There are a bunch of practices human cultures have developed over our evolutionary history to cultivate just the sort of self-awareness you’re describing.
The following is not mine, I read it somewhere on Substack: tradition is a solution set for problems society no longer remembers. Given that many cultures have evolved mechanisms for finding the middle ground between asceticism and hedonism, I’d guess that, broadly speaking, the stupor is not new, and that there’s nothing new we need discover to address the stupor.
Very much so, yes. And it seems like our culture is not making serious attempts to develop new traditions. The last time this happened in earnest during the Enlightenment, at least the iconoclasts were striving toward a scientific understanding of existence. I’ll bet there’s a Nietzsche quote that fits here...
So much could go so wrong. I think personal and family traditions are one small bulwark here. And that the willingness to speak of them in earnest with others might bolster the concept of tradition writ large.
We have to be willing to be quaint. People are hungry for meaning, we need not necessarily resurrect the 3rd century church or some such, even familial traditions provide it.
"Imagine yourself in a Truman Show-like scenario. What impressions do you think would be formed about you if you were being unknowingly watched at all times?"
I always have felt this, that is what the fear of a cruel God does to a child. On one hand its terrifying, on the other it keeps that child straight. But it doesn't necessarily last. That discipline went awol, Nietzsche said God died about 150 years ago which corresponds with humanities final, deadly fall in to the sewer.
The interesting thing is, even as an extremely non-religious person, one religion... Sufism I think.. speaks about two birds in a tree. One eats the fruit and enjoys it, (this would be like the guy in Matrix who loves his steak) and the other bird looks on, enjoying the steak/fruit-eating bird's experience vicariously.
These birds represent states of consciousness. When one realises their true Self is located at a different place, ie. a non-localised body with a higher degree of consciousness beyond the physical, then one is approaching metaphysic consciousness. The trick to reality is to become the tree (represented by the vagus nerve, or the biblical 'burning bush') and have both forms interacting simultaneously.
Kensington ave is brutal. I've watched so many videos from there. It's a literal hell on earth.
One time I was on a motorcycle trip in India and accidentally drove into a bit of a slum. The classic Indian slum was 100x nicer and more life affirming than Kensington ave.
However poor and desperate the people in those slums were, I imagine most still had a sense of life in them. Sadly, the same can’t be said for the people on Kensington.
There are a bunch of practices human cultures have developed over our evolutionary history to cultivate just the sort of self-awareness you’re describing.
The following is not mine, I read it somewhere on Substack: tradition is a solution set for problems society no longer remembers. Given that many cultures have evolved mechanisms for finding the middle ground between asceticism and hedonism, I’d guess that, broadly speaking, the stupor is not new, and that there’s nothing new we need discover to address the stupor.
I think we’re living through the consequences of society rejecting those traditions and rediscovering the problems they were there to address.
Very much so, yes. And it seems like our culture is not making serious attempts to develop new traditions. The last time this happened in earnest during the Enlightenment, at least the iconoclasts were striving toward a scientific understanding of existence. I’ll bet there’s a Nietzsche quote that fits here...
So much could go so wrong. I think personal and family traditions are one small bulwark here. And that the willingness to speak of them in earnest with others might bolster the concept of tradition writ large.
We have to be willing to be quaint. People are hungry for meaning, we need not necessarily resurrect the 3rd century church or some such, even familial traditions provide it.
"Imagine yourself in a Truman Show-like scenario. What impressions do you think would be formed about you if you were being unknowingly watched at all times?"
I always have felt this, that is what the fear of a cruel God does to a child. On one hand its terrifying, on the other it keeps that child straight. But it doesn't necessarily last. That discipline went awol, Nietzsche said God died about 150 years ago which corresponds with humanities final, deadly fall in to the sewer.
The interesting thing is, even as an extremely non-religious person, one religion... Sufism I think.. speaks about two birds in a tree. One eats the fruit and enjoys it, (this would be like the guy in Matrix who loves his steak) and the other bird looks on, enjoying the steak/fruit-eating bird's experience vicariously.
These birds represent states of consciousness. When one realises their true Self is located at a different place, ie. a non-localised body with a higher degree of consciousness beyond the physical, then one is approaching metaphysic consciousness. The trick to reality is to become the tree (represented by the vagus nerve, or the biblical 'burning bush') and have both forms interacting simultaneously.
This comparison seems apt, sadly, and in my own life as well. Thank you for a thought provoking read.
For most of us, I think. Thank you for reading.
Kensington ave is brutal. I've watched so many videos from there. It's a literal hell on earth.
One time I was on a motorcycle trip in India and accidentally drove into a bit of a slum. The classic Indian slum was 100x nicer and more life affirming than Kensington ave.
However poor and desperate the people in those slums were, I imagine most still had a sense of life in them. Sadly, the same can’t be said for the people on Kensington.
Yeah, they definitely had more life in them. The people at Kensington are human zombies, it's truly amazing/terrifying to see it.