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Post by shawnhartnell on Jul 10, 2016 1:46:59 GMT -6
"Esoteric" has been an important distinction for me. Lately, though, I've begun to wonder whether or not it's really useful outside of my own head. Is there some agreement as to it's meaning or does it signify different things for different people? If there is, great. The word carries a meaning and we can use it. If not, the use of the word is unintentionally misleading: what's esoteric to you isn't esoteric to me and vice versa.
So let's find out by discussing what we mean when we use the word "esoteric".
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Post by shawnhartnell on Jul 10, 2016 1:47:47 GMT -6
I'll go first, since I started this. Esoteric for me is a distinction that refers to an entire mindset, and entire way of thinking about things. It's opposed to exoteric, which is an entirely different mindset and way of thinking about things. The two mindsets are nearly mutually exclusive. I say nearly mutually exclusive because with an esoteric mindset, nothing is exoteric to me. However, someone with an exoteric mindset can begin to think of things as esoteric and thinking about what exoteric will lead to a full realization of an esoteric point of view. The exoteric mindset is defined by taking everything as it seems at the level of appearances with little or no skepticism. Someone with an exoteric mindset will see an object as an object, as a real thing, subject only to the laws of physics. The esoteric mindset is defined by coming to the understanding that nothing exists independently of one's own mind. Someone with an esoteric mindset will see an object and understand that it's a product of perception, and only has an existence as a "thing" because that's a part of what perception does. Thus, someone with a studied esoteric mindset understands there's no difference between what's seen in a random inkblot and whatever they see as "real" in front of them other than the ambiguity of the stimulus. So, the esoteric/exoteric distinction isn't one between inner and outer as some people use it, but rather denotes awareness of one's own psychology and how this awareness allows someone to "objectively perceive one's own subjectivity" within the experience of daily life. In other words, someone with an exoteric mindset takes the "objective universe" to be the basis of his experience, while someone with an esoteric mindset will see his experience as the result of his own brain. Someone with an exoteric mindset will claim that the "objective universe" exists with or without him, while someone with an esoteric mindset understands the universe that appears to exist only exists as a result of his mind trying to make sense out of stimuli streaming from his sense organs much in the same way a brain in a vat would. Thus, knowing that the experience of the universe depends on his brain functioning, rationally assumes that it will cease to exist as brain function ceases. Another fundamental difference between the esoteric and exoteric mindset is that where an exoteric person sees a mere object, an esoteric person understands that it is salient from some psychological reason, that a "cigar is never just a cigar" because even the "cigar that was a cigar" was not a cigar, but an example, meant to illustrate a point. To sum up, I suppose it's accurate to say someone with an esoteric mindset knows "it's all in our head". Someone with an exoteric mindset would argue against this saying something like "if you believe that, throw yourself off a building", never realizing that their "proof" is actually just an argument, that they've merely taken an educated guess, and never left the realm of their own imagination, and then claimed it as "real". Oh, the irony!
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Post by shawnhartnell on Jul 10, 2016 10:58:21 GMT -6
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Post by shawnhartnell on Jul 12, 2016 2:42:45 GMT -6
The first paragraph of "The Tomb":
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