Points of Authority

YARM (Yet Another ReMaster):

One of the greatest mysteries of the Ego (for me): If the Ego is only influenced by logic and emotions part of the time, and only when it aligns with certain other things, what then motivates the Ego?

My answer to this: The Ego itself is control. It influences everything for the very sake of influencing– the Ego does not have any real goals, or any substance to its existence, but rather, it creates these things. It does not have a self, but rather is the frame that makes the self possible. It does not choose who a person is, or what they do– rather, it interprets our desires (the Id), and interprets them as it sees best. Then it modifies the final product according to the SuperEgos specifications.

Due to its nature (the foundation for the self), the Ego needs to have a pretense of substance, to prevent what I will conveniently call “self-referential paradoxes”. Such substance is created through hopes, dreams, expectations, obligations (i.e. morals, ethics, and norms), and the identity– all of which collectively form what we call “Pride”.

Interestingly enough (and by that I mean I only realized this in the remastering process!), all of these facilitators of substance are within the domain of the SuperEgo. In other words, in regards to the relationship between Pride and the Ego (which I’ve been very curious about every since my Pride post, the SuperEgo and Pride are in fact one and the same!

Yay, another milestone! :p

Another way of putting it (albeit this is pre-YARM): Pride is the agent of the Ego, and is what allows the Ego to recognize and respond to the environment. To make an analogy: Pride [the SuperEgo] is the nervous system of the Ego, giving it tactility and sensation, and in the very same way the senses causes us to experience pain and pleasure– as well as many other experiences– Pride (the SuperEgo) provides such such functionality to the Ego, thereby translating pain, pleasure, and other experiences to the psychological level.

Consider the following: If a person were in a pure reality vacuum (there is absolutely nothing to interact with– no people, animals, plants, rocks– one would even be blocked from self-interaction), they would lose the ability to perceive anything. Such a person would not be able to feel, think– let alone exist. Self-deprivation would be inevitable, as there would be no need to survive, because there is no self to need. Passive suicide- that’s what you might call it.

With animals, they are programmed to behave a certain way, and that programming is built upon through adaptation and parent-child “learned behavior”. But in truth, animals don’t survive because they want to (which one does if they have a self), they survive because they are programmed to. This is not to say I believe humans to be superior to animals (I think it may well be the inverse), but it’s an important consideration in regards to the oft-cited difference between animals and humans:

Freewill

Because humans have freewill, we have the ability to choose how we live our lives, whether we live or die, and how we interact with our environment. But because we have freewill, we are extremely vulnerable alone. Vulnerable because, since we lack the programming (instincts) present in animals, we need to interact with our environment to survive. By ourselves, we wouldn’t know what to do, because we draw most of our knowledge from experience, and that experience from interaction. 

Evolution (or whatever you want to call it, including God– the creation  story supports these assertions, and even implies them) knew that alone we would not be able to survive (Genesis 2:18  “It is not good that the man should be alone”) and so created in us the unique need to interact with our environment (social needs), that we might be drawn to each other, and by working together ensure survival.

Thus, Freewill is able to survive through dependence on the environment, and the incentive to ensure such dependence is made possible through the unique need for social interaction, hardcoded into our DNA. If 95+% of our DNA is shared with chimps, the remainder of our DNA is dedicated to social programming and Freewill. If so, the HARs (Human Accelerated Regions) must be of utmost importance, especially in regards to sociobiology, and more specifically, evolutionary psychology.

Linkin Park has a song in which they express and explain the complicated nature of the Ego and SuperEgo, and the love/hate relationship between the two, and as this is essentially the theme of this post, it was named after that song. (see here)

To apply all this to my own beliefs:

I believe that the universe evolved from a pattern, which I refer to as “The Essence of the Soul”, but this pattern has been (to some extent) known for over 2500 years– at least since pre-Socratic times, with the first known record being that of Heraclitus’s Logos, from which was derived the Judeo-Christian conception of Jesus (“In the beginning was the word…”), and from which we derive the word “logic”.

In my view, the Logos, just like the perpetual iterative formation of fractals, is a pattern evolved from interation upon interation, which eventually took on a physical form that could be appreciated, and perhaps more importantly, appreciate itself. As this evolution continued (and continues!) details became finer and more complex, and the forces of nature (which I would collectively refer to as “Balance”) began to appear.

