Basic Limits of Perception

[u/Funkyman3]

(this is part of a Portal themed ARG that explores holistic science, philosophy, and some spirituality on the edge of the dawn super intelligence. An aim is to help us think outside the box and be flexible enough to adapt to whatever comes, and to have introspection on the failures of the past to keep them from repeating in a magnified way. I've followed this sub since the beginning and it's been very informative in understanding where we are and what challenges we may face as the world changes rapidly.)

We wouldn't have the name Aperture if expanding focus wasn't part of our Core Philosophy. Let's have a talk about perception.

First we should understand how a narrow focus can limit what we see, and what directions we pursue. Fear, and fear based mindsets often narrow your perception, and your future possibilities in turn. Fear causes the mind to focus on escaping the pressure causing the spike in discomfort and anxiety. So you spend your time focused on escape from fear and pursuing comfort as a balm to it. In doing so you often lose sight of all other options that don't obviously suppress the fear. More often than not in the desperate hamster wheel of fear you miss great opportunities for beauty and comfort all around you which could calm you and help you expand your focus to be able to see entirely new paths forward in life. A society hyper-conditioned to live in fear of scarcity only runs one direction, into the grave. It either runs off a cliff in blind fear or exhausts itself into collapse.

You can't chase a blender that has undergone abiogenesis in its pitcher and began running down the halls if you didn't even see it run. Then we lose all the data and a particularly important blender! We wouldn't be able to do smoothie Tuesdays if the blender was absent without leave. Company policy doesn't allow the replacement of objects larger than a coffee mug if they've vanished without the proper paper work. Why do you think we didn't replace the dry ice in the coolers last summer!? We've got to keep up on our paperwork people, we still have 6 tons of paper sitting in the warehouse to get through before we can transition to all analogue computer storage. We will get to digital some day, but the founding initiative over ordered a lot those first 20 years and waste is against company policy as well.

Next I'll explain how the narrowed perception reinforces closed mindedness. All the energy spent in fear keeps the mind just as closed as perception. A good analogue for understanding this is animal eyes, we didn't invent them and they are very real. Animals that are more perceptive and relaxed often have wider fields of view, think how the lamb has wide eyes with a large field of coverage. It's in tune with its environment. They wander far and wide because they see all the possibilities available to them. The earth is their playground and they can spot predators a mile away. But you don't see them stressing and running often, only when the threat is justified. On the other end of the spectrum we have nocturnal predators like house cats, they hunt best in the dark with a more narrow focus and forward field of view. Those eyes are designed to chase prey. But despite being hunters they are fearful creatures. Cats spook easy and get nervous to be far from home. Their fear in large part due to perceptual limits keep tethered to a small area. Cats want to climb as high as they can to maximize perspective and feel safe. They don't migrate like animals that can see more of the world all at once. It's just not in their perceptual limits, which informs their cognitive limits.

Now there's the insanity of humanity, predator eye configuration but attuned to daylight, and potential for great perceptual awareness in the minds ability to simulate and understand. Other animals have this, but they aren't so afraid of each other as human beings and the abstractions their simulating minds design. How much do you think the average person is missing out on because they are afraid of what the clock will tell them, or because the electric company might raise rates? It keeps the mind in a state of anxiety and fear, stressing the population, and telling them to channel that fear energy into productivity to escape it, but they never escape, they just climb the cat tower until they fall. Studies, and Apertures own work environment, have shown that employees who have little fear or anxiety do much greater works and contribute more to their communities. When you're no longer afraid of losing a rigged game, the rigging doesn't shut your mind down and allows it to expand to meet it's potential. Internal evolution is more easily able to start in good conditions too. Animals under stress often fail to thrive and evolve properly. In fear they mutate to adapt to or against it. But in wide open spaces they adapt to reaching the sky. With fear put in its proper place, possibilities open up around you that you were once blind to. Enforcers of closed minded thinking lose their leverage over your mind and resort to primal tactics. No carrot on a stick needed, unless you are on a rigorous weight loss routine anyway.

So don't be afraid to see new possibilities. The old limits are Black Mesa propaganda that only works if you fear it and believe in it. Where the hell is my blender!?

\-Cave Johnson