Buddhist Annealing: Wireheading Done Right with the Seven Factors of Awakening @/Andr%C3%A9sG%C3%B3mezEmilsson

Andrés Gómez Emilsson | Buddhist Annealing: Wireheading Done Right with the Seven Factors of Awakening @/Andr%C3%A9sG%C3%B3mezEmilsson | Uploaded May 2021 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
This video discusses the connections between meditative flow (any feeling of change) and the two QRI paradigms of "Wireheading Done Right" and "Neural Annealing". To do so, I explore how each of the "seven factors of awakening" can be interpreted as operations that you do to flow. In a nutshell: the factors are "energy management techniques", which when used in the right sequences and dosages, tend to result in wholesome neural annealing.

I then go on to discuss two fascinating dualities: (1) The dual relationship between standing wave patterns and vibratory frequencies. And (2) the dual correspondence between annealing at the computational level (REBUS) and annealing in resonance networks.

(1) Describes how the crazy patterns that come out of meditation and psychedelics are not irrelevant. They are, in a way, the dual counterpart to the emotional processing that you are undergoing. Hence why ugly emotions manifest as discordant structures whereas blissful feelings come together with beautiful geometries.

(2) Articulates how simulated annealing methods in probabilistic graphical models such as those that underlie the synthesis of entropic disintegration and the free energy principle (Friston's and Carhart-Harris' REBUS model) describe belief updating. Whereas annealing at the implementation level refers to a dissonance-minimization technique in resonance networks. In turn, if these are "two sides of the same coin", we can expect to find that operations in one domain will translate to operations in the other domain. In particular, I discuss how resisting information (“denial”, “cognitive dissonance”) has a corresponding subjective texture associated with muscle tension, “resistance”, viscosity, and hardness. Equanimity, in turn, allows the propagation of both waves of dissonance, consonance, and noise *as well as* bundles of information. This has major implications for how to maximize the therapeutic benefit of psychedelics.

Finally, I explain how we could start formalizing Shinzen Young's observation that you can, not only "read the contents of your subconscious", but indeed also "heal your subconscious by greeting it with enough concentration, clarity, and equanimity". Negentropy in the resonance network (patches of highly-ordered "combed" coherent resonance across levels of the hierarchy) can be used to heal patches of dissonance. This is why clean high-valence meditative objects (e.g. metta) can absorb and dissipate the internal dissonance stored in patterns of habitual responses. In turn, this might ultimately allow us to explain why, speaking poetically, it is true that love can heal all wounds. :-)

~Qualia of the Day: Nirvana Rose~

(Skip to ~10:00 if you don't need a recap of Wireheading Done Right and Neural Annealing)

[ps. correction - I wrote a 30 page document about my retreat, not a 50 word document]

Relevant links:

Buddhist Annealing - qualiacomputing.com/2021/04/04/buddhist-annealing-wireheading-done-right-with-the-seven-factors-of-awakening

Wireheading Done Right - qualiacomputing.com/2016/08/20/wireheading_done_right

Neural Annealing: Toward a Neural Theory of Everything (Michael Johnson) - opentheory.net/2019/11/neural-annealing-toward-a-neural-theory-of-everything

REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics - pharmrev.aspetjournals.org/content/71/3/316

Strengthened beliefs under psychedelics (SEBUS)? A Commentary on “REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics” (Adam Safron) - psyarxiv.com/zqh4b

Anti-Tolerance Drugs - qualiacomputing.com/2018/11/07/anti-tolerance-drugs

Highly Recommended Guided Meditation: buddhistinquiry.org/resources/offerings-analayo/compassion-audio

Taking Temperature of Subconscious Processing ~ SHINZEN YOUNG - youtu.be/PoZABGqiLrc

Shinzen Young on "Flow" - youtu.be/xtZTL5mV478

The True Beauty of Your "Soul" ~ Shinzen Young - youtu.be/K50i1AYPl7w

Harmonic Resonance Theory: An Alternative to the "Neuron Doctrine" Paradigm of Neurocomputation to Address Gestalt properties of perception - slehar.com/wwwRel/webstuff/hr1/hr1.html

Seven Factors of Awakening - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Factors_of_Awakening

The Hindrances - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_hindrance

What Ketamine Feels Like | K Hole and Lower Doses Described in Detail
- youtu.be/PNeISGnLsSA

The Holy Mountain (trailer) - youtu.be/qmR0vi0ifzE

$Quantifying Bliss: Empirically Testable Hypotheses For Valence Talk by Andrés Gómez Emilsson from the Qualia Research Institute. Venue: 2018 Science of Consciousness conference, Tucson, AZ. Abstract: What makes an experience blissful? Can bliss ever be quantified? Emotion is usually factored along two main axes: arousal (energy level) and valence (the pleasure-pain axis). High valence (i.e. highly blissful) states of consciousness include: orgasm, romantic love, deep sleep, concentration meditation (so-called “Jhana states”), psychedelic ecstasy, and so on. Low valence states include: depression, anxiety, bodily discomfort, and the experiential quality of listening to dissonance. Confusingly, we also experience neutral as well as mixed states of consciousness. An explanatory framework that ties together these disparate experiences in a coherent way is needed, such that valence becomes objectively quantifiable. Affective neuroscience classically addresses the question of “what makes an experience blissful” in terms of things such as neuroanatomical correlates (“pleasure center activation”), neurotransmitter and receptor function (“Mu-opioid activation”), and computational concepts (“reinforcement learning”). It is important to note that positive valence is associated with these features, but that does not, on its own, constitute a satisfying explanation. More so, counterexamples to such associations abound (unpleasant opioidergic states, reinforcement without pleasure, etc.) A scientific account of valence should be able to explain these associations and their exceptions, provide clear quantitative metrics for valence in arbitrary brain states, and, above all, make precise and testable (hopefully surprising) predictions. We advance a framework for studying consciousness that can deliver just that. We introduce the concepts of: Qualia Formalism (for any given conscious experience, there exists a mathematical object isomorphic to its phenomenology), Qualia Structuralism (this mathematical object has a rich set of formal structures), and Valence Realism (valence is a crisp phenomenon of conscious states upon which we can apply a measure). Based on this framework we propose the “Symmetry Theory of Valence” (STV): Given a mathematical object isomorphic to the qualia of a system, the mathematical property which corresponds to how pleasant it is to be that system is that object’s symmetry. We pair up the STV to various accounts of “the structural level at which valence takes place” and generate empirically testable predictions for each. Namely, we generate predictions for: (1) the protein and microtubule account introduced by Hameroff & Penrose (1996), (2) the “mental organs” account of states of consciousness proposed by Ray (2012), and (3) the connectome-specific harmonic account of brain states by Atasoy et al. (2016). In particular for (3), we arrive at an equation that transforms fMRI data into Consonance-Dissonance-Noise Signatures (CDNS) which, according to the STV, ought to account for a large fraction of the variance associated with valence. If experimentally verified, this equation would be the first fully quantitative account of valence derived from first principles capable of tying together the myriad kinds of bliss into a coherent framework.$

