Sunday, October 14, 2007
you know, thinking about it now, i can't really describe thought in terms of substance. they don't seem to carry any tangible weight or volume. it doesn't seem to fit. maybe i should start thinking about it more in terms of location, for lack of a better word. as if when i am inside my thoughts, i am entering a new space. maybe this space is defined by the breadth of my thoughts, a different sort of volume. an empty volume, more an illuminating aspect, increasing the amount i can see in this space. expanding the focus of my thoughts expands the world i can travel in, and clarifying those thoughts brings the features of this world into sharper focus. i guess features is the wrong term, since the world is insubstantial. or maybe, my mind just hasn't found a way to fully visualize thought, to turn it into something sensory, beyond the base ideas that my mind can hold. maybe i am just wandering around my mind with my eyes closed.
anyways, that wasn't the crux of the idea, turning the mindscape into a visual realm. more realizing its extent, how far it goes. if it is another location, is it fully contained solely within my mind? that doesn't seem right, since i can explain things to other people, and they will have the same thoughts, in almost identical structures as mine do. i have touched on this briefly before, but have never been able to fully express what i meant, but i try to do that to other people's thoughts. it has been the key to building my conversational abilities. take the start of their thought, and try to take it to its natural conclusion while they are trying to explain it to me. it leads to some weird conversations, where it seems like i am not with them, because they spend a few rounds correcting me as i question them. some people can't handle having to further explain themselves, and the conversation dies. but most people seem to be able to pick up on what i am doing, and are willing to correct me until we are on the same page, and continue from their, appreciative of the understanding. but i digress again. that was all just a long round about way to get to the question, what if our thoughts share the same space? common sense would dictate that if we do have completely separate mental worlds (i am really digging the word mindscape to describe what i am thinking about), they are at least something of a parallel phenomenon, alternate mirrored realities. that seems much too complicated though, why not have it all be the same place for everyone? there is much less clutter in the universe that way, with countless alternate universes floating around.
so lets just assume that we share one common mindscape. lets get a few of the obvious limiting factors out of the way. why aren't we constantly running in to other people in our minds? a few reasons, i think. first is what i was talking about at the beginning. i can't speak for everyone, but i think our mental vision of our thoughts is more conceptual at this point. it isn't exactly a sensory experience. it is very possible we are surrounded by other people when we sink into thought, but just aren't aware of it because we don't know how to perceive their presence. second, we are limited by what we currently know. this world is a vast, empty space, that i think we can all agree on. we are attracted by the comfort of what we already know. it is like sitting next to the light of a candle in the pitch black. if you go stumbling at random, you might get lost. i think our subconscious might instinctively remove these two limitations for us. when we dream, it is usually a sensory experience of varying degrees, and very often involves other people, REAL people.
in any case, i think their are ways to communicate with other people within this mindscape. we do it all the time when we have conversations, though when we are doing it our subconscious is on the back burner. but our ideas can still sync up, which leads me to believe that we can bring other people into our sphere of influence within this mental world, possibly even without them being present physically. to do this, though, would take a concrete expression of our place within this world, beyond what i know can see inside my thoughts right now. it would enough definition to spark their recognition, and a way to call out to them so they don't just drift past. it would also require a path between those two individual spheres within the mindscape. once the spheres are more concrete, this would be a simpler task. it would just be a matter of finding where the spheres overlap. whatever it is, it is a shifting, insubstantial realm anyways. it would probably just be a matter of summoning someone to a certain point in their own thoughts, and then shifting ones own sphere to encompass that portion of the mindscape as well.
but now we are getting a little to hypothetical. at this point, it is assumptions based on assumptions. for any of it to even be theoretically possible, we need a better understanding of our own personal portion of the mindscape. we, fuck, what do i need to do. this isn't we, this is my portion of the mindscape. what do i need to do. i need to make my portion of the mindscape substantial in my mind. i need to make it familiar, so i can travel freely and easily through it, without having to grasp at random. i need to create a system of sensory expression for this realm, to bring more of my brain power into the experience, and make the experience less alien, less ethereal. basically, i need to leave my impression on my area of this world. forge my own little niche, so i have a home base of sorts to work from. leave my influence on my part of the world, so i know what is new and what i have already discovered.
holy... what if i did this, what if i was able to tame the swirling chaos of thought to the extent that other people could recognize my space, simply by its rationality. what if other people started staying there, like metaphysical squatters. that could get old. although, with it being my space in the world, and having the ability to shape it, and having it be an insubstantial world in the first place, i could compartmentalize them and shift them away, so they don't disturb it. although, those people who are actually able to sense it as something different in the world by association would be able to sense the world as being something more than a random flailing of idea in itself, which would make them something more than your average person, and probably not the type to cause a ruckus.
i have the distinct feeling that being able to link my subconscious and conscious awarenesses of this mindscape will be something of a breakthrough, and that understanding the sensory quality of my dreams will help me understand how to define the space in this world in a more persistent way. god, this would be so much easier with drugs, although it wouldn't be a real or lasting understanding, just a glimpse, and that isn't really going to help anything.
