Buffers, Programs and "the Predator's Mind"

[paralleloscope]

Re: More on Understanding the Machine

Here are some supplementary concepts to what you are framing;
apperception of imprints, challenging formatory thinking
^ a word which sprung from the above neuro text which I had to look up.

...Leibniz says that apperception is “consciousness, or the reflective knowledge of this internal state.” He adds that this is “something not given to all souls, nor at all times to a given soul.”

Now apperception is an extremely useful word in pedagogics, and offers a convenient name for a process to which every teacher must frequently refer. But it verily means nothing more than the act of taking a thing into the mind. It corresponds to nothing peculiar or elementary in psychology, being only one of the innumerable results of the psychological process of association of ideas; and psychology itself can easily dispense with the word, useful as it may be in pedagogics.
...
There is no reason, if we are classing the different types of apperception, why we should stop at sixteen rather than sixteen hundred. There are as many types of apperception as there are possible ways in which an incoming experience may be reacted on by an individual mind. A little while ago, at Buffalo, I was the guest of a lady who, a fortnight before, had taken her seven-year-old boy for the first time to Niagara Falls. The child silently glared at the phenomenon until his mother, supposing him struck speechless by its sublimity, said, "Well, my boy, what do you think of it?" to which, "Is that the kind of spray I spray my nose with?" was the boy's only reply. That was his mode of apperceiving the spectacle. You may claim this as a particular type, and call it by the Greek name of rhinotherapeutical apperception, if you like; and, if you do, you will hardly be more trivial or artificial than are some of the authors of the books.

http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/tt14.html

imprinting

Formatory Thinking

The formatory apparatus is Ouspensky's term for the mechanical aspect of the lower intellectual center. The natural function of this center is storage of information and its associative retrieval. The term formatory thinking Is used when this function replaces the less mechanical aspects of thinking. Formatory thinking is characterized by insensitivity to context, black and white statements or strictly agreeing or disagreeing. Repeating by rote and not taking specific circumstance into account are the main characteristics of formatory thinking.

Mouravieff states the the human intellect is blind to the 'third force.' This is specially true of formatory thinking.

 

[Buddy]

Re: More on Understanding the Machine

Thanks Gertrudes and Freyr. Fwiw, it doesn't matter how the thread goes. I just want something to be useful for someone. :)

I wanted to share something involving "Progressive Relaxation":

Edmund Jacobson's PR takes about 13 weeks to learn for the average person. You do certain specific exercises. You learn that each of the long skeletal muscles has a 'sweet spot' - a particular place where the control signal originates. This control signal activates the muscle by contracting it, and depending on the intensity of the signal, influences neighboring tendons, organs, etc.

You have to experiment and learn the location of the sweet spots yourself, because you have to be able to feel it's activation - it's state and degree of tension. If you take a PR course, they will tell you when you are correct and when you are wrong, but will not tell you where it is.

I haven't taken a course, but I've used self-observation and a certain relaxation exercise to do two main experiments with it just to see what happens, if anything.

The first time, I was lying in bed at night. As soon as my breathing became regular, I began scanning my body from inside the skin. Starting with the fingertips, going up to the shoulders, down the thorax, down the legs to the toes, relaxing all the major muscles that I could, saving the neck and head for last. I pay particular attention to the neck, because it's said that the more you can relax the speech muscles, the less you 'hear' internal dialog. Also worth noting, I suppose, is that you don't have to close your eyes. They will close themselves when you're able to fully relax (elongate) the muscles around the eyes. At this point, visualizations can easily cease as well because automatic visualizations are said to be powered by the movements of the eyes (which are moved by the attached muscles).

During my first experiment, I made it to the point where my eyes closed and I felt such a profound relaxation, peace and calm that it was amazing. It was like observing the surface of a still lake. As soon as I made this observation, I sensed an energy field in the general shape of my body. For some reason I wanted to focus on my right shoulder, so when I did, it was like my awareness was this energy field and it began to flow towards the shoulder I focused on and the blood followed this flow. At that moment, I had the perception that I was in my body awareness and as soon as I started telling this to myself, I rose up out of it and came awake.

In the second experiment, I only had about 30 minutes to relax, so I layed down in the bed and followed the initial relaxation procedure I described above. This time, my eyes closed a bit early (I thought) and instantly I saw myself picking a tune on a bass guitar. The tune was beautiful and original! Now I've had very few dreams involving music, and when I did, they always involved a piano or conducting an orchestra. I never even considered playing bass guitar, but there I was, sitting on a stool, playing such a beautiful tune that I started imagining a melody to accompany it. It was so beautiful to me, my emotions of intense appreciation engaged. When I noticed what I was feeling, I started rising back to wakefulness. For the next few moments, I really, really wanted to consciously remember that tune, because it was gorgeous, but I couldn't bring it into the awake state.

