“What the “fuck your feelings” crowd doesn’t understand is that my feelings affect your feelings, and yours mine. You can fly as many stupid flags as you want, but whether you like it or not, we’re are all treading on each other, without interruption, all the time. If that is the case (and it IS the case), then we are all a single, interdependent system.”
That articulated something important I’ve been trying to put into words. I love this emphasis on the interconnectedness of emotions. I’m frustrated because I am not a person who has meaningful consequences or anything to confiscate from people running with the “fuck your feelings “ crowd. That’s the answer above, I really do believe it, and I only wish the people I want to have it were capable of valuing that answer. 🧐😤😏
You inspire me, Michael! I’m just starting to embark on a plan to use meditation to save myself and maybe (hopefully) the world. Using heart/mind coherence. It would seem we are supposed to be doing SOMETHING, and nothing else I’ve tried (phone banking, donating $, voting, recycling, and trying to be of service) has made much of a difference. I’m loaded with Boomer guilt for having had such a spectacular life versus what’s being left for grandchildren. Thank you for all the terrific connections you’ve given me.
i always enjoy what you write! here are some specific portions of this post that i feel that way about:
"Quantum physicists or those who know more than I, please explain to everybody in the comments how my layman’s interpretation is mistaken. In the meantime, I’m going to operate as if the above statement is correct enough to continue."
and
"You can fly as many stupid flags as you want, but whether you like it or not, we’re are all treading on each other, without interruption, all the time. If that is the case (and it IS the case), then we are all a single, interdependent system.
When I say 'we,' I am not talking about people. I am talking about the greater We, which encapsulates every earthly system: the Amazon rain forest and the magnetosphere and that same stupid butterfly flapping its wings somewhere. How deep, broad, and far that system extends is beyond my understanding. It certainly extends beyond Earth, but for there’s no reason to get all intergalactic about it at the moment."
Rather than deploy my degree in physics to pick at your description of quantum mechanics and how it relates to macroscopic reality, let me blow your mind a different way by pointing you towards this relatively recent publication regarding consciousness as an evolution of short term episodic memory creation and retrieval: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36178498/
It is the perfect explanation for consciousness. Essentially, we rapidly create real time memories for everything we experience and then play them back immediately. It is this playback that is consciousness, and explains awareness, the realization of self, and provides a pseudosubjective representation of our place in the connectedness of all things.
Dennett espoused a somewhat related framework in which the mind acts as a decentralized "editor" to create a "narrative" illusion of a continuous experience. He proposed the "multiple drafts" theory wherein sensory inputs and thoughts are processed in multiple "drafts" that occur in parallel throughout the brain. These drafts are continuously edited and revised as new information becomes available or as attention shifts. What we perceive as "conscious experience" is the result of whichever draft "wins out" or becomes prominent at a given moment. These drafts are not stored in a single location but arise dynamically from the interactions of neural systems.
Reminds me of the concept of Noogenesisa, and the conflictive nature of post-modern humanity, a al Weltgeist (Weltweisheit) versus the Volkgeist (Volkweisheit).
Just for fun, here's a thought which I will greatly simplify on the assumption that anyone who read your article can follow this wormhole down to its extents.
Our gender is the very first thing we learn of ourselves and how we are to interact with the world, imposed upon us at our first breath and enforced by the whole society.
Trans people are equipped, more than anyone else, to understand intuitively how to break out of the constraints of "What we know".
In a breaking free of, or revolution of consciousness, consider your best explorers and discoverers might be us :)
I absolutely agree with your last statement that all of this is a panicked reaction to all of the changes occurring in society and the world. There’s progressive and regressive factions pulling against each other. Not to mention our technology. I also feel that there are progressive and regressive aspects of our technology for example AI is something that no one wants and is a regressive action. Ted Goia in his Substack had a fascinating observation that social media is like the new mall. Malls exploded all over the place in the 80s and 90s and tried to replace our natural meeting places with artificial ones. Hopefully he’s right and that social media is over saturated and people will start to reject them as they did with malls.