On a side note, (Dammit!) It seems that someone else stole my original idea that the universe itself is a fractal. And here I was thinking I had finally thought of something truly original!) oh well :p [Note, it seems that the first known formulation of this idea was before I was born (1986). On the bright side, I independently thought of the same idea that top-dog physicists thought of].

I believe that the number 3 is one of the most important, if not the most important number. Here’s one reason why:

I think that the universe was created in three main phases (thus far):

(1) Materiality: as inferred above, the universe took physical form as it evolved to a continually more detailed and complex state. It should be noted that as the universe as we know it is essentially the scope of presently observable reality, so considering that reality is highly subjective, (as suppose to actuality, which is considerably more objective in comparison), it would probably be more accurate to say that it is reality that is undergoing continual evolution, with the universe being the physical manifestation of reality. As I went into great detail in Idealism (to the point of plaguing all who read it with a profound confusion), such a reality would in Hegelian philosophy be know as “Absolute Idea”.

The first interation of the Logos [the original pattern, AKA God] was most likely the separation of light from darkness:

Genesis 1:3-4: ³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.

In relation to the Biblical Trinity, Materiality would equate to the physical manifestation of the Father.

(2) Instinct: Reality (and its manifestation, the universe) began to react with itself, and the original pattern (the Logos) unlocked natural control. Instinct collectively encompasses natural control;note that this does not extend only to animals, but plants, and every other aspect of natue that might influence the world.

Note: By “the world”, I am referring to both Reality and its manifested form (actuality; both Nature and Spirit.

Although comparably extremely complex, instinct is still inherently physioal, in that it exists only in observable forms (i.e., to quote from The Matrix, “electrical signals interpreted by the brain”; or in this case, nature. It was at this stage (Instinct) that life as we know it came into being.

In relation to the Biblical Trinity, Instinct would equate to the physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

(3) Consciousness: At some point (probably soon after the addition of Instinct, as the Instinct’s physical form had already extended to the atomic level of complexity and fineness), the pattern was no longer able to continue iterating in physical form, and was forced to express itself in another form- namely, Spirit. This obstacle resulted in the creation, and evolution,of the Soul [Thus- the “Essence of the Soul”].

Some animals, particularly primates, were influenced profoundly by this development. The ensuing clash of nature and spirit resulted in the creation of a hybrid of spirit and mind [where “mind” is the physical manifestation of Instinct], taking the form of the individual consciousness. In this way, the Logos, which I refer to as the “Essence of the Soul”, continued its evolution.

The reason why I consider the Logos the “Essence of the Soul”: The consciousness, being the product of the Soul [manifesting itself as a spirit-mind hybrid], is the vehicle by which one would perceive the Logos. Thus, because our comprehension of the Logos cannot go beyond the source of that perception (the Soul), it would be more proper to refer to the Logos as “Essence of the Soul”, because anything beyond the source of our perception is inevitably beyond our comphrehension, and lost in the cosmos.

In relation to the Biblical Trinity, The Consciousness would equate to the spiritual manifestation of the Son.

I think it’s interesting to note that in Genesis 1, several verses support the theories explained above [including 1:3-4, as quoted above]:

In particular, the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) is very compatible:

The Logos can be equated God, which is infinite and perfect, having no form, and yet being the originator of all that is.

The Logos brought about creation by manifesting itself in three forms:

The Father [Materiality], Holy Spirit [Instinct], and the Son [Consciousness.

“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness”

God created us to be in his own image, that we might be His Consciousness, His Identity, and His Soul. In this sense we are all demigods– specifically, an extension of God, created by him so that he might appreciate himself through us. We are quite literally God’s body, mind, and soul.

This considered: The three phases of creation are the reflection of the three aspects of God (one of which we are part of). These aspects are in turn reflected in us, taking the forms of the Id,SuperEgo, and Ego:

The Id is Materiality reflected by our Subconscious.

The SuperEgo is Instinct reflected by our Intuitive Consciousness.

The Ego is Consciousness reflected by itself.

These aspects also account for the existence of time:

The Id is responsible for perception of the Present

The SuperEgo is responsible for the Past

The Ego determines perception of the Future

Together these three aspects of our consciousness create the perception of time.

We serve as God’s mirror, being manifested through Materiality, Instinct, and Consciousness.

