Prologue 3
Progressive Thinkers as of 12/1/2022
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(You must lose your mind in order to find a better one)
While a person can encounter the three-patterned topic "philosophy of language" or "philosophy of mind", they may not customarily come across "language of mind", or "language of consciousness" or "language of cognition". Such phrases are not merely used to advance a view to be claimed as a new perspective simply because it appears the advocate is engaging in a playful game of semantics synonymous with a child's game of musical chairs; but is definitely a willful way of describing what I believe to be what may be an actual language being used by the mind/cognition... by consciousness, which differs from that which we call a spoken language of ideas. But to get to that point later in the present series... before we get "home" (used as a reference in multiple games of childhood and some by adults such as the Home-plate found in Baseball), we have to do a bit of hopscotching about. As such, the topic of a "higher consciousness" needs to be addressed, so that the reader might be enjoined not only to provide for the eventuality of an uncommon idea, but think of language as a composite of three stages of development like three siblings, where a multiplicity of three-patterned philosophical and psychological three-patterned groupings come to mind suggesting a succession of activity, such as:
- Id- Ego- Superego
- Child- Parent- Adult
- Infancy- Childhood- Teenager
- Childhood- Young adult- Old adult
- Pre-consciousness, Consciousness, Higher Consciousness
- 1, 2, Many (Early counting sequence succession)
- Dawn- Noon- Dusk
- Virgin- Mother- Crone
- Young soul- Old soul- Ancient soul
- Lower class- Middle class- Upper class
- Apprentice- Journey man- Master
- It's raining- It's pouring- The old man is snoring
- Eazy- Peezy- Japaneezy
- 1st comes love, Next comes Marriage, Then comes (insert someone's name) with a baby carriage
- Jack and Jill went up a hill to fetch a pail of water, Jack fell down and broke his crown, And Jill came tumbling after.
- Papa bear's bed- Mama bear's bed- Baby bear's bed
- Neurotics build castles in the sky- Psychotics live in them- And Psychiatrists collect the rent (Movie: Lathe of Heaven)
- Bachelor's- Master's- Doctorate
- 3rd man- Assistant manager- Manager
- Private- Sargent- Officer
- Beer- Wine- Liquor
- Infancy/Childhood (crawls on all fours), Adulthood (walks on two legs), Old Age (walks on 3 legs... uses a cane): Riddle of the Sphinx
- Low octane fuel, Mid-range octane fuel, High octane fuel
- Wash- Rinse- Spin
- Lather- Rinse- Repeat
- Monofocals- Bifocals- Trifocals
- Primitive, Pre-industrial, Post-industrial
- 1st place- 2nd place- 3rd place
- Stone age– Bronze age– Iron-Age
- Small- Medium- Large
- Slow- Medium- Fast
- Pupil- Iris- Cornea
- RNA world- DNA world- Protein world
- Major Premise- Minor Premise- Conclusion
- etc...
With respect to hopscotch, I think it may have been "adultrized" (Triple-ized by Adults) into the Olympic "triple jump" event. (Hence, one might think of this as cognitive multiplicity being condensed into a (singular-model) triple formula.) It is event in athletics (track and field) in which an athlete makes a horizontal jump for distance incorporating three distinct, continuous movements, but if a jumper touches the ground with a wrong leg, the jump is disallowed. Other rules are similar to those of the long jump. (Source: "triple jump." Encyclopædia Britannica.):
- A hop, in which the athlete takes off and lands on the same foot;
- A step, landing on the other foot;
- A jump, landing in any manner, usually with both feet together.
