Dyadic Model of Consciousness - Part 4
The point being argued here is that the internal feeling sense and the intuitive function is a basic mechanism in nature’s scheme of information management, that is to say – “knowing”. It evolved long before the left hemispheres and frontal lobes that seem to be responsible of language, reasoning and other high level mental functions upon which humankind has placed emphasis in the historic period. Thus examination of the more primitive brain functions in the human organism is most likely to yield clues as to the historic role of consciousness and mentality in the evolving pre-anthropic world.
The most consistent accounts of the pre-reasoning brain functions come from the mystical traditions. Only the Aristotelian line of thought emphasizes information from the five “physical” senses, and the external experience. From Lao Tse, Guatama Buddha, Zoroaster, Plato and the Gnostic Greeks, the traditions emphasize the “internal experience”. Critical self reflective analysis dates in the historical record only to the sixth century B.C.E., with Plato and Aristotle standing at the junction, two hundred years later, where the Gnostics and the rationalists go their separate ways. The dyadic model suggests that subjective/objective, internal/external must be considered complementary ways of knowing, in that both are required to properly describe reality. The objective, epitomized by the scientific method features precision, detail and logic but linear thinking with the intellect. The subjective emphasizes the right brain functions of pattern recognition, intuitive and nonlocal responses; and is expressed with metaphor, analogy, art, etc. The impact is emotional. Both are required to map the terrain of consciousness. It is not surprising that pictorial images emerged before linear, symbolic grammatical language.
Several factors emerge immediately from considering the mystical experience from the dyadic point of view. The first is that mystical insights are just information that requires interpretation, not absolute and literal realities, that can stand alone. The flaw in cultural interpretation of mystical interpretation is precisely that of interpreting metaphor literally. However, a valid information function is taking place nevertheless. Consider the experience of the nirvikalpa samadhi which is described similarly in different traditions. In this experience the sense of Self merges with the cosmos and reality is experienced as unity of Self with All-That-Is. The experience is accompanied by intense ecstasy, a sense of eternity and a complete loss of fear. The experience is ineffable is the sense that description is inadequate to convey the experience and the description alone does not assist others in attaining the experience. The cultural interpretations are generally that the experience represents union with the godhead, or the ground of being. It is the experience of the “peace that passes all understanding”.
The dyadic model interpretation is that the body/brain is experiencing its “ground state” or resonance with the zero point field. The awareness is the undifferentiated awareness of the primordial field, as the sense of Self is merged totally into the field. The question immediately arises as to why an intense ecstasy plus a sense of security and eternity accompany this state. It is only within the larger question of why nature provided feelings at all that this question may be answered. The internal feeling sense accesses the state of wellbeing of the organism. In addition the subconscious brain functions integrate information from external senses and from non local sources to provide a “feeling” of alarm or security as to the state of the environment. The feeling sense also provides reward or punishment for behavior influencing survival: gratification of thirst, hunger, sex drive, and discomfort or pain for dangerous behaviors, etc.
The foregoing information management functions undoubtedly take place in all multisensory organisms. But in self reflective humans who have learned to consciously manage certain internal states, additional feeling states come into play, such as the various Samadhi experiences. Is nature just continuing to act out the same survival oriented teleology by providing ecstasy with the Samadhi? Is the ecstasy, security, connectedness and eternity experienced in Samadhi a nature signal that the organism is doing something right, that should be repeated? Probably so. The ecstasy of the Samadhi is more intense (in my own experience and as reported by others) than any other positive human experience. All others are pale in comparison.
The meaning of the experience is traditionally communicated in mystical and religious terms. However, the physiological correlates indicate coherent brain function with EEG strongly in the alpha and theta frequencies, a high state of relaxation, but mental alertness.
Studies in accelerated learning strategies show that relaxed, high alert states produce coherent information assimilation and retention at prodigious rates of information flow.
Because human brain mass virtually unchanged for more than a hundred thousand years, and the evidence from persons with hydrocephalus who survive into adulthood demonstrates that only a portion of that brain mass is needed for normal human activities., the evolutionary path seems quite clear: more coherent, integrated use of both intellect (left brain) and intuitive (right brain) functions is where nature will take us (provided we are willing to go). To bring the light of science into this picture, however requires abandoning the long held dogma against anything subjective.
Before self reflective awareness and emphasis on intellect evolved in Homo sapiens, information management in a living organism was centered on much more simple functions. Survival pressure was the teleology and pain/pleasure the feedback mechanism in the self aware organism. The sensory information available to each species is only a tiny fraction of the information available in a particular frequency band. Visual sensing is but a fraction of the electromagnetic spectrum and different species are sensitive to different frequency ranges. And so it is also for other sensors. When humans began to label experience with language, it was reasonable to believe that the labels attached to external things. The problem of confusing the map with the territory began at that point with language. Our labels for things can only attach to our internal images. Our sensory information maps the region of reality the sensors are capable of perceiving. And our labeling, or language, must be construed as mapping the internal perception, not the external reality. Written language which followed, maps the spoken language. Both oral and written symbols are reintroduced into the sensory organs as new information. A jumble of levels of information now exist in the brain – a tangled hierarchy of information.
It is quite conceivable that self reflective thought and logical reasoning evolved in direct response to the greater complexity of information management required by the written and spoken language. The beginning of the period of critical self reflection only follows the creation of a written language by a few millennia. The introduction of language as symbolism to express reality produced greater levels of complexity in information. It also permitted greater latitude in assigning meaning to information – and multiplied the sources for error in interpretation.
From these early analytical attempts, but without the knowledge available in the modern period, mystical interpretations of information, idealist philosophies and materialist philosophies arose to give meaning to information both external and internal. For the purposes of this paper, and if one accepts the evolutionary evidence available in modern times, reality in our universe may be said to consist of two things: existence and knowing. These two aspects of reality are interacting evolutionary processes. They stem from two fundamental attributes of nature: energy and information. It is why in this model they are called dyadic. By using this model to examine traditional thinking, beliefs and dogma in both science and mystical experience, inconsistencies, paradox and flaws are uncovered. These inconsistencies and paradox invariably result from giving meaning to experience based upon limited information, from considering reality from a narrow perspective, from science denying the value of the subjective experience and religion ignoring the mounting information from science. The primary error always has been to consider the current understanding absolute and to confuse the map with the territory.
Were a strict interpretation and materialist philosophy and determinism valid, there could be no innovation, creativity, volition or evolution possible. Volition and creativity are at the base of an evolutionary universe which has knowing and learning. Were the strict idealist model correct, the universe would change when we change our minds. But nature routinely invalidates our most cherished beliefs, therefore there is existence beyond what we think about. The Many Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and the Schrödinger’s Cat paradox result from confusing the map with the territory and believing the wave equation in fact is reality. The dyadic model suggests that deities, discarnates, other dimensions, etc. are not necessary to explain our universe, but if they exist they should be knowable and verifiable through physical experiment. Nonlocality and intentionality in the dyadic model do permit most psychic effects to occur except for long term precognition. Precognition of things not yet in existence, nor in process, is not possible because time is only defined in the macro-scale universe which is nonlinear and not predictable. But humans do create the future through their intentions. Psychokinesis is possible by interaction of intentionality with the quantum fluctuations of the zero point field. Indeed it is now possible to write quantum equations to express resonance of information nonlocally between brain/body and the zero point field. Equations to map psychokinetic functions seen the next reasonable step.