(Realization of a 3-Step Consciousness)
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Detectives of the Mind as of Nov. 22, 2024
If you've already accepted the idea that different types of hominids had different types of Consciousness or even variants of a "human-like" brand of Consciousness, this may be an incentive to seek out what form a 3rd type (or 3rd stage) of present day consciousness might exhibit as a defining characteristic...(unless there are 3 or more characteristics seen from your present vantage point). It may also be that I can assume you have given some margin of credence to the view that it is plausible that human consciousness has the potential to develop along a 1-2-3 maturational development sequence, because such a sequence presents itself as a realistically occurring phenomena in biological development spanning billions of years.
The Validity that life sprouted on a 3rd planet called the Earth is widely accepted, just as it is accepted DNA has a triplet code and human anatomy is replete with multiple patterns-of-three, even though it is possible to identify other patterns such as for example five and two. Nonetheless, we also pay witness to the fact that even if a person combines all the patterns they think they see, the total represents the use of a small quantity. Whether this is due to the limitations of human physiology's effects on cognition or that this actually is how Nature is, can not yet be definitively ascertained. I call this small quantity usage a "Conservation of Number" seen in such things as the limits exhibited in the Periodic table, Alphabets, zero through nine symbols and languages. I include languages because they too become extinct and only a very few are used with any present day certainty of living longer into history without evolving... even though remnants of former languages like Latin and Greek are perpetuated to some degree by a retention of certain words and/or phrases.
However, like languages, we don't see the development occurring with millions of types of cells that multiply together at the same time. Only a few types of cells... and for that matter— amino acids occupy some present niche' of usage. Nor for that matter do we see millions of Germ layers. We see three in the triplet code, in the main cellular energy sources (AMP- ADP- ATP), large sub-atomic particles, the subject- object- verb of Word Order, quantity of fingers used for holding an instrument of writing or painting, sculpting (pencils, pens, artists' paint brushes, precision carving tools), etc... With respect to languages, we don't see ten thousand languages being used. Just because you encounter someone who is awed by the view of humanity having several hundred active languages or that a multi-lingual person astonishes them, does not alter the view that we are dealing with a conservation of number. The same goes for gods. We do not see a historical record of any culture believing in thousands of gods at the same time. It is just as silly or monumentally genius to believe in trillions of gods as it does in one, or two, or a trinity... or handful used to express the state of human cognition by way of some recurring quantity of this or that it is attached to, and yet be dismissive of any recurring quantity expressed by Nature through Human research and examination.
To not acknowledge the recurrence of a given enumerated pattern as a conservation is an expressed point of ignorance, particularly when it is pointed out and not attached to some already established ideological orientation of superstition such as religion or Eastern philosophy. Patterns-of-three like patterns-of-two and other patterns exist. Plain and simple. Just because when you encounter a list with a certain quantity containing a particular subject you accept or reject the presence of a pattern as having any meaning other than that to which you and your like-minded others attach to it, doesn't make you right... nor wrong. While it is just as easy to accept or reject a belief, we find certain groups of humans wanting to impose their views on others and will stop at nothing to do so... by law, by economics, by war, or whatever they can get their hands on to manipulate, punish, reward or otherwise. This is a very real concern for us to consider regarding our current state of beliefs. Even those which speak of Freedom in terms of Inclusivity, Diversity, and Equality. The three are as bad or good as those who are promoting it. Since ulterior motives are rampant, it is best to question those that either promote or are antagonists against this trinity. Some people want to attack or support anything that can be used as a distraction, diversion, or pointed direction to assist them in a related or unrelated issue.
