bookworm's journal

[bookworm]

On an unrelated note, can anyone here who's into hiking speak to the quality of this bear canister:
https://www.amazon.com/Backpackers-Cach ... B0002ZB5Y8
It seems there are only a couple brands. I've got the opportunity to buy used at a good discount.
Bear canisters are required some places I might want to go this summer.
For places where not required, are there more ingenious alternatives or is it basically a one time buy for efficiency? I tried the swinging a bag from trees thing, but that got old after a while.

[bookworm]

Catching up on some other responses...

For me, moving towards unity is more like when you inhabit the consciousness of any human making the next move in chess, and then any human playing a game, and then any lifeform engaged in anything like a game, etc. IOW, you become egoless in the realization that you are just part of the undulating, expanding, rhythmic pattern, or something like that. Then you go back to doing the work in front of you.

This matches reports that I have read and resonates with some aspects of experience. I like the phrase "just part". No person is special. Then as you said, if you get something meaningful, you use it as fuel to get on with life work.

Recent advances in neurology make it fairly likely that technology will soon be able to replicate some of the states previously only attained by advanced meditation practitioners. Who knows what will happen when a significant proportion of the human population has experienced the universe collapsing like a pancake in their consciousness?

I wonder about this too. Such induced states could be helpful for an N=1 player in some circumstances with certain temperament. For others it could be a one-way ticket to a bad place. Those who chose to undergo the "treatment" would be taking a substantial risk. At wider adoption levels, I imagine that such states could become stabilized and almost commonplace. There would then be some synergistic effects that are hard to see or predict.

Technology is also making it harder and harder to attain these states due to constant distraction. So the above "artificial" solution may be necessary to maintain even healthy baseline consciousness.

[thai_tong]

@delay Good points! I'm slowly learning that choice can be something to be grateful for, not something to be agonized over.

I like this perspective, sometimes choice can seem like a chore, another problem to be figured out, and deciding how to get the most out of a decision.

Reminds me of the paradox of choice, if you go into a shop with 30 different chocolate bars you're guaranteed to be less satisfied because whatever you choose there are 29 options you chose not to take.

[bookworm]

I'll likely be faster getting back to you daylen if we continue the discussion, trying to pace things out which is more sustainable for me...

A more smoothly defined self or full gradient from subject to object minimizes suffering (and/or surprise).

I like this metaphor. The suffering minimization is tangible, and the surprise part got me thinking about the experiential nature of a synchronicity. If everything became a synchronicity, then there would be no surprise.

Though, if this unity stuff actually exist, then it must have been around this entire time.. right? How is it that a being in time could not experience unity? Perhaps it has always been the default and it takes the evolution of a default mode network to differentiate the universe enough for disassociation to occur?

Using more religious/philosophical metaphors for parallel elaboration, the universe hides from itself in the play of forms. The one must become the many to become the one again. The frequency of this oscillation is interesting to consider as is where we might be currently along it in the world situation.

What or where is utility in relation to unity?

Along the downward slope (either local or global), the unitive state becomes more visible. Suffering / surprise would tend towards the minimum. On the upward slope, the unitive state becomes gradually concealed through differentiation. Suffering / surprise would reach towards their maximum.

Unity -> Separateness -> Unity: running up and down a hill can involve enjoyment, pain, or some mix of the two.

Taking one side of the transition, running up a hill to tire yourself out until you surrender is similar to try to come up with thoughts/abstractions/frameworks to express what (I think) is not completely describable in words.

[bookworm]

For various reasons people are able to skip along the C->M->U progression.

Correction: The signifier -> may really be bidirectional <-> so C <-> M <-> U . In practice -> transitions are more reliable than <-. The reverse <- are based more on serendipity than directed effort/trait. Exploring this new serendipity space, some temporary state of M (mindfulness) strengthens to baseline C (concentration). Some temporary state of U (unity) strengthens baseline C and M. Baseline C and M varies by person in some given time and space.

[Western Red Cedar]

On an unrelated note, can anyone here who's into hiking speak to the quality of this bear canister:
https://www.amazon.com/Backpackers-Cach ... B0002ZB5Y8
It seems there are only a couple brands. I've got the opportunity to buy used at a good discount.
Bear canisters are required some places I might want to go this summer.
For places where not required, are there more ingenious alternatives or is it basically a one time buy for efficiency? I tried the swinging a bag from trees thing, but that got old after a while.

I'm pretty sure that is the canister I've rented from some National Park headquarters. The reviews look solid on Amazon and the weight isn't unreasonable.

