Existentialism The Levels of Cognitive Development The Levels

Existentialism The Levels of Cognitive Development

The Levels of Development • Every human brain is essentially identical • we all have the same capabilities • • have to activate certain parts in a specific order Most people stall out around the age we’re at now

The Levels of Development • Every computer is essentially the same w/ same capacity • Need to activate but it doesn’t work if you don’t do it in order • • Plug in, turn on, log in, open folder, etc. Every person is built to be able to do the same thing, but most people get stuck

The Levels of Development • Brain = 20 foot carpet • each foot has to be rolled out in order; people give up if the work gets too hard • people stop at the level you’re at now

The Levels of Development • At each increasing level, you can do different things; each stage has different abilities depending on what you make of it • Moving levels → entire concept of reality and self radically and drastically changes • reborn as something with better capacity and more power • Hard to imagine life as previous levels • Don’t realize that you’ve moved up a level; master the previous levels

The Levels of Development • Brain has been growing; you are now at the height of being able to move out of the level where most get stuck forever (streamline brain, cut out unused parts) • If you pass time limit, the next level is lost to you; cannot move up • • wild child gets lost and grows up outside of society. Comes back to society and won't be able to learn because they were developmentally cut off You are coming up to the deadline and may be stuck forever

Level 1: The Matrix birth - 4 months • No self and no time - all you see is one eternal object that is a blur of colors • Do not feel like you are observing, you are part of it • Babies eyes done focus correctly

Level 2: Typhonic 4 - 18 months • Physical self → awareness of self as physically separate from the world around you • Smack crib, smack face (you feel the bed, you feel hitting your own face) • Define the self/body and pull out of The Matrix • There is self and there is not self • objects and self (no longer one in the same)

Level 3: Mental Self 1 - 5 years • Gain symbolic language/time/memory • symbolic language is the ability to conceive of that which is not physically present • image: think of a dog • language: “dog" on white board, know what is being talked about • math: symbolism

Level 3: Mental Self 1 - 5 years • We create time: create future and past because we can make pictures in our heads • Can make images of what has happened in the past, i. e. the image of your mother tucking you into bed. Remember what she looks like and know that she could come back (future) • Split up the world into periods of time

Level 3: Mental Self 1 - 5 years • Experience the world and record it • Fantasies and memories are the same thing • i. e. making out with someone • your eyes should have been closed (remember the moment from outside of your own perspective)

Level 3: Mental Self 1 - 5 years • Memories are lies • We live in darkness and silence • Info hits is and we make a picture to fill in the gaps • Seeing is just creating a picture • Everyone is constantly 80 milliseconds behind reality

Level 3: Mental Self 1 - 5 years • Burning yourself → drop back to Typhonic in order to react quickly • "In the zone” = “in the Typhonic” reactions; 80 milliseconds faster than everyone else • You are constantly out of touch with reality • 20, 000 stimuli hitting you every second, but you only pick up on 6 or 7 (sensory gating)

Level 3: Mental Self 1 - 5 years • We filter out almost all of reality to focus on one thing at a time • We are trained to pay attention to certain things • We can interact with reality, but we are stuck there

Level 4: Early Ego 5 - 12 years • Develop friendship and empathy • The self is cut off and you have separated yourself emotionally from the world • Spend time trying to conform • • you want unconditional love but you can't get it; fear of dying alone Everyone before this stage is a sociopath; everyone else is a mannequin to you before you develop empathy

Level 4: Early Ego 5 - 12 years • After empathy is developed, you realize that people feel their own things • fear others may not like you • Loss of happiness, kicked out of paradise • We now try to find love and acceptance

Level 4: Early Ego 5 - 12 years • Conformity; do what others do • Creation of the tribe • Used to have control over every emotion purely • When our emotions conflict with what people want us to be, we have to push down our emotions • We keep shutting things down, crammed into our unconscious

Level 4: Early Ego 5 - 12 years Persona

Level 4: Early Ego 5 - 12 years • Your persona is the reason everything sucks all the time • • you cannot shift to be the person you need to be in a particular situation You cannot access your curiosity and intelligence

Level 4: Early Ego 5 - 12 years • We fall in love with each other’s personas • works for a while, but eventually a deeper connection is needed • we become afraid for them to see what the other person didn't fall in love with initially • • persona gets heightened We want people to love who we actually are, but it becomes the other person’s fault for falling in love with the wrong thing

