Hi All!
Thanks to Hugh Simonich for posting Dr. Solm’s video (“A new approach to the hard problem of consciousness”)! I found it to be really intriguing and well explained so I’ll probably also be getting his book as well.
Dr. Solm’s theory, if I understand him/it correctly, states that the source of any “conscious” experience arises with and as “feeling”.
(Video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDlkAQYERcQ&list=WL&index=3&t=1684s)
I was thinking about this and remembered I had heard Hank Robb, in an “ACT: Root to Fruit” video/interview he recently conducted (I’ll link below), views a basic level of conscious awareness in a given moment as critical for effective choosing to occur… and that also makes a lot of sense to me.
“The basement of the house of choice is awareness. You can’t make choices when you’re unaware.” (33:11)
(Video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkOIKgbGOvU&t=1850s)
So here are some current thoughts on some things:
If an important function of a procedure such as “cognitive defusion” is to increase one’s awareness in moments in which values-based decisions/choices should ideally be made, wouldn’t this suggest that it likely (fundamentally) functions to effect (perhaps among other things) a “feeling” state (e.g., freedom/liberation)?
For instance, one can say/think “I am not my thoughts/feelings” or one can act in accordance with those words to better understand what they mean. The latter person has the advantage of an experiential knowing, likely deeper and more convicted with continued practice (i.e., a deeper understanding). The experience is likely to be one of relative freedom/liberation.
Perhaps this freedom/liberation represents a relative “feeling” state conducive to awareness and effective choice making?
Perhaps, then, it is fundamentally a “feeling” state that we are pointing to when we point to the functional benefits of “letting go” or “holding onto lightly/tightly”.
Thoughts?
Jesse