Buddhism?

I was thinking about Buddhism the other day. I wondered if maybe meditation is a form of redistributing the em-PHA-sis of "I" Imagine this...imagine that "I" arises because of a myriad of sufficiently flexible and powerful pattern identifying algorithms apply their said skills to themselves, and lo-and behold, a wondrous and resonant new pattern appears, magically out of nowhere. (It may be more of a progression...but that's not vital to the point I'm attempting to make). This new pattern (it's a pattern like any other pattern though, nothing makes it more than a pattern), appears to suddenly have an influence on everything we say and do, because no longer are the pattern recognizers mere cold and empty machines, they are machines with internal, or subjective, qualia (experiences). The qualia arise merely because of the context of the new pattern of patterns, since the pattern of "I" couches all other patterns and pattern recognizing algorithms in a very particular way, where self-monitoring is possible (and the pattern recognizers are sufficiently powerful and universal).

But since "I" is merely a pattern, and not some fundamental indescribable aspect of a person/thing, it can be manipulated and reorganized; just like more mundane patterns like the schedule for an upcoming conference (change key note speakers), the distribution of particles in a box (add a barrier), or how one organizes their desk (papers randomly distributed on top, or randomly distributed in a drawer). Perhaps when one meditates, one redistributes self such that it no longer permeates every conscious thought; it is no longer the nexus of the internal world. Instead, the nexus of the internal world diffuses out into one's surroundings, or the rate of one's breathing, or one's heart beat. This shift in the focus of the mind and the body breaks away from the all-mighty symbol of self and the pattern recognizers get a break from constantly being harassed by a bossy and needy ephemeral pattern of "I"

More to come later...

I am a Strange Loop

I just finished reading Hofstadter's newest book, I am a Strange Loop. Though most of the book was an elegant and analogy filled redux of Gödel, Escher, Bach, there was one incredibly powerful and resonant extension on the loopiness of self. Basically, the thesis of his book is that "I" is a strange loop where "I" is essentially a pattern finding, approximating, and generalizing soup of particles that applies those respective procedures to itself. A "hallucination hallucinated by a hallucination," as Hofstadter so eloquently puts it. This strange feedback relationship leads to an upside-down sort of causality, where by looking back on oneself, an incredibly powerful and resonant symbol is created...the symbol of "self". Once this symbol is established, it has an effect on everything else we as human beings say, do, think, and dream.

But this is not quite everything that is going on...he extends this idea such that these subtle and fragile strange loops are not forced to be contained in a single container, and there is some gray area, or bleed-over. The work of Chopin is in some sense a highly focused view into Chopin's soul, and by listening, performing, and experiencing his music, we are in some way privy to the strange loopiness that was Chopin. In some small way his essence also resides in us for a brief time. I find this idea of multiple strange loops passing through a person very uplifting, since it means that as humans we can hopefully to some degree know what it is like to be another person, or subjectivity. It is also uplifting because it often seems like the volume is cranked up on the "I" part of many individuals...including myself. But the idea that many "I's" can potentially pass through a person, and have an effect on their own "I" is a beautiful and evocative contrasting thought.

Though everything that goes on in each and everyone of us can in theory be explained by the deterministic and often cold and indifferent laws of physics...Hofstadter shows us the most truthful and consistent position on where "I" arises from, without resorting to a Dualist point of view that requires the existence of some magic substance that imbues it's owner with consciousness. Though this means giving up on thinking there is something special about being conscious, in the sense of a soul existing independently of the substrate it resides within...it puts that much more weight and beauty on the upside down causal creature, "I". These Gödelian swirls in our minds build the visceral and resonant experience that is subjectivity. And since our minds are practically infinitely flexible, this leads to a wondrous cascade of experiences as well as languages and semantics in which to couch the multitude of ways in which it is to be.

I am a Strange Loop.