Legacy Theory
Thursday, October 27th, 2022 09:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioLet it be recorded that on a gorgeous autumn night, just before Halloween 2022, I got home from work to find on my stoop... the box with the cat climber kit inside it!..
It took about 90 minutes to assemble the structure, which is as tall as I am, with two kitty caves, two kitty hammocks, and two kitty high perch seats... for two little kitties!
And of course, now that it's all together, they're ignoring it!
But... I'm sure, later tonight, they'll begin to investigate it. And by tomorrow night, it should be fully commissioned by Snoop & Prowly.
--<>--
In other news, since tomorrow is The Friday before Halloween, all the students will be wearing costumes! And there's gonna be some kind of Halloween party for them... and then, "Trunk or Treat," in the parking lot after school!
--<>--
This is why I like this new chapter in my life so much!... because I've got young little kitties at home, and there's a lot of young little humans at work, for the first 45 minutes or so.
And, at my age... it's kind of nice to be surrounded by so much youthful energy and play.
Makes me feel... not so bent over and dried up like a lonely old prune!
------------{=0=}------------
As for the title of this entry... the more I read about System 1.. and no, I'm still not done with Thinking, Fast & Slow!.. it's a long ass book!..
The more I think it's just a more primitive version of waking consciousness we inherited from, you know... monkeys?
I mean, I know we didn't evolve from monkeys, we just share a common ancestor with them, but this, System 1, level of intuitive consciousness is clearly something that my cats have!.. and Dad's dog has!.. and that the squirrels and birds out in the back yard have!
--<>--
"What you see, is all there is," is one mantra the author keeps repeating, chapter after chapter, about System 1... this very, face value, snap judgement system.
And while he doesn't ever get into animals at all, it strikes me that this system is clearly what most animals are relying on 100% of the time... be they mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, or even insects!
It's more sophisticated in mammals and birds, but... it's still that, face value, snap judgement, instinctive type of consciousness they all operate with.
In the wild, it clearly serves them well, though it is easily fooled, which is why a butterfly with a wing pattern that lookes like two giant eyeballs can scare off predators, and dogs bark at themselves in the mirror.
--<>--
The next book I read after Thinking, Fast & Slow has to be one about the physical layers of the human brain, because this realization that System 1 is something inherited from our ancestors says it's coming from a lower layer of the... whatever cortex we have that makes us human!
I can't think of the term!
But you know how that all goes... we've got the fish brain, at the base of the spinal cord (or whatever) and around that is the reptile brain, then the monkey brain, etcetera.
--<>--
Club Theory hypothesized that our consciousness could be seen as a group of distinct club membors, like, Dream Guy, Intuition Guy, Sex Guy, and so on... cooperating in different ways.
But the club members also hide information from Executive Guy, and store information without the knowledge of Executive Guy.
But if the truth is along those lines, then Legacy Theory would say that many, if not all of the club members, are legacy systems inherited by evolutionary ancestors.
------------{=0=}------------
Clearly, Sex Guy, for example, goes WAAAAAAY back to fish!
And if that's so, then the sexuality of modern humans is as complex as it is, because of endless software patches to keep it compatible with all the higher, and increasingly more sophisticated brain layers!
Fish... probably aren't gay, or bi? But if some are gay or bi, are there any trans fish? Probably not?
The fact that modern human sexuality is comprised of an LGBTQ spectrum, is likely due to the fact that, Sex Guy, is legacy hardware that has to somehow integrate with multiple layers of increasingly sophisticated hardware and software.
Think of a punch-card & vacuum tube Univac, having to network with a 1970s mainframe, a 1980s PC, an 1990s laptop... on up to a 2020 smart phone!
Such a network would, by it's nature, become... a bit queer!
--<>--
But preference & identity are only one universe of sexuality!
Kinks, however, are a universe unto themselves, and... may arise from purely accidental wiring mistakes... which would be bound to happen in such a queer, and complex system!
------------{=0=}------------
Dream Guy, may not be as primitive as Sex Guy... but, baffled as he is, by both reading and math... he's clearly very ancient!
In When Brains Dream, they identified three distinct types of dreaming.
REM sleep dreams, as we all know, are the fully immersive ones, in which you have first-person awareness, and believe yourself to be in a fully real environment of landscapes and settings, with props, and a full cast of realistic characters.
But there is also a Delta phase type of dream where it's more like you're watching a movie play out on a screen, but don't identify with any of the characters. Or... sometimes you're just watching an object being manipulated... from a detached perspective, as if seeing it on a TV.
