arise

Throughout life, moments arise, whereby our circumstances change, and the way in which we previously made sense of our own mind (or the minds of others), is no longer sufficient.

In those moments, some of our most intimate observations, of our own, or others, experiential or cognitive circumstances, are left uninterpreted –are uninterpretable; and, as a consequence, minds, whether ours or others, in whole, or in part, no longer make sense to us.

glimpse

We might (in those moments) glimpse the imminent arrival of specific kind of thought, and situation: an embodied-yet-ethereal hint of existential uncertainty, which arrives, like a distinct note of confusion, set against a background scent, of mild anxiety

This situation (and view of ourselves), is not one which we enjoy. And more often than not (and for this topic in particular), one which we instinctively do whatever we can, to avoid.

dismiss

Though commonly, when moments like those arise, they are dismissed, abruptly, and conclude, almost without thought; as we become distracted, and then immersed, in otherly concerns.

We quickly, simply, move on with our lives.

notice

At times we might in those moments, notice, as our experiential and cognitive frame of reference withdraws from the world around us, to minimise our exposure to external stimuli, and acutely focus our attention on a single phenomenal instance, of our cognitive prime directive – interpret the uninterpreted before us

de-emphasis

#rewrite
  • But sometimes we can’t interpret the uninterpreted before us
    • And of all uninterpretable circumstances
    • Uninterpretable cognitive circumstances
    • Distract fundamentally
      • Cause us to question ourselves in an particular way
    • Which causes
      • Previously unconscious cognitive interpretive operations are interrupted, for conscious assessment
        • Which is unsettling
      • The result is experienced as uncertainty
      • The motivation is anxiety, which draws and holds our attention in such a way that associated circumstances of cognition are surfaced, for conscious consideration
      • As possible cause, or remedy
      • As our mind presents circumstantial and situational variations
      • To iterate over interpretive tolerances/ heuristic fit
  • For these reasons, wherever possible, we avoid uninterpreted, and uninterpretable cognitive phenomena
  • When we can’t
    • Interpret the uninterpreted cognitive phenomena before us
  • The strength of the cognitive prime directive is expressed
    • Either interpret
    • Or
    • If the event is sufficiently inconsequential and ignorable
      • Quickly, simply, de-emphasise and ignore
  • If we can de-emphasise, we do; and we quickly, simply, move on with our lives

but —what if we can’t de-emphasise? —what if we can’t ignore our uninterpreted, uninterpretable circumstances, and move on with our lives?

others

We might then look around – to discover how others consider our circumstance or situation; or other similar moments.

Bizarrely, we might discover a choice: between four fundamentally contradictory and irreconcilable approaches to understanding minds (the quartet {mind sciences; experiential practices; psychiatry; religions}). None of which offer a complete nor coherent account of experience or cognition. And yet, nonetheless, throughout life, each help many to interpret the previously-uninterpretable; and to understand, the otherwise incomprehensible. Though, only conditionally. And, at times, questionably.

Paradoxically, on some occasions – individuals of our species appear able to select, seemingly arbitrarily, individual insights from across any combination of our four contradictory and irreconcilable understandings –to be used together, at the same time, as if few details of our present collective understanding of the mind, experience, or cognition, matters much at all.

—but surely it must?

#tbc