There is an old Dictum, an old saying, an old expression which is written as two words: "know Thyself, but is often linguistically expressed as three separate sounding words: "Know Thy Self". In any event it is attributed to several people, and is a forerunner of at least two later themes related to cognition and consciousness; and let me add the word language to these two related descriptions, since it is a topic for a later page (in the form of "language of cognition/language of consciousness"). In its day, and in later ages as well, it served as a rule-of-thumb for those who came to think that it could assist an individual in grasping the innermost subtleties of themselves thereby gaining what can be described as a means of both internal external appraisal beyond the level of consciousness which was unaware of the person as they are nor had a particularly good perception of others. In short, it was a means by which one could increase ("actualize") their objectivity and perhaps their ability to sympathize and empathize from which could, in the right hands, be transformed into an appreciation one might well define as wisdom and intelligence. (The psychologist Abraham H. Maslow pursued the idea of Self-Actualization in a broader conceptual framework called (in a 3-patterned phrase): Hierarchy of Needs.) While such a personal understanding was a more difficult task in the past, in later years it became slightly easier because people were advantaged by an increasing pool of knowledge about the multiple dimensions of what makes a person who they are, such as nutrition, education, social status, physical attributes, medical needs, political environment, etc... With this said, it therefore requires us to review the old 3-patterned "know thy self" expression and come to realize it no longer serves as an adequate rule-of-thumb for many who are seeking a consciousness beyond their present one. Whereas it was at one time displaced by the 3-patterned Latin phrase of René Descartes: "Cogito, Ergo Sum," (I think, therefore I am), this too dealt with a rather philosophically cheaper, haughty, and self-centered model of self-actualization. I think, therefore, there is a dire need to propose a broader, updated, more applicable appellation to our age in the form of another 3-patterned expression: "lose thy mind".
Note: the "Know Thy-Self" phrase is one of Three main Delphic maxims inscribed on a column in the pronaos (forecourt) of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. Upon reviewing the 147 expressions it dawned on me to make a count of the word quantities just to determine if there was a dominant pattern. While making the count the number three quantity took the lead and pretty much remained there with patterns-of-two close behind, but it was over-taken by patterns-of-four. Nonetheless from encounters with other 3-patterned "2-3-4" ensembles I collected, which can be seen here: Devil's Advocate page 14 A
Every time you go to sleep and wake up you are experience a literal "awakening" of consciousness. Yet since you are so accustomed to the experience it does not serve as an awe-inspiring moment, unless you are a happy-go-lucky sort of person or even a social butterfly. Some people necessarily appear to experience periodic realizations of achieving a higher consciousness from a former mindset of themselves by a set of circumstances which govern their lives and they appear able to make adjustments as needed to changing circumstances which permit them to maintain the equilibrium of their periodic renewal of a higher consciousness which suits their personality. Although it may not be what you think is meant by having an Epiphany of a true higher consciousness experience, for them, it is all they need or want.
Indeed, when speaking of the possibility of achieving a higher consciousness, you must want such an experience, even though some people find themselves being subjected to such an occurrence which causes them to think they are losing their wits or their mind. At such a moment they may either try to calm themselves or seek help from someone else. They are those who may not want to have a higher consciousness because it can be an experience that is quite disruptive in the routine of a life they are quite comfortable with. And yet, neither they or many professionals realize that the experience of gaining a higher consciousness is a natural growth pattern of cognitive activity. Current societies and cultures around the world are not fully appreciative of such a developmental pattern, or you would find it as part of every single education systems fundamental curricula of teaching. However, you won't even find the topic in the Master's or Doctorate levels of study because it has not been articulated in a way which makes any sense. Instead we find several references to a label such as "insanity" or "not-sane", instead of topics like super-consciousness, ultra-consciousness, hyper-consciousness, super-sanity, 3rd stage sobriety of consciousness, etc...
Anyone at any moment might encounter a developmentally occurring increase in consciousness as a matter of course for the individual. It doesn't have to be planned, it can occur on its own, if a person's cognitive structure is at the precipice for such a change. Others however, can seek to increase their level of consciousness awareness only if they want to and realize it requires them to lose their present (old) mind and permit a new one to take its place. However, if you are expecting to receive some sort of super- or extra-ordinary ability like altering the atomic structure of matter, you are not being realistic. Neither are you being realistic if you are expecting to ascend to some ethereal plane of inter-dimensional perspicacity and get wings or be able to travel the Universe by merely projecting yourself someplace by thought application. While such things may be possible at some time, for most people they are unrealistic because increasing the consciousness of most people take place by small transitional stages like moving through successive ages as one does from infancy to old age.
