Energy drinks and caffeine

[Fluffy Princess Unicorn]

You're unreceptive and antagonistic/abrasive in nature. It's not enjoyable to have discussions with someone like that, and I don't just allow people to treat me with disrespect. I don't care whether you stay wrong about things, either. So...why would I sit here and argue with you, exactly? It's not a productive or beneficial use of my time. There's an insufficient quantity of motivating factors.

[Metamorph]

You're unreceptive and antagonistic/abrasive in nature. It's not enjoyable to have discussions with someone like that, and I don't just allow people to treat me with disrespect. I don't care whether you stay wrong about things, either. So...why would I sit here and argue with you, exactly? It's not a productive or beneficial use of my time. There's an insufficient quantity of motivating factors.

I'm unreceptive to people who make baseless assertions. Show me a paper if you want me to listen. I'm running around posting papers myself. Plus, I know your opinions on things without you having to say anything and you don't know mine... which is exactly why I criticized mainstream psychology in the random thought thread. Your criticisms of America put all the power in the hands of Pepsi Co. and Nestlé rather than people when it's literally easier in America than anywhere to get adequate nutrition and you don't think mainstream psychology should be able to come to any conclusions about people other than what they say about themselves if they're not lying in the first place. You have nothing to say at all to begin with. I'd rather listen to someone who's really obviously wrong like David Icke or the Time Cube guy than you because at least they're making claims about reality. You're just politely asking people who don't have any real power to fix your problems instead of fixing them yourself.

[Fluffy Princess Unicorn]

I'm unreceptive to people who make baseless assertions. Show me a paper if you want me to listen. I'm running around posting papers myself. Plus, I know your opinions on things without you having to say anything and you don't know mine... which is exactly why I criticized mainstream psychology in the random thought thread. Your criticisms of America put all the power in the hands of Pepsi Co. and Nestlé rather than people when it's literally easier in America than anywhere to get adequate nutrition and you don't think mainstream psychology should be able to come to any conclusions about people other than what they say about themselves if they're not lying in the first place. You have nothing to say at all to begin with. I'd rather listen to someone who's really obviously wrong like David Icke or the Time Cube guy than you because at least they're making claims about reality. You're just politely asking people who don't have any real power to fix your problems instead of fixing them yourself.

Annnd you're going on ignore. Don't bother trying to say anything to me anymore. I don't like you or want a single damn thing to do with you. You're toxic as fuck. Honestly, you're as bad as Alive, too. Very much like him, just different topics. I tried to give you a chance, but you disgust me.

[EIE H]

I am a hydrohomie… only drinking water. Caffeine makes me act “high”.

[Metamorph]

Annnd you're going on ignore. Don't bother trying to say anything to me anymore. I don't like you or want a single damn thing to do with you. You're toxic as fuck. Honestly, you're as bad as Alive, too. Very much like him, just different topics. I tried to give you a chance, but you disgust me.

"I tried to give you a chance" is a lie and I know that because I know some things about psychology unlike you. I'm nothing like Alive because I cite sources and Alive makes things up and says he's a "creative subtype" because he doesn't care what other people have said. You don't cite sources because you know about the replication crisis and how vapid mainstream psychology is, and now you apparently think eating blood is good for you too. Well, eating blood will hurt you, it won't hurt me because I don't do it.

[Fluffy Princess Unicorn]

To get back on topic...92% of the US population has a vitamin deficiency, rich and poor alike.
https://thebiostation.com/bioblog/do...in-deficiency/

Studies show that even with supplements, Americans do not meet average nutritional needs.
https://www.crnusa.org/resources/ame...they-need-food

USA consumes more than twice the amount of energy drinks of any other country. I still think it's from overcompensating for poor diet and nutrition.

