SteveKlinko wrote: ↑Wed Oct 21, 2020 7:31 pm
Dimebag wrote: ↑Wed Oct 21, 2020 12:36 pm
I just thought of something. I am Volition. Being Aware is good. But without Volition you might as well be nothing.
I think of it a different way. Action happens through us. We are awareness (or consciousness if you like). Consciousness “drives” action (I.e. sense leads to response, in a reflex like way). But furthermore, sense can lead to concepts, which lead to action. The conceptual space is like a complex system, but it’s not a closed system. On one end it’s open via the senses, on the other end it’s open via action. Action leads to more sensory inputs, which feed back into the system and can change the conceptual contents.
Imagine “you” are the “pathways” which allow all of this to happen. That means “you” aren’t the one producing the action. But “you” are a necessary chain within all of this occurs. This is how I view consciousness. Like an information super highway, the senses and thoughts are the “cars” travelling. You are the necessary space in which this all unfolds.
In some sense “you” produce the action. But in a trivial way, because “you” are merely there, the “observer” of it all, all things pass through you, but you are passively watching.
Now, when an action happens, the person “you” think you are, actually recedes, and action just happens, in a flow like way. We know this happens, because neuroscience has found that when the brain focuses on the external world, especially to produce action, the default mode network, responsible for our sense of self, quietens. So, “you” are constantly flitting in and out of existence. But, notice, there is no discontinuity in experiencing. But, there can be a discontinuity in memory.
What should that tell you about what “you” really are. The sense of being a person takes the back seat when actions happen, and, actions simply happen, with no one doing them. The “observer” is there, watching. Then, when the action ceases, the default mode network fires back up, and literally takes ownership of the action.
All of this requires lots of introspection. But start really paying attention to your experience. Notice the way memory changes during all of this. Memory is connected to the default mode network.
When you are at rest, the default mode network is active, producing the sense of being here. The sense that “I am”. It connects to areas involved in autobiographical memory, conceptual thought, but also rumination and emotion. When it’s active, it starts producing intrusive thoughts, but also is involved in goal direction. It’s like it cues up actions, sends the actions to the motor centres, then, lets it all fly as it takes a back seat and lets you watch it all unfold.
When the DMN (default mode network) is active, awareness (I say you are awareness because initially you are separating yourself from the contents of consciousness, so by calling yourself awareness, you conceptualise a difference between this observer and the observed. This allows you to create an inner distance and start pruning those identifying branches I was referring to. Eventually you are left as this indistinct “entity” which can only be referred to as an observer, witness, watcher etc. This is the sense of “I am” I was referring to on the tree of identity. But this also goes. When it goes, all that’s left is the contents of consciousness. You realise consciousness is its contents, like waves upon the surface of a body of water. So you are both the knowing of consciousness, and it’s contents.
At this stage, just notice that whatever comes and goes in consciousness, “you” don’t come and go, the observer of this.