While each of these ages are a higher consciousness from that which they left behind as a particular mind set, the transitions overlap over an extended period of time which allows a person to make emotional and psychological adaptations and accommodations. In effect, they lose a former mind (set) in order to gain a later mind (set). In other words, they lose their (former) mind, but most often not at once... though some do experience loses of a former mind coupled to particular emotions which can be very traumatic for some (and may be called an Identity Crisis, Identity Search Phase or in some cases even a mental disorder whereby an unwitting (or intentional) collusion occurs to the benefit (financial, social, property, etc.) of one or more involved). This is often seen among teenagers having to deal with a loss of mind coupled to a set of emotions and hormones in a world that is not changing at the same pace or necessarily with the same hormone-induced biochemically-charged motivations. Teenagers might not be so traumatized if they had been socially taught about the transitioning stages (and possible effects) of consciousness development which so many cultures are oblivious to in any collective way of providing adequate information about the existence thereof or how best to assist experiencing such. Instead, the common refrain is to think and say "they'll grow out of it" or "They'll eventually settle down" or "it's just hormones" or "It's just a phase", etc...
Alas, no one sees it as a vulnerable time in which the human species as a whole might benefit by providing an encouragement for such individuals to explore alternative ideas (as opposed to experimenting with sex, drugs, drink, criminality, etc...)
It was not too long ago when I came upon a young woman with whom I was speaking some small talk with when I mentioned the experience of someone losing their mind. She stepped back and was visibly disturbed by the mention of someone losing there mind, no doubt recalling some moment in her own life when she thought she was experiencing the loss of her own mind. I then directed her attention to the idea that it is necessary for someone to lose their mind in order to find a better one. There was such a stark smile of ebullience on her face at finally coming to grips with what her own experience meant, that it was like being in the presence of a person who had achieved a fulfilling centeredness of calm. Her entire demeanor changed towards what I can only imagine was a deep sigh of relief that her experience in what had traumatized her was actually a profoundly good thing. So I tried this approach of making small talk before mentioning the loss of mind in someone, and he too was visibly conscientious about the topic. I then said that it is necessary for a person to lose their mind in order to find a better one. Once again there was a visible light-over-the-head seen in his disposition by coming to the realization of having a personal experience he thought was bad or a mental illness, be defined in a positive manner. I repeated it again and I found him turning askance as if making some communion with the presence of a superior grasp of reality. Though he would not admit it for in doing so it might have caused him to think he was somehow required to divulge a personal encounter with a situation which suggested he was experiencing a loss of mind (the so-called "sanity" of normalcy), I did not press him to provide any details, but simply repeated that there was a need to lose one's mind in order to find a better one.
Present societies are based on the antiquated notion that the idea of "losing one's mind" is a terrible thing, when it is actually a very natural occurrence, though it doesn't typically come in a single moment that some people in particular circumstances claim to be a fortuitous revelation. there are far too many so-called normal, everyday people who experience a gain in higher consciousness but do not know they are permitted to do so. instead, the situation is exploited not only by mental health experts but all those who are in the business of manufacturing some type of inebriating substance or distraction... which helps people cope with the change(s) of growing from one mind to the next mind. manufactures (including religions) not only want to create a dependency so as to provide an income for themselves, but train people to interpret all increases in consciousness, in cognition, in terms relative to a product, a belief, a perspective conducive to those or that who want to maintain control for their own self-survival. if an entire culture is taught that experiencing a loss of mind is natural and normal part of human development, entire industries would be affected, including the type of government which was established due to the old model of what was thought to be rationality, reality, and logical sanity. this then is the way to create a revolution unlike any before ever experienced by humanity. to articulate a personally testable model for achieving a higher consciousness in a normal and natural manner that is fully cognizant of all the types of exploitation which have been used to circumvent such a realization that a person and their entire culture must make a recognized allowance for people losing their minds periodically, as a personal attribute which may differ in quantity and quality from person to person just like there are different hair, eye and skin colorings... rationalize their existence as you will, per your biases, discriminations, prejudices, or whatever you think is the better view of explanation that helps you maintain an old mindset because you are afraid of losing a mind which will cast such equations into a garbage heap.
