December 2006

Decentralized networks of empowered individuals create strong bonds that knit together groups of people who see their advantage within their diversity. There doesn’t have to be density in these groups to create strength. Putting human interaction in its rightful position means encouraging autonomous agents to recognize their power in unity. This is what constitutes a good relationship. A decentralized network is a parallel processing bundle who’s sum is more than its parts. The details within the individual components are secondary to the unique way those are expressed within the group. The potentiality for overcoming challenges is exponentially multiplied by the number of freethinking individuals involved in solving the problem. If the challenge is seen as a limitation to the expression of the individuals participating in it then becomes everyones interest to overcome the limitation. This is a complex unity which should be dynamic in nature. In fact nature has already written the operations manual for this complex dynamic unity.

The lone wolf, rugged individualist ideal actually fails in nature. The past belief was that if you could hit the hardest you were the strongest. Unity was employed as another conceptual trick to try to get groups of people to stay separated from other groups of people outside of the first groups definition of “unity” The idea being that more people hitting would hit harder. The fact that the definition was ambiguous enough to be flexed showed that the real power was not in the amassing of like minded individuals but the control of the information surrounding the definition. This is where we are at today. We have the power together to flex those definitions into something new. The individual who rigidly believes his own definitions finds himself on a very lonely disempowered island driving their military inspired SUV while wrestling in his mind with justifications like, “its a free country I can do what I want”. But this is actually a very sad condition. The isolation that starts deep in someones mind may have come from their past in an environment that took away their individual agency and spawned a lifetime of searching for their power in the material world. The real power today is in adhesives.

The things that bind us together, the intangibles of helping individuals off of their islands will be the currency of the future. The value of the content we create not for the advertisers but for each other should define our occupational worth. Our success will be measured by the amount of individual, creative problem solving power that we bring to the group. What we say to each other should be evaluated by the amount that it heals the whole. Separation is dead. Long live communication. Long live the network.

Techgnosis as a process is easy to see in the arts. In every artistic endeavor, the intention of the creator to express a non tangible idea through some physical medium is what creates its value. The medium is the technology. Paints, instruments, light, fabric, cameras, ect… nature didn’t make these things we did. Why would we develop the technology to express ourselves if it didn’t in some way feedback into the whole of society. This is where technology can be seen to steer the creation process. What we create is an expression of ourselves but a projection of the technology. This is easy to understand in an art like painting. It appears to be more abstract in manufacturing an automobile for example but it is not. The conceptual cognitive processes are the same for both. In fact I believe that the creation process is probably similar across all fields. It is the intention of the creator that differs.

Things are created out of a perceptual lacking. We believe we are missing something. Out of what came before us we work to fill that void within. Which is why so much undeveloped art is focused on the expression of pain. Artists, just starting out with art as a technology to express themselves tend to produce very raw interpretations of the easiest thing to express, their pain. This type of creation although personal is very selfish. The viewer is asked to engage in a misery that is not their own. Not something you would want to put on your wall. Here we can already start to see the connection between technology, intention, content creation, projection, viewer, and communication. The technology is the medium; so while you might not want to hang a sad painting on your wall you would like to see two cars crash into a giant flaming heart in the middle of a downtown intersection as an expression. The good artists are the ones who understand the harmony of all of the above mentioned connections. They also create new technologies if one doesn’t already exist through which they can express themselves.

Once you have become adept at listening to the harmony of the components and knowing how to communicate in subtler ways even more complex intentions then you have the ability to manifest the change you want through your art. Then you are creating mirrors and engaging Techgnosis. In the process of practice you will see yourself change through the creation of your ideas and your ideas will change the world around you. Essentially the reasons for creation change. There is a trinity of expression between yourself yourmedium and youraudience. When you are creating from that harmonic place you are imbuing your art with the spirituality that creates artifacts. Because of what they give to the world, artifacts have real value. What you become in the process of creating artifacts effects everyone you meet. Aside from your art you have become more valuable. This value is transposable. It then is not about the artifacts, it is about the expression of your highest potential at all times through all things. At this point the technology can fall away and the next round of creation begins.

