were we question whatever we're watching instead of just passively consuming it. And yes, limiting some really detrimental or bad content can be a good idea, too.

 

[Alejo]

I think you meant to say it was interesting when she said that it was the knowing that the violence in video games was not real made the brain not respond as if it was real even though it may look real.

Other fictional things in video games can be detrimental, though. Precisely because it may not reach our conscious awareness that it is not real.

Yes, that was it lol, violent video games do not make you violent because of the violence. Your mind understands it is fictional and it almost serves another purpose altogheter. It was super interesting that the same does not apply to porn, which I think it's an entirely different conversation, and she didn't touch upon it (unless I missed it) and it's because IMHO of the emotional component and what is expressed with sexual feelings and drives at an individual level.

That is to say that, when you watch a violent movie, or play a violent video game, you're seeking a fictional experience of entertainment and a very simple and superficial stimulation. But watching porn, what you look for is something else entirely, far deeper and more intimate, you're in a far more vulnerable place, beyond passive observation I think.

It was really interesting how she mentioned that the fiction you enter in contact with in ignorance tends to become reality just because you're ignorant of it. So, movies, series, books and video games, who present a piece of history let's say in a specific way, and you happen not to have any knowledge about it, you'll begin to assume that the fiction presented is reality, even if you know better.

And so yes, absolutely mental hygiene is extremely important, but I would also add self awareness because you might come in contact with things that aren't very clean, and that's when having a strong "mental immunity" is going to help you out, so stay clean when you can but be strong if you're not able to remain super clean.

That video reminded me of a quote from Operators and Things

I worried over McDermott so much that finally I had to erase him from my mind and pretend that he wasn't what he was and that the things that were happening weren't happening. When you reach that stage with fear, you start growing strange plants of distortion in your mind. The best comparison I can think of to illustrate this mental process occurs in George Orwell's 1984. An entire staff of government employees spend their time rewriting the files of old newspapers and documents, changing hurts so that the facts agree with whatever propaganda program the government has in progress. You do this to yourself mentally when you set about deliberately distorting a picture you can see clearly. By the time you have twisted the facts to agree with the picture you wish to see, your subconscious mind has helpfully plodded through the past and distorted a lifetime of facts to make them agree with your present self-deception program.

It's like they say, at some level no one can deceive us without our permission/participation and knowledge does protect.