Layers Of Mind

post by PeteG · 2022-10-04T16:52:26.209Z · LW · GW · 4 comments

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I did not intend to post this anywhere. I just wrote this for myself. But then I thought that I should maybe post it on Less Wrong — a blog I have not read since its golden years. I almost never post anything I write anywhere, but this time I thought of the virtue of Relinquishment — that I should submit myself to ordeals and test myself in fire. So here is my post:

Lies permeate themselves within the structures of our minds. Consciously, they control us more than we control them. But unconsciously, we all dance to the rhythm of the truth. I conceived of four layers of the mind and their relation to truth, lies, and understanding.

First Layer
The things you could consciously express by yourself without anyone telling you anything. You can also state any number of lies here. You are the navigating captain.

Second Layer
The things you need some help consciously expressing. If you are by yourself thinking about them, you could stop thinking after a time that is not too long. Since you are not as consciously aware, more factual data about the world gets stored here. And having less control means lying here becomes weaker. You navigate here, but the waters could be intimidating.

Third Layer
The things you need a lot of help to consciously express. The things expressed at this layer are usually done so unconsciously. You have to be very attentive to your mind to notice what you are doing here. If you are an analytic person, this means laying out the data and working with it to a sound conclusion. If you are artistic, this means your artwork will come out very abstract. Since this is a deep layer of the mind that you have to dig into to take something out, it is going to be very hard to place lies here. There is a lot of inaccessible order here, and placing a lie anywhere will have it surrounded and crushed to a minimum by many truths. You no longer know how to control your boat, and it could be easily flipped over.

Fourth Layer
This is the unreachable layer. You cannot take anything out of here. It comes out when it needs to come out. It cannot even be said to really belong to you. It is the God spot of your mind — the layer that does not accept any lies. This layer holds all data that entered you in its unfiltered form. When you try to create a sophisticated lie to believe something that you really want to believe, this is the place where it cannot go. When enough truths get piled here, there is nowhere else for them to go but up. They collect in this layer and eventually seep into the higher layers. Once that happens, you become beholden to the truth. And trying to resist it will bring you suffering. Your boat no longer has a steering wheel and takes you where the water takes it. And if the waters are rough, you could fall deep into them.

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