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A Review
of
Boris Sidis' Book
Nervous Ills
Chapter X: The Subconscious1
by Doug Renselle
Doug's Pre-review Commentary
Start of Review


Chapters I-XXI
Introduction I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII

XVIII
XIX XX XXI
       

Chapters XXII-XXXVII
XXII XXIII XXIV XXV XXVI XXVII XXVIII XXIX XXX XXXI XXXII XXXIII XXXIV XXXV

XXXVI

XXXVII
Index
   

Move to any Chapter of Boris Sidis' Nervous Ills,
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Chapter X......The Subconscious

PAGE

 PARA

QUOTEs
(Most quotes verbatim Boris Sidis, some paraphrased.)

COMMENTs
(Relevant to Pirsig, William James, William James Sidis, and
Quantonics Thinking Modes.)

77

1

Man’s nerve cell organization may be classified into two main systems:

(I) The inferior, the reflex, the instinctive, the automatic centers.

(II) The superior, the controlling, selective, and inhibitory brain-centers of the cortex.

Boris' thelogos for this chapter is 8.8%! That is an relatively large number: 58 occurrences of the out of 658 total words!
2 The double systems of nerve-centers have correspondingly a double mental activity, or double-consciousness as it is sometimes called, the inferior, the organic, the instinctive, the automatic, the reflex consciousness, or briefly termed the sub-consciousness, consciousness below the threshold of self-consciousness; and the superior, the choosing, the willing, the critical, the will-consciousness. This controlling will-consciousness may also be characterized as the guardian-consciousness of the individual.

A crucial observation begs our attention here. Boris Sidis says naught regarding human's "mental activities'" social Values. His whole list regards only individual Values.

Why? Our belief is that quantum physial aspects of reality aræ per intera. Similar as our "mental activities" have n¤ 'automatic' awarenesses of biological and inorganic "activities," our mental activities require n¤ 'automatic' awarenesses of "social activities" and social Values. We cann¤t live without inorganic, biological and social automatic activities, but n¤r aræ we intrinsically, proto-"mentally actively" -aware of them.

We believe humans physially have will-comsciousness as individuals. We humans aræ n¤t ontologically emersed with social Value Demos-consciousness. Latter is a contrivance of humans, n¤t an physial intrinsic of individuality. Social Value's analogue is an intrinsic of per intera Nature, and thus unnecessary for human provision, except as emersed direct experience individual Values. (Anything beyond that is convenience.)

And here we embark on a n¤vel Quantonics HotMeme™.

Quantum Society finds its bases in quantum individualism, Quantum Self.

(Both italicized quantum pairs are titles of two of Dana Zohar's books which fit quite appropriately here.)

Quantum Society does n¤t find its bases in classically innate gregarious aggregations and groups: unions, catholic universals, religions, corporations, institutions, states, nations, n¤r globalization, n¤r stellarization, n¤r galactization, n¤r... Indeed, those classical 'organizations' aræ nurseries of ideal abysses of staysses. Stuff of Pirsigean ESQ. 'Legally' imposed formal AKA 'social' behavior.

In quantum reality we uncl¤ak (from a classical conspective) unique heuristics—anihmatæ, heterogeneous, BAWAM pr¤cessing, emerging, EIMA, multiversal-¤mniversal SON quantum c¤nsci¤usness-awareness-intellect(ings):

1) quanton(Quantum_Society,Quantum_Self), which

issi another way ¤f saying "we aræ in It and It is in us."

And Quantum Society and Quantum Self are quantons!

Quantum Society is proemially whole via intrinsic quantum physial interrelationship-aspect(ing)s of reality.

Bluntly, classical construction not required! (Classical constructs have n¤ catabolism n¤r apoptosis n¤r sunset clause 'designed in.' They are, apparently, intentionally perpetual. And that is perhaps their greatest flaw. Doug's opinions. This is Bagehot's prominent point in our top of page 2003 News quotes.) Apparently handy, initially, yes. But they become ESQ and thence worshiped as such. CTMs' classical constructions turn our quanton above into a classical EOOO, EEMD dichotomy like this:

2) dichon(classical_society, classical_self), which

is the way of saying "we are not in It nor is It in us." Latter which demonstrates classicisms' worship of ideal, objective negation. Classical 'laws' dichotomize society versus individuals!

  1. Classical individuals, via societies' worship of negation, are taught to hate.
  2. Quantum ihndihvihduals aræ taught that negation issi subjective which ev¤kes multihversal respect amd subsumes classical opposition.

In Earth's now popular metastases of Democracy, classical 'laws' dichotomize majority versus minority.