However, many people have an embraced negative connotation to the word "lost". So to say their is an need for one to lose their mind, they think in terms of losing some possession that helped them acquire a standard of highly desirable living they think they will have to do without, because in their view, the words "losing or lost or loss" means experiencing a sacrifice to something they fear may be worse than that which has been trained by circumstances to assist a person in getting what a person has convinced themselves that they want, that they need, and that they must fight to get, to keep, and to horde at any cost. They will by a hoarder's necessity of intellectual self defence, interpret the idea of "losing one's mind in order to find a better one" as an illogical equation because their old (or present) mind does not fully appreciate that all of humanity is part of a symmetrically attuned developmental sequencing event. But such an idea offers them no better explanation because of where they are standing... ankle, waist, or neck deep in their personal circumstances; whereby it sounds like metaphysical B.S. Even though they have experienced several growth periods of consciousness... each slightly superior to the former, they interpret such experiences in terms of ideas they were brought up with: Developmental transitions between ages. Such an explanation is all they want, even though they may come to experience more consciousness developments which are synchronized not to personal circumstances, but to the whole of the species. Hence, let me describe three types of consciousness expansion. One, due to changes in aging processes. Two, due to changes related to personal experiences. Three, that which is part of the developmental contours of the species.
This "contour of development" involving the species appears to reflect a pattern similar to the development of how humanity began its conceptualization of numbers, with respect to an arithmetical sequence. It stands to reason that a species subjected to a developmental pattern involving multiple recurring patterns identifiable by apply a simple enumeration to, would necessarily exhibit some resemblance thereof. For example, when we encounter the biological substrate called DNA with a triple code serving as a main cornerstone of life and then later in development we encounter Nature once again using a triple-patterned Germ layer organization which is later followed by multiple anatomical constructions exhibiting the same three pattern; it is not by any stretch of the imagination to consider that this same model of articulation will find its way in the development of the human mind, imagination and consciousness. To think otherwise, that is to not consider it or automatically be resistant to such a suggestion represents a dishonesty of perception about a possibility which needs to be fully explored and discussed openly. Indeed, let us question the very sanity of a culture whose professional from different subjects would pursue a refrain to denounce such a simple correlation as being anything but a situation in which the public has been taught to see reality through the collectivity of their perceptions which announce it is socially impolite for anyone to speak the truth that the King has no clothes on. One might think their is an underlying conspiracy of conjecture born in antiquated frame of mind which seeks to distance itself from an earlier age because to speak in favor of a simple idea is tantamount to being guilty by association to that which by tradition has been labeled a primivity, though their roots lead back to such a pool of inquiry about Nature's patterning effects on humanity.
If you ask someone if they are losing their mind, they might well either look at you odd and then as if reflexively, begin to review themselves to see whether or not they are doing something at the moment of your observation which suggests to you that they are doing or saying or may have said or done something that strikes you as an indication of someone who is losing their mind. However, a person either prone to physically striking out some that is actually in a mood of self-reflection involved with just such a concern, may react differently. Yet in all cases, even those where the person makes light of the comment and may even attempt to make it into a comical situation; have been socially taught to interpret the idea about losing ones's mind. in a negative way. Again, if we could turn this around, if we could flip-flop this attitude, we could well start a cultural revolution. A whole litany of cultural self- and external recriminations could be abolished to allow a greater freedom of thinking to be embraced. Indeed, let each of us begin to teach a new dictum to replace the old "Know Thy Self" with "Lose Thy Mind".