Rejecting or accepting a belief in duality is still a part of the duality. "Non-dual" imperatives in Eastern religions is an attachment to a role in which duality plays a significant cognitive orientation, just as it does in the languages of Psychology, Mathematics and Computers. Once you recognize this, you may or may think in terms of a Conservation of Number with respect to human cognition that appears to be stuck in its evolutionary dynamics. Let me exhibit this recurring presence of duality in these Subjects. Let me begin by illustrating the use of duality to describe attributes associated with the two brain hemispheres:
Now let's look at a few dualities seen in Psychology:
At this point, take a look at dualities found in the Yin/Yang Idea and Mathematics:
The dualities seen in the language of computers is most often referred to as Binary. In a very real sense, computers are boxes of multiple on/off switches occurring at fast speeds. While must faster than the dots and dashes of Morse code, the principle is the same. However, human operations and operators have been replaced by electrical circuits and math formulas:
Because humans are prone to routine errors, rules were established to govern how Morse code was to be used. And though most don't recognize the situation in which there are recurring errors with computers, there is an inclination for humans to think that computers designed by them are ultimately limitless in their abilities. Unfortunately, the fact that humans do not routinely identify recurring patterns of cognition tells us that humans are presently stranded in a wasteland of self-imposed obstacles revolving around the type of memory being taught in schools, businesses, religions, homes, governments, sports, commerce, etc...
We not only find rules which govern the binary treatment of dots and dashes, but sports, card gamess, boards game and multiple other exchanges including fisticuffs, conversations, arbitrations, counseling, debates, court rooms, and military encounters all adopt strategies of duality exchange, and never once stop to consider they are helping to perpetrate and perpetuate a stagnation in human cognitivity. It is a phenomena of philosophy which Military academies have not thought to include in their courses because of the imposed conventionalisms.
If you view the Braille code, do you count it as two groups of three or 3 groups of 2, and yet never also view it as a schematic of a six-legged insect? Do you see it as a pair of threes or triads of two? What is your first inclination? The same goes for RNA and DNA as well as Proteins. Do you look upon amino acids as being paired or focus on the triplet code, if not otherwise as a 3-to-1 ratio, made distinct by pairing RNA and DNA?
Similarly, we see this 2 versus 3 presence in the later born I-Ching with its configurations called triads. However, what is being used is only a repetition of 1-line and 2-line participants placed into groups of three called triads. There are no groups exhibiting a 1-line, 2-line, 3-line configuration. In other words, the use of the word "triad" belies the fact we are being presented with dualities which alternate and thus present us with what can be described as an embellished duality. It is like the state of practice in which millions of people use artificial products to help them convey the impression they are something they actually aren't, but want to be... be it smart, beautiful, strong, wise, wealthy, fast, important, etc...
In all the above cases, please note the usage of a Conservation of both number (as symbols arranged in a sequence) and representations of quantity. It is necessary to make the distinctions since a person's preferred "go-to" language may be numbers which are use as labels of identification that may or may not occur in Nature, but that the person involved with a given task may order observations according to their preference, and not because of any inherent quality, capacity, or interactivity... and not necessarily as references to quantity. People will use the language which they are accustomed to while others will use the same language (such as mathematics or its various symbols) for a different reason, yet the first person does not argue against if the other person's interpretation is found to be of supportive value or even provide a greater valuation. Viewing numbers as mere symbolic references to cognitive behavior can be difficult for some to disentangle for their processes of logic if they are steeped deeply in the use of such for a given application.
Because Mathematics is so often used and taught to be interpreted as a given type of language and sub-categories as little more than different dialects of the same mode of interpretation about mathematics; using numbers as an alternative referencing mechanism may well be confusing for them to the extent they want to disparage the alternative, much like a Native speaker of one language rejecting one or more words as meaning something else by someone with a different Native language. Whereas some words are amusing to be heard from one to another language such as for example the word "Ohio" in Japanese used as a greeting such as Hello, and then its usage in American English meaning a reference to a State. Yet, not only language, but hand gestures and body postures in one culture may mean something disrespectful in another language and receive condemnation. "Native speakers" of the Mathematic's language groups are no different than spoken languages throughout the world. You will find die-hard speakers (such as those claiming the only real mathematics is Pure Mathematics), and others that have a fluency applicable to many different contexts such as addition and subtraction.