I've been backpacking for over 20 years in bear country and don't own a bear canister (I'm only occasionally in Grizzly country though). I bought one using my REI discount one year, but I didn't like how bulky it is and it didn't pack well in my preferred, 40L pack. I also realized that I could rent one with a deposit from the two National Parks I visit that require them. Is renting an option in your location?

I look at hanging a bear bag as one of the adventures of a backcountry trip. It is like solving a puzzle in real life, particularly in high alpine environments where branches are short and options are sparse. Not only does it cut down on weight, but you can use the paracord/string/rope for a wide variety of different things in case of emergency.

[daylen]

A mixture of fast and slow thinking/communicating aids synchronization. If you'd like we could chat on google meets or the like to lean on tight feedback loops.

Another consequence of increasing synchronicity within an individual or collective mind is time distortion and non-linearity (i.e. time decelerating/accelerating, cyclic past/future, Deja Vu). Surprise minimization being complicated by "play" which tends towards maximizing short-term surprise for long-term predictability.

Yes! There is no one without the many and no many without the one(*). A full spectrum of splitting and merging occurs all the way down at the quantum level of particle trajectories or wave interference all the way up to the universe/multiverse (perhaps going further down or up.. maybe even to infinity). For individual negentropic entities like organisms that maintain homeostasis, association and dissociation oscillate in some sense as a single "wave" and in another sense across multiple layers at once (i.e. molecules to organelles to cells to tissues to organs to organ systems to the body).

It is common in my experience and from what I have heard of others traveling along the downward slope towards unity is accompanied by emulations of "hell" or the worst possible existences that can be imagined. This can help establish the overall gradient making sense of positive and negative valence directions on it. I think Ken Wilber said something like "you feel it more but mind it less".

"The map is not the territory" is a great adage to avoid getting lost in the maps. Of course, this can also be applied to that statement and on and on. Perhaps "the territory is not the map" helps point towards how experience alone may not be sufficient for optimal compression or "knowledge". A little math/physics/compsci go a long way.

(*) always lurking the question of why many/one at all?

[bookworm]

@WRC thank you for your insight from your experiences. It looks like a decent canister, although the weight seems like one potential downside, since I lean towards a light pack. My bioregion appears to require them but there is a free(?) rental program. Appreciating that tip. Grizzly country is far from me.

Beautifully put explanation of continued reasons to bag hang. It is fun to do, provided it's not getting dark (but that anecdotal logistical issue is on me!) That will likely be my mode of operation next time.

[bookworm]

@daylen Continuing the conversation...quotes are not to slice and dice but to maintain continuity (at least in my perspective)...

A mixture of fast and slow thinking/communicating aids synchronization. If you'd like we could chat on google meets or the like to lean on tight feedback loops.

I would like to do that at some point! I might pm you in a bit. I'll continue to season some things here, but definitely feel free to continue addressing my System 2 stuff if that's interesting/useful to your work. Also...looking through your journal to probe for potential weaknesses

Another consequence of increasing synchronicity within an individual or collective mind is time distortion and non-linearity (i.e. time decelerating/accelerating, cyclic past/future, Deja Vu). Surprise minimization being complicated by "play" which tends towards maximizing short-term surprise for long-term predictability.

Another strand: there is a perception of granular causality in the local field. We might call this an awareness of karma at the subtle level in addition to usual awareness at the gross level. This connects to your non-linearity point I think.

Surprise minimization tends toward global perspective and aware presence of reality. Then "play" tends toward local perspective and mindful interaction with reality.

Yes! There is no one without the many and no many without the one(*).

Does adding a zero to the state transition help?

For individual negentropic entities like organisms that maintain homeostasis, association and dissociation oscillate in some sense as a single "wave" and in another sense across multiple layers at once

Not much to add, but highlighting: the continuum of association and dissociation is an important aspect to highlight in this context (rather than viewing as discrete transition, especially in the context of Orange labels for the phenomenon).

It is common in my experience and from what I have heard of others traveling along the downward slope towards unity is accompanied by emulations of "hell" or the worst possible existences that can be imagined.

Yes, I would agree that "hell" is an operative concept here. Not necessarily in the stereotypical sense under Blue systems and popular culture, but firstly in the sense of utter groundlessness and secondly in the sense of the free movement of various traumas if activated in a given holon.

