View source for Gregg Henriques on the Four Vectors of Consciousness


=Discussion=

Gregg Henriques:

"In math, a vector is a quantity that has a magnitude and direction. The word vector can also be used as a verb. To vector toward something is to guide your craft toward a particular destination.

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'''The first vector is the “I”. This is the Ego, and it is the domain of self-conscious reflection and narration.''' In adults, it is the domain that holds dominion and a sense of personal ownership and responsibility for what one does. In UTOK, the Unified Theory of Knowledge, the Ego is framed as the mental organ of justification1. Its attractor state is to find a justified state of being.

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'''The second vector is the core, primate Self.''' Although many systems equate the Ego with the Self, in UTOK, these are recognized to be very different aspects of our structure. The relationship between the two can be helpfully framed via what William James called the “I-Me” relation. Consider when a therapist asks: “How do you feel?” and the client says, “I think I feel a bit angry about all this.” This is an example of their Ego introspecting on their core Self.

The core Self is a perceiving, motivated, emotional system that tracks what is relevant for the self over time and from a point of view. It can be framed as having “vertical layers” that follow our evolutionary history. There is a basic animal layer, which is the seat of feelings like pleasure, pain, hunger, and fear. Then, there is a mammallian layer, which includes an implicit model of the self over time. This model allows mammals to mentally project themselves into different possible environments and simulate possible outcomes (e.g., when a rat gets to a choice point in a maze, it will simulate various paths and choose the one it expects to be most rewarding/least punishing).

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'''The third evolutionary layer is the primate layer, which, in humans, is a highly relational structure.''' 

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The third vector is the Persona. This can be thought of as the social self or public-facing self. The Persona represents a real or imagined audience and how it can impact our conscious experience. The primary attractor is the image one tries to convey and regulate in the relational context. To use a frame from Martin Buber, we can think of the Ego-Persona relation as being the basic frame we use to embody I-Thou relations.

Individuals who experience high levels of public self-consciousness are folks who have a strong but insecure Persona vector. 

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'''We can call this (fourth) vector pure Awareness accessed via witness consciousness'''. You can play with the pure awareness vector by where you direct your attention. You can think of your grandmother, shift to your big toe, and come back to the point of this blog. Many meditation traditions and practices are structured to help folks get in contact with witness consciousness. Some do this by emphasizing attention and concentration. Others do it by emphasizing the pure awareness aspect of the witness function. Indeed, in advanced forms of mediation and practice, the witnesser can feel like they disappear, resulting in a profound sense of non-dual awareness."

(https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/theory-of-knowledge/202405/the-four-vectors-of-human-consciousness)


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