Reprograming the Mind: Meditation as a Tool for Cognitive Optimization

post by Jonas Hallgren · 2024-01-11T12:03:41.763Z · LW · GW · 3 comments

Contents

  Introduction
  Amphitheatre model of mind
  Focus
  Ways of increasing focus
    Increasing our attentional Space
      Improving Alertness
      Controlling what goes in and out of our awareness
    How to cultivate focus through meditation
      Different types of meditation
    Improving creativity through meditation
  How did these models change my schedule?
    Daily life
      One-hour morning sit
      Afternoon Yoga Nidra/Advanced Nap
      After work sit or Sauna sit
    Special meditations
      Open creative walking meditation
      Problem-solving meditation
    General Interactions
      Six-stage preparation for time-boxed tasks
      Open-hearted awareness in social situations
  Conclusion
    Summary Of the post
    My Personal Protocols:
    End note: 
      P.S.
None
3 comments

This is a distillation of 4 years of my mechanistic investigation into meditation, specifically on how I perceive its more practical applications to how we can make the mind work optimally. For a more detailed explanation, I personally enjoyed and recommend Kaj Sotala’s sequence Multi-Agent Models of Mind [? · GW], as it was a big inspiration for me to double down into meditation about 2 years ago.

Meditation has some very interesting consequences for creativity and focus that might not be obvious unless you fully understand it. I hope to give you a practical way of implementing these models in your life. 

Introduction

Harmonisation of the mind and body isn’t some mambo jumbo hippie stuff from Buddhism; it is an actual phenomenon that I hope to explain some of the underlying cognition of today. 

I’ve heard a lot of people talk about creating a great exobrain and using external tools for cognition. Whilst that is important, I believe many people lose the root for the tree [LW · GW] here. Your own brain can be improved immensely, not only by using external tools but also by cultivating the different modes that your brain has in a great way. This can be done by both meditation and having conscious intention when invoking different modes of your mind. We will focus on the ways that you can use these attention techniques in order to change the way you think.

(Also some tech bro bait that I will throw in here: Sam Altman on Meditation(Podcast))

Amphitheatre model of mind

To start our journey, we should look at the amphitheatre model of mind. This is a theory of scientific consciousness (not necessarily the same as phenomenological consciousness) that says that our cognition acts in such a way that different modules compete for attention in an optimisation process developed during the course of evolution. 
 

Figure 1: An amphitheatre (DALL-E 2 throwback)

The amphitheatre analogy comes from Global Workspace Theory, and a book on this subject I enjoyed reading was Consciousness and The Brain by Stanislas Dehaene. (If you want more details on GWT I recommend going through that book). There is some debate between higher and lower-order theories of consciousness and the way we should model consciousness. Yet the amphitheatre model seems compatible and, to some extent, convergent in most models of consciousness. 

A way that we can visualise the competition for your attention based on this model is something like the following:

Figure 2: Your attentional space, a dynamic system changing over time

A module is then vying for your attention at a certain point in time. Examples of this in the picture are an itchy toe, hunger or your breath. The modules aren’t necessarily only sensory experiences but can also include thoughts and ideas, among any other things that can show up in your attentional space. 

This is cool and all, but why would you want to learn about this? Well, it has a pretty big impact on how you should manage your attention.

Focus

I will assume that you've heard of the term “Deep Work” or maybe “Hyperfocus” before; we can look at the attentional space to explain some of how it works. Having our attentional space fill on one topic at a time allows us not to get distracted by our other modules and go into even deeper modes of work. This might look like the following: 

Figure 3: This fascinating article pushing out other modules from your conscious awareness/attentional space

A consequence that we can see due to limited attention space is that the fewer modules we have vying for our attention at one time, the larger part a module can capture. 

Ways of increasing focus

We have two primary ways of increasing focus, increasing the size of our attentional window and increasing our stability of attention by controlling the movement of external modules. 

Increasing our attentional Space

Figure 4: Your Attentional Space Expanding

The size of the window is mainly determined by our concentration of neurotransmitters at the time, but of course, that level of description is not useful, so some proxies in human speak are:

• Alertness
  • What are your energy levels at that specific moment in time?
  • In other words, what are your general energy reserves at this moment?
• Interest
  • How interested are you in the topic at hand? 
  • In other words, how much of the energy reserves are you applying at this time?

