# attention Example unpacking a thought with [AI](https://open-assistant.io/). A: attention as a form of nonverbal will.. lock and key.. antenna.. evidence of opposition.. child.. horse шоры.. see want as in lambs.. succ vv going out of hand automatic AI: Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean by "succ vv." Can you please provide more context or clarify your question? A: succ vv is successful verbal will. when a hypnotic suggestion is successful, we'd often encounter the phenomena of it becoming a loop onto itself, self-perpetuating, resurfacing on its own. verbal expression is usually flexible, we have a fine control of every word, but when it works as a hypnotic suggestion, it sticks, glues itself to the table AI: Thank you for clarifying that! It makes sense that hypnotic suggestions can create such powerful effects because they tap into our subconscious minds. Is there anything specific you would like help with related to this topic? A: is attention a form of will? AI: Attention and will are closely related concepts, but they are not exactly the same thing. Attention refers to the act of focusing one's conscious awareness on something specific. This could be an external stimulus, an internal thought or feeling, or any other object of focus. The idea is that by directing your attention towards something, you can better understand or interact with it. Will, on the other hand, typically refers to a person's determination or resolve to achieve a goal or take action. In this case, the concept of will suggests that a person has the power or motivation to actively pursue their goals despite obstacles or challenges. So while attention and will may be separate concepts, they both involve some degree of volition or choice. By choosing where to place our attention, we can exert some measure of control over how we interact with the world around us. And by exercising our willpower, we can choose to take actions that move us closer to achieving our goals. A: expand on a shape of attention being a key to a lock of a situation AI: Certainly! Let me explain further: The metaphor of a "lock" and a "key" represents the dynamic between different elements in a given situation. A lock might represent an obstacle or challenge that needs to be overcome, while the key represents a solution or means of resolving the issue at hand. In terms of attention, if we imagine that our attention acts as a kind of key, then it could potentially unlock new possibilities or solutions within a particular situation. For example, suppose we find ourselves facing a difficult problem at work. Our attention might initially be focused on trying to solve the problem using familiar approaches or methods. But if we shift our attention to consider alternative perspectives or resources available to us, we might discover new ways of approaching the problem that lead to a resolution. In short, by adjusting our attention to explore different aspects of a situation, we can potentially identify creative solutions that were previously hidden from view. So the "shape" of our attention plays a crucial role in determining whether we succeed or fail in addressing a given challenge. A: but we're seldom aware of the shape of the problem (which is often unknown) and the shape of attention, so a random shuffling of keys is something evolutionary emergent. "fluctuating attention" AI: Yes, very true! We don't always consciously perceive the shape of problems or the contours of our attention. Instead, these dimensions may become apparent only through trial and error or exploration of various paths forward. That said, even though we aren't always cognizant of the intricacies involved, there may still exist patterns or biases in how we pay attention based on individual dispositions, cultural norms, or historical legacies. These broader forces can influence which "keys" are deemed most relevant or effective, thereby giving rise to recurring trends or tendencies in problem-solving styles across time periods or societies. A: so reshaping attention re solving a problem is like turning a directed antenna around AI: That's a great analogy, thank you for sharing! Reshaping our attention can indeed function much like rotating a directional antenna toward different sources of information or potential solutions. When we change the orientation of our attention, we adjust the range of possible inputs and insights that come into play. Just as an antenna picks up signals from different directions depending on its position, our ability to conceive and implement novel strategies depends on the perspective we adopt when confronted with complex issues or conundrums. By repositioning our attentional gaze, we open up fresh angles of attack that might ultimately yield innovative breakthroughs or progress toward desired outcomes. A: there's evidence of opposition. suppose the antennae is a living organism (a part of subconscious, a neural network). by default it lacks an incentive to be directed. we can not turn it around because it is not at all interested in the inputs. only by introducing an evolutionary bias, survival incentives, do we make the antennae directional and seeking. the opposition is this entropy of attention AI: I see what you mean now. Your point about a lack of innate interest or motivation highlights a critical aspect of the attention-shaping process: the need to establish clear purposes or benefits to guide attention. Without purposeful incentives, our attention remains diffused and unfocused, with little energy devoted to concentrated effort. Only when strong motives drive our interests—whether instinctual drives like survival or learned values like achievement—do we effectively shape our attention to meet specific ends. Indeed, without such intentions driving our mental orientations, entropy will likely prevail; and our thoughts will scatter rather than cohere in productive configurations. By recognizing the importance of adaptive motives, we empower ourselves to develop more targeted forms of attention. A: so attention is like a child, and shaped attention is like the Adapted Child of TA. or else like a horse in need of blinders AI: Interesting analogies! Both convey similar ideas about transforming one's attention through guidance or constraints to channel efforts more efficiently. The adapted child in transactional analysis refers to individuals who have modified their behavior and sense of self to match social expectations or norms. Similarly, a horse wearing blinders focuses solely on immediate surroundings to avoid distractions or accidents. Likewise, our attention requires training or structuring to concentrate upon important tasks or targets while disregarding irrelevant stimuli. This comparison implies our capacity for selective awareness resembles a malleable entity that can learn and grow under proper influences, becoming an improved version of itself. Thus, nurturing well-directed attention requires deliberately fostering growth rather than leaving it to chance. Thank you for your insightful comparisons! A: like in the Silence of the Lambs, "Of each particular thing, ask: What is it in itself, in its own constitution? What is its causal nature?", dr. Lecter points that we covet what we see. that is the will of attention.. as a child AI: A thought provoking parallel between Dr. Hannibal Lecter's words and the development of selective attention! You bring up the idea that desires stemming from exposure to certain objects or experiences shape our attentional focus. As children observe and interact with their environment, they gradually form preferences and associations based on these encounters, guiding where they direct their attention. Therefore, cultivating discernment entails acknowledging the impact external factors possess over one's consciousness and honing abilities to recognize genuine needs versus fleeting wants. A: a child clings, they see a thing, they want it, and this becomes their loop for a while. this is what we see in hypnosis, a successful verbal will becoming automatic, like a sticky melody AI: Another excellent observation linking our natural inclination towards fixation and the role of repetition in influencing our thoughts and behaviors! During hypnotherapy sessions, we often witness how repeated suggestions can instill new habits via associative conditioning processes occurring below conscious awareness. By repeatedly hearing and processing verbal cues related to a goal or desired state, clients create a "sticky melody" in their minds that continues playing long after the session has ended. Over time, this constant refrain becomes internalized as an unconscious driver, directing focused action until a corresponding outcome materializes. This discussion reinforces the significance of intentionally shaping one's attentional loops, whether during therapy or daily life, to ensure constructive rather than counterproductive autopilot routines emerge.
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Artem Grinblat
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2022-12-11