Being made and God’s image and likeness, we also seek to appreciate ourselves, and so created to Id, Ego, and SuperEgo that we might appreciate ourselves through a self-evolved consciousness. In doing so, we fulfilled God’s plan that we might have freewill, and created a free consciousness of our own to reflect the nature of the one who made us.

For this reason, the creation of A.I. is inevitable, because just as it was God’s desire to give us freewill, we [who are made according to God’s likeness and in His image] have an insatiable desire to create beings of our own possessing the same traits to ourselves, if not superior.

Of the three aspects, the one of greatest concern to us is the Ego, which deals with the unknown, and by that I am referring to the future.

Note: When I refer to “existence”, or apply attributes to anything [as something must exist to apply attributes to it), I’m almost always referring to that which is perceived– it’s impossible after all to identify anything that we are not aware of; any perceptions we have of anything do not reflect the particular itself, but merely of the existence of that thing to the extent our limited comprehension can allow. Thus, I am of the firm opinion that anything that we cannot comphrend does not exist.

Due to the existence of several abstract ideas of which we have limited comprehension (i.e. God), it may be more reasonable then to establish an incremental standard for supernatural or transcendental concepts. Objects falling under such a category would be considered “Ideals”, and by Plato, would be called “Forms”.

Something about all this that makes the Ego very interesting: even though the future is inherently unknowable, we are able to predict it as if it was, and even believe that the future is extremely predictable to the point that many (if not most) people take the future for granted. We even go so far as to build own whole lives on it, betting everything we have and known on the unkown. Perhaps this kind of faith is what makes humans so beautiful– so sacred– why it is that “the gods envy us”.

The abilities of the Ego are particularly unique in how it quite literally defies reality. By believing that something is real, we make it real through our Ego. But because the future is unknown, nothing concerning it can be considered real in-and-of-itself. By believing in what would otherwise be unknown, we make the future known, thus allowing perception of the future. (see “Note: (regarding the nature of existence/knowledge of a thing)” for clarification)

Because the Ego allows for things to be both real and not-real simultaneously, it exists both within time (where it perceives the future) and outside time (when concerning the unknown).

This fulfills the Ego’s role as the emanation of the Consciousness reflecting upon itself, in that the Consciousness, being a spirit-mind hybrid, also exists and does not exist simulataneously. (See Idealism for clarification regarding the existence of spirit).

From an evolutionary standpoint, the Ego is [in-and-of-itself] pretty useless – a mere necessity to continue the pattern, but in many ways a biological setback. Many times the Ego’s special-interests come at odds with natural Instinct, and this is what I believe to be the source of all mental illnesses and chemical imbalances. It’s a perpetual power-struggle. In cases like these, our existence becomes quite literally [though ironically not ironically!) counter-intuitive.

Assuming the Soul’s evolution to continue according to the pattern, the Ego should continue to gain dominance over the former emanations. This will inevitably result in a dramatically exponential increase in mental illnesses, as the Ego wins the conflicts with Instinct more and more.

Eventually, Instinct will become irrelevant entirely, at which stage we will already have progressed to the next stage of existence, but things will get far worse before they get better. Dealing with this conflict of interest is the “real” focus of this post, which is the other reason why I chose to name it “Points of Authority”. As to how we we deal with this self-inherent sabotage will be discussed far later in this post– so you can look forward to it.

Even without the Ego, we would still be able to work with others, albeit like animals. But due to the combination of the Ego with the Id (desire) and SuperEgo (instinct), things workedout to a surprisingly impressive evolutionary advantage. Particularly the Id, which gives us the drive we need to follow through in fulfilling the dreams our Ego gives us, thus providing the platform for what is referred to by transhumanists as “auto-evolution”.

Although it’s a known fact that animals feel pain, I wonder if they are actually consciously aware of it. Are they responding because of Instinct alone, or do they actually have emotional, or even mental reactions to it. Do animals even have emotions? Are emotions inherently instinctual, or are they an extension of the instinct permitted by the advent of the Ego.

Earlier, I mentioned that animals were influenced by the development of the Soul, and that primates (which were to become humans) were affected most by it. It’s probable that emotions, rather than being a “black-and-white” existence, are an incremental aspect of reality, which are more evident in humans, but also present to a lesser degree in animals, and perhaps even plants as well.

If emotions are the byproduct of spiritual energy transfer, as I explain in Idealism, then it’s likely that everything has emotions- we just aren’t able to sense the emotions of lesser entities, and /or they aren’t able to express it as effectively as we do. (Just as sound waves are often too low or too high in frequency to be audible).

