Epistemology

The Power of Symbolism and The Architecture of Mind

I was originally going to make this a Twitter thread when I thought about the idea for this article during a run, but I think this probably deserves a full article. If you’re familiar with me or this site (re: The Meaning of AION, I), you probably know I’m a huge fan of symbolism, both for graphic design purposes (check out my work) and for more meaningful pursuits. Today, we’re going to take a look at the power of symbolism with some of the underlying mechanics that symbols operate on in the mind, their value in the culture, their role as memes, and a whole lot more.

The Third Eye: Value in the Structure of Mind

Today, we’re going to be combining two of the broader subjects I’ve covered. First, we have the series I began with Value in the Highest, and the articles I wrote on the three core values, Love, Will, and Truth. Next, we have the Pieces of Mind series- both series will be suggested reading for this article, as well as The Desert of Nihilism and the Throne of God. I’ve talked about how the values are important, and how the mind seems to have some overarching structure, but in this article I’m going to attempt to join the two concepts and show how the values actually emerge from the structure of the mind itself. Along the way, we’re going to talk about the “Third Eye” symbol, polarity, submission and dominance, and more.

The Origin of Consciousness: Dreamtime and the Lotus on the River

Today we’re going to be taking a look at a pretty nebulous, complex concept- the origin of consciousness. This is no small task, so for the sake of your sanity, reader, make sure you’ve read Solomon, Pieces of Mind 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3, Triple Meta, and AION, II), Myth and Meaning I and II, and, if you’ve seen the show, the Westworld article as well. We’re going to hit all kinds of stuff here, from an old Buddhist story about the lotus, Julian Jaynes’ theory of consciousness, the Aboriginal Dreamtime, the Triune Brain theory, artificial intelligence, and we’ll even discover what the opposite of the word ‘meta’ is.

Memetic Contagion: (Mental) Health and Kids on Amphetamines

The Desert of Nihilism and the Throne of God

Despite much of MasterSelf being inherently built on the opposition to Nihilism, I don’t think I’ve directly touched on the concept until The Burden of Existence, II. Beyond all other issues, the black and bleeding heart of the ills of the world is rooted in the philosophy of Nihilism. This belief (or perhaps unbelief) system is so widespread and commonplace that most people are wholly unaware that their own lives are ruled, or at the very least, influenced by it. Today, we explore the Desert of Nihilism and the Throne of God to understand the horror and responsibility that it represents.

The Problem of Solipsism: Self and Other (Pieces of Mind 0.3)

Today I’m going to be discussing something I’ve touched on briefly before- solipsism. Now, in the past, I’ve looked at a more metaphysical/epistemological sort of solipsism, the kind you get in a lot of religions and bad philosophy. In this case, however, we’re going to be taking a fundamentally different approach to solipsism- what it looks like in practice. Let’s begin by defining the term. Solipsism, as per the OED, is defined as: “The view or theory that the self is all that can be known to exist.”

Memetic Engineering: Nootypes and the War for Man’s Soul

Now that we’ve covered the (questionably) basic concepts in Intro to Memetics, we’re going to get into the really heavy stuff. The premise of this article is an examination of the question “if ideas and belief systems seem to have a dynamic that governs their adoption and transference, would it be possible to tailor a set of ideas for maximum effectiveness?” The answer is what we’re going to be searching for in our exploration of the theoretical field of memetic engineering.

The NPC Meme: Narcissism, Personality, and Collectivism

Watch out pardner, there’s a new meme in town. If you haven’t had the pleasure of being introduced yet, meet the NPC meme. It allegedly originated on 4chan, but the real groundwork was done on Twitter by @thefaceberg (editor's note, he has since been banned). This meme would prove to be probably the most devastating usage of memetic engineering to psychologically traumatize people on the internet that I’ve personally ever seen. Let’s get down to it.

Why I Don’t Talk About Politics (or: Philosophy 101)

If you’ve been following this site for a while, you may have noticed the (hopefully refreshing) lack of any sort of political content. You’re welcome, America. On a serious note, though, this is not because I don’t have any strong opinions. No, it’s a bit more complicated than that, actually. Personally, I don’t think you can change anyone’s mind politically through a discussion- and what’s more, I think it’s generally counterproductive to try. However, I think there is a trick to changing people’s minds that doesn’t involve a (questionably civil) argument, and that’s what we’re going to explore. Let’s find out why I don’t talk about politics.

Triple Meta: Metaconsciousness, Metamind, Metanarrative

We’re going to be getting in to some seriously heavy stuff today. I’ve been toying with writing about these concepts for a while, but they’re so abstract and hard to define that I’ve ended up putting it off. No more, however- I’m going to jump right in and start trying to get some degree of definition established. The three metas we’re going to be looking at are metaconsciousness (also called metacognition, but I don’t like that as much), the metamind, and the metanarrative.

Pieces of Mind: Introduction to the Structure of Self (0.1)

In this article I’m going to attempt to outline a (prototypical) general structure of the Self, from a variety of angles and perspectives. This will be based on my own experience and understanding, as well as on the reading and research I have done in the past.

Real Talk, II: The Magic of Words

In this edition of Real Talk, we’re going to be getting into words, your brain, and the fact that semantics are much more important than you’ve ever known. Sounds crazy? Maybe- but stick around and you might just learn something.