My first thought is that the inquiry itself is a helpful place to begin exploring. — Universal Student
Inquiry should involve both the self and the external world. After all it is our mind the perceives it. — Deus
Firstly we all develop habits and learned behaviour, scrutinising them helps us first recognise that there is a barrier and then equip us with the tools needed to overcome them. — Deus
Three key bits of advice here. — apokrisis
Positive psychology is about recognising that reaching higher levels of mind is a collaborative enterprise. Team work. A collectively developing community of minds — apokrisis
↪Joshs You mean can paradigm shifting genius exist? Sure, why not?
But paradigm shifting means bringing the community with you. Otherwise nothing has happened — apokrisis
But would you agree that someone like Nietzsche or Kierkegaard , who spent their whole lives with no recognition of their ideas, benefited from the guidance of those ideas as much in isolation as they would have if the ideas had formed the basis of a community paradigm? — Joshs
How do we develop our conciousness and self-awareness? — Universal Student
I’d like to talk about the experience of awareness. What it feels like from the inside. In particular what it feels like to become aware. This is probably the one philosophical/spiritual phenomenon I’ve thought the most about. I think that’s because I was deeply unaware of my feelings and internal experience when I was a teenager and I’ve been struggling for 50 years to come to terms with that.
I’d like to make a distinction here between awareness and consciousness. I’m not sure that distinction is legitimate lexicographically, but in terms of how it feels on the inside, they seem different to me. For the purpose of this discussion, by consciousness I mean the capacity for putting experiences into words. Awareness, on the other hand, is pre-verbal. It’s certainly true for me that consciousness and awareness sometimes happen at the same time. Sometimes I’m not even aware I’m aware of something until I talk about it with myself. On the other hand, I’ve had many experiences of awareness without words or concepts. I don’t want to argue about the distinction I’m making. Again, I want to talk about actual experiences.
In what ways am I aware – intellectually, emotionally, physically, perceptually, spiritually. What else?
I’m probably the most aware intellectually. I think that’s both because of my natural capacity and inclination and the fact I’ve been an engineer for 30 years. I have visual images of how the things I know and understand fit together. I can see the universe – everything, stars and electrons, love, god, macaroni and cheese, my brothers - as a cloud. When I am putting ideas together to describe what I know or make an argument, I am very aware that I am putting together a story and I see a curve, a narrative arc, that shows the sequence of facts, ideas, and conclusions I am using to make my case.
When I was a teenager, I was almost completely unaware of what I felt emotionally. Worse, it didn’t seem like I felt anything. I felt inauthentic in a fundamental way. Numb. Frozen. It made it incredibly difficult to have healthy relationships with others – family, friends, lovers. Now, I spend much of my attention on what is going on inside me. I often find myself stopping what I’m doing or thinking to figure out what I feel about something. Given where I’ve come from, it’s an incredibly freeing experience. It’s so much fun.
I could go on – but I don’t like long original posts. I have more to say, but for now I’d like to hear what others have experienced. — T Clark
My first thought is that the inquiry itself is a helpful place to begin exploring. — Universal Student
My second thought is to determine a basic foundation of what we are dealing with. What is consciousness? What is self-awareness? — Universal Student
The barriers to developing a better understanding of self and others?Third; what are the barriers? — Universal Student
Fourth; the tools to break down those barriers? — Universal Student
I have been shown some tools along the way in my journey, but all of these were shown or hinted to me by external sources who they themselves have walked the path. Some a result of my own seeking and others, offered because they could see more than I. I have then sought to learn how to utilize these and adapt them to my unique needs. — Universal Student
My second thought is to determine a basic foundation of what we are dealing with. What is consciousness? What is self-awareness? — Universal Student
How do we develop our conciousness and self-awareness?
My first thought... — Universal Student
Is your first thought aware of itself? Or is your second thought a reflection on your first thought (as mine is). — unenlightened
Is your first thought aware of itself? Or is your second thought a reflection on your first thought (as mine is). — unenlightened
Metacognition is an awareness of one's thought processes and an understanding of the patterns behind them. The term comes from the root word meta, meaning "beyond", or "on top of".[1] Metacognition can take many forms, such as reflecting on one's ways of thinking and knowing when and how to use particular strategies for problem-solving.[1] There are generally two components of metacognition: (1) knowledge about cognition and (2) regulation of cognition.[2]
[...]
The concept of metacognition has also been applied to reader-response criticism.
Narrative works of art, including novels, movies and musical compositions, can be characterized as metacognitive artifacts which are designed by the artist to anticipate and regulate the beliefs and cognitive processes of the recipient,[78] for instance, how and in which order events and their causes and identities are revealed to the reader of a detective story. As Menakhem Perry has pointed out, mere order has profound effects on the aesthetical meaning of a text.[79] Narrative works of art contain a representation of their own ideal reception process. They are something of a tool with which the creators of the work wish to attain certain aesthetical and even moral effects.[80]
— Wiki - Metacognition
My feeling is that thought distracts awareness away from the present into the labyrinth of thought. Thus the suggestion is that thought and effort in this matter are counterproductive, as if one would strain to relax. the only 'how' to relaxation is to strain, and then stop straining. Think very hard about stopping thinking, and then stop. — unenlightened
Thank you. — Universal Student
But would you agree that someone like Nietzsche or Kierkegaard , who spent their whole lives with no recognition of their ideas, benefited from the guidance of those ideas as much in isolation as they would have if the ideas had formed the basis of a community paradigm?
— Joshs
You tell me. In what way did they benefit in their isolation? In what way would they have profited more if everyone else had joined them in applying the same existential analysis?
I have so little interest in them that I simply couldn’t even guess. I never saw anything of pragmatic use, although perhaps you mean how their writings function as romantic spectacle or popular entertainment? — apokrisis
So, you are arguably aware of an initial thought — Amity
Is your first thought aware of itself? Or is your second thought a reflection on your first thought (as mine is).
My feeling is that thought distracts awareness away from the present into the labyrinth of thought — unenlightened
...It should of course be easy and clear what the answer is, because one ought to be aware of it. The answer i give is that self-awareness is always awareness of an idea that one has identified with - the self-complex. To the extent that awareness can be aware of itself, it seems (to me) to manifest as a silence, and an emptiness. I don't know if anyone else has another experience? — unenlightened
What do you mean by the 'self-complex'? — Amity
How would that manifest as a 'silence' or an 'emptiness'? — Amity
My second thought is to determine a basic foundation of what we are dealing with. What is consciousness? What is self-awareness? — Universal Student
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