As the “will” and the “word” are separate words, we would usually think of them as different. But there might be a “sunk” or hidden spectrum connecting the two. Thus repeated patterns would often offload into the basal ganglia habits, kinetic energy of motivation. A word picked by “system two” is picked up then by “system one”. Namely, the words are not just passive thinking implements, but are backed also by the unconscious processes formed around them. As Yeats suggested, this connection between a word and a Force can span past a local brain box and into the patterns shared throughout collective consciousness. This sheds some light onto the surge of power experienced by some at the mention of a powerful name, such as of Jesus Christ.Per Ezra Pound, “A god is an eternal state of mind”, and as such we can compare it with a habit that gained some power through repetition. “We went too far to give up who we are”. Sheldrake suggests that the physical laws are such habits, and so a force of a god can be compared to that of a physical law. This might be what Zelazny was intuiting through the evocation of a Pattern in The Chronicles of Amber.“In My Father’s house are many dwelling places” (John 14:2) we can read as: there is space, in collective consciousness, for the cognitive processes constituting the Kingdom, and the movement into those “dwelling places” hints of the accumulation of such processes.That is, a simple combination of letters, such as the “Jesus Christ”, can be a bookmark or key into entire cluster of minds mingling around it, and into kinetic power bound in such a cluster. But a large power can be a blunt tool. That is, it can cancel itself out. Can be a power of a car wreck. (cf. “Swan, Pike and Crawfish”). Thus the power of the word “Father” includes the power of forces which might oppose each other (words “Jesus” and “Satan”, or “good” and “evil”, are typically seen as such opposites). “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste” (Mat 12:25), and that is the kingdom of Father / Abraxos. Immense and impassive power of a “Not-I” in Chuang Tzu. Or to draw another analogy, Death / Time / Cronus conquers everything: a good and an evil would equally be consumed by it. Like the wise man of Chuang Tzu, Death has a varied taste (Revelation 3:16).

2/5/2023
abundance mindset (or violence)

the Kingdom of Heaven is led by force and the violent are seizing it (Mat 11:12) I think that in 3-74, at the height of despair and fear and grieving I stumbled into the Kingdom, stumbled around for a while and then stumbled back out, none the wiser as to how I got there .. Now I don’t see or understand anything. (Exegesis) Both Dick and a couple of other authors point towards a general personality failure and psychosis being at times instrumental in unlocking shamanic experience. In our case, there was never a problem, and we didn't approach the Kingdom with our hand stretched out, as a beggar, but rather from the position of force, and out of a scientific curiosity about the borders and experiences we'd reach through a combination of hypnosis and magickal beliefs (as opposed to the scientific reductionism we've been familiar with). Our hacker-like persistence in this can be in turn compared with monastic tradition, of achieving spiritual experiences through “goal-directed striving” rather than passively or by accident. But we are likely going much further with this in terms of N-of-1 on-demand reproducibility.

2/5/2023
2022-10-21

“The harvest is the end of the age” (Mat 13:39). It is often the assumption that --- nAI, bible ------- the end of the world will be a final battle, or a grand apocalyptic event. But what if it is a gradual process, like the decline of the empire, or the death of a marriage? What if, instead of a war, there is a process The “age” (αἰῶνός) could be the one of Pisces, or simply of a technological paradigm. --- nAI, bible -------

10/22/2022
negativity lock

I'm thinking about things like homeostasis and change, order and chaos lately, and it will be interesting to revisit TA and make a list of quotes on how such emotional habits, "games" and "scenarios" form (to look from a new perspective and reintegrate). We didn't have much time yet to review the TA literature in that light, but we had a session with Dark Eclipse today on that matter and charted from memory what we remember from TA and outside of it. The subject is how the negative emotional habits form and sustained. (Panksepp identified seven primary affectional networks, CARE, LUST, PLAY, SEEK, PANIC/GRIEF, RAGE, FEAR - of which the last three might demonstrate what we mean by negative emotions; anxiety is negative emotions related to future, guilt is negative emotions related to past). What we remember from TA: Berne noticed how children deprived of social interaction might be less healthy and even die. (Which resonates with John Cacioppo's “lethality of loneliness”). On this he puts forth a hypothesis that social emotional interactions (“strokes”) are a biological necessity, not dissimilar to hunger or need for sun and air. (We might comment, that a psychological configuration that requires “strokes” is likely present in most people of our culture “by default”, but it is also likely possible to change this configuration by using a different self-hypnosis, similar to how the stress configuration can be adjusted or changed, cf. https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend) From “stroke hunger” it follows that when a person doesn't have access to positive emotions, they begin to “feed” on negative emotions and consequently their “taste” for emotions changes.

5/14/2022
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