The different language dialects of Mathematics incorporates multiple disciplines of study. Some view it as an art form, others as a science. And still others think of it in terms of doodling to be used for various puzzles. The Point is, even though I explain the presence of what I perceive to be a 1-2-3 maturational sequence occurring in the Evolutionary trek of biology, it is a reference which requires a fluidic interpretation so as not to expect the enumeration to always appear the same. If I use latinized Roman Numerals (I- II- III- IV- V...) and you are not familiar with them, you might well expect a count to appear in that which you preference as a "real" number system and not some gibberish symbols. Whereas it's easy to make connections once you know, getting an educated person to learn a different script that is itself at a rudimentary development can be frustrating, since not too many adults want to be forced back to a kindergarten model of being taught. In some cases it really is difficult to teach an old dog new tricks... especially when the dog acts more like a stubborn mule.
This Conservation of Number also occurs in particle physics. Indeed, the underlying power structure of individual particles are routinely addressed in terms of fractions such as thirds, though other fractions can well exist and play a part in analysis if a particular researcher cares to use them. Because particle physics has multiple groups of three, it is reasonable to expect additional facets of particle physics to exhibit a pattern-of-three, without someone being annoyed if they should encounter something which varies from this recurrence. The study of elementary particles remains an elementary science at this juncture in human history. What we don't know we tend to speculate, and that speculation is frequently conducted by educated guesstimators who may reference some idea has having three parts because it is a formula often seen in Nature. In other words, a researcher will make up some idea where the convention is to begin with a proposed three and see if it agrees with present assumptions or if the old assumptions need to be revised. Human alphabets are made up and so are human number systems which become elaborated into ideas such as Literature and Mathematics. We humans take information from different sources and sometimes come up with unique ideas that are found to be favorable to many others. A collection of which is called a civilization. And very often we are inclined to enumerate observations into what we think is a recurring pattern.
Every single idea you encounter in Psychology is made up. While Sigmund Freud's 3-part idea labeled the Id- Ego- Superego is not used by some, others find it a useful reference tool of generality for describing the human psyche. Many others prefer to subscribe to the use of dualities such as we find in Psychology, Mathematics, the Old Yin/Yang profile and the Binary code of Computers, not to mention the Binomial Nomenclature used in Biological classification systems. The same cognitive profile is seen in other subjects such as Sociology, where the old standby for describing social classifications was to use a 3-part type of stratification called the Lower class- Middle class- Upper class. Later observers act like rival siblings engaging in a one-upmanship effort by claiming each of these has 1 more additional divisions.
In other words, the use of some type of thinking in terms of a "spectrum" (color or otherwise) is applied as if in referencing additional classifications one is able to state they are superior researchers because they classify recurring dispositions of individual member groups within an accepted classification system... meaning that they are observers of greater detail and this behavior signifies they are egotistically superior and not humbly so. In still other words, we find the use of dichotomization being applied under the guise of either an additional trichotomy or some fabricated multiplicity. And no, I am not using the word "fabricated" as a disparagement, but as a term to reference individualized creativity. And yet, the field of Sociology like that of Psychology and other fields of very important study, have become stagnant. A mere redundancy of themselves cast in different uniforms and hairdos and a cultured vernacular to give the impression of a would-be progress that isn't occurring. While they can be persuasive, so are those that talk themselves into suicide. Unfortunately, we don't have enough people mentioning to them that if they are intelligent enough to talk themselves into self destruction, they are intelligent enough to talk themselves out of it... but only if they permit the secondary consciousness to accept the presence of a tertiary consciousness.
Suicide prevention centers play the part of a 3rd consciousness just as arbitrators and multiple others do in their professions. Parents do this routinely when providing guidance. Yet, the whole of humanity has the potential to go beyond all these forms and formulas and establish a "higher order" consciousness that is an idea which too often is mixed up with some spiritual philosophy or New Age belief. The typical currency of thought is to define such a consciousness in god-like or at least superhuman terms, if not some supposed superior attribute of ability when it actually points to the presence of a potentiality which must be individually explored, but not imprisoned by current notions of spirituality, ages-old human desires, or the day-to-day commercial practices taking place in a given era.
