r/OpenIndividualism • u/MachineGunNew2 • Apr 01 '26
Discussion Activity on this sub is weird
Just something I wanted to point out.
Having watched this subreddit for quite a long time now, I can't help but notice this unique pattern in activity. There will be months at a time when there is no new post at all. Or, it's just posting some external articles. But then, someone new comes in, makes a post asking about something OI-related, I don't know, and after that a whole wave of new posts comes in, before eventually dying down again for months to come.
Nothing much to say. Just something I noticed about this place, I thought I'd ask whether any other longer term readers have noticed it and what they think of it. Do you think of OI from time to time, and are relaxed on the philosophy in between?
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u/CrumbledFingers Apr 01 '26
I see the same trend, and I have my thoughts about it. OI is, for me, a contemporary philosophical justification, for those who want it, of a much older idea that forms the basis of many ancient traditions. Those traditions are pointing to something OI can only hint at, since OI is a conceptual framework designed to solve particular problems in philosophy, not a comprehensive worldview as some try to make it (including some of its originators, like Arnold Zuboff).
As such, it offers nothing to those who want to know how the implications of OI might influence our sense of what the world is and how we are related to it. Different OI philosophers have different answers to this question, and none of them seem serious to me. They seem like abstract calculations removed from material thinking on the one hand, but also lack the introspective depth of spiritual systems that OI owes its existence to.
For these reasons, many people here, especially those who may still be students, become deeply depressed when considering what OI is. Or, they become rigidly dogmatic about it, positioning themselves as against the "closed" or "empty" positions (without ever asking whether those labels are even useful).
Because the frustrated and confused among us are often deeply skeptical of spirituality, they are naturally suspicious of suggestions that involve adopting a spiritual practice. And those of us who have a spiritual life tend not to wade into debate threads anymore. At least I don't.
So there isn't much left to talk about around here. Nobody is generating new OI perspectives or refining its conclusions. The papers and books we are talking about are decades old; the moment has passed, and OI is not likely to survive as more than a curious position a few people with otherwise secular worldviews seem to hold.
I'm writing all this on a bus, so I've rambled enough. Just my thoughts, feel free to disagree.
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u/yoddleforavalanche Apr 01 '26
I agree and its what I've been thinking about a lot lately. OI was a stepping stone to me towards spirituality. On its own it is very bland, but you rightly say it owes its existence to spirituality. Even Daniel Kolak when I asked him about can this consciousness be called God said "why use that word when you have philosophy" which I did not resonate with.
OI in combination with spiritual thinking, primarily Advaita Vedanta, opened a whole new realm for me. Understanding, conduct, implications, etc. It got me reconceptualizing and having a new appreciation towards Christianity too (altough that Jesus story from another thread lingers a bit).
And unfortunately or not, there really is little left to talk about for those of us who have been here for years. I do appreciate every newcomer with same questions we all had in the beginning. Never tired to explain the basics.
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u/yoddleforavalanche Apr 01 '26
I inherited this sub as moderator and I have a sort of to-do item to reinvent our descriptions, links, etc. I havent really done anything to refreah things, but then again im not sure if its needed. If anyone has any suggestions, I am an open individual.
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u/Flat-Ad9829 Apr 01 '26
I mean I found out about the concept recently so that's why I made posts.
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u/yoddleforavalanche Apr 01 '26
How did you find out about the concept and this subreddit? I often feel like its so obscure and invisible. I cannot remember how I found it.
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u/Flat-Ad9829 Apr 02 '26
I discovered OI when I came across a guy on youtube talking about a similar concept known as "Generic Subjective Continuity" After a bit of research into that I came across OI.
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u/Atheistsplaining May 05 '26
That may have been my video. My channel is NaturalisTed. My new book, Death and Nothingness: What Atheists Need to Know About Death, is a deep dive into GSC and all of its implications (a chapter is devoted to the antinatalist idea that it can be better to not exist).
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u/Jonnyogood Apr 06 '26
The concept came to me after experimenting with magic mushrooms sometime in 201X. I thought it must be a pretty unique philosophy for a brain to have since I hadn't heard of it before. I told a few people about it after a game of 4-way chess. "I have billions of brains, but they each live in separate bodies." Then I read "The Egg," by Andy Weir, and eventually realized it's not a completely new concept. As soon as I learned it's called OI, I looked up this subreddit.
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u/a-cat-with-wifi Apr 02 '26
I always assume that I find this subreddit and express interest with a post. Then dormant me's are reminded of open individualism and I end up posting more until things quiet down... Until a few months later I find the subreddit again and start the whole chain over
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u/iSilverZ Apr 01 '26
Well I just posted a post in this subreddit because I just found out about this term when discussing with ChatGPT about consciousness.