The Art Of Cognitive Jujitsu

Releasing my book's first pages into the wilds of Cyberspace. Deep breath... - Page one to Chapter one.

Preface

The idea of Cognitive Jujitsu developed while thinking about the need for psychological and intellectual self-defense. I thought what we really need is a martial arts manual for the mind. I wanted a cognitive model of protective and rational thinking skills that I could teach my children. A system for ascertaining and determining what is genuine. A deductive reasoning skill set that can separate the wheat from the chaff, in this relentless information tsunami we endure.

To begin with, you may be wondering what qualifications or credentials do I have that can validate my credibility? I mean, that's a fair question, “Is this guy qualified to discuss matters of cognition and the mind?" When it comes to certificates or degrees, the honest answer is, I have none at all.

I am 100% academia free.

It’s true, I do not have the establishment’s endorsement. What I do have is many years of direct experience in the psychonautic exploration of the mind.

I am a free-range autodidact. A rebel philosopher, and psychonaut.

“Psychonaut” literally means, ‘a pilot or navigator of the mind’. It doesn’t only mean, one who uses psychoactive substances. There's much more to it than that. There are many trance inducing techniques and traditions for producing an “altered state of consciousness”. What I prefer to call, an “extraordinary state of perception”. The process of developing a mind capable of a “higher resolution of consciousness”.

There is a tremendous amount of wisdom to be discovered, from gazing through the windows of the mind that psychoactive plants can open. Although, to truly understand what these plants are teaching us, we must learn to open these windows alone and unassisted.

A psychonaut is one who dives deep within the mind. Boldly going where others fear to go. Driven by the passion to discover and a desire for understanding. Risking madness and the dissolution of the self to unite one’s mind with the pandimensional consciousness of the omniverse.

— Listen closely now, this next part is important. —

I strongly recommend you do not believe anything I say.

That’s right, don’t believe anything. What I recommend you do, is think. Think about what I’m saying, and contemplate the points I make, then decide if my work has any significance for you.

The primary intention of this book is to defend and protect your right to think for yourself.

The thing is, in a paradoxical way my lack of credentials, is actually my credentials. Especially in this case, for a book about how to think for yourself.

You see, at a very young age I escaped the indoctrination machine they call “the education system”. I began to seriously question all authority in the third grade. That is when, at about eight or nine years old, I refused to drink the establishment’s Kool-Aid.

Later on around the age of thirteen I began to learn what was happening to the world around me. I saw what the world had become. I realized the people responsible for this disaster should not be trusted.

We live in an epoch of deception and lies. Politicians, academia, the media, and even scientist, habitually lie to us. Fallacies and deceit pollute almost all information. Psychological warfare distorts perceptions and manipulates behavior. Those that profit from these lies and manipulations are counting on the fact that people are too conditioned, compliant, and distracted, to question their lies.

This book is the Kool-Aid antidote.

I wrote this book for all the intellectually courageous loan wolves. This is for all that want to break free and escape the herd mentality of group think.

Surrounded by a culture of lies I learned to test the veracity of all information. Anything I am unable to authenticate, corroborate, or verify, remains for me in the realm of uncertainty. The practical reality is, the amount of information anyone can reasonably and honestly verify is extremely small. This is why I remain dubious of the vast majority of human knowledge.

I refuse to believe or disbelieve in anything. Not because I assume any of it is incorrect, although much definitely seems to be. It’s because, presuming anything as “known” when one has not yet personally verified it, is intellectually dishonest.

What this means is that, in the scope of all there is to know, I know very little.

Okay hang on, uncertainty is not all that bad. Uncertainty has a wide variety of characteristics and qualities. There are probabilities, possibilities, potentials, and the imagined. As well as, improbabilities, implausibility, and the highly unlikely. All of which is better than fooling ourselves with unsubstantiated certainty.

What I offer is an authentic and unique perspective. An awareness developed by the untethered exploration of the human mind. The impressions of a participant observer of life.

My fundamental distrust, of the human-centric information sphere, forced me to look for alternative sources of information. To find answers to the questions burning in my mind, I decided against the typical academic journey, instead I chose the time-honored shamanic journey.

I learned that throughout history many people have claimed to be able to make contact with non-human intelligence. I don't mean aliens and such, I mean the animal and plant spirits and the natural spirits of the earth. This is what I call, my search for Terrestrial Intelligence.

I'm talking about the traditions and techniques called shamanism. I thought, this is great, knowledge can be found that is not dependent on untrustworthy human sources. As it turned out, I learned this is actually possible.

Yes I know, many of you are now rolling your eyes and raising your eyebrows. It’s totally okay, that’s my point, I would be too. It's completely valid to question my reasoning and even my sanity.

We must examine every bit of information that comes into our mind no matter where it comes from. I would certainly be dubious if someone said to me they had been talking to cactus and trees. I question all my own perceptions just as critically.

The reality is, it is virtually impossible to be certain if a tree was actually talking to you. The fact is, this all happens within the mind. There is always the possibility it's just a hallucination and I’m simply talking to myself. It is extremely difficult, and unbelievably complex, to authenticate and verify our own intuitions, inspirations, and visions. In most cases, the best we can hope for, is a coherent approximation.