Improving Alertness

Alertness is mostly determined by your energy levels throughout the day, and when it comes to this, biological self-improvement is the best way to go in my opinion. For this, I recommend Andrew Huberman’s podcast for everything related to biological self-improvement. 

In short, you need in the order presented

1. Sleep
2. Exercise
3. Diet

And three quick tips are:

• Sunlight in the first 60 min of waking
• Taking a cold shower in the morning to stimulate alertness
• Sleep > Exercise > Diet

You can also use an app called Bearable to do correlation-based A/B testing on different interventions. 

Controlling what goes in and out of our awareness

Figure 5: Your self-observing system pushing away thoughts that want to intrude into your attentional space

The pushing away of external thoughts is something that meditation seems to be one of the best ways of cultivating. There are some ways of cultivating this behaviour without meditating, such as removing modules from your mind and practising working in deep work style hyperfocus, yet it doesn’t seem to be the same level of reprogramming of your mind that meditation is.

There are some good reasons why meditation is great at helping you with this.

To sustain attention on one object in your mind over a longer period of time, you will have to learn how to push away modules that want to intrude on your sustained focus. Once you’re good enough at noticing when the modules show up, you can actually just start ignoring them for the breath which then can yield you complete focus on the problem or experience you want to focus on.

 

How to cultivate focus through meditation

I want to start off by mentioning that in order to increase your focus over time properly, I recommend following The Mind Illuminated until approximately chapter 7. After that, you should probably get in contact with a meditation teacher to ensure you don’t go down a bad path and risk spiritual bypassing. 

(To avoid spiritual bypassing, it can also be enough to do one of the following:

1. Read Shift Into Freedom
2. Read Seeing That Frees (If you get 3/4s through this book make sure to talk to a teacher as it also becomes a bit sus at this point)
3. Consume a bunch of Waking-Up content.)

If you’re a beginner, this means setting aside at least 45 minutes each day for 3 months. This is quite a lot of time, but if you want to do something right, you have to do it fully. You can’t expect to get muscles by doing 10 pushups each day; you actually have to go to the gym.

If you follow The Mind Illuminated properly I can tell you with 80% certainty that there will be a major difference once you hop off the focus train after those 3 months. (At least it was for me and most of my friends that I’ve convinced.)

 

Different types of meditation

Following are some of the mechanistic models of how the two most common ways of meditating work. The two ways that I mainly think of when cultivating focus are Focused Attention Meditation (FAM) and Open Minded Meditation (OMM). 

• Focused Attention Meditation:

Focused Attention Meditation can be visualised in the following way: 

 

Figure 6: Your breath helping the attentional space expand by filling your mind 

The goal of this meditation is to try to keep your focus on the breath. Doing this lets you “unify” more sub-minds that previously were trying to do other things. You convince them that the breath is what your mind should be focusing on. 

Yet, at the same time, you’re also pushing away the other modules by the fact that you’re focusing on the breath. Spending more resources on the breath means spending less resources on the rest of your thinking apparatus. 

Once you’re getting good at this, I recommend switching to using loving-kindness as your focus object, as it trains the mind in the same way but on loving and positive emotions. In a game-theoretic sense, this is making you more likely to cooperate in the future and it will change your social environment to be more supportive as you’re more supportive to your social environment. As they say, friendship is optimal. 

 

•  Open-Minded Meditation:

In open-minded meditation, we sit with awareness and try to look at everything that shows up in the brain. This also increases your focus over time, yet it is different as the focus is equivalent to the awareness itself.  

Over time, this allows you to find smaller modules acting on your mind as you get more sensitive to everything in your mind. Using the ocean as an analogy, when you’re bobbing up and down in harmony with the waves, you might notice the currents underneath. This allows you to become even better at knowing what is in your attentional space at any time. 

Some studies on the increase of focus are these two: Attentional Focus, Brain Efficiency. This is not evidence for the claims I am making, yet I believe they’re supporting evidence. 

Improving creativity through meditation

We can also argue about creativity with this model in mind, as creativity is related to taking leaps in inferential distances (connecting distant connections). This happens more often when we allow the default mode network to take over, allowing us to go into “Scatterfocus”. 

