Hurmanetar
New
Over the last few weeks I've been trying out a new (for me) filter/model/pattern-overlay of the organizational forms: hierarchy and its antithesis, networking/crowd-sourcing. I've been thinking about the strengths and weaknesses of each and how these two organizational forms show up in nature and political systems. I think that a meditation on this hierarchy/networking or male/female organizational dialectic might offer insights into a wide variety of topics including the nature of conscioussness, psychology, parapsychology, god(s), and of course political science.
One thought that just occurred to me is that the exercise of meditation could be thought of as shifting of the mode of consciousness from hierarchical to crowd-sourced. What we call "normal" waking consciousness is predominantly hierarchical - there's a series of needs, desires, inputs, and commands all filtered up to a singular "I" - a dictatorial ego - a mini-me homunculus in the head. As is so common with hierarchical political systems, a great deal of input from the crowd never makes its way to the tyrannical head. The internet has changed that somewhat in that input from any individual might go viral making its way in to the consciousness at large.
Perhaps this is a good analogy for meditation? When one meditates, it is like the king holding court with the common folk to hear their voices, and some of them have some surprisingly good insights. The hierarchical organizational mode of consciousness temporarily yields to crowd-sourcing mode so that every single little cell and neuron has an opportunity to find its voice. When one meditates, one often becomes conscious of things that had previously been ignored: bodily aches and pains, subdued desires or self-deceptions, and possibly even intuitions about a wide variety of things. Thus meditation is a good way for one to become a more self-aware, fully integrated, and a mentally healthier individual.
Now some people have warned about dangers of meditation, and it is true that for some people, meditation can have negative consequences. Perhaps this is because these people have weaker or less effective hierarchical modes of consciousness such that they have trouble re-establishing control. This is analogous to a revolution where the people finally get heard, but in the process the brittle hierarchical structure is shattered and heads roll, leading to chaos. So perhaps meditation (crowd-sourcing mode of consciousness) is maximally beneficial and least dangerous to an individual who already has a lot of self-discipline (strong hierarchical mode of consciousness).
The crowd-sourcing / networking / bottom-up mode of organization is in some cases superior to the top-down hierarchical mode of organization. Both forms of organization are found in nature and both, I think, are necessary. Over time both will find a way to balance each other out in each system where they occur: ant colony, food chain, individuated consciousness, marriage, or political science. But as is the case with political hierarchy, it tends to become tyrannical, corrupt, and brittle over time as the singularly-minded top wears out the distributed lower layers with its overbearing demands. Meditation is like bringing the power of the internet and Bill of Rights to one's own consciousness. Just as a non-tyrannical government that doesn't over-tax and listens to the people creates a stronger civilization, a person who meditates will provide the body rest and get in touch with the various parts of the self that are suppressed.
We typically think of our consciousness as a singular point of view or point of awareness, but maybe this singular "point" is only the tip top of a consciousness pyramid. What happens if we think of our consciousness as a distributed collective of many points of consciousness that is organized in such a way as to generate the sense of oneness? How can this pattern overlay of hierarchy/networking organizational dialectic help explain things like multiple personality or lapses of integrity or strength of will or creativity?
How can this pattern overlay give insights into "God." As Alex says again and again, the notion of spiritual hierarchy or gradations in life and afterlife experiences or gradations in good and evil means there must be a top to the hierarchy... a.k.a.: God. In monotheistic religions, God is the top of the hierarchical pyramid and since hierarchy is the masculine form of organization, this God is male. Christianity was essentially a shift towards the opposite organizational form in attempt to balance it out. No longer did people need to go through hierarchical channels of a priesthood to reach God, but they could go to God directly. "The kingdom of heaven is within you." "The first shall be last and the last shall be first." From the small comes something great. "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, though it is the smallest of garden seeds it grows into a large tree and the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." The Holy Spirit is the divine feminine. It is the "still small voice" that comes from inside the individual. It is the distributed crowd-sourced form of God and when an individual sets aside his own ego in deep prayer or meditation, he gives platform to this voice leading to fresh insights.