Level 4: Early Ego 5 - 12 years • It is impossible to change who you are if you are stuck in Early Ego • There is only one way through it, you can’t skip a step • Your tribe is where your beliefs come from, through conformity (family, friends) • • you understand what your tribe tells you and accept it • we find love through common conformity, we need constant reinforcement Tribe can make or break your capacity

The Wall • We’re not trained for it • school enforces Early Ego and prevents Late Ego (Prussian Education System) • Tribe keeps you in Early Ego • friends reject you if you start thinking for yourself, pressure not to do that • Prevent your friends from moving on too • Actively tries to keep you in Early Ego • 23 -24 is the end

Level 5: Late Ego 13 - 20 years • Intelligence stage; truth is everything • Development of cognitive ability • Can hold multiple ideas in your head • Examine ideas and find truth based upon facts • Use Early Ego as a tool; control your persona

Level 5: Late Ego 13 - 20 years • 80%+ will never reach Late Ego, this is why adults aren't smarter than us • Every development before this stage just happens; this one needs effort • The Wall stops you, like running up a down escalator • Early Ego keeps people stupid for tribal mentality, able to follow instructions that society requires • Those at Late Ego are kind of unlikable people because they’re above everyone else

Level 6: Centauric late 20’s - early 30’s • Maslow’s “Self Actualization” • Rest stop; reincorporate all other levels into a fully functional person • Don’t look down on people in lower levels because you understand them • Understand the needs of all levels

Level 6: Centauric late 20’s - early 30’s • Reclaim your persona; able to use it, accept it and move in and out of emotions • Constantly growing and changing, learn from mistakes and find new truths • Things get better and better, keep growing • Never bored, feel like there’s not enough time to do what you want to do, but you’re okay with that • Truly unique individual

Level 6: Centauric late 20’s - early 30’s • • Two problems occur: 1. Loneliness • isolated because there are few people at Centauric 2. Death • realize that who you are will be destroyed, like sandcastles in the waves • question what the afterlife is, no intellectual answer • become melancholy; “what was the point? ” Western psychology says this is the end of development

Level 7: Spirit • Direct apprehension of God • Matrix is a cloud, you are a raindrop • As you fall, you become a perfect raindrop • The ocean beneath you is God • At Spirit, you see the ocean and have a direct apprehension of it’s existence

Level 8: Ultimate • No separation between the self and God • At Ultimate, raindrop lands in the ocean • Self recognizes the merging of the two • “Enlightenment”

Moving Levels • If levels were a building with each floor being a different level, you perceive everything from that floor 1. Complete basic requirements of that level (i. e. for early ego, social acceptance) 2. Need to be sick and tired of the level you’re on, feel like you’re capable of more 3. Start “jumping” to get to the next level and keep jumping 4. Eventually you will jump and stick, realize you are not what you once were

Moving Levels • When you’re sick of the level you’re on, you have two choices 1. Translation: sick of the floor you’re on, so you rearrange the furniture. Nothing actually changes (i. e. hanging out with different friends) 2. Transformation: actually moving levels. Permanent change that cannot be undone (only by brain damage)

Jumping • Jump depends on what you’re trying to achieve; every time you jump, you get a little bit closer • To get to early ego, participate in social activity • To get to late ego, read and write in an engaged fashion. Prolonged focused attention in that state. 2. 5 - 3 years • Jump to Centauric is therapy, jump to Spirit is a guru • There’s no in-between levels, either one or the other • “Fake it ’til you make it”

The Dark Night of the Soul • The last time you jump, you go through the dark night of the soul • detach from previous level but there’s time before sticking. Everything you once knew detaches and you can’t see through to the next level • Ask yourself if you’re literally going insane • You will become terrified, question everything; you’d give anything to get it back • Up to 2 -3 months in this period, but one day it all comes together

State vs. Stage • A stage is permanent; the level you are on is your stage • A state is a temporary movement into a different level • • you can have a state experience in any level Most people will have a state experience of the Spirit level, but can’t explain it well

Psychedelic Drugs • Will drugs jump you up to Spirit or Ultimate? • Yes, with psychedelics it is possible to activate certain parts of your brain to experience these higher levels • You have to be careful because you may not be ready • Artificially inducing a jump can cause damage by closing other doors • But, can give you motivation to actually get there

Next week: It’s Such a Beautiful Day Later: The Secrets of the Universe