I think I would have really liked this post to be split into two parts: 1. A descriptive post about the ontology/worldviews of mysticism, and general introduction into the ideas of phenomenology 2. A prescriptive post recommending certain meditation practices or highlighting positive experiences in your interactions with mysticism.
As it stands, I find myself skeptical of the benefits you describe, and continue to expect a very high cost that comes from engaging with things that try very hard to break down the map/territory distinction. But, I am strongly in favor of practicing phenomenology and think that introspection practices offer a large array of potential benefits. Right now I feel uncomfortable upvoting this post, because I did leave with a feeling of sloppy reasoning when you advocated the benefits of mystic practices, and think this area is one in which rigorous reasoning is of particularly high importance (because of the strong attractor of conflating the map with the territory).
To be clear, I really liked the parts of this post that described the mysticism worldview through a descriptive lens, and expect to benefit a bunch from it.
things that try very hard to break down the map/territory distinction.
None of the mysticism/woo I’ve dabbled in has involved breaking map/territory distinctions, and that’s not where any of the value in it’s come from for me. Almost all of the value’s been in giving me better tools for introspection, accessing my body, and understanding other people.
I’m also worried about this post being insufficiently rigorous. I didn’t finish reading it because I expected to wince.
I think I would have really liked this post to be split into two parts: 1. A descriptive post about the ontology/worldviews of mysticism, and general introduction into the ideas of phenomenology 2. A prescriptive post recommending certain meditation practices or highlighting positive experiences in your interactions with mysticism.
As it stands, I find myself skeptical of the benefits you describe, and continue to expect a very high cost that comes from engaging with things that try very hard to break down the map/territory distinction. But, I am strongly in favor of practicing phenomenology and think that introspection practices offer a large array of potential benefits. Right now I feel uncomfortable upvoting this post, because I did leave with a feeling of sloppy reasoning when you advocated the benefits of mystic practices, and think this area is one in which rigorous reasoning is of particularly high importance (because of the strong attractor of conflating the map with the territory).
To be clear, I really liked the parts of this post that described the mysticism worldview through a descriptive lens, and expect to benefit a bunch from it.
None of the mysticism/woo I’ve dabbled in has involved breaking map/territory distinctions, and that’s not where any of the value in it’s come from for me. Almost all of the value’s been in giving me better tools for introspection, accessing my body, and understanding other people.
I’m also worried about this post being insufficiently rigorous. I didn’t finish reading it because I expected to wince.
Yeah, splitting it into two parts would have been better.
What exactly do you mean by “things that try very hard to break down the map/territory distinction”?