It seems to me that the greatest power in all systems of existence (personal consciousness, spiritual realms, and political governance) results from a balanced uniting of male and female forms - the singular hierarchical, and the distributed individuated. There is an asymmetry in the ideal balance point for optimum structure. Hierarchy will always be slightly greater in power than its antithesis and thus it requires voluntary benevolence to maintain the optimum balance, but a deviation too far in either direction without the balance of the opposite leads to breakdown in structure.
One thought that just occurred to me is that the exercise of meditation could be thought of as shifting of the mode of consciousness from hierarchical to crowd-sourced. What we call "normal" waking consciousness is predominantly hierarchical - there's a series of needs, desires, inputs, and commands all filtered up to a singular "I" - a dictatorial ego - a mini-me homunculus in the head. As is so common with hierarchical political systems, a great deal of input from the crowd never makes its way to the tyrannical head. The internet has changed that somewhat in that input from any individual might go viral making its way in to the consciousness at large.
Perhaps this is a good analogy for meditation? When one meditates, it is like the king holding court with the common folk to hear their voices, and some of them have some surprisingly good insights. The hierarchical organizational mode of consciousness temporarily yields to crowd-sourcing mode so that every single little cell and neuron has an opportunity to find its voice. When one meditates, one often becomes conscious of things that had previously been ignored: bodily aches and pains, subdued desires or self-deceptions, and possibly even intuitions about a wide variety of things. Thus meditation is a good way for one to become a more self-aware, fully integrated, and a mentally healthier individual.
Now some people have warned about dangers of meditation, and it is true that for some people, meditation can have negative consequences. Perhaps this is because these people have weaker or less effective hierarchical modes of consciousness such that they have trouble re-establishing control. This is analogous to a revolution where the people finally get heard, but in the process the brittle hierarchical structure is shattered and heads roll, leading to chaos. So perhaps meditation (crowd-sourcing mode of consciousness) is maximally beneficial and least dangerous to an individual who already has a lot of self-discipline (strong hierarchical mode of consciousness).
The crowd-sourcing / networking / bottom-up mode of organization is in some cases superior to the top-down hierarchical mode of organization. Both forms of organization are found in nature and both, I think, are necessary. Over time both will find a way to balance each other out in each system where they occur: ant colony, food chain, individuated consciousness, marriage, or political science. But as is the case with political hierarchy, it tends to become tyrannical, corrupt, and brittle over time as the singularly-minded top wears out the distributed lower layers with its overbearing demands. Meditation is like bringing the power of the internet and Bill of Rights to one's own consciousness. Just as a non-tyrannical government that doesn't over-tax and listens to the people creates a stronger civilization, a person who meditates will provide the body rest and get in touch with the various parts of the self that are suppressed.
We typically think of our consciousness as a singular point of view or point of awareness, but maybe this singular "point" is only the tip top of a consciousness pyramid. What happens if we think of our consciousness as a distributed collective of many points of consciousness that is organized in such a way as to generate the sense of oneness? How can this pattern overlay of hierarchy/networking organizational dialectic help explain things like multiple personality or lapses of integrity or strength of will or creativity?
How can this pattern overlay give insights into "God." As Alex says again and again, the notion of spiritual hierarchy or gradations in life and afterlife experiences or gradations in good and evil means there must be a top to the hierarchy... a.k.a.: God. In monotheistic religions, God is the top of the hierarchical pyramid and since hierarchy is the masculine form of organization, this God is male. Christianity was essentially a shift towards the opposite organizational form in attempt to balance it out. No longer did people need to go through hierarchical channels of a priesthood to reach God, but they could go to God directly. "The kingdom of heaven is within you." "The first shall be last and the last shall be first." From the small comes something great. "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, though it is the smallest of garden seeds it grows into a large tree and the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." The Holy Spirit is the divine feminine. It is the "still small voice" that comes from inside the individual. It is the distributed crowd-sourced form of God and when an individual sets aside his own ego in deep prayer or meditation, he gives platform to this voice leading to fresh insights.
It seems to me that the greatest power in all systems of existence (personal consciousness, spiritual realms, and political governance) results from a balanced uniting of male and female forms - the singular hierarchical, and the distributed individuated. There is an asymmetry in the ideal balance point for optimum structure. Hierarchy will always be slightly greater in power than its antithesis and thus it requires voluntary benevolence to maintain the optimum balance, but a deviation too far in either direction without the balance of the opposite leads to breakdown in structure.
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