Observe how the intentions change the outcome. If you are using your artistic ability to produce things with the intention being to sell those things at a specific price; your goal is the price not value. This goal feeds back into the technology used and the intention of the creation. What you get is a product that reflects its actual value. Realistically most consumable products then have a short usable lifespan and degrade as the perception of them shifts into refuse. This is a mistake. The people that have interacted with this product have not been encouraged to move in a natural direction towards their own success. The disposable culture reflects poorly on every one of us. It is time that we recognize our power as creators to affect the entire world and its people. There is value in creating artifacts not just economic value but the value within us that when shared uplifts all of humanity. It is our challenge to create only the things that better remind us of our opportunities to climb to the next rung of evolution. Everything else is just in the way. D

I wanted to clarify a bit of thought before going on with this project. Technology is a tool for examining our consciousness. Not an end of its own. The “why “of our ability to create what we do can be asked of technology. The placement of value in the world on certain instruments is what is interesting. Technology is a useful metaphor for spirituality because there is less dogma attached to it. There is less historical baggage consuming the study of the observation of spirituality through technology. People who identify personally with their beliefs are not likely to get offended when critical analysis is applied to their tech, (except Macintosh zealots :). Also at this point in history, technology is seen as lifeless. The perception is that its embodiment is that of a benevolent and inanimate set of objects; that the responsibility of its use is in the hands of its operators. I am tending to disagree. I feel that technology has an agenda, in the same way that the illuminati has an agenda. It is a shadow scene of decisions made in the dark reactionverse that opposes all actions.

Most of our thought is dedicated to the physical incarnation of our ideas as manifested through our creations. The “push” of action or the forward movement of life in time. Our days are spent working on the creation of our insight or that of our bosses. Each action we take creates swirls of reaction. The byproducts of our consciousness that form intentions of their own are the unseen forces that allow technology to become the double edged sword. When these unseen reactions collide it appears that there was some kind of intention at work. As the universe increases in complexity so to do these emanations of creation appear to become more cognizant. This is like an automaton that is constantly evolving to become more lifelike. Or in other words a developing artificial intelligence.

What we have is a mirror of ourselves developing and increasing in resolution. The byproduct of our technological innovations speaks volumes of our underlying subconscious. The tools we create reflect back into us our unintended expression of the frustration we feel towards our own embodiment. Techgnosis examines the space between creation and reflection and attempts to heal the separation through exposing the subconscious intentions within the things we create. It is a type of circular logic found in the symbol of the serpent biting its own tail. If technology can be seen as a metaphor for our spiritual movement we would be able to significantly locate ourselves within evolution and also have a point of feedback of our actions in relation to where we are going. Basically, the byproduct or spiritual essence of technology can be used as a compass that guides us into the future.

If we continue to build weapons technology it is a reflection of childish selfishness and anachronistic thinking of an era that no longer exists. The feedback is that we will destroy ourselves in the quest for separation. We can observe in the removal of the Berlin wall a system of technology losing is relevance that should be projected into other barrier belief manifestations. We are going to have to shift our awareness into fields that will help us all overcome the collapse. Technology for its own sake is dead. Technology for the benefit of thoughtful navigation throughout our progress into the future will become the real activity of the content creators. Its up to us to take control of technology’s course by getting control of ourselves and the reasons behind our creations.

The famous philosopher George Carlin used to say, “anyone who drives faster than you is crazy and anyone who drives slower than you is an idiot.” When you stand in a crowd and look at other people, what do you see? Crazies or idiots? Where does that leave you? Have you ever considered what the actual action of seeing really is? The mechanics, i’m sure are complex, but in its essence our eyes take in light. They absorb the light that carries data to our brain. Notice that I said “data” not information. Thats because in its raw state before it is processed it is nothing more than potentiality. If you were unable to process the light signal you would just see chaos or noise. The same thing would happen if you were in a white or black room. A very interesting set of things occur between reception and perception. First we know that light vibrates at different rates bringing color information to our eyes. In this case it is information because it has been preprocessed by whatever has absorbed and reflected, essentially filtered a portion of the spectrum. That object has its own frequency as well. When the light gets to our eyes more information is lost as our eyes shave the spectrum or filter again into what we call visible light. What was once a chaotic flood of light bouncing around the environment has now lost both data and information to become processable by our brain.

Crazies or idiots? That is a lot of information to lose. Things like, how old their car is, fuel consumption awareness, worn out tires, or German engineering and tons of traction all contribute. The point is that our generalizations have shed more information than they have gained. Information entropy occurs everywhere. Consider the information lost in a solid set of conservative values. What happens then at the point of perception? The tools we have created to manufacture generalizations and decrease the processing burden on our brain work like exactly so many other things around here, they filter. Filters separate and polarize the infinite into digestible bits.
Vision is a two part process. The act of seeing is as much about giving as receiving. Once the light has entered our eyes it gets processed by the brain. Somewhere in there the information bounces around connecting to memories and actions. This set of past experiences creates the perceptual filters of what we are observing. It is at this point that the information reverses direction and begins heading back out of our eyes carrying the processed information of our filters back into the environment. Windows of the soul they say. More like mirrors of our environment. In quantum physics this act of observation is what collapses superposition. We can see that perception does in fact create changes in the environment.