Since human physiology is reaching its limitations as indicated by an inability to perform at greater levels such as seen at sports events, it is being proposed that the human mind in terms of an expanded consciousness will thus be the route taken; much like a compensatory reaction we see sometimes occurring with those who have lost or are losing a common ability such as sight, taste, hearing, mobility, etc... Consciousness expansion left to be defined by spiritualists of any genre is an imprisonment of imagination. So too is the indulgence of religious ideas, mythological ideas, science fiction ideas, etc... However, in order to think alternatively, you must be cut off from these common routes of contemplation. While "centering" oneself is fine, what routinely happens is that a person gets stuck in the pigeon hole they have created for themselves, and want to get others to follow suit as a means of convincing themselves they are right... when they aren't, but their routine in a routine environment such as a culture on a planet, is itself a limiting factor of indulgence. So too are drugs, drink, music, sex, dance, etc... The problem is that we are confronted by Institutions like Psychology, Mathematics, Politics, Philosophy, Religion, Military strategy, Stock market activity, sports contests, computer language, etc... that have each become dependent on a genre of cognitive orientation that can be described as duality-centered; to the extent this is the required reality of thought which the human potential of consciousness expansion is being forced to abide by. To think Trichotomously is to be the odd man out... even though the pattern is extensively found in Nature.
Albert Einstein is credited for saying something on the order that we can't solve the problems created by the same mind... we need a different mind. Instructively, this is only possible if we allow ourselves the advantage for thinking that such a mind exists. Similarly, we can only pursue the view of a 3rd consciousness if we permit a realization of its possible potentiality. Yet, it is a realization that is not the product of a fairy tale supposition or imaginative science fiction or some superstition born of religious tradition. Patterns which we can account for occurring in basic biology and later anatomical dissections, concur that there is indeed a pattern-of-three which can be identified. I do not speculate about three main types of DNA or 3 main types of RNA or the presence of micro-tubule triplets. They are facts identified by multiple researchers. The developments of Biology and Anatomy have occurred in a sequential Evolutionary fashion, even if this idea is taken as a given and not verbally articulated by every textbook and instructor in the same way with the same emphasis.
My use of a list of "threes" culled from various subjects is more like that of an accountant who has come forward to point out a pattern in the patterns to make a reasonable and plausible suggestion that we are being confronted by several issues that are pertinent to the survival of the species if in fact the conclusion to be reached that many of our cherished Institutions are hold humanity back from its natural course of Evolution by a dependency on out-dated artificialities of thought that were at one time thought preeminently useful and necessary, but are now cause for great philosophical concern.
Understanding how Psychology's persistent use of dichotomies is detrimental to the Evolutionary Potential of Humanity is wrapped up in a discussion involving the Evolutionary Psycho-dynamics of Consciousness. Not only consciousness as it relates to humanity, but how it and its derivatives relate to other life forms as well. This entails a much broader application of the philosophical background of consciousness to include those derived words which are better applied to the development of life as a whole. Just as we see multiple life forms with differing brain structures as we peer along the evolutionary line from simple to more complex life forms, so too do we need to allow ourselves to recognize incremental forms of related consciousness at its earlier beginnings. And just as the following illustration shows differences in brain formulas for different life forms, so too may some readers prefer to apply different words for variations of what they think are consciousness-related. However, let me use three Valuations of Consciousness are routinely misunderstood and sometimes used interchangeably to create different ideas with the same words or similar ideas with these different words.
- To Have a conscience: This refers simply to awareness. Hence, all living things are aware to some extent.
- To Be Conscientious: To have a conscience and intentionality (even though a life form may not actually act).
- To Know Consciousness: To acknowledge one's conscientious disposition of a conscience.