$High Entropy Alloys of Experience ~*Suggestion*: Play a music album you like in the background while listening to this talk.~ How do we find the gems hidden in the state-space of consciousness? In this talk I articulate why it is very likely that there is a huge number of undiscovered states of consciousness that are completely unique, irreducible, and wholistically special. In metallurgy, a high-entropy alloy (HEA) is a mixture of five or more metals in high proportions, often giving rise to a single phase. Some HEAs have been found to have extremely desirable properties from the point of view of material science (such as being the best at both yield-strength and ultimate tensile strength at the same time). Given the huge space of possible mixtures of metals, finding these carefully balanced mixtures with unique emergent properties is both a science and an art. It calls for intelligent strategies to explore the state-space of possible alloys! I suggest that in the realm of consciousness there are also states that would be appropriate to describe as high entropy alloys of experience. I go into how this framework can help us understand unique scents*. We then explore how the receptor affinity profiles of drugs, drug cocktails, and drug schedules can give rise to unique HEA-like states of mind. I then also discuss how memeplexes have various degrees of total complexity, and how this makes some more receptive to dealing with complexity in the world than others. I offer that I really appreciate the HEA-like memeplexes that get expressed in places like EAGlobal, The Science of Consciousness, and Psychedelic Science conferences. I conclude by reflecting on how a productive mindset or mood optimized for a specific intellectual job is likely to be HEA-like because it requires the careful balance between many different facets of the mind. Topics you will master after seeing this talk for even just one time**: High Entropy Alloys, Bronze and Iron Age, Equiatomic Alloys, People Clusters in Parties, Scents*, Sexual Orientation, Gay Fragrances, Memeplexes and Mindsets, Vibe of Groups, Energy Parameter, Frozen Food, Crystallites, Space Groups, The Science of Consciousness, EAGlobal, Psychedelic Science, Search Heuristics, DMT as Competing Clusters of Synchrony, Birthday Cake Flavor, Cellular Automata, Optimal Mood for Productivity. *(HEAs: Le Male by JPG, Bleu de Chanel, Mitsouko by Guerlain. Non-HEAs: Tommy Girl by Tommy Hilfiger, Habit Rouge by Guerlain, Amazing Grace Ballet Rose by Philosophy) **More like “topics barely touched upon” Further readings: Multicomponent and High Entropy Alloys - Professor Brian Cantor - https://youtu.be/L7BfDma85HI?t=2682 Perfumery as an Art Form - https://qualiacomputing.com/2020/02/21/perfumery-as-an-art-form/ Making Amazing Recreational Drug Cocktails - https://qualiacomputing.com/2020/03/08/making-amazing-recreational-drug-cocktails/ Electrum - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrum Crystallite - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystallite Neural Annealing: Toward a Neural Theory of Everything - https://opentheory.net/2019/11/neural-annealing-toward-a-neural-theory-of-everything/ A Big State-Space of Consciousness - https://qualiacomputing.com/2020/01/18/a-big-state-space-of-consciousness/ Psychedelic Science 2017: Take-aways, impressions, and what’s next - https://qualiacomputing.com/2017/04/26/psychedelic-science-2017-take-aways-impressions-and-whats-next/ Fear And Loathing At Effective Altruism Global 2017 - https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/08/16/fear-and-loathing-at-effective-altruism-global-2017/ Qualia Formalism in the Water Supply: Reflections on The Science of Consciousness 2018 - https://qualiacomputing.com/2018/04/10/qualia-formalism-in-the-water-supply-reflections-on-the-science-of-consciousness-2018/ 5-MeO-DMT vs. N,N-DMT: The 9 Lenses - https://qualiacomputing.com/2020/07/01/5-meo-dmt-vs-nn-dmt-the-9-lenses/ “The Seven Seals of Security” (QRI Sweden) - https://qualiacomputing.com/2020/03/11/qualia-production-presents-the-seven-seals-of-security-and-other-communications-from-qri-sweden/ Heterosexual males and females preferred odours from heterosexual males relative to gay males; gay males preferred odours from other gay males. - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/sense-smell-linked-sexual-orientation-study-reveals-490147.html If the goal is to avoid the formation of such phases, simply mixing together five or more elements in near-equiatomic concentrations is unlikely to be a useful approach. Even multi-component alloys that are initially single phase after solidification tend to separate into multiple metallic and intermetallic phases when annealed at intermediate temperatures. - High-entropy alloys - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41578-019-0121-4 Featured image source: @fractjack$

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