A model of what happens then is that these modules wander around more, the velocity of the system is higher, and the mix rate is then higher. This gives weird combinations of modules in your mind, and voila, more creativity. Yet to ensure that you default mode network doesn’t go into “default mode” you have to ensure that only relevant thoughts show up which is quite difficult to do without great control over your attentional space.
 

This is also deeply connected to the idea of “problem-solving based meditation” that Culadasa, for example, describes in the appendix to The Mind Illuminated. We set a specific problem in our mind and anchor it, which might look something like this: 

Figure 7: A specific example of problem-solving-based meditation is with the purple block “fastened” to my attentional space whilst the rest can move around as I go for a walk or just sit and think. (Don’t worry about understanding the actual example.)

(You’re, however, correct in assuming that Squirrels are truly an important part of my mental space)

What you do is essentially anchor a topic in your attentional space, and you try to only allow thoughts adjacent to that topic into your head. The better you can keep your focus, the better you become at this.

Some evidence for this particular model is psychology research that shows that more cluttered rooms lead to higher creativity and research that shows that walks lead to higher creativity. This is supportive as we have more sensory experiences during walks, which is the same as in a cluttered room. 

In our model it is equivalent to increasing the magnitude of the arrows or the number of objects pressing for our attention as more of the total brain area that we have is squished up with more cognitive modules/ more variety in the thoughts that show up.

From empirical tests of this, I generally find that 40 minutes to an hour of this type of walk in nature usually allows interesting thoughts to come up. I like to think of this as black swan or unknown unknown farming as it allows thoughts that I would never have otherwise thought to come up

How did these models change my schedule?

I will now give you an example of what I do day to day as a consequence of these models that I have developed in the hope that you find ways to incorporate this into your life. 

Daily life

Following is how I apply these models to my daily routines:

One-hour morning sit

I have a one-hour meditation session each morning directly after waking up before I spend 4 hours doing deep work. I chain this with a cold shower right before to wake up properly. For the first 30 minutes of this meditation, I use a lightpad (I use this one) to get morning light in the cold dark country of Sweden.

This helps me spike my cortisol and set my circadian rhythm. It also gives me a focus boost when I need it the most. 

I recommend following The Mind Illuminated if you don’t know how to meditate.

Afternoon Yoga Nidra/Advanced Nap

To regain energy after my long deep work session I do a 30-40 min Yoga Nidra session which allows me to nap whilst I do a Open Minded Meditation in awareness. 

I personally use the “Meditations for Sleep” section on Waking Up but there are great YouTube videos under the name of “Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR)” for this as well.

After work sit or Sauna sit

To relax the autonomic nervous system after a day of work, I usually do a shorter sit (30 minutes). This works extra well in the sauna as the change in heat and increased tension helps with staying focused and aware. (I do this 2-3 times a week as I have a sauna at home)

(A Sauna protocol that you can combine with focus-based or awareness-based meditation at the same time.)

 

Special meditations

These are some of the more useful one-off meditations that I do for specific purposes. 

Open creative walking meditation

Sometimes, you know that you have a lot of thoughts swimming in the background of your head about specific topics. If this is the case for me, then I, from time to time, choose to go on a 2-hour walk with the intention of allowing whatever needs to pop up to pop up in certain areas. 

This is usually work-related for me and I then only allow thoughts related to that to pop up, if something else pops up I redirect my mind to the topic at hand.

Problem-solving meditation

I have a 2-hour walk in nature that I use in order to solve specific problems. These can be arbitrary problems but I find them helpful for technical challenges especially. Similar to the open creative walk but only for areas related to a specific problem.

 

General Interactions

These are the more important smaller things that I try to do in everyday interactions as a consequence of my meditation practice. 

Six-stage preparation for time-boxed tasks

I try to do a six-stage preparation before each time-boxed task that I do. This ensures that I

1. Know why I’m working on something, 
2. Know what I will be doing, 
3. Focus on the causes and not the outcome
4. Have gratitude for the chance to work on this & diligence as a consequence
5. Am especially vigilant about avoiding thoughts that were distracting beforehand

(I skip the last posture step)

Open-hearted awareness in social situations

Through insight meditation & loving-kindness practice I have unlocked a part of me that was a lot more hidden before, namely open-hearted awareness. Imagine that you spend all of your focus on the other people in the room as well as your emotions whilst interacting with others in an effortless and natural way. 