Let me emphasize I am making an attempt to delineate an Evolutionary development overview of that which we call consciousness in terms of its eventual human usage emergence, which necessarily entails describing assumptions of precursor events which have led up to the eventuality, in as much as the Three Germ layers are themselves an exhibition of stepping stones towards the later developments of complexity. However, I am not restricting my view to that which describes precursor steps of Consciousness solely with animal development in Zoological terms. While this may lead into metaphysical considerations of consciousness were the idea of the soul takes part; this allows for conceptualizing a much older initiation of consciousness in the sphere of biology. Otherwise, we limit ourselves to thinking of consciousness as a human-only capacity. In either case, the idea of a 1-2-3 precursor biological patterning nonetheless has merit whether we confine the term Consciousness to only humans or only animals.
And although plants do not exhibit an animal-related brain structure, use of the word "conscience" such as in the phrase "conscience state of existence" can apply equally to animal and non-animal life forms. Just as we find life forms exhibiting both plant and animal cells, we need to make allowances for states of transition which are related, even if we have not considered it and use words that have been traditionally used only for describing humans. Plants are aware, even if we describe such awareness in terms of some tropism (described by the wordweb dictionary as "An involuntary orienting response; positive or negative reaction to a stimulus source.")... such as oriented to the Sun, Moon, gravity, etc...
While metaphysical considerations allowances us the coinage of temerity to think that all life forms are self-aware, I am not carrying my ideological permissions into this philosophical realm of discussion. Nonetheless, plants are aware, if only on a rudimentary level of interactivity with some aspects of the environment.
We humans can not be so egocentric like church leaders of old to place humanity at the center of all words and discussions felt to be related to a god. Hence, the word Consciousness and its derivatives have a place to be positioned in some measure to non-human life forms. Here is an excerpt which describes how the term conscience has been used, particularly in a religious/spiritual sense, while comparing it to other subjects:
Conscience... a personal sense of the moral content of one's own conduct, intentions, or character with regard to a feeling of obligation to do right or be good. Conscience, usually informed by acculturation and instruction, is thus generally understood to give intuitively authoritative judgments regarding the moral quality of single actions.
Historically, almost every culture has recognized the existence of such a faculty. Ancient Egyptians, for example, were urged not to transgress against the dictates of the heart, for one "must stand in fear of departing from its guidance." In some belief systems, conscience is regarded as the voice of God and therefore a completely reliable guide of conduct: among the Hindus it is considered "the invisible God who dwells within us." Among Western religious groups, the Society of Friends (or Quakers) places particular emphasis on the role of conscience in apprehending and responding through conduct to the "Inner Light" of God.
Outside the context of religion, philosophers, social scientists, and psychologists have sought to understand conscience in both its individual and universal aspects. The view that holds conscience to be an innate, intuitive faculty determining the perception of right and wrong is called intuitionism. The view that holds conscience to be a cumulative and subjective inference from past experience giving direction to future conduct is called empiricism. The behavioral scientist, on the other hand, may view the conscience as a set of learned responses to particular social stimuli. Another explanation of conscience was put forth in the 20th century by Sigmund Freud in his postulation of the superego. According to Freud, the superego is a major element of personality that is formed by the child's incorporation of moral values through parental approval or punishment. The resulting internalized set of prohibitions, condemnations, and inhibitions is that part of the superego known as conscience. ("conscience." Encyclopædia Britannica, 2013.)
To speak of the words "Conscience" and "Conscientiousness" is quite different when we begin to think in terms of consciousness, unless of course you are someone who lumps them all together because it makes it easier for you not to think about individual characterizations, and you prefer others to share in the same single-mindedness. Other readers in other contexts may come across a reference to the idea of a "seat of consciousness" which would have to viewed as being different from the "origin of consciousness" unless the same single-mindedness is being used to describe the idea that only humans have a consciousness. Therefore, the origin and seat of consciousness originates with humans in their brains, as opposed to the ancient views where the sound of a beating heart led ancient Egyptians to think that the heart was the main organ, whereby the brain was discarded as being useless and the time of mummification. It is generally considered that the organs were removed and placed into canopic jars because their decay was bad for the body which the ancient Egyptians wanted to preserve for a desired after-life. However, the heart was often left inside the body because it was believed to be the seat of intelligence and emotion. The brain was thought to be of less value are removed by specialized hooks placed in the nose.