[Bethanyclaire]

Tea and coffee taste good, almost like chocolate. Part of the appeal is that they are hot as well, which is soothing

[Popcorn]

Is coffee really bad for you? I've read conflicting things about it with the general consensus that a little caffeine isn't bad and that coffee is acidic and bad for your teeth; the acidity, even though it gets neutralized by your body, can shorten your life a little by creating an acidic environment before it gets neutralized (but I can't confirm if this is true, otherwise it is harmless). Sugar on the other hand supposedly is a big contributor in heart disease, which is pretty sad considering how much sugar is in American foods, that it's the leading cause of death in the US, and that we know all this, yet nothing changes. I guess that in itself is pretty normal and American though too.

[Popcorn]

Studies show that even with supplements, Americans do not meet average nutritional needs.
https://www.crnusa.org/resources/ame...they-need-food

So I actually take a magnesium supplement for the rest of my life (to be preventative, I also eat a lot of spinach and bananas) and take a multivitamin and B-vitamins. But I once had extreme fatigue caused by magnesium deficiency and only found out after I starting trying taking a supplement myself. The doctors were no help and told me my blood tests were fine (but they didn't check for magnesium levels with a more advanced test and I didn't know to ask for it because duh, I'm not the doctor, they are supposed to know) and said I was mentally depressed and offered antidepressants. Gotta love American healthcare, just checking off the blocks, taking your money, and scooting you out the door with antidepressants...

[WVBRY]

We were talking about this with my girlfriend, I really think that given that most people in the West consume caffeine daily (90% of Americans consume caffeine daily, as per Wikipedia, and coffee itself is a workplace meme out here in Europe too) because our activity levels are too high. It's unnatural, especially when given that this is usually indoor activity. We need to be "productive" all the time. I don't think there is anything wrong with activity and being active, but I think most people try to keep a pace which is unsustainable for the human mind and body.

[Metamorph]

So I actually take a magnesium supplement for the rest of my life (to be preventative, I also eat a lot of spinach and bananas) and take a multivitamin and B-vitamins. But I once had extreme fatigue caused by magnesium deficiency and only found out after I starting trying taking a supplement myself. The doctors were no help and told me my blood tests were fine (but they didn't check for magnesium levels with a more advanced test and I didn't know to ask for it because duh, I'm not the doctor, they are supposed to know) and said I was mentally depressed and offered antidepressants. Gotta love American healthcare, just checking off the blocks, taking your money, and scooting you out the door with antidepressants...

To be fair, I think healthcare everywhere probably sucks because of Sturgeon's Law. What sucks about American healthcare is how much you have to pay for it. Otherwise I think if you pick your doctors carefully it's not worse than most countries. Europeans are all doped out too, and poor countries that are "closer to nature" just exorcise people instead of handing them pills for often-imagined ills. It's human nature to want easy answers to problems that don't have any.

https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/1...ntidepressants

[Metamorph]

We were talking about this with my girlfriend, I really think that given that most people in the West consume caffeine daily (90% of Americans consume caffeine daily, as per Wikipedia, and coffee itself is a workplace meme out here in Europe too) because our activity levels are too high. It's unnatural, especially when given that this is usually indoor activity. We need to be "productive" all the time. I don't think there is anything wrong with activity and being active, but I think most people try to keep a pace which is unsustainable for the human mind and body.

You need to sleep and dream. There's a certain pattern which you need to maintain to be conscious and which if you lose it you're not actually conscious even if you might think you are based on a misunderstanding of what consciousness is. Now, some people who know that consciousness is not the same thing as the more bodily-based aspects of awareness actually blame all the problems of modern people on consciousness but I disagree. I think it's also better to be conscious during sleep too but you need to be conscious of something different. It's like going to the gym. If it isn't arm day it's leg day, but you don't just take days off or your metabolism crashes. I think you need to change what you're conscious of if you can't be conscious of everything (and incidentally this will make you more conscious of everything in its own way that you really need to see to understand due to some interactions with other features of consciousness) but you don't want to just go out. Dreaming is better than not dreaming, and the myth that crazy people don't dream seems true to me, and beyond that, it's good to be aware when you're dreaming and to try to control it if anything starts happening that's just completely over the line. Forget Jordan Peterson's nonsense about cleaning your room being the key to everything, first you have to clean your head or you don't even have your own room because you don't have your own mind. These ideas about wavefunctions are of no interest to modern mainstream psychology, however, or even much fringe psychology, and I blame most people's inherent Cartesian dualism where they don't think any kind of pattern of activity in the brain has any influence on anything else because they see the mind and brain as more or less completely unrelated.