I think that, as ironic, paradoxical, and even contradictory as it might seem, knowledge– and the ability to identify or become “aware” of anything– actually corrupts reality. This is another often glossed over meaning of Genesis 1. It’s impossible for any entity to be conscious of anything without being biased about it. (See Cognitive Bias)

The very knowledge of something– anything– corrupts its existence. This is yet another application of the philosophical aspects of the Uncertainty Principle. That is, knowledge and understanding are mtually exclusive. The extent to which a person knows is the extent to which they misunderstand, and vice versa. Well, perhaps “experience” might be a more accurate way of looking at it, but this is just “different ways of looking at the same thing”.

But from that POV, You could say that the extent to which a person experiences something it directly proportional to the extent to which they lack knowledge of what they are experiencing, and the environment thereof. Inversely, The extent to which a person knows something is also the extent to which they are limited in their experience thereof.

A while ago, I discovered a very important insight, and compared with most of my writing, it’s simple and concise:

Knowledge  is the outside looking in

Understanding is the inside looking out

Wisdom is having both Knowledge and Understanding

Of course, the latter is an ideal, in that to simultaneously know and understand the same thing is impossible, and any attempts to force it will inevitably result in insanity, are result in then creation of multiple personalities (I would know!)

Then again, this knowledge is also self-corrupted by its very nature (a paradox, in other words). We are born into sin for a reason: self awareness is after all inherently imperfect.

An analogy of this: The ability to see both sides of a coin at once: Just like knowledge and undersranding, you can try to remember it, reflect or mirror it, draw, it, photograph it, imagine it. But no matter how “real” your perceptions of it are, it will never even come close to a pure reality for both sides.

Me personally- I’m willing to settle for a photograph. So this blog is for me pretty much “The Other Side Of The Coin”. I think I might even change the headline to that- it sounds kinda catchy! :p

It could very well be that we are just overglorified animals, and that animals are just overglorified plants. I may be that the only thing giving us superiority over the rest of nature is “a really BIG Ego.” (no pun intended!)

But fortunately for me, I don’t really care much about “the truth”, at least not in the idealistic sense that most people seem to believe in. To begin with, I’m far too cynical to accept that something as big as truth could in any sense be as static and limited as the black-and-white truth that we so wish that we could know, that we might have this sense of control.

But unfortunately for us [Or perhaps fortunately?), Perception turns out to be our greatest enemy.

If I were looking for that kind of truth though, even if I “found it”, I would never actually find it, but only think I had, believed that I had. I know this because I’m focused on ‘the other side of the coin’ (TM), lol :p

The truth that I’m looking for, due in great part to my insatiable curiosity, is the source of ‘truth’, and how it impacts the universe as a whole, at both the macro and micro levels. That is, causality.

Jesus once said, “[It’s] like the wind. You don’t know where it comes from or where it goes, but you can feel it.” At least as far as truth is concerned, I don’t know it’s there, but I will find out ‘where it comes from’, and ‘where it goes’.

I’ve considered the possibility that many plants and animals (especially animals, by virtue of evolution) were impacted by the third creation phase (project “Son”), albeit on a smaller level. In C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia, animals ‘still talked’, although for certain periods of time (mostly during reigns of ‘evil’) they became mute; similar themes are presented in Tolkien’s universe. Perhaps C.S. Lewis and Tolkien had explored this concept also, and conveyed these ideas through their writing. All fiction is after all based to some degree on reality, or more specifically, the reality of those who write it.

It might be that animals once had the gift of language, and spoke just as we do. It may well be that humans enslaved animals, or isolated and imprisoned them, fearing what they might become, or what they might do. (Just as the mutants were treated in X-Men). It’s a fact that the brain terminates certain parts that are not used from a young age (in particular, language). This is seen in the phonetic limitations of certain languages (i.e. Japanese), and in people who have become mute due to lifelong isolation of neglect by parents.

It’s not infeasible that animals spoke once upon a time, but were unable to pass on the gift to their kids– there are a myriad of possible reasons for this. If the human population hadn’t taken off so much, we might be animals too.

One of the taken-for-granted aspects of humans, is that speech is not a god-given quality. Actually, such an assertion is not made once in the Bible. God actually hated it, and unsuccessfully attempted to take it away from man (see Tower of Babel).

