Philosophical Speculations

Cleric K wrote: ↑Mon Aug 26, 2024 7:11 pm Also, the host said that he has no problem conceiving of a fully passive consciousness without will, like when we are watching a movie. This however once again shows the glaring blind spot and how we don't recognize that we are still innerly active even when we watch a movie. The effect of the movie manifests precisely because it produces tensions in our personal inner life. Our soul, even if dimly, reacts elastically. If we were absolutely absorbed by the sensory content of the movie and our inner life couldn't differentiate from it, it is effectively the same as unconsciousness, even if blindingly full of content.

Imagine that you are a swallow, flying through the air. Imagine your wings stretched out, catching the wind. Imagine your legs tucked back, your neck stretched out, your muscles straining. Imagine the speed and maneuverability as you chase after insects or slow yourself to a stop as you approach your nest.

Now imagine that instead of being a swallow you are an owl. Imagine your wings as you fly, the position of your ears and eyes, the extent of your feathers and the strength of your feet in gripping your perch. Imagine your sensitivity to light, the quietness of your flight, the stillness of your body when watching for prey. Let yourself imagine what it is like to be an owl as deeply as you can.

Now inwardly sense what is different about these two imaginings. The difference between these two imaginings, of the swallow and the owl, occurs as a feeling. There may be an emotional resonance with the feelings, and this may be different for the case of the swallow versus the owl, but even that difference takes place in your wider life of feeling. We cannot easily extract all emotional content (we are emotional beings), but we can see that the emotions that may occur in this situation cannot carry the difference between the two imaginations. You can still have a sense of their difference, and you can have this sense only because of what is possible in your feeling life. It is your feeling life that can sense something of the inner difference between a straight line and a curved line, or the rational and irrational numbers, or the colors red and blue, or the difference between walking and sitting.

AshvinP wrote: ↑Tue Aug 27, 2024 1:11 am

Cleric K wrote: ↑Mon Aug 26, 2024 7:11 pm Also, the host said that he has no problem conceiving of a fully passive consciousness without will, like when we are watching a movie. This however once again shows the glaring blind spot and how we don't recognize that we are still innerly active even when we watch a movie. The effect of the movie manifests precisely because it produces tensions in our personal inner life. Our soul, even if dimly, reacts elastically. If we were absolutely absorbed by the sensory content of the movie and our inner life couldn't differentiate from it, it is effectively the same as unconsciousness, even if blindingly full of content.

This also reminds me of the exercise from SM in the video game article:

Imagine that you are a swallow, flying through the air. Imagine your wings stretched out, catching the wind. Imagine your legs tucked back, your neck stretched out, your muscles straining. Imagine the speed and maneuverability as you chase after insects or slow yourself to a stop as you approach your nest.

Now imagine that instead of being a swallow you are an owl. Imagine your wings as you fly, the position of your ears and eyes, the extent of your feathers and the strength of your feet in gripping your perch. Imagine your sensitivity to light, the quietness of your flight, the stillness of your body when watching for prey. Let yourself imagine what it is like to be an owl as deeply as you can.

Now inwardly sense what is different about these two imaginings. The difference between these two imaginings, of the swallow and the owl, occurs as a feeling. There may be an emotional resonance with the feelings, and this may be different for the case of the swallow versus the owl, but even that difference takes place in your wider life of feeling. We cannot easily extract all emotional content (we are emotional beings), but we can see that the emotions that may occur in this situation cannot carry the difference between the two imaginations. You can still have a sense of their difference, and you can have this sense only because of what is possible in your feeling life. It is your feeling life that can sense something of the inner difference between a straight line and a curved line, or the rational and irrational numbers, or the colors red and blue, or the difference between walking and sitting.

If some people took the time to simply live into a few of these imaginative exercises, theoretical discussions about some pure passive consciousness witnessing perceptual content would lose a lot steam. Then they may look more closely into their own inwardly active soul movements and try to intuitively experience how they collapse the wavefunction.