I've been writing a paranormal suspense series for several years now. It started off as a more simple "guy sees ghosts" story, but now it's evolved into a global conflict that will affect human attitude and perceptions forever. Although the end I have in mind is that everything is kinda the same, just a little bit different — where the conclusion that if the heroes hadn't made it, things would just be a lot worse.
That's kind of my worldview: Let's just not get a lot worse.
This is fascinating. I just turned off the TV and told my wife to sit down to read this to her because I have had similar experiences recently. Last week, I contacted the Department of Perceptual Studies at UVA to ask about volunteering with them (since I live in the area). I told them that I have no expectations of pay or anything, just that I can’t seem to shake the idea that I need to be more involved in studying whatever this is. They were receptive. This served as my reminder to send my resume. Thanks, Michael! Excited for what is to come!
So much to say about this but I want to read more about your thoughts on it. In the meantime, have you watched the documentary “I Am“. It’s about a famous Hollywood Director who suffered post concussion syndrome after a life-threatening head injury and was unable to effectively work for a long time. He sought out experts on consciousness and our connectedness, poets, artists, and scientists who showed the effects of our emotions on each other by demonstrating how emotional changes can affect the activity of the bacteria in yogurt. Since we’re all electrical systems we affect each other electrically. The documentary is fascinating if not just about 10% woo.
Thank you for this paragraph :
“What the “fuck your feelings” crowd doesn’t understand is that my feelings affect your feelings, and yours mine. You can fly as many stupid flags as you want, but whether you like it or not, we’re are all treading on each other, without interruption, all the time. If that is the case (and it IS the case), then we are all a single, interdependent system.”
That articulated something important I’ve been trying to put into words. I love this emphasis on the interconnectedness of emotions. I’m frustrated because I am not a person who has meaningful consequences or anything to confiscate from people running with the “fuck your feelings “ crowd. That’s the answer above, I really do believe it, and I only wish the people I want to have it were capable of valuing that answer. 🧐😤😏
You inspire me, Michael! I’m just starting to embark on a plan to use meditation to save myself and maybe (hopefully) the world. Using heart/mind coherence. It would seem we are supposed to be doing SOMETHING, and nothing else I’ve tried (phone banking, donating $, voting, recycling, and trying to be of service) has made much of a difference. I’m loaded with Boomer guilt for having had such a spectacular life versus what’s being left for grandchildren. Thank you for all the terrific connections you’ve given me.
dear michael,
i always enjoy what you write! here are some specific portions of this post that i feel that way about:
"Quantum physicists or those who know more than I, please explain to everybody in the comments how my layman’s interpretation is mistaken. In the meantime, I’m going to operate as if the above statement is correct enough to continue."
and
"You can fly as many stupid flags as you want, but whether you like it or not, we’re are all treading on each other, without interruption, all the time. If that is the case (and it IS the case), then we are all a single, interdependent system.
When I say 'we,' I am not talking about people. I am talking about the greater We, which encapsulates every earthly system: the Amazon rain forest and the magnetosphere and that same stupid butterfly flapping its wings somewhere. How deep, broad, and far that system extends is beyond my understanding. It certainly extends beyond Earth, but for there’s no reason to get all intergalactic about it at the moment."
i appreciate you! thanks for sharing!
love
myq (a part of the intergalactic counsel of We)
Rather than deploy my degree in physics to pick at your description of quantum mechanics and how it relates to macroscopic reality, let me blow your mind a different way by pointing you towards this relatively recent publication regarding consciousness as an evolution of short term episodic memory creation and retrieval: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36178498/
It is the perfect explanation for consciousness. Essentially, we rapidly create real time memories for everything we experience and then play them back immediately. It is this playback that is consciousness, and explains awareness, the realization of self, and provides a pseudosubjective representation of our place in the connectedness of all things.