Multiple thousands of people have sought some path, some mechanism, or some clue as to how they might achieve a higher consciousness, and with it perhaps some greater insight, wisdom, intelligence, strength or something that will make them special enough to bring meaning to their life above and beyond the norm, the average, the typical, or themselves... however they or others measure them by. Some think this can be accomplished through religion, some Eastern philosophy, through personal application of integrity, or some other such definable character trait they view as an indication of a stepping stone in what they perceive to be the right, correct, or proper direction. Some do eventually achieve one or more attributes that they believe exhibits a tell-tale indication of an approximate value thereof, but such seems to be a very tenuous accomplishment, because it can easily be tarnished or lost by following off a regimented pathway they have practiced for awhile. Yet for some, the conventional ways of approaching an effort to achieve a higher consciousness will only provide a conventional accomplishment of higher consciousness. They will have spent if not their whole lives in the pursuit of such, then a large portion of their life and that which is to be acquired is seen as a lower level of that which they want to immerse themselves in. They want to know how them might shift the whole idea of a "higher consciousness" to a higher section of the consciousness ladder whereby the highest consciousness ever achieved by anyone on Earth, is their starting point. They do not want to have the same quality of consciousness which only provides them with what is perceived to be a mundane accomplishment as observed in the behavior and accomplishments of those who either claim they have reached some pinnacle of higher consciousness or others say they have. They do not want to apprentice themselves to a Master whose own achievements can only be expressed and admired as an accomplishment if your are illiterate, impoverished or live under conditions where any measure of personal freedom is to be defined as a higher consciousness.
Indeed, what we are confronted with when we speak of a "Higher Consciousness" is that we are speaking of a different language of thinking about thinking about language and that is the language of thought processing sometimes referred to as cognition. One person's higher consciousness is another's footstool of everyday imaginative amusements, regardless of how serious the other person embraces them into the depths of their heart, soul and mind. For example, if one person's highest achievable consciousness in symbolized by a "1" described as a oneness, singularity, one-god, oneness with Nature or the Cosmos, another person wants to embrace the next step without having to spend their entire life and energies in the system of the first ideology only to achieve the limit of that obtainable by that regard. And if a person or an entire culture is at the level of consciousness described by a "2" which is higher than the former "1", another person similar to the former one facing the proposition of having to spend a life in "twoness" only to achieve less than what they actually desire; they then necessarily seek out those who are practicing a level of higher consciousness training symbolized by a "3" or threeness, what then happens to one who sees this model of higher consciousness training but a low rung of that which they want to experience, regardless of how its partitioners describe it as some ultimate model... because to look at them in their lives and what they have accomplished, is but a similarity to those who were using method number 1 and method number 2, albeit with different, words, different garments, different ceremonies, different ideologies, etc... Where does such a person seek out a 4th, or 5th, or the absolute foremost method to actually achieve the foremost highest consciousness, without having to relinquish all logic and rationality to a personal surrender of accepting whatever a presumed master is defining according to their own experiences? Indeed, what if there is not path to such a consciousness by way of any present day teachings of how one might achieve a higher... nay, the highest form of consciousness in actuality, and not by embracing some illusion, delusion or artificialized substitution in the form of an acceptable drug, be it music, mediative chant, pharmaceutically induced ecstasy or otherwise?
What of there is nothing beyond all present day 1- 2- threes step-wise fashion except a different valuation of a set-of-three approached from a clearer understanding of how a higher consciousness has been incrementally achieved by humanity since its birth? Whereas the higher consciousness of an early human was undoubtedly experienced through a developmental exercise of evolution, those being born into and living the next human life form in the successive lineage of those leading up to today's humanity may not have thought that they had achieved a higher consciousness of perception, of thinking, of imagining, they in fact can be viewed as having been immersed in the actualized embodiment of a later clan's, a later tribe's, a later civilization's higher consciousness achievement, even if it wasn't thought of. Just like those living today have achieved some measure of a higher consciousness than that held by former versions of themselves in some distantly past era. Your knowledge and day-to-day experiences surpasses many things that they would not have imagined and would have been in awe of... as if we were living in a day and age so very far advanced from their own, even if most of those living today would not think to describe themselves as living in a state of a higher consciousness, because far too many have been sold on the idea that a "higher consciousness" is very far beyond the reach obtainable by most people unless they dedicate themselves to some program that is specifically designed for such an occupation. It is always the case that someone else with an unfamiliar idea has the better idea of how one might achieve a higher consciousness, though invariably those who think to own the idea have not themselves achieved the heaven, the bliss, the Nirvana, the place, power and position which they have convinced themselves they are on the correct path for achieving, only because they know of no other way and would not be open to stepping outside the rituals of their thought processes for fear of losing their place... only because they are not securely in a position of their own ideas to untether themselves from a preoccupation which has become their own type of daily drug dosage.
