I would like to explore the differences between the two tiers of consciousness. The first tier is purely physical; we are not consciously aware of what we are doing at the first tier apart from the physicality of our involvement. Every move we make throughout our lives is guided by first-tier processes from the simplest scratch to the complex, extended performances of a concert pianist. The movement sequences that take place at the first tier are closely guided as we develop and refine them with practice. Nevertheless, their continuous flow remains unknowable, outside the grasp of the conscious, differentiated world we create at the verbal-symbolic tier.
We create a differentiated, finite world of knowledge from this continuous core of undifferentiated physical experience. The differentiated world we know is developed from the physical life we live. Verbal-symbolic movement sequences are constructed on the grounding established at the physical core and function as labels for accessing that core. They add speech sound movements needed to articulate words and gestural movements that symbolically represent actions.
Our experiences at the physical core take place in a continuous flow because we maintain ongoing physical contact with the undifferentiated realities we encounter. The actions initiated are often subtle, nuanced and complexly determined. Imagine incorporating all of the available visceral processes and multiple sensory inputs all at once all the time into the things we do. Imagine further establishing an unvoiced core of experience that incorporates all of this complexity into the physical response structures that are developed. The result is in a far richer core of behavioral guidance than any linear sequence of events we could describe.
Although we lose direct contact with our rich core of experience when we differentiate entities and events in the verbal-symbolic tier, we gain a sense of mastery and control. We distance ourselves from our continuous core as we articulate a differentiated, symbolically designated realm, our conscious version of the world. We have a sense of control over the smaller, simpler world we create. This establishes a prototype for the scientific method: simplify the situation by defining variables in ways that can be measured, formulate a hypothetical causal sequence regarding their relationship and then test its validity.
The development of the conscious world we create at the verbal-symbolic tier is likely made possible by the personal significance we develop toward others through mirroring. These significant others provide a basis for the differentiation that creates a world of entities and events. Personal significance arises from the mirrored visceral responses we share with the others we encounter. We inhibit the continuous flow of physical experience at the first tier as we dwell in the presence of these significant others. This pause in the continuous flow creates the gap in time and space necessary for the development of consciousness at the verbal-symbolic tier. Our thoughts, perceptions and feelings represent entities and events that we have differentiated because they have personal significance for us.
Comments (2)
I just read this really interesting article by Evan Thompson that I thought you’d like: https://iai.tv/articles/reality-is-not-a-controlled-hallucination-auid-3517?utm_source=cityam&utm_medium=media_partner&utm_campaign=h26&utm_content=solusnewsletter
Not quite your argument or topic, but I thought you’d find it interesting nonetheless.
I used to think that my consciousness was a more or less continuous stream of mostly coherent internal speech. Now when I am honest with myself I am aware that moment to moment my consciousness is filled with repetitions, speech fragments, sensations, impulses, fantasies, perceptions and a host of other pieces of experience and awarenesses. Past and future constantly present. Somewhat disconcerting. If I practice “lantern” consciousness this is more my experience. If I practice “spotlight” consciousness it reduces the chaos somewhat and I can return to a more reassuring sense of continuity. My question has always been, what part of me is deciding where the spotlight is to focus? That must be the “real” me. But I think now that “the decider” it is just another “self” which is also a construction, just like all the other selves that we contain. We are an integrated body and mind. The sense of agency comes legitimately from the whole, not a part of the whole.
Greatly enjoying your blog and book.