Self-Study: On the Seeming Paradox of Self-observation for the benefit Empirical Experimentation Part I
So I set about the unsteadying of the gimbals, and set the journey to a natural state of bias in motion. Rather, I should say that I did this two days ago. Back now within the relative safety of that state from which I began the experiment. I will make a few comments here, now, and then have to follow up with a more thorough write-up (with pictures and video!) soon.
Imagine your average Joe-citizen tourist, setting off on a trip. He has read some travel books, he has traveled plenty, and this is not the first time he has been somewhere for the first time. And that is where the analogy stops being very good, but I try.
Suppose you boarded an airplane. You are the only one on the plane. The airline is one you have never flown before. The seats are "arranged" randomly. There is no cabin crew. The door to the flight deck is open and you can see that it is empty. Perhaps oddly, you take note, and then find a seat that seems ok. The seat numbers don't match your ticket, but none of them did (you only checked a couple though). You settle into your seat, just as you always would. The air is cool, the vents are on, and, you have plenty of legroom. Good so far. Oops, better buckle up. Safety First you know. The fact that up to this point, nothing is really as it should be, and it stands to reason that this airplane could be going somewhere, or nowhere. Your ticket has been wrong so far, so where are going?
As you awake, it occurs to you that you don't remember falling asleep. Your sleep was lucid, but try as you might, you just can't remember any of your "dreams". But then you notice your trusty notebook.
Five new pages of densely written text. It's your handwriting, no question. You begin to read, and you quickly realize that you are reading a "ship's log" of sorts. It is definitely not anything resembling a navigational log. But what you find out soon enough, is that you are looking at the narrative that describes your journey. It's not a set of directions; it's more like a visual depiction of your thoughts. It describes a journey into your own mind, and the descriptions of what you Sensorially and Cognitively experienced.
Author's NOTE, and I take this note very seriously, to the point that I am still debating the posting of Part II of this entry. I will post it, but please read the following:
1. The Author's ability to achieve a state of super-meta-cognition and self-awareness is finely tuned enough such that a Test of Self-Observation such as this is entirely possible, but the ability to do this does require timing, discipline and practice.
2. At no time during this experiment were ANY laws in any country broken. Simple. No, this is not a case of me playing semantic games.
3. At no time were any chemicals, food products, or any other foreign substance introduced neither into the Author's physical context (i.e. in this case, my office) nor his body. And to reiterate: Pharmacology played no role in this experiment, neither legal nor illegal. And that already said: on the subject of Pharmacology, at no time was a substance added, or taken away. And this includes the half-life based metabolism (and thus physiological elimination) of any Pharmacology that may or may not have been within context prior to the start of the experiment.
4. I was alone for the entirety of the experiment. And no one could be seen or heard. Sensory deprivation was NOT required nor attempted.
5. I never left my desk chair, although realistically, I may have used the restroom (but I am unable to confirm)
6. The experiment lasted between 3-7 hours. Definitely not less, and unlikely more.
7. I do not practice meditation of any sort, at least as far as I understand the different types.
8. I never expose myself to anything that could be even mildly tangential to what I am working on. Unfortunately, my mind is faster than I am, and the slight exposure will cause total corruption of the required "void space" that contains (usually) the intended work. It has, and does happen that media from written to digital results from these sort of experiments. But as far as I am concerned, my doings remain original through isolation. That said, a comparison of my work to a pre-existing body of work occurred only 1 time, and it was quite flattering. The citation was one of validation, not accusation, and it was a photograph, produced in a very special way.
I have stated all of these points because I am not Timothy Leary, Stanley Kubrick, or a member of a State Department Operating Unit (that may or may not exist).
If you must pin a label on how I engaged in the experiment, maybe call it "Super-Meta-Cognitive Considerations: A Barefoot Journey into the Sub-Conscious.
If anyone actually read all of that, don't worry. I have a large amount of entirely usable material for Part 2. I have no intention of manipulating it in anyway, but I still have to package for web upload. And it just occurred to me that I may well post the Actual journal pages that I produced during the experiment. Much of it though will be legible only to Doctors and Forensic Graphologists (no offense intended).
It may take me a few days, but it will be coming. Although if someone volunteered to transcript my wrtiings, that would for sure save some time…..
Part II will be called:
Self-Study: On the Seeming Paradox of Self-observation for the benefit Empirical Experimentation Part II
So If I post something before that, don't ignore it, just know that it is not Part II of this article.
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