Other than this, all I've done so far during the day is to occasionally scan my muscles, noting local and generalized tenseness, relaxing these muscles as much as I can, including the throat, and observing the effects on the internal dialog and feelings/sensations.

At this point, I can report the ability to experience a definite connection between the intellectual, emotional and motor centers on a moment-by-moment basis and a corresponding diminishment in internal dialog, biochemical sensations and inner visuals with increased relaxation of the muscles.

 

[anart]

Re: More on Understanding the Machine

Edmund Jacobson's PR takes about 13 weeks to learn for the average person.

Or, you could just practice EE and get immediate benefits. ;)

 

[Buddy]

Re: More on Understanding the Machine

Edmund Jacobson's PR takes about 13 weeks to learn for the average person.

Or, you could just practice EE and get immediate benefits. ;)

Indeed, and I do! It's my first love...(pipe breath can't be beat!) and my introduction to the most profound relaxation and most beautiful experience I've ever had! :)

 

[truth seeker]

Re: More on Understanding the Machine

I'm curious then, what benefits does Progressive Relaxation have over EE?

edit: clarity

 

[Buddy]

Re: More on Understanding the Machine

I'm curious then, what benefits does Progressive Relaxation have over EE?

I don't know, really. If I gave the impression that PR and EE were somehow competitors, I apologize. Certainly not!

I was thinking that by providing material on a process that had already been mapped out, then one might not only see how properly probing one's own body and tension states can yield useful information, but one might actually be able to get good at it fairly quickly.

If I had the option, I would probably take the course. Not to practice PR for relaxation per se, but as an adjunct to the Work of self-observation. Perhaps to gain the same precisely detailed knowledge and experience of muscular control via control signals in order to gain more accurate perceptions of what's going on in the mechanical system at a specific time of day or while in a specific circumstance.

We know from the Wave that the predator's mind is the body-mind - the neural network of the limbic system and its connections thoroughout the body. We know that some memories and experiences are stored in the body. We know there's a relationship between states of physical tension, psychological tension and cognitive rigidity; so, working backwards from a more efficient and precise knowledge of neuromuscular activity, it seems to stand to reason that deliberate, relaxation of specific areas of specific muscles at specific times, would also release psychological tensions, loosening the cognitive clampdown in negative feedback loops so that feelings, thought streams and cognitions can flow and be observed more easily.

This might make the effort to understand 'what's up' a little easier.

If you were to lay your arm on the desk in front of you, horizontal to the floor, and raise your hand in the vertical position, it might make more sense. What muscles do you activate in order to raise the hand? Most people focus on the wrist area, but the muscle that is responsible is the upper forearm and the control signal is a nerve cluster/pressure point on top of the forearm, more towards the elbow. If one were having a problem with chronic tension or some degree of spasms involving the hand in a vertical direction (for example), one would know exactly where the control signal is originating from and maybe be able to trace a source for signal being sent to that forearm area. (This was a freebie that was provided in the book).

In this sense, PR training just lets you know how deeply it is possible to consciously relax a muscle - in the 3 to 5 microvolt range (or below, perhaps, with bio-feedback training) in order to immediately address an unwanted problem.

I'm not trained in PR, so the most I can do is a version of the body scanning. The last time I did this resulted in some embarrassment, but for the sake of this post I will say that there was an incident that had tensed me up, inducing the sensations associated with annoyance and anger at someone running a 'button-pushing' routine that I would have called a 'jerk' at one time. As I probed, scanned, observed and relaxed certain muscles, I realized that, in addition to the sensations of back and forth energy and tensions in the arms, chest, abdomen, neck and face and the sensations of chemical soup being stirred up, there was, in the core of this thing, a strong impression of a toddler who had lost his bottle and was very unhappy about the situation. I knew then, that this was about the predator not being fed and I just let myself experience what was there, mentally noting and recording what I could until I could no longer perceive those impressions and sensations.

I suppose All is One and the past can still be alive in the present until we've fully matured?