[End]

Don't consume massive amounts of them unless it's a dire necessity. As for how I use them I consume one before I clock into my rather physically demanding work and I pack a second if it's the really busy season. Regardless, both are consumed before 2 P.M. Local time as studies have shown that consuming such things really negatively affects sleep if used after that time (i.e. it makes it harder to actually fall asleep).

Now I'm all about rational sacrifices and thus if you, for some reason, need to pull multiple "all-nighters" in a row than by all means go nuts. God knows I did in college in the form of Double-Shot Esspressos. Ever get home and just collapse into your shitty bed and praise the lord that ya finally got 12 hours of uninterrupted dreamless oblivion? Yeah, I've been there.

I actually now see that that wasn't the ideal end and that dreamless sleep is actually a sign you fucked up. Energy Drinks deliver you dreamless sleep more often than not. If you actually got to "dream" you'd have awakened far more refreshed than not. There is a clear distinction between waking up after a dream as opposed to not in my direct experience.

You can, if you had a rather expansive and "long" dream awake fully refreshed after a mere 3-5 hours. Had I known then what I know now I'd have attempted to maximize my chances of dreaming over downing a third shot of esspresso as I fought to keep my eyes open (especially as I had the capacity to manipulate my dreams even back then).

Lucid dreaming is a hell of a drug. Just don't take it too far however. I "guide" my dreams rather than outright control them. I've heard from someone who took it to that level that they wish they hadn't. Dreams just exhaust them now over more rapidly invigorating the likes of me...

[Metamorph]

The main problem with coffee isn't the caffeine, it's the opioid antagonists. I haven't posted this on this thread, but I've posted it elsewhere, so I'll repost it here.

Coffee contains opioid receptor antagonists (aminotheory.com)

Never heard of guarana jitters despite guarana having a much higher concentration of caffeine than coffee? Me neither. The problem seems to arise from the fact that, despite being called "coffee beans," they are actually coffee berries, and berries have some of the same chemicals, but people concentrate coffee a lot more than they concentrate fruit juice because they want the caffeine and berries just don't have much juice to concentrate in the first place. 4-CQL is one of the worst things for me but I've confirmed caffeine itself is mostly not the problem, and I suspect this will be similar for most people unless you're one of those people who just really doesn't care about your health as long as you get your temporary high. Apples are good for you despite the tiny amounts of cyanide, but you wouldn't want to swallow a bunch of apple seeds at once. The dose makes the poison and coffee is a high dose of a quite awful poison.

This was a funny take on coffee being bad:
Drink Coffee? Off With Your Head! : The Salt : NPR

I also wish I had an Economist subscription now so I could read the rest of this. Maybe I can find it for free regardless:
How Turkish coffee destroyed an empire | The Economist

Roman empire: Destroyed by lead
Ottoman empire: Destroyed by coffee
American empire: Why not both?

[pixie dreams]

Don't consume massive amounts of them unless it's a dire necessity. As for how I use them I consume one before I clock into my rather physically demanding work and I pack a second if it's the really busy season. Regardless, both are consumed before 2 P.M. Local time as studies have shown that consuming such things really negatively affects sleep if used after that time (i.e. it makes it harder to actually fall asleep).

Now I'm all about rational sacrifices and thus if you, for some reason, need to pull multiple "all-nighters" in a row than by all means go nuts. God knows I did in college in the form of Double-Shot Esspressos. Ever get home and just collapse into your shitty bed and praise the lord that ya finally got 12 hours of uninterrupted dreamless oblivion? Yeah, I've been there.