3) dichon(majority, minority)

Notice how that dichon forces discrimination via classical negation. Notice how negation and concomitant discrimination beg terrorism! (e.g., black civil disobedience from ~1950s through now; US campus riots; Muslim terrorism over roughly that same period notice that 'disobedience,' 'riots,' and 'terrorism' are classical Social Pattern of Value (ScA-SPoVs) consepctives)

To cure discrimination, classicists use 'affirmative action,' which only distills as more classical discrimination, and begs more terrorism! What does di-scrimination use to di-scriminate? Classical ideal, either/or negation. This is why we claim classical society is ill and in need of quantum reform. Democracy is a classical societal illness which places society above individuals. Quantum individuals are awakening from their societal somnambulations! Doug - 22Apr2004.

"Most of us do not use our individual capabilities
to be aware of quantum reality, instead
we somnambulate our classical caves of Demos reason."

Heraclitus on logos,
paraphrased in Quantum Lightings.

In all of Quantonics, this tiny cell in a tiny comment of a tiny paragraph of Boris Sidis' text Nervous Ills, we offer our most important and Valuable notions to our students.
Doug - 11Sep2003; tide is out, sky is overcast, and Oregon's physial Goodness prevails...

3 From an evolutionary standpoint, we can well realize the biological function or importance of this guardian-consciousness. The external world bombards the living organism with innumerable stimuli.
4 1The theory of the subconscious was first developed by me in my volume "The Psychology of Suggestion," 1898. Interested readers who may not have seen his son's efforts may wish to view WJS on Unconscious Intelligence. That Appendix is from Boris' "Symptomatology, Psychognosis, and Diagnosis of Psychopathic Diseases." William appears, in our view, to humorously and esoterically deride his Father's notions of mind. Boris' notions, of course, are quite classical. However, we see in Boris many quantum intuemes.
78 5 From all sides thousands of impressions come crowding upon the senses of the individual. Each neuron system with its appropriate receptors has its corresponding system of reactions which, if not modified or counteracted, may end in some harmful or fatal result.

We see hints of Boris' intuitions of autism here. Too, what we today refer as, quantum everywhere interrelationship-aspects association(ings). Boris, were he alive today could be speaking of quantum neural nets here.

Also subtle hints of quantum holography.

Everywhere association is what mitigates Boris' rather extreme concerns. But what about John Forbes Nash, Robert M. Pirsig, William James Sidis, Turing, Gödel, Luzhin, etc.?

6 It is not of advantage to an individual of a complex organization to respond with reaction to all impressions coming from the external environment. Hence, that organism will succeed best in the struggle for existence that possesses some selective, critical, inhibitory "choice and will" centers. The more organized and the more sensitive and delicate those centers are, the better will the organism succeed in its life existence.

(Our underline and bold.)

Our underlined text offers a clue regarding The Birth of SOM. From whence SOM's wall and Achilles' knife-saber which cut it out? It probably evolved as a protection mechanism from sensory overload. We evolved techniques for shutting reality's flux-abundance out.

Science, at Millennium III's beginning still does this, uses SOM's knife by adhering, "If you cannot measure it it does not exist." Innately, implicitly, that statement is science's great bandwidth SAW. It has many teeth which it uses to COMB what it wants to see. (Technicians among you may be interested in further investigations of Surface Acoustic Wave devices.) Notice deeply ingrained (knife-saw) notions of classical 'exclusion' here—either/or, platypusean, objective exclusion.

Now, in Quantonics, we are saying it is important for us to tear that wall down and let in more Quantum Light.

Autists tend, from our perspectives, to do this. They apparently experience a kind of sensory broadband parallel overload. See our table on autism near our quantum holography link above.

...

Boris' use of "will" here offers a hint of "free will." Too, his uses of "choice and will." Clearly, "free will" is more highly evolved, more heterodoxical, than "Demos will." May we recommend The Red Violin, Rabbit Proof Fence, Dead Poet's Society, Good Will Hunting, Mercury Rising, and The Luzhin Defense videos. Each shows Demos will's innate ESQ better than we can describe in words here. (They also show a deliciously better side of entertainment as a learning experience. Though folk who do this work are hilted in ESQ social patterns called "guilds." Quantum paradice abound... Guilds are noted for their manner of termination: total failure and collapse. Entertainment guilds too shall collapse under their own ESQ weight as roles and techniques commoditize and autsource.We believe entertainment will go completely virtual using quantum memetics, and like iPods, et al., we will be able to emerscitect and emerscenture and then share our own quantum "fluxies." Film studios and their accoutrements shall go as buggies and whips...)