Dennett espoused a somewhat related framework in which the mind acts as a decentralized "editor" to create a "narrative" illusion of a continuous experience. He proposed the "multiple drafts" theory wherein sensory inputs and thoughts are processed in multiple "drafts" that occur in parallel throughout the brain. These drafts are continuously edited and revised as new information becomes available or as attention shifts. What we perceive as "conscious experience" is the result of whichever draft "wins out" or becomes prominent at a given moment. These drafts are not stored in a single location but arise dynamically from the interactions of neural systems.
I enjoy reading this new direction. You should keep digging! Thank you for writing it.
Reminds me of the concept of Noogenesisa, and the conflictive nature of post-modern humanity, a al Weltgeist (Weltweisheit) versus the Volkgeist (Volkweisheit).
Just for fun, here's a thought which I will greatly simplify on the assumption that anyone who read your article can follow this wormhole down to its extents.
Our gender is the very first thing we learn of ourselves and how we are to interact with the world, imposed upon us at our first breath and enforced by the whole society.
Trans people are equipped, more than anyone else, to understand intuitively how to break out of the constraints of "What we know".
In a breaking free of, or revolution of consciousness, consider your best explorers and discoverers might be us :)
I absolutely agree with your last statement that all of this is a panicked reaction to all of the changes occurring in society and the world. There’s progressive and regressive factions pulling against each other. Not to mention our technology. I also feel that there are progressive and regressive aspects of our technology for example AI is something that no one wants and is a regressive action. Ted Goia in his Substack had a fascinating observation that social media is like the new mall. Malls exploded all over the place in the 80s and 90s and tried to replace our natural meeting places with artificial ones. Hopefully he’s right and that social media is over saturated and people will start to reject them as they did with malls.
https://open.substack.com/pub/tedgioia/p/are-social-media-platforms-the-next?r=ezt0e&utm_medium=ios
Yeah, it's definitely a vibe...
I've been writing a paranormal suspense series for several years now. It started off as a more simple "guy sees ghosts" story, but now it's evolved into a global conflict that will affect human attitude and perceptions forever. Although the end I have in mind is that everything is kinda the same, just a little bit different — where the conclusion that if the heroes hadn't made it, things would just be a lot worse.
That's kind of my worldview: Let's just not get a lot worse.
Yes! I feel this down to the cellular level. Like a cosmic vibration, shift happens.
You should check out the work of Marcelo Gleiser! This podcast was a great primer and really mind blowing!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/real-organic-podcast/id1573111162?i=1000671671160
This is fascinating. I just turned off the TV and told my wife to sit down to read this to her because I have had similar experiences recently. Last week, I contacted the Department of Perceptual Studies at UVA to ask about volunteering with them (since I live in the area). I told them that I have no expectations of pay or anything, just that I can’t seem to shake the idea that I need to be more involved in studying whatever this is. They were receptive. This served as my reminder to send my resume. Thanks, Michael! Excited for what is to come!
I can’t edit my post, so I would like to note that the second sentence should read, “turned off the TV and ASKED my wife to sit down...” 🙂
Send that rezzy! I love the work they do.
So much to say about this but I want to read more about your thoughts on it. In the meantime, have you watched the documentary “I Am“. It’s about a famous Hollywood Director who suffered post concussion syndrome after a life-threatening head injury and was unable to effectively work for a long time. He sought out experts on consciousness and our connectedness, poets, artists, and scientists who showed the effects of our emotions on each other by demonstrating how emotional changes can affect the activity of the bacteria in yogurt. Since we’re all electrical systems we affect each other electrically. The documentary is fascinating if not just about 10% woo.
Can you give more info on where to find the documentary? Or the name of the director?
Thanks for sharing this.
Hi! It was made in 2010 by Tom Shadyac. I see it is on Amazon Prime to stream, rent or buy.
Thank you!
No! I'll look for it!
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