It is of need however, to look a the idea of consciousness as an idea derived from old burial practices and the belief in an afterlife. Hence, a new or better or higher consciousness is an idea which portrays a cognitive behavior referencing something which potentially comes afterward, an in particular if one has "processed" themselves according to some belief which prepares them for that which is thought to follow. In such a view then, the idea of consciousness and reincarnation is little more than a recurrence of an ancient burial notion involving a rebirth, reinstatement, if not the ability to achieve some higher plane (plain) of existence. If we look at references to ancient burials, particularly those of the Ancient Egyptians who may nonetheless have been influenced by one or more former groups of peoples, we see ideological shadows being used today under different guises:
The World of The Dead
The majority of evidence from ancient Egypt comes from funerary monuments and burials of royalty, of the elite, and, for the Late period, of animals; relatively little is known of the mortuary practices of the mass of the population. Reasons for this dominance of the tomb include both the desert location of burials and the use of mortuary structures for display among the living. Alongside the fear of the dead, there was a moral community between the living and the dead, so that the dead were an essential part of society, especially in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE.
The basic purpose of mortuary preparation was to ensure a safe and successful passage into the hereafter. Belief in an afterlife and a passage to it is evident in predynastic burials, which are oriented to the west, the domain of the dead, and which include pottery grave goods as well as personal possessions of the deceased. The most striking development of later mortuary practice was mummification, which was related to a belief that the body must continue intact for the deceased to live in the next world. Mummification evolved gradually from the Old Kingdom to the early 1st millennium BCE, after which it declined. It was too elaborate and costly ever to be available to the majority.
This decline of mortuary practice was part of the more general shift in the focus of religious life toward the temples and toward more communal forms. It has been suggested tentatively that belief in the afterlife became less strong in the 1st millennium BCE. Whether or not this is true, it is clear that in various periods some people voiced skepticism about the existence of a blessed afterlife and the necessity for mortuary provision, but the provision nevertheless continued to the end.
It was thought that the next world might be located in the area around the tomb (and consequently near the living); on the "perfect ways of the West," as it is expressed in Old Kingdom invocations; among the stars or in the celestial regions with the sun god; or in the underworld, the domain of Osiris. One prominent notion was that of the "Elysian Fields," where the deceased could enjoy an ideal agricultural existence in a marshy land of plenty. The journey to the next world was fraught with obstacles. It could be imagined as a passage by ferry past a succession of portals, or through an "Island of Fire." One crucial test was the judgment after death, a subject often depicted from the New Kingdom onward. The date of origin of this belief is uncertain, but it was probably no later than the late Old Kingdom. The related text, Chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead, responded magically to the dangers of the judgment, which assessed the deceased's conformity with maat. Those who failed the judgment would "die a second time" and would be cast outside the ordered cosmos. In the demotic story of Setna (3rd century BCE), this notion of moral retribution acquired overtones similar to those of the Christian judgment after death.
Note: I intentionally underlined a dichotomy referencing the west. On the one hand the West is the land of the Dead and on the other hand it is an indication of perfection. So, is death perfection?
The idea of a consciousness and in particular scaled valuations of a consciousness from lower to higher are reminiscent of the same recurring cognitive disposition humanity has been using for centuries and in fact represent a stagnation. When some read the foregoing excerpt of funerary activity they not only use it as a justification for their own ideas but think of it as a Natural thought process and not that it indicates a cognitive stagnation. Hence, let us also include the recurrences in the belief of a god, religion and sexual oriented practices such as engaged in by the flagrantly abused notions of fertility procession having taken on the current model exhibited by the ludicrous Pride Movement and its various supporters, or the equally ludicrous Day of the Dead tradition conducted by Mexicans and the very many multiple different types of practices throughout the world which exhibit a recurrency of human cognitive stagnation. And yet, they may speak of wanting something better, but only in the similar terms of some practiced dichotomy that they are most appreciably unaware of the existence thereof... much less of any idea involving a biologically referencible potentiality of trichotomization!