well at least i have something to think about while i am going to sleep. i am going to forget about this in a few days anyways, but the fact that the idea is there in the back of my head now might lead to some sort of subconscious mental construction. it has me intrigued at least. i've trying to write all week to no avail, and then this idea hits me and i go on for an hour or so about whatever this was. it will take a few reads to filter the goods from the nonsense.
anyways, that wasn't the crux of the idea, turning the mindscape into a visual realm. more realizing its extent, how far it goes. if it is another location, is it fully contained solely within my mind? that doesn't seem right, since i can explain things to other people, and they will have the same thoughts, in almost identical structures as mine do. i have touched on this briefly before, but have never been able to fully express what i meant, but i try to do that to other people's thoughts. it has been the key to building my conversational abilities. take the start of their thought, and try to take it to its natural conclusion while they are trying to explain it to me. it leads to some weird conversations, where it seems like i am not with them, because they spend a few rounds correcting me as i question them. some people can't handle having to further explain themselves, and the conversation dies. but most people seem to be able to pick up on what i am doing, and are willing to correct me until we are on the same page, and continue from their, appreciative of the understanding. but i digress again. that was all just a long round about way to get to the question, what if our thoughts share the same space? common sense would dictate that if we do have completely separate mental worlds (i am really digging the word mindscape to describe what i am thinking about), they are at least something of a parallel phenomenon, alternate mirrored realities. that seems much too complicated though, why not have it all be the same place for everyone? there is much less clutter in the universe that way, with countless alternate universes floating around.
so lets just assume that we share one common mindscape. lets get a few of the obvious limiting factors out of the way. why aren't we constantly running in to other people in our minds? a few reasons, i think. first is what i was talking about at the beginning. i can't speak for everyone, but i think our mental vision of our thoughts is more conceptual at this point. it isn't exactly a sensory experience. it is very possible we are surrounded by other people when we sink into thought, but just aren't aware of it because we don't know how to perceive their presence. second, we are limited by what we currently know. this world is a vast, empty space, that i think we can all agree on. we are attracted by the comfort of what we already know. it is like sitting next to the light of a candle in the pitch black. if you go stumbling at random, you might get lost. i think our subconscious might instinctively remove these two limitations for us. when we dream, it is usually a sensory experience of varying degrees, and very often involves other people, REAL people.
in any case, i think their are ways to communicate with other people within this mindscape. we do it all the time when we have conversations, though when we are doing it our subconscious is on the back burner. but our ideas can still sync up, which leads me to believe that we can bring other people into our sphere of influence within this mental world, possibly even without them being present physically. to do this, though, would take a concrete expression of our place within this world, beyond what i know can see inside my thoughts right now. it would enough definition to spark their recognition, and a way to call out to them so they don't just drift past. it would also require a path between those two individual spheres within the mindscape. once the spheres are more concrete, this would be a simpler task. it would just be a matter of finding where the spheres overlap. whatever it is, it is a shifting, insubstantial realm anyways. it would probably just be a matter of summoning someone to a certain point in their own thoughts, and then shifting ones own sphere to encompass that portion of the mindscape as well.
but now we are getting a little to hypothetical. at this point, it is assumptions based on assumptions. for any of it to even be theoretically possible, we need a better understanding of our own personal portion of the mindscape. we, fuck, what do i need to do. this isn't we, this is my portion of the mindscape. what do i need to do. i need to make my portion of the mindscape substantial in my mind. i need to make it familiar, so i can travel freely and easily through it, without having to grasp at random. i need to create a system of sensory expression for this realm, to bring more of my brain power into the experience, and make the experience less alien, less ethereal. basically, i need to leave my impression on my area of this world. forge my own little niche, so i have a home base of sorts to work from. leave my influence on my part of the world, so i know what is new and what i have already discovered.
holy... what if i did this, what if i was able to tame the swirling chaos of thought to the extent that other people could recognize my space, simply by its rationality. what if other people started staying there, like metaphysical squatters. that could get old. although, with it being my space in the world, and having the ability to shape it, and having it be an insubstantial world in the first place, i could compartmentalize them and shift them away, so they don't disturb it. although, those people who are actually able to sense it as something different in the world by association would be able to sense the world as being something more than a random flailing of idea in itself, which would make them something more than your average person, and probably not the type to cause a ruckus.
i have the distinct feeling that being able to link my subconscious and conscious awarenesses of this mindscape will be something of a breakthrough, and that understanding the sensory quality of my dreams will help me understand how to define the space in this world in a more persistent way. god, this would be so much easier with drugs, although it wouldn't be a real or lasting understanding, just a glimpse, and that isn't really going to help anything.
well at least i have something to think about while i am going to sleep. i am going to forget about this in a few days anyways, but the fact that the idea is there in the back of my head now might lead to some sort of subconscious mental construction. it has me intrigued at least. i've trying to write all week to no avail, and then this idea hits me and i go on for an hour or so about whatever this was. it will take a few reads to filter the goods from the nonsense.
