Manic March #18: Polymetacognition

March 18, 2022

Manic March - Polymetacognition

How can we really know what is true? Descartes argues that we cannot; that our senses may betray us. In his Meditations, he attempts to clear all prior thought so that he can find the truth. Unfortunately, he discovers that everything he knows is through his senses, and senses can be deceived; after all, at least 5% of the population hallucinates at least once over their lifetimes. But he finds that he can doubt, and since he can doubt, he can think, so that he concludes that we can confirm his own existence - cogito ergo sum and all that.

This train of thought may have been useful for Descartes; after all, he is discussing whether he truly exists and whether he is being tortured through deception by a demon. But, for most problems, endless skepticism about one’s own thoughts is unproductive at best and harmful at worst.

The most common form of this thought spiral follows the form of, “How do I know what I am feeling is true - do I really think this or am I supposed to?”, which is often applied to socialized behaviors. Am I enjoying clubbing, or do I just think I am supposed to, and therefore I do? Do I enjoy the taste of a cold Sprite, or has sugar’s addictive qualities just conditioned me into liking the taste? Do I want to go to P. Terry’s, or have their advertisements just convinced me that I want to go? We do not necessarily know which side of each argument to favor, especially since neither is easily provable.

My issue with these questions is that the box has already been opened; we already believe that we may believe these things; now we must consider whether this meta-belief is justified - do we believe that we do not want to go clubbing because we hold some view of our personality (i.e. introversion) that reinforces said belief? Then, we must consider that belief, and the belief underlaying that, and before we know it, its turtles all the way down - there is no solid foundation for what you believe in.

This finding is not necessarily positive; believing that you stand on a faux foundation is disorienting. Even if the beams and joists are made of good, strong wood, a house built on sand is not fit to live in. However, one can create a strong structure without a foundation.

There are objects which can stand upon themselves, stable without a foundation. A skyscraper is built with layer upon layer; these structures are stable via self-power. A viable alternative to these meta-meta-meta-beliefs are loops of belief. I believe that I am $x because I am $y; I am $y because I am $x. These loops are recursive, but self-stable, and we find ourselves back at the beginning of our spiral. We like Sprite because we like the sugar content of it; we like the sugar content because we have adapted to like high-caloric density foods; we like high-caloric density foods because we have been conditioned to do so; we have been conditioned to do so because we’ve has Sprite. This is a stable loop; it is one that we can break out of if we so choose, as controlled skepticism is good, but other loops, those that are more inherent to our identities, may be better left alone.

As an example, the danger of investigating these loops is found in conversion therapy. Some psychoanalytic conversion therapists claim that childhood trauma causes their patients to be gay. Unfortunately for these therapists, this just does not track. Attempting to find the foundation on which someone’s identities are placed upon is a fruitless endeavor, and in the case of conversion therapy, is directly, painfully, and horribly harmful. This identity system is much better represented as self-stable. A person is a certain way because they are. Even Sigmund Freud believed this psychoanalysis could only go so far.

How then, are we supposed to know what to believe? For some beliefs, such as in the Sprite example, examination does good; sugar intake can be a problem. Investigation of identity and traits can be a positive force for change; personality is much less stable than we think it to be. But, if we find ourselves faced with doubt all the way down, it may be preferable to be in the tension state; some beliefs stand in stable tensions with themselves. Finding ourselves back at where we start is fine - it is just a loop - and after all, we are strange loops.

What is Manic March?

On February 27, 2022, I thought it would be a great idea to create some sort of content - writing, art, coding, etc. - every day of the next month. Luckily, the alliteration worked out. This should be the eighteenth post in the series.