Let us continue with another portion of the above article as a means of indicating how profound an influence the psycho-dynamics of Egyptian thought had on multiple others, to which we of today are inheritors thereof:
Influence on other religions
Egyptian culture, of which religion was an integral part, was influential in Nubia as early as predynastic times and in Syria in the 3rd millennium BCE. During the New Kingdom, Egypt was very receptive to cults from the Middle East, while Egyptian medical and magical expertise was highly regarded among the Hittites, Assyrians, and Babylonians. The chief periods of Egyptian influence were, however, the 1st millennium BCE and the Roman period. Egypt was an important centre of the Jewish diaspora starting in the 6th century BCE, and Egyptian literature influenced the Hebrew Bible. With Greek rule there was significant cultural interchange between Egyptians and Greeks. Notable among Egyptian cults that spread abroad were those of Isis, which reached much of the Roman world as a mystery religion, and of Serapis, a god whose name probably derives from Osiris-Apis, who was worshipped widely in a non-Egyptian iconography and cultural milieu. With Isis went Osiris and Horus the child, but Isis was the dominant figure. Many Egyptian monuments were imported to Rome to provide a setting for the principal Isis temple in the 1st century CE.
The cult of Isis was probably influential on another level. The myth of Osiris shows some analogies with the Gospel story and, in the figure of Isis, with the role of the Virgin Mary. The iconography of the Virgin and Child has evident affinities with that of Isis and the infant Horus. Thus, one aspect of Egyptian religion may have contributed to the background of early Christianity, probably through the cultural centre of Alexandria. Egypt also was an influential setting for other religious and philosophical developments of late antiquity such as Gnosticism, Manichaeism, Hermetism (see Hermetic writings), and Neoplatonism, some of which show traces of traditional Egyptian beliefs. Some of these religions became important in the intellectual culture of the Renaissance. Finally, Christian monasticism seems to have originated in Egypt and could look back to a range of native practices, among which were seclusion in temple precincts and the celibacy of certain priestesses. Within Egypt, there are many survivals from earlier times in popular Christianity and Islam. (article by John R. Baines, Professor of Egyptology, University of Oxford. Coauthor of Atlas of Ancient Egypt. "Egyptian religion." Encyclopædia Britannica, 2013.)
However, let us contrast the above with a reference to prehistoric burial practices and in particular, the idea that though there are changes in burial customs, this need not infer changes in the basic cognitive activity labeled a religious belief. Elaborations do not automatically mean a sophistication of thought beyond a basic premise has been achieved. And please remember I am trying to make a connection between different periods of assumed different cognitive activity and that which we label as consciousness. Are burial/funerary practices related to the design of a cognitive activity involving views and disposed leanings concerning not only the topic of consciousness, but changes thereof, whether acknowledged or not? In other words, whereas we might think that humanity has had a change in Consciousness over time, humans may not be able to pinpoint exact moments of milestones being achieved, partly because of confusion about what is being meant by the term consciousness.
Burial customs and cults of the dead (Prehistoric Religion; the beliefs and practices of Stone Age peoples.)
The oldest known burials can be attributed to the Middle Paleolithic Period. The corpses, accompanied by stone tools and parts of animals, were laid in holes in the ground and sometimes the corpses were especially protected. In some cases, the findings give the impression that the dead were to be "held onto." Whether or not that meant that the dead were to be cared for lovingly or that their return was to be feared, it implies, in any case, a belief in life after death in some form. But it is not necessary to infer a belief in separate souls; rather, it could also indicate the concept of a "living corpse."