"The map is not the territory" is a great adage to avoid getting lost in the maps. Of course, this can also be applied to that statement and on and on. Perhaps "the territory is not the map" helps point towards how experience alone may not be sufficient for optimal compression or "knowledge".

On "the map is not the territory", such an infinite regress seems to translate on a practical level to ability to fluidly enter/exit the experience/abstraction duality. If we get stuck on one side or the other of this then there may be trouble.

On "the territory is not the map", one thought is that experiences centered in spiral colors before Yellow/Turquoise may have higher communication barriers. For instance, a unitive experience in Blue is more likely to be discounted in mainstream society than one oriented to Yellow or even Orange.

A little math/physics/compsci go a long way.

I agree it could be better integrated in my thinking in these matters, with the usual qualifications on understandability. Part of this discussion is to do this exact thing. I have a math/CS background (university/career) so I have a decent start.

[7Wannabe5]

Then as you said, if you get something meaningful, you use it as fuel to get on with life work.

Yes, but it is also the case that "just doing the work in front of you" may be a form of meditation, because on some level "inefficiency" is the opposite of "striving." It may constitute a form of infinite regress or Zeno's dichotomy paradox which is not entirely unlike a sense of unity. For example, all the urban litter I would have to clean up on my vacant lot permaculture project each day I went there was in some way like the endless sweeping of sand out of a Japanese village being subsumed by the dunes.

[ertyu]

For me - meditation, diet, and exercise bring unitive states on if combined in just the right way, although not reliably.

Would you mind speaking to this? I feel like at least in what I've encountered, most of the emphasis is on what one should do during meditation, with "be vegetarian" and "do yoga" as standard add-ons. But I get the sense that's not what you're referring to. Would you mind sharing in a bit more detail?

[bookworm]

@7Wannabe5

The demarcation between meditation and work begins to dissolve over time. The separation is perceived and feels real only at the beginning. Progressively, work seems more like meditation and meditation seems more like work. This transition appears to infinitely nested as you say (I guess I was primarily thinking about "infinitely nested" with respect to time in that you come to realization again and again...hopefully I'm still tracking?)

I like the example. You keep doing the work even though you understand that it is at some level futile, but you see the broader picture for yourself and are okay with that "paradox". This acceptance has varying degrees, as does the broadness of the perspective.

[bookworm]

@ertyu
I would say that the Five Precepts (under a Buddhist framework) are a good start for many(?) people. For me at least, morality and meditation have to go together to an extent. How you interpret these exactly is somewhat based on spiral color centering.

I have been doing lacto-vegetarian for the most part, and noticed some positives in my mental/physical state (can't say the same for attempts at vegan). Voluntary simplicity, running, being in nature, and digital detoxing seems to be useful for me as well. Some degree of isolation from other humans can be helpful as well, even if it's for a short period. It appears that multiple positive factors are needed as part of lifestyle which tend to reinforce each other when one or the other is lacking (many of which are quite ERE compatible). But any particulars here would likely work only for a specific mind/body/personality.

[bookworm]

April 2025 Update

There is a lot going on for me on the writing front, both what is shared here and outside of it. I appreciate the interaction here.

Trail running/exercise/yoga/hiking has been fun. I'm grateful to have access to woods relatively close to my apartment. Doing some foraging, starting with dandelions. It makes me reconsider investment on balcony garden, but will likely still have some microgreen production and herbs. There is also a community garden project that may become part of the overall picture.

Expenses are still going down substantially YoY. New place and reduced premiums are the main drivers but continued low-buy helps too. I didn't buy the bear canister mentioned earlier. Outlays were for groceries, utilities, rent, gasoline (finally), car registration/license renewals, and a small gift.

Portfolio is doing fine. It's hard to see momentum, but I'm glad to be more conservative than I was at the start of the year. Yearly WR continues to go down despite turbulence. Monitoring taxable gains and will likely rebalance if some of the long term gains become long term losses (partly to snag TLH opportunities).

My ERE investment curriculum study is halted until I can get more of the textbooks from the library. However, I successfully the request through another network this time using a different system that uses the local colleges. Expecting something to be in by May.

Taking some extra steps in digital minimalism area. Finding the right balance here between technsphere, socialsphere, and biosphere, to use jacob's language from a recent post. I spent a lot of my life in the technosphere with a smaller position in socialsphere so the focus is on reducing footprint in the technosphere and diversifying across the other domains (large investment in biosphere of late).

Working on some further privacy steps to plug up some gaps, which expands on an earlier project.

