Wes

Author of The Norns Workshop. Neurophenomenologist. Studies psychedelics, neurology, philosophy, psychology, religion, magic.

[Wes @wes_studies]

https://t.co/zOQbqttsEq

[Wes @wes_studies]

Amelia: Symbolic Object Repurposed By Users!

[Wes @wes_studies]

@quantabhidharma @berggruenInst Yup, quite the masquerade

[Wes @wes_studies]

@quantabhidharma @berggruenInst Yes. It was a just giant safe nothing burger. The English winning essay actually said nothing you wouldn't find on Instagram comments on memes made with AI. The essay is safe & contained, but does nothing, changes no discourse. I'm disappointed at their choice.

[Wes @wes_studies]

Link to the essay below:

https://t.co/BsD0WTQrd3

[Wes @wes_studies]

New post up on Substack. The Joke Behind The World: Magic, War, Humor, and the Hidden Play of Meaning: Why Warriors, Witches, Comedians, and DMT Elves Laugh at Reality

[Wes @wes_studies]

You may find it interesting if you enjoy neuroscience, literature, the concept of magic, the reason for laughing, the concept of enlightenment, societal mass deception; investigations into the sub-categories of the trickster archetype such as the comedian and the witch...

[Wes @wes_studies]

In this essay, I construct a mental map consisting of humor, witches, dmt entities (elves), Leonidas, Zen monk's occasional admiration of the unselfconsciousness of prostitutes, among other things.

[Wes @wes_studies]

The elves laugh because they’re showing you the workshop… haha. I’m working on a short literary piece. It’ll be like a big hand ripping into the ceiling and pulling out the wiring and bolts and laying them in a pretty circle, so you can see the glittering stars moving past in spades beyond the orifice where there was once limestone… stay tuned and sub to the stack to get notified when its out!

[Wes @wes_studies]

It's impossible to find commonground if we refuse to accept that language itself is already a commonground. You can't claim an identity as solely yours when it's built out of what other people made.

[Wes @wes_studies]

I'm positive there is a connection between the misuse of language and the rising tide of extremism. People don't realize it, but our relationship with language has mutated nearly beyond repair.

[Wes @wes_studies]

I explore this idea very thoroughly in the essay I posted yesterday

https://t.co/S8M1S8Cm0T

[Wes @wes_studies]

Our inability to separate ourselves from language renders us vulnerable to whatever exists inside language at any given cultural moment.

[Wes @wes_studies]

https://t.co/S8M1S8Cm0T

Here's a link to the substack article. Let me know in the comments what you think: what you agree / disagree with. I am always looking to learn more and refine our thinking together.

[Wes @wes_studies]

New post up. I explore the connection between the misuse of language and the rising tide of extremism. I hope you find it useful.

[Wes @wes_studies]

Stay tuned for the article release.

[Wes @wes_studies]

What is the connection between the misuse of language and forms of extremism such as mass shootings?

[Wes @wes_studies]

But what the extremist fails to grasp is that what he believes others must listen to, has been predetermined by factors beyond his control; and so, it is as though he is fighting an invincible tide. Why does this happen? How does it happen that a person so believes what appears in their mind that they see no other path than in the killing of people often unrelated to them? At what point does the person pass a tipping point, and become convinced of the necessity of extremism?

[Wes @wes_studies]

The key difference between this relatively adjusted—we will say it is psychologically healthy—profile and that of an extremist is diversity of inner content. An extremist does not possess a large quantity of perceptual filters. They view the world not through lenses, but through binoculars.

The content in their mind points one to two directions at once, tops. They have embodied a confirmation bias which has grown limbs of its own and has established a kind of beating heart, so to speak—such that awareness has almost no power in changing the rapidly progressing transformation of the inner setup. Instead of a plurality of different moods, ideas, sensibilities, the extremist is only moved to action by a single emotion which grows larger than the rest: the desire to communicate. The extremists self-perceived inability to use get his point across with language brings him to this point. His belief that no one is listening and that no one cares brings him to this point.

[Wes @wes_studies]

For a person who lives in what they imagine to be a ‘normal’ inner universe to understand the universe of an extremist, all they have to do is stop moving for one minute and consider their previous week: everything they felt, thought, enjoyed, hated, discussed, and engaged in. No doubt, for the average person, there is a sense of plurality and diversification. The week might have consisted of various negative and positive moods, ideas, valuations, reflections—a whole panorama of different representations.

In a word, the plurality of content suggests a moving person, a consciousness which does not sit in one place, but moves around in the world and even moves between different ideas and moods with relative flexibility. They are able to pass over a negative mood, enjoy to some length a positive activity, and even fluctuate between self-reflection and reflection of things outside of them, like other people, concepts, nature, and hobbies.

[Wes @wes_studies]

Just as we cannot truly understand a computer without understanding the significance of every part, so it is with a phenomenon like extremism. Since nothing truly complex can be understood quickly and without thorough examination, it seems prudent to disregard the desire to seek convenient and attractive answers by relying on what appearance has to offer.

Besides, it is likely that the impulsive desire to pontificate after having enlightened oneself to a so-called solution is ironically one of the many drivers of the issue of extremism. Extremism does not precede events, it follows them, and can only be made possible by extensive reflection upon what has already happened. Extremism is methodical, often well-thought out, and usually carried out in ways calculated to achieve maximum effect.