CONTROL, CONTEXT & CATEGORY
1) This is the first – and maybe the last – time I will tawk here directly about a bit of practical wizardry. The material was growing into a missive, but I decided to make it more widely available because context.
1) This is the first – and maybe the last – time I will tawk here directly about a bit of practical wizardry. The material was growing into a missive, but I decided to make it more widely available because context.
2) This is not some feel-good motivational BS. Follow @DeepakChopra for that sort of thing.
Treading here is devised to make you so uncomfortable that you itch, you hurt for action – and the potential for a painful showdown with the world.
Treading here is devised to make you so uncomfortable that you itch, you hurt for action – and the potential for a painful showdown with the world.
3) The open mind can accommodate “conflicting”, “circular” or “irrational” ideas without much effort.
The value is in letting intuition relate them to actual experience and test their usefulness against the world.
The value is in letting intuition relate them to actual experience and test their usefulness against the world.
4) “You are what you do.”
ἦθος ἀνθρώπῳ δαίμων
This is the Foundation and the Firmament.
ἦθος ἀνθρώπῳ δαίμων
This is the Foundation and the Firmament.
5) Anything of authentic value – anything worth growing into – we must begin from a place of dread and ignorance. This is why the Will to Power is essential character. 
6) The Will to Power is a will to the future; it is manifest in the realization that the future is vested in the present moment, in the present movement. Because Power is your momentum and Will is your ability to fuel and direct it beyond circumstance.
7) Everyone is naturally endowed with a drive towards power because control because survival. But character of great Will must be forged in the throes of authentic action. The scars of adversity and pain make “character”. This is how you get “control”.
8) How is ἦθος made? We put skin in the game.
We take deliberate action (“control”) with exposure to the world (“context”). We then use categories, filters, frames and other semantic constructs to interpret the signal and inform future action.
An iterative process of becoming.
We take deliberate action (“control”) with exposure to the world (“context”). We then use categories, filters, frames and other semantic constructs to interpret the signal and inform future action.
An iterative process of becoming.
9) You exert power by reverse-engineering from the desired action-manifestation. Context is chosen relative to the action-manifestation. Categories, filters, frames are chosen for parsing complex context & maximizing power.
(Examples in embedded thread.)
(Examples in embedded thread.)
10) What is ἦθος? Visualize a trident from mind out into world.
> Control is from repeated, customary action, sustained in authenticity.
> Context is from the habitat of action, where it typically takes place.
> Category is from manifestation, outward appearance & bearing.
> Control is from repeated, customary action, sustained in authenticity.
> Context is from the habitat of action, where it typically takes place.
> Category is from manifestation, outward appearance & bearing.
11) In its highest form, ἦθος puts the master in a position of possibility all the time, power manifest as a web of optionality.
Directed action creates more of what’s going to happen. Momentum is no longer a push into the present, but a powerful draw from what’s coming.
Directed action creates more of what’s going to happen. Momentum is no longer a push into the present, but a powerful draw from what’s coming.
12) We’re one with world, so there's no “real” control.
The useful definition of control is as an ability to take deliberate, directed action. Which is why control is critical to having power over the world. Which is why a strong Will to Power is essential.
There is no paradox.
The useful definition of control is as an ability to take deliberate, directed action. Which is why control is critical to having power over the world. Which is why a strong Will to Power is essential.
There is no paradox.
13) If effort is misguided, no amount of exertion yields positive results.
Blind action can be much worse than inaction.
Context is the action-relevant portion of the complex environment.
Which makes context important to power.
Blind action can be much worse than inaction.
Context is the action-relevant portion of the complex environment.
Which makes context important to power.
14) The best-devised categories/filters/frames depend on the desired action and its environment, not the other way around.
They let us focus on what is most relevant to taking action in a particular situation and the appropriate manifestation of power.
They let us focus on what is most relevant to taking action in a particular situation and the appropriate manifestation of power.
15) But people are wont to doing what is easy instead of what is useful.
Imbeciles use categories instead of risky action to construct identities.
So they can fit themselves into the comforts of consensus.
They grow no character, no will, no direction.
startupdaemon.net/2018/03/09/sit…
Imbeciles use categories instead of risky action to construct identities.
So they can fit themselves into the comforts of consensus.
They grow no character, no will, no direction.
startupdaemon.net/2018/03/09/sit…
16) Instead of channeling one’s authenticity, these fake identities become a tool of social control. Because fear of uncertainty. Because people without ἦθος can't stand being ostracized from the comforts of the herd. And isolation can have very real survival implications.
17) Categories are useful when derived from context & authentic will.
