stoicanaught

[stoicanaught]

Great Filters

Introduction: The truth is that all of us (Man), irrespective of creed or clause, are completely and utterly alone. The Self is the part of the body which grants us consciousness, sentience, emotion and non-instinctive direction; without the Self, Man would be mindless husks, primal beasts which act only out of instinct and detachment. It is the Self which separates Man from the Beast (he who is without comprehension.) And yet, despite the fact that all of humanity holds something so decisive to being human as the Self, all of us are estranged from one another. The Self, which ignites the spark of all thought, can only release these thoughts (intentions) once it passes through the Great Filters. These Great Filters are sieves which, each time the intention of the Self ventures through them, losses an aspect of its original form. Thus, by passing through all the Great Filters, the Self, when expressed by the Body (the physical form and voice), is not faithful to the Self’s true intention.

Because of the intention of the Self, after having been sifted when venturing to the Body, no longer being the original intention, the thought experiment of the Ship of Theseus becomes applicable; if all components of an object (the Self’s intention) is replaced, then is it fundamentally the same object? Although the theory of The Great Filters does not propose an exact answer to this question, it does propose a quasi-answer. Irrespective of if the intention of the Self is still the intention after the Venture of the Self (in the manner of if it’s fundamentally the same), the theory does prompt that, because it has been altered to some extent, the intention of the Self is no longer faithful. Yes, some aspects may remain original, but now that certain other aspects have been altered, categorised or omitted from their original form, the intention is no longer an accurate representation of the original. Thus, it is unfaithful.

Therefore, because the intention has become unfaithful, there is no possible way for the Body to truly express the Self in an authentic way. Thereby, every human interaction betwixt one man unto another is not actually a true interaction; it is simply a lame imitation (false mirroring) of what each of those men’s Self truly wishes to express. Consequently, neither of those men actually know each other, they are, in truth, merely familiar with the false mirroring of the other’s Self’s intention.

As seen in the diagram below, there are three Great Filters: Emotion, Language and Courage. The Self produces an “intention” whereupon it must pass through each of the three Great Filters. Eventually, after it has been thoroughly “sifted”, the “unfaithful intention” reaches the Body, where it becomes an “expression”. This process is known as the Venture of the Self, and it ultimately results in an unauthentic false mirroring of the Self, which accordingly means nobody knows anybody, everybody is simply familiar with each other’s false mirroring of the Self.

Note* The intention does not necessarily pass through each of the Great Filters in such a linear, preordained order. It is more likely that the intention passes through the three Great Filters simultaneously, and not one by one.

Society’s Imposition:

The Great Filters within the Venture of the Self are not natural per se. Certain base linguistics (i.e. some physical mannerisms) may be naturally encoded into the Body. However, the majority of Great Filter components are impositions introduced by Society (the aggregate of people living together, with obligatory values of culture, faith, morals and suggested ethics). The Great Filters suffer from the burden of societal categorisation. This means that only the emotions and language features which are recognised by society are considered expressible or understandable. Thus, although societal cohesion for definite expressive methods allows for simplistic and convenient communication, intentions of greater nuance and esoterisms are truly unfaithful once they become false mirrorings.

  Emotion:

For an intention to be translated into physicality or verbality, it must be cauterised into the limits of specific and understandable emotions as recognised by the Occident’s Society. These categories are “emotional declensions”, and they are not natural to the Venture of the Self. Of the emotional declensions there are six: Happiness, Sadness, Disgust, Anger, Fear and Indifference. Beneath these declensions are “subclensions” (sub-variants, i.e. grief beneath Sadness or euphoria beneath Happiness), which are also recognised by Society, so long as they are visually and audibly recognisable and subservient to their respective superior declensions.

By categorising an aspect of intention so complex as an emotion, the Emotion filter attempts to translate inner emotion into something translatable and understandable by all those around. And yet, often we have feelings within which do not fit into any of the emotional declensions. These odd emotions which, because of their inability to be easily understandable of definable by the predetermined declensions, is simply discounted by Society as a state of being ‘in conflict’. This label seems to suggest that the one who is feeling the odd and un-declensional emotion is at conflict with themselves. Thus, by societal logic, it is not the fault of Society’s limited declensions which makes the emotion inexpressible by physicality or verbality, but the ineptness of the one who feels the odd emotion to understand themselves. In truth, it is the opposite; they are not ‘in conflict’ with themselves as Society would have them believe, but that they are ‘in conflict’ with Society’s limited declensions.

According to the declensions, there are limits to emotion. Thus, when one wants to express that rare outlier feeling, it is discounted as no more than an inner-conflict, even though it is the outer limits of Society’s emotional declensions which are conflicting with the true emotional feeling of the Self.

Language:

An intention, once it reaches the Language filter, is translated into physical and or verbal language. Words must be picked and arranged with appropriate definition, and mannerisms, gestures, posture and facial expressions must be manifested to appropriately match the words and emotions the Self’s intention needs to portray. These verbal and physical translations of language from the Self to the Body are outlets for expression, but they are still limiting. Language grants an acuity and cohesiveness, albeit still a superficial understanding of one to another. Saying “my stomach hurts” is more concise and much better than the Beast making whines and grunts whilst pointing at its stomach hoping another understands it.

However, by granting a language with definite restrictions it limits expression. This restriction may sometimes be remedied through synonyms. And yet, when our despair is deep, we are often unable to fully verbalise despite the grand plethora of words which exist to announce sorrow. Thus, poetry was born in an artistic attempt to verbalise the intentions of the Self which one is wholly unable to express because of the limitations of language.

