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<blockquote data-quote="JayJaySattva" data-source="post: 41121" data-attributes="member: 147">I couldn&#039;t agree more with Ligotti on this section of his &quot;The Conspiracy Against the Human Race&quot;:&quot;Trying for this understanding is the most trying thing of all. Yet trying not to try for it is just as trying. There is nothing more futile than to consciously look for something to save you. But consciousness makes this fact seem otherwise. Consciousness makes it seem as if (1) there is something to do; (2) there is somewhere to go; (3) there is something to be; (4) there is someone to know. This is what makes consciousness the parent of all horrors, the thing that makes us try to do something, go somewhere, be something, and know someone, such as ourselves, so that we can escape our MALIGNANTLY USELESS being and think that being alive is all right rather than that which should not be.”In the end, consciousness, to my mind, has only complicated life. I&#039;d argue fiercely against those who laud it as a marvel. The very fact that it seems to be a mechanism designed to &quot;fix&quot; the very messes it caused is ample reason to label it malignantly useless, as Ligotti would put it. Its advent sparks an internal psychological tension, spawning a set of fabricated needs that each conscious being convinces itself are vital—like the desperate search for meaning or purpose.People might meditate or perform all sorts of intellectual acrobatics, even therapy, to shed years of social and religious conditioning. Their goal: to finally see their instincts for what they are, including the &quot;instinct&quot; for meaning and purpose. Only then do they realize there was never anything to look for at all... The sheer irony: attempting to fix the blunders of consciousness using consciousness itself.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="JayJaySattva, post: 41121, member: 147"] I couldn't agree more with Ligotti on this section of his "The Conspiracy Against the Human Race": "Trying for this understanding is the most trying thing of all. Yet trying not to try for it is just as trying. There is nothing more futile than to consciously look for something to save you. But consciousness makes this fact seem otherwise. Consciousness makes it seem as if (1) there is something to do; (2) there is somewhere to go; (3) there is something to be; (4) there is someone to know. This is what makes consciousness the parent of all horrors, the thing that makes us try to do something, go somewhere, be something, and know someone, such as ourselves, so that we can escape our MALIGNANTLY USELESS being and think that being alive is all right rather than that which should not be.” In the end, consciousness, to my mind, has only complicated life. I'd argue fiercely against those who laud it as a marvel. The very fact that it seems to be a mechanism designed to "fix" the very messes it caused is ample reason to label it [B]malignantly useless[/B], as Ligotti would put it. Its advent sparks an internal psychological tension, spawning a set of fabricated needs that each conscious being convinces itself are vital—like the desperate search for meaning or purpose. People might meditate or perform all sorts of [B]intellectual acrobatics[/B], even therapy, to shed years of social and religious conditioning. Their goal: to finally see their instincts for what they are, including the "instinct" for meaning and purpose. Only then do they realize there was never anything to look for at all... [B]The sheer irony: attempting to fix the blunders of consciousness using consciousness itself.[/B] [/QUOTE]

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