This is essentially what open-hearted awareness allows you to do, and I experience a lot more joy in my life as a consequence. (Shift Into Freedom teaches how to do this)

It makes me a lot more effective, empathetic and caring/loving in social interactions. 

Conclusion

I have as accurately as I can portrayed my current mental model of meditation, and I hope it, together with the potential protocols, helps you become more effective in both your work and personal life.

Summary Of the post

1. Amphitheatre Model of Mind: We began by examining the amphitheatre model of mind, drawing on Global Workspace Theory to understand how our cognitive processes compete for attention in an evolutionary optimization process.
2. Focus and Attention Management: We discussed techniques to increase focus by enlarging our attentional window and stabilizing attention. This includes practical steps like improving alertness through sleep, exercise, and diet, and controlling what enters our awareness.
3. Meditation Practices: The heart of our discussion centered on two meditation techniques: Focused Attention Meditation (FAM) and Open-Minded Meditation (OMM). These practices help in unifying sub-minds and increasing sensitivity to mental activities, thereby enhancing focus and awareness.
4. Creativity through Meditation: We explored how meditation can boost creativity by allowing the default mode network to engage in 'Scatterfocus', fostering the connection of distant ideas and thoughts.
5. Application in Daily Life: The post concluded with a personal account of how these models and meditation practices have been integrated into daily routines, from morning meditation sessions to problem-solving walks, illustrating their practical applicability.

My Personal Protocols:

• Morning Meditation Routine:
  • Begin the day with a one-hour meditation session. (Optional cold shower before to increase alertness)
  • Use a lightpad for the first 30 minutes to help set the circadian rhythm and boost focus.
• Afternoon Energy Renewal:
  • Engage in a 30-40 minute Yoga Nidra session to rejuvenate energy.
  • This practice combines the benefits of napping with open-minded meditation.
• Evening Relaxation:
  • Conclude the workday with a 30-minute meditation session to relax the nervous system.
  • Incorporating sauna sessions 2-3 times a week can enhance this practice.
• Specialized Meditation Practices:
  • Open Creative Walking Meditation: A 2-hour walk with the intention of letting relevant thoughts arise, particularly useful for problem-solving and creative thinking.
  • Problem-Solving Meditation: Similar to the creative walk but focused on specific issues, especially effective in natural settings.
• Day-to-Day Mindfulness:
  • Apply a six-stage preparation before each task to ensure focus and purpose.
  • Practice open-hearted awareness in social interactions to enhance empathy and effectiveness.

End note: 

If you give meditation a whole-hearted attempt with the right view, the fruit will come. This is a guarantee from all meditation masters from the last 3500 years. 

Yet this shouldn’t be enough for you to believe this, meditation is an n=1 science which means that you have to go out and experience these things yourself before you can determine whether these models are true or not. In this way, meditation is truly a Bayesian approach.

By following TMI for 45 minutes a day for 3 months you time-box an experiment where you can gather more evidence that this is true or not. Yet this might be too much for you and that is okay. I spent two years doing 10 minutes of meditation each day before I read Kaj Sotala's stuff and decided to try The Mind Illuminated protocol. 

 Yet if becoming more focused and creative interests you, I highly recommend it. 

P.S.

For me, this is no longer the main motivation for my practice as I have discovered profound freedom and peace from open-hearted awareness. There is a Tibetan practice called Mahamudra or The Great Embrace that I’m currently following. 

You reject all extremes and realise that you are both the wave and the ocean, the world is both undetermined and real at the same time. On one level, everything is already perfect as it is, yet on another level, there is great suffering in the world that you want to alleviate. 

Another way to describe it is phenomenologically experiencing Godel’s incompleteness theorem. What you’re left with is Pure Being, Pure Knowing and Pure Loving. You realise the arbitrariness of the boundary that you’ve created around your “self” and you can see the path to the end of suffering. 

In short, it’s pretty cool; you should try it.

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