Courage:

The Courage filter is likely the greatest limiter of all three. Courage is necessary to even express; occasionally we swallow our words, either too afraid or too imposed by a potential rise of conflict. This Great Filter, where the other two sought to categorise and clarify for Society, can entirely prevent an intention from even reaching the expression stage. The fear of retribution, conflict, embarrassment and doubt are not natural. These fears are purely impositions of Society, making Courage the most artificial and non-naturalistic of the Great Filters. Intentions are thought of by the Self to be acted upon, otherwise what would be the point of igniting such invaluable thoughts only for them to be discarded entirely. As a result of this Venture of the Self, after an intention passes the Great Filters, the Body can no longer express the unabridged truth. In moments where we are entirely speechless, we always still have thoughts running through our minds, it is simply that we are unable to verbalise these thoughts; a direct consequence of the Great Filters, namely Courage. The intention passes through the Great Filters which have such restrictions on the specific thought that, by the end, there is no thought left, and therefore, speechlessness.

[stoicanaught]

On Solitude & The Self

In today’s society, one where socialising is something everyone must do to be considered normal; the art and content which can be found in solitude has been lost to time. Nowadays, when a person prefers the company of themselves, words are often thrown around with negative connotations. Such epithets as recluse, loner, outlier and misanthrope portray those who prefer the comfort of themselves as ‘people haters’ who simply lack the constitution to have friends and meaningful relationships. More often than not, those who remain quiet in mandatory social environments like school, university and the workplace are denounced as weird and bizarre.

Those who remain distant and introverted may, very well, be weirdos who want to have friends, but have none of the social abilities which allow them to make any. However, this essay is not on rectifying or defending those silent traitors. Instead, this is dedicated to those who do have friends, those who hold the capacity for meaningful relationships, social interactions and familial fraternisation, but merely prefer the peace and humour of solitude.

Privilege:

To first understand the meaning of, what I refer to as, voluntary solitude, one must first appreciate the privilege’s one has. Unlike what the stoics teach, where self-indulgence and purchasing for the sake of the self are considered unvirtuous and morally bankrupt, I simply argue that knowing what one can and will purchase had ought to humble and humour themselves to ensure they are aware of their fortunate opportunities. It is not a crime against virtue to buy an expensive crewneck, but it is a crime against virtue to not realise how fortunate you are to be able to buy it. One cannot throw money around as though it were a right, for it is not. There is no man in this world who holds the right to money, only those who are privileged enough to have it. Thus, there comes a great honour, and no higher valued virtue, than those of the humble billionaire.

To purchase in the hopes of praise are wrong, but to purchase to ensure the happiness of the self is right. Simply so long as one remains conscious of their privilege, they may purchase whatever they desire to reach happiness. I do not respect the man who made millions only to throw it about as though it were mud; I do respect the man who made millions and remembers how much it is worth.

Substitution

There is only one action which is a greater crime against virtue than believing one’s fortunes are rights, and that’s the exchange of virtue, happiness and health for glory, praise and prestige. There is no profaner barter than for the counterfeit coinage that is reputation. A lethal crime against virtue is not holding one’s own self (pneuma) in elevation or high esteem, but hoping others hold it for one’s own self. The ego, a pride in one’s self which is only inflated by praise, worship or glory, is no more than a lame imitation, a false mirrored image of the pneuma which many mistake for the pneuma itself. One does not need the indulgence of unnecessarily high grades in school, the adoration which comes with beauty, or the partaking in clubbing, hazardous drugs or alcohol in order to increase the value of happiness, the continuation of health, and the importance of virtue. To do these activities themselves are not crimes of virtue, but to indulge so often believing that this substitution for happiness truly ensures contentment is a crime of virtue.

To consolidate and elevate one’s virtue, happiness and health cannot be substituted. To plunge into work, be it educationally or occupationally, one need only do the amount that will ensure happiness. If you need a passing grade to achieve what you desire, do not reach so far for an A+. Instead, simply do what is required, and achieve the grade that is required to get what you want. And yet, only do so if the thing you want will achieve happiness and not just another inflation of the ego. Be a doctor if helping people makes you happy, do not be a doctor if you seek praise and acclaim.

Reclusion

It was a suggestion by Michel de Montaigne that every man, be him rich or poor, have one room in his home which is empty. He believed that every once in a while, a man should enter his empty room and simply acknowledge and listen to himself. To know the self is the first step in achieving happiness. How can you know what you want, if you don’t know you? We may believe we have an idea about who we are and what we want, but when they seclude ourselves, and simply listen to what our pneuma has to say, only then can we truly fathom what it is we need. I do not believe every man needs an empty room like Montaigne advises, but I do believe every man, every once in a while, had ought to just go to bed and experience the tête-à-tête of the self.

This talk can be nothing of worldly things, for that would defeat the entire purpose of the solitude. Despite this advice, one may uncover a paradox. How can I withdraw myself from the world without contemplating things outside of my introspection? When you sit alone and talk to yourself, yourself may tell you that what would make them happy is a new desk. With this new desk you will be able to do more work, and with this more work will you achieve what it is you want, and by getting what you want, will you achieve happiness. However, in this thought process do we discover that we think of worldly goods like “a desk” or “my work”. Herein lies the paradox; one should not think of the worldly things one wants, but should only think of what yourself says they need, but when you ask them what they need, they tell you that it is a worldly good.

This paradox could be unbreakable; with any good conversation with someone you’re never actually talking about yourself, but what it is you are passionate about. So, the true question which arises in these moments of introspection are, ironically enough, how does one talk about and to yourself?

Yourself

In all truth, I do not know how to word the answer to the aforementioned question. That is because to know actually know and talk about and to yourself, you cannot use words or thoughts. Thus, does solitude once again arise. To understand yourself, you must seclude yourself from loud thoughts constructed by words. Instead, you must feel emotions. Do not think the word sadness, feel the sadness yourself is telling you to feel. Then, and only then, are you finally getting to know yourself.