I actually now see that that wasn't the ideal end and that dreamless sleep is actually a sign you fucked up. Energy Drinks deliver you dreamless sleep more often than not. If you actually got to "dream" you'd have awakened far more refreshed than not. There is a clear distinction between waking up after a dream as opposed to not in my direct experience.

You can, if you had a rather expansive and "long" dream awake fully refreshed after a mere 3-5 hours. Had I known then what I know now I'd have attempted to maximize my chances of dreaming over downing a third shot of esspresso as I fought to keep my eyes open (especially as I had the capacity to manipulate my dreams even back then).

Lucid dreaming is a hell of a drug. Just don't take it too far however. I "guide" my dreams rather than outright control them. I've heard from someone who took it to that level that they wish they hadn't. Dreams just exhaust them now over more rapidly invigorating the likes of me...

Have you ever heard of the concept of lucid nightmares? I know normal nightmares seem real enough, but imagine you're lucid dreaming and you lose that control you have at that moment

[End]

Have you ever heard of the concept of lucid nightmares? I know normal nightmares seem real enough, but imagine you're lucid dreaming and you lose that control you have at that moment

Not really. When I felt myself trapped within them I just hit the "wake up" button.

However, there was a further and far more disturbing category of dream. A "Demonic" dream.

I felt fear far beyond anything I've ever experienced. I know I've mortally sinned. I've felt my body about to be possessed by a demon....

And, with the mere recitation of the Lord's Prayer and my proclamation that my soul belongs to Christ have I, far as I can tell, repelled a possession.

[Metamorph]

Have you ever heard of the concept of lucid nightmares? I know normal nightmares seem real enough, but imagine you're lucid dreaming and you lose that control you have at that moment

I mean, that's probably why guiding them is better. Just watch what happens and when anything you don't want happens then you have the energy to stop it. Lucid nightmares probably happen when people are just trying to live in their dream life literally. I'd rather observe, though, because I am not under the impression what happens in my mind either stays or originates there. Sure, you can live your dream life in your dreams if you control them completely, but if you let some things happen naturally you can make observations about the real world and that's much more interesting.

[pixie dreams]

Not really. When I felt myself trapped within them I just hit the "wake up" button.

However, there was a further and far more disturbing category of dream. A "Demonic" dream.

I felt fear far beyond anything I've ever experienced. I know I've mortally sinned. I've felt my body about to be possessed by a demon....

And, with the mere recitation of the Lord's Prayer and my proclamation that my soul belongs to Christ have I, far as I can tell, repelled a possession.

God had your back you best believe that.

Sounds a lot like sleep paralysis. The feeling of an entity pressing itself on your chest, leaving you unable to move, wake up, or breathe.

They also say succubi and incubi attack vulnerable men and women while they're asleep.

[Metamorph]

God had your back you best believe that.

Sounds a lot like sleep paralysis. The feeling of an entity pressing itself on your chest, leaving you unable to move, wake up, or breathe.

They also say succubi and incubi attack vulnerable men and women while they're asleep.

That reminds me of that one time I had sleep paralysis and I looked around, somehow. Sleep paralysis is probably pretty good, since if there are demons during your sleep paralysis they can't see you look at them if you don't actually move. However, I would have to see what percent of the population can actually take actions while paralyzed like that.

[pixie dreams]

That reminds me of that one time I had sleep paralysis and I looked around, somehow. Sleep paralysis is probably pretty good, since if there are demons during your sleep paralysis they can't see you look at them if you don't actually move. However, I would have to see what percent of the population can actually take actions while paralyzed like that.

I never felt that heavy feeling during sleep paralysis. I couldn't move though, and if I panicked the feeling would get worse. So the best thing to do ime is to calm down and drift back to sleep.

I read that it's due to interrupted REM sleep cycles.

What's a demon gonna do anyway? Watch me cry and jack off? Pathetic.

[DogOfDanger]

I'm unreceptive to people who make baseless assertions.