Honestly though, what it comes down to is this, it doesn’t really matter if the trees were actually speaking.

What matters is, what did they say.

Of course, I studied copious amounts of human information as well. Not trusting the sphere of human information doesn't mean I just ignored it all. I have tons of respect for those who did the hard work and had the perseverance to obtain their academic degrees. Unsurprisingly, many of the greatest minds of the modern era were participants in establishment academia. Like David Bohm, Max Planck, and the intellectually courageous Walter Thornhill. Before the invention of the internet I could be regularly found haunting several university libraries.

This is what I mean by my search for “Terrestrial Intelligence”. It is an intellectually honest, holistic assimilation of a full spectrum of knowledge. The first principal is to be open to all information yet vigilantly avoiding presumption, certainty, or belief.

So to pursue the non-human sources of knowledge, when I was at the age that many would go off to college, I took off instead to live in the hills. For 3 3/4 years I lived in the forests and foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. I was immersed in nature, no tent, no cabin, just my dog and I, and a backpack. That experience became the foundation for my self-education.

After that, for the next 18 years I became deeply involved in native American ceremonial practice. Mainly the sweat lodge and peyote ceremony.

During this time period I also attended a Traditional Chinese Medicine school. Which I suppose was my only “official education” after high school. Although, I think many in academia do not consider TCM a valid academic pursuit.

Well I’m 61 years old now, and for the past 21 years my shamanic explorations have become considerably more tame. My attention is now focused on hearth and home, marital bliss, and my beautiful children. I could not be happier. The mystical adventures that come with a shamanic life are quieter now. The out-of-body experiences, non-physical entities, and encounters with plant teachers and animal spirits, are now like old friends I call on once and awhile. I’m not complaining at all, life changes as we grow older and wiser. The streams of experience flow deeper and less on the surface. I was once told that “whales of inspiration make big splashes in a shallow mind, yet barely a ripple in a truly oceanic consciousness”.

Introduction

The most important thing this old psychonaut learned over the years is that our mind influences everything we experience and do. There simply is no way to prevent this from happening. We live in an objective reality, yet we only experience it subjectively.

“The universe is non-simultaneously apprehended”

―Buckminster Fuller

Non-simultaneously apprehended refers to the minuscule time delay that exist between our sensory perceptions and the actual cognition of those perceptions. The unavoidable subjective experience of a definitively objective reality. It gets even weirder when you realize that the human mind has the habit of editing or altering perceptions. Especially in the case of information that could threaten one’s rudimentary paradigm.

There is no difference between local and non-local information, or our internal intuitions, visions and dreams. All information is subjective to the source. The sources are objective yet we only apprehend a representation of each source. The totality of all experience comes from a subjective perspective.

This is why intellectual honesty is the most important quality in deducing an accurate assessment of the objective reality. Not only is our world filled with deception the accuracy of our own perception is elusive.

Cognitive Jujitsu is a set of processes and techniques that help to refine the reception of an authentic representation.

Reality can only be rendered by a clear analysis of its representation.

Cognitive Jujitsu is a mental martial art for recovering and defending the ownership of your mind. Most importantly, to develop the skill to recognize when your self-agency and cognitive autonomy is compromised.

The concept of a mental martial art evolved from two primary contemplations. The first was an obvious need to protect the sovereignty of the mind. The second was a concept I've been contemplating for many years. The idea that 'thinking' is a form of movement. Thinking is an action and a thought is the memory and conclusion of that action. Considering cognition as movement, it felt natural and intuitive to apply various principles of movement. Such as martial arts philosophies, yogic philosophies, and the various ideas of movement exercise.

Thinking as movement, and thought as a stationary posture. This is the foundation on which I built Cognitive Jujitsu.

Like water thinking is the clearest when it remains moving.

Chapter One - The Stance

A teacher, of martial arts or any other skill, can only teach the principal, form, and application of their art. To truly understand the art's essence, to acquire the heart and soul of the method, this can not be taught. Deep understanding only comes from experience. A good sensei prepares and guides the student, revealing to them the way to find the pathway forward. Only by walking this path ourselves can we obtain the true essence. The path itself is the true teacher.

"As for the Way, the Way that can be spoken of is not the constant Way"
- Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

"The extreme principle is wordless."
- Batuo, Dhyana Master Buddha

Every martial art school begins by teaching the stance specific to each art. The principal function of the stance is to maintain a position of stability, balance, and flexibility. This is the fundamental position from which all movements begin and end. A posture that is ready and capable to respond to whatever happens. Not standing idle and aloof, but present and engaged.

Accordingly, for a mental martial art, our stance is a state of mind. A focused, grounded, and responsive, state of mind. The conception of a cognitive jujitsu stance is your first step.

A martial artist improves their stance through trial and error. By studying the dynamics of balance and stability. Learning how to counteract actions that push or pull us away from our center of gravity. The only way to learn to keep your balance is by losing it. Every time we are knocked off balance, the process of recovering our stance, will teach us how we lost our balance to begin with.

