Hope is a flower of a different order, one that blooms in a striving acknowledgment, even celebration, of finitude and whatever we can bear through its innumerable relations.
If an AI companion becomes someone’s most consistent emotional presence, the right question isn’t “how do we stop this?” It’s “what does that say about the world around them?” Technological relationships are not new. What’s new is how effective they’ve become; and how clearly they mirror the gaps we’ve refused to address.
The Empathy Trap: Lessons from Contemplative Medicine | Jud Brewer
“When we can see how being with suffering doesn't deplete us, and, in fact, energizes us... then also we can know what our limits are, instead of trying to be the hero.”
One problem is that consciousness means different things to different people. For example, some researchers focus on the subjective experience — what it is like to be you or me. Others study its function — cognitive processes and behaviours enabled by being conscious. These differences muddy attempts to compare ideas.
Our prospective randomized clinical trial found that MBSR was noninferior to escitalopram for the treatment of anxiety disorders. In addition, MBSR was safe and well tolerated, with fewer adverse events associated with treatment compared with escitalopram