A technological psychedelic trip
Have you ever been in a situation so extreme, you have fundamentally changed the way you view the world or your opinion about something? Have you ever thought about how this happens?
The way experience the environment is never as reality even though it feels like it to us. We always see it through a pair of colored glasses, which means, a collection of stories that help us make sense of what we view. This sense is not necessarily accurate but to us it feels like a decent representation. Based on this, we act upon these stories and move through life.
But sometimes, an event can cause what we know, the structure and framework we have built, to buckle under the pressure and shift into a new form. In some extreme cases, this can happen instantly and can forever reorganize the mind from that point on.
Drowned and awake
One such story was when a client of mine was on holiday in Spain and while at the beach, two men, brothers drowned. Before the lifeguards got there, she had tried to resuscitate one of the men but was unable and she held him as his unconscious body gave way to death. She said to me that in that moment, her mind was calm and clear and a depth of understanding in life she had never known was painfully clear. As if she was awake for the first time.
After the adrenaline of the moment had passed, after days, weeks and months it was still there, clear. She had thought more about it, reviewed her previous positions and wondered at just how she hadn't seen the simplicity of life when it was there, obvious to all to see.
She is a very well articulated person, however, when she explained it to her friends and tried to show them this deeper truth, they could not see it, even when they tried to understand, they couldn't make the leap. When understanding is reached however, what was known before that point seems immature.
An internal revolution
My question is whether one has to go through a life altering experience to alter life or of it is possible to simulate? I am not talking about faking these types of events but rather if one can mentally simulate events that explore the structure of the mind and alter the mind from within and cause a personal revolution.
I would presume that it is quite possible if one can understand themselves well enough to create a narrative that will replace that which is currently held. It is likely what those who meditate deeply upon something are attempting to do, explore an idea to its core and when the truth is discovered within, implant the new story into the framework.
Augmented and real
I then wonder how virtual and augmented reality could assist us in exploring who we are in these life altering circumstances while still being safe. Essentially, at some point in the not too distant future we will be able to be fully immersed in the most wild, horrible, scary, beautiful, wonderful experiences whilst being safe and sound.
It is possible that even though the body is safe, the mind is not and can be fooled into thinking it is actually experiencing something it is not. A technological psychedelic trip. I have spoken before how the human brain's major advantage is its ability to simulate what is not there, what is not real, what may never come about and this is how we drive our own evolution.
I wonder what would happen if we could simulate what it really feels like to be in another's shoes. I don't mean thinking we are in another's shoes but actually experiencing and believing what they truly feel. Would it change our behaviors in the walking world? Most likely.
What would it feel like to be starving to death in a famine, be black in a room full of white racists, go though childbirth or like my student, watch someone's life ebb away after trying frantically to save them?
A willingness to change
The technology is likely not too far away and we will be able to experience being someone else across the entire spectrum of experience. I would assume that if one can 'truly' live in a simulated adversity for some time, opinions and understanding will fundamentally shift. I would posit that those who have found what some may call enlightenment have been able to know their mind so well, they can break away the scaffolds and see clearly.
Could enlightenment be reached en masse via a technological solution? It is very likely but most probably, it would be used for entertainment and marketing purposes instead. While a technological solution is unavailable though, we can still use the simulation capabilities we possess to remove the scaffolding and increase our understanding of the world if we choose.
Will we choose to though?
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]
I grew up with a mother who was schizophrenic. Growing up I knew something was off but didn't have the knowledge or alternate reality to compare mine to. Most of the time it was just "mom" being "mom."
Another peculiarity was that the voices she heard were "God" and so most of the time the things she heard were parsed through a Christian lens. And people overall were less quick to discredit her because "who knows maybe God really was speaking to her."
It wasn't until I was around twenty when the voice/voices told her something extremely disturbing and untrue about me directly that I had the awakening. In the moment that she confronted me with her known truth it was like a switch was flipped. I literally went back in time through all of my interactions with her and reset the value I had placed on the things she had said to a zero. Over the next year or so I slowly broke the connections I had made to the things she had said to me growing up from all of the secondary beliefs and ideas that had been connected.
The idea of being able to use technology to create an alternate experienced reality and shift ones framework of beliefs is very interesting. I am in agreement with you though that it would most likely be used instead for pure entertainment.
Incredibly though as you say our minds are already capable of this to a great extent. I try to utilize this capability to better understand and interact with the world. I am unsure though how many people even realize this is possible let alone exercise it.
Wow, that is an amazing story. I don't mean abut your mother part which is also interesting but the going back and resetting to zero.
I think that the human mind has an incredible ability to heal itself from the most terrible or strange of experiences and is able to do exactly what you did. Many do not realise this though and choose to hold on to experience as if it is truth itself rather than a version of events.
I wonder if one could get a glimpse of the full power technologically if they would then be able to learn to unlock it without the intervention. There are some very interesting times ahead.
I am glad that you were able to overcome this and I am guessing that regardless of the childhood experience, you have come to the understanding that your mother was doing the best she could at the time. I think we all have voices to some extent that direct us but are often misguided. Most tell us to be afraid rather than curious.
It is late here, so I hope this makes sense enough :)
Makes perfect sense. And yes I am a firm believer in the idea that we all do the best that we can when we do what we do and that given that exact moment we could not have done any differently. So other than the immediate shock, anger, hurt and mistrust I experienced in the moment and the coinciding adjustment in my thinking that was necessary I Love her dearly and hold no hard feelings whatsoever for any part of my childhood. I would say In fact that over time this event brought a certain clarity to my childhood and allowed for a much more loving and compassionate view of my mother.
Timothy leary talked about this, how virtual reality immersion can have same effects than psychedelics, or extreme adrenaline rush. Ive read before that psycheledics have chemical structure close to adrenaline.
I am thinking that there is a lot of upside possible, but it will mostly be downside experienced through a centralised brainwashing.
In the ghost in the shell comics, there is part where its used as brainwashing too, especially when all experience from players are meshed together, and there is a loss of subjectivity, or too much restrictions on freedom of actions.
Great article, but I think artificial assistance is the wrong way to go when it comes to awakening and evolving spiritually
that will be another post ;)
Thank you for post.
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