The US diet is just a bunch of sugar, wheat, vegetable oil, processed meats and cheese, in very large portions... nutrition experts pretty much unanimously agree that the US diet is the worst diet in the world, listen to an expert talk about nutrition in any context and you'll hear this at some point.
Carry onward

[Ploppaz]

One cup of black coffee kicks in for me about 20 mins after I drink it and lasts a few hours. I can only study for 2 hrs at a time anyway, so it keeps me focused for that length of time. Then I need a break. Next study session I drink a flavored green tea. The next just water or juice.


I tried red bull and it keeps me focused for 2 hours as well, but then I suddenly crash and I need to sleep it off! It's weird. So, I don't do the energy drinks anymore.

[Beautiful sky]

I love coffee

[kuno]

I love the responses I've gotten in this thread! I thank everyone who has provided their opinions and good information.

One thing I love about this website is how you start off with one topic and then the conversation inevitably drifts off into a tangent at some point. Haha The sleep paralysis tangent was interesting, though occasionally a bit hard for me to believe, to be perfectly honest (a demonic dream? ). But I'm just a boring agnostic lol. In any case, I've always been a little fascinated by sleep paralysis since I've never experienced it... and I hope I never do. I like to hear people talk about their experiences with it. But I'm sure it's just another one of those creepy brain-related phenomena.

I love coffee

Most succinct response this thread has received, thus far... I cheer you and your love of coffee on.

[Beautiful sky]

I love the responses I've gotten in this thread! I thank everyone who has provided their opinions and good information.

One thing I love about this website is how you start off with one topic and then the conversation inevitably drifts off into a tangent at some point. Haha The sleep paralysis tangent was interesting, though occasionally a bit hard for me to believe, to be perfectly honest (a demonic dream? ). But I'm just a boring agnostic lol. In any case, I've always been a little fascinated by sleep paralysis since I've never experienced it... and I hope I never do. I like to hear people talk about their experiences with it. But I'm sure it's just another one of those creepy brain-related phenomena.



Most succinct response this thread has received, thus far... I cheer you and your love of coffee on.

You are right it’s completely unhealthy in large doses. One or two cups about two hours after you wake up is ok. Other than that you aren’t getting much benefit from energy drinks (I guess they are loaded with vitamins but not sure how effective these are if they nearly give you a heart attack from the caffeine); coffee does have flavonoids with are healthily so does green tea. I love my coffee and I think that it does stimulate the brain and also so many studies to show that centenarians do drink coffee so it can be too bad.

[kuno]

You are right it’s completely unhealthy in large doses. One or two cups about two hours after you wake up is ok. Other than that you aren’t getting much benefit from energy drinks (I guess they are loaded with vitamins but not sure how effective these are if they nearly give you a heart attack from the caffeine); coffee does have flavonoids with are healthily so does green tea. I love my coffee and I think that it does stimulate the brain and also so many studies to show that centenarians do drink coffee so it can be too bad.

Yeah, I'll say, I've become much easier on coffee since learning of its benefits. Of course, coffee in larger doses is no good; even if it does not give you a heart attack like energy drinks in large doses can, it can make you very tense and nervous lol. I like your suggestion of drinking 1 or 2 cups of coffee about 2 hours after you wake up... sounds very methodical, balanced, reasonable.

And there's nothing wrong with enjoying coffee, of course. I enjoy chocolate a little too much, and while it has its benefits, chocolate also has its obvious downsides as does every other food in the world, lol.

[Beautiful sky]

Yeah, I'll say, I've become much easier on coffee since learning of its benefits. Of course, coffee in larger doses is no good; even if it does not give you a heart attack like energy drinks in large doses can, it can make you very tense and nervous lol. I like your suggestion of drinking 1 or 2 cups of coffee about 2 hours after you wake up... sounds very methodical, balanced, reasonable.

And there's nothing wrong with enjoying coffee, of course. I enjoy chocolate a little too much, and while it has its benefits, chocolate also has its obvious downsides as does every other food in the world, lol.

