Good morning, Chatoyance ... while this post may create some kind of echo-chamber effect (we search for ppl who are think and talk like us on topics we consider important), I still like to point out this blogpost.

When Worlds Collide. (And Crash. And Burn.)

“So Many Doomsdays” went as well as one could expect when one’s goal is to convince people that we’re so inherently wired for hope that no matter how bad we think things are, the reality is worse— and that Optimism (far from being the “radical” option, as some would have it) is so deeply-wired as the default that it threatens our survival. Apparently the relentless hectoring of the Hope Police has been wearing thin—in Bulgaria, at least— judging by the folks who approached me afterward to thank me for the lack of sugar-coating.

Well, if "humans are hardwired for hope" - we are not humans, on this front! Quest is ...what else should be done?

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This post is confusing. You've linked another post, but it shouldn't be necessary to read all of the included links to understand what you are trying to discuss. About that, are you trying to discuss something with the whole group? You opened your post with a greeting to Chatoyance specifically, so was this message meant to be a PM to her? If not, then there is a great deal of information missing from the post that would make it a completely coherent discussion topic. If this message was meant to be a PM, you should copy it to the individual recipient, and if it was meant to be a discussion topic, you really need to flesh out the details, perhaps delete it and start over, as the title "Peter Watts" isn't what you are talking about in the first place.

Well, no, it was not meant to be PM. I think Chatoyance and Peter share same critical view/mindset on "human nature", and wish/trying to do something about it. They both sci-fi writers, but I think this 'mindset' part is more important. I was thinking about putting this on Chatoyance's 'wall' here, but then decided wall was mostly used for 'rolling' discussions, while (mostly quiet, but not quite dead) forum will be better place if I want to leave something until somepony returns to here.

I remember reading this part, for example ("CuddleKill: or, Liz Cheney Explained") while I found this part much after it was written, simply because I have such tendency of reading as deep as possible (for few selected authors).

Context matters, of course. Oxytocin does make you feel more protective and altruistic towards kin and kind: friends, relatives, the so-called “in group” we all develop over time. But De Drew et al have now shown that it also increases your hostility towards to outgroups: the guys from the other tribe or the other school, at least when you’re worried about the security of your own group. The phrase they use to sum up oxytocin’s impact is “tend and defend”. It makes you love your neighbour all the more, sure — but if there’s the slightest chance some stranger might pose a threat, oxytocin urges you to bash his skull in before that threat materialises.

Thing is, I wish this knowledge can be used by humans themselves, in some way of making 'mental martial arts' (IIRC all those 'practical arts' actually heavily about mental states, but I never practiced them personally. Also, not sure if their popularized forms actually work), or at least knowing up to that kind of force they are against (inside their own head!). Some important details to help us overcome/workaround those limitations.

Of course all mental discipline requires ..some discipline to even start seriously. A bit of recursive requirement ...

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This is the kind of stuff your original post should include, because your second post at least has a train of thought I can follow. The first does not, and readers will not read further if they do not understand the original post. Even with your reply clarifying in some small way what you are trying to talk about, most readers will not understand the original post and not read further because of it.

As someone who has practiced martial arts, I can tell you that if it is taught correctly, practitioners will fight significantly less because they become acutely aware of the outcome of fighting, the causes of fighting, and the bullshit things like provoking and baiting - how to recognize them in others and in one's self. The desire for control is universal; the power and the glory is being able to control one's self. The key is in practice. Everyday whatever muscle is not used atrophies just a little bit, and this is true for skills as well. If the muscle is weak, it has to be exercised in small ways. For that reason, one does not "start seriously" one simply starts and keeps going.

As for others, you can't change others; you can only change yourself. Trying to change others or even spending too much time thinking about trying to change others will only make you hate the world. The Conversion Bureau's guiltiest pleasure is the barrier that keeps humans out of Equestria. Blaze invented that concept because he didn't want to deal with others thinking and acting in ways that weren't just different than himself but destructive to him and people like himself. That brain chemical doesn't make us more loving and more violent; it only makes us more aware of the feelings that arise from the thought processes that are already present in our minds. I don't have a comfortable answer for you. Buddhists believe that in time, all will obtain enlightenment, and until that time this imperfection is a burden that will be carried by all willingly or unwillingly. Therefore, it is best that all who can make a choice should choose to carry the burden willingly so that they do not become a cause of suffering which is the imperfection.

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Thanks for reply. Yes, most readers probably will not read further. Thing is, I'm not looking for just readers, I'm looking for specific kind of readers, who, not unlike me, can extract something out of single phrase and start their own search.

one does not "start seriously" one simply starts and keeps going.

- guess this was what I also meant ... Because often some efforts are dropped after short/unsufficient time.