7 The guardian-consciousness wards off, so far as it is possible, the harmful blows given by the stimuli of the external environment. In man, this same guardian consciousness keeps on constructing, by a series of elimination and selection, a new environment, individual and social, which leads to an ever higher and more perfect development and realization of the inner powers of individuality and personality.

(Our bold.)

A la Hannibal Lecter's memory palace, and Quantonics' quantum stage.

8 Under normal conditions man’s superior and inferior centers with their corresponding upper, critical, controlling consciousness together with the inferior automatic, reflex centers and their concomitant subconscious consciousness, keep on functioning in full harmony. The upper and lower consciousness form one organic [quantum physial] unity,—one conscious, active [quantum pragmatic] personality.

(Our brackets.)

In Quantonics pragma issi action. Our qualogos issi pragmatic.

79 9 Under certain abnormal conditions, however, the two systems of nerve-centers with their corresponding mental activities may become dissociated. The superior nerve-centers with their critical, controlling consciousness may become inhibited, split off from the rest of the nervous system. The reflex, automatic, instinctive, subconscious centers with their mental functions are laid bare, thus becoming directly accessible to the stimuli of the outside world; they fall a prey to the influences of external surroundings, influences termed suggestions.

Boris use of "dissociated" here is classically objective, we are sure.

Classical, ideal objective "dissociation" is n¤t possible in quantum reality. Quantum diss¤ciation is at worst islandic — a quanton ¤f b¤th-all-while-amd-many (BAWAM) l¤cality amd n¤nl¤cality; l¤calability amd n¤nl¤calability.

quanton(l¤cal,n¤nl¤cal)

SOMites have to be (are) classically, carefully taught... to be suggestible, to herd, to somnambulate reality.

10 The critical, controlling, guardian-consciousness, being cut off and absent, the reduced individuality lacks the rational guidance and orientation given by the upper choice- and will-centers, and becomes the helpless plaything of all sorts of suggestions, sinking into the trance states of the subconscious. It is this subconscious that forms the highway of suggestions. Suggestibility is the essential characteristic of the subconscious.

In our view, Boris shows his own classicism, his own SOMiticism here. Our quantum stage's self-guidance is certainly n¤t intrinsically 'rational.' We have to be taught, carefully taught to be innately, classically rational.

 

Hypnoidal suggestibility, however, we fathom as limited. And whether it is entirely subconscious is left to discern...mayhaps you can assist-advise us here.

80 11 The subconscious rises to the surface of consciousness, so to say, whenever there is a weakening, paralysis, or inhibition of the upper, controlling will and choice-centers. In other words, whenever there is a disaggregation of the superior from the inferior nerve-centers, there follows an increase of ideosensory, ideomotor, sensori-secretory, reflex excitability; and ideationally, or rationally there is present an abnormal intensity of suggestibility.2

(Our bold, violet classical problematic.)

This somewhat answers our query above...do you agree?

Classical whereness is Cartesian, EEMD.

Quantum whereness issi c¤mplementary, EIMA.

12 2I object to the term "Subliminal," because it is understood in a cosmic, or metaphysical sense. The term "co-conscious" is limited and refers to independently functioning, contemporaneous personalities, or mental systems. The term "Unconscious" is misleading, because it may refer to the metaphysics of Hartmann [Nicolai,1882-1950; "ontology precedes epistemology," with, though classically objective in its origins, which we agree when quantum hermeneuticized...; Hartman keeps subject and object classically separate which floats him in SOM's COORs...; to Hartman reality was "meaningless." Sounds like a died in wool existentialist to us.]. At best it simply means nervous processes which, as such, belong to neurology, physiology, but not to the domain of abnormal psychology. (Our brackets, bold, violet classical problematic.)
13 The term "subconscious," used by me in "The Psychology of Suggestion," means tracts of mental states which may or may not function in the total mental reaction of the individual.
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Doug Renselle
Quantonics, Inc.
1950 East Greyhound Pass, Suite 18, #368
Carmel, INdiana 46033-7730
USA
1-317-THOUGHT

©Quantonics, Inc., 2003-2009 Rev. 8Jan2008  PDR Created: 8Sep2003  PDR
(13Sep2003 rev - Extend page 77 comments.)
(19Dec2003 rev - Alter and extend p. 77 comments to show classicisms' worship of negation.)
(29Feb2004 rev - Add p. 78, para. 6 anchor 'Demos Will.')
(22Apr2004 rev - Change 'stas[y]s[y]ses' to 'staysses.' P. 77, para. 2, comments' red text.)
(20Dec2004 rev - Add p. 78, para. 8, 'Pragmatic Personality' anchor. Reset legacy red text.)
(30Jan2007 rev - Revise format. Adjust color.)
(8Jan2007 rev - Minor reformating.)

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