Comprehending Modern Society
Collective consciousness, ego, the matrix, and the future
To think about modern society in a meaningful way, we first need a way to hold it as a simple mental object.
Usually when we think of society, the first thoughts that we conjure up are tropes.
Groups of people, ornate architecture and buildings, cultural traditions, technologies, money, work, jobs, etc.
Technically we could start from any of those points and work backwards to isolate what society is, but it is easy to get lost in the weeds doing that.
Instead let’s do a thought experiment.
🧠Thought Experiment 🔬
Imagine that one day, every human being woke up with their memory of society completely gone.
I mean to the point that we don’t have memory of what a building, or the various parts of a building are.
No memory of jobs, or even the concept of work.
No memory of technology: phones or computers or cars.
What would happen?
Well, all of the physical objects would still be present, but all of the routines, behaviors, and social conventions that give them meaning or utility would be gone.
By default we would be concerned about our next meal because we would become hungry. Or where to get water because we become thirsty. Our biological drives would become the main compulsions that have to be addressed.
But there is an interesting dilemma embedded in this scenario. That is, where do you draw the line when it comes to what memories are lost or kept? In this thought experiment, why would forgetting society not also mean forgetting how to fulfill our basic human needs?
For example, if I had lost my memory of what a grocery store is, and the convention of going to it to gather food, then why would I retain my memory of other food gathering methods? For a very long time, our food gathering methods have been innovated through society. Through the usage of tools like spears, knives, and bows and arrows. And foods were preserved in various ways. To the same intended effect that we use a refrigerator for.
Why would I forget what my car is, but not forget the concept of long-distance transportation on foot? Would I remember what a wheel is? And retain my concept of what it means for an object to roll?
Do I still understand chairs and sitting?
Do I know what keys are?
Because that requisite knowledge would make it easy to infer what the function of a car was even without direct memory of it. And I’d be incentivized to learn how to use it.
I might find an object inside of my house with the same image on it as the car outside, and I might try to experiment.
What about language? If I could read then I could re-learn how to utilize everything around me. But then, I wouldn’t have forgotten everything about society. I’d have to remember a bunch of keywords that were allowing me to do that re-learning.
On the other hand, if I forgot the meaning of “society specific” words, then why would I forget only those words?
Would losing all memory of society also mean losing access to the use of language?
If I lose access to language, would I remember basic communication or social behaviors with other people?
Why would I forget what a grocery store is, but retain the concept of going to gather or hunt for food? Or water?
The point I am getting at is that although we think of society as a picture of the physical structures and configurations created in it’s name, it is actually a more subtle and ephemeral construct.
Collective Consciousness
Society is a collective consciousness that orchestrates our behavior toward desired ends. It is an internal construct.
The external, physical manifestations of society are only valuable or useful to us insofar as we have memory of them and retain a shared belief toward them. They are our externalization of shared, collective drive. Which is why we are able to interface with all of them.
At first our desired ends are our basic survival needs. Air, food, and water. Then we try to create shelter and reproduce.
After the basics are covered, something interesting happens. The same compulsive nature that guides our survival becomes the default captain of human creativity and intelligence. Once this happens we begin to seek excess. Usually excess food or sex… not excess water.
At a certain point simple excess becomes redundant. So we begin to add variety. There are beautiful forms that this variety takes and some dark, twisted forms that it takes as well. Things that we consider violations of our moral standards, or things that are purely self-destructive and hedonistic, that lead to disease and other maladies.
Ego
The collection of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors created as a result of our compulsion for survival guiding our energy and intelligence is what the spiritual traditions would call the ego.
The ego seems like you, but it isn’t really you for the simple fact that it is an identity you never actually consciously chose or claimed. The realization and reconstruction or reconfiguration of this identity is what people have started to refer to as shadow work. And the dissolution of this identity is what people call ego-death. It does not really matter what way you look at it. A lot of the new age spiritual perspectives have romanticized it and don’t give a very clear explanation of it. Like the angle that “you need your ego” or “you should grow your ego”.
This is a misinterpretation of a useful fiction.
I have been using the concept of useful fictions a lot since I heard of it to explain things more effectively. A useful fiction is a model of something that is good enough for us to use that thing to good effect, but does not truly represent the thing itself.
For example, the planetary model of the atom that we were taught (with the nucleus made of protons and neutrons, and the electrons orbiting the nucleus) is not actually what an atom looks like. Those elements are not actually little tiny spheres. It was chosen as a model because we understand planetary orbit, so it made the atom easier to conceptualize.
And it was used effectively to innovate many different technologies.
The ego is a useful fiction in a similar way.
It is a convenient way to refer to the unconscious compulsive nature wrapped in a sense of self, that we did not choose. And due to its bias toward excess, the behaviors it is compelled toward are often self-destructive.
Modern Society
The ego has built most of modern society.
The conflict between the ego-driven agenda to build society forward, and the consciously decided agenda to build society forward in more ideal ways, is sometimes referred to as a war for/on consciousness. And the gradual pivot toward more conscious self-awareness is referred to as a revolution of consciousness.
Since we are going over a lot of popular terms.
Matrices (Plural of Matrix)
A matrix, in this context, is a controlled space within the space of “society” (i.e, the collective consciousness) designed to recruit attention, and thereby energy and behavior, toward particular ends.
Although the matrix is usually used in pop-culture to refer to government control conspiracies and carries a negative connotation, there are plenty of small-scale matrices in families, friend groups, clubs, and various workplaces that serve the exact same function. Without any positive or negative connotation attached, “matrix” would refer first and foremost to a set of implicitly defined boundaries within any space of shared consciousness. Boundaries that silently shape human behavior, but can be detected with proper clarity and discernment.
You wouldn’t really need to be aware of this to be building one forward and participating in one.
You also wouldn’t really need to be totally conscious of this to step outside of it, or choose to utilize it to great effect.
And, I guess we could also add that the matrix is another useful fiction similar to the ego.
Think of it like this. An undesirable matrix in a family would denote generational trauma that is enforced in the present through forms of abuse, toxic behavior, and manipulative folk wisdom. A desirable matrix would be a healthy, tightly knit, productive family unit whose members enable each other to move more effectively in the world.
Right now the concept of the matrix is being utilized in a limiting way.
In the movie the matrix, it is referring to a machine controlled and generated world that is not the real world. A simulation created to keep people asleep but neurologically active so they continue to produce energy. Even though actual batteries are much more efficient than human bodies at producing energy. Humans are designed to be energy efficient.
There are any number of movements that exist in the modern world pushing us toward various desired ends.
The Future
We are becoming more conscious of our ability to become more conscious.
There does seem to be an increasing number of people who are not convinced that something is true just because it is stated in a true-sounding tone. Who are willing to accept more contradictions, and look inwardly where they aren’t comfortable to look to assess their genuine drives and motivations. And cultivate the self-acceptance necessary to realize different aspects of their life, and convert them into resources that can be used to create what is meaningful to them in the world.
Modern society seems extra dismal because our minds are subject to a torrent of information that is ripping us in all different directions.
It is important to allow yourself to see everything, truly. Don’t get stuck on the flood of information, see it, see past it, see what’s around it, and assess what is really happening.
Notice what position you’re in so you can act effectively.