When we simplify life to logic, we reduce the magnificence of our being into computational mechanisms. Inherently flawed mechanisms. Don’t think so? Just try to remember your complicated bank account password–that’s proof enough that in the realm of logic we pale in comparison. Memorization or a definition is a necessary precursor to logic.
The reality is that we are infinitely complex beings through our emotional nature. It is as though each moment we have in us a random number generator that devises our whole reality in the moment. How else can you simply describe the transcendent experience of going from a state of angry road rage where everyone sucks and instantly changes it into a state of tranquil bliss, all through a simple adjustment of purposefully feeling gratitude in the moment.
The rose color glasses have been put on and it therefore changes our entire concept of reality in a blink of a moment, that in turn adjusts our future interactions and ultimately our destiny.
The same can be said with our logic models.
How many people’s lives were forevermore changed during the sub-prime mortgage crash? All those complex models with statistically significant probabilities detailing how the future should go…and then boom, crash. In the blink of an eye, the complex industries built on the conduit of logic erodes phantasmically before our very eyes.
Think of how we as society continually make these entrenched beliefs in the way the world works. It is a necessary component to our functioning as individuals and societies, but as Nassim Taleb puts it, we must keep in check our confidence as to the absolute truth of these beliefs.
How did our ancestors operate without verbal language? Written language? Understanding the Earth rotates around the Sun? Microscopic bacteria?
They survived the paradigm shift of reality, those that adapted eventually led the way. Those who refused to update their operating software went down with the ship of absolute conviction towards the illusion.
To consider us at the end of the journey, at the end of illusion is merely delusion. There is so much more to experience and understand, and we must begin with ourselves.
When a predictive algorithm can pretend to understand you more than you know yourself, that’s the clearest sign that the issue is not in the scary future and power of “Big Brother” but in the sad past and lack of developing a deep understanding of our self. Point not the finger. This is a problem of us understanding our self not the other way around.
Jordan Peterson talks about the understanding of our self must come only after experience and interaction. We can learn from others, experience simulations through movies and TV Shows, read books, talk to mentors. However, one more critical component is necessary: learning from our selves. Our self-realization is what makes us uniquely human.
How much do we practice this uniquely divine quality?
How often do we have an honest dialogue with ourselves?
Not racing thoughts. Not two fabricated negative Nancy’s saying horrible things about you or running simulations of the future or analyzing the past. No, I mean an honest discussion, an opportunity for the mind to subside and communion to begin. Some might call it analyzing the “id, ego, superego”, some might call it connecting with God, some call it merely meditating or train of thought writing. All kinda get to the core of it.
Whatever it is, it is the path towards understanding the most beautiful and complex part of life: your self.
Don’t let others outside of you know more about you than you do. Consider it a moral duty. Why would you allow the shift of burden onto another? Why disempower yourself and let others know you better? That’s laziness and fear rather than intensity and awe.
What have you done recently to get to know yourself better?
The beautiful thing is, you have the entire universe at your disposal to do so.
You have an infinite way of doing it.
Enjoy the infinite possibilities 🙂