And then there are the Hypnogogic dreams, that happen when you're first falling asleep, which are characterized by geometric shapes and random conepts kind of playing out before you in a strange dance.
Legacy theory would say these come from three different layers of dream apparatus, we inherited from three different stages of evolution.
--<>--
And I'd argue that REM sleep is the primordial form.
Even though REM dreams are the most sophisticated, in terms of immersion, and detail... I think they'd likely arise from the most primitive level of dream apparatus, becuase to experience them, your entire body needs to be paralyzed... which is what we see happening to, even very primitive animals today, as they sleep.
These, virtual reality simulations... complete with the element of surprise... run under paralysis, in the middle of the night... would seem to have been key to the survival of every animal, whether predator or prey, no matter how primitive... to improve their real life performance on the daytime playing field.
--<>--
The Delta phase dreams would've been an addition, for more highly evolved animals... who might have the luxury of observing things to play out, from a safe distance, without having to be directly involved.
And then the hypnogogic, purely conceptual dreams of platonic ideals whirling and dancing, would be a product of the modern human layer of the brain.
--<>--
Such is the state of my speculations tonight, on Dream Guy.
------------{=0=}------------
Intuition Guy, or System 1, would then be a more primitive version of waking consciousness... less ancient than either Sex Guy, or Dream Guy... but still going quite a way back into evolution!
Intuition Guy is very much a wakeful, cognitive process... rather than a base reproduction drive, or a subconscious, simulation process running in sleep mode.
And he can actually read and do math!.. though, only simplistically.
--<>--
Executive Guy... on the other hand, is what we always think of as the actual YOU, because it's the most advanced.
Executive Guy, would be, the waking level of consciousness that is able to think deeply about situations... sit down and do math problems on paper... write term papers with references... and all of the other advanced things we humans are known for... on our best days.
And he'd correspond to the highest brain layer that modern humans have evolved.
------------{=0=}------------
I'm leaving out, The Indestructable Observer, in tonight's analysis, because I'm not sure where exactly he would reside in the brain, or fall on the evolutionary timeline.
Maybe he simply arises from the total interactions of all systems, and unifies & transcends them?
I am a LONG way off from solidifying this theory of... the human mind.
I... just read a book about dreams and now I'm down this rabbit hole trying to build a model of the entire human mind?
What?
Well...
It's definitely the kind of thing to take on over the long, boring winter, eh?
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
It took about 90 minutes to assemble the structure, which is as tall as I am, with two kitty caves, two kitty hammocks, and two kitty high perch seats... for two little kitties!
And of course, now that it's all together, they're ignoring it!
But... I'm sure, later tonight, they'll begin to investigate it. And by tomorrow night, it should be fully commissioned by Snoop & Prowly.
In other news, since tomorrow is The Friday before Halloween, all the students will be wearing costumes! And there's gonna be some kind of Halloween party for them... and then, "Trunk or Treat," in the parking lot after school!
This is why I like this new chapter in my life so much!... because I've got young little kitties at home, and there's a lot of young little humans at work, for the first 45 minutes or so.
And, at my age... it's kind of nice to be surrounded by so much youthful energy and play.
Makes me feel... not so bent over and dried up like a lonely old prune!
As for the title of this entry... the more I read about System 1.. and no, I'm still not done with Thinking, Fast & Slow!.. it's a long ass book!..
The more I think it's just a more primitive version of waking consciousness we inherited from, you know... monkeys?
I mean, I know we didn't evolve from monkeys, we just share a common ancestor with them, but this, System 1, level of intuitive consciousness is clearly something that my cats have!.. and Dad's dog has!.. and that the squirrels and birds out in the back yard have!
"What you see, is all there is," is one mantra the author keeps repeating, chapter after chapter, about System 1... this very, face value, snap judgement system.
And while he doesn't ever get into animals at all, it strikes me that this system is clearly what most animals are relying on 100% of the time... be they mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, or even insects!
It's more sophisticated in mammals and birds, but... it's still that, face value, snap judgement, instinctive type of consciousness they all operate with.
In the wild, it clearly serves them well, though it is easily fooled, which is why a butterfly with a wing pattern that lookes like two giant eyeballs can scare off predators, and dogs bark at themselves in the mirror.
The next book I read after Thinking, Fast & Slow has to be one about the physical layers of the human brain, because this realization that System 1 is something inherited from our ancestors says it's coming from a lower layer of the... whatever cortex we have that makes us human!
