A journey to out of the box (Part III)
A lost paradigm
This is the third part of a series. You can read the first part here and the second part here.
Connect to a greater being
Getting out of that black box - what can't models explain?
One year ago, I would have said that I was an atheist. Actually, now I would say that I had one religion: science. I was a materialist, I thought we could explain everything. To some extent, I kind of still believe we might be able to explain everything one day, but the consequence it had on me was that I only trusted what science could explain today. So everything falling out of our science models? not real. I've come to understand it's the typical trap of rational reductionism. When rationality stems from a fruitful endeavour of understanding things, its hubris claims that anything not explainable is not real.
The enslavement of reductionism
I started to realise this by small bits. I heard the term rationality reductionism about a year ago, looking at a critic on critics of the end of the Interstellar movie. People would say: "it's clearly not rational, how come could love be another dimension? The end is BS." Well, the video author was supporting that this end was precisely an attack on reductionism. What do we know about other dimensions? Maybe love actually conveys more than we think! Who are we to know? At some point in time, thinking that the earth was round was a heresy, remember? The point is not to say that love is indeed a dimension of our world, but that categorically refusing the argument is refusing to see the limits of science, it's using science as a religion. It's being reductionist.
Fundamentally, the most cutting edge scientific research is very troubling for material views anyway: relativity, quantum physics... are all at odds with "typical" science. We usually neglect it, but we shouldn't, as it's a direct proof that the world is not as typically material-focussed as we think it is. Cause and effects, the basis of every phenomenon? Huuum... not that trivial. Heard of quantum entanglement? By the way, did you know that advanced physics research talks of a... 21-dimension-universe?
Reductionism fails to account for the unknown. It's the typical trap of misjudging the map for the territory. Models are useful, they can help you get something done, but it's only one way of looking at something, they are useful because they are simplified. Yet, reality is still a big unknown. One key trap for me was psychological types. I desperately wanted to be able to classify people as types of personalities. I wanted to be able to accurately predict their behaviour, and thus be safe interacting with them. So I was trying to see everyone through the MBTI lens, and it stressed me out when I couldn't truly classify someone or saw contradicting behaviours with theory. I was being absolutist, I thought the theory was a perfect mapping of reality. I wanted to remove all the unknown. Of course it's impossible, and I was trying way too hard to get reality to fit my mental models.
The right rationality: in complexity, a dialog with the unknown
Edgar Morin has a full set of books explaining how we should shift to a complex rational thinking, which takes as presupposition that we don't understand all the parameters of the equation. In its essence, it admits and adapts to the reality of the unknown, that every system has interdependencies with the exterior, that no matter how sophisticated your model is, there are still many exterior factors which can derail you from your predictions. Thinking like this limits blind spots and facilitates course-correction. Today's problems are wide and very complex. They are not complicated, with a fixed set of parameters to explain the problem, so only complex thinking can solve them.
The problem is that our world's institution are still mostly run by the complicated paradigm. We see everything as if it can be parameterised. A company future? Easily explainable by a Business Forecast. For those of you who've run that process in the past, you know how pretentious a claim it is. "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans". There are alternatives! Which bet on better day-to-day decision-making, inspired by how nature works. When you run a bike, you don't plan the course, inclination, power for every moment down the road, right? It's the best way to fall. When you do fall, you don't make an ever more complex model to attempt at solving the problem well this time, right? No: you run the bike, with a set direction, and adapt along the way to all the unanticipated bumps. If you fall, you realise it's because you didn't adapt to the bump fast enough.
Most companies or organisations in general don't operate this way though: they control far too much a priori, and it logically makes things crash. It's what Frédéric Laloux calls the great “illusion of control” in his book Reinventing organisations. There he depicts how we can organise ourselves at a whole new level, more adapted to the complexity of our problems. It is inspired by next-stage companies, operating from a different paradigm, and thrive at every scale. Only a paradigm shift from complicated (reductionist) to complex reasoning and operating can bring adequate solutions to our current world problems.
Bridging the gap between science and faith
This was a breakthrough for me. Now, I'm talking to my shamanic aunt again and discuss casually of paranormal events and objects… Joke apart, it truly enabled deeper thinking and gave space to my other forms of intelligence: emotions, intuitions... It put back my subjective experience forward. I chose to trust in the unknown, the inexplicable. I admit that some supposedly paranormal events might be real, even if I don't understand it. I was stunned at how much I was looking at things from a limited point of view, trying to rationalise out everything out of fear of uncertainty, challenging anything not fitting in my systems and creating huge amounts of stress.
Of course I learnt a lot as a consequence of that rational mindset, it's not all bad, at all! I learnt about many theories, I learnt about meta-theories, meta-meta-theories... I'm grateful for that, and I've gained a pretty deep systemic view on things, but I've also experienced its limitations and how freeing it is to feel about things differently. "Wait... you meant think about things differently?" - 😉
The curious thing is that I don't think I'm an atheist anymore. I don't know what I am, but I believe in something beyond, something I don't understand. It doesn't matter what it is, it's the liberating psychological shift that mattered. Faith is a powerful fuel, one which I'd been lacking for as long as I can remember. I could feel I was craving it, in particular in spiritual places, or during discussions about people's faiths, but at the same time my rational mind repressed this part of me. Letting go of that leash was huge. It felt like I finally let myself be surprised... so juicy!! I now appreciate rationality for what it is: an endeavour to understand the unknown, a way to construct ideas to push us humans forward, but a tool to be used jointly with others, not supremely.