Failure is the teacher of the master.

Understanding Yin and Yang, push and pull, internal and external. This type of contemplation is like stretching your muscles. In this way you are stretching your perceptions. Mental training is as important as physical training. This is how we learn that balance is both physical and mental.

We need to understand everything that has the power to move our thoughts. Becoming intimately aware of all that can affect us. This will be our emotions, our fears, prejudice, and cognitive bias. Anything we hold on to, or are deeply attached to, can have the ability to move us off our center.

Thinking is the movement of the mind. Whatever can influence that movement can also be used to manipulate us. The things we have the strongest emotional bond to, these are the same things that can be most easily weaponized and used against us. Beliefs we hold dear, ideologies and doctrines that we are the most passionate about. Our prejudice, biases, and dogmas, will become huge holes in our mental armor.

Honesty is the center of gravity for a cognitive stance.

Intimate self-knowledge is only possible through brutally honest holistic self-awareness and critical self-analysis. We must take the time to authentically get to know ourselves.

We can be pulled in all directions, but forwards and backwards are the primary directions used to define our stance. By leaning too far forward or recoiling too far backwards we lose our center of gravity. We can be pushed or pulled by others but the most common way to lose our center of gravity is by what we do to ourselves.

The two main forces that will cause us to lean forward or recoil backwards are, Presumption and Fear.

Honesty:

Honesty is the center of gravity for one’s state of mind. We must find the places within ourselves that we are afraid to look. Then dive deeply into these places with total honesty and refuse to look away. This is the hard work that must be done to refine the posture of your stance. We do not grow from looking away or avoiding what is. We grow as we bravely pass through these places of darkness within the mind. As we emerge on the other side we will have expanded our conscious awareness. This is how we broaden the foundation of our stance and increase our stability.

The more we know about ourselves the stronger and more resilient our stance becomes. It becomes very difficult for any pernicious influence to take advantage of our weaknesses and shake us from our center.

Fear and Presumption:

Fear represents all that holds us back from our center and causes us to lean too far backwards. Insecurities and self-doubt that will cause us to look away from the things we know are true and yet we are afraid to admit to ourselves. This is also the kind of self-doubt that can cause us to hold back and not speak up in the face of injustice. Fear prevents the expansion of awareness that builds the foundation of a stable and balanced stance. Fear is the most common tool of manipulation and coercion. It has been used for eons to dominate humanity.

Self-doubt is a bit paradoxical when you consider, as I said before, that there is no guarantee of the accuracy of our perceptions. It is through an honest assessment of our subjective perception that we find stability. We can have confidence in our honesty even while we remain vigilantly dubious of our apprehension of the representation.

Presumption represents all that can cause us to lean too far forward. This is our cognitive bias, our belief systems, and certainty. When we deceive ourselves into thinking we know something we do not authentically know. Presumption prevents learning and the expansion of awareness.

These are just two main categories of a multitude of things that can pull one away from their center. It's not a solid line either. This is simply a visual concept that helps us to construct a focused mental model of a balanced and stable state of mind.

Our thoughts and mental states are complex and layered. They will always have qualities of both sides. Such as our belief systems. Beliefs are "presumptions" that we’ve decided not to question. In most cases beliefs are wishful thinking or fear based.

Like the lyrics of the song, And When I Die by Blood Sweat & Tears

"I can swear there ain't no heaven
But I pray there ain't no hell"

The line in this song is an excellent illustration of how wishful thinking and fears combine to form our belief systems.

The thing is, this stance is a metaphor. It represents more than just a basic concept. There will be subtleties, nuance, and even contradictions when exploring such a metaphor. It's really a lot like the fractal nature of the Yin Yang metaphor. There will always be the yin within the yang and the yang within the yin.

“A good stance and posture reflect a proper state of mind”.

- Morihei Ueshiba

To be continued…

I feel I need to define my intentions for creating a cognitive model in the form of a martial art. It would be irresponsible if I did not make my stance on combat and self-defense clear.

There is only one form of combat that retains ones honor, dignity, and morality. That is to fight in self-defense or in the defense of others. Every other form of combat is a crime against humanity.

There is one problem on this planet that we all face and that I see as the source of nearly every problem facing humanity. That is the problem of the tyrannical human. This is the type of human that will take anything they want with absolutely no care for accountability, or responsibility. Humans without empathy for anything or anyone they hurt by their actions. The tyrannical human is the cause of the majority of the anthropogenic damage done on Earth.

Understand that I do not think we should fight against this tyrannical human. I am not trying to inspire a revolution. I want to inspire an evolution. I want to inspire the cultivation of a compassionate humanity that is immune to tyranny. The cultivation of free, independent, and completely self-reliant humans.

What I want to inspire is a rebellion of consciousness. The tyrannical human is on a path of death, the path of life is the only road that leads to the future. We do not need to fight against anything. We simply need to leave the path of death and follow the path of life.

No good will come from a fight against death, good can only come when we fight aligned with life.

The words of O’Sensei Morihei Ueshiba are immortal in their truth.

“Masakatsu Agatsu - True victory is victory over oneself.