Instead of the useful thing, cowards & imbeciles do the easy thing, which is to derive context from categories & group identity. That's how you get delusion & mass hysteria.
And retreat deeper into fakehood.
Instead of the useful thing, cowards & imbeciles do the easy thing, which is to derive context from categories & group identity. That's how you get delusion & mass hysteria.
And retreat deeper into fakehood.
18) Without grasping function, there is no understanding.
Function is about action in context.
This is why authentic knowledge comes from doing, not from sitting in lecture halls.
This is why the authenticity of ἦθος, not semantic identities, defines your character.
Function is about action in context.
This is why authentic knowledge comes from doing, not from sitting in lecture halls.
This is why the authenticity of ἦθος, not semantic identities, defines your character.
19) Before forging a strong ἦθος by taking risks & being battered by reality, you can use semantic frames and identities to generate momentum – a tool to fight inertia & get support from the group. But always beware that's just a tool, a crutch, a safety net - to be let go.
20) The only thing more dangerous than being locked into others’ frames is to become identified with yours.
Because then you are delusional on your own & no survival benefit from consensus: you're blind & helpless.
Because then you are delusional on your own & no survival benefit from consensus: you're blind & helpless.
21) Finding your authentic You is about deconstructing semantic identities. This is how you transcend self. You can have a big “ego” – a sense of who you are as Right Action – and use it to shape the world. The key is not to develop attachment to the ego, but keep it fluid.
22) When you're Authentik, your authentic actions put you in a complementary relationship with the world because you're making it your own.
In creating yourself, you're making the world. There is no paradox. This is the timeless way.
In creating yourself, you're making the world. There is no paradox. This is the timeless way.
23) Categories are stealth analogies. The word “fire” seems obvious, direct and concrete, doesn’t it?
But is it the fire that keeps you alive through the Chusetts winter or the fire that incinerates entire towns in the Fornia summer?
But is it the fire that keeps you alive through the Chusetts winter or the fire that incinerates entire towns in the Fornia summer?
24) The Authentik begins with oneself as action, identifies relevant context & imposes upon it categorical frames that enhance one’s power into the world. Because Knows.
This is the essence of what's called “having a center”. It's experienced when the need for center is removed.
This is the essence of what's called “having a center”. It's experienced when the need for center is removed.
25) You develop your authenticity & ability to create optionality by taking risks based on your instincts. With authentic action, optionality generation becomes a natural reflex as in a trained muscle.
You only need to understand others’ frames to get the behavior of the crowd.
You only need to understand others’ frames to get the behavior of the crowd.
26) The sense of "center" isn't of any one goal you cling to, but the ability to conjure optionality of the situation, to direct events so they open paths forward rather than close them.
Directing optionality is like making the world smile. It opens up, light fills everything.
Directing optionality is like making the world smile. It opens up, light fills everything.
27) The only certainty in life is change itself. Without ἦθος, this condition is dreadful.
That’s a big reason many people get lonely and bitter in their old age – because they realize what they lived was fake and fragile. That’s where regret comes from.
That’s a big reason many people get lonely and bitter in their old age – because they realize what they lived was fake and fragile. That’s where regret comes from.
28) You were wrong. So what? Learn from it and use it to drive forward action. Never lose momentum. Because losing momentum = dying slowly.
You made a mistake. So what? Make good on it – and four times over. Never apologize. MAKE IT RIGHT & take the lesson.
You made a mistake. So what? Make good on it – and four times over. Never apologize. MAKE IT RIGHT & take the lesson.
29) The path of personal independence, character, authenticity, especially for young people, requires
FIRST you deconstruct media narratives, corporate narratives and narratives parachuted by your parents/family etc.
Understand who is trying to control you, how and why.
FIRST you deconstruct media narratives, corporate narratives and narratives parachuted by your parents/family etc.
Understand who is trying to control you, how and why.
30) The path of personal independence, character, authenticity, especially for young people, involves
SECOND you don't allow xeno-narratives to thwart your growth.
Use your own narratives to fuel action, deliberate (not reckless!) risk-taking and more action. Build ἦθος.
SECOND you don't allow xeno-narratives to thwart your growth.
Use your own narratives to fuel action, deliberate (not reckless!) risk-taking and more action. Build ἦθος.
31) The path of personal independence, character, authenticity, especially for young people, moves
THIRD into deeply authentic action until you no longer need narrative – it fades into the momentum of your living, of the world you create, of what you make of and for yourself.
THIRD into deeply authentic action until you no longer need narrative – it fades into the momentum of your living, of the world you create, of what you make of and for yourself.
32) None of this is easy, and neither is it meant to.
Value doesn't grow on easy.
Get it?
Value doesn't grow on easy.
Get it?