By the way, according to Jung, faith is actually a psychological need as humans are spiritual in essence. Even if we don't believe in god, the god archetype is omnipresent in our psyche, our dreams... So even if god doesn't exist, it's helpful to believe in it, otherwise it's like a piece of the puzzle is missing. Jung thesis is very refreshing as he attempted to reconcile science with paranormal events. He was revoked by scientists on one end, and by religious people on the other end. I take it as a sign that he was onto some real shit 😄
One day I said to my coach, "I feel I was in a black box, and now it's full of flowers, scent, music, colours...". This is what I feel a bit every day. Not all the times, but it used to be never. I've welcomed spirit in my world!
To go further:
Edgar Morin Introduction à la pensée complexe (french)
Jung vulgarisation (french)
Trust the present moment
Be conscious to welcome abundance
Abundance
One specific effect my spiritual awakening had was that I am inclined to believe in abundance. This concept entertains the idea that if you are true to yourself and trust your future, you will receive what you need and more. Sounds crazy, huh? Well, not completely, even rationally it makes a lot of sense: you meet people you want to meet, you work on things you love, you get great at them, you have great feedback, you get recognized and wealth from it. We nail it!
The only thing is that it is not so much about understanding the concept. It's about be-lieving the concept. Living it. I do still have challenges with it from day to day, but I try to live with that principle: if I follow the thread of my being, I can only end up in a great place, right? Actually, isn't it the only way to find your sweet spot? Usually, we operate from a place of fear, and not a place of desire. But obviously if you don't ever listen to yourself, you wouldn't find a great place for you, right? this time? (cf part II for more details)
It is also the reason why I don't press myself forward too much today. I don't want to engage in something too mentally-driven. I am dedicating a lot of efforts in my day-to-day to listen to what is calling, to what feels right and trying to create resonance through crafting relationships and things that I hope will echo positively. For instance I don't have 2023 year plans, I don't want any, as I want to be driven by passion, energy, rather than a mental construct. I do believe it will lead me to a great place 🙂
Take in the present through training your mind
All of this gets down to living the present moment. The past is an idea, the future is an idea, mostly it doesn't help to think about them. It sounds easy yet it's super hard. It also sounds like an ideology, and you don't want to fall into that trap. It's hard because listening to all these signals you've been neglecting for a whole life is hard, it requires training, a lot. For this I found the Waking up App from Sam Harris, which I completely love. It's the best meditation app I've tried and provides great theoretical content that gives true meaning to the practice. Sam Harris is a neuroscientist who studied much of eastern practices. He helps you understand that your mind is your main tool, and that training it is one of if not the best investment in yourself. Your mind is not done, it's not stable, it can be magnificently improved, and from this new place of consciousness you can listen to all the signals that matter and give perspective to life: thoughts, emotions, intuitions, sensations... Isn't it more exciting to live along 4 axes rather than one? (thoughts, if you didn't have it 😉).
Choose your destiny
Consciousness helps you make more complex or better decisions by bringing forth more data points. This way you can truly craft the life that you want. One of my close friends shared with me how meditating first thing in the day completely re-shapes her typical day. She brings more consciousness to everything, she doesn't press herself too much, she takes time, she has the right pace (reference: Ikigai). She breathes, and her day looks bright. When she doesn't meditate, she has the feeling of constantly having to catch a train. Sounds familiar?
Being present relieves from that stress. The quality of your experience skyrockets, and you start signalling abundance.
To go further
Eckhart Tolle Power of Now
Sam Harris' Waking Up App
Craft your self, so you can serve
A journey to integrate and individuate
I'll conclude this with how I orientate my life now that I've journeyed a bit further along the axes above. My main concern is rooted in individuation and integration. I want to understand as much as I can about human nature, and craft myself by integrating as much as I can. I believe it's one of the best things I can do for me, and for others, as I would be able to see things from a more all-encompassing perspective. This process is tiring, it requires to look under all the carpets you've been hiding things below all this time.
It's suffering, but it's responsibility, it's self love for my growth aspirations, it’s trust in unity of the spirit, it’s faith in the reciprocal inclusion of the everything and the individual, and it's love for humanity which I hope to be able to help through this journey. It's true adulthood and autonomy, with full responsibility on my self.
I see individuation as an inherently paradoxical process. It shapes a bigger individuality, but through integrating the perspectives that you initially didn't deem worth or repressed. Individuation works through integration. In that process, I want to create my sweet spot through embodying my inner truth and sharing it with the world, in a perfectly egoistic mission, yet perfectly altruistic mission, as Maslow puts it:
“If you are doing the work that you love and are devoted to the value that you hold highest, you are being as selfish as possible, and yet are also being unselfish and altruistic.”
Here you might understand as well why I'm keen on sharing this piece of writing. I've realised how passionate I can be talking about this stuff. I love it, I love the journey, and I love that I can, maybe, for an inch, help other people on their journey 😀
On a macro level, I'm convinced that integration (of perspectives, of intelligences, of people, of psychology) is the seed of the next stage of our society's evolution, which will be capable of solving the excesses of the current model and in particular the ecological and psychological problems. I am drawn to taking an active role in that change, preaching new perspectives but also building bridges and accompanying people and organisations in their transition. So far, I haven’t found a more suitable Ikigai (~purpose).
Thanks for reading up to this point. I hope you've learnt something, and I sincerely hope to hear from you soon! 😊
Cheers
I am also part of PAUA.
Really enjoyed your story! Thanks for sharing.