Caffeine is down to one cup of instant coffee per day in the morning. We'll see how long this lasts, but it is good as an experiment and possibly the new normal. When I get the urge to have a hot beverage, I have an herbal tea instead. The difference is noticeable and appreciated.

Removing the one class I was taking really opens the door to possibilities. I appreciate the extra time and ability to develop ideas and work on practical details of my life system.

There have been some big breakthroughs on personality level with a deeper understanding of cognitive functions, among other things. Something like MBTI and other frameworks are something you can return to repeatedly for deeper understanding. At the family system view, there have been some realizations about some unhealthy dynamics that are going on that was understood at one level but didn't internalize to the degree that is there now. There have been some positive shifts in my relationships with my siblings, but at the same time, there will likely be some increased distance from other members of the family. It was good to set appropriate boundaries in a relatively healthy way.

Book Roll (quite slow this month but balancing input/output in this area and others):
The Evolving Self (Robert Kegan)

[bookworm]

MBTI: Math/Terminology Review

I did a deep dive into MBTI/stack theory as applied to my own life situation. This post from jacob helped get me orientated:
viewtopic.php?t=12360&hilit=stack+theory

Edit/Correction: The blindspot of an INFJ is Te...

Well, my deep dive was shallower than I thought. What follows can be considered notes to myself / restatement in my own words.

I might be missing the basic algorithm to get ordering on the full stack (as well as terminology), but I did some review on jacob's post again as well as another resource(*).

Math:

Taking INFJ from earlier example, here's how I'm thinking about it in steps:
1. NF and J => Fe is first extraverted function
2. I at beginning => Ni (the introverted function) leads => NiFe
3. Alternation property => NiFeTiSe
4. Shadow is inversion but same order => NiFeTiSe + NeFiTeSi

Terminology:
-Blindspot = 7th function
-PolR/Polar = 8th function

In some resources, I see this more personalizing language:
-Opposing Personality = 5th function
-Critical Parent = 6th function
-Trickster = 7th function
-Demon = 8th function

Also, wanted to highlight an intriguing nugget from daylen which is somewhat related to both this and previous journal discussion:

I think perhaps third and forth slot functions provide a reliable avenue for translational growth, and the subconscious, back-stack towards transformational growth (especially if the 7th or polar function can be targeted). I prefer to think of the back-stack as subconscious and subtle relative to the grossly conscious front-stack. Unconsciousness itself or deep sleep unites all conscious experience to the supreme or ultimate identity/instrument

(*) I'm following this algorithm for first four: https://identityabounds.com/mbti-how-to ... each-type/ It doesn't go into the shadow functions calculations however.

[7Wannabe5]

I like the personalizing language version. Te is definitely my critical parent.

[daylen]

It's funny/interesting, I have an ISTP dad that is very much live and let live. I suppose that is part of the reason I have been shadowing this Te-heavy forum for so many years. Yet, it is surely an opposing personality in some regards, and so I tend to take away what fits into my existing Ti system with the occasional localized punctuation.

[7Wannabe5]

@daylen:

I see the xxTJ majority as engaged in a heavy rucking march on a central path towards a goal which is not unlike the beach at Normandy, while my primary Ne is like a scouting terrier running off down side paths that lead to ghost towns and carnivals, but eventually empty back out on to the main rucking march path when my Ti confirms consistency.

[daylen]

Does adding a zero to the state transition help?

Forgot to respond to this question. I had some interesting interactions on twitter/x with someone a couple years ago that liked to blame many societal problems on the concept of zero. Coming from a math background this triggered me a bit but he did make some good points. In some sense, zeros are not usually found in nature in a concrete way(*) yet are vital to financial and technological progression. In tech, going from zero to one requires very difficult innovation and going from one to many often requires the hard work of scaling (very different problems). In math the natural numbers are considered to be 1, 2, 3, 4.. where only addition is defined, and the integers ..-4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4.. include the subtraction operator to reverse/invert addition.

(*) like even death and extinction assume prior existence of one/many. There is also the whole other vase of flowers around reincarnation and alternate branching/merging of the multiverse. Perhaps everything that can exist does exist in perpetuity.. or something like that.

[bookworm]

At various stages in society, different parts of the trichotomy become emphasized. At one stage, like you say, Zero was not even acknowledged due to the level of development. At other stages (such as perhaps where we are now) the Many is manifest but the One(*) is harder to see because of the divergent intensity of the Many.

(*)The capitalization represents the thing signified in its fullness. For example, we still understand what 1 is in an axiomatic system like mathematics.