 

[obyvatel]

Re: More on Understanding the Machine

I encountered a muscle relaxation technique which is very similar to the PR technique in Systema martial art book on breathing. The emphasis was on consciously tensing isolated muscle groups as one breathes in through the nose, hold the tension and the breath for a short while and then release the tension with a long out-breath through the mouth. While the term pipe breath was not used in the description, the whole process works most naturally with pipe breath in my experience. After working on isolated muscle groups of the whole body progressing from the legs upwards, a wave relaxation technique was suggested. In the wave method, one breathes in and starts tensing the muscles from the legs working upwards and as the in-breath ends, the tension wave has reached the top of the body and the whole body is rigid with conscious tension. Then with the out-breath through the mouth, the wave moves in the other direction progressively releasing the tension starting from the top of the body and ends with the legs getting relaxed.
[quote author=truth seeker]
I'm curious then, what benefits does Progressive Relaxation have over EE?
[/quote]
When practiced in isolation (without EE) these types of relaxation techniques help in becoming more aware of the body and the tensions we hold unconsciously. My understanding is that these techniques instruct the moving center to retrain and store the sensations of relaxation in its memory. Habitual tensions have become routine and hence escapes our awareness. When this tension is consciously applied and intensified and then released in these techniques, the difference in sensation is quite profound. With continued practice, the moving center has now registered the sensation of relaxation and with attention, finds it easier to catch tensions in muscles when they spontaneously tend to occur in response to daily events or situations. I can surmise that with continued practice one could possibly identify and release the tensions as they occurred in real time ( I did not attain this level - so I am guessing). But my understanding is that without any accompanying emotional cleansing work (like EE), these moving center based techniques may not touch the core traumas which could have caused these habitual tensions to occur in the first place. So these muscular tensions can quickly be recognized and released at the physical level with PR based techniques without clearing out the underlying emotional layer traumas - osit.
But if these techniques are practiced in addition to EE, then the potential benefits could be greater - like what Bud is reporting. My personal experience is that after starting EE, I can sometimes recognize these "emotional tensions" as they arise and also realize that they are coming from past emotionally traumatic experiences and stop the automatic reaction patterns. When I succeed with this process, I think it is mainly operating with the emotional and intellectual centers with little moving center awareness. I sometimes practice moving center relaxation separately through breathing and slow movements (taichi) and also do a mental scan for body tensions at times when I can remember in the middle of daily work. I think it will be interesting to try to combine more moving center awareness when an emotional trigger event happens.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with the relaxation techniques Bud.

 

[truth seeker]

Re: More on Understanding the Machine

First of all Bud, there no need at all to apologize! I'm just genuinely interested:)

If I'm understanding both you and Obyvatel correctly, you're saying that what PR does is that it helps the individual to bring focus to and work on stress in the body at the time they occur. Is that correct?

 

[Buddy]

Re: More on Understanding the Machine

That sounds like a good way to look at it. What seems to set PR apart within the category of Stress Management is that a person learns precisely where to focus and to what extent it is possible to exercise control over the signal to "contract". :)

 

[Gertrudes]

Re: More on Understanding the Machine

When practiced in isolation (without EE) these types of relaxation techniques help in becoming more aware of the body and the tensions we hold unconsciously. My understanding is that these techniques instruct the moving center to retrain and store the sensations of relaxation in its memory. Habitual tensions have become routine and hence escapes our awareness. When this tension is consciously applied and intensified and then released in these techniques, the difference in sensation is quite profound. With continued practice, the moving center has now registered the sensation of relaxation and with attention, finds it easier to catch tensions in muscles when they spontaneously tend to occur in response to daily events or situations. I can surmise that with continued practice one could possibly identify and release the tensions as they occurred in real time ( I did not attain this level - so I am guessing).

I agree. And it has also been my experience that with continued practice one can indeed not only release, but "direct" the tensions at one's will.
Based in my experience, my current understanding is that for one's body to work effectively it is not only important to learn how to recognize tension, but to direct it. This is different from letting go, or relaxing. I would say that relaxing is a very important step, but it is step within the staircase. We can indeed let go, but if we learn how and where to direct this tension effectively, we will be using that energy for our own benefit, engaging the muscles involved differently and more effectively. As an example, this is when we start gaining energy during physical activity, rather then spending it and feeling more tired afterwords.

Putting the above within the context of the work and being able to deal with one's emotional centre by using the generated energy rather then waisting it is quite interesting. If I'm not off track, it seems to me that both centres have very similar ways of functioning. I suppose there is an inherent pattern.

If I'm understanding both you and Obyvatel correctly, you're saying that what PR does is that it helps the individual to bring focus to and work on stress in the body at the time they occur. Is that correct?

I don't mean to answer for Obyvatel and Bud, but only to share my own thoughts on this.
I haven't practiced PR specifically, only what seems to be similar techniques. From my current understanding of what has been described of PR, it seems it can be helpful in awakening one's awareness to one's own inner signals. That would include recognizing a sign of stress and being able to, with constant practice, deal with it at the precise moment it occurs.
What I find to be also important is that being able to deal with stress physically demands a resonating mental state. In other words, a mental state synchronous to one's physical ability to control physical stress.

Edit: changed sentence

 

[Acaja]

Re: More on Understanding the Machine

That reminds me of something called the Alexander Technique which helps to get rid of your body tensions as well. The technique works on the principle that the balance of our body is mainly due to the game between Gravity and and the balance of our Head. So one has to get his head totally free in order to allow a certain harmony in his movements.

