The Pinnacle of Understanding and Apathy
I believe myself to have reached a substantive pinnacle in my understanding of the world, most especially in the face of extreme cognitive dissonance as caused by understanding that, in theory, “everything can be predicted.”
The following is an expert from my Journal:
June 14, 2010
I experience a strong measure of dissonance when thinking about (1) the idea that the world just “is” versus (2) the ideology that we are the masters of our own destiny. In reality these dualities are quite opposite; however, there couldn’t be anything further from the (1) truth and (2) what we must consciously believe to improve / move forward. After all, how does one move forward when understanding that everything can be predicted and is, if one had all inputs to an equation. One must rather understand that we are part of this equation, as an independent variable (given the perspective previously illustrated, with predictive results as dependent variables). As part of this equation, the very thoughts that we express right now are part of these interactions. Moreover, our choices are part of this.
This negative feedback that we are “blessed” with, combined with a specialized compartment allowing us to choose / inhibit actions (our prefrontal cortices et al) and specialized imaginative compartments, allow us to manage our own destinies. I suppose what we have to realize is that, although everything can be predicted, the very “actions” which result in our current “thoughts” are superfluous and part of that all-encompassing equation – however, as the amalgamate entity that we exist as (the so called organisms of “humans”), we are apt and built to continually improve and sustain ourselves as this amalgamation. We have goals as an entity, and we must be conscious of that and perform to that end. In an observatory perspective, that is just it – the cognitive dissonance is simply a result of that understanding which arises from the conflicting perspectives of (1) being external to yourself, while (2) “being” that exact self.
This cognitive dissonance is somewhat predictable when putting yourself in these two distinct perspectives of cognition/thought, as they are two distinct perspectives. One is relatively objective and “immune” to the goals of self, whereas the other (#2) is inherently governed by the goals and biases of self.
In conclusion and summation, we–as amalgamations of sub-entities with a common goal–must function as such. We can leverage this understanding to accomplish goals for ourselves. In a near completely “desensitized-to-self” perspective (losing my concept of self), the aforementioned understanding and conclusion is what we much come to — we are part of this equation, and we have tools to allow us to improve ourselves. We have to put aside the cognitive dissonance, even in the face of such an enormously complex and disruptive understanding; and move towards those positive goals which we are apt and built to achieve. We cannot let this understanding impede on such goals, for those goals are what we are based and meant to accomplish as entities (we are meant to improve and grow sustain-ably, with minimal effort… our goals are to maximize benefits for ourselves and minimize costs). Let’s do it.