The best cameras in the world are known for their sharp optics. The clearer the lens the less distorted the image on the film. The more “real” we would say. Why would this be valued? The more accurate the reproduction the more valuable the lens. If a lens shaves off certain details the image is lacking “truth”. I think its the same for people. The more light/information you can receive without discoloration the more likely to be “true” or “real” your actions.
Techgnosis is about retaining as much information as possible and acting through direct experience with as unmediated of a perception as you can. I call this “the flow” Its a conversation with the world around you. Your ability to listen and articulate truth should represent your actual value. You can actually create filters within yourself that amplify the light back out. I call this “polishing you mirror” I will write about this next time.

The quote, “the only constant is change” applies when thinking in terms of the infinite. Infinity itself being a state of superposition. The constant change of state between being and not being looks very much like chaos. This chaos, from a techgnostic perspective, is opportunity for movement forward. Existing in the infinite chaos is like floating in space. Suddenly all that matters is navigation and moving forward. What you are moving towards can only be answered uniquely within each individual. The secret is that once we start sharing our direction with each other we find ourselves on similar trajectories. What becomes special is how we get there. Each person creates their own tunnel reality out of experiences and perceptions. Every expression is a manifest of individual understanding (ego). Every book, a single voice. Every movie, couch, table, anything made by man is a symbol of our likeness to the creator. Not by what it is but because it is. This is the great understanding of freewill. “You can create anything, What are you going to create?”

The television is a window into the minds of the masses. It takes huge numbers of people to create the spectacles and even more to absorb them. It is like a very sensitive consciousness measuring device. The feedback in the tool is the ratings system. The less attention given to a particular show the quicker it withers and dies. What makes a show “sticky“? Very low frequency, usually circuit1, biological and circuit2 territorial stimulus with brief spikes to circuit4 social/sexual. Explosions and material possessions, sexual interlude blah blah blah we’ve seen it. Why do we keep feeding this stuff to ourselves? We can create anything! Yet we stay locked on the same formula of crap. Its because we lack the development of the tools needed to perceive uniquely.

So lets tear into this. Popular culture is a huge bank of energy. A force that supersedes religion because it thrives on our biological embodiment and rarely engages the immune/defense system of our consciousness. Popular culture inspires passivity while religion asks you to participate. What happens if we attempt to become like the images we see? You would be thrown in jail. The cultural immune system would suppress you. You are not allowed to act out the things you see on the tv. A good thing for all of us. Examine the power structure for a moment. You have a huge amount of energy going into image creation that no one is allowed to achieve in their own lives. The pinnacle of success is dangled just out of reach enough to keep us locked in a cycle of striving but never really able to have. The proverbial “carrot on a string” trick. The hierarchical power structure loves it. We are so busy striving for something we cant have that we don’t notice we have lost ourselves in the process. If we don’t know who we are its easy to tell us anything. Here is the magic though. The power of content creation is finding its way back into our hands. We are slowly moving off the treadmill into ourselves as the creators that we are. The trick is going to be keeping people mindful of their creations.

This is where the overwhelming decentralization of power that we see is leading us. Unfortunately we don’t have a solid infrastructure to catch and guide the newly found creators. All of our past systems were focused on getting us here. Now that we have made it, those systems seem so antiquated. I don’t believe we are the first people on this planet this close to freedom though. There have been past civilizations that have gotten here and failed. Buried by their own capacity and inability to manage their creations. We have to leapfrog the coming collapse.

The thing to be learned in the framework of popular culture is what success feels like. This is tricky so let me explain. When you are successful it leads you to perceive opportunities and create more success. Success becomes a headspace that you carry into new experiences. However success is just a headspace. It is not hiding in the material somewhere. When a successful headspace is stimulated by the material it is something that occurs inside you. Headspaces or perceptions are the software we carry around with us. The material reminds us of what our goal feels like. It stimulates those feelings. So within the framework of pop culture, take from its huge efforts the reminder of yourself as a successful creator. You can hold the frequency in your mind as you go into the world and take action. You will find happening more and more that you will be successful. With your new headspace you will find yourself asking, “How will what I am about to create help other people find success within themselves?”