She seems like a reasonable INFJ who can offer more healthy tips

https://youtu.be/iFtqudy39sA

[kuno]

She seems like a reasonable INFJ who can offer more healthy tips

https://youtu.be/iFtqudy39sA

I can be terribly bad at keeping good routines, fixed schedules, and structuring my day and all that stuff, so this video feels very helpful. Thank you so much, honestly! I'm going to try taking short walks first thing in the morning from now on. That's the first thing I'll start with.

I'll admit, it did give me a bit of anxiety knowing I'm so disorganized and sluggish compared to the person in this video. Feeling like I've been doing everything wrong up to this point but I guess it's never too late to try tidying up your life, right??

I do try to get a lot done everyday, but I just think I always lack efficiency (which is something I'm infamous for among my friends and family ). I've always been a little more take-things-as-they-come, but I don't know if this approach is working for me lol. Maybe it's an IP temperament thing, I don't know.

Thanks again!!

[End]

I never felt that heavy feeling during sleep paralysis. I couldn't move though, and if I panicked the feeling would get worse. So the best thing to do ime is to calm down and drift back to sleep.

I read that it's due to interrupted REM sleep cycles.

What's a demon gonna do anyway? Watch me cry and jack off? Pathetic.

They wouldn't watch so much as fill your head with thoughts that might get you to cry and/or jack off. Merely having them isn't sinful as the sin rests in indulging them (i.e. it's not a sin to be tempted, but giving into temptation most certainly is). The exorcist Chad Ripperger told of an instance where a woman had the most vile, obscene, most degenerate thoughts you could imagine. I mean it was really bad if her account is accurate. So much so she thought she needed to confess all of them even if they occurred for but an instant.

Then Christ appeared to her in a vision and she asked him why the hell didn't he intervene and prevent her from having such thoughts? He answered that he was with her the entire time and by his presence and grace she never truly indulged in any of them and thus didn't actually sin.

I can imagine an actual possession playing out like that. Total sleep paralysis with an added level of horror. You actually aren't paralyzed in the slightest. Hell, you've actually hacked reality a bit and can do things like defy gravity or cling to the ceiling like a bug, levitate, etc. The horror? It's something other than you using your body to do that, you have no control over where you go or what you do 90% of the time, and you're essentially just watching that movie as you beg, scream, and do all you can to make this thing using your body not do whatever it is doing (including speaking to your loved ones in your most earnest and heartfelt voice that they're OK when they're not and you're doing all you can to convey this all in vain).

God allows evil so that greater goods can come of it. All "evil" really is is a lack of the good. Evil is a parasite upon the good. "The Good" can exist without evil. Evil cannot do likewise as it is a parasite in need of a host.

I'll put my thoughts in this direction this way. In the beginning there were no lies. Lies just didn't exist. Then Lucifer came along and, in his utter insane and illogical defiance of God, made lies a thing. However, God will not be mocked. Lucifer thought that by making lies real he got one over on the almighty. Poor dumb bastard. By his work was the concept of "fiction" brought into being as God intended. One can use "lies" to tell of greater and higher truths mere finite beings can't exactly digest if told directly.

Great plays/movies/books/etc. Most all of us have core memories related to certain works of fiction of any type you'd care to mention. Yeah, maybe things would have been nicer if Adam and Eve didn't fall. Yet at the final judgement will the folly of Lucifer be made manifest in all its infinite justice. It was one hell of a story, and the only way to make it better than it could have been was if he tried to be a little bitch. Lucifer is the Platonic form of a little bitch. Just putting that one out there...

[pixie dreams]

They wouldn't watch so much as fill your head with thoughts that might get you to cry and/or jack off. Merely having them isn't sinful as the sin rests in indulging them (i.e. it's not a sin to be tempted, but giving into temptation most certainly is). The exorcist Chad Ripperger told of an instance where a woman had the most vile, obscene, most degenerate thoughts you could imagine. I mean it was really bad if her account is accurate. So much so she thought she needed to confess all of them even if they occurred for but an instant.

