Consciousness and Technology – 3 Mind Expanding Comparisons
Of all the pursuits of human kind, the understanding and exploration of consciousness offers the most likely opportunity for us to realize a civilization oriented towards cooperation, compassion, sustainability, and respect for life. Awakening to higher states of consciousness is the process by which a person, or a collective, can re-organize their identity from an ego-centric material orientation to a level of awareness that is capable of holding many perspectives.
Only with an evolution in awareness can we discover the ever-greater aspects of ourselves.
Consciousness might be described as the quality or state of awareness that human beings have of themselves, their environment and their surroundings, including sensation, thought, feeling and intuition. Consciousness functions on many levels, including the dream states, the sub-conscious mind, the ever-present observer mind, waking consciousness, and many meditative and spiritual states of awareness. It is dynamic, always changing throughout the day, and continuously evolving throughout life.
Everything is both a mirror and a reflection of something else, and the technological world that we’ve constructed is a glimpse at our inner universe. The way we use technology is analogous to how the mind interacts with nature, collects and stores sensory data, formulates ideas and adapts to surroundings. Humans first dominated nature by studying and imitating the workings of the natural world, and this process has evolved into a symbiotic relationship where the evolution of the species is heavily warped by our own invention. Now we are totally dependent on technology for survival and for any further evolution.
As such, it is enlightening to consider just how similar the human mind is to the computer, the core technology contributing to the evolution of human consciousness most by enabling communication to occur at synaptic speeds. Consider the following:
1. Consciousness is the Operating System of the Human Being
Similar to how an operating system (OS) is loaded onto a computer to command hardware, consciousness is the program which sets the parameters for human behavior and thought, instructing us on how to be ourselves. The user chooses programs to load onto the OS in order to support a wider possibility of functions for the device, and anything that we take in consciously or sub-consciously contributes to the quality of our presence of mind and overall awareness.
As a newborn, the mind is a relative blank disc and we are limited to the default capacities of an infant. Embarking on a journey of acquiring information and formulating it into ideas and behaviors, the baby begins to add programs to the OS. Observation and imitation are keen human instincts, and throughout life we are in a continual process of collecting sensory data and adapting to our environment, imitating that which we see. We adopt programs such as beliefs, mannerisms, and sometimes the habits of our family. We might spend decades in school, then maybe an entire lifetime gaining knowledge and experience, all of which is perpetually woven together to form our awareness and understanding of the world.
The amalgam of our experience becomes our consciousness at any moment, and we can add or subtract programs to this that work either for our benefit or detriment. Choosing to run positive programs enhances the quality of life and our resilience to the suffering in life.
2. Consciousness Can Be Programmed and Hacked, For Better or for Worse
Consciousness is something that can be manipulated, for better of for worse. The consumption of information, media, advertisements, propaganda, ideas, and belief systems all influence human consciousness, shaping perceptual awareness of the world. Higher consciousness can be cultivated, but we are continuously targeted by external influences… hacked if you will.
Human consciousness is most often manipulated by directly appealing to our most base senses, fear and sex. Corporations use sexual imagery and innuendo to sell products by triggering the consciousness of desire and ego-fulfillment. Fear consciousness is the primary tool of the political and media elite for selling public policy, exerting control and preventing meaningful redress of grievances. The continuous shock of witnessing acts of violence in the media, the ever-impending threat of scarcity, and the insatiable need to aggrandize the ego are all social engineering tools used to limit mass consciousness to within the reptilian spectrum.
The mind can also be hacked by trickery, illusion, confusion, and delusion. We can directly program ourselves with hypnosis and other personal development tricks like neuro-linguistic programming, which are also techniques that can be used against us. Transcendent and transformative experiences, like those found in deep meditation or during an intense spiritual practice like yoga, can have profound and lasting positive effects on consciousness. Profound and enlightening states of altered consciousness can be induced with the ingestion of psycho-active plants, like psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca or iboga.
Without awareness of what is programming and affecting consciousness, we have no control over the impulses generated by consciousness.
3. At it’s Core, Consciousness is Energy
Just as a computer relies on a particular and steady frequency of power for its operation, a person is alive, with consciousness, only when the subtle energy of life is present within the body. Without this life force there is no life, and as devotees of the internal martial arts have discovered, this energy can be refined to produce optimal wellness and a deep connection to source.
At the molecular level, atoms are held together by electrical bonds, not physical bonds, and incredibly, the human body produces its own measurable light in the form of biophoton emissions. The electrical activity of the brain will harmonize when engaging in activities like meditation or yoga, and watching television or movies can cause many people in the same room to involuntarily synchronize brainwaves. Additionally, technological and environmental pollutants such as electro-magnetic radiation, water fluoridation and toxic foods can heavily impact consciousness by interfering with the body’s natural processes, even calcifying the pineal gland, the tiny gland attributed to linking the mind and body to the spirit.
Furthermore, the scientific understanding of the human mind has ballooned in recent years, and we can now interact with the brain as an electro-mechanical instrument, albeit one of extreme complexity. Remarkably, it is possible to capture the brain’s electrical output and interpret brainwaves for use as control signals for consumer devices, like mind-controlled word processors and toy helicopters. Virtual reality technologies trick the senses into believing that what they are receiving is an accurate interpretation of the world. As security and defense tools, the government, and agencies like DARPA are putting tremendous resources into the development of mind-reading, brain-syncing and scanning technologies which interpret and influence consciousness by intercepting and transmitting electrical information relevant to the human brain.
Supporting all life is an energetic system which makes consciousness happen. This is the source of life and technology.
Conclusion
As a mirror reflects its subject, examining the products of the human mind can reveal a deeper understanding of our world and our place in it, offering the opportunity for greater possibility. Underlying our thoughts and behavioral patterns is a programmable interface that can be a product of our intention or a way for others to access and control us. We live in a sea of influences on human consciousness, which must first be recognized in order to develop immunity to them. Consciousness and life are made possible by an ever-present, constant source of universal creative energy, which human beings can cultivate to reach even greater states of consciousness.
About the Author
Dylan Charles is the editor of Waking Times and co-host of Redesigning Reality, both dedicated to ideas of personal transformation, societal awakening, and planetary renewal. His personal journey is deeply inspired by shamanic plant medicines and the arts of Kung Fu, Qi Gong and Yoga. After seven years of living in Costa Rica, he now lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where he practices Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and enjoys spending time with family. He has written hundreds of articles, reaching and inspiring millions of people around the world.
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