The first time I read a book about it, two things really shocked me. Primero, the statement that we poor human beings were always dealing with Gravity (few months before, I didn't really know what was gravity, added to the fact that I just didn't care. So I presume I did accept the phenomenom without even knowing what it meant!) . So now that I was aware of Gravity I found it fun to "make my moves" while this vertical attraction was playing with me. I mean I could see it everywhere, and it helped me to observe myself to see how I was using my body in this "playground".

Segundo, there was a single tiny phrase that litteraly woke me up. The autor asked the simple question " Do you think you are using the RIGHT energy whenever you perform a movement ?" I could think about everything I was used to doing (brushing my teeth, grabbing a glass of water, sitting down, even moving my eyes without any muscular tension...) , the answer was always " Absolutely Not!" Trust me it's a hard day when you realise that you've misuded yourself for your entire life

But, again, the realisation made me smile, cause at least now I would be able to do something about it. Plus, it was helping me to become more aware in both physical and psychical senses. And as Gertrudes says, the more aware you are, the more effective your cancelling program abylity is

 

[Gertrudes]

Re: More on Understanding the Machine

Segundo, there was a single tiny phrase that litteraly woke me up. The autor asked the simple question " Do you think you are using the RIGHT energy whenever you perform a movement ?" I could think about everything I was used to doing (brushing my teeth, grabbing a glass of water, sitting down, even moving my eyes without any muscular tension...) , the answer was always " Absolutely Not!" Trust me it's a hard day when you realise that you've misuded yourself for your entire life Shocked

So true! Energy is completely misused. And I have to say that I don't think mainstream gyms are doing such a great job at helping people understand their own bodies and how to use them consciously and effectively, but quite the contrary. It saddens me because some people are genuinely interested in getting into tune with their own bodies, join a gym and are fed ideas of how to use and abuse isolated parts of their bodies to the detriment of the rest. Not to speak of the inherent sense of corrupted aesthetics of non functional bodies they are fed.

Sorry for this rant, I admit it touches a nerve when someone mentions "using the right energy to perform a movement"

 

[Stevie Argyl]

Re: More on Understanding the Machine

Acaja

I am aware this is going slightly off but continuing your Alexander Technique post. Are you aware that Alexander considered his technique as a method of exploring and inhibiting unwanted human reactions in the mental and emotional spheres and not just in the sense of physical re-education that the technique is mainly linked with today. A case of a man too far ahead of his time. If interested I think his best books are Use of the Self, Conscious Constructive control of the Individual, The Universal Constant in Living. Interestingly he developed an exercise which involves 'pipe' type breathing which re-educates breathing by highlighting thoracic tensions which interefere with breathing. If interested do find a qualified teacher. trying to teach oneself alexander technique is like trying to navigate north with a faulty compass wearing wrong prescription glasses.

 

[Acaja]

Re: More on Understanding the Machine

Acaja

I am aware this is going slightly off but continuing your Alexander Technique post. Are you aware that Alexander considered his technique as a method of exploring and inhibiting unwanted human reactions in the mental and emotional spheres and not just in the sense of physical re-education that the technique is mainly linked with today. A case of a man too far ahead of his time. If interested I think his best books are Use of the Self, Conscious Constructive control of the Individual, The Universal Constant in Living. Interestingly he developed an exercise which involves 'pipe' type breathing which re-educates breathing by highlighting thoracic tensions which interefere with breathing. If interested do find a qualified teacher. trying to teach oneself alexander technique is like trying to navigate north with a faulty compass wearing wrong prescription glasses.

Hello Steavie Argyll!

Thanks for the reply. Indeed, you're right in saying the technique has a deeper purpose, I will keep your books under review thanks a lot! Well actually I've found a qualified teacher (they are only 15 in France!) and ,call this luck, one of them appeared to be living only one mile away from my location ! So I've tried a few lessons since then, and then I stopped, making the concious choice to learn from these lessons and seek the remainder on my own. I always leave some place for self learning so there is always place for newness, freshness and audacity.

And when you think of it, was it not what Alexander did ?

 

[Stevie Argyl]

Re: More on Understanding the Machine

Hi Ajaca

And when you think of it, was it not what Alexander did ?

Indeed he did, but beware he also said that in 30 years of teaching not a single person could 'do what he did' as they could not abandon trust in what felt familiar, that is: they always fell back on relying on what 'felt right' to them when left alone - and he found it took them an average of 20 to 30 lessons before they had the confidence to do what 'felt wrong'.

As an experiment it might be interesting to be your own teacher for 6 months then go back to a teacher and make sure you are moving in the right direction and not merely practicing a 'new habit'.