Then Christ appeared to her in a vision and she asked him why the hell didn't he intervene and prevent her from having such thoughts? He answered that he was with her the entire time and by his presence and grace she never truly indulged in any of them and thus didn't actually sin.

I can imagine an actual possession playing out like that. Total sleep paralysis with an added level of horror. You actually aren't paralyzed in the slightest. Hell, you've actually hacked reality a bit and can do things like defy gravity or cling to the ceiling like a bug, levitate, etc. The horror? It's something other than you using your body to do that, you have no control over where you go or what you do 90% of the time, and you're essentially just watching that movie as you beg, scream, and do all you can to make this thing using your body not do whatever it is doing (including speaking to your loved ones in your most earnest and heartfelt voice that they're OK when they're not and you're doing all you can to convey this all in vain).

God allows evil so that greater goods can come of it. All "evil" really is is a lack of the good. Evil is a parasite upon the good. "The Good" can exist without evil. Evil cannot do likewise as it is a parasite in need of a host.

I'll put my thoughts in this direction this way. In the beginning there were no lies. Lies just didn't exist. Then Lucifer came along and, in his utter insane and illogical defiance of God, made lies a thing. However, God will not be mocked. Lucifer thought that by making lies real he got one over on the almighty. Poor dumb bastard. By his work was the concept of "fiction" brought into being as God intended. One can use "lies" to tell of greater and higher truths mere finite beings can't exactly digest if told directly.

Great plays/movies/books/etc. Most all of us have core memories related to certain works of fiction of any type you'd care to mention. Yeah, maybe things would have been nicer if Adam and Eve didn't fall. Yet at the final judgement will the folly of Lucifer be made manifest in all its infinite justice. It was one hell of a story, and the only way to make it better than it could have been was if he tried to be a little bitch. Lucifer is the Platonic form of a little bitch. Just putting that one out there...

Well I'm not exactly religious myself. I'm more so spiritual. I'm open-minded, don't get me wrong, but I question things unless something proves me otherwise.

I've never felt any strong pull or connection towards any faith or religion. They're either too restrictive or don't align completely with my thoughts and feelings of the world.

And demons, like with God, are one of those things. I like to entertain the thoughts of demons but I don't think of demons as evil, vile, low entities meant to lead mankind astray. In the Abrahamic religions that makes the most sense with canon (gives us an explanation for "sins", tragedies, and other events in the holy texts) while also giving people reason to have faith in God. But it also fails to shed light on the fact people are not purely "evil" or purely "good" and nothing in life is ever that way. I like to think of it as varying shades of grey. Some like to think of the Yin and Yang philosophy. Carl Jung himself had a concept of the Shadow Self. Either way, you cannot know light without the darkness and vice versa.

So more so demons to me are like psychological things, not entities. But hey who knows, life could throw me a curve ball. I was going to mention the history of how certain proclaimed demons in canon text (Beezlebub, Astaroth, Belial, etc.) have connections to old pagan religions and culture's but that's a topic for another day and another thread

[pixie dreams]

Anywhoooo anyone like dalgona coffee??

[End]

So more so demons to me are like psychological things, not entities. But hey who knows, life could throw me a curve ball. I was going to mention the history of how certain proclaimed demons in canon text (Beezlebub, Astaroth, Belial, etc.) have connections to old pagan religions and culture's but that's a topic for another day and another thread

If you want a bit of a trip look up the history of that obelisk smack dab in the middle of the Vatican. That story is another piece of the puzzle as to why I remain an ardent Catholic. Fun fact: It was the last thing Saint Peter saw as he was crucified upside-down as he was so humble that he felt himself unworthy of the same death Christ suffered. The Romans didn't give a fuck so they heeded his request and put the top of the crucifix into the ground because hey why not let's see what happens to this crazy Jew if we do that!

