Of Zombies, Perceptions and Overarching Paradigms

Rather than posting on my site today, I wrote a lengthy comment to Professor Lohmann's site. You can see it here as a comment to his Zombie post today. His article is well worth the read as it discusses how our perceptions create reality among many other things. Lohmann is ALWAYS interesting...
(note though that his site is very quirqy when viewed in Explorer, try viewing it via Safari if you can)

If you just can't get into his site, here is my comment, but it means little without reading his excellent thesis first. Do try to access his site for his article:

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Lohmann,

My, but your brain is busy. Does it hurt to live in that tightly structured complicated head of yours? Thanks for the installment--a very good read!

It spured thest thoughts:
If reality is up for grabs, if our condition is a result of "perception," then is the antidote to be found in mastering our perceptions?
what's the cure??? If it is to alter our perceptions, then which perceptions would serve us best for the embracing?

I challenge you to look at these paradigms you are examining as they affect the personal as well as the political. (my base argument is that having personal revolutions is arguably the only long-term way to alter the political realm-witness Gloria Steinem's midlife epiphanies as example)

I liked your article and don't disagree with it or where I see it leading, however, I find myself feeling uncomfortably powerless in the face of paradigms that are almost scheming against me in your thesis. I pose the question of whether you see possible examples of how we can choose our paradigms as we now assume that we must live within a them.

.you argue that we are in an era where we are beginning to realize that we are tacitly destined to be co-opted by an entity greater than ourselves, an overarching paradigm. If we must live within a reality that we ourselves are not in control of day to day and cannot define or even fully understand because it has a life of its own that we are merely a servant to, could we not be proactively wise enough to use the minimal free will we may possibly have to choose which of these overarching paradigms will control us by being our container. I see our only other option for personal power is to be reduced to absurdity or to embrace the realization that nothing indeed matters so we may as well enjoy the ride nihilistically.

If we are indeed able to choose which paradigm contains us, I would argue that the best choice may be to align ourselves with the momentum of Nature (ala the Tao or dharma or quantum physics) than with political and societal paradigms. (ala totalitarianism). I argue that if we must have a paradigm, but cannot create the paradigm yet are able to choose which one we live in service to, it would be best to find the highest/most dominant/thereby most stable and True paradigm and align ourselves first with it in hopes that it will allow us best to play out our highest values in mirror. I am founding this on the assumption that the highest/most dominant paradigm naturally allows for natural balances and supports the truest sub paradigms. Whereas the sub paradigms (those that are human made) may only subvert some of the highest purposes and will therefore be subverted by the dominant paradigm over time via its natural checks and balances. Note also, that I'm holding among those highest purposes, which are in danger of being subverted by anything other than the dominant paradigm, the value of "individuality." I see that all your arguments lead to the ultimate value of reviving the individual identity from a dead container (a very personal agenda I must say even if you are framing it in the political realm). How do we do this? by aligning ourselves with the most dominant paradigm daily via NLP and practiced routine (the very methods used to indoctrinate people into religions, which btw, I see as poor substitutes for the true dominant paradigm which we don't fully understand but can nonetheless move towards).

If you follow my spotty argument, I'm asking: can we not force ourselves into the realm of the Tao and away from the realm of more man-made "civilized" agendas? Would this not serve our truest values better?

Framing some of my comments within movies as you did:
What of movies where we choose our way of being and outlook, even though we see that we have been living within the trap of a paradigm which is beyond our control. Movies such as "Cold Comfort Farm" or "Bliss" (the 1985 one with Harry Joy as protagonist. Note that there are two unrelated movies by this name.) In these movies, the heroes see that they are living in a paradigm that is beyond their own control, yet defining the course of their lives. Upon realizing this, they exercise their power to alter their outlook, still within the paradigm, to in-turn shift the paradigm that contains them. In the end, they still live within the paradigm, but as a result in their shifted outlook, their world is enlarged and they are able to live a more fulfilling life that is better suited to their highest values. Even though they realize they are forever in a game, they no longer "play the game." They have found some wiggle-room by learning how to write their own rules. We may arguably be living within a random given alternate reality, but at least we can exercise as much control as possible over how we thrive in and perpetuate (or don't perpetuate) that reality. Beyond that, we can perhaps align ourselves with the highest most True reality that will allow the most flexibility within the sub-realities. But we must be careful about which reality we choose to align ourselves with and it behooves us to seek the highest, most overarching reality to align ourselves with and that we start with the personal, not the political.

To clarify, I want to touch on another direction that this could go in: the question of whether we could live in a realm where aspects of our identity are allowed to be more fluid. Movies where we choose our identity, such as "Being John Malkovich" and "Seconds" argue that this is possible. However, the heroes don't really find satisfaction in the end as their new lives don't give them enough reason to exist/meaning/juice, they simply give them the freedom of fluidity and the illusion that they aren't trapped in a greater paradigm. Again, if we accept that "all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts." Then all is without fundamental meaning and we may as well drop all efforts at controlling any of our master paradigms and simply enjoy ourselves the best we can and laugh as often as possible. I need meaning though, otherwise I'll spontaneously combust. So assuming that we do somehow think there is a point at the bottom of our existence, then I figure it's best to figure out what paradigm best supports that point (surely it is the dominant uberparadigm) and dedicate all of our personal power to aligning ourselves in direct service to that paradigm above all others. Within that paradigm perhaps we can seek fluidity of identity to further align ourselves with the subparadigms that allow us best to actualize our individuality in the best interest of the uberlaws. I don't know what that paradigm is, but I think the Tao probably approaches and is a worthy place to begin our NLP process of convincing ourselves that we live within a world as defined by the Tao.

In short, if we must live within constructs not of our making, don't you think that finding a construct that supports personal meaning is a place to begin to improve the constraints of the political constructs we are contained by? I'm hoping your solution isn't purely a political paradigm or I'll feel jipped.