Because we can find multiple examples of sequential and over-lapping developmental activities (involving a pattern-of-three) taking place with the human body, one can at least consider such a pattern is not limited to genetics and anatomy; but is a pattern exhibited by the development of the human mind and consciousness. Whereas successive generations come to practice what may be labeled as a higher consciousness from a former era, this may be the route by which we should think about developing a higher consciousness. In short, one must progress beyond who they are in order to reach a higher stage of personal development, even if those in one's primary social circle do not fully grasp what you are attempting to do by letting go of the old you and grasping for a new you, which some try to do with a new job, new clothes, new hairdo, new house, new relationship, try out a new sport, etc... However, many come to find that this strategy did not work as plane. They are the same person with some external newness with the same internal oldness. Hence, they need a new strategy, a new way of thinking because all that they have discovered is a revolving door. As such, let me relay to you the need for rethinking the common view of counselors, social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and even friends, family, colleagues, neighbors or acquaintances... which is that you must guard yourself against losing your wits, losing your mind. This view is hogwash. You must lose your old mind in order to find a better one.
You can not achieve a higher consciousness from your present self unless you are willing to let the former self slip away. You must allow yourself to lose your mind so that you can find a better one. All "higher consciousness" techniques are merely different versions of this practice... supplied to you in piecemeal fashion so that you will not permit yourself to be overwhelmed by an expansion in consciousness which may rush at you. All meditative techniques are tethers, are reins tide to a post until a given instructor guides you along a path where they maintain control of you without actually allowing you to realize your full potential. All religions are like this except in a multi-step straight jacketing program of confinement where you come to believe in their nonsense of what a higher consciousness means, whereby you are fastened to them nearby and provide for the well being of a given religion's leadership is sustained. You have to lose your mind in order to find a better one awaiting you in a higher realm of consciousness that is not necessarily going to supply you with anything you have been led to believe will be received if you maintain some faith. If you entrap the definition of a higher consciousness for yourself in the views of a given religion or philosophy which wants to first blind you to accepting their views, then you have sunk your anchor too close to the shore of your potential.
Granted there are physiological and chemical imbalances which can cause a person to lose their wits to the point they are unable to take care of themselves, a child or other family member, or are a harm to themselves or others. These are readily understood and should be differentiated from the "Lose Thy Mind" reference being made in terms of seeking a higher consciousness. Instead of the old bumper stickers with the three-patterned slogan of "I Lost It", I should think to have some printed up with "Lose Thy Mind!!!". The triple exclamation points being used to emphasize the need for doing so instead of leaving an end-punctuation off and letting different interpreters adding a period or question mark to suit their own inclinations. Whereas it might be rather comical to see a patch on the shoulder or emblem on a ball cap with the 3-patterned slogan "Lose Thy Mind!!!" which might suggest the person has lost their mind and everyone needs to stay clear or catch the same supposed communicable disease, I don't think such a slogan on a T-shirt would necessarily evoke the same level of negativity or childhood equivalent of someone having the "Coodies" you must run from.
Origination (this page): Wednesday, 14th December 2022... 3:00 PM
Date of Initial Posting: Thursday, 15th December 2022... 2:48 PM, AST (Arizona Standard Time); Marana, AZ.