This is why I laugh at occultists who try to voice their allegiance to Satan by inverting the crucifix. Only one man was "metal" enough to put that symbol on his literal throne. That man being the Pope! I mean hell, as bad as Francis is the promise of the Holy Spirit remains. No pope, no matter how evil and fallen (e.g. anti-popes) will bind the faithful to error in the domain of doctrine and morals. They may fuck up and muddle the waters a bit, but no pope has ever nor will ever use their infallible authority to say "Jesus wasn't fully human and divine" or bless any given sin as holy for any reason. I suspect that Francis (and the Jesuit heretics that spawned him) thought they got one over on God once he got elected pope and they'd get free reign to go full NWO worldly "ape of the church" hard and fast.

Only for Francis to simply not be able to do what he may possibly truly want to do. Demons can possess people in a state of mortal sin and make their bodies do things they'd never ascent to. Perhaps the reverse holds true as well. The pope, by the virtue of his office, can be possessed by the Holy Spirit. Virtuous popes would see this as a high honor and blessing (though in this case it ain't so much a possessing as it is attaining the highest level of prayer we call the transformative union). Anti-popes would curse it for preventing them in any real sense from advancing the agenda of their True and Dark Master.

Either way, this shit is way more complicated than most tend to think. Though I will point out that the story I mentioned at the outset involves a rather baseline Church teaching. Pagan/Heathen gods are actually demons and that the "best" errors/lies contain an element of the truth. Think on that what you will...

[Chhow]

As for me, I really don't care what other people drink. I remember that I used to be very fond of energy drinks, but the flavors get boring quickly. It seems to me that the problem is that people can no longer motivate themselves for something, and therefore they need another stimulant.

[rizz]

I drink expensive insta. It's really good.

[Bethanyclaire]

Hm I don’t think I can take too much caffeine..or at least I need to watch it. I think it makes me lose some thinking power and almost hurts my brain..

[Sol]

I think it makes me lose some thinking power and almost hurts my brain..

It's a stimulator. In general, those on a short time improve thinking abbilities. By possible later cost of worsening the state.
Other result mb from side effects for some people. For example, if an anxiety arises then the attention can be harder be holded on useful activity.
To this stimulator a body quickly adopts in everyday usage. So stays a taste, while positive and negative effects should become slight ones. Excluding when that "adopted" body do not get a day dose of a stimulator - then the state may become worse, as to absence of stimulator's regular comming needs be adopted too.

[Aster]

I pop two excedrin and drink a cup of coffee every morning. I’m healthy like that lol

My dad was all like, “you are going to get an ulcer” and I was all like, “I know, but I eat something first “.

[Sol]

“you are going to get an ulcer”

A risk may exist if you are feeling gastritis symptoms after a coffee. It's doubtful when drink with or after a meal.
Gastritis/ulcer is not caused by a coffee itself, but may go worse as with other stomach irritating meal.

[Bethanyclaire]

I think it’s an issue of stress plus caffeine together…

I was on nhs website and they said cut caffeine for 3 weeks if you are struggling with tiredness all the time. My brain certainly feels less frazzled despite being a bit tired…I’ve been having heart palpitations for a long time, I don’t know it’s like the stress and caffeine get inter-mingled and even when it wears off your body is not right maybe

[Number 9 large]

I never expected myself to be starting a thread about this, and I guess I don’t expect much response, but…

I notice that highly-caffeinated drinks like coffee, Red Bull, Monster, etc have been popular among people of my age group (and especially among Americans of my age) for a few decades now. Almost everyone I know absolutely loves drinking large amounts of coffee and energy drinks. I see people drinking Red Bull and Monster everywhere I go.

Am I the only one worried about this? I don’t think drinking this much of these beverages can possibly be healthy. Is the collective love of these drinks tied to toxic productivity and work culture? I’m just very worried about these trends all the time.

Whenever I mention this to people, they often brush me off, but I wish people would be open to discussing this.

whats ur age group? teenager/young adult?