I can't think of the term!
But you know how that all goes... we've got the fish brain, at the base of the spinal cord (or whatever) and around that is the reptile brain, then the monkey brain, etcetera.
Club Theory hypothesized that our consciousness could be seen as a group of distinct club membors, like, Dream Guy, Intuition Guy, Sex Guy, and so on... cooperating in different ways.
But the club members also hide information from Executive Guy, and store information without the knowledge of Executive Guy.
But if the truth is along those lines, then Legacy Theory would say that many, if not all of the club members, are legacy systems inherited by evolutionary ancestors.
Clearly, Sex Guy, for example, goes WAAAAAAY back to fish!
And if that's so, then the sexuality of modern humans is as complex as it is, because of endless software patches to keep it compatible with all the higher, and increasingly more sophisticated brain layers!
Fish... probably aren't gay, or bi? But if some are gay or bi, are there any trans fish? Probably not?
The fact that modern human sexuality is comprised of an LGBTQ spectrum, is likely due to the fact that, Sex Guy, is legacy hardware that has to somehow integrate with multiple layers of increasingly sophisticated hardware and software.
Think of a punch-card & vacuum tube Univac, having to network with a 1970s mainframe, a 1980s PC, an 1990s laptop... on up to a 2020 smart phone!
Such a network would, by it's nature, become... a bit queer!
But preference & identity are only one universe of sexuality!
Kinks, however, are a universe unto themselves, and... may arise from purely accidental wiring mistakes... which would be bound to happen in such a queer, and complex system!
Dream Guy, may not be as primitive as Sex Guy... but, baffled as he is, by both reading and math... he's clearly very ancient!
In When Brains Dream, they identified three distinct types of dreaming.
REM sleep dreams, as we all know, are the fully immersive ones, in which you have first-person awareness, and believe yourself to be in a fully real environment of landscapes and settings, with props, and a full cast of realistic characters.
But there is also a Delta phase type of dream where it's more like you're watching a movie play out on a screen, but don't identify with any of the characters. Or... sometimes you're just watching an object being manipulated... from a detached perspective, as if seeing it on a TV.
And then there are the Hypnogogic dreams, that happen when you're first falling asleep, which are characterized by geometric shapes and random conepts kind of playing out before you in a strange dance.
Legacy theory would say these come from three different layers of dream apparatus, we inherited from three different stages of evolution.
And I'd argue that REM sleep is the primordial form.
Even though REM dreams are the most sophisticated, in terms of immersion, and detail... I think they'd likely arise from the most primitive level of dream apparatus, becuase to experience them, your entire body needs to be paralyzed... which is what we see happening to, even very primitive animals today, as they sleep.
These, virtual reality simulations... complete with the element of surprise... run under paralysis, in the middle of the night... would seem to have been key to the survival of every animal, whether predator or prey, no matter how primitive... to improve their real life performance on the daytime playing field.
The Delta phase dreams would've been an addition, for more highly evolved animals... who might have the luxury of observing things to play out, from a safe distance, without having to be directly involved.
And then the hypnogogic, purely conceptual dreams of platonic ideals whirling and dancing, would be a product of the modern human layer of the brain.
Such is the state of my speculations tonight, on Dream Guy.
Intuition Guy, or System 1, would then be a more primitive version of waking consciousness... less ancient than either Sex Guy, or Dream Guy... but still going quite a way back into evolution!
Intuition Guy is very much a wakeful, cognitive process... rather than a base reproduction drive, or a subconscious, simulation process running in sleep mode.
And he can actually read and do math!.. though, only simplistically.
Executive Guy... on the other hand, is what we always think of as the actual YOU, because it's the most advanced.
Executive Guy, would be, the waking level of consciousness that is able to think deeply about situations... sit down and do math problems on paper... write term papers with references... and all of the other advanced things we humans are known for... on our best days.
And he'd correspond to the highest brain layer that modern humans have evolved.
I'm leaving out, The Indestructable Observer, in tonight's analysis, because I'm not sure where exactly he would reside in the brain, or fall on the evolutionary timeline.
Maybe he simply arises from the total interactions of all systems, and unifies & transcends them?
I am a LONG way off from solidifying this theory of... the human mind.
I... just read a book about dreams and now I'm down this rabbit hole trying to build a model of the entire human mind?
What?
Well...
It's definitely the kind of thing to take on over the long, boring winter, eh?
°¦}
