Great stuff! I’m inspired to dive deeper into the qri heart program after this. Very inspiring
One small comment on “Many long-time meditators (myself included) claim that focusing attention on a painful sensation will cause its negative valence to evaporate.2 This implies that valence may be an emergent, high-order experience.” - I’m not sure it implies this, more that when you’re concentrating, there’s no self sense to create the tension and suffering (as you point out in the footnote). I still think the tension that leads to suffering may be a fundamentally valenced thing when appearing in consciousness. So valence remains fundamental, but is related to conscious tension (contraction or asymmetry)
Yeah I think we're actually on the same page here--just with some confusion of terms.
If we define "qualia" as the most basic mind-stuff, and "consciousness" as something more complicated that emerges from qualia (with a handwave as to how and when it really emerges, but something something selfhood / binding / symbolic representation), I would say valence could be fundamental to _consciousness_ but not qualia.
I do think the subtler jhanas are states that step back from both valence and consciousness (as defined here).
Sorry for double comment; re: reports of psychonauts ‘not existing in 1 dimension’ - zero dimensions is ‘death’, and it is a ‘human state perpetuated by other humans and still seen as valuable’; mathematically speaking 1 dimension would imply ‘being a single point without curiosity which is not ‘a natural human state of existence’ - this is the existence of Ai; 2,3 and higher dimensions put human existence on a curiosity plane/space and satisfies our ‘need for agency’; obviously ~all my opinions; ~ciao
"a single point" would be 0d, which I actually have heard described! Though it's not something I've experienced
for me, a "2d" experience feels like I'm a flat sheet, with some extrinsic and intrinsic curvature into a third dimension. I can _imagine_ a 1d experience, where you're just a wiggling string, but I've never actually heard anyone describe an experience like this
I asked ChatBOTgpt for the strictest mathematical definition and you are right - a point is 0 dimensions; I do have some personal reconciliation to do, and there appears to be nothing in-between, lol. As I said, always a stirring read.
Very interesting stuff. I'm quite new to this so would appreciate some clarity - what's the difference between macro and microphenomenology and qualia? are macro/micro both types of qualia?
Great stuff! I’m inspired to dive deeper into the qri heart program after this. Very inspiring
One small comment on “Many long-time meditators (myself included) claim that focusing attention on a painful sensation will cause its negative valence to evaporate.2 This implies that valence may be an emergent, high-order experience.” - I’m not sure it implies this, more that when you’re concentrating, there’s no self sense to create the tension and suffering (as you point out in the footnote). I still think the tension that leads to suffering may be a fundamentally valenced thing when appearing in consciousness. So valence remains fundamental, but is related to conscious tension (contraction or asymmetry)
Yeah I think we're actually on the same page here--just with some confusion of terms.
If we define "qualia" as the most basic mind-stuff, and "consciousness" as something more complicated that emerges from qualia (with a handwave as to how and when it really emerges, but something something selfhood / binding / symbolic representation), I would say valence could be fundamental to _consciousness_ but not qualia.
I do think the subtler jhanas are states that step back from both valence and consciousness (as defined here).
Sorry for double comment; re: reports of psychonauts ‘not existing in 1 dimension’ - zero dimensions is ‘death’, and it is a ‘human state perpetuated by other humans and still seen as valuable’; mathematically speaking 1 dimension would imply ‘being a single point without curiosity which is not ‘a natural human state of existence’ - this is the existence of Ai; 2,3 and higher dimensions put human existence on a curiosity plane/space and satisfies our ‘need for agency’; obviously ~all my opinions; ~ciao
"a single point" would be 0d, which I actually have heard described! Though it's not something I've experienced
for me, a "2d" experience feels like I'm a flat sheet, with some extrinsic and intrinsic curvature into a third dimension. I can _imagine_ a 1d experience, where you're just a wiggling string, but I've never actually heard anyone describe an experience like this
I asked ChatBOTgpt for the strictest mathematical definition and you are right - a point is 0 dimensions; I do have some personal reconciliation to do, and there appears to be nothing in-between, lol. As I said, always a stirring read.
Always a stirring read; Thanks Max.
Very interesting stuff. I'm quite new to this so would appreciate some clarity - what's the difference between macro and microphenomenology and qualia? are macro/micro both types of qualia?