We have our own personal filters. We form these filters unconsciously. They are digested thumbnail maps, or pictures of life, and our experiences with any specific set of circumstances. We may feel good in the kitchen because one of our filters tells us we know what to do there and we do it well. On the other hand, we may feel socially awkward at a night club, again because our experiences tell us that the things around us are either unfamiliar or that they are unfavourable to some particular view we have of ourselves.

Experiences stored in our subconscious make filters? Yes, exactly.

So then what do you do with it? How do we shift consciously or unconsciously toward a different morality? Shall we get into the morality?

Most conventional models of morality are a special and exceptionally intense set of memetic reinforcements. Our culture develops a set of beliefs that speak to what it supposedly means to have a heart or soul, and more often than not, when someone reflects on whether they are making the right decision or not, they reference this body of beliefs. People rarely invent new beliefs about right and wrong. These beliefs and cultural influences are so strong that people can deliberately design messages to elicit a specific behaviour. It’s reliable enough to be seen as almost literally a chain of cause and effect. It works even better if you are just relaxed and going along with your daily life. Your unconscious mind will obey these messages.

Like when people see Jesus in a potato chip? All of a sudden that chip becomes a tourist attraction until someone eats it. Yes. It does relate to that. Good observation. I would freely eat Jesus potato chips, but that is from one of my own moral attitudes.

That would be communion. Indeed. That is the basis behind the communion ritual.

The basis behind any ritual we do? Maybe the reason we have old wives tales? You are correct.

If I began graphically describing the abuse of children, it would cause you an instinctive pain. Your mind would in a sense flinch from hearing those words, but there are and have been other cultures that don’t have such an automatic response to this line of thought, and because it’s instinctive you don’t have to see any actual evidence of what I describe in order for your behaviour to be affected. In all likelihood becoming suspicious of me or anyone I mention in association with the lurid tale of child abuse. You don’t have to decide to look for a criminal. You instinctively do it.

Well, working with your entire memetic body, they can trigger a wide range of disturbances that will make you naturally and unconsciously seek to re-establish your personal sense of calm or comfort, and people often become quite aggressive in the effort to do so. If there is mention of radical change in business and finance, people become as fearful for their own survival as if they saw a wide stretch of barren farm land and will take whatever course of action might be mentioned to “make it better”, including spending money on things that they would not have purchased or seen as having value.

Do animals do this too? Animals do it in a sense, yes, but they tend to avoid the imaginary pitfalls human behaviour is subject to.

Is this instinctual behaviour for survival? Yes. Our biology is set to trust the pack implicitly. Duplicity on an instinctive level is unthinkable.

Do we always think instinctively? We think both instinctively and rationally, but our brains are wired to give instinct priority over the supposed higher brain functions. If I scare you, you won’t be able to do math.

What is the difference between instinct and intuition? Intuition is pre-cognition. It’s the unconscious mental function that can evaluate experience and even make projections without you having to carefully consider or think about it. I see the spiritual as being sort of like our bodies blood supply.

So we have instinct, rational thinking and intuition? Instinct first, then intuition, then rational thought. That is the hierarchy.

Do you feel instinct in your gut or intuition in your gut? Instinct is in your gut, intuition is in your senses or mind’s eye. It feels like a sensation in your mind before you start thinking about stuff, like almost hearing something or almost seeing something.

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~