From the Upper Paleolithic Period on, the burials manifest richer grave goods; however, it is not possible to conclude from this that religious concepts had changed. The same holds for the adoption of other burial practices, as, for example, secondary burials, in which the bodies were first allowed to decompose fully and then the bones were buried, or in the burning of bodies (evident from the Neolithic Period). From these facts it is not possible to infer the existence of a definite belief in souls; it is also not possible to determine the advent of such concepts from archaeological evidence. Even the increase in the discoveries of grave goods, occasionally also including other human remains, is evidence not for a change of religious concepts but for increased needs of the dead in the beyond&ndas;i.e., needs after death that are dependent on economic and social status in life. Analogies to recent (primitive) phenomena demonstrate that it is not possible to connect particular burial customs with particular notions of the beyond, or to any other religious conceptions. Other than the burial of the whole body, the disposition of the individual parts of the body, and especially the skull, is important. Ritual deposition of skulls is confirmed for the Middle Paleolithic Period. From even earlier periods, however, individual or multiple human skulls and long bones have been found within a single site (for example, associated with Peking man). It is not necessary to interpret these findings as remains of headhunting or developed skull cults; for even today some simple hunting and gathering societies have the custom of preserving such parts of corpses for long periods of time and even of carrying them around on their bodies. The same practice is observed also to have occurred in the Upper Paleolithic and even later periods; but it is not possible to infer an elaborated ancestor cult directly from such prolonged connections of the living with the dead. (Article by Karl J. Narr, Emeritus Professor of Prehistory and Protohistory, University of Münster, Germany. "prehistoric religion." Encyclopædia Britannica, 2013.)
If basic burial practices have remained the same for centuries, does this mean there is a basic Consciousness that does likewise, or is does it have the potential for separate cognitive activity not to be confined to any type of spirituality... which is a model of thinking referencing duality striving to free itself and enter into some model of a trichotomy which may be labeled as a plurality or multiplicity as superficial attempts not to be limited, yet it actually references a limit imposed on humanity by the incremental deteriorations of the triplex (Sun- Moon- Earth) system of influence on biological activity which predisposed cognitive activity along a route of adaptation to consign itself to the parameters of the incremental decay?
While tending to the feeding of some pigeons, I noticed that the attack by Hawks has not produced in them or other birds what is though to be an expression of an "arms race". Those birds which are routinely attacked do not gain more powerful talons nor beaks. Nor do they join together to fight against a common foe. Instead, pigeons develop unique flying skills and other birds develop camouflage. So much for an arms race equivalency. The same can be seen on the human level where in the case of the U.S. the use of the Eagle as the National bird is fitting since it plays the part of a predator on many occasions. And for those countries that try to match its military talons, beak, and knocking to the ground strategy, all of them are insecure about who shall prevail when the dust is settled and there are few left to worship the would-be dictators of a savaged landscape. And so what do people do to escape from what appears to be an eventual conflict called a third world war? They choose one another method of escapism. Be it denial, excuse, religion, drugs, business as usual, crime, or whatever, some model of escapism ensues.
The belief, hope and dreams of a better life after this one express that to occur after this life is escaped from by death. Religion as it has turned out is a concocted model of escapism from harsh realities being endured. The idea of a single god concocted by the Jews was an escapism from the long ago advocacy of other peoples to believe in more than one, which may not have been a topic of consideration. The belief in a single god requires a egocentrically large personal attachment to a god which is presumed greater than all other gods, whereby a person can claim some conscientious objection to any behavior that an external-to-one's group authority tells them to comply with. The same goes for the establishment of any idea as an attempted escapism from that thought to be less than desirable. In effect, the idea of a soul and consciousness are created escapisms just as the topical designs of all subjects. And yet, where does one escape to when most ideologies are found to be objectionable though they are required for some level of sustain-ability in one's era? How does one point out a recurring behavior of thought in established institutions are those akin to an institutionalized prison system called freedom?
The idea of Trichotomization is a revolt against such a system of imprisonment.
Page Initiated: Sunday, 15th December, 2024... 4:08 AMInitial Posting: Sunday, 2nd February, 2025... 6:40 AM