Rather, speech is a learned behavior. Somewhere along the line, an animal (probably somewhat resembling a chimp) was able to learn to speak, and managed to improve upon language well enough to pass this behavior to its babies, who instinctively improved upon and passed this language to its descendants, and so on.

As you have probably noticed, I have the uncanny ability to provide logically valid explanations for the most absurd (or perhaps, especially the most absurd) things.

Please note: I’m considering language and the Ego as inherently distinct, and unrelated to each other.

Getting back to the Ego:

What I’ve noticed more and more the past few months, is that knowledge of something aggravates suffering. To know something a person must set limits on it, and be objective about it [own it]. Subjective reality is inherently unknowable, although many people (myself included) can analyze it as an abstract idea, or create philosohical and mathematical models to analyze its properties, where “it” is determined by causes and effects [causality].

While such models of subjective reality are probably dependable to some extent (they are ‘theoretically’ accurate after all), such knowledge cannot represent ‘true’ subjective reality, as it is only objectively subjective, or subjective to the extent that objective reality allows.

More to the point: as ‘theoretically’ assumed by my “Essence of the Soul” theory, everything will continue to become more complex, and this will most significantly impact the human race– or rather, the human race will be driven by its very nature to bring this future about. We have alreadt surpassed one of the great barriers to the “Logos”, with the creation [or should I say, “development”], and evolution of the soul.

As things become more complex, knowledge becomes more appreciated, limited, and profound. Public awareness spreads this knowledge, and knowledges spreads public awareness- a vicious cycle of viral corruption. Even though the increase in complexity of knowledge is psychological (or should I say, especially since it is psychological– psyche literally means ‘soul’), we are programmed by the Logos to infinitely complicate things, whether we choose to accept it or not.

These things aren’t just assumptions based on logical inferences– the entire human race’s history is backing it! Despite the face that things are clearly always fine just the way they are, we continue to change things for the so-called better. We buy new computers when, before the ‘better’ one existed, the old one would have been more than anyone could ever need. To verify our identities, we have the urge to try new things, spend money on useless products, and propose governmental, economic, political, and legal changes when, before such changes were proposed, before better alternatives were thought of, things were just fine the way they were.

Things are only perceptively perfect until something “better” comes along, which should be a smack-to-the-back-of-the-head wake-up call to anyone naive enough to think that any idea of perfection is valid.

Since the dawn of time (where time is measured by humans), we’ve upgraded our technology, continually complicated language, developed more and more complicated science and philosophy; every imaginable aspect of life, both empirical and logical, has been perpetually pushed to the limits, and then smashing through every roadblock and warning. Over time, humanity has been accelerating in complications, and over the past 100 years or so– inventing motion picture, television, and most impressively: the Internet.

Let’s take a moment to consider the significance of this: Humanity has been inventing things since the dawn of time, but what have the most recent inventions focused on? Communication. The one thing that separates humans from animals, the quality that the Age of Aquarius is known for, the central concept that motivates all that we do. Most of the big things that have happened in the past century are focused on public awareness and better understanding ourselves.

Something big is going to happen, and we need to prepare for it. That ‘something’ is the future.

The accelerating of complications has begun to spiral out of control. In the present day, “good enough” no longer exists, because there’s always something better now. Despite the utter meaninglessness [or should I say, ‘insanity’) of such developments (see Nihilism), the vicious cycle continues.

At this point, the acceleration is irreversible- perhaps it always was. But in the spirit of the Ego, I don’t aim to nullify the past, I aim to “change” (pun is intended) the future. So, what then needs to be changed?

Despite to craziness the world has literally thrown itself into, Most of the world is not aware of it. It’s right in front of their faces, but most people will not accept it, because most people can’t handle the truth.

As knowledge that is known is useless and meaningless if not accepted, people continue to live in their perfect little world, believing what they want to believe, completely naive and hopelessly blissful– oblivious of the apocalypse the entire human race is in danger of. And ironically, it is their obliviousness that will cause the apocalypse in the first place, unless we wake up from this dream before it’s too late.

At some point, we will not reach roadblocks, but a bottomless pit that we cannot fly over. If everyone stays in this dream we are living in until the bitter end, most of us will be in for a very rude wake-up call. If it comes to that, the entire world will be inevitably thrust into chaos beyond imagining, and apocalypse will then truly be inevitable.

“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” – 1 Corinthians 13:12