serenity
- Jason W
- Aug 18, 2024
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 16
The Serenity Prayer is a well-known invocation - it has been readily shared around taverns and temples alike. My first exposure was as a young boy, after my mother attended an Alcoholics Anonymous program; it has left a lasting impression. Here is a popular rendition:
God, give me grace to accept with Serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.
Consider: "distinguish the one from the other." I encourage you to explore principles of nonconsciousness, popularized by Katherine Hayles. Her background combines material chemistry from CalTech with a PhD in English Literature - no surprise that this hybrid between the arts and sciences pushes the horizon on "thinking" and "cognition." First, let's look at conscĭentĭa shaping, greatly simplified to these gists:
(1) Consciousness: your immediate awareness, perceivable sensing, and decision making - I hope you are consciously reading this sentence right now.
(2) Subconsciousness: below threshold of awareness, often akin to autopilot and influence - the drive to work and morning coffee are familiar examples (Freud liked one, not the other).
(3) Unconsciousness: in this context, thoughts that are buried deep. Like wayyy deep. Think repressed childhood memories. Some are exploring epigenetics and unconsciousness.
(4) Nonconsciousness: systems that are occurring, without realization: your ability to smell juxtaposed to a hawk's vision - try to manually change filtration rate on your right kidney.
With these, we consider that distinguishing one from another is not feasible - aligned with the previous definitions, there are: (1) things we perceive entirely, (2) things we somewhat perceive, (3) things we are not at all aware of, and (4) things that we are not able to perceive, ever. Of course, this is very simplified, but we love a ride into the unknown on the shoulders of giants.
Edelman's theory of consciousness discusses how the brain makes connections, starting with 100's of trillions of neurons, gradually pruning down to keep valuable functional clusters of connections. These are strengthened and reorganized constantly, in an effort to continuously improve what we value as cognition. Here is my take on connecting the dots:
(1) When we appropriately activate our consciousness, our connections improve in quality (strengthen the important clusters, identify and prune the unnecessary ones).
(2,3) When we accept that there is cognition below the threshold of awareness, the better quality our cognition becomes (wasting no energy on balancing those that need activation and those that can stay below threshold).
(4) When we distinguish that there are things we cannot possibly perceive, our connections improve (relieve the mind of the unnecessary burden associated with finding the unfindable).
I ask for your Serenity, Courage, and Wisdom, through all things, perceivable or not. I also ask